diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/2287-8.txt | 11619 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/2287-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 184612 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/2287-h.htm | 17169 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/2287.txt | 11619 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/2287.zip | bin | 0 -> 184585 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/havoc10.txt | 11531 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/havoc10.zip | bin | 0 -> 182650 bytes |
7 files changed, 51938 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/2287-8.txt b/old/2287-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cb8d3fb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2287-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11619 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: Havoc + +Author: E. Philips Oppenheim + +Posting Date: March 21, 2009 [EBook #2287] +Release Date: August, 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVOC *** + + + + +Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. HTML +version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + +Havoc + + +by + +E. Philips Oppenheim + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I CROWNED HEADS MEET + II ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP" + III "OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP" + IV THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA + V "VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET" + VI VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED + VII "WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES + VIII THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE + IX ROBBING THE DEAD + X BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED + XI VON BEHRLING'S FATE + XII BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL + XIII STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE + XIV ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE + XV LAVERICK'S PARTNER FLEES + XVI THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST + XVII THE PRICE OF SILENCE + XVIII THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL + XIX MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES + XX LAVERICK IS CROSS EXAMINED + XXI MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT + XXII ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES + XXIII LAVERICK AT THE OPERA + XXIV A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S + XXV JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE + XXVI THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED + XXVII PENETRATING A MYSTERY + XXVIII LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE + XXIX LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED + XXX THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS + XXXI MISS LENEVEU'S MESSAGE + XXXII MORRISON IS DESPERATE + XXXIII LAVERICK'S ARREST + XXXIV MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE + XXXV BELLAMY'S SUCCESS + XXXVI LAVERICK ACQUITTED + XXXVII THE PLOT TEAT FAILED + XXXVIII A FAREWELL APPEARANCE + + + + +HAVOC + + +CHAPTER I + +CROWNED HEADS MEET + + +Bellamy, King's Spy, and Dorward, journalist, known to fame in every +English-speaking country, stood before the double window of their +spacious sitting-room, looking down upon the thoroughfare beneath. +Both men were laboring under a bitter sense of failure. Bellamy's +face was dark with forebodings; Dorward was irritated and nervous. +Failure was a new thing to him--a thing which those behind the +great journals which he represented understood less, even, than he. +Bellamy loved his country, and fear was gnawing at his heart. + +Below, the crowds which had been waiting patiently for many hours +broke into a tumult of welcoming voices. Down their thickly-packed +lines the volume of sound arose and grew, a faint murmur at first, +swelling and growing to a thunderous roar. Myriads of hats were +suddenly torn from the heads of the excited multitude, handkerchiefs +waved from every window. It was a wonderful greeting, this. + +"The Czar on his way to the railway station," Bellamy remarked. + +The broad avenue was suddenly thronged with a mass of soldiery--guardsmen +of the most famous of Austrian regiments, brilliant in their white +uniforms, their flashing helmets. The small brougham with its +great black horses was almost hidden within a ring of naked steel. +Dorward, an American to the backbone and a bitter democrat, thrust +out his under-lip. + +"The Anointed of the Lord!" he muttered. + +Far away from some other quarter came the same roar of voices, +muffled yet insistent, charged with that faint, exciting timbre +which seems always to live in the cry of the multitude. + +"The Emperor," declared Bellamy. "He goes to the West station." + +The commotion had passed. The crowds in the street below were on +the move, melting away now with a muffled trampling of feet and a +murmur of voices. The two men turned from their window back into +the room. Dorward commenced to roll a cigarette with yellow-stained, +nervous fingers, while Bellamy threw himself into an easy-chair with +a gesture of depression. + +"So it is over, this long-talked-of meeting," he said, half to +himself, half to Dorward. "It is over, and Europe is left to wonder." + +"They were together for scarcely more than an hour," Dorward murmured. + +"Long enough," Bellamy answered. "That little room in the Palace, +my friend, may yet become famous." + +"If you and I could buy its secrets," Dorward remarked, finally +shaping a cigarette and lighting it, "we should be big bidders, I +think. I'd give fifty thousand dollars myself to be able to cable +even a hundred words of their conversation." + +"For the truth," Bellamy said, "the whole truth, there could be no +price sufficient. We made our effort in different directions, both +of us. With infinite pains I planted--I may tell you this now that +the thing is over--seven spies in the Palace. They have been of +as much use as rabbits. I don't believe that a single one of them +got any further than the kitchens." + +Dorward nodded gloomily. + +"I guess they weren't taking any chances up there," he remarked. +"There wasn't a secretary in the room. Carstairs was nearly thrown +out, and he had a permit to enter the Palace. The great staircase +was held with soldiers, and Dick swore that there were Maxims in the +corridors." + +Bellamy sighed. + +"We shall hear the roar of bigger guns before we are many months +older, Dorward," he declared. + +The journalist glanced at his friend keenly. "You believe that?" + +Bellamy shrugged his shoulders. + +"Do you suppose that this meeting is for nothing?" he asked. "When +Austria, Germany and Russia stand whispering in a corner, can't you +believe it is across the North Sea that they point? Things have +been shaping that way for years, and the time is almost ripe." + +"You English are too nervous to live, nowadays," Dorward declared +impatiently. "I'd just like to know what they said about America." + +Bellamy smiled with faint but delicate irony. + +"Without a doubt, the Prince will tell you," he said. "He can +scarcely do more to show his regard for your country. He is giving +you a special interview--you alone out of about two hundred +journalists. Very likely he will give you an exact account of +everything that transpired. First of all, he will assure you that +this meeting has been brought about in the interests of peace. He +will tell you that the welfare of your dear country is foremost in +the thoughts of his master. He will assure you--" + +"Say, you're jealous, my friend," Dorward interrupted calmly. "I +wonder what you'd give me for my ten minutes alone with the +Chancellor, eh?" + +"If he told me the truth," Bellamy asserted, "I'd give my life for +it. For the sort of stuff you're going to hear, I'd give nothing. +Can't you realize that for yourself, Dorward? You know the man--false +as Hell but with the tongue of a serpent. He will grasp your +hand; he will declare himself glad to speak through you to the great +Anglo-Saxon races--to England and to his dear friends the Americans. +He is only too pleased to have the opportunity of expressing himself +candidly and openly. Peace is to be the watchword of the future. +The white doves have hovered over the Palace. The rulers of the +earth have met that the crash of arms may be stilled and that this +terrible unrest which broods over Europe shall finally be broken up. +They have pledged themselves hand in hand to work together for this +object,--Russia, broken and humiliated, but with an immense army +still available, whose only chance of holding her place among the +nations is another and a successful war; Austria, on fire for the +seaboard--Austria, to whom war would give the desire of her +existence; Germany, with Bismarck's last but secret words written in +letters of fire on the walls of her palaces, in the hearts of her +rulers, in the brain of her great Emperor. Colonies! Expansion! +Empire! Whose colonies, I wonder? Whose empire? Will he tell you +that, my friend Dorward?" + +The journalist shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the clock. + +"I guess he'll tell me what he chooses and I shall print it," he +answered indifferently. "It's all part of the game, of course. I +am not exactly chicken enough to expect the truth. All the same, +my message will come from the lips of the Chancellor immediately +after this wonderful meeting." + +"He makes use of you," Bellamy declared, "to throw dust into our +eyes and yours." + +"Even so," Dorward admitted, "I don't care so long as I get the +copy. It's good-bye, I suppose?" + +Bellamy nodded. + +"I shall go on to Berlin, perhaps, to-morrow," he said. "I can do +no more good here. And you?" + +"After I've sent my cable I'm off to Belgrade for a week, at any +rate," Dorward answered. "I hear the women are forming rifle +clubs all through Servia." + +Bellamy smiled thoughtfully. + +"I know one who'll want a place among the leaders," he murmured. + +"Mademoiselle Idiale, I suppose?" + +Bellamy assented. + +"It's a queer position hers, if you like," he said. "All Vienna +raves about her. They throng the Opera House every night to hear +her sing, and they pay her the biggest salary which has ever been +known here. Three parts of it she sends to Belgrade to the Chief +of the Committee for National Defence. The jewels that are sent her +anonymously go to the same place, all to buy arms to fight these +people who worship her. I tell you, Dorward," he added, rising to +his feet and walking to the window, "the patriotism of these people +is something we colder races scarcely understand. Perhaps it is +because we have never dwelt under the shadow of a conqueror. If +ever Austria is given a free hand, it will be no mere war upon which +she enters,--it will be a carnage, an extermination!" + +Dorward looked once more at the clock and rose slowly to his feet. + +"Well," he said, "I mustn't keep His Excellency waiting. Good-bye, +and cheer up, Bellamy! Your old country isn't going to turn up +her heels yet." + +Out he went--long, lank, uncouth, with yellow-stained fingers and +hatchet-shaped, gray face--a strange figure but yet a power. +Bellamy remained. For a while he seemed doubtful how to pass the +time. He stood in front of the window, watching the dispersal of +the crowds and the marching by of a regiment of soldiers, whose +movements he followed with critical interest, for he, too, had been +in the service. He had still a military bearing,--tall, and with +complexion inclined to be dusky, a small black moustache, dark eyes, +a silent mouth,--a man of many reserves. Even his intimates knew +little of him. Nevertheless, his was the reticence which befitted +well his profession. + +After a time he sat down and wrote some letters. He had just +finished when there came a sharp tap at the door. Before he could +open his lips some one had entered. He heard the soft swirl of +draperies and turned sharply round, then sprang to his feet and +held out both his hands. There was expression in his face now--as +much as he ever suffered to appear there. + +"Louise!" he exclaimed. "What good fortune!" + +She held his fingers for a moment in a manner which betokened a +more than common intimacy. Then she threw herself into an +easy-chair and raised her thick veil. Bellamy looked at her for a +moment in sorrowful silence. There were violet lines underneath +her beautiful eyes, her cheeks were destitute of any color. There +was an abandonment of grief about her attitude which moved him. +She sat as one broken-spirited, in whom the power of resistance was +dead. + +"It is over, then," she said softly, "this meeting. The word has +been spoken." + +He came and stood by her side. + +"As yet," he reminded her, "we do not know what that word may be." + +She shook her head mournfully. + +"Who can doubt?" she exclaimed. "For myself, I feel it in the air! +I can see it in the faces of the people who throng the city! I can +hear it in the peals of those awful bells! You know nothing? You +have heard nothing?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"I did all that was humanly possible," he said, dropping his voice. +"An Englishman in Vienna to-day has very little opportunity. I +filled the Palace with spies, but they hadn't a dog's chance. There +wasn't even a secretary present. The Czar, the two Emperors and the +Chancellor,--not another soul was in the room." + +"If only Von Behrling had been taken!" she exclaimed. "He was there +in reserve, I know, as stenographer. I have but to lift my hand +and it is enough. I would have had the truth from him, whatever it +cost me." + +Bellamy looked at her thoughtfully. It was not for nothing that +the Press of every European nation had called her the most beautiful +woman in the world. He frowned slightly at her last words, for he +loved her. + +"Von Behrling was not even allowed to cross the threshold," he said +sharply. + +She moved her head and looked up at him. She was leaning a little +forward now, her chin resting upon her hands. Something about the +lines of her long, supple body suggested to him the savage animal +crouching for a spring. She was quiet, but her bosom was heaving, +and he could guess at the passion within. With purpose he spoke to +set it loose. + +"You sing to-night?" he asked. + +"Before God, no!" she answered, the anger blazing out of her eyes, +shaking in her voice. "I sing no more in this accursed city!" + +"There will be a revolution," Bellamy remarked. "I see that the +whole city is placarded with notices. It is to be a gala night at +the Opera. The royal party is to be present." + +Her body seemed to quiver like a tree shaken by the wind. + +"What do I care--I--I--for their gala night! If I were like +Samson, if I could pull down the pillars of their Opera House and +bury them all in its ruins, I would do it!" + +He took her hand and smoothed it in his. + +"Dear Louise, it is useless, this. You do everything that can be +done for your country." + +Her eyes were streaming and her fingers sought his. + +"My friend David," she said, "you do not understand. None of you +English yet can understand what it is to crouch in the shadow of +this black fear, to feel a tyrant's hand come creeping out, to know +that your life-blood and the life-blood of all your people must be +shed, and shed in vain. To rob a nation of their liberty, ah! it +is worse, this, than murder,--a worse crime than his who stains +the soul of a poor innocent girl! It is a sin against nature +herself!" + +She was sobbing now, and she clutched his hands passionately. + +"Forgive me," she murmured, "I am overwrought. I have borne up +against this thing so long. I can do no more good here. I come +to tell you that I go away till the time comes. I go to your +London. They want me to sing for them there. I shall do it." + +"You will break your engagement?" + +She laughed at him scornfully. + +"I am Idiale," she declared. "I keep no engagement if I do not +choose. I will sing no more to this people whom I hate. My friend +David, I have suffered enough. Their applause I loathe--their +covetous eyes as they watch me move about the stage--oh, I could +strike them all dead! They come to me, these young Austrian +noblemen, as though I were already one of a conquered race. I keep +their diamonds but I destroy their messages. Their jewels go to +my chorus girls or to arm my people. But no one of them has had a +kind word from me save where there has been something to be gained. +Even Von Behrling I have fooled with promises. No Austrian shall +ever touch my lips--I have sworn it!" + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Yes," he assented, "they call you cold here in the capital! Even +in the Palace--" + +She held out her hand. + +"It is finished!" she declared. "I sing no more. I have sent word +to the Opera House. I came here to be in hiding for a while. They +will search for me everywhere. To-night or to-morrow I leave for +England." + +Bellamy stood thoughtfully silent. + +"I am not sure that you are wise," he said. "You take it too much +for granted that the end has come." + +"And do you not yourself believe it?" she demanded. He hesitated. + +"As yet there is no proof," he reminded her. + +"Proof!" + +She sat upright in her chair. Her hands thrust him from her, her +bosom heaved, a spot of color flared in her cheeks. + +"Proof!" she cried. "What do you suppose, then, that these wolves +have plotted for? What else do you suppose could be Austria's share +of the feast? Couldn't you hear our fate in the thunder of their +voices when that miserable monarch rode back to his captivity? We +are doomed--betrayed! You remember the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, +a blood-stained page of history for all time. The world would tell +you that we have outlived the age of such barbarous doings. It is +not true. My friend David, it is not true. It is a more terrible +thing, this which is coming. Body and soul we are to perish." + +He came over to her side once more and laid his hand soothingly on +hers. It was heart-rending to witness the agony of the woman he +loved. + +"Dear Louise," he said, "after all, this is profitless. There may +yet be compromises." + +She suffered her hand to remain in his, but the bitterness did not +pass out of her face or tone. + +"Compromises!" she repeated. "Do you believe, then, that we are +like those ancient races who felt the presence of a conqueror +because their hosts were scattered in battle, and who suffered +themselves passively to be led into captivity? My country can be +conquered in one way, and one way only,--not until her sons, ay, +and her daughters too, have perished, can these people rule. They +will come to an empty and a stricken country--a country red with +blood, desolate, with blackened houses and empty cities. The +horror of it! Think, my friend David, the horror of it!" + +Bellamy threw his head back with a sudden gesture of impatience. + +"You take too much for granted," he declared. "England, at any +rate, is not yet a conquered race. And there is France--Italy, +too, if she is wise, will never suffer this thing from her ancient +enemy." + +"It is the might of the world which threatens," she murmured. +"Your country may defend herself, but here she is powerless. +Already it has been proved. Last year you declared yourself our +friend--you and even Russia. Of what avail was it? Word came +from Berlin and you were powerless." + +Then tragedy broke into the room, tragedy in the shape of a man +demented. For fifteen years Bellamy had known Arthur Dorward, but +this man was surely a stranger! He was hatless, dishevelled, wild. +A dull streak of color had mounted almost to his forehead, his eyes +were on fire. + +"Bellamy!" he cried. "Bellamy!" + +Words failed him suddenly. He leaned against the table, breathless, +panting heavily. + +"For God's sake, man," Bellamy began,-- + +"Alone!" Dorward interrupted. "I must see you alone! I have news!" + +Mademoiselle Idiale rose. She touched Bellamy on the shoulder. + +"You will come to me, or telephone," she whispered. "So?" + +Bellamy opened the door and she passed out, with a farewell pressure +of his fingers. Then he closed it firmly and came back. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP" + + +"What's wrong, old man?" Bellamy asked quickly. + +Dorward from a side table had seized the bottle of whiskey and a +siphon, and was mixing himself a drink with trembling fingers. He +tossed it off before he spoke a word. Then he turned around and +faced his companion. "Bellamy," he ordered, "lock the door." + +Bellamy obeyed. He had no doubt now but that Dorward had lost his +head in the Chancellor's presence--had made some absurd attempt to +gain the knowledge which they both craved, and had failed. + +"Bellamy," Dorward exclaimed, speaking hoarsely and still a little +out of breath, "I guess I've had the biggest slice of luck that was +ever dealt out to a human being. If only I can get safe out of +this city, I tell you I've got the greatest scoop that living man +ever handled." + +"You don't mean that--" + +Dorward wiped his forehead and interrupted. + +"It's the most amazing thing that ever happened," he declared, "but +I've got it here in my pocket, got it in black and white, in the +Chancellor's own handwriting." + +"Got what?" + +"Why, what you and I, an hour ago, would have given a million for," +Dorward replied. + +Bellamy's expression was one of blank but wondering incredulity. + +"You can't mean this, Dorward!" he exclaimed. "You may have +something--just what the Chancellor wants you to print. You're +not supposing for an instant that you've got the whole truth?" + +Dorward's smile was the smile of certainty, his face that of a +conqueror. + +"Here in my pocket," he declared, striking his chest, "in the +Chancellor's own handwriting. I tell you I've got the original +verbatim copy of everything that passed and was resolved upon this +afternoon between the Czar of Russia, the Emperor of Austria and +the Emperor of Germany. I've got it word for word as the Chancellor +took it down. I've got their decision. I've got their several +undertakings." + +Bellamy for a moment was stricken dumb. He looked toward the door +and back into his friend's face aglow with triumph. Then his power +of speech returned. + +"Do you mean to say that you stole it?" + +Dorward struck the table with his fist. + +"Not I! I tell you that the Chancellor gave it to me, gave it to +me with his own hands, willingly,--pressed it upon me. No, don't +scoff!" he went on quickly. "Listen! This is a genuine thing. +The Chancellor's mad. He was lying in a fit when I left the Palace. +It will be in all the evening papers. You will hear the boys +shouting it in the streets within a few minutes. Don't interrupt +and I'll tell you the whole truth. You can believe me or not, as +you like. It makes no odds. I arrived punctually and was shown up +into the anteroom. Even from there I could hear loud voices in the +inner chamber and I knew that something was up. Presently a little +fellow came out to me--a dark-bearded chap with gold-rimmed glasses. +He was very polite, introduced himself as the Chancellor's physician, +regretted exceedingly that the Chancellor was unwell and could see +no one,--the excitement and hard work of the last few days had +knocked him out. Well, I stood there arguing as pleasantly as I +could about it, and then all of a sudden the door of the inner room +was thrown open. The Chancellor himself stood on the threshold. +There was no doubt about his being ill; his face was as pale as +parchment, his eyes were simply wild, and his hair was all ruffled +as though he had been standing upon his head. He began to talk to +the physician in German. I didn't understand him until he began to +swear,--then it was wonderful! In the end he brushed them all +away and, taking me by the arm, led me right into the inner room. +For a long time he went on jabbering away half to himself, and I +was wondering how on earth to bring the conversation round to the +things I wanted to know about. Then, all of a sudden, he turned to +me and seemed to remember who I was and what I wanted. 'Ah!' he +said, 'you are Dorward, the American journalist. I remember you now. +Lock the door.' I obeyed him pretty quick, for I had noticed they +were mighty uneasy outside, and I was afraid they'd be disturbing +us every moment. 'Come and sit down,' he ordered. I did so at +once. 'You're a sensible fellow,' he declared. 'To-day every one +is worrying me. They think that I am not well. It is foolish. I +am quite well. Who would not be well on such a day as this?' I +told him that I had never seen him looking better in my life, and +he nodded and seemed pleased. 'You have come to hear the truth +about the meeting of my master with the Czar and the Emperor of +Germany?' he asked. 'That's so,' I told him. 'America's more +than a little interested in these things, and I want to know what +to tell her.' Then he leaned across the table. 'My young friend,' +he said, 'I like you. You are straightforward. You speak plainly +and you do not worry me. It is good. You shall tell your country +what it is that we have planned, what the things are that are +coming. Yours is a great and wise country. When they know the +truth, they will remember that Europe is a long way off and that +the things which happen there are really no concern of theirs.' +'You are right,' I assured him,--'dead right. Treat us openly, +that's all we ask.' 'Shall I not do that, my young friend?' he +answered. 'Now look, I give you this.' He fumbled through all his +pockets and at last he drew out a long envelope, sealed at both ends +with black sealing wax on which was printed a coat of arms with two +tigers facing each other. He looked toward the door cautiously, and +there was just that gleam in his eyes which madmen always have. +'Here it is,' he whispered, 'written with my own hand. This will +tell you exactly what passed this afternoon. It will tell you our +plans. It will tell you of the share which my master and the other +two are taking. Button it up safely,' he said, 'and, whatever you +do, do not let them know outside that you have got it. Between +you and me,' he went on, leaning across the table, 'something seems +to have happened to them all to-day. There's my old doctor there. +He is worrying all the time, but he himself is not well. I can see +it whenever he comes near me.' I nodded as though I understood and +the Chancellor tapped his forehead and grinned. Then I got up as +casually as I could, for I was terribly afraid that he wouldn't let +me go. We shook hands, and I tell you his fingers were like pieces +of burning coal. Just as I was moving, some one knocked at the +door. Then he began to storm again, kicked his chair over, threw a +paperweight at the window, and talked such nonsense that I couldn't +follow him. I unlocked the door myself and found the doctor there. +I contrived to look as frightened as possible. 'His Highness is not +well enough to talk to me,' I whispered. 'You had better look after +him.' I heard a shout behind and a heavy fall. Then I closed the +door and slipped away as quietly as I could--and here I am." + +Bellamy drew a long breath. + +"My God, but this is wonderful!" he muttered. "How long is it +since you left the Palace?" + +"About ten minutes or a quarter of an hour," Dorward answered. + +"They'll find it out at once," declared the other. "They'll miss +the paper. Perhaps he'll tell them himself that he has given it to +you. Don't let us run any risks, Dorward. Tear it open. Let us +know the truth, at any rate. If you have to part with the document, +we can remember its contents. Out with it, man, quick! They may +be here at any moment." + +Dorward drew a few steps back. Then he shook his head. + +"I guess not," he said firmly. + +Bellamy regarded his friend in blank and uncomprehending amazement. + +"What do you mean?" he exclaimed. "You're not going to keep it to +yourself? You know what it means to me--to England?" + +"Your old country can look after herself pretty well," Dorward +declared. "Anyhow, she'll have to take her chance. I am not here +as a philanthropist. I am an American journalist, and I'll part to +nobody with the biggest thing that's ever come into any man's bands." + +Bellamy, with a tremendous effort, maintained his self-control. + +"What are you going to do with it?" he asked quickly. "I tell you +I'm off out of the country to-night," Dorward declared. "I shall +head for England. Pearce is there himself, and I tell you it will +be just the greatest day of my life when I put this packet in his +hand. We'll make New York hum, I can promise you, and Europe too." + +Bellamy's manner was perfectly quiet--too quiet to be altogether +natural. His hand was straying towards his pocket. + +"Dorward," he said, speaking rapidly, and keeping his back to the +door, "you don't realize what you're up against. This sort of thing +is new to you. You haven't a dog's chance of leaving Vienna alive +with that in your pocket. If you trust yourself in the Orient +Express to-night, you'll never be allowed to cross the frontier. +By this time they know that the packet is missing; they know, too, +that you are the only man who could have it, whether the Chancellor +has told them the truth or not. Open it at once so that we get some +good out of it. Then we'll go round to the Embassy. We can slip +out by the back way, perhaps. Remember I have spent my life in the +service, and I tell you that there's no other place in the city +where your life is worth a snap of the fingers but at your Embassy +or mine. Open the packet, man." + +"I think not," Dorward answered firmly. "I am an American citizen. +I have broken no laws and done no one any harm. If there's any +slaughtering about, I guess they'll hesitate before they begin with +Arthur Dorward.... Don't be a fool, man!" + +He took a quick step backward,--he was looking into the muzzle of +Bellamy's revolver. + +"Dorward," the latter exclaimed, "I can't help it! Yours is only +a personal ambition--I stand for my country. Share the knowledge +of that packet with me or I shall shoot." + +"Then shoot and be d--d to you!" Dorward declared fiercely. "This +is my show, not yours. You and your country can go to--" + +He broke off without finishing his sentence. There was a thunderous +knocking at the door. The two men looked at one another for a +moment, speechless. Then Bellamy, with a smothered oath, replaced +the revolver in his pocket. + +"You've thrown away our chance," he said bitterly. + +The knocking was repeated. When Bellamy with a shrug of the +shoulders answered the summons, three men in plain clothes entered. +They saluted Bellamy, but their eyes were traveling around the room. + +"We are seeking Herr Dorward, the American journalist!" one exclaimed. +"He was here but a moment ago." + +Bellamy pointed to the inner door. He had had too much experience +in such matters to attempt any prevarication. The three men crossed +the room quickly and Bellamy followed in the rear. He heard a cry +of disappointment from the foremost as he opened the door. The inner +room was empty! + + + + +CHAPTER III + +"OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP" + + +Louise looked up eagerly as he entered. + +"There is news!" she exclaimed. "I can see it in your face." + +"Yes," Bellamy answered, "there is news! That is why I have come. +Where can we talk?" + +She rose to her feet. Before them the open French windows led on +to a smooth green lawn. She took his arm. + +"Come outside with me," she said. "I am shut up here because I +will not see the doctors whom they send, or any one from the Opera +House. An envoy from the Palace has been and I have sent him away." + +"You mean to keep your word, then?" + +"Have I ever broken it? Never again will I sing in this City. It +is so." + +Bellamy looked around. The garden of the villa was enclosed by +high gray stone walls. They were secure here, at least, from +eavesdroppers. She rested her fingers lightly upon his arm, holding +up the skirts of her loose gown with her other hand. + +"I have spoken to you," he said, "of Dorward, the American journalist." + +She nodded. + +"Of course," she assented. "You told me that the Chancellor had +promised him an interview for to-day." + +"Well, he went to the Palace and the Chancellor saw him.". + +She looked at him with upraised eyebrows. + +"The newspapers are full of lies as usual, then, I suppose. The +latest telegrams say that the Chancellor is dangerously ill." + +"It is quite true," Bellamy declared. "What I am going to tell you +is surprising, but I had it from Dorward himself. When he reached +the Palace, the Chancellor was practically insane. His doctors were +trying to persuade him to go to his room and lie down, but he heard +Dorward's voice and insisted upon seeing him. The man was mad--on +the verge of a collapse--and he handed over to Dorward his notes, +and a verbatim report of all that passed at the Palace this morning." + +She looked at him incredulously. + +"My dear David!" she exclaimed. + +"It is amazing," he admitted, "but it is the truth. I know it for +a fact. The man was absolutely beside himself, he had no idea what +he was doing." + +"Where is it?" she asked quickly. "You have seen it?" + +"Dorward would not give it up," he said bitterly. "While we argued +in our sitting-room at the hotel the police arrived. Dorward escaped +through the bedroom and down the service stairs. He spoke of trying +to catch the Orient Express to-night, but I doubt if they will ever +let him leave the city." + +"It is wonderful, this," she murmured softly. "What are you going +to do?" + +"Louise, you and I have few secrets from each other. I would have +killed Dorward to obtain that sealed envelope, because I believe +that the knowledge of its contents in London to-day would save us +from disaster. To know how far each is pledged, and from which +direction the first blow is to come, would be our salvation." + +"I cannot understand," she said, "why he should have refused to +share his knowledge with you. He is an American--it is almost the +same thing as being an Englishman. And you are friends,--I am +sure that you have helped him often." + +"It was a matter of vanity--simply cursed vanity," Bellamy answered. +"It would have been the greatest journalistic success of modern +times for him to have printed that document, word for word, in his +paper. He fights for his own hand alone." + +"And you?" she whispered. + +"He will have to reckon with me," Bellamy declared. "I know that he +is going to try and leave Vienna to-night, and if he does I shall be +at his heels." + +She nodded her head thoughtfully. + +"I, too," she announced. "I come with you, my friend. I do no +more good here, and they worry my life out all the time. I come to +sing in London at Covent Garden. I have agreements there which only +await my signature. We will go together; is it not so?" + +"Very well," he answered, "only remember that my movements must +depend very largely upon Dorward's. The train leaves at eight +o'clock, station time. I have already a coupe reserved." + +"I come with you," she murmured. "I am very weary of this city." + +They walked on for a few paces in silence. Bellamy looked around +the gardens, brilliant with flowering shrubs and rose trees, with +here and there some delicate piece of statuary half-hidden amongst +the wealth of foliage. The villa had once belonged to a royal +favorite, and the grounds had been its chief glory. They reached +a sheltered seat and sat down. A few yards away a tiny waterfall +came tumbling over the rocks into a deep pool. They were hidden +from the windows of the villa by the boughs of a drooping chestnut +tree. Bellamy stooped and kissed her upon the lips. + +"Ours is a strange courtship, Louise," he whispered softly. + +She took his hand in hers and smoothed it. She had returned his +kiss, but she drew a little further away from him. + +"Ah! my dear friend," looking at him with sorrow in her eyes, +"courtship is scarcely the word, is it? For you and me there is +nothing to hope for, nothing beyond." + +He leaned towards her. + +"Never believe that," he begged. "These days are dark enough, +Heaven knows, yet the work of every one has its goal. Even our +turn may come." + +Something flickered for a moment in her face, something which seemed +to make a different woman of her. Bellamy saw it, and hardened +though he was he felt the slow stirring of his own pulses. He +kissed her hand passionately and she shivered. + +"We must not talk of these things," she said. "We must not think +of them. At least our friendship has been wonderful. Now I must +go in. I must tell my maid and arrange to steal away to-night." + +They stood up, and he held her in his arms for a moment. Though her +lips met his freely enough, he was very conscious of the reserve +with which she yielded herself to him, conscious of it and thankful, +too. They walked up the path together, and as they went she plucked +a red rose and thrust it through his buttonhole. + +"If we had no dreams," she said softly, "life would not be possible. +Perhaps some day even we may pluck roses together." + +He raised her fingers to his lips. It was not often that they +lapsed into sentiment. When she spoke again it was finished. + +"You had better leave," she told him, "by the garden gate. There +are the usual crowd in my anteroom, and it is well that you and I +are not seen too much together." + +"Till this evening," he whispered, as he turned away. "I shall be at +the station early. If Dorward is taken, I shall still leave Vienna. +If he goes, it may be an eventful journey." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA + + +Dorwood, whistling softly to himself, sat in a corner of his coupe +rolling innumerable cigarettes. He was a man of unbounded courage +and wonderful resource, but with a slightly exaggerated idea as +to the sanctity of an American citizen. He had served his +apprenticeship in his own country, and his name had become a +household word owing to his brilliant success as war correspondent +in the Russo-Japanese War. His experience of European countries, +however, was limited. After the more obvious dangers with which +he had grappled and which he had overcome during his adventurous +career, he was disposed to be a little contemptuous of the subtler +perils at which his friend Bellamy had plainly hinted. He had made +his escape from the hotel without any very serious difficulty, and +since that time, although he had taken no particular precautions, +he had remained unmolested. From his own point of view, therefore, +it was perhaps only reasonable that he should no longer have any +misgiving as to his personal safety. ARREST as a thief was the +worst which he had feared. Even that he seemed now to have evaded. + +The coupe was exceedingly comfortable and, after all, he had had a +somewhat exciting day. He lit a cigarette and stretched himself +out with a murmur of immense satisfaction. He was close upon the +great triumph of his life. He was perfectly content to lie there +and look out upon the flying landscape, upon which the shadows were +now fast descending. He was safe, absolutely safe, he assured +himself. Nevertheless, when the door of his coupe was opened, he +started almost like a guilty man. The relief in his face as he +recognized his visitor was obvious. It was Bellamy who entered +and dropped into a seat by his side. + +"Wasting your time, aren't you?" the latter remarked, pointing to +the growing heap of cigarettes. + +"Well, I guess not," Dorward answered. "I can smoke this lot before +we reach London." + +Bellamy smiled enigmatically. + +"I don't think that you will," he said. + +"Why not?" + +"You are such a sanguine person," Bellamy sighed. "Personally, I +do not think that there is the slightest chance of your reaching +London at all." + +Dorward laughed scornfully. + +"And why not?" he asked. + +Bellamy merely shrugged his shoulders. Dorward seemed to find the +gesture irritating. + +"You've got espionage on the brain, my dear friend," he declared +dryly. "I suppose it's the result of your profession. I may not +know so much about Europe as you do, but I am inclined to think +that an American citizen traveling with his passport on a train +like this is moderately safe, especially when he's not above a +scrap by way of taking care of himself." + +"You're a plucky fellow," remarked Bellamy. + +"I don't see any pluck about it. In Vienna, I must admit, I +shouldn't have been surprised if they'd tried to fake up some sort +of charge against me, but anyhow they didn't. Guess they'd find +it a pretty tall order trying to interfere with an American citizen." + +Bellamy looked at his friend curiously. + +"I suppose you're not bluffing, by any chance, Dorward?" he said. +"You really believe what you say?" + +"Why in thunder shouldn't I?" Dorward asked. + +Bellamy sighed. + +"My dear Dorward," he said, "it is amazing to me that a man of your +experience should talk and behave like a baby. You've taken some +notice of your fellow-passengers, I suppose?" + +"I've seen a few of them," Dorward answered carelessly. "What about +them?" + +"Nothing much," Bellamy declared, "except that there are, to my +certain knowledge, three high officials of the Secret Police of +Austria in the next coupe but one, and at least four or five of +their subordinates somewhere on board the train." + +Dorward withdrew his cigarette from his mouth and looked at his +friend keenly. + +"I guess you're trying to scare me, Bellamy," he remarked. + +But Bellamy was suddenly grave. There had come into his face an +utterly altered expression. His tone, when he spoke, was almost +solemn. + +"Dorward," he said, "upon my honor, I assure you that what I have +told you is the truth. I cannot seem to make you realize the +seriousness of your position. When you left the Palace with that +paper in your pocket, you were, to all intents and purposes, a +doomed man. Your passport and your American citizenship count for +absolutely nothing. I have come in to warn you that if you have +any last messages to leave, you had better give them to me now." + +"This is a pretty good bluff you're putting up!" Dorward exclaimed +contemptuously. "The long and short of it is, I suppose, that you +want me to break the seal of this document and let you read it." + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"It is too late for that, Dorward," he said. "If the seal were +broken, they'd very soon guess where I came in, and it wouldn't help +the work I have in hand for me to be picked up with a bullet in my +forehead on the railway track." + +Dorward frowned uneasily. + +"What are you here for, anyway, then?" he asked. + +"Well, frankly, not to argue with you," Bellamy answered. "As a +matter of fact, you are of no use to me any longer. I am sorry, +old man. You can't say that I didn't give you good advice. I am +bound to play for my own hand, though, in this matter, and if I +get any benefit at all out of my journey, it will be after some +regrettable accident has happened to you." + +"Say, ring the bell for drinks and chuck this!" Dorward exclaimed. +"I've had about enough of it. I am not denying anything you say, +but if these fellows really are on board, they'll think twice +before they meddle with me." + +"On the contrary," Bellamy assured him, "they will not take the +trouble to think at all. Their minds are perfectly made up as to +what they are going to do. However, that's finished. I have +nothing more to say." + +Dorward gazed for a minute or two fixedly out of the window. + +"Look here, Bellamy," he said, turning abruptly round, "supposing +I change my mind, supposing I open this precious document and let +you read it over with me?" + +Bellamy rose hastily to his feet. + +"You must not think of it!" he exclaimed. "You would simply +write my death-warrant. Don't allude to that matter again. I +have risked enough in coming in here to sit with you." + +"Then, for Heaven's sake, don't stop any longer!" Dorward said +irritably. "You get on my nerves with all this foolish talk. In +an hour's time I am going to bolt my door and go to sleep. We'll +breakfast together in the morning, if you like." + +Bellamy said nothing. The steward had brought them the whiskies +and sodas which Dorward had ordered. Bellamy raised his tumbler +to his lips and set it down again. + +"Forgive me," he said, "I do not think that I am thirsty." + +Dorward drank his off at a gulp. Almost immediately he closed his +eyes. Bellamy, with a little shrug of the shoulders, left him +alone. As he passed along to his own coupe, he met Louise in the +corridor. + +"You have seen Von Behrling?" he whispered. She nodded. + +"He is in that coupe, number 7, alone," she said. "I invited him +to come in with me but he seemed embarrassed. It is his companions +who watch him all the time. He has promised to talk with me later." + +In the middle of the night, Louise opened her eyes to find Bellamy +bending over her. + +"Louise," he whispered, "it is Von Behrling who will take possession +of the packet. They have been discussing whether it will not be +safer to go on to London instead of doubling back. See Von Behrling +again. Do all you can to persuade him to come to London,--all you +can, Louise, remember." + +"So!" she whispered. "I shall put on my dressing-gown and sit in +the corridor. It is hot here." + +Bellamy glided out, closing the door softly behind him. The train +was rushing on now through the blackness of an unusually dark night. +For some time he sat in his own compartment, listening. The voices +whose muttered conversation he had overheard were silent now, but +once he fancied that he heard shuffling footsteps and a little cry. +In his heart he knew well that before morning Dorward would have +disappeared. The man within him was hard to subdue. He longed to +make his way to Dorward's side, to interfere in this terribly +unequal struggle, yet he made no movement. Dorward was a man and a +friend, but what was a life more or less? It was to a greater cause +that he was pledged. Towards three o'clock he lay down on his bed +and slept.... + +The train attendant brought him his coffee soon after daylight. The +man's hands were trembling. + +"Where are we?" Bellamy asked sleepily. + +"Near Munich, Monsieur," the man answered. "Monsieur noticed, +perhaps, that we stopped for some time in the night?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"I sleep soundly," he said. "I heard nothing." + +"There has been an accident," the man declared. "An American +gentleman who got in at Vienna was drinking whiskey all night and +became very drunk. In a tunnel he threw himself out upon the line." + +Bellamy shuddered a little. He had been prepared, but none the +less it was an awful thing, this. + +"You are sure that he is dead?" he asked. + +The man was very sure indeed. + +"There is a doctor from Vienna upon the train, sir," he said. "He +examined him at once, but death must have been instantaneous." + +Bellamy drew a long breath and commenced to put on his clothes. +The next move was for him. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +"VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET" + + +Bellamy stole along the half-lit corridors of the train until he +came to the coupé which had been reserved for Mademoiselle Idiale. +Assured that he was not watched, he softly turned the handle of +the door and entered. Louise was sitting up in her dressing-gown, +drinking her coffee. He held up his finger and she greeted him +only with a nod. + +"Forgive me, Louise," he whispered, "I dared not knock, and I was +obliged to see you at once." + +She smiled. + +"It is of no consequence," she said. "One is always prepared here. +The porter, the ticket-man, and at the customs--they all enter. +Is anything wrong?" + +"It has happened," he answered. + +She shivered a little and her face became grave. + +"Poor fellow!" she murmured. + +"He simply sat still and asked for it," Bellamy declared, still +speaking in a cautious undertone. "He would not be warned. I could +have saved him, if any one could, but he would not hear reason." + +"He was what you call pig-headed," she remarked. + +"He has paid the penalty," Bellamy continued. "Now listen to me, +Louise. I got into that small coupe next to Von Behrling's, and I +feel sure, from what I overheard, that they will go on to London, +all three of them." + +"Who is there on the train?" she demanded. + +"Baron Streuss, who is head of the Secret Police, Von Behrling and +Adolf Kahn," Bellamy answered. "Then there are four or five Secret +Service men of the rank and file, but they are all traveling +separately. Von Behrling has the packet. The others form a sort +of cordon around him." + +"But why," she asked, "does he go on to London? Why not return to +Vienna?" + +"For one thing," Bellamy replied, with a grim smile, "they are +afraid of me. Then you must remember that this affair of Dorward +will be talked about. They do not want to seem in any way +implicated. To return from any one of these stations down the line +would create suspicion." + +She nodded. + +"Well?" + +"I am going to leave the train at the next stop," he continued. "I +find that I shall just catch the Northern Express to Berlin. From +there I shall come on to London as quickly as I can. You know the +address of my rooms?" + +She nodded. + +"15, Fitzroy Street." + +"When I get there, let me have a line waiting to tell me where I +can see you. While I am on the train you will find Von Behrling +almost inaccessible. Directly I have gone it will be different. +Play with him carefully. He should not be difficult. To tell you +the truth, I am rather surprised that he has been trusted upon a +mission like this. He was in disgrace with the Chancellor a short +while ago, and I know that he was hurt at not being allowed to +attend the conference. The others will watch him closely, but +they cannot overhear everything that passes between you two. Von +Behrling is a poor man. You will know how to make him wish he were +rich." + +Very slowly her eyebrows rose up. She looked at him doubtfully. + +"It is a slender chance, David," she remarked. "Von Behrling is a +little wild, I know, and he pretends to be very much in love with +me, but I do not think that he would sell his country. Then, too, +see how he will be watched. I do not suppose that they will leave +us alone for a moment." + +Bellamy took her hands in his, gripping them with almost unnatural +force. + +"Louise," he declared earnestly, "you don't quite realize Von +Behrling's special weakness and your extraordinary strength. You +know that you are beautiful, I suppose, but you do not quite know +what that means. I have heard men talk about you till one would +think that they were children. You have something of that art or +guile--call it what you will--which passes from you through a +man's blood to his brain, and carries him indeed to Heaven--but +carries him there mad. Louise, don't be angry with me for what I +say. Remember that I know my sex. I know you, too, and I trust +you, but you can turn Von Behrling from a sane, honorable man into +what you will, without suffering even his lips to touch your +fingers. Von Behrling has that packet in his possession. When I +come to see you in London, I will bring you twenty thousand pounds +in Bank of England notes. With that Von Behrling might fancy +himself on his way to America--with you." + +She closed her eyes for a moment. Perhaps she wished to keep hidden +from him the thoughts which chased one another through her brain. +He wished to make use of her--of her, the woman whom he loved. +Then she remembered that it was for her country and his, and the +anger passed. + +"But I am afraid," she said softly, "that the moment they reach +London this document will be taken to the Austrian Embassy." + +"Before then," Bellamy declared, "Von Behrling must not know whether +he is in heaven or upon earth. It will not be opened in London. +He can make up another packet to resemble precisely the one of which +he robbed Dorward. Oh! it is a difficult game, I know, but it is +worth playing. Remember, Louise, that we are not petty conspirators. +It is your country's very existence that is threatened. It is for +her sake as well as for England." + +"I shall do my best," she murmured, looking into his face. "Oh, +you may be sure that I shall do my best!" + +Bellamy raised her fingers to his lips and stole away. The electric +lamps had been turned out, but the morning was cloudy and the light +dim. Back in his own berth, he put his things together, ready to +leave at Munich. Then he rang for the porter. + +"I am getting out at the next stop," he announced. + +"Very good, Monsieur," the man answered. + +Bellamy looked at him closely. + +"You are a Frenchman?" + +"It is so, Monsieur!" + +"I may be wrong," Bellamy continued slowly, "but I believe that if +I asked you a question and it concerned some Germans and Austrians +you would tell me the truth." + +The man's gesture was inimitable. Englishmen to him were obviously +the salt of the earth. Germans and Austrians--why, they existed +as the cattle in the fields--nothing more. Bellamy gave him a +sovereign. + +"There were three Austrians who got in at Vienna," he said. "They +are in numbers ten and eleven." + +"But yes, Monsieur!" the man assented. "As yet I think they are +fast asleep. Not one of them has rung for his coffee." + +"Where are they booked for?" + +"For London, Monsieur." + +"You do not happen," Bellamy continued, "to have heard them say +anything about leaving the train before then?" + +"On the contrary, sir," the porter answered, "two of the gentlemen +have been inquiring about the boat across to Dover. They were very +anxious to travel by a turbine." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Thank you very much. You will be so discreet as to forget that I +have asked you any questions concerning them. As for me, if one +would know, I am on my way to Berlin." + +The bell rang. The man looked outside and put his head once more +in Bellamy's coupe. + +"It is one of the gentleman who has rung," he declared. "If +anything is said about leaving the train, I shall report it at once +to Monsieur." + +"You will do well," Bellamy answered. + +The porter returned in a few moments. + +"Two of the gentlemen, sir," he announced, "are undressed and in +their pyjamas. They have ordered their breakfast to be served after +we leave Munich." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Further, sir," the man continued, coming a little closer, "one of +them asked me whether the English gentleman--meaning you--was +going through to London or not. I told them that you were getting +out at the next station and that I thought you were going to Berlin." + +"Quite right," Bellamy said. "If they ask any more questions, let +me know." + +Mademoiselle Idiale, with the aid of one of the two maids who were +traveling with her, was able to make a sufficiently effective +toilette. At a few minutes before the time for luncheon, she walked +down the corridor and recognized Von Behrling, who was sitting with +his companions in one of the compartments. + +"Ah, it is indeed you, then!" she exclaimed, smiling at him. + +He rose to his feet and came out. Tall, with a fair moustache and +blue eyes, he was often taken for an Englishman and was inclined to +be proud of the fact. + +"You have rested well, I trust, Mademoiselle?" he asked, bowing low +over her fingers. + +"Excellently," replied Louise. "Will you not take me in to luncheon? +The car is full of men and I am not comfortable alone. It is not +pleasant, either, to eat with one's maids." + +"I am honored," he declared. "Will you permit me for one moment?" + +He turned and spoke to his companions. Louise saw at once that they +were protesting vigorously. She saw, too, that Von Behrling only +became more obstinate and that he was very nearly angry. She moved +a few steps on down the corridor, and stood looking out of the +window. He joined her almost immediately. + +"Come," he said, "they will be serving luncheon in five minutes. +We will go and take a good place." + +"Your friends, I am afraid," she remarked, "did not like your +leaving them. They are not very gallant." + +"To me it is indifferent," he answered, fiercely twirling his +moustache. "Streuss there is an old fool. He has always some +fancy in his brain." + +Louise raised her eyebrows slightly. + +"You are your own master, I suppose," she said. "The Baron is +used to command his policemen, and sometimes he forgets. There are +many people who find him too autocratic." + +"He means well," Von Behrling asserted. "It is his manner only +which is against him." + +They found a comfortable table, and she sat smiling at him across +the white cloth. + +"If this is not Sachers," she said, "it is at least more pleasant +than lunching alone." + +"I can assure you, Mademoiselle," he declared, with a vigorous +twirl of his moustache, "that I find it so." + +"Always gallant," she murmured. "Tell me, is it true of you--the +news which I heard just before I left Vienna? Have you really +resigned your post with the Chancellor?" + +"You heard that?" he asked slowly. + +She hesitated for a moment. + +"I heard something of the sort," she admitted. "To be quite candid +with you, I think it was reported that the Chancellor was making a +change on his own account." + +"So that is what they say, is it? What do they know about it--these +gossipers?" + +"You were not allowed at the conference yesterday," she remarked. + +"No one was allowed there, so that goes for nothing." + +"Ah! well," she said, looking meditatively out upon the landscape, +"a year ago the thought of that conference would have driven me +wild. I should not have been content until I had learned somehow +or other what had transpired. Lately, I am afraid, my interest in +my country seems to have grown a trifle cold. Perhaps because I +have lived in Vienna I have learned to look at things from your +point of view. Then, too, the world is a selfish place, and our own +little careers are, after all, the most important part of it." + +Von Behrling eyed her Curiously. + +"It seems strange to hear you talk like this," he remarked. + +She looked out of the window for a moment. + +"Oh! I still love my country, in a way," she answered, "and I still +hate all Austrians, in a way, but it is not as it used to be with +me, I must admit. If we had two lives, I would give one to my +country and keep one for myself. Since we have only one, I am +afraid, after all, that I am human, and I want to taste some of its +pleasures." + +"Some of its pleasures," Von Behrling repeated, a little gloomily. +"Ah, that is easy enough for you, Mademoiselle!" + +"Not so easy as it may appear," she answered. "One needs many +things to get the best out of life. One needs wealth and one needs +love, and one needs them while one is young, while one can enjoy." + +"It is true," Von Behrling admitted,--"quite true." + +"If one is not careful," she continued, "one lets the years slip by. +They can never come again. If one does not live while one is young, +there is no other chance." + +Von Behrling assented with renewed gloom. He was twenty-five years +old, and his income barely paid for his uniforms. Of late, this +fact had materially interfered with his enjoyments. + +"It is strange," he said, "that you should talk like this. You have +the world at your feet, Mademoiselle. You have only to throw the +handkerchief." + +Her lips parted in a dazzling smile. The bluest eyes in the world +grew softer as they looked into his. Von Behrling felt his cheeks +burn. + +"My friend, it is not so easy," she murmured. "Tell me," she +continued, "why it is that you have so little self-confidence. Is +it because you are poor?" + +"I am a beggar,"--bitterly. + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Well," she said, glancing down the menu which the waiter had brought, +"if you are poor and content to remain so, one must presume that you +have compensations." + +"But I have none!" he declared. "You should know that--you, +Mademoiselle. Life for me means one thing and one thing only!" + +She looked at him, for a moment, and down upon the tablecloth. Von +Behrling shook like a man in the throes of some great passion. + +"We talk too intimately," she whispered, as the people began to file +in to take their places. "After luncheon we will take our coffee +in my coupe. Then, if you like, we will speak of these matters. I +have a headache. Will you order me some champagne? It is a terrible +thing, I know, to drink wine in the morning, but when one travels, +what can one do? Here come your bodyguard. They look at me as +though I had stolen you away. Remember we take our coffee together +afterwards. I am bored with so much traveling, and I look to you +to amuse me." + +Von Behrling's journey was, after all, marked with sharp contrasts. +The kindness of the woman whom he adored was sufficient in itself +to have transported him into a seventh heaven. On the other hand, +he had trouble with his friends. Streuss drew him on one side at +Ostend, and talked to him plainly. + +"Von Behrling," he said, "I speak to you on behalf of Kahn and +myself. Wine and women and pleasure are good things. We two, we +love them, perhaps, as you do, but there is a place and a time for +them, and it is not now. Our mission is too serious." + +"Well, well!" Von Behrling exclaimed impatiently, "what is all this? +What do I do wrong? What have you to say against me? If I talk +with Mademoiselle Idiale, it is because it is the natural thing for +me to do. Would you have us three--you and Kahn and myself--travel +arm in arm and speak never a word to our fellow passengers? Would +you have us proclaim to all the world that we are on a secret +mission, carrying a secret document, to obtain which we have already +committed a crime? These are old-fashioned methods, Streuss. It +is better that we behave like ordinary mortals. You talk foolishly, +Streuss!" + +"It is you," the older man declared, "who play the fool, and we will +not have it! Mademoiselle Idiale is a Servian and a patriot. She +is the friend, too, of Bellamy, the Englishman. She and he were +together last night." + +"Bellamy is not even on the train," Von Behrling protested. "He +went north to Berlin. That itself is the proof that they know +nothing. If he had had the merest suspicion, do you not think that +he would have stayed with us?" + +"Bellamy is very clever," Streuss answered. "There are too many of +us to deal with,--he knew that. Mademoiselle Idiale is clever, +too. Remember that half the trouble in life has come about through +false women. + +"What is it that you want?" Von Behrling demanded. + +"That you travel the rest of the way with us, and speak no more with +Mademoiselle." + +Von Behrling drew himself up. After all, it was he who was noble; +Streuss was little more than a policeman. + +"I refuse!" he exclaimed. "Let me remind you, Streuss, that I am +in charge of this expedition. It was I who planned it. It was I"--he +dropped his voice and touched his chest--"who struck the +first blow for its success. I think that we need talk no more," he +went on. "I welcome your companionship. It makes for strength +that we travel together. But for the rest, the enterprise has been +mine, the success so far has been mine, and the termination of it +shall be mine. Watch me, if you like. Stay with me and see that +I am not robbed, if you fear that I am not able to take care of +myself, but do not ask me to behave like an idiot." + +Von Behrling stepped away quickly. The siren was already blowing +from the steamer. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED + + +The night was dark but fine, and the crossing smooth. Louise, +wrapped in furs, abandoned her private cabin directly they had left +the harbor, and had a chair placed on the upper deck. Von Behrling +found her there, but not before they were nearly half-way across. +She beckoned him to her side. Her eyes glowed at him through the +darkness. + +"You are not looking after me, my friend," she declared. "By myself +I had to find this place." + +Von Behrling was ruffled. He was also humbly apologetic. + +"It is those idiots who are with me," he said. "All the time they +worry." + +She laughed and drew him down so that she could whisper in his ear. + +"I know what it is," she said. "You have secrets which you are +taking to London, and they are afraid of me because I am a Servian. +Tell me, is it not so? Perhaps, even, they think that I am a spy." + +Von Behrling hesitated. She drew him closer towards her. + +"Sit down on the deck," she continued, "and lean against the rail. +You are too big to talk to up there. So! Now you can come +underneath my rug. Tell me, are they afraid of me, your friends?" + +"Is it without reason?" he asked. "Would not any one be afraid of +you--if, indeed, they believed that you wished to know our secrets? +I wonder if there is a man alive whom you could not turn round your +little finger." + +She laughed at him softly. + +"Ah, no!" she said. "Men are not like that, nowadays. They talk +and they talk, but it is not much they would do for a woman's sake." + +"You believe that?" he asked, in a low tone. + +"I do, indeed. One reads love-stories--no, I do not mean romances, +but memoirs--memoirs of the French and Austrian Courts--memoirs, +even, written by Englishmen. Men were different a generation ago. +Honor was dear to them then, honor and position and wealth, and yet +there were many, very many then who were willing to give all these +things for the love of a woman. + +"And do you think there are none now?" he whispered hoarsely. + +"My friend," she answered, looking down at him, "I think that there +are very few." + +She heard his breath come fast between his teeth, and she realized +his state of excitement. + +"Mademoiselle Louise," he said, "my love for you has made me a +laughing-stock in the clubs of Vienna. I--the poverty-stricken, +who have nothing but a noble name, nothing to offer you--have dared +to show others what I think, have dared to place you in my heart +above all the women on earth." + +"It is very nice of you," she murmured. "Why do you tell me this +now?" + +"Why, indeed?" he answered. "What have I to hope for?" + +She looked along the deck. Not a dozen yards away, two cigar ends +burned red through the gloom. She knew very well that those cigar +ends belonged to Streuss and his friend. She laughed softly and +once more she bent her head. + +"How they watch you, those men!" she said. "Listen, my friend +Rudolph. Supposing their fears were true, supposing I were really +a spy, supposing I offered you wealth and with it whatever else +you might claim from me, for the secret which you carry to England!" + +"How do you know that I am carrying a secret?" he asked hoarsely. + +She laughed. + +"My friend," she said, "with your two absurd companions shadowing +you all the time and glowering at me, how could one possibly doubt +it? The Baron Streuss is, I believe, the Chief of your Secret +Service Department, is he not? To me he seems the most obvious +policeman I ever saw dressed as a gentleman." + +"You don't mean it!" he muttered. "You can't mean what you said +just now!" + +She was silent for a few moments. Some one passing struck a match, +and she caught a glimpse of the white face of the man who sat by +her side--strained now and curiously intense. + +"Supposing I did!" + +"You must be mad!" he declared. "You must not talk to me like this, +Mademoiselle. I have no secret. It is your humor, I know, but it +is dangerous." + +"There is no danger," she murmured, "for we are alone. I say again, +Rudolph, supposing this were true?" + +His hand passed across his forehead. She fancied that he made a +motion as though to rise to his feet, but she laid her hand upon his. + +"Stay here," she whispered. "No, I do not wish to drive you away. +Now you are here you shall listen to me." + +"But you are not in earnest!" he faltered. "Don't tell me that you +are in earnest. It is treason. I am Rudolph Von Behrling, +Secretary to the Chancellor." + +Again she leaned towards him so that he could see into her eyes. + +"Rudolph," she said, "you are indeed Rudolph Von Behrling, you are +indeed the Chancellor's secretary. What do you gain from it? A +pittance! Many hours work a day and a pittance. What have you to +look forward to? A little official life, a stupid official position. +Rudolph, here am I, and there is the world. Do I not represent +other things?" + +"God knows you do!" he muttered. + +"I, too, am weary of singing. I want a long rest--a long rest and +a better name than my own. Don't shrink away from me. It isn't so +wonderful, after all. Bellamy, the Englishman, came to me a few +hours ago. He was Dorward's friend. He knew well what Dorward +carried. It was not his affair, he told me, and interposition from +him was hopeless, but he knew that you and I were friends." + +"You must stop!" Von Behrling declared. "You must stop! I must +not listen to this!" + +"He offered me twenty thousand pounds," she went on, "for the packet +in your pocket. Think of that, my friend. It would be a start in +life, would it not? I am an extravagant woman. Even if I would, I +dared not think of a poor man. But twenty thousand pounds is +sufficient. When I reach London, I am going to a flat which has +been waiting for me for weeks--15, Dover Street. If you bring that +packet to me instead of taking it to the Austrian Embassy, there +will be twenty thousand pounds and--" + +Her fingers suddenly held his. She could almost hear his heart +beating. Her eyes, by now accustomed to the gloom, could see the +tumult which was passing within the man, reflected in his face. +She whispered a warning under her breath. The two cigar ends had +moved nearer. The forms of the two men were now distinct. One was +leaning over the side of the ship by Von Behrling's side. The other +stood a few feet away, gazing at the lights of Dover. Von Behrling +staggered to his feet. He said something in an angry undertone to +Streuss. Louise rose and shook out her furs. + +"My friend," she said, turning to Von Behrling, "if your friends can +spare you so long, will you fetch one of my maids? You will find +them both in my cabin, number three. I wish to walk for a few +moments before we arrive." + +Von Behrling turned away like a man in a dream. Mademoiselle Idiale +followed him slowly, and behind her came Von Behrling's companions. + + +The details of the great singer's journey had been most carefully +planned by an excited manager who had received the telegram +announcing her journey to London. There was an engaged carriage at +Dover, into which she was duly escorted by a representative of the +Opera Syndicate, who had been sent down from London to receive her. +Von Behrling seemed to be missing. She had seen nothing of him +since he had descended to summon her maids. But just as the train +was starting, she heard the sound of angry voices, and a moment +later his white face was pressed through the open window of the +carriage. + +"Louise," he muttered, "I am on fire! I cannot talk to you! I fear +that they suspect something. They have told me that if I travel +with you they will force their way in. Even now, Streuss comes. +Listen for your telephone to-night or whenever I can. I must +think--I must think!" + +He passed on, and Louise, leaning back in her seat, closed her eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +"WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES" + + +Bellamy, travel-stained and weary, arrived at his rooms at two +o'clock on the following afternoon to find amongst a pile of +correspondence a penciled message awaiting him in a handwriting he +knew well. He tore open the envelope. + + +DAVID DEAR,--I have just arrived and I am sending you these few +lines at once. As to what progress I have made, I cannot say for +certain, but there is a chance. You had better get the money ready +and come to me here. If R. could only escape from Streuss and +those who watch him all the time, I should be quite sure, but they +are suspicious. What may happen I cannot tell. I do my best and +I have hated it. Get the money ready and come to me. + + LOUISE. + + +Bellamy drew a little breath and tore the note into pieces. Then +he rang for his servant. "A bath and some clean clothes quickly," +he ordered. "While I am changing, ring up Downing Street and see +if Sir James is there. If not, find out exactly where he is. I +must see him within half an hour. Afterwards, get me a taxicab." + +The man obeyed with the swift efficiency of the thoroughly trained +servant. In rather less than the time which he had stated, Bellamy +had left his rooms. Before four o'clock he had arrived at the +address which Louise had given him. A commissionaire telephoned his +name to the first floor, and in a very few moments a pale-faced +French man-servant, in sombre black livery, descended and bowed to +Bellamy. + +"Monsieur will be so good as to come this way," he directed. + +Bellamy followed him into the lift, which stopped at the first +floor. He was ushered into a small boudoir, already smothered with +roses. + +"Mademoiselle will be here immediately," the man announced. "She is +engaged with a gentleman from the Opera, but she will leave him to +receive Monsieur." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Pray let Mademoiselle understand," he said, "that I am entirely at +her service. My time is of no consequence." + +The man bowed and withdrew. Louise came to him almost directly from +an inner chamber. She was wearing a loose gown, but the fatigue of +her journey seemed already to have passed away. Her eyes were +bright, and a faint color glowed in her cheeks. + +"David," she exclaimed, "thank Heaven that you are here!" + +She took both his hands and held them for a moment. Then she walked +to the door, made sure that it was securely fastened, and stood +there listening for a moment. + +"I suppose I am foolish," she said, coming back to him, "and yet I +cannot help fancying that I am being watched on every side since we +landed in England. I detest my new manager, and I don't trust any +of the servants he has engaged for me. You got my note?" + +"Yes," he answered, "I had your note--and I am here." + +The restraint of his manner was obvious. He was standing a little +away from her. She came suddenly up to him, her hands fell upon +his shoulders, her face was upturned to his. Even then he made no +motion to embrace her. + +"David," she whispered softly, "what I am doing--what I have done--was +at your suggestion. I do it for you, I do it for my country, +I do it against every natural feeling I possess. I hate and loathe +the lies I tell. Are you remembering that? Is it in your heart at +this moment?" + +He stooped and kissed her. + +"Forgive me," he said, "it is I who am to blame, but I am only human. +We play for great stakes, Louise, but sometimes one forgets." + +"As I live," she murmured, "the kiss you gave me last is still upon +my lips. What I have promised goes for nothing. What he has +promised is this--the papers to-night." + +"Unopened?" + +"Unopened," she repeated, softly. + +"But how is it to be done?" Bellamy asked. "He must have arrived +in London when you did last night. How is it they are not already +at the Embassy?" + +"The Ambassador was commanded to Cowes," she explained. "He cannot +be back until late to-night. No one else has a key to the treaty +safe, and Von Behrling declined to give up the document to any one +save the Ambassador himself." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"What about Streuss?" + +"Streuss and the others are all furious," Louise said. "Yet, after +all, Behrling has a certain measure of right on his side. His +orders were to see with his own eyes this envelope deposited in the +safe by the Ambassador himself." + +"He returns to-night!" Bellamy exclaimed quickly. + +She nodded. + +"Before he comes," she declared, "I think that the document will be +in your hands." + +"How is it to be done?" + +"The report is written," she explained, "on five pages of foolscap. +They are contained in a long envelope, scaled with the Chancellor's +crest. Von Behrling, being one of the family, has the same crest. +He has prepared another envelope, the same size and weight, and +signed it with his seal. It is this which he will hand over to the +Ambassador if he should return unexpectedly. The real one he has +concealed." + +"Is he here?" Bellamy inquired. + +"Thank Heavens, no!" she answered. "My dear David, what are you +thinking of? He is not here and he dare not come here. You are to +go to your rooms," she added, glancing at the clock, "and between +five and six o'clock this evening you will be rung up on the +telephone. A rendezvous will be given you for later on to-night. +You must take the money there and receive the packet. Von Behrling +will be disguised and prepared for flight." + +Bellamy's eyes glowed. + +"You believe this?" he exclaimed. + +"I believe it," she replied. "He is going to do it. After he has +seen you, he will make his way to Plymouth. I have promised--don't +look at me, David--I have promised to join him there." + +Bellamy was grave. + +"There will be trouble," he said. "He will come back. He will want +to shoot you. He may be slow-witted in some things, but he is +passionate." + +"Am I a coward?" she asked, with a scornful laugh. "Have I ever +shown fear of my life? No, David! It is not that of which I am +afraid. It is the memory of the man's touch, it is the look which +was in your face when you came into the room. These are the things +I fear--not death." + +Bellamy drew her into his arms and kissed her. + +"Forgive me," he begged. "At such times a man is a weak thing--a +weak and selfish thing. I am ashamed of myself. I should have +known better than to have doubted you for a moment. I know you so +well, Louise. I know what you are." + +She smiled. + +"Dear," she said, "you have made me happy. And now you must go away. +Remember that these few minutes are only an interlude. Over here I +am Mademoiselle Idiale who sings to-night at Covent Garden. See my +roses. There are two rooms full of reporters and photographers in +the place now. The leader of the orchestra is in my bedroom, and +two of the directors are drinking whiskies and sodas with this new +manager of mine in the dining-room. Between five and six o'clock +this afternoon you will get the message. It is somewhere, I think, +in the city that you will have to go. There will be no trouble +about the money? Nothing but notes or gold will be of any use." + +"I have it in my pocket," he answered. "I have it in notes, but he +need never fear that they will be traced. The numbers of notes +given for Secret Service purposes are expunged from every one's +memory." + +She drew a little sigh. + +"It is a great sum," she said. "After all, he should be grateful +to me. If only he would be sensible and get away to the United +States or to South America! He could live there like a prince, +poor fellow. He would be far happier." + +"I only hope that he will go," Bellamy agreed. "There is one thing +to be remembered. If he does not go, if he stays for twenty-four +hours in this country, I do not believe that he will live to do you +harm. The men who are with him are not the sort to stop short at +trifles. Besides Streuss and Kahn, they have a regular army of +spies at their bidding here. If they find out that he has tricked +them, they will hunt him down, and before long." + +Louise shivered. + +"Oh, I hope," she exclaimed, "that he gets away! He is a traitor, +of course, but he is a traitor to a hateful cause, and, after all, +I think it is less for the money than for my sake that he does it. +That sounds very conceited, I suppose," she added, with a faint +smile. "Ah! well, you see, for five years so many have been trying +to turn my head. No wonder if I begin to believe some of their +stories. David, I must go. I must not keep Dr. Henschell waiting +any longer." + +"To-morrow," he said, "to-morrow early I shall come. I am afraid +I shall miss your first appearance in England, Louise." + +The sound of a violin came floating out from the inner room. + +"That is my signal," she declared smiling. "De. Henschell was +almost beside himself that I came away. I come, Doctor," she called +out. "David, good fortune!" she added, giving him her hands. "Now +go, dear." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE + + +Between the two men, seated opposite each other in the large but +somewhat barely furnished office, the radical differences, both in +appearance and mannerisms, perhaps, also, in disposition, had never +been more strongly evident. They were partners in business and face +to face with ruin. Stephen Laverick, senior member of the firm, +although an air of steadfast gloom had settled upon his clean-cut, +powerful countenance, retained even in despair something of that +dogged composure, temperamental and wholly British, which had served +him well along the road to fortune. Arthur Morrison, the man who +sat on the other side of the table, a Jew to his finger-tips +notwithstanding his altered name, sat like a broken thing, with +tears in his terrified eyes, disordered hair, and parchment-pale +face. Words had flown from his lips in a continual stream. He +floundered in his misery, sobbed about it like a child. The hand +of misfortune had stripped him naked, and one man, at least, saw +him as he really was. + +"I can't stand it, Laverick,--I couldn't face them all. It's too +cruel--too horrible! Eighteen thousand pounds gone in one week, +forty thousand in a month! Forty thousand pounds! Oh, my God!" + +He writhed in agony. The man on the other side of the table said +nothing. + +"If we could only have held on a little longer! 'Unions' must turn! +They will turn! Laverick, have you tried all your friends? Think! +Have you tried them all? Twenty thousand pounds would see us through +it. We should get our own money back--I am sure of it. There's +Rendell, Laverick. He'd do anything for you. You're always shooting +or playing cricket with him. Have you asked him, Laverick? He'd +never miss the money." + +"You and I see things differently, Morrison," Laverick answered. +"Nothing would induce me to borrow money from a friend." + +"But at a time like this," Morrison pleaded passionately. "Every +one does it sometimes. He'd be glad to help you. I know he would. +Have you ever thought what it will be like, Laverick, to be +hammered?" + +"I have," Laverick admitted wearily. "God knows it seems as +terrible a thing to me as it can to you! But if we go down, we +must go down with clean hands. I've no faith in your infernal +market, and not one penny will I borrow from a friend." + +The Jew's face was almost piteous. He stretched himself across the +table. There were genuine tears in his eyes. + +"Laverick," he said, "old man, you're wrong. I know you think I've +been led away. I've taken you out of our depth, but the only +trouble has been that we haven't had enough capital, and no backing. +Those who stand up will win. They will make money." + +"Unfortunately," Laverick remarked, "we cannot stand up. Please +understand that I will not discuss this matter with you in any way. +I will not borrow money from Rendell or any friend. I have asked +the bank and I have asked Pages, who will be our largest creditors. +To help us would simply be a business proposition, so far as they +are concerned. As you know, they have refused. If you see any hope +in that direction, why don't you try some of your own friends? For +every one man I know in the House, you have seemed to be bosom +friends with at least twenty." + +Morrison groaned. + +"Those I know are not that sort of friend," he answered. "They will +drink with you and spend a night out or a week-end at Brighton, but +they do not lend money. If they would, do you think I would mind +asking? Why, I would go on my knees to any man who would lend us +the money. I would even kiss his feet. I cannot bear it, Laverick! +I cannot! I cannot!" + +Laverick said nothing. Words were useless things, wasted upon such +a creature. He eyed his partner with a contempt which he took no +pains to conceal. This, then, was the smart young fellow recommended +to him on all sides, a few years ago, as one of the shrewdest young +men in his own particular department, a person bound to succeed, a +money-maker if ever there was one! Laverick thought of him as he +appeared at the office day by day, glossy and immaculately dressed, +with a flower in his buttonhole, boots that were a trifle too shiny, +hat and coat, gloves and manner, all imitation but all very near the +real thing. What a collapse! + +"You're going to stay and see it through?" he whined across the table. + +"Certainly," Laverick answered. + +The young man buried his face in his hands. + +"I can't! I can't!" he moaned. "I couldn't bear seeing all the +fellows, hearing them whisper things--oh, Lord! Oh, Lord!... +Laverick, we've a few hundreds left. Give me something and let me +out of it. You're a stronger sort of man than I am. You can face +it,--I can't! Give me enough to get abroad with, and if ever I +do any good I'll remember it, I will indeed." + +Laverick was silent for a moment. His companion watched his face +eagerly. After all, why not let him go? He was no help, no comfort. +The very sight of him was contemptible. + +"I have paid no money into the bank for several days," Laverick said +slowly. "When they refused to help us, it was, of course, obvious +that they guessed how things were." + +"Quite right, quite right!" the young man interrupted feverishly. +"They would have stuck to it against the overdraft. How much have +we got in the safe?" + +"This afternoon," Laverick continued, "I changed all our cheques. +You can count the proceeds for yourself. There are, I think, eleven +hundred pounds. You can take two hundred and fifty, and you can take +them with you--to any place you like." + +The young man was already at the safe. The notes were between them, +on the table. He counted quickly with the fingers of a born +manipulator of money. When he had gathered up two hundred and fifty +pounds, Laverick's hand fell upon his. + +"No more," he ordered sternly. + +"But, my dear fellow," Morrison protested, "half of eleven hundred +is five hundred and fifty. Why should we not go halves? That is +only fair, Laverick. It is little enough. We ought to have had a +great deal more." + +Laverick pushed him contemptuously away and locked up the remainder +of the notes. + +"I am letting you take two hundred and fifty pounds of this money," +he said, "for various reasons. For one, I can bear this thing +better alone. As for the rest of the money, it remains there for +the accountant who liquidates our affairs. I do not propose to +touch a penny of it." + +The young man buttoned up his coat with an hysterical little laugh. +Such ways were not his ways. They were not, indeed, within the +limit of his understanding. But of his partner he had learned one +thing, at least. The word of Stephen Laverick was the word of truth. +He shambled toward the door. On the whole, he was lucky to have +got the two hundred and fifty pounds. + +"So long, Laverick," he said from the door. "I'm--I'm sorry." + +It was characteristic of him that he did not venture to offer his +hand. Laverick nodded, not unkindly. After all, this young man was +as he had been made. + +"I wish you good luck, Morrison," he said. "Try South Africa." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ROBBING THE DEAD + + +The roar of the day was long since over. The rattle of vehicles, +the tinkling of hansom bells, the tooting of horns from motor-cars +and cabs, the ceaseless tramp of footsteps, all had died away. +Outside, the streets were almost deserted. An occasional wayfarer +passed along the flagged pavement with speedy footsteps. Here and +there a few lights glimmered at the windows of some of the larger +blocks of offices. The bustle of the day was finished. There is +no place in London so strangely quiet as the narrow thoroughfares +of the city proper when the hour approaches midnight. + +Laverick, who since his partner's departure had been studying with +infinite care his private ledger, closed it at last with a little +snap and leaned back in his chair. After all, save that he had got +rid of Morrison, it had been a wasted evening. Not even he, whose +financial astuteness no man had ever questioned, could raise from +those piles of figures any other answer save the one inevitable +one, the knowledge of which had been like a black nightmare stalking +by his side for the last thirty-six hours. One by one during the +evening his clerks had left him, and it was a proof not only of his +wonderful self-control but also of the confidence which he invariably +inspired, that not a single one of them had the slightest idea how +things were. Not a soul knew that the firm of Laverick & Morrison +was already practically derelict, that they had on the morrow +twenty-five thousand pounds to find, neither credit nor balance at +their bankers, and eight hundred and fifty pounds in the safe. + +Laverick, haggard from his long vigil, locked up his books at last, +turned out the lights, and locking the doors behind him walked into +the silent street. Instinctively he turned his steps westwards. +This might well be the last night on which he would care to show +himself in his accustomed haunts, the last night on which he could +mix with his fellows freely, and without that terrible sense of +consciousness which follows upon disaster. Already there was little +enough left of it. It was too late to change and go to his club. +The places of amusement were already closed. To-morrow night, both +club and theatres would lie outside his world. He walked slowly, +yet he had scarcely taken, in fact, a dozen steps when, with a +purely mechanical impulse, he paused by a stone-flagged entry to +light a cigarette. It was a passage, almost a tunnel for a few +yards, leading to an open space, on one side of which was an old +churchyard--strange survival in such a part--and on the other +the offices of several firms of stockbrokers, a Russian banker, +an actuary. It was the barest of impulses which led him to glance +up the entry before he blew out the match. Then he gave a quick +start and became for a moment paralyzed. Within a few feet of him +something was lying on the ground--a dark mass, black and soft--the +body of a man, perhaps. Just above it, a pair of eyes gleamed +at him through the semi-darkness. + +Laverick at first had no thought of tragedy. It might be a tramp +or a drunkard, perhaps,--a fight, or a man taken ill. Then +something sinister about the light of those burning eyes set his +heart beating faster. He struck another match with firm fingers, +and bent forward. What he saw upon the ground made him feel a +little sick. What he saw racing away down the passage prompted him +to swift pursuit. Down the arched court into the open space he ran, +himself an athlete, but mocked by the swiftness of the shadowlike +form which he pursued. At the end was another street--empty. He +looked up and down, seeking in vain for any signs of life. There +was nothing to tell him which way to turn. Opposite was a very +labyrinth of courts and turnings. There was not even the sound of +a footfall to guide him. Slowly he retraced his steps, lit another +match, and leaned over the prostrate figure. Then he knew that it +was a tragedy indeed upon which he had stumbled. + +The man was dead, and he had met with his death by unusual means. +These were the first two things of which Laverick assured himself. +Without any doubt, a savage and a terrible crime had been committed. +A hornhandled knife of unusual length had been driven up to the hilt +through the heart of the murdered man. There had been other blows, +notably about the head. There was not much blood, but the position +of the knife alone told its ugly story. Laverick, though his nerves +were of the strongest, felt his head swim as he looked. He rose to +his feet and walked to the opening of the passage, gasping. The +street was no longer empty. + +About thirty yards away, looking westwards, a man was standing in +the middle of the road. The light from the lamp-post escaped his +face. Laverick could only see that he was slim, of medium height, +dressed in dark clothes, with his hands in the pockets of his +overcoat. To all appearance, he was watching the entry. Laverick +took a step towards him--the man as deliberately took a step further +away. Laverick held up his hand. + +"Hullo!" he called out, and beckoned. + +The person addressed took no notice. Laverick advanced another two +or three steps--the man retreated a similar distance. Laverick +changed his tactics and made a sudden spring forward. The man +hesitated no longer--he turned and ran as though for his life. In +a few minutes he was round the corner of the street and out of sight. +Laverick returned slowly to the entry. + +A distant clock struck midnight. A couple of clerks came along the +pavement on the other side, their hands and arms full of letters. +Laverick hesitated. He was never afterwards able to account for the +impulse which prevented his calling out to them. Instead he lurked +in the shadows and watched them go by. When he was sure that they +had disappeared, he bent once more over the body of the murdered +man. Already that huddled-up heap was beginning to exercise a +nameless and terrible fascination for him. His first feelings of +horror were mingled now with an insatiable curiosity. What manner +of man was he? He was tall and strongly built; fair--of almost +florid complexion. His clothes were very shabby and apparently +ready-made. His moustache was upturned, and his hair was trimmed +closer than is the custom amongst Englishmen. Laverick stooped +lower and lower until he found himself almost on his knees. There +was something projecting from the man's pocket as though it had been +half snatched out--a large portfolio of brown leather, almost the +size of a satchel. Laverick drew it out, holding it in one hand +whilst with firm fingers he struck another match. Then, for the +first time, a little cry broke from his lips. Both sides of the +pocket-book were filled with bank-notes. As his match flickered +out, he caught a glimpse of the figures in the left-hand corner--500 +pounds!--great rolls of them! Laverick rose gasping to his +feet. It was a new Arabian Nights, this!--a dream!--a continuation +of the nightmare which had threatened him all day! Or was it, +perhaps, the madness coming--the madness which he had begun only +an hour or so ago to fear! + +He walked into the gaslit streets and looked up and down. The +mysterious stranger had vanished. There was not a soul in sight. +He clutched the rough stone wall with his hands, he kicked the +pavement with his heels. There was no doubt about it--everything +around him was real. Most real of all was the fact that within a +few feet of him lay a murdered man, and that in his hands was that +brown leather pocket-book with its miraculous contents. For the +last time Laverick retraced his steps and bent over that huddled-up +shape. One by one he went through the other pockets. There was a +packet of Russian cigarettes; an empty card-case of chased silver, +and obviously of foreign workmanship; a cigarette holder stained +with much use, but of the finest amber, with rich gold mountings. +There was nothing else upon the dead man, no means of identification +of any sort. Laverick stood up, giddy, half terrified with the +thoughts that went tearing through his brain. The pocket-book began +to burn his hand; he felt the perspiration breaking out anew upon +his forehead. Yet he never hesitated. He walked like a man in a +dream, but his footsteps were steady and short. Deliberately, and +without any sign of hurry, he made his way towards his offices. If +a policeman had come in sight up or down the street, he had decided +to call him and to acquaint him with what had happened. It was the +one chance he held against himself,--the gambler's method of +decision, perhaps, unconsciously arrived at. As it turned out, there +was still not a soul in sight. Laverick opened the outer door with +his latchkey, let himself in and closed it. Then he groped his way +through the clerk's office into his own room, switched on the +electric light and once more sat down before his desk. + +He drew his shaded writing lamp towards him and looked around with +a nervousness wholly unfamiliar. Then he opened the pocket-book, +drew out the roll of bank-notes and counted them. It was curious +that he felt no surprise at their value. Bank-notes for five +hundred pounds are not exactly common, and yet he proceeded with +his task without the slightest instinct of surprise. Then he leaned +back in his chair. Twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes! +There they lay on the table before him. A man had died for their +sake,--another must go through all the days with the price of blood +upon his head--a murderer--a haunted creature for the rest of his +life. And there on the table were the spoils. Laverick tried to +think the matter out dispassionately. He was a man of average moral +fibre--that is to say, he was honest in his dealings with other +men because his father and his grandfather before him had been +honest, and because the penalty for dishonesty was shameful. Here, +however, he was face to face with an altogether unusual problem. +These notes belonged, without a doubt, to the dead man. Save for +his own interference, they would have been in the hands of his +murderer. The use of them for a few days could do no one any harm. +Such risk as there was he took himself. That it was a risk he knew +and fully realized. Laverick had sat in his place unmoved when his +partner had poured out his wail of fear and misery. Yet of the two +men it was probable that Laverick himself had felt their position +the more keenly. He was a man of some social standing, with a +large circle of friends; a sportsman, and with many interests +outside the daily routine of his city life. To him failure meant +more than the loss of money; it would rob him of everything in life +worth having. The days to come had been emptied of all promise. +He had held himself stubbornly because he was a man, because he had +strength enough to refuse to let his mind dwell upon the indignities +and humiliation to come. And here before him was possible salvation. +There was a price to be paid, of course, a risk to be run in making +use even for an hour of this money. Yet from the first he had known +that he meant to do it. + +Quite cool now, he opened his private safe, thrust the pocket-book +into one of the drawers, and locked it up. Then he lit a cigarette, +finally shut up the office and walked down the street. As he passed +the entry he turned his head slowly. Apparently no one had been +there, nothing had been disturbed. Straining his eyes through the +darkness, he could even see that dark shape still lying huddled up +on the ground. Then he walked on. He had burned his boats now and +was prepared for all emergencies. At the corner he met a policeman, +to whom he wished a cheery good-night. He told himself that the +thing which he had done was for the best. He owed it to himself. +He owed it to those who had trusted him. After all, it was the +chief part of his life--his city career. It was here that his +friends lived. It was here that his ambitions flourished. Disgrace +here was eternal disgrace. His father and his grandfather before +him had been men honored and respected in this same circle. Disgrace +to him, such disgrace as that with which he had stood face to face a +few hours ago, would have been, in a certain sense, a reflection +upon their memories. The names upon the brass plates to right and +to left of him were the names of men he knew, men with whom he +desired to stand well, whose friendship or contempt made life worth +living or the reverse. It was worth a great risk--this effort of +his to keep his place. His one mistake--this association with +Morrison--had been such an unparalleled stroke of bad luck. He +was rid of the fellow now. For the future there should be no more +partners. He had his life to live. It was not reasonable that he +should allow himself to be dragged down into the mire by such a +creature. He found an empty taxicab at the corner of Queen Victoria +Street, and hailed it. + +"Whitehall Court," he told the driver. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED + + +Bellamy was a man used to all hazards, whose supreme effort of life +it was to meet success and disaster with unvarying mien. But this +was disaster too appalling even for his self-control. He felt his +knees shake so that he caught at the edge of the table before which +he was standing. There was no possible doubt about it, he had been +tricked. Von Behrling, after all,--Von Behrling, whom he had +looked upon merely as a stupid, infatuated Austrian, ready to sell +his country for the sake of a woman, had fooled him utterly! + +The man who sat at the head of the table--the only other occupant +of the room--was in Court dress, with many orders upon his coat. +He had just been attending a Court function, from which Bellamy's +message had summoned him. Before him on the table was an envelope, +hastily torn open, and several sheets of blank paper. It was upon +these that Bellamy's eyes were fixed with an expression of mingled +horror and amazement. The Cabinet Minister had already pushed them +away with a little gesture of contempt. + +"Bellamy," he said gravely, "it is not like you to make so serious +an error. + +"I hope not, sir," Bellamy answered. "I--yes, I have been deceived." + +The Minister glanced at the clock. + +"What is to be done?" he asked. + +Bellamy, with an effort, pulled himself together. He caught up the +envelope, looked once more inside, held up the blank sheets of paper +to the lamp and laid them down. Then with clenched fists he walked +to the other side of the room and returned. He was himself again. + +"Sir James, I will not waste your time by saying that I am sorry. +Only an hour ago I met Von Behrling in a little restaurant in the +city, and gave him twenty thousand pounds for that envelope." + +"You paid him the money," the Minister remarked slowly, "without +opening the envelope." + +Bellamy admitted it. + +"In such transactions as these," he declared, "great risks are +almost inevitable. I took what must seem to you now to be an absurd +risk. To tell you the honest truth, sir, and I have had experience +in these things, I thought it no risk at all when I handed over the +money. Von Behrling was there in disguise. The men with whom he +came to this country are furious with him. To all appearance, he +seemed to have broken with them absolutely. Even now-- + +"Well?" + +"Even now," Bellamy said slowly, with his eyes fixed upon the wall +of the room, and a dawning light growing stronger every moment in +his face, "even now I believe that Von Behrling made a mistake. An +envelope such as this had been arranged for him to show the others +or leave at the Austrian Embassy in case of emergency. He had it +with him in his pocket-book. He even told me so. God in Heaven, +he gave me the wrong one!" + +The Minister glanced once more at the clock. + +"In that case," he said, "perhaps he would not go to the Embassy +to-night, especially if he was in disguise. You may still be able +to find him and repair the error. + +"I will try," answered Bellamy. "Thank Heaven!" he added, with a +sudden gleam of satisfaction, "my watchers are still dogging his +footsteps. I can find out before morning where he went when he +left our rendezvous. There is another way, too. Mademoiselle--this +man Von Behrling believed that she was leaving the country +with him. She was to have had a message within the next few hours." + +The Minister nodded thoughtfully. + +"Bellamy, I have been your friend and you have done us good service +often. The Secret Service estimates, as you know, are above +supervision, but twenty thousand pounds is a great deal of money to +have paid for this." + +He touched the sheets of blank paper with his forefinger. Bellamy's +teeth were clenched. + +"The money shall be returned, sir. + +"Do not misunderstand me," Sir James went on, speaking a little more +kindly. "The money, after all, in comparison with what it was +destined to purchase, is nothing. We might even count it a fair +risk if it was lost." + +"It shall not be lost," Bellamy promised. "If Von Behrling has +played the traitor to us, then he will go back to his country. In +that case, I will have the money from him without a doubt. If, on +the other hand, he was honest to us and a traitor to his country, +as I firmly believe, it may not yet be too late." + +"Let us hope not," Sir James declared. "Bellamy," he continued, a +note of agitation trembling in his tone, "I need not tell you, I +am sure, how important this matter is. You work like a mole in the +dark, yet you have brains,--you understand. Let me tell you how +things are with us. A certain amount of confidence is due to you, +if to any one. I may tell you that at the Cabinet Council to-day a +very serious tone prevailed. We do not understand in the least the +attitude of several of the European Powers. It can be understood +only under certain assumptions. A note of ours sent through the +Ambassador to Vienna has remained unanswered for two days. The +German Ambassador has left unexpectedly for Berlin on urgent +business. We have just heard, too, that a secret mission from +Russia left St. Petersburg last night for Paris. Side by side with +all this," Sir James continued, "the Czar is trying to evade his +promised visit here. The note we have received speaks of his +health. Well, we know all about that. We know, I may tell you, +that his health has never been better than at the present moment." + +"It all means one thing and one thing only," Bellamy affirmed. "In +Vienna and Berlin to-day they look at an Englishman and smile. Even +the man in the street seems to know what is coming." + +Sir James leaned a little back in his seat. His hands were tightly +clenched, and there was a fierce light in his hollow eyes. Those +who were intimate with him knew that he had aged many years during +the last few weeks. + +"The cruel part is," he said softly, "that it should have come in +my administration, when for ten years I have prayed from the +Opposition benches for the one thing which would have made us safe +to-day." + +"An army," murmured Bellamy. + +"The days are coming," Sir James continued, "when those who prated +of militarism and the security of our island walls will see with +their own eyes the ruin they have brought upon us. Secretly we are +mobilizing all that we have to mobilize," he added, with a little +sigh. "At the very best, however, our position is pitiful. Even +if we are prepared to defend, I am afraid that we shall see things +on the Continent in which we shall be driven to interfere, or else +suffer the greatest blow which our prestige has ever known. If we +could only tell what was coming!" he wound up, looking once more at +those empty sheets of paper. "It is this darkness which is so +alarming!" + +Bellamy turned toward the door. + +"You have the telephone in your bedroom, sir?" he asked. + +"Yes, ring me up at any time in the night or morning, if you have +news." + +Bellamy drove at once to Dover Street. It was half-past one, but +he had no fear of not being admitted. Louise's French maid answered +the bell. + +"Madame has not retired?" Bellamy inquired. + +"But no, sir," the woman assured him, with a welcoming smile. "It +is only a few minutes ago that she has returned." + +Bellamy was ushered at once into her room. She was gorgeous in blue +satin and pearls. Her other maid was taking off her jewels. She +dismissed both the women abruptly. + +"I absolutely couldn't avoid a supper-party," she said, holding out +her hands. "You expected that, of course. You were not at the +Opera House?" + +He shook his head, and walking to the door tried the handle. It +was securely closed. He came back slowly to her side. Her eyes +were questioning him fiercely. + +"Well?" she exclaimed. "Well?" + +"Have you heard from Von Behrling?" + +"No," she answered. "He knew that I must sing to-night. I have +been expecting him to telephone every moment since I got home. You +have seen him?" + +"I have seen him," Bellamy admitted. "Either he has deceived us +both, or the most unfortunate mistake in the world has happened. +Listen. I met him where he appointed. He was there, disguised, +almost unrecognizable. He was nervous and desperate; he had the air +of a man who has cut himself adrift from the world. I gave him the +money,--twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, Louise,--and +he gave me the papers, or what we thought were the papers. +He told me that he was keeping a false duplicate upon him for a +little time, in case he was seized, but that he was going to +Liverpool Street station to wait, and would telephone you from the +hotel there later on. You have not heard yet, then?" + +She shook her head. + +"There has been no message, but go on." + +"He gave me the wrong document--the wrong envelope," continued +Bellamy. "When I took it to--to Downing Street, it was full of +blank paper." + +The color slowly left her cheeks. She looked at him with horror in +her face. + +"Do you think that he meant to do it?" she exclaimed. + +"We cannot tell," Bellamy answered. "My own impression is that he +did not. We must find out at once what has become of him. He might +even, if he fancies himself safe, destroy the envelope he has, +believing it to be the duplicate. He is sure to telephone you. The +moment you hear you must let me know." + +"You had better stay here," she declared. "There are plenty of +rooms. You will be on the spot then." + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"The joke of it is that I, too, am being watched whereever I go. +That fellow Streuss has spies everywhere. That is one reason why +I believe that Von Behrling was serious. + +"Oh, he was serious!" Louise repeated. + +"You are sure?" Bellamy asked. "You have never had even any doubt +about him?" + +"Never," she answered firmly. "David, I had not meant to tell you +this. You know that I saw him for a moment this morning. He was +in deadly earnest. He gave me a ring--a trifle--but it had +belonged to his mother. He would not have done this if he had been +playing us false." + +Bellamy sprang to his feet. + +"You are right, Louise!" he exclaimed. "I shall go back to my rooms +at once. Fortunately, I had a man shadowing Von Behrling, and there +may be a report for me. If anything comes here, you will telephone +at once?" + +"Of course," she assented. + +"You do not think it possible," he asked slowly, "that he would +attempt to see you here?" + +Louise shuddered for a moment. + +"I absolutely forbade it, so I am sure there is no chance of that." + +"Very well, then," he decided, "we will wait. Dear," he added, in +an altered tone, "how splendid you look!" + +Her face suddenly softened. + +"Ah, David!" she murmured, "to hear you speak naturally even for a +moment--it makes everything seem so different!" + +He held out his arms and she came to him with a little sigh of +satisfaction. + +"Louise," he said, "some day the time may come when we shall be able +to give up this life of anxiety and terrors. But it cannot be +yet--not for your country's sake or mine." + +She kissed him fondly. + +"So long as there is hope!" she whispered. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +VON BEHRLING'S FATE + + +It seemed to Louise that she had scarcely been in bed an hour when +the more confidential of her maids--Annette, the Frenchwoman--woke +her with a light touch of the arm. She sat up in bed sleepily. + +"What is it, Annette?" she asked. "Surely it is not mid-day yet? +Why do you disturb me?" + +"It is barely nine o'clock, Mademoiselle, but Monsieur +Bellamy--Mademoiselle told me that she wished to receive him whenever +he came. He is in the boudoir now, and very impatient." + +"Did he send any message?" + +"Only that his business was of the most urgent," the maid replied. + +Louise sighed,--she was really very sleepy. Then, as the thoughts +began to crowd into her brain, she began also to remember. Some +part of the excitement of a few hours ago returned. + +"My bath, Annette, and a dressing-gown," she ordered. "Tell Monsieur +Bellamy that I hurry. I will be with him in twenty minutes." + +To Bellamy, the twenty minutes were minutes of purgatory. She came +at last, however, fresh and eager; her hair tied up with ribbon, she +herself clad in a pink dressing-gown and pink slippers. + +"David!" she cried,--"my dear David--!" + +Then she broke off. + +"What is it?" she asked, in a different tone. + +He showed her the headlines of the newspaper he was carrying. + +"Tragedy!" he answered hoarsely. "Von Behrling was true, after +all,--at least, it seems so." + +"What has happened?" she demanded. + +Bellamy pointed once more to the newspaper. + +"He was murdered last night, within fifty yards of the place of our +rendezvous." + +A little exclamation broke from Louise's lips. She sat down +suddenly. The color called into her cheeks by the exercise of her +bath was rapidly fading away. + +"David," she murmured, "is this true?" + +"It is indeed," Bellamy assured her. "Not only that, but there is +no mention of his pocket-book in the account of his murder. It must +have been engineered by Streuss and the others, and they have got +away with the pocket-book and the money." + +"What can we do?" she asked. + +"There is nothing to be done," Bellamy declared calmly. "We are +defeated. The thing is quite apparent. Von Behrling never +succeeded, after all, in shaking off the espionage of the men who +were watching him. They tracked him to our rendezvous, they waited +about while I met him. Afterwards, he had to pass along a narrow +passage. It was there that he was found murdered." + +"But, David, I don't understand! Why did they wait until after he +had seen you? How did they know that he had not parted with the +paper in the restaurant? To all intents and purposes he ought to +have done so." + +"I cannot understand that myself," Bellamy admitted. "In fact, it +is inexplicable." + +She took up the newspaper and glanced at the report. Then, "You +are sure, I suppose, that this does refer to Von Behrling? He is +quite unidentified, you see." + +"There is no doubt about it," Bellamy declared. "I have been to +the Mortuary. It is certainly he. All our work has been in +vain--just as I thought, too, that we had made a splendid success of +it." + +She looked at him compassionately. + +"It is hard lines, dear," she admitted. "You are tired, too. You +look as though you had been up all night." + +"Yes, I am tired," he answered, sinking into a chair. "I am worse +than tired. This has been the grossest failure of my career, and I +am afraid that it is the end of everything. I have lost twenty +thousand pounds of Secret Service money; I have lost the one chance +which might have saved England. They will never trust me again." + +"You did your best," she said, coming over and sitting on the arm +of his chair. "You did your best, David." + +She laid her hands upon his forehead, her cheek against his--smooth +and cold--exquisitely refreshing it seemed to his jaded nerves. + +"Ah, Louise!" he murmured, "life is getting a little too strenuous. +Perhaps we have given too much of it up to others. What do you +think?" + +She shook her head. + +"Dear, I have felt like that sometimes, yet what can we do? Could +we be happy, you and I, in exile, if the things which we dread were +coming to pass? Could I go away and hide while my countrymen were +being butchered out of existence?-- And you--you are not the sort +of man to be content with an ignoble peace. No, it isn't possible. +Our work may not be over yet--" + +There was a knock at the door, and Annette entered with many +apologies. + +"Mademoiselle," she explained, "a thousand pardons, and to Monsieur +also, but there is a gentleman here who says that his business is +of the most urgent importance, and that he must see you at once. I +have done all that I can, but he will not go away. He knows that +Monsieur Bellamy is here, too," she added, turning to him, "and +he says his business has to do with Monsieur as well as Mademoiselle." + +Bellamy almost snatched the card from the girl's fingers. He read +out the name in blank amazement. + +"Baron de Streuss!" + +There was a moment's silence. Louise and he exchanged wondering +glances. + +"What can this mean?" she asked hoarsely. + +"Heaven knows!" he answered. "Let us see him together. After +all--after all--" + +"You can show the gentleman in, Annette," her mistress ordered. + +"If he has the papers," Bellamy continued slowly, "why does he come +to us? It is not like these men to be vindictive. Diplomacy to +them is nothing--a game of chess. I do not understand." + +The door opened. Annette announced their visitor. Streuss bowed +low to Louise--he bowed, also, to Bellamy. + +"I need not introduce myself," he said. "With Mr. Bellamy I have +the honor to be well acquainted. Madame is known to all the world." + +Louise nodded, somewhat coldly. + +"We can dispense with an introduction, I think, Monsieur le Baron," +she said. "At the same time, you will perhaps explain to what I +owe this somewhat unexpected pleasure?" + +"Mademoiselle, an explanation there must certainly be. I know that +it is an impossible hour. I know, too, that to have forced my +presence upon you in this manner may seem discourteous. Yet the +urgency of the matter, I am convinced, justifies me." + +Louise motioned him to a chair, but he declined with a little bow +of thanks. + +"Mademoiselle," he said, "and you, Mr. Bellamy, we need not waste +words. We have played a game of chess together. You, Mademoiselle, +and Mr. Bellamy on the one side--I and my friends upon the other. +The honor of Rudolph Von Behrling was the pawn for which we fought. +The victory remains with you." + +Bellamy never moved a muscle. Louise, on the contrary, could not +help a slight start. + +"Under the circumstances," the Baron continued smoothly, "the +struggle was uneven. I do myself the justice to remember that from +the first I realized that we played a losing game. Mademoiselle," +he added, "from the days of Cleopatra--ay, and throughout those +shadowy days which lie beyond--the diplomats of the world have been +powerless when matched against your sex. Rudolph Von Behrling was +an honest fellow enough until he looked into your eyes. Mademoiselle, +you have gifts which might, perhaps, have driven from his senses a +stronger man." + +Louise smiled, but there was no suggestion of mirth in the curl of +her lips. Her eyes all the time sought his questioningly. She did +not understand. + +"You flatter me, Baron," she murmured. + +"No, I do not flatter you, I speak the truth. This plain talking +is pleasant enough when the time comes that one may indulge in it. +That time, I think, is now. Rudolph Von Behrling, against my advice, +but because he was the Chancellor's nephew, was associated with me +in a certain enterprise, the nature of which is no secret to you, +Mademoiselle, or to Mr. Bellamy here. We followed a man who, by +some strange chance, was in possession of a few sheets of foolscap, +the contents of which were alike priceless to my country and +priceless to yours. The subsequent history of those papers should +have been automatic. The first step was fulfilled readily enough. +The man disappeared--the papers were ours. Von Behrling was the +man who secured them, and Von Behrling it was who retained them. +If my advice had been followed, I admit frankly that we should have +ignored all possible comment and returned with them at once to +Vienna. The others thought differently. They ruled that we should +come on to London and deposit the packet with our Ambassador here. +In a weak moment I consented. It was your opportunity, Mademoiselle, +an opportunity of which you have splendidly availed yourself." + +This time Louise held herself with composure. Bellamy's brain was +in a whirl but he remained silent. + +"I come to you both," the Baron continued, "with my hands open. I +come--I make no secret of it--I come to make terms. But first of +all I must know whether I am in time. There is one question which +I must ask. I address it, sir, to you," he added, turning to +Bellamy. "Have you yet placed in the hands of your Government the +papers which you obtained from Von Behrling?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +The Baron drew a long breath of relief. Though he had maintained +his savoir faire perfectly, the fingers which for a moment played +with his tie, as though to rearrange it, were trembling. + +"Well, then, I am in time. Will you see my hand?" + +"Mademoiselle and I," answered Bellamy, "are at least ready to +listen to anything you may have to say." + +"You know quite well," the Baron continued, "what it is that I have +come to say, yet I want you to remember this. I do not come to +bribe you in any ordinary manner. The things which are to come will +happen; they must happen, if not this year, next,--if not next year, +within half a decade of years. History is an absolute science. The +future as well as the past can be read by those who know the signs. +The thing which has been resolved upon is certain. The knowledge +of the contents of those papers by your Government might delay the +final catastrophe for a short while; it could do no more. In the +long run, it would be better for your country, Mr. Bellamy, in every +way, that the end come soon. Therefore, I ask you to perform no +traitorous deed. I ask you to do that which is simply reasonable +for all of us, which is, indeed, for the advantage of all of us. +restore those papers to me instead of handing them to your Government, +and I will pay you for them the sum of one hundred thousand pounds!" + +"One hundred thousand pounds," Bellamy repeated. + +"One hundred thousand pounds!" murmured Louise. + +There was a brief, intense pause. Louise waited, warned by the +expression in Bellamy's face. Silence, she felt, was safest, and it +was Bellamy who spoke. + +"Baron," said he, "your visit and your proposal are both a little +amazing. Forgive me if I speak alone with Mademoiselle for a moment." + +"Most certainly," the Baron agreed. "I go away and leave you--out +of the room, if you will." + +"It is not necessary," Bellamy replied. "Louise!" The Baron +withdrew to the window, and Bellamy led Louise into the furthest +corner of the room. + +"What can it mean?" he whispered. "What do you suppose has happened?" + +"I cannot imagine. My brain is in a whirl." + +"If they have not got the pocket-book," Bellamy muttered, "it must +have gone with Von Behrling to the Mortuary. If so, there is a +chance. Louise, say nothing; leave this to me." + +"As you will," she assented. "I have no wish to interfere. I only +hope that he does not ask me any questions." + +They came once more into the middle of the room, and the Baron +turned to meet them. + +"You must forgive Mademoiselle," said Bellamy, "if she is a little +upset this morning. She knows, of course, as I know and you know, +that Von Behrling was playing a desperate game, and that he carried +his life in his hands. Yet his death has been a shock--has been a +shock, I may say, to both of us. From your point of view," Bellamy +went on, "it was doubtless deserved, but--" + +"What, in God's name, is this that you say?" the Baron interrupted. +"I do not understand at all! You speak of Von Behrling's death! +What do you mean?" + +Bellamy looked at him as one who listens to strange words. + +"Baron," he said, "between us who know so much there is surely no +need for you to play a part. Von Behrling knew that you were +watching him. Your spies were shadowing him as they have done me. +He knew that he was running terrible risks. He was not unprepared +and he has paid. It is not for us--" + +"Now, in God's name, tell me the truth!" Baron de Streuss interrupted +once more. "What is it that you are saying about Von Behrling's +death?" + +Bellamy drew a little breath between his teeth. He leaned forward +with his hands resting upon the table. + +"Do you mean to say that you do not know?" + +"Upon my soul, no!" replied the Baron. + +Bellamy threw open the newspaper before him. + +"Von Behrling was murdered last night, ten minutes after our +interview." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL + + +The Baron adjusted his eyeglass with shaking fingers. His face now +was waxen-white as he spread out the newspaper upon the table and +read the paragraph word by word. + + TERRIBLE CRIME IN THE CITY + + Early this morning the body of a man was discovered + in a narrow passageway leading from Crooked Friars to + Royal Street, under circumstances which leave little + doubt but that the man's death was owing to foul play. + The deceased had apparently been stabbed, and had + received several severe blows about the head. He was + shabbily dressed but was well supplied with money, and + he was wearing a gold watch and chain when he was found. + + LATER + + There appears to be no further doubt but that the man + found in the entry leading from Crooked Friars had been + the victim of a particularly murderous assault. Neither + his clothes nor his linen bore any mark by means of which + he could be identified. The body has been removed to the + nearest mortuary, and an inquest will shortly be held. + +Streuss looked up from the newspaper and the reality of his surprise +was apparent. He had all the appearance of a man shaken with emotion. +While he looked at his two companions wonderingly, strange thoughts +were forming in his mind. + +"Von Behrling dead!" he muttered. "But who--who could have done +this?" + +"Until this moment," Bellamy answered dryly, "it was not a matter +concerning which we had any doubt. The only wonder to us was that +it should have been done too late." + +"You mean," Streuss said slowly, "that he was murdered after he had +completed his bargain with you?" + +"Naturally." + +"I suppose," the Baron continued, "there is no question but that it +was done afterwards? You smile," he exclaimed, "but what am I to +think? Neither I nor my people had any hand in this deed. How about +yours?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"We do not fight that way," he replied. "I had bought Von Behrling. +He was of no further interest to me. I did not care whether he +lived or died." + +"There is something very strange about this," the Baron said. "If +neither you nor I were responsible for his death, who was?" + +"That I can't tell you. Perhaps later in the day we shall hear from +the police. It is scarcely the sort of murder which would remain +long undetected, especially as he was robbed of a large sum in +bank-notes." + +"Supplied by His Majesty's Government, I presume?" Streuss remarked. + +"Precisely," Bellamy assented, "and paid to him by me." + +"At any rate," Streuss said grimly, "we have now no more secrets +from one another. I will ask you one last question. Where is that +packet at the present moment?" + +Bellamy raised his eyebrows. + +"It is a question," he declared, "which you could scarcely expect me +to answer." + +"I will put it another way," Streuss continued. "Supposing you +decide to accept my offer, how long will it be before the packet can +be placed in my hands?" + +"If we decide to accept," Bellamy answered, "there is no reason why +there should be any delay at all." + +Streuss was silent for several moments. His hands were thrust deep +down into the pockets of his overcoat. With eyes fixed upon the +tablecloth, he seemed to be thinking deeply, till presently he raised +his head and looked steadily at Bellamy. + +"You are sure that Von Behrling has not fooled you? You are sure +that you have that identical packet?" + +"I am absolutely certain that I have," Bellamy answered, without +flinching. + +"Then accept my price and have done with this matter," Streuss +begged. "I will sign a draft for you here, and I will undertake +to bring you the money, or honor it wherever you say, within +twenty-four hours." + +"I cannot decide so quickly," said Bellamy, shaking his head. +"Mademoiselle Idiale and I must talk together first. I am not sure," +he added, "whether I might not find a higher bidder." + +Streuss laughed mirthlessly. + +"There is little fear of that," he said. "The papers are of no +use except to us and to England. To England, I will admit that the +foreknowledge of what is to come would be worth much, although the +eventful result would be the same. It is for that reason that I am +here, for that reason that I have made you this offer." + +"Mademoiselle and I must discuss it," Bellamy declared. "It is not +a matter to be decided upon off-hand. Remember that it is not only +the packet which you are offering to buy, but also my career and my +honor." + +"One hundred thousand pounds," Streuss said slowly. "From your own +side you get nothing--nothing but your beggarly salary and an +occasional reprimand. One hundred thousand pounds is not immense +wealth, but it is something." + +"Your offer is a generous one," admitted Bellamy, "there is no doubt +about that. On the other hand, I cannot decide without further +consideration. It is a big thing for us, remember. I have worked +very hard for the contents of that packet." + +Once more Streuss felt an uneasy pang of incredulity. After all, +was this Englishman playing with him? So he asked: "You are quite +sure that you have it?" + +"There is no means of convincing you of which I care to make use. +You must be content with my word. I have the packet. I paid Von +Behrling for it and he gave it to me with his own hands." + +"I must accept your word," Streuss declared. "I give you three days +for reflection. Before I go, Mr. Bellamy, forgive me if I refer +once more to this,"--touching the newspaper which still lay upon +the table. "Remember that Rudolph Von Behrling moved about a marked +man. Your spies and mine were most of the time upon his heels. Yet +in the end some third person seems to have intervened. Are you +quite sure that you know nothing of this?" + +"Upon my honor," Bellamy replied, "I have not the slightest +information concerning Von Behrling's death beyond what you can read +there. It was as great a surprise to me as to you." + +"It is incomprehensible," Streuss murmured. + +"One can only conclude," Bellamy remarked thoughtfully, "that someone +must have seen him with those notes. There were people moving about +in the little restaurant where we met. The rustle of bank-notes has +cost more than one man his life. + +"For the present," Streuss said, "we must believe that it was so. +Listen to me, both of you. You will be wiser if you do not delay. +You are young people, and the world is before you. With money one +can do everything. Without it, life is but a slavery. The world +is full of beautiful dwelling-places for those who have the means +to choose. Remember, too, that not a soul will ever know of this +transaction, if you should decide to accept my offer." + +"We shall remember all those things," Bellamy assured him. + +Streuss took up his hat and gloves. + +"With your permission, then, Mademoiselle," he concluded, turning to +Louise, "I go. I must try and understand for myself the meaning of +this thing which has happened to Von Behrling." + +"Do not forget," Bellamy said, "that if you discover anything, we +are equally interested."... + +They heard him go out. Bellamy purposely held the door open until +he saw the lift descend. Then he closed it firmly and came back +into the room. Louise and he looked at each other, their faces full +of anxious questioning. + +"What does it mean?" Louise cried. "What can it mean?" + +"Heaven alone knows!" Bellamy answered. "There is not a gleam of +daylight. My people are absolutely innocent of any attempt upon Von +Behrling. If Streuss tells the truth, and I believe he does, his +people are in the same position. Who, then, in the name of all that +is miraculous, can have murdered and robbed Von Behrling?" + +"In London, too," Louise murmured. "It is not Vienna, this, or +Belgrade." + +"You are right," Bellamy agreed. "London is one of the most +law-abiding cities in Europe. Besides, the quarter where the murder +occurred is entirely unfrequented by the criminal classes. It is +simply a region of great banks and the offices of merchant princes. + +"Is it possible that there is some one else who knew about that +document?" Louise asked,--"some one else who has been watching Von +Behrling?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"How can that be? Besides, if any one else were really on his track, +they must have believed that he had parted with it to me. I shall +go back now to Downing Street to ask for a letter to the Chief of +Scotland Yard. If anything comes out, I must have plenty of warning." + +"And I," she said, with an approving nod, "shall go back to bed +again. These days are too strenuous for me. Won't you stay and take +your coffee with me?" + +Bellamy held her hand for a moment in his. + +"Dear," he said, "I would stay, but you understand, don't you, what +a maze this is into which we have wandered. Von Behrling has been +murdered by some person who seems to have dropped from the skies. +Whoever they may be, they have in their possession my twenty +thousand pounds and the packet which should have been mine. I must +trace them if I can, Louise. It is a poor chance, but I must do +my best. I myself am of the opinion that Von Behrling was murdered +for the money, and for the money only. If so, that packet may be +in the hands of people who have no idea what use to make of it. +They may even destroy it. If Streuss returns and you are forced to +see him, be careful. Remember, we have the document--we are +hesitating. So long as he believes that it is in our possession, +he will not look elsewhere." + +"I will be careful," Louise promised, with her arms around his neck. +"And, dear, take care. When I think of poor Rudolph Von Behrling, +I tremble, also, for you. It seems to me that your danger is no +less than his." + +"I do not go about with twenty thousand pounds in my pocket-book," +with a smile. + +She shook her head. + +"No, but Streuss believes that you have the document which he is +pledged to recover. Be careful that they do not lead you into a +trap. They are not above anything, these men. I heard once of a +Bulgarian in Vienna who was tortured--tortured almost to death--before +he spoke. Then they thrust him into a lunatic asylum. Remember, +dear, they have no consciences and no pity." + +"We are in London," he reminded her. + +"So was Von Behrling," she answered quickly,--"not only in London +but in a safe part of London. Yet he is dead." + +"It was not their doing," he declared. "In their own country, they +have the whole machinery of their wonderful police system at their +backs, and no fear of the law in their hearts. Here they must needs +go cautiously. I don't think you need be afraid," he added, smiling, +as he opened the door. "I think I can promise you that if you will +do me the honor we will sup together to-night." + +"You must fetch me from the Opera House," Louise insisted. "It is +a bargain. I have suffered enough neglect at your hands. One thing, +David,--where do you go first from here?" + +"To find the man," Bellamy answered gravely, "who was watching Von +Behrling when he left me. If any man in England knows anything of +the murder, it must be he. He should be at my rooms by now." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE + + +Stephen Laverick was a bachelor--his friends called him an +incorrigible one. He had a small but pleasantly situated suite of +rooms in Whitehall Court, looking out upon the river. His habits +were almost monotonous in their regularity, and the morning +following his late night in the city was no exception to the +general rule. At eight o'clock, the valet attached to the suite +knocked at his door and informed him that his bath was ready. He +awoke at once from a sound sleep, sat up in bed, and remembered the +events of the preceding evening. + +At first he was inclined to doubt that slowly stirring effort of +memory. He was a man of unromantic temperament, unimaginative, and +by no means of an adventurous turn of mind. He sought naturally +for the most reasonable explanation of this strange picture, which +no effort of his will could dismiss from his memory. It was a dream, +of course. But the dream did not fade. Slowly it spread itself out +so that he could no longer doubt. He knew very well as he sat there +on the edge of his bed that the thing was truth. He, Stephen +Laverick, a man hitherto of upright character, with a reputation of +which unconsciously he was proud, had robbed a dead man, had looked +into the burning eyes of his murderer, had stolen away with twenty +thousand pounds of someone else's money. Morally, at any +rate,--probably legally as well,--he was a thief. A glimpse inside his +safe on the part of an astute detective might very easily bring him +under the grave suspicion of being a criminal of altogether deeper +dye. + +Stephen Laverick was, in his way, something of a philosopher. In +the cold daylight, with the sound of the water running into his bath, +this deed which he had done seemed to him foolish and reprehensible. +Nevertheless, he realized the absolute finality of his action. The +thing was done; he must make the best of it. Behaving in every way +like a sensible man, he did not send for the newspapers and search +hysterically for their account of last night's tragedy, but took his +bath as usual, dressed with more than ordinary care, and sat down +to his breakfast before he even unfolded the paper. The item for +which he searched occupied by no means so prominent a position as +he had expected. It appeared under one of the leading headlines, +but it consisted of only a few words. He read them with interest +but without emotion. Afterwards he turned to the Stock Exchange +quotations and made notes of a few prices in which he was interested. + +He completed in leisurely fashion an excellent breakfast and followed +his usual custom of walking along the Embankment as far as the Royal +Hotel, where he called a taxicab and drove to his offices. A little +crowd had gathered around the end of the passage which led from +Crooked Friars, and Laverick himself leaned forward and looked +curiously at the spot where the body of the murdered man had lain. +It seemed hard to him to reconstruct last night's scene in his mind +now that the narrow street was filled with hurrying men and a stream +of vehicles blocked every inch of the roadway. In his early morning +mood the thing was impossible. In a moment or two he paid his driver +and dismissed him. + +He fancied that a certain relief was visible among his clerks when +he opened the door at precisely his usual time and with a cheerful +"Good-morning!" made his way into the private office. He lit his +customary cigarette and dealt rapidly with the correspondence which +was brought in to him by his head-clerk. Afterwards, as soon as he +was alone, he opened the safe, thrust the contents of that inner +drawer into his breast-pocket, and took up once more his hat and +gloves. + +"I am going around to the bank," he told his clerk as he passed out. +"I shall be back in half-an-hour--perhaps less." + +"Very good, sir," the man answered. "Will Mr. Morrison be here this +morning?" + +Laverick hesitated. + +"No, Mr. Morrison will not be here to-day." + +It was only a few steps to his bankers, and his request for an +interview with the manager was immediately granted. The latter +received him kindly but with a certain restraint. There are not +many secrets in the city, and Morrison's big plunge on a particular +mining share, notwithstanding its steady drop, had been freely +commented upon. + +"What can I do for you, Mr. Laverick?" the banker asked. + +"I am not sure," answered Laverick. "To tell you the truth, I am +in a somewhat singular position." + +The banker nodded. He had not a doubt but that he understood +exactly what that position was. + +"You have perhaps heard," Laverick continued slowly, "that my late +partner, Mr. Morrison,--" + +"Late partner?" the manager interrupted. + +Laverick assented. + +"We had a few words last night," he explained "and Mr. Morrison +left the office with an understanding between us that he should not +return. You will receive a formal intimation of that during the +course of the next day or so. We will revert to the matter +presently, if you wish. My immediate business with you is to +discuss the fact that I have to provide something like twenty +thousand pounds to-day if I decide to take up the purchases of stock +which Morrison has made." + +"You understand the position, of course, Mr. Laverick, if you fail +to do so?" the manager remarked gravely. + +"Naturally," Laverick answered. "I am quite aware of the fact that +Morrison acted on behalf of the firm and that I am responsible for +his transactions. He has plunged pretty deeply, though, a great +deal more deeply than our capital warranted. I may add that I had +not the slightest idea as to the extent of his dealings." + +The bank manager adopted a sympathetic but serious attitude. + +"Twenty thousand pounds," he declared, "is a great deal of money, +Mr. Laverick." + +"It is a great deal of money," Laverick admitted. "I am here to +ask you to lend it to me." + +The bank manager raised his eyebrows. + +"My dear Mr. Laverick!" he exclaimed reproachfully. + +"Upon unimpeachable security," Laverick continued. The bank manager +was conscious that he had allowed a little start of surprise to +escape him, and bit his lip with annoyance. It was entirely contrary +to his tenets to display at any time during office hours any sort of +emotion. + +"Unimpeachable security," he repeated. "Of course, if you have that +to offer, Mr. Laverick, although the sum is a large one, it is our +business to see what we can do for you." + +"My security is of the best," Laverick declared grimly. "I have +bank-notes here, Mr. Fenwick, for twenty thousand pounds." + +The bank manager was again guilty of an unprofessional action. He +whistled softly under his breath. A very respectable client he +had always considered Mr. Stephen Laverick, but he had certainly +never suspected him of being able to produce at a pinch such evidence +of means. Laverick smoothed out the notes and laid them upon the +table. + +"Mr. Fenwick," he said, "I believe I am right in assuming that when +one comes to one's bankers, one enters, as it were, into a +confessional. I feel convinced that nothing which I say to you will +be repeated outside this office, or will be allowed to dwell in your +own mind except with reference to this particular transaction between +you and me. I have the right, have I not, to take that for granted?" + +"Most certainly," the banker agreed. + +"From a strictly ethical point of view," Laverick went on, "this +money is not mine. I hold it in trust for its owner, but I hold it +without any conditions. I have power to make what use I wish of +it, and I choose to-day to use it on my own behalf. Whether I am +justified or not is scarcely a matter, I presume, which concerns +this excellent banking establishment over which you preside so ably. +I do not pay these bank-notes in to my account and ask you to +credit me with twenty thousand pounds. I ask you to allow me to +deposit them here for seven days as security against an overdraft. +You can then advance me enough money to meet my engagements of +to-day." + +The banker took up the notes and looked them through, one by one. +They were very crisp, very new, and absolutely genuine. + +"This is somewhat an extraordinary proceeding, Mr. Laverick," he +said. + +"I have no doubt that it must seem so to you," Laverick admitted. +"At the same time, there the money is. You can run no risk. If I +am exceeding my moral right in making use of these notes, it is I +who will have to pay. Will you do as I ask?" + +The banker hesitated. The transaction was somewhat a peculiar one, +but on the face of it there could be no possible risk. At the same +time, there was something about it which he could not understand. + +"Your wish, Mr. Laverick," he remarked, looking at him thoughtfully, +"seems to be to keep these notes out of circulation." + +Laverick returned his gaze without flinching. + +"In a sense, that is so," he assented. + +"On the whole," the banker declared, "I should prefer to credit +them to your account in the usual way." + +"I am sorry," Laverick answered, "but I have a sentimental feeling +about it. I prefer to keep the notes intact. If you cannot follow +out my suggestion, I must remove my account at once. This isn't a +threat, Mr. Fenwick,--you will understand that, I am sure. It is +simply a matter of business, and owing to Morrison's speculations +I have no time for arguments. I am quite satisfied to remain in +your hands, but my feeling in the matter is exactly as I have stated, +and I cannot change. If you are to retain my account, my +engagements for to-day must be met precisely in the way I have +pointed out." + +The banker excused himself and left the room for a few moments. +When he returned, he shrugged his shoulders with the air of one who +is giving in to an unreasonable client. + +"It shall be as you say, Mr. Laverick," he announced. "The notes +are placed upon deposit. Your engagements to-day up to twenty +thousand pounds shall be duly honored." + +Laverick shook hands with him, talked for a moment or two about +indifferent matters, and strolled back towards his office. He had +rather the sense of a man who moves in a dream, who is living, +somehow, in a life which doesn't belong to him. He was doing the +impossible. He knew very well that his name was in every one's +mouth. People were looking at him sympathetically, wondering how +he could have been such a fool as to become the victim of an +irresponsible speculator. No one ever imagined that he would be +able to keep his engagements. And he had done it. The price +might be a great one, but he was prepared to pay. At any moment +the sensational news might be upon the placards, and the whole +world might know that the man who had been murdered in Crooked +Friars last night had first been robbed of twenty thousand pounds. +So far he had felt himself curiously free from anything in the +shape of direct apprehensions. Already, however, the shadow was +beginning to fall. Even as he entered his office, the sight of a +stranger offering office files for sale made him start. He half +expected to feel a hand upon his shoulder, a few words whispered in +his ear. He set his teeth tight. This was his risk and he must +take it. + +For several hours he remained in his office, engaged in a scheme +for the redirection of its policy. With the absence of Morrison, +too, there were other changes to be made,--changes in the nature +of the business they were prepared to handle, limits to be fixed. +It was not until nearly luncheon time that the telephone, the +simultaneous arrival of several clients, and the breathless entry +of his own head-clerk rushing in from the house, told him what was +going on. + +"'Unions' have taken their turn at last!" the clerk announced, in +an excited tone. "They sagged a little this morning, but since +eleven they have been going steadily up. Just now there seems to +be a boom. Listen." + +Laverick heard the roar of voices in the street, and nodded. He +was prepared to be surprised at nothing. + +"They were bound to go within a day or two," he remarked. "Morrison +wasn't an absolute idiot." + +The luncheon hour passed. The excitement in the city grew. By +three o'clock, ten thousand pounds would have covered all of +Laverick's engagements. Just before closing-time, it was even +doubtful whether he might not have borrowed every penny without +security at all. He took it all quite calmly and as a matter of +course. He left the office a little earlier than usual, and every +man whom he met stopped to slap him on the back and chaff him. He +escaped as soon as he could, bought the evening papers, found a +taxicab, and as soon as he had started spread them open. It was +a remarkable proof of the man's self-restraint that at no time +during the afternoon had he sent out for one of these early editions. +He turned them over now with firm fingers. There was absolutely no +fresh news. No one had come forward with any suggestion as to the +identity of the murdered man. All day long the body had lain in +the Mortuary, visited by a constant stream of the curious, but +presumably unrecognized. Laverick could scarcely believe the words +he read. The thing seemed ludicrously impossible. The twenty +thousand pounds must have come from some one. Why did they keep +silence? What was the mystery about it? Could it be that they were +not in a position to disclose the fact? Curiously enough, this +unnatural absence of news inspired him with something which was +almost fear. He had taken his risks boldly enough. Now that Fate +was playing him this unexpectedly good turn, he was conscious of a +growing nervousness. Who could he have been, this man? Whence +could he have derived this great sum? One person at least must +know that he had been robbed--the man who murdered him must know +it. A cold shiver passed through Laverick's veins at the thought. +Somewhere in London there must be a man thirsting for his blood, +a man who had committed a murder in vain and been robbed of his +spoil. + +Laverick had no engagements for that evening, but instead of going +to his club he drove straight to his rooms, meaning to change a +little early for dinner and go to a theatre, lie found there, +however, a small boy waiting for him with a note in his hand. It +was addressed in pencil only, and his name was printed upon it. + +Laverick tore it open with a haste which he only imperfectly +concealed. There was something ominous to him in those printed +characters. Its contents, however, were short enough. + +DEAR LAVERICK, +I must see you. Come the moment you get this. Come without fail, +for your own sake and mine. A. M. + +Laverick looked at the boy. His fingers were trembling, but it +was with relief. The note was from Morrison. + +"There is no address here," he remarked. + +"The gent said as I was to take you back with me," the boy answered. + +"Is it far?" Laverick asked. + +"Close to Red Lion Square," the boy declared. "Not more nor five +minutes in one of them taxicabs. The gent said we was to take +one. He is in a great hurry to see you." + +Laverick did not hesitate a moment. + +"Very well," he said, "we'll start at once." + +He put on his hat again and waited while the commissionaire called +them a taxicab. + +"What address?" he asked. + +"Number 7, Theobald Square," the boy said. Laverick nodded and +repeated the address to the driver. + +"What the dickens can Morrison be doing in a part like that!" he +thought, as they passed up Northumberland Avenue. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE + + +The Square was a small one, and in a particularly unsavory +neighborhood. Laverick, who had once visited his partner's somewhat +extensive suite of rooms in Jermyn Street, rang the bell doubtfully. +The door was opened almost at once, not by a servant but by a young +lady who was obviously expecting him. Before he could open his lips +to frame an inquiry, she had closed the door behind him. + +"Will you please come this way?" she said timidly. + +Laverick found himself in a small sitting-room, unexpectedly neat, +and with the plainness of its furniture relieved by certain +undeniable traces of some cultured presence. The girl who had +followed him stood with her back to the door, a little out of breath. +Laverick contemplated her in surprise. She was under medium height, +with small pale face and wonderful dark eyes. Her brown hair was +parted in the middle and arranged low down, so that at first, taking +into account her obvious nervousness, he thought that she was a +child. When she spoke, however, he knew that for some reason she +was afraid. Her voice was soft and low, but it was the voice of a +woman. + +"It is Mr. Laverick, is it not?" she asked, looking at him eagerly. + +"My name is Stephen Laverick," he admitted. "I understood that I +should find Mr. Arthur Morrison here." + +"Yes," the girl answered, "he sent for you. The note was from him. +He is here." + +She made no movement to summon him. She still stood, in fact, with +her back to the door. Laverick was distinctly puzzled. He felt +himself unable to place this timid, childlike woman, with her +terrified face and beautiful eyes. He had never heard Morrison +speak of having any relations. His presence in such a locality, +indeed, was hard to understand unless he had met with an accident. +Morrison was one of those young men who would have chosen Hell with +a "W" rather than Heaven E. C. + +"I am afraid," Laverick said, "that for some reason or other you +are afraid of me. I can assure you that I am quite harmless," he +added smiling. "Won't you sit down and tell me what is the matter? +Is Mr. Morrison in any trouble?" + +"Yes," she answered, "he is. As for me, I am terrified." + +She came a little away from the door. Laverick was a man who +inspired trust. His tone, too, was unusually kind. He had the +protective instinct of a big man toward a small woman. + +"Come and tell me all about it," he suggested. "I expected to hear +that he had gone abroad." + +"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking up at him tremulously. "I was +hoping that you could have told me what it was that had come to him." + +"Well, that rather depends," Laverick answered. "We certainly had +a terribly anxious time yesterday. Our business has been most +unfortunate--" + +"Yes, yes!" the girl interrupted. "Please go on. There have been +business troubles, then." + +"Rather," Laverick continued. "Last night they reached such a +pitch that I gave Morrison some money and it was agreed that he +should leave the firm and try his luck somewhere else. I quite +understood that he was going abroad." + +The girl seemed, for some reason, relieved. + +"There was something, then," she said, half to herself. "There was +something. Oh, I am glad of that! You were angry with him, perhaps, +Mr. Laverick?" + +Laverick stood with his back to the little fireplace and with his +hands behind him--a commanding figure in the tiny room full of +feminine trifles. He looked a great deal more at his ease than +he really was. + +"Perhaps I was inclined to be short-tempered," he admitted. "You +see, to be frank with you, the department of our business that was +going wrong was the one over which Morrison has had sole control. +He had entered into certain speculations which I considered +unjustifiable. To-day, however, matters took an unexpected turn +for the better." + +Almost as he spoke his face clouded. Morrison, of course, would be +triumphant. Perhaps he would even expect to be reinstated. For +many reasons, this was a thing which Laverick did not desire. + +"Now tell me," he continued, "what is the matter with Morrison, and +why has he sent for me, and, if you will pardon my saying so, why +is he here instead of in his own rooms?" + +"I will explain," she began softly. + +"You will please explain sitting down," he said firmly. "And don't +look so terrified," he added, with a little laugh. "I can assure +you that I am not going to eat you, or anything of that sort. You +make me feel quite uncomfortable." + +She smiled for the first time, and Laverick thought that he had +never seen anything so wonderful as the change in her features. The +strained rigidity passed away. An altogether softer light gleamed +in her wonderful eyes. She was certainly by far the prettiest child +he had ever seen. As yet he could not take her altogether seriously. + +"Thank you," she said, sinking down upon the arm of an easy-chair. +"first of all, then, Arthur is here because he is my brother." + +"Your brother!" Laverick repeated wonderingly. + +Somehow or other, he had never associated Morrison with relations. +Besides, this meant that she must be of his race. There was nothing +in her face to denote it except the darkness of her eyes, and that +nameless charm of manner, a sort of ultra-sensitiveness, which +belongs sometimes to the highest type of Jews. It was not a quality, +Laverick thought, which he should have associated with Morrison's +sister. + +"My brother, in a way," she resumed. "Arthur's father was a widower +and my mother was a widow when they were married. You are surprised?" + +"There is no reason why I should be," he answered, curiously relieved +at her last statement. "Your brother and I have been connected in +business for some years. We have seen very little of one another +outside." + +"I dare say," she continued, still timidly, "that Arthur's friends +would not be your friends, and that he wouldn't care for the same +sort of things. You see, my mother is dead and also his father, and +as we aren't really related at all, I cannot expect that he would +come to see me very often. Last night, though, quite late--long +after I had gone to bed--he rang the bell here. I was frightened, +for just now I am all alone, and my servant only comes in the +morning. So I looked out of the window and I saw him on the +pavement, huddled up against the door. I hurried down and let him +in. Mr. Laverick," she went on, with an appealing glance at him, +"I have never seen any one look like it. He was terrified to death. +Something seemed to have happened which had taken away from him +even the power of speech. He pushed past me into this room, threw +himself into that chair," she added, pointing across the room, "and +he sobbed and beat his hands upon his knees as though he were a +woman in a fit of hysterics. His clothes were all untidy, he was +as pale as death, and his eyes looked as though they were ready +to start out of his head." + +"You must indeed have been frightened," Laverick said softly. + +"Frightened! I shall never forget it! I did not sleep all night. +He would tell me nothing--he has scarcely spoken a sensible word. +Early this morning I persuaded him to go upstairs, and made him +lie down. He has taken two draughts which I bought from the chemist, +but he has not slept. Every now and then he tries to get up, but +in a minute or two he throws himself down on the bed again and hides +his face. If any one rings at the bell, he shrieks. If he hears a +footfall in the street, even, he calls out for me. Mr. Laverick, I +have never been so frightened in my life. I didn't know whom to +send for or what to do. When he wrote that note to you I was so +relieved. You can't imagine how glad I am to think you have come!" + +Laverick's eyes were full of sympathy. One could see that the +scene of last night had risen up again before her eyes. She was +shrinking back, and the terror was upon her once more. He moved +over to her side, and with an impulse which, when he thought of it +afterwards, amazed him, laid his hand gently upon her shoulder. + +"Don't worry yourself thinking about it," he said. "I will talk to +your brother. We did have words, I'll admit, last night, but there +wasn't the slightest reason why it should have upset him in this +way. Things in the city were shocking yesterday, but they have +improved a great deal to-day. Let me go upstairs and I'll try and +pump some courage into him." + +"You are so kind," she murmured, suddenly dropping her hands from +before her face and looking up at him with shining eyes, "so very +kind. Will you come, then?" + +She rose and he followed her out of the room, up the stairs, and +into a tiny bedroom. Laverick had no time to look around, but it +seemed to him, notwithstanding the cheap white furniture and very +ordinary appointments, that the same note of dainty femininity +pervaded this little apartment as the one below. + +"It is my room," she said shyly. "There is no other properly +furnished, and I thought that he might sleep upon the bed." + +"Perhaps he is asleep now," Laverick whispered. + +Even as he spoke, the dark figure stretched upon the sheets sprang +into a sitting posture. Laverick was conscious of a distinct shock. +It was Morrison, still wearing the clothes in which he had left the +office, his collar crushed out of all shape, his tie vanished. His +black hair, usually so shiny and perfectly arranged, was all +disordered. Out of his staring eyes flashed an expression which one +sees seldom in life,--an expression of real and mortal terror. + +"Who is it?" he cried out, and even his voice was unrecognizable. +"Who is that? What do you want?" + +"It is I--Laverick," Laverick answered. "What on earth is the +matter with you, man?" + +Morrison drew a quick breath. Some part of the terror seemed to +leave his face, but he was still an alarming-looking object. +Laverick quietly opened the door and laid his hand upon the girl's +shoulder. + +"Will you leave us alone?" he asked. "I will come and talk to +you afterwards, if I may." + +She nodded understandingly, and passed out. Laverick closed the +door and came up to the bedside. + +"What in the name of thunder has come over you, Morrison?" he said. +"Are you ill, or what is it?" + +Morrison opened his lips--opened them twice--without any sort of +sound issuing. + +"This is absurd!" Laverick exclaimed protestingly. "I have been +feeling worried myself, but there's nothing so terrifying in losing +one's money, after all. As a matter of fact, things are altogether +better in the city to-day. You made a big mistake in taking us out +of our depth, but we are going to pull through, after all. 'Unions' +have been going up all day." + +Laverick's presence, and the sound of his even, matter-of-fact tone, +seemed to act like a tonic upon his late partner. He made no +reference, however, to Laverick's words. + +"You got my note?" he asked hoarsely. + +"Naturally I got it," Laverick answered impatiently, "and I came at +once. Try and pull yourself together. Sit up and tell me what you +are doing here, frightening your sister out of her life." + +Morrison groaned. + +"I came here," he muttered, "because I dared not go to my own rooms. +I was afraid!" + +Laverick struggled with the contempt he felt. + +"Man alive," he exclaimed, "what was there to be afraid of?" + +"You don't know!" Morrison faltered. "You don't know!" + +Then, for the first time, it occurred to Laverick that perhaps the +financial crisis in their affairs was not the only thing which had +reduced his late partner to this hopeless state. He looked at him +narrowly. + +"Where did you go last night," he asked, "when you left me?" + +"Nowhere," Morrison gasped. "I came here." + +Laverick made a space for himself at the end of the bed, and sat +down. + +"Look here," he said, "it's no use sending for me unless you mean +to tell me everything. Have you been getting yourself into any +trouble apart from our affairs, or is there anything in connection +with them which I don't know?" + +Again Morrison opened his lips, and again, for some reason or other, +he remained speechless. Then a certain fear came also upon Laverick. +There was something in Morrison's state which was in itself +terrifying. + +"You had better tell me all about it," Laverick persisted, "whatever +it is. I will help you if I can." + +Morrison shook his head. There was a glass of water by his side. +He thrust his finger into it and passed it across his lips. They +were dry, almost cracking. + +"Look here," he said, "I've got a breakdown--that's what's the +matter with me. My nerves were never good. I'm afraid of going +mad. The anxiety of the last few weeks has been too much for me. +I want to get out of the country quickly, and I don't know how to +manage it. I can't think. Directly I try to think my head goes +round." + +"There is nothing in the world to prevent your going away," Laverick +answered. "It is the simplest matter possible. Even if we had gone +under to-day, no one could have stopped your going wherever you +chose to go. Ruin, even if it had been ruin,--and I told you just +now that business was better,--is not a crime. Pull yourself +together, for Heaven's sake, man! You should be ashamed to come +here and frighten that poor little girl downstairs almost to death." + +Morrison gripped his partner's arm. + +"You must do as I ask," he declared hoarsely. "It doesn't matter +about prices being better. I want to get away. You must help me." + +Laverick looked at him steadily. Morrison was an ordinary young +man of his type, something of a swaggerer, probably at heart a +coward. But this was no ordinary fear--not even the ordinary fear +of a coward. Laverick's face became graver. There was something +else, then! + +"I will get you out of the country if I can," said he. "There is +no difficulty about it at all unless you are concealing something +from me. You can catch a fast steamer to-morrow, either for South +Africa or New York, but before I make any definite plans, hadn't +you better tell me exactly what happened last night?" + +Once more Morrison's lips parted without the ability to frame words. +Then a feeble moan escaped him. He threw up his hands and his head +fell back. The ghastliness of his face spread almost to his lips, +and he sank back among the pillows. Laverick strode across the +room to the door. + +"Are you anywhere about?" he called out. + +The girl was by his side in a moment. + +"There is nothing to be alarmed at," he said, "but your brother has +fainted. Bring me some sal volatile if you have it, and I think +that you had better run out and get a doctor. I will stay with him. +I know exactly what to do." + +She pointed to the dressing-table, where a little bottle was +standing, and ran downstairs without a word. Laverick mixed some +of the spirit, and moved over to the side of the fainting man. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +LAVERICK's PARTNER FLEES + + +The doctor, a grave, incurious person, arrived within a few minutes +to find Morrison already conscious but absolutely exhausted. He +felt his patient's pulse, prescribed a draught, and followed +Laverick down into the sitting room. + +"An ordinary case of nervous exhaustion," he pronounced. "The +patient appears to have had a very severe shock lately. He will be +all right with proper diet and treatment, and a complete rest. I +will call again to-morrow." + +He accepted the fee which Laverick slipped into his hand, and took +his departure. Once more Laverick was alone with the girl, who had +followed them downstairs. + + +"There is nothing to be alarmed at, you see," he remarked. + +"It is not his health which frightens me. I am sure--I am quite +sure that he has something upon his mind. Did he tell you nothing?" + +"Nothing at all," Laverick answered, with an inward sense of +thankfulness. "To tell you the truth, though, I am afraid you are +right and that he did get into some sort of trouble last night. He +was just about to tell me something when he fainted." + +Upstairs they could hear him moaning. The girl listened with +pitiful face. + +"What am I to do?" she asked. "I cannot leave him like this, and +if I am not at the theatre in twenty minutes, I shall be fined." + +"The theatre?" Laverick repeated. + +She nodded. + +"I am on the stage," she said,--"only a chorus girl at the +Universal, worse luck. Still, they don't allow us to stay away, +and I can't afford to lose my place." + +"Do you mean to say that you have been keeping yourself here, then?" +Laverick asked bluntly. + +"Of course," she answered. "I do not like to be a burden on any +one, and after all, you see, Arthur and I are really not related at +all. He has always told me, too, that times have been so bad lately." + +Laverick was on the point of telling her that bad though they had +been Arthur Morrison had never drawn less than fifteen hundred a +year, but he checked himself. It was not his business to interfere. + +"I think," he said, "that your brother ought to have provided for +you. He could have done so with very little effort." + +"But what am I to do now?" she asked him. "If I am absent, I shall +lose my place." + +Laverick thought for a moment. + +"If you went round there and told them," he suggested, "would that +make any difference? I could stay until you came back." + +"Do you mind?" she asked eagerly. "It would be so kind of you." + +"Not at all," he answered. "Perhaps you would be good enough to +bring a taxicab back, and I could take it on to my rooms. Take +one from here, if you can find it. There are always some at the +corner." + +"I'd love to," she answered. "I must run upstairs and get my hat +and coat." + +He watched her go up on tiptoe for fear of disturbing her brother. +Her feet seemed almost unearthly in the lightness of their pressure. +Not a board creaked. She seemed to float down to him in a most +becoming little hat but a shockingly shabby jacket, of whose +deficiencies she seemed wholly unaware. Her lips were parted once +more in a smile. + +"He is fast asleep and breathing quite regularly," she announced. +"It is nice of you to stay." + +He looked at her almost jealously. + +"Do you know," he said, "you ought not to go about alone?" + +She laughed, softly but heartily. + +"Have you any idea how old I am?" + +"I took you for fourteen when I came inside," he answered. +"Afterwards I thought you might be sixteen. Later on, it seemed +to me possible that you were eighteen. I am absolutely certain +that you are not more than nineteen." + +"That shows how little you know about it. I am twenty, and I am +quite used to going about alone. Will you sit upstairs or here? +I am so sorry that I have nothing to offer you." + +"Thanks, I need nothing. I think I will sit upstairs in case he +wakes." + +She nodded and stole out, closing the door behind her noiselessly. +Laverick watched her from the window until she was out of sight, +moving without any appearance of haste, yet with an incredible +swiftness. When she had turned the corner, he went slowly +upstairs and into the room where Morrison still lay asleep. He +drew a chair to the bedside and leaning forward opened out the +evening paper. The events of the last hour or so had completely +blotted out from his mind, for the time being, his own expedition +into the world of tragical happenings. He glanced at the sleeping +man, then opened his paper. There was very little fresh news +except that this time the fact was mentioned that upon the body +of the murdered man was discovered a sum larger than was at first +supposed. It seemed doubtful, therefore, whether robbery, after +all, was the motive of the crime, especially as it took place in +a neighborhood which was by no means infested with criminals. There +was a suggestion of political motive, a reference to the "Black +Hand," concerning whose doings the papers had been full since the +murder of a well-known detective a few weeks ago. But apart from +this there was nothing fresh. + +Laverick folded up the paper and leaned back in his chair. The +strain of the last twenty-four hours was beginning to tell even upon +his robust constitution. The atmosphere of the room, too, was close. +He leaned back in his chair and was suddenly weary. Perhaps he +dozed. At any rate, the whisper which called him back to realization +of where he was, came to him so unexpectedly that he sat up with a +sudden start. + +Morrison's eyes were open, he had raised himself on his elbow, his +lips were parted. His manner was quieter, but there were black +lines deep engraven under his eyes, in which there still shone +something of that haunting fear. + +"Laverick!" he repeated hoarsely. + +Laverick, fully awakened now, leaned towards him. + +"Hullo," he said, "are you feeling more like yourself?" + +Morrison nodded. + +"Yes," he admitted, "I am feeling--better. How did you come here? +I can't remember anything." + +"You sent for me," Laverick answered. "I arrived to find you +pretty well in a state of collapse. Your sister has gone round to +the theatre to ask them to excuse her this evening." + +"I remember now that I sent for you," Morrison continued. "Tell me, +has any one been around at the office asking after me?" + +"No one particular," Laverick answered,--"no one at all that I can +think of. There were one or two inquiries through the telephone, +but they were all ordinary business matters." + +The man on the bed drew a little breath which sounded like a sigh +of relief. + +"I have made a fool of myself, Laverick," he said hoarsely. + +"You are making a worse one of yourself by lying here and giving +way," Laverick declared, "besides frightening your sister half to +death." + +Morrison passed his hand across his forehead. + +"We talked--some time ago," he went on, "about my getting away. +You promised that you would help me. You said that I could get +off to Africa or America to-morrow." + +"Not the slightest difficulty about that," Laverick answered. "There +are half-a-dozen steamers sailing, at least. At the same time, I +suppose I ought to remind you that the firm is going to pull through. +Mind--don't take this unkindly but the truth is best--I will not +have you back again. There may have to be a more definite +readjustment of our affairs now, but the old business is finished +with." + +"I don't want to come back," Morrison murmured. "I have had enough +of the city for the rest of my life. I'd rather get away somewhere +and make a fresh start. You'll help me, Laverick, won't you?" + +"Yes, I will help you," Laverick promised. + +"You were always a good sort," Morrison continued, "much too good +for me. It was a rotten partnership for you. We could never have +pulled together." + +"Let that go," Laverick interrupted. "If you really mean getting +away, that simplifies matters, of course. Have you made any plans +at all? Where do you want to go?" + +"To New York," answered Morrison; "New York would suit me best. +There is money to be made there if one has something to make a +start with." + +"There will be some more money to come to you," Laverick answered, +"probably a great deal more. I shall place our affairs in the hands +of an accountant, and shall have an estimate drawn up to yesterday. +You shall have every penny that is due to you. You have quite +enough, however, to get there with. I will see to your ticket +to-night, if possible. When you've arrived you can cable me your +address, or you can decide where you will stay before you leave, +and I will send you a further remittance." + +"You're a good sort, Laverick," Morrison mumbled. + +"You'd better give me the key of your rooms," Laverick continued, +"and I will go back and put together some of your things. I suppose +you will not want much to go away with. The rest can be sent on +afterwards. And what about your letters?" + +Morrison, with a sudden movement, threw himself almost out of the +bed. He clutched at Laverick's shoulder frantically. + +"Don't go near my rooms, Laverick!" he begged. "Promise me that you +won't! I don't want any letters! I don't want any of my things!" + +Laverick was dumfounded. + +"You mean you want to go away without--" + +"I mean just what I have said," Morrison continued hysterically. +"If you go there they will watch you, they will follow you, they +will find out where I am. I should be there now but for that." + +Laverick was silent for a moment. The matter was becoming serious. + +"Very well," he said, "I will do as you say. I will not go near +your rooms. I will get you a few things somewhere to start with." + +Morrison sank back upon his pillow. + +"Thank you, Laverick," he said; "thank you. I wish--I wish--" + +His voice seemed to die away. Laverick glanced towards him, +wondering at the unfinished sentence. Once again the man's face +seemed to be convulsed with horror. He flung himself face downward +upon the bed and tore at the sheets with both his hands. + +"Don't be a fool," Laverick said sternly. "If you've anything on +your mind apart from business, tell me about it and I'll do what +I can to help you." + +Morrison made no reply. He was sobbing now like a child. Laverick +rose to his feet and went to the window. What was to be done with +such a creature! When he got back, Morrison had raised himself once +more into a sitting posture. His appearance was absolutely spectral. + +"Laverick," he said feebly, "there is something else, but I cannot +tell you--I cannot tell any one." + +"Just as you please, of course," Laverick answered. "I am simply +anxious to help you." + +"You can do that as it is!" Morrison exclaimed feverishly. "You +must promise me something--promise that if any one asks for me +to-morrow before I get away, you will not tell them where I am. +Say you suppose that I am at my rooms, or that I have gone into +the country for a few days. Say that you are expecting me back. +Don't let any one know that I have gone abroad, until I am safely +away. And then don't tell a soul where I have gone." + +"Have you been up to any tricks with your friends?" Laverick asked +sternly. + +"I haven't--I swear that I haven't," Morrison declared. "It's +something quite outside business--quite outside business altogether." + +"Very well," answered Laverick, "I will promise what you have asked, +then. Listen--here is your sister back again," he added, as he +heard the taxicab stop outside. "Pull yourself together and don't +frighten her so much. I am going down to meet her. I shall tell +her that you are better. Try and buck up when she comes in to see +you." + +"I'll do my best," Morrison said humbly. "If you knew! If you +only knew!" + +He began to sob again. Laverick left the room and, descending the +stairs, met the girl in the hall. Her white face questioned him +before her lips had time to frame the speech. + +"Your brother is very much better," Laverick said. "I am sure that +you need not be anxious about him." + +"I am so glad," she murmured. "They let me off but I had to pay a +fine. I had no idea before that I was so important. Shall I go to +him now?" + +"One moment," Laverick answered, holding open the door of the +sitting-room. "Miss Morrison," he went on,-- + +"Miss Leneven is my name," she interrupted. + +"I beg your pardon. Your brother evidently has something on his +mind apart from business. I am afraid that he has been getting +into some sort of trouble. I don't think there is any object in +bothering him about it, but the great thing is to get him away." + +"You will help?" she begged. + +"I will help, certainly," Laverick answered. "I have promised to. +You must see that he is ready to leave here at seven o'clock +to-morrow morning. He wants to go to New York, and the special +to catch the German boat will leave Waterloo somewhere about eight +to eight-thirty." + +"But his clothes!" she cried. "How can he be ready by then?" + +"Your brother does not wish me or any one to go near his rooms or +to send him any of his belongings," Laverick continued quietly. + +"But how strange!" the girl exclaimed. "Do you mean to say, then, +that he is going without anything?" + +"I am afraid," Laverick said kindly, "that we must take it for +granted that your brother has got mixed up in some undesirable +business or other. He is nervously anxious to keep his whereabouts +an entire secret. He has been asking me whether any one has been +to the office to inquire for him. Under the circumstances, I think +the best thing we can do is to humor him. I shall buy him before +to-morrow morning a cheap dressing-case and a ready-made suit of +clothes, and a few things for the voyage. Then I shall send a cab +for you both at seven o'clock and meet you at the station. + +"You are very kind," she murmured. "What should I have done without +you? Oh, I cannot think!" + +The protective instinct in the man was suddenly strong. Naturally +unaffectionate, he was conscious of an almost overmastering desire +to take her hands in his, even to lift her up and kiss away the +tears which shone in her deep, childlike eyes. He reminded himself +that she was a stranger, that her appearance of youth was a delusion, +that she could only construe such an action as a liberty, an +impertinence, offered under circumstances for which there could be +no possible excuse. + +He moved away towards the door. + +"Naturally," he said, "I am glad to be of use to your brother. You +see," he explained, a little awkwardly, "after all, we have been +partners in business." + +He caught a look upon her face and smiled. + +"Naturally, too," he continued, "it has been a great pleasure for +me to do anything to relieve your anxiety." + +She gave him her hands then of her own accord. The gratitude which +shone out of her swimming eyes seemed mingled with something which +was almost invitation. Laverick was suddenly swept off his feet. +Something had come into his life--something absurd, uncounted upon, +incomprehensible. The atmosphere of the room seemed electrified. +In a moment, he had done what only a second or two before he had +told himself would be the action of a cad. He had taken her, +unresisting, up into his arms, kissed her eyes and lips. Afterwards, +he was never able to remember those few moments clearly, only it +seemed to him that she had accepted his caress almost without +hesitation, with the effortless serenity of a child receiving a +natural consolation in a time of trouble. But Laverick was conscious +of other feelings as he leaned hard back in the corner of his taxicab +and was driven swiftly away. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST" + + +Laverick, notwithstanding that the hour was becoming late, found an +outfitter's shop in the Strand still open, and made such purchases +as he could on Morrison's behalf. Then, with the bag ready packed, +he returned to his rooms. Time had passed quickly during the last +three hours. It was nearly nine o'clock when he stepped out of the +lift and opened the door of his small suite of rooms with the +latchkey which hung from his chain. He began to change his clothes +mechanically, and he had nearly finished when the telephone bell +upon his table rang. + +"Who's that?" he asked, taking up the receiver. + +"Hall-porter, sir," was the answer. "Person here wishes to see you +particularly." + +"A person!" Laverick repeated. "Man or woman?" + +"Man, sir. + +"Better send him up," Laverick ordered. + +"He's a seedy-looking lot, sir," the porter explained "I told him +that I scarcely thought you'd see him." + +"Never mind," Laverick answered. "I can soon get rid of the fellow +if he's cadging." + +He went back to his room and finished fastening his tie. His own +affairs had sunk a little into the background lately, but the +announcement of this unusual visitor brought them back into his +mind with a rush. Notwithstanding his iron nerves, his fingers +shook as he drew on his dinner-jacket and walked out to the +passageway to answer the bell which rang a few seconds later. A +man stood outside, dressed in shabby black clothes, whose face +somehow was familiar to him, although he could not, for the moment, +place it. + +"Do you want to see me?" Laverick asked. + +"If you please, Mr. Laverick," the man replied, "if you could spare +me just a moment." + +"You had better come inside, then," Laverick said, closing the door +and preceding the way into the sitting-room. At any rate, there +was nothing threatening about the appearance of this visitor--nor +anything official. + +"I have taken the liberty of coming, sir," the man announced, "to +ask you if you can tell me where I can find Mr. Arthur Morrison." + +Laverick's face showed no sign of his relief. What he felt he +succeeded in keeping to himself. + +"You mean Morrison--my partner, I suppose?" he answered. + +"If you please, sir," the man admitted. "I wanted a word or two +with him most particular. I found out his address from the +caretaker of your office, but he don't seem to have been home to +his rooms at all last night, and they know nothing about him there." + +"Your face seems familiar to me," Laverick remarked. "Where do you +come from?" + +The man hesitated. + +"I am the waiter, sir, at the 'Black Post,'--little bar and +restaurant, you know," he added, "just behind your offices, sir, +at the end of Crooked Friars' Alley. You've been in once or +twice, Mr. Laverick, I think. Mr. Morrison's a regular customer. +He comes in for a drink most mornings." + +Laverick nodded. + + +"I knew I'd seen your face somewhere," he said. "What do you want +with Mr. Morrison?" + +The man was silent. He twirled his hat and looked embarrassed. + +"It's a matter I shouldn't like to mention to any one except Mr. +Morrison himself, sir," he declared finally. "If you could put me +in the way of seeing him, I'd be glad. I may say that it would be +to his advantage, too." + +Laverick was thoughtful for a moment. + +"As it happens, that's a little difficult," he explained. "Mr. +Morrison and I disagreed on a matter of business last night. I +undertook certain responsibilities which he should have shared, +and he arranged to leave the firm and the country at once. We +parted--well, not exactly the best of friends. I am afraid I +cannot give you any information." + +"You haven't seen him since then, sir?" the man asked. + +Laverick lied promptly but he lied badly. His visitor was not in +the least convinced. + +"I am afraid I haven't made myself quite plain, sir," he said. +"It's to do him a bit o' good that I'm here. I'm not wishing him +any harm at all. On the contrary, it's a great deal more to his +advantage to see me than it will be mine to find him." + +"I think," Laverick suggested, "that you had better be frank with +me. Supposing I knew where to catch Morrison before he left the +country, I could easily deal with you on his behalf." + +The man looked doubtful. + +"You see, sir," he replied awkwardly, "it's a matter I wouldn't +like to breathe a word about to any one but Mr. Morrison himself. +It's--it's a bit serious." + +The man's face gave weight to his words. Curiously enough, the +gleam of terror which Laverick caught in his white face reminded +him of a similar look which he had seen in Morrison's eyes barely +an hour ago. To gain time, Laverick moved across the room, took +a cigarette from a box and lit it. A conviction was forming +itself in his mind. There was something definite behind these +hysterical paroxysms of his late partner, something of which this +man had an inkling. + +"Look here," he said, throwing himself into an easychair, "I think +you had better be frank with me. I must know more than I know at +present before I help you to find Morrison, even if he is to be +found. We didn't part very good friends, but I'm his friend +enough--for the sake of others," he added, after a moment's hesitation, +"to do all that I could to help him out of any difficulty he may +have stumbled into. So you see that so far as anything you may have +to say to him is concerned, I think you might as well say it to me." + +"You couldn't see your way, then, sir," the man continued doggedly, +"to tell me where I could find Mr. Morrison himself?" + +"No, I couldn't," Laverick decided. "Even if I knew exactly where +he was--and I'm not admitting that--I couldn't put you in touch +with him unless I knew what your business was." + +The man's eyes gleamed. He was a typical waiter--pasty-faced, +unwholesome-looking--but he had small eyes of a greenish cast, and +they were expressive. + +"I think, sir," he said, "you've some idea yourself, then, that Mr. +Morrison has been getting into a bit of trouble." + +"We won't discuss that," Laverick answered. "You must either go +away--it's past nine o'clock and I haven't had my dinner yet--or +you must treat me as you would Mr. Morrison." + +The man looked upon the carpet for several moments. + +"Very well, sir," he said, "there's no great reason why I should put +myself out about this at all. The only thing is--" + +He hesitated. + +"Well, go on," Laverick said encouragingly. + +"I think," the man continued, "that Mr. Morrison--knowing, as I +well do, sir, the sort of gent he is--would be more likely to talk +common sense with me about this matter than you, sir." + +"I'll imagine I'm Morrison, for the moment," Laverick said smiling, +"especially as I'm acting for him." + +The man looked around the room. The door behind had been left ajar. +He stepped backward and closed it. + +"You'll pardon the liberty, sir," he said, "but this is a serious +matter I'm going to speak about. I'll just tell you a little thing +and you can form your own conclusions. Last night we was open late +at the 'Black Post.' We keep open, sir, as you know, when you +gentlemen at the Stock Exchange are busy. About nine o'clock there +was a strange customer came in. He had two drinks and he sat as +though he were waiting. In about 'arf-an-hour another gent came in, +and they went into a corner together and seemed to be doing some sort +of business. Anyways, there was papers passed between them. I was +fairly busy about then, as there were one or two more customers in +the place, but I noticed these two talking together, and I noticed +the dark gentleman leave. The others went out a few minutes +afterwards, and the gent who had come first was alone in the place. +He sat in the corner and he had a pocket-book on the table before +him. I had a sort of casual glance at it when I brought him a drink, +and it seemed to me that it was full of bank-notes. He sat there +just like a man extra deep in thought. Just after eleven, in came +Mr. Morrison. I could see he was rare and put out, for he was white, +and shaking all over. 'Give me a drink, Jim,' he said,--'a big +brandy and soda, big as you make 'em."' + +The man paused for a moment as though to collect himself. Laverick +was suddenly conscious of a strange thrill creeping through his +pulses. + +"Go on," he said. "That was after he left me. Go on." + +"He was quite close to the other gent, Mr. Morrison was," the waiter +continued, "but they didn't say nowt to each other. All of a sudden +I see Mr. Morrison set down his glass and stare at the other chap +as though he'd seen something that had given him a turn. I leaned +over the counter and had a look, too. There he sat--this tall, +fair chap who had been in the place so long--with his big +pocket-book on the table in front of him, and even from where I was +I could see that there was a great pile of bank-notes sticking out +from it. All of a sudden he looks up and sees Mr. Morrison +a-watching him and me from behind the counter. Back he whisks the +pocket-book into his pocket, calls me for my bill, gives me two +mouldy pennies for a tip, buttons up his coat and walks out." + +"You know who he was?" Laverick inquired. + +Again the waiter paused for a moment before he answered--paused +and looked nervously around the room. His voice shook. + +"He was the man as was murdered about a hundred yards off the +'Black Post' last night, sir," he said. + +"How do you know?" Laverick asked. + +"I got an hour off to-day," the waiter continued, "and went down to +the Mortuary. There was no doubt about it. There he was--same +chap, same clothes. I could swear to him anywhere, and I reckon +I'll have to at the inquest." + +Laverick's cigarette burned away between his fingers. It seemed to +him that he was no longer in the room. He was listening to Big +Ben striking the hour, he was back again in that tiny little bedroom +with its spotless sheets and lace curtains. The man on the bed was +looking at him. Laverick remembered the look and shivered. + +"What has this to do with Morrison?" he demanded. + +Once more the waiter looked around in that half mysterious, half +terrified way. + +"Mr. Morrison, sir," he said, dropping his voice to a hoarse whisper, +"he followed the other chap out within thirty seconds. A sort of +queer look he'd got in his face too, and he went out without paying +me. I've read the papers pretty careful, sir," the man went on, +"but I ain't seen no word of that pocket-book of bank-notes being +found on the man as was murdered." + +Laverick threw the end of his burning cigarette away. He walked to +the window, keeping his back deliberately turned on his visitor. +His eyes followed the glittering arc of lights which fringed the +Thames Embankment, were caught by the flaring sky-sign on the other +side of the river. He felt his heart beating with unaccustomed vigor. +Was this, then, the secret of Morrison's terror? He wondered no +longer at his collapse. The terror was upon him, too. He felt his +forehead, and his hand, when he drew it away, was wet. It was not +Morrison alone but he himself who might be implicated in this man's +knowledge. The thoughts flitted through his brain like parts of a +nightmare. He saw Morrison arrested, he saw the whole story of the +missing pocket-book in the papers, he imagined his bank manager +reading it and thinking of that parcel of mysterious bank-notes +deposited in his keeping on the morning after the tragedy... +Laverick was a strong man, and his moment of weakness, poignant +though it had been, passed. This was no new thing with which he +was confronted. All the time he had known that the probabilities +were in favor of such a discovery. He set his teeth and turned to +face his visitor. + +"This is a very serious thing which you have told me," he said. +"Have you spoken about it to any one else?" + +"Not a soul, sir," the man answered. "I thought it best to have a +word or two first with Mr. Morrison." + +"You were thinking of attending the inquest," Laverick said +thoughtfully. "The police would thank you for your evidence, and +there, I suppose, the matter would end." + +"You've hit it precisely, sir," the man admitted. "There the matter +would end." + +"On the other hand," Laverick continued, speaking as though he were +reasoning this matter out to himself, "supposing you decided not to +meddle in an affair which does not concern you, supposing you were +not sure as to the identity of your customer last night, and being +a little tired you could not rightly remember whether Mr. Morrison +called in for a drink or not, and so, to cut the matter short, you +dismissed the whole matter from your mind and let the inquest take +its own course,--Laverick paused. His visitor scratched the side +of his chin and nodded. + +"You've put this matter plainly, sir," he said, "in what I call an +understandable, straightforward way. I'm a poor man--I've been a +poor man all my life--and I've never seed a chance before of +getting away from it. I see one now." + +"You want to do the best you can for yourself?" + +"So 'elp me God, sir, I do!" the man agreed. + +Laverick nodded. + +"You have done a remarkably wise thing," he said, "in coming to me +and in telling me about this affair. The idea of connecting Mr. +Morrison with the murder would, of course, be ridiculous, but, on +the other hand, it would be very disagreeable to him to have his +name mentioned in connection with it. You have behaved discreetly, +and you have done Mr. Morrison a service in trying to find him out. +You will do him a further service by adopting the second course I +suggested with regard to the inquest. What do you consider that +service is worth?" + +"It depends, sir," the man answered quietly, "at what price Mr. +Morrison values his life!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE PRICE OF SILENCE + + +The man's manner was expressive. Laverick repeated his phrase, +frowning. + +"His life!" + +"Yes, sir!" + +Laverick shrugged his shoulders. + +"Come," he declared, "you must not go too far with this thing. I +have admitted, so as to clear the way for anything you have to say, +that Mr. Morrison would not care to have his name mentioned in +connection with this affair. But because he left your bar a few +minutes after the murdered man, it is sheer folly to assume that +therefore he is necessarily implicated in his death. I cannot +conceive anything more unlikely." + +The man smiled--a slow, uncomfortable smile which suggested mirth +less than anything in the world. + +"There are a few other things, sir," he remarked,--"one in especial." + +"Well?" Laverick inquired. "Let's have it. You had better tell me +everything that is in your mind." + +"The man was stabbed with a horn-handled knife." + +"I remember reading that," Laverick admitted. + +"Well?" + +"The knife was mine," his visitor affirmed, dropping his voice once +more to a whisper. "It lay on the edge of the counter, close to +where Mr. Morrison was leaning, and as soon as he'd gone I missed it." + +Laverick was silent. What was there to be said? + +"Horn-handled knives," he muttered, "are not rare not uncommon things." + +"One don't possess a knife for a matter of eight or nine years +without being able to swear to it," the other remarked dryly. + +"Is there anything more?" + +"There don't need to be," was the quiet reply. "You know that, sir. +So do I. There don't need to be any more evidence than mine to send +Mr. Morrison to the gallows." + +"We will waive that point," Laverick declared. "The jury sometimes +are very hard to convince by circumstantial evidence alone. However, +as I have said, let us waive that point. Your position is clear +enough. You go to the inquest, you tell all you know, and you get +nothing. You are a poor man, you have worked hard all your life. +The chance has come in your way to do yourself a little good. Now +take my advice. Don't spoil it all by asking for anything ridiculous. +It won't do for you to come into a fortune a few days after this +affair, especially if it ever comes out that the murdered man was in +your place. I am here to act for Mr. Morrison. What is it that you +want?" + +"You are talking like a gent, sir," the man said,--"like a sensible +gent, too. I'd have to keep it quiet, of course, that I'd come into +a bit of money,--just at present, at any rate. I could easy find +an excuse for changing my job--perhaps get away from London +altogether. I've got a few pounds saved and I've always wanted to +open a banking account. A gent like you, perhaps, could put me in +the way of doing it." + +"How much do you consider would be a satisfactory balance to +commence with?" Laverick asked. + +"I was thinking of a thousand pounds, sir." + +Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments. + +"By the way, what is your name?" he inquired at last. + +"James Shepherd, sir," the man answered,--"generally called Jim, +sir." + +"Well, you see, Shepherd," Laverick continued, "the difficulty is, +in your case, as in all similar ones, that one never knows where +the thing will end. A thousand pounds is a considerable sum, but +in four amounts, with three months interval between each, it could +be arranged. This would be better for you, in any case. Two +hundred and fifty pounds is not an unheard-of sum for you to have +saved or got together. After that your investments would be my +lookout, and they would produce, as I have said, another seven +hundred and fifty pounds. But what security have I--has Mr. +Morrison, let us say--that you will be content with this sum?" + +"He hasn't any, sir," the man admitted at once. "He couldn't have +any. I'm a modest-living man, and I've no desire to go shouting +around that I'm independent all of a sudden. That wouldn't do +nohow. A thousand pounds would bring me in near enough a pound a +week if I invested it, or two pounds a week for an annuity, my +health being none too good. I've no wife or children, sir. I was +thinking of an annuity. With two pounds a week I'd have no cause +to trouble any one again." + +Laverick considered. + +"It shall be done," he said. "To-morrow I shall buy shares for +you to the extent of two hundred and fifty pounds. They will be +deposited in a bank. Some day you can look in and see me, and I +will take you round there. You are my client who has speculated +under my instructions successfully, and you will sign your name +and become a customer. After that, you will speculate again. +When your thousand pounds has been made, I will show you how to +buy an annuity. Keep your mouth shut, and last night will be +the luckiest night of your life. Do you drink?" + +"A drop or two, sir," the man admitted. "If I didn't, I guess +I'd go off my chump." + +"Do you talk when you're drunk?" Laverick asked. + +"Never, sir," the man declared. "I've a way of getting a drop +too much when I'm by myself. Then I tumbles off to sleep and +that's the end of it. I've no fancy for company at such times." + +"It's a good thing," Laverick remarked, thrusting his hand into +his pocket. "Here's a five-pound note on account. I daresay you +can manage to keep sober to-night, at any rate. That's all, isn't +it?" + +"That's all, sir," the man answered, "unless I might make so bold as +to ask whether Mr. Morrison has really hooked it?" + +"Mr. Morrison had decided to hook it, as you graphically say, before +he came in for that drink to your bar, Shepherd," Laverick affirmed. +"Business had been none too good with us, and we had had a +disagreement." + +The man nodded. + +"I see, sir," he said, taking up his hat. "Good night, sir!" + +"Good night!" Laverick answered. "You can find your way down?" + +"Quite well, sir, and thank you," declared Mr. Shepherd, closing +the door softly behind him. + +Laverick sat down in his chair. He had forgotten that he was hungry. +He was faced now with a new tragedy. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL + + +They stood together upon the platform watching the receding train. +The girl's eyes were filled with tears, but Laverick was conscious +of a sense of immense relief. Morrison had been at the station +some time before the train was due to leave, and, although a +physical wreck, he seemed only too anxious to depart. He had all +the appearance of a broken-spirited man. He looked about him on +the platform, and even from the carriage, in the furtive way of a +criminal expecting apprehension at any moment. The whistle of the +train had been a relief as great to him as to Laverick. + +"We'll write you to New York, care of Barclays," Laverick called out. +"Good luck, Morrison! Pull yourself together and make a fresh +start." + +Morrison's only reply was a somewhat feeble nod. Laverick had not +attempted to shake hands. He felt himself at the last moment, +stirred almost to anger by the perfunctory farewell which was all +this man had offered to the girl he had treated so inconsiderately. +His thoughts were engrossed upon himself and his own danger. He +would not even have kissed her if she had not drawn his face down +to hers and whispered a reassuring little message. Laverick turned +away. For some reason or other he felt himself shuddering. +Conversation during those last few moments had been increasingly +difficult. The train was off at last, however, and they were alone. + +The girl drew a long breath, which might very well have been one of +relief. They turned silently toward the exit. + +"Are you going back home?" Laverick asked. + +"Yes," she answered listlessly. "There is nothing else to do." + +"Isn't it rather sad for you there by yourself?" + +She nodded. + +"It is the first time," she said. "Another girl and her mother +have lived with me always. They started off last week, touring. +They are paying a little toward the house or I should have to go +into rooms. As it is, I think that it would be more comfortable." + +Laverick looked at her wonderingly. + +"You seem such a child," he said, "to be left all alone in the +world like this." + +"But I am not a child actually, you see," she answered, with an +effort at lightness. "Somehow, though, I do miss Arthur's going. +His father was always very good to me, and made him promise that +he would do what he could. I didn't see much of him, but one felt +always that there was somebody. It's different now. It makes +one feel very lonely." + +"I, too," Laverick said, with commendable mendacity, "am rather a +lonely person. You must let me see something of you now and then." + +She looked up at him quickly. Her gaze was altogether disingenuous, +but her eyes--those wonderful eyes--spoke volumes. + +"If you really mean it," she said, "I should be so glad." + +"Supposing we start to-day," he suggested, smiling. "I cannot ask +you to lunch, as I have a busy day before me, but we might have +dinner together quite early. Then I would take you to the theatre +and meet you afterwards, if you liked." + +"If I liked!" she whispered. "Oh, how good you are." + +"I am not at all sure about that. Now I'll put you in this taxi +and send you home." + +She laughed. + +"You mustn't do anything so extravagant. I can get a 'bus just +outside. I never have taxicabs." + +"Just this morning," he insisted, "and I think he won't trouble you +for his fare. You must let me, please. Remember that there's a +large account open still between your half-brother and me, so you +needn't mind these trifles. Till this evening, then. Shall I +fetch you or will you come to me?" + +"Let me fetch you, if I may," she said. "It isn't nice for you to +come down to where I live. It's such a horrid part." + +"Just as you like," he answered. "I'd be very glad to fetch you +if you prefer it, but it would give me more time if you came. Shall +we say seven o'clock? I've written the address down on this card +so that you can make no mistake." + +She laughed gayly. + +"You know, all the time," she said, "I feel that you are treating +me as though I were a baby. I'll be there punctually, and I don't +think I need tie the card around my neck." + +The cab glided off. Laverick caught a glimpse of a wan little face +with a faint smile quivering at the corner of her lips as she +leaned out for a moment to say good-bye. Then he went back to his +rooms, breakfasted, and made his way to his office. + +The morning papers had nothing new to report concerning the murder +in Crooked Friars' Alley. Evidently what information the police +had obtained they were keeping for the inquest. Laverick, from the +moment when he entered the office, had little or no time to think +of the tragedy under whose shadow he had come. The long-predicted +boom had arrived at last. Without lunch, he and all his clerks +worked until after six o'clock. Even then Laverick found it hard +to leave. During the day, a dozen people or so had been in to ask +for Morrison. To all of them he had given the same reply,--Morrison +had gone abroad on private business for the firm. Very few were +deceived by Laverick's dry statement. He was quite aware that he +was looked upon either as one of the luckiest men on earth, or as +a financier of consummate skill. The failure of Laverick & Morrison +had been looked upon as a certainty. How they had tided over that +twenty-four hours had been known to no one--to no one but Laverick +himself and the manager of his bank. + +Just before four o'clock, the telephone rang at his elbow. + +"Mr. Fenwick from the bank, sir, is wishing to speak to you for a +moment," his head-clerk announced. + +Laverick took up the telephone. + +"Yes," he said, "I am Laverick. Good afternoon, Mr. Fenwick! +Absolutely impossible to spare any time to-day. What is it? The +account is all right, isn't it?" + +"Quite right, Mr. Laverick," was the answer. "At the same time, +if you could spare me a moment I should be glad to see you +concerning the deposit you made yesterday." + +"I will come in to-morrow," Laverick promised. "This afternoon it +is quite out of the question. I have a crowd of people waiting to +see me, and several important engagements for which I am late +already." + +The banker seemed scarcely satisfied. + +"I may rely upon seeing you to-morrow?" he pressed. + +"To-morrow," Laverick repeated, ringing off. + +For a time this last message troubled him. As soon as the day's +work was over, however, and he stepped into his cab, he dismissed +it entirely from his thoughts. It was curious how, notwithstanding +this new seriousness which had come into his life, notwithstanding +that sensation of walking all the time on the brink of a precipice, +he set his face homeward and looked forward to his evening, with a +pleasure which he had not felt for many months. The whirl of the +day faded easily from his mind. He lived no more in an atmosphere +of wild excitement, of changing prices, of feverish anxiety. How +empty his life must have unconsciously grown that he could find so +much pleasure in being kind to a pretty child! It was hard to think +of her otherwise--impossible. A strange heritage, this, to have +been left him by such a person as Arthur Morrison. How in the world, +he wondered, did he happen to have such a connection. + +She was a little shy when she arrived. Laverick had left special +orders downstairs, and she was brought up into his sitting-room +immediately. She was very quietly dressed except for her hat, +which was large and wavy. He found it becoming, but he knew enough +to understand that her clothes were very simple and very inexpensive, +and he was conscious of being curiously glad of the fact. + +"I am afraid," she said timidly, with a glance at his evening attire, +"that we must go somewhere very quiet. You see, I have only one +evening gown and I couldn't wear that. There wouldn't be time to +change afterwards. Besides, one's clothes do get so knocked about +in the dressing-rooms." + +"There are heaps of places we can go to," he assured her pleasantly. +"Of course you can't, dress for the evening when you have to go on +to work, but you must remember that there are a good many other +smart young ladies in the same position. I had to change because I +have taken a stall to see your performance. Tell me, how are you +feeling now?" + +"Rather lonely," she admitted, making a pathetic little grimace. +"That is to say I have been feeling lonely," she added softly. "I +don't now, of course. + +"You are a queer little person," he said kindly, as they went down +in the lift. "Haven't you any friends?" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"What sort of friends could I have?" she asked. "The girls in the +chorus with me are very nice, some of them, but they know so many +people whom I don't, and they are always out to supper, or something +of the sort." + +"And you?" + +She shook her head. + +"I went to one supper-party with the girl who is near me," she said. +"I liked it very much, but they didn't ask me again." + +"I wonder why?" he remarked. + +"Oh, I don't know!" she went on drearily. "You see, I think the +men who take out girls who are in the chorus, generally expect to +be allowed to make love to them. At any rate, they behaved like +that. Such a horrid man tried to say nice things to me and I didn't +like it a bit. So they left me alone afterwards. The girl I lived +with and her mother are quite nice, and they have a few friends we +go to see sometimes on Sunday or holidays. It's dull, though, very +dull, especially now they're away." + +"What on earth made you think of going on the stage at all?" he +asked. + +"What could one do?" she answered. "My mother's money died with +her--she had only an annuity--and my stepfather, who had promised +to look after me, lost all his money and died quite suddenly. Arthur +was in a stockbroker's office and he couldn't save anything. My only +friend was my old music-master, and he had given up teaching and was +director of the orchestra at the Universal. All he could do for me +was to get me a place in the chorus. I have been there ever since. +They keep on promising me a little part but I never get it. It's +always like that in theatres. You have to be a favorite of the +manager's, for some reason or other, or you never get your chance +unless you are unusually lucky." + +"I don't know much about theatres," he admitted. "I am afraid I am +rather a stupid person. When I can get away from work I go into +the country and play cricket or golf, or anything that's going. +When I am up in town, I am generally content with looking up a few +friends, or playing bridge at the club. I never have been a +theatre-goer. + +"I wonder," she asked, as they seated themselves at a small round +table in the restaurant which he had chosen,--"I wonder why every +now and then you look so serious." + +"I didn't know that I did," he answered. "We've had thundering +hard times lately in business, though. I suppose that makes a man +look thoughtful." + +"Poor Mr. Laverick," she murmured softly. "Are things any better +now?" + +"Much better." + +"Then you have nothing really to bother you?" she persisted. + +"I suppose we all have something," he replied, suddenly grave. +"Why do you ask that?" + +She leaned across the table. In the shaded light, her oval face +with its little halo of deep brown hair seemed to him as though +it might have belonged to some old miniature. She was delightful, +like Watteau-work upon a piece of priceless porcelain--delightful +when the lights played in her eyes and the smile quivered at the +corner of her lips. Just now, however, she became very much in +earnest. + +"I will tell you why I ask that question," she said. "I cannot +help worrying still about Arthur. You know you admitted last +night that he had done something. You saw how terribly frightened +he was this morning, and how he kept on looking around as though +he were afraid that he would see somebody whom he wished to avoid. +Oh! I don't want to worry you," she went on, "but I feel so +terrified sometimes. I feel that he must have done something--bad. +It was not an ordinary business trouble which took the life out of +him so completely." + +"It was not," Laverick admitted at once. "He has done something, I +believe, quite foolish; but the matter is in my hands to arrange, +and I think you can assure yourself that nothing will come of it." + +"Did you tell him so this morning?" she asked eagerly. + +"I did not," he answered. "I told him nothing. For many reasons +it was better to keep him ignorant. He and I might not have seen +things the same way, and I am sure that what I am doing is for the +best. If I were you, Miss Leneveu, I think I wouldn't worry any +more. Soon you will hear from your brother that he is safe in +New York, and I think I can promise you that the trouble will +never come to anything serious." + +"Why have you been so kind to him?" she asked timidly. "From what +he said, I do not think that he was very useful to you, and, indeed, +you and he are so different." + +Laverick was silent for a moment. + +"To be honest," he said, "I think that I should not have taken so +much trouble for his sake alone. You see," he continued, smiling, +"you are rather a delightful young person, and you were very +anxious, weren't you?" + +Her hand came across the table--an impulsive little gesture, +which he nevertheless found perfectly natural and delightful. He +took it into his, and would have raised the fingers to his lips +but for the waiters who were hovering around. + +"You are so kind," she said, "and I am so fortunate. I think that +I wanted a friend." + +"You poor child," he answered, "I should think you did. You are +not drinking your wine." + +She shook her head. + +"Do you mind?" she asked. "A very little gets into my head +because I take it so seldom, and the manager is cross if one makes +the least bit of a mistake. Besides, I do not think that I like +to drink wine. If one does not take it at all, there is an excuse +for never having anything when the girls ask you." + +He nodded sympathetically. + +"I believe you are quite right," he said; "in a general way, at any +rate. Well, I will drink by myself to your brother's safe arrival +in New York. Are you ready?" + +She glanced at the clock. + +"I must be there in a quarter of an hour," she told him. + +"I will drive you to the theatre," he said, "and then go round and +fetch my ticket." + +As he waited for her in the reception hall of the restaurant, he +took an evening paper from the stall. A brief paragraph at once +attracted his attention. + + Murder in the City.--We understand that very important + information has come into the hands of the police. An + ARREST is expected to-night or to-morrow at the latest. + +He crushed the paper in his hand and threw it on one side. It was +the usual sort of thing. There was nothing they could have found +out--nothing, he told himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES + + +As soon as he had gone through his letters on the following morning, +Laverick, in response to a second and more urgent message, went +round to his bank. Mr. Fenwick greeted him gravely. He was feeling +keenly the responsibilities of his position. Just how much to say +and how much to leave unsaid was a question which called for a full +measure of diplomacy. + +"You understand, Mr. Laverick," he began, "that I wished to see you +with regard to the arrangement we came to the day before yesterday." + +Laverick nodded. It suited him to remain monosyllabic. + +"Well?" he asked. + +"The arrangement, of course, was most unusual," the manager continued. +"I agreed to it as you were an old customer and the matter was an +urgent one." + +"I do not quite follow you," Laverick remarked, frowning. "What is +it you wish me to do? Withdraw my account?" + +"Not in the least," the manager answered hastily. + +"You know the position of our market, of course," Laverick went on. +"Three days ago I was in a situation which might have been called +desperate. I could quite understand that you needed security to +go on making the necessary payments on my behalf. To-day, things +are entirely different. I am twenty thousand pounds better off, +and if necessary I could realize sufficient to pay off the whole of +my overdraft within half-an-hour. That I do not do so is simply a +matter of policy and prices." + +"I quite understand that, my dear Mr. Laverick," the bank manager +declared. "The position is simply this. We have had a most unusual +and a strictly private inquiry, of a nature which I cannot divulge +to you, asking whether any large sum in five hundred pound banknotes +has been passed through our account during the last few days." + +"You have actually had this inquiry?" Laverick asked calmly. + +"We have. I can tell you no more. The source of the inquiry was, +in a sense, amazing." + +"May I ask what your reply was?" + +"My reply was," Mr. Fenwick said slowly, "that no such notes had +passed through our account. We asked them, however, without giving +any reasons, to repeat their question in a few days' time. Our +reply was perfectly truthful. Owing to your peculiar stipulations, +we are simply holding a certain packet for you in our security +chamber. We know it to contain bank-notes, and there is very little +doubt but that it contains the notes which have been the subject of +this inquiry. I want to ask you, Mr. Laverick, to be so good as to +open that packet, let me credit the notes to your account in the +usual way, and leave me free to reply as I ought to have done in +the first instance to this inquiry." + +"The course which you suggest," replied the other, "is one which I +absolutely decline to take. It is not for me to tell you the nature +of the relations which should exist between a banker and his client. +All that I can say is that those notes are deposited with you and +must remain on deposit, and that the transaction is one which must +be treated entirely as a confidential one. If you decline to do +this, I must remove my account, in which case I shall, of course, +take the packet away with me. To be plain with you, Mr. Fenwick," +he wound up, "I do not intend to make use of those notes, I never +intended to do so. I simply deposited them as security until the +turn in price of 'Unions' came. + +"It is a very nice point, Mr. Laverick," the bank manager remarked. +"I should consider that you had already made use of them." + +"Every one to his own conscience," Laverick answered calmly. + +"You place me in a very embarrassing position, Mr. Laverick." + +"I cannot admit that at all," Laverick replied. "There is only one +inquiry which you could have had which could justify you in insisting +upon what you have suggested. It emanated, I presume, from Scotland +Yard?" + +"If it had," Mr. Fenwick answered, "no considerations of etiquette +would have intervened at all. I should have felt it my duty to +have revealed at once the fact of your deposit. At the same time, +the inquiry comes from an even more important source,--a source +which cannot be ignored." + +Laverick thought for a moment. + +"After all, the matter is a very simple one," he declared. "By +four o'clock this afternoon my account shall be within its limits. +You will then automatically restore to me the packet which you hold +on my behalf, and the possession of which seems to embarrass you." + +"If you do not mind," the banker answered, "I should be glad if you +would take it with you. It means, I think, a matter of six or +seven thousand pounds added to your overdraft, but as a temporary +thing we will pass that." + +"As you will," Laverick assented carelessly. "The charge of those +documents is a trust with me as well as with yourself. I have no +doubt that I can arrange for their being held in a secure place +elsewhere." + +The usual formalities were gone through, and Laverick left the bank +with the brown leather pocket-book in his breast-coat pocket. +Arrived at his office, he locked it up at once in his private safe +and proceeded with the usual business of the day. Even with an +added staff of clerks, the office was almost in an uproar. Laverick +threw himself into the struggle with a whole-hearted desire to +escape from these unpleasant memories. He succeeded perfectly. It +was two hours before he was able to sit down even for a moment. His +head-clerk, almost as exhausted, followed him into his room. + +"I forgot to tell you, sir," he announced, "that there s a man +outside--Mr. Shepherd was his name, I believe--said he had a small +investment to make which you promised to look after personally. He +would insist on seeing you--said he was a waiter at a restaurant +which you visited sometimes." + +"That's all right," Laverick declared. "You can show him in. We'll +probably give him American rails." + +"Can't we attend to it in the office for you, sir?" the clerk asked. +"I suppose it's only a matter of a few hundreds." + +"Less than that, probably, but I promised the fellow I'd look after +it myself. Send him in, Scropes." + +There was a brief delay and then Mr. Shepherd was announced. +Laverick, who was sitting with his coat off, smoking a well-earned +cigarette, looked up and nodded to his visitor as the door was closed. + +"Sorry to keep you waiting," he remarked. "We're having a bit of a +rush." + +The man laid down his hat and came up to Laverick's side. + +"I guess that, sir," he said, "from the number of people we've had +in the 'Black Post' to-day, and the way they've all been shouting +and talking. They don't seem to eat much these days, but there's +some of them can shift the drink." + +"I've got some sound stocks looked out for you," Laverick remarked, +"two hundred and fifty pounds' worth. If you'll just approve that +list as a matter of form," he added, pushing a piece of paper across, +"you can come in to-morrow and have the certificates. I shall tell +them to debit the purchase money to my private account, so that if +any one asks you anything, you can say that you paid me for them." + +"I'm sure I'm much obliged, sir," the man said. "To tell you the +truth," he went on, "I've had a bit of a scare to-day." + +Laverick looked up quickly. + +"What do you mean?" he demanded. + +"May I sit down, sir? I'm a bit worn out. I've been on the go +since half-past ten." + +Laverick nodded and pointed to a chair. Shepherd brought it up to +the side of the table and leaned forward. + +"There's been two men in to-day," he said, "asking questions. They +wanted to know how many customers I had there on Monday night, and +could I describe them. Was there any one I recognized, and so on." + +"What did you say?" + +"I declared I couldn't remember any one. To the best of my +recollection, I told them, there was no one served at all after ten +o'clock. I wouldn't say for certain--it looked as though I might +have had a reason." + +"And were they satisfied?" + +"I don't think they were," Shepherd admitted. "Not altogether, +that is to say." + +"Did they mention any names?" asked Laverick--"Morrison's, for +instance? Did they want to know whether he was a regular customer?" + +"They didn't mention no names at all, sir," the man answered, "but +they did begin to ask questions about my regular clients. Fortunate +like, the place was so crowded that I had every excuse for not +paying any too much attention to them. It was all I could do to +keep on getting orders attended to." + +"What sort of men were they?" Laverick asked. "Do you think that +they came from the police?" + +"I shouldn't have said so," Shepherd replied, "but one can't tell, +and these gentlemen from Scotland Yard do make themselves up so +sometimes on purpose to deceive. I should have said that these two +were foreigners, the same kidney as the poor chap as was murdered. +I heard a word or two pass, and I sort of gathered that they'd a +shrewd idea as to that meeting in the 'Black Post' between the man +who was murdered and the little dark fellow." + +Laverick nodded. + +"Jim Shepherd," he declared, "you appear to me to be a very +sagacious person." + +"I'm sure I'm much obliged, sir; I can tell you, though," he added, +"I don't half like these chaps coming round making inquiries. My +nerves ain't quite what they were, and it gives me the jumps." + +Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments. + +"After all, there was no one else in the bar that night," he +remarked,--"no one who could contradict you?" + +"Not a soul," Jim Shepherd agreed. + +"Then don't you bother," Laverick continued. "You see, you've been +wise. You haven't given yourself away altogether. You've simply +said that you don't recollect any one coming in. Why should you +recollect? At the end of a day's work you are not likely to notice +every stray customer. Stick to it, and, if you take my advice, +don't go throwing any money about, and don't give your notice in +for another week or so. Pave the way for it a bit. Ask the governor +for a rise--say you're not making a living out of it." + +"I'm on," Jim Shepherd remarked, nodding his head. "I'm on to it, +sir. I don't want to get into no trouble, I'm sure." + +"You can't," Laverick answered dryly, "unless you chuck yourself in. +You're not obliged to remember anything. No one can ever prove that +you remembered anything. Keep your eyes open, and let me hear if +these fellows turn up again." + +"I'm pretty certain they will, sir," the man declared. "They sat +about waiting for me to be disengaged, but when my time off came, I +hopped out the back way. They'll be there again to-night, sure +enough." + +Laverick nodded. + +"Well, you must let me know," he said, "what happens." + +Jim Shepherd leaned across the corner of the table and dropped his +voice. + +"It's an awful thing to think of, sir," he whispered, blinking +rapidly. "I wouldn't be that young Mr. Morrison for all that great +pocketful of notes. But my! there was a sight of money there, +sir! He'll be a rich man for all his days if nothing comes out." + +"We won't talk any more about it," Laverick insisted. "It isn't a +pleasant thing to think about or talk about. We won't know anything, +Shepherd. We shall be better off." + +The man took his departure and the whirl of business recommenced. +Laverick turned his back upon the city only a few minutes before +eight and, tired out, he dined at a restaurant on his homeward way. +When at last he reached his sitting-room he threw himself on the +sofa and lit a cigar. Once more the evening papers had no +particular news. This time, however, one of them had a leading +article upon the English police system. The fact that an undetected +murder should take place in a wealthy neighborhood, away from the +slums, a murder which must have been premeditated, was in itself +alarming. Until the inquest had been held, it was better to make +little comment upon the facts of the case so far as they were known. +At the same time, the circumstance could not fail to incite a +considerable amount of alarm among those who had offices in the +vicinity of the tragedy. It was rumored that some mysterious +inquiries were being circulated around London banks. It was +possible that robbery, after all, had been the real motive of the +crime, but robbery on a scale as yet unimagined. The whole interest +of the case now was centred upon the discovery of the man's identity. +As soon as this was solved, some very startling developments might +be expected. + +Laverick threw the paper away. He tried to rest upon the sofa, but +tried in vain. He found himself continually glancing at the clock. + +"To-night," he muttered to himself,--"no, I will not go to-night! +It is not fair to the child. It is absurd. Why, she would think +that I was--" + +He stopped short. + +"I'll change and go to the club," he decided. + +He rose to his feet. Just then there was a ring at his bell. He +opened the door and found a messenger boy standing in the vestibule. + +"Note, sir, for Mr. Stephen Laverick," the boy announced, opening +his wallet. + +Laverick held out his hand. The boy gave him a large square +envelope, and upon the back of it was "Universal Theatre." +Laverick tried to assure himself that he was not so ridiculously +pleased. He stepped back into the room, tore open the envelope, +and read the few lines traced in rather faint but delicate +handwriting. + + +Are you coming to fetch me to-night? Don't let me be a nuisance, +but do come if you have nothing to do. I have something to tell +you. + + ZOE. + + +Laverick gave the boy a shilling for himself and suddenly forgot +that he was tired. He changed his clothes, whistling softly to +himself all the time. At eleven o'clock, he was at the stage-door +of the Universal Theatre, waiting in a taxicab. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +LAVERICK IS CROSS-EXAMINED + + +One by one the young ladies of the chorus came out from the +stage-door of the Universal, in most cases to be assisted into a +waiting hansom or taxicab by an attendant cavalier. Laverick stood +back in the shadows as much as possible, smiling now and then to +himself at this, to him, somewhat novel way of spending the evening. +Zoe was among the last to appear. She came up to him with a +delightful little gesture of pleasure, and took his arm as a matter +of course as he led her across to the waiting cab. + +"This sort of thing is making me feel absurdly young," he declared. +"Luigi's for supper, I suppose?" + +"Supper!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Delightful! Two +nights following, too! I did love last night." + +"We had better engage a table at Luigi's permanently," he remarked. + +"If only you meant it!" she sighed. + +He laughed at her, but he was thoughtful for a few minutes. +Afterwards, when they sat at a small round table in the somewhat +Bohemian restaurant which was the fashionable rendezvous of the +moment for ladies of the theatrical profession, he asked her a +question. + +"Tell me what you meant in your note," he begged. "You said that +you had some information for me. + +"I'm afraid it wasn't anything very much," she admitted. "I found +out to-day that some one had been inquiring at the stage-door about +me, and whether I was connected in any way with a Mr. Arthur +Morrison, the stockbroker." + +"Do you know who it was?" he asked. + +She shook her head. + +"The man left no name at all. I tried to get the doorkeeper to tell +me about him, but he's such a surly old fellow, and he's so used to +that sort of thing, that he pretended he didn't remember anything." + +"It seems odd," he remarked thoughtfully, "that any one should have +found you out. You were so seldom with Morrison. I dare say," he +added, "it was just some one to whom your brother owes some small +sum of money." + +"Very likely," she answered. "But I was going to tell you. He came +again to-night while the performance was on, and sent a note round. +I have brought it for you to see." + +The note--it was really little more than a message--was written +on the back of a programme and enclosed in an envelope evidently +borrowed from the box-office. It read as follows: + + +DEAR MISS LENEVEU, + +I believe that Mr. Arthur Morrison is a connection of yours, and I +am venturing to introduce myself to you as a friend of his. Could +you spare me half-an-hour of your company after the performance of +this evening? If you could honor me so much, you might perhaps +allow me to give you some supper. + + Sincerely, + PHILIP E. MILES. + + +Laverick felt an absurd pang of jealousy as he handed back the +programme. + +"I should say," he declared, "that this was simply some young man +who was trying to scrape an acquaintance with you because he was +or had been a friend of Morrison's." + +"In that case," answered Zoe, "he is very soon forgotten." + +She tore the programme into two pieces, and Laverick was conscious +of a ridiculous feeling of pleasure at her indifference. + +"If you hear anything more about him," he said, "you might let me +know. You are a brave young lady to dismiss your admirers so +summarily." + +"Perhaps I am quite satisfied with one," laughing softly. + +Laverick told himself that at his age he was behaving like an idiot, +nevertheless his eyes across the table expressed his appreciation +of her speech. + +"Tell me something about yourself, Mr. Laverick," she begged. + +"For instance?" + +"First of all, then, how old are you?" + +He made a grimace. + +"Thirty-eight--thirty-nine my next birthday. Doesn't that seem +grandfatherly to you?" + +"You must not be absurd!" she exclaimed. "It is not even +middle-aged. Now tell me--how do you spend your time generally? +Do you really mean that you go and play cards at your club most +evenings?" + +"I have a good many friends, and I dine out quite a great deal." + +"You have no sisters?" + +"I have no relatives at all in London," he explained. + +"It is to be a real cross-examination," she warned him. + +"I am quite content," he answered. "Go ahead, but remember, though, +that I am a very dull person." + +"You look so young for your years," she declared. "I wonder, have +you ever been in love?" + +He laughed heartily. + +"About a dozen times, I suppose. Why? Do I seem to you like a +misanthrope?" + +"I don't know," she admitted, hesitatingly. "You don't seem to me +as though you cared to make friends very easily. I just felt I +wanted to ask you. Have you ever been engaged?" + +"Never," he assured her. + +"And when was the last time," she asked, "that you felt you cared a +little for any one?" + +"It dates from the day before yesterday," he declared, filling her +glass. + +She laughed at him. + +"Of course, it is nonsense to talk to you like this!" she said. +"You are quite right to make fun of me." + +"On the contrary," he insisted. "I am very much in earnest." + +"Very well, then," she answered, "if you are in earnest you shall +be in love with me. You shall take me about, give me supper every +night, send me some sweets and cigarettes to the theatre--oh, and +there are heaps of things you ought to do if you really mean it!" +she wound up. + +"If those things mean being fond of you," he answered, "I'll prove +it with pleasure. Sweets, cigarettes, suppers, taxicabs at the +stage-door." + +"It all sounds very terrible," she sighed. "It's a horrid little +life." + +"Yet I suppose you enjoy it?" he remarked tentatively. + +"I hate it, but I must do something. I could not live on charity. +If I knew any other way I could make money, I would rather, but +there is no other way. I tried once to give music lessons. I had +a few pupils, but they never paid--they never do pay. + +"I wish I could think of something," Laverick said thoughtfully. +"Of course, it is occupation you want. So far as regards the +monetary part of it, I still owe your brother a great deal--" + +She shook her head, interrupting him with a quick little gesture. + +"No, no!" she declared. "I have never complained about Arthur. +Sometimes he made me suffer, because I know that he was ashamed of +having a relative in the chorus, but I am quite sure that I do not +wish to take any of his money--or of anybody else's," she added. +"I want always to earn my own living." + +"For such a child," he remarked, smiling, "you are wonderfully +independent." + +"Why not?" she answered softly. "It is years since I had any one +to do very much for me. Necessity teaches us a good many things. +Oh, I was helpless enough when it began!" she added, with a little +sigh. "I got over it. We all do. Tell me--who is that woman, +and why does she stare so at you?" + +Laverick looked across the room. Louise and Bellamy were sitting +at the opposite table. The former was strikingly handsome and very +wonderfully dressed. Her closely-clinging gown, cut slightly open +in front, displayed her marvelous figure. She wore long pearl +earrings, and a hat with white feathers which drooped over her fair +hair. Laverick recognized her at once. + +"It is Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "the most wonderful soprano +in the world." + +"Why does she look so at you?" Zoe asked. + +Laverick shook his head. + +"I do not know her," he said. "I know who she is, of course,--every +one does. She is a Servian, and they say that she is devoted to her +country. She left Vienna at a moment's notice, only a few days ago, +and they say that it was because she had sworn never to sing again +before the enemies of her country. She had been engaged a long time +to appear at Covent Garden, but no one believed that she would really +come. She breaks her engagements just when she chooses. In fact, +she is a very wonderful person altogether." + +"I never saw such pearls in my life," Zoe whispered. "And how +lovely she is! I do not understand, though, why she is so +interested in you." + +"She mistakes me for some one, perhaps." + +It certainly seemed probable. Even at that moment she touched +her escort upon the arm, and he distinctly looked across at +Laverick. It was obvious that he was the subject of her +conversation. + +"I know the man," Laverick said. "He was at Harrow with me, and I +have played cricket with him since. But I have certainly never met +Mademoiselle Idiale. One does not forget that sort of person." + +"Her figure is magnificent," Zoe murmured wistfully. "Do you like +tall women very much, Mr. Laverick?" + +"I adore them," he answered, smiling, "but I prefer small ones." + +"We are very foolish people, you and I," she laughed. "We came +together so strangely and yet we talk such frivolous nonsense." + +"You are making me young again," he declared. + +"Oh, you are quite young enough!" she assured him. "To tell you +the truth, I am jealous. Mademoiselle Idiale looks at you all the +time. Look at her now. Is she not beautiful?" + +There was no doubt about her beauty, but those who were criticising +her--and she was by far the most interesting person in the room--thought +her a little sad. Though Bellamy was doing his utmost to +be entertaining, her eyes seemed to travel every now and then over +his head and out of the room. Wherever her thoughts were, one could +be very sure that they were not fixed upon the subject under +discussion. + +"She is like that when she sings," Laverick remarked. "She has none +of the vivacity of the Frenchwomen. Yet there was never anything +so graceful in the world as the way she moves about the stage." + +"If I were a man," Zoe sighed, "that is the sort of woman I would +die for." + +"If you were a man," he replied, "you would probably find some one +whom you preferred to live for. Do you know, you are rather a +morbid sort of person, Miss Zoe?" + +"Ah, I like that!" she declared. "I will not be called Miss Leneveu +any more by you. You must call me Miss Zoe, please,--Zoe, if you +like." + +"Zoe, by all means. Under the circumstances, I think it is only +fitting." + +His eyes wandered across the room again. + +"Ah!" she cried softly, "you, too, are coming under the spell, then. +I was reading about her only the other day. They say that so many +men fall in love with her--so many men to whom she gives no +encouragement at all." + +Laverick looked into his companion's face. + +"Come," he said, "my heart is not so easily won. I can assure you +that I never aspire to so mighty a personage as a Covent Garden star. +Don't you know that she gets a salary of five hundred pounds a week, +and wears ropes of pearls which would represent ten times my entire +income? Heaven alone knows what her gowns cost!" + +"After all, though," murmured Zoe, "she is a woman. See, your +friend is coming to speak to you." + +Bellamy was indeed crossing the room. He nodded to Laverick and +bowed to his companion. + +"Forgive my intruding, Laverick," he said. "You do remember me, I +hope? Bellamy, you know." + +"I remember you quite well. We used to play together at Lord's, +even after we left school." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"That is so," he answered. "I see by the papers that you have kept +up your cricket. Mine, alas! has had to go. I have been too much +of a rolling stone lately. Do you know that I have come to ask you +a favor?" + +"Go ahead," Laverick interposed. + +"Mademoiselle Idiale has a fancy to meet you," Bellamy explained. +"You know, or I dare say you have heard, what a creature of whims +she is. If you won't come across and be introduced like a good +fellow, she probably won't speak a word all through supper-time, +go off in a huff, and my evening will be spoiled." + +Laverick laughed heartily. A little smile played at the corner of +Zoe's lips--nevertheless, she was looking slightly anxious. + +"Under those circumstances," remarked Laverick, "perhaps I had +better go. You will understand," he added, with a glance at Zoe, +"that I cannot stay for more than a second." + +"Naturally," Bellamy answered. "If Mademoiselle really has anything +to say to you, I will, if I am permitted, return for a moment." + +Laverick introduced him to Zoe. + +"I am sure I have seen you at the Universal," he declared. "You're +in the front row, aren't you? I have seen you in that clever little +step-dance and song in the second act." + +She nodded, evidently pleased. + +"Does it seem clever to you?" she asked wistfully. "You see, we +are all so tired of it." + +"I think it is ripping," Bellamy declared. "I shall have the +pleasure again directly," he added, with a bow. + +The two men crossed the room. + +"What the dickens does Mademoiselle Idiale want with me?" Laverick +demanded. "Does she know that I am a poor stockbroker, struggling +against hard times?" + +Bellamy shrugged his shoulders. + +"She isn't the sort to care who or what you are," he answered. "And +as for the rest, I suppose she could buy any of us up if she wanted +to. Her interest in you is rather a curious one. No time to explain +it now. She'll tell you." + +Louise smiled as he paused before her. She was certainly exquisitely +beautiful. Her dress, her carriage, her delicate hands, even her +voice, were all perfection. She gave him the tips of her fingers as +Bellamy pronounced his name. + +"It is so kind of you," she said, "to come and speak to me. And +indeed you will laugh when I tell you why I thought that I would +like to say one word with you." + +Laverick bowed. + +"I am thankful, Mademoiselle," he replied, "for anything which +procures me such a pleasure." + +She smiled. + +"Ah! you, too, are gallant," she said. "But indeed, then, I fear +you will not be flattered when I tell you why I was so interested. +I read all your newspapers. I read of that terrible murder in +Crooked Friars' Alley only a few days ago,--is not that how you +call the place?" + +Laverick was suddenly grave. What was this that was coming? + +"One of the reports," she continued, "says that the man was a +foreigner. The maker's name upon his clothes was Austrian. I, +too, come from that part of Europe--if not from Austria, from a +country very near--and I am always interested in my country-people. +A few moments ago I asked my friend Mr. Bellamy, 'Where is this +Crooked Friars' Alley?' Just then he bowed to you, and he answered +me, 'It is in the city. It is within a yard or two of the offices +of the gentleman to whom I just have said good-evening.' So I +looked across at you and I thought that it was strange." + +Laverick scarcely knew what to say. + +"It was a terrible affair," he admitted, "and, as Mr. Bellamy has +told you, it occurred within a few steps of my office. So far, too, +the police seem completely at a loss." + +"Ah!" she went on, shaking her head, "your police, I am afraid they +are not very clever. It is too bad, but I am afraid that it is so. +Tell me, Mr. Laverick, is this, then, a very lonely spot where your +offices are?" + +"Not at all," Laverick replied. "On the contrary, in the daytime +it might be called the heart of the city--of the money-making part +of the city, at any rate. Only this thing, you see, seems to have +taken place very late at night." + +"When all the offices were closed," she remarked. + +"Most of them," Laverick answered. "Mine, as it happened, was open +late that night. I passed the spot within half-an-hour or so of +the time when the murder must have been committed." + +"But that is terrible!" she declared, shaking her head. "Tell me, +Mr. Laverick, if I drive to your office some morning you will show +me this place,--yes?" + +"If you are in earnest, Mademoiselle, I will certainly do so, but +there is nothing there. It is just a passage." + +"You give me your address," she insisted, "and I think that I will +come. You are a stockbroker, Mr. Bellamy tells me. Well, sometimes +I have a good deal of money to invest. I come to you and you will +give me your advice. So! You have a card!" + +Laverick found one and scribbled his city address upon it. She +thanked him and once more held out the tips of her fingers. + +"So I shall see you again some day, Mr. Laverick." + +He bowed and recrossed the room. Bellamy was standing talking to +Zoe. + +"Well," he asked, as Laverick returned, "are you, too, going to +throw yourself beneath the car?" + +Laverick shook his head. + +"I do not think so," he answered. "Our acquaintance promises to be +a business one. Mademoiselle spoke of investing some money though +me." + +Bellamy laughed. + +"Then you have kept your heart," he remarked. "Ah, well, you have +every reason!" + +He bowed to Zoe, nodded to Laverick, and returned to his place. +Laverick looked after him a little compassionately. + +"Poor fellow," he said. + +"Who is he?" + +"He has some sort of a Government appointment," Laverick answered. +"They say he is hopelessly in love with Mademoiselle Idiale." + +"Why not?" Zoe exclaimed. "He is nice. She must care for some +one. Why do you pity him?" + +"They say, too, that she has no more heart than a stone," Laverick +continued, "and that never a man has had even a kind word from her. +She is very patriotic, and all the thoughts and love she has to +spare from herself are given to her country." + +Zoe shuddered. + +"Ah!" she murmured, "I do not like to think of heartless women. +Perhaps she is not so cruel, after all. To me she seems only very, +very sad. Tell me, Mr. Laverick, why did she send for you?" + +"I imagine," said he, "that it was a whim. It must have been a +whim." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT + + +Laverick, on the following morning, found many things to think +about. He was accustomed to lunch always at the same restaurant, +within a few yards of his office, and with the same little company +of friends. Just as he was leaving, an outside broker whom he +knew slightly came across the room to him. + +"Tell me, Laverick," he asked, "what's become of your partner?" + +"He has gone abroad for a few weeks. As a matter of fact, we shall +be announcing a change in the firm shortly." + +"Queer thing," the broker remarked. "I was in Liverpool yesterday, +and I could have sworn that I saw him hanging around the docks. I +should never have doubted it, but Morrison was always so careful +about his appearance, and this fellow was such a seedy-looking +individual. I called out to him and he vanished like a streak." + +"It could scarcely have been Morrison," Laverick said. "He sailed +several days ago for New York." + +"That settles it," the man declared, passing on. "All the same, +it was the most extraordinary likeness I ever saw." + +Laverick, on his way back, went into a cable office and wrote out +a marconigram to the Lusitania, + + Have you passenger Arthur Morrison on board? Reply. + +He signed his name and paid for an answer. Then he went back to +his office. + +"Any one to see me?" he inquired. + +"Mr. Shepherd is here waiting," his clerk told him,--"queer +looking fellow who paid you two hundred and fifty pounds in cash +for some railway stock." + +Laverick nodded. + +"I'll see him," he said. "Anything else?" + +"A lady rang up--name sounded like a French one, but we could none +of us catch what it was--to say that she was coming down to see you." + +"If it is Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick directed, "I must see her +directly she arrives. How are you, Shepherd?" he added, nodding to +the waiter as he passed towards his room. "Come in, will you? +You've got your certificates all right?" + +Mr. James Shepherd had the air of a man with whom prosperity had not +wholly agreed. He was paler and pastier-looking than ever, and his +little green eyes seemed even more restless. His attire--a long +rough overcoat over the livery of his profession--scarcely enhanced +the dignity of his appearance. + +"Well, what is it?" Laverick asked, as soon as the door was closed. + +"Our bar is being watched," the man declared. "I don't think it's +anything to do with the police. Seems to be a sort of foreign gang. +They're all round the place, morning, noon, and night. They've +pumped everybody." + +"There isn't very much," Laverick remarked slowly, "for them to find +out except from you." + +"They've found out something, anyway," Shepherd continued. "My +junior waiter, unfortunately, who was asleep in the sitting-room, +told them he was sure there were customers in the place between ten +and twelve on Monday night, because they woke him up twice, talking. +They're beginning to look at me a bit doubtful." + +"I shouldn't worry," Laverick advised. "The inquest's on now and +you haven't been called. I don't fancy you're running any sort of +risk. Any one may say they believe there were people in the bar +between those hours, but there isn't any one who can contradict you +outright. Besides, you haven't sworn to anything. You've simply +said, as might be very possible, that you don't remember any one." + +"It makes me a bit nervous, though," Shepherd remarked apologetically. +"They're a regular keen-looking tribe, I can tell you. Their eyes +seem to follow you all over the place." + +"I shall come in for a drink presently myself," Laverick declared. +"I should like to see them. I might get an idea as to their +nationality, at any rate." + +"Very good, sir. I'm sure I'm doing just as you suggested. I've +said nothing about leaving, but I'm beginning to grumble a bit at +the work, so as to pave the way. It's a hard job, and no mistake. +I had thirty-nine chops between one and half-past, single-handed, +too, with only a boy to carry the bread and that, and no one to +serve the drinks unless they go to the counter for them. It's +more than one man's work, Mr. Laverick." + +Laverick assented. + +"So much the better," he declared. "All the more excuse for your +leaving. + +"You'll be round sometime to-day, sir, then?" the man asked, taking +up his hat. + +"I shall look in for a few moments, for certain," Laverick answered. +"If you get a chance you must point out to me one of those fellows." + +Jim Shepherd departed. There was a shouting of newspaper boys in +the street outside. Laverick sent out for a paper. The account of +the inquest was brief enough, and there were no witnesses called +except the men who had found the dead body. The nature of the +wounds was explained to the jury, also the impossibility of their +having been self-inflicted. In the absence of any police evidence +or any identification, the discussion as to the manner of the death +was naturally limited. The jury contented themselves by bringing +in a verdict of "Wilful murder against some person or persons +unknown." Laverick laid down the paper. The completion of the +inquest was at least the first definite step toward safety. The +question now before him was what to do with that twenty thousand +pounds. He sat at his desk, looking into vacancy. After all, had +he paid too great a price? The millstone was gone from around his +neck, something new and incomprehensible had crept into his life. +Yet for a background there was always this secret knowledge. + +A clerk announcing Mademoiselle Idiale broke in upon his reflections. +Laverick rose from his seat to greet his visitor. She was +wonderfully dressed, as usual, yet with the utmost simplicity,--a +white serge gown with a large black hat, but a gown that seemed to +have been moulded on to her slim, faultless figure. She brought with +her a musical rustle, a slight suggestion of subtle perfumes--a +perfume so thin and ethereal that it was unrecognizable except in its +faint suggestion of hothouse flowers. She held out her hand to +Laverick, who placed for her at once an easy-chair. + +"This is indeed an honor, Mademoiselle." + +She inclined her head graciously. + +"You are very kind," said she. "I know that here in the city you +are very busy making money all the time, so I must not stay long. +Will you buy me some stocks,--some good safe stocks, which will +bring me in at least four per cent?" + +"I can promise to do that," Laverick answered. "Have you any +choice?" + +"No, I have no choice," Louise told him. "I bring with me a +cheque,--see, I give it to you,--it is for six thousand pounds. I would +like to buy some stocks with this, and to know the names so that I +may watch them in the paper. I like to see whether they go up or +down, but I do not wish to risk their going down too much. It is +something like gambling but it is no trouble." + +"Your money shall be spent in a few minutes, Mademoiselle," Laverick +assured her, "and I think I can promise you that for a week or two, +at any rate, your stocks will go up. With regard to selling--" + +"I leave everything to you," she interrupted, "only let me know what +you propose." + +"We will do our best," Laverick promised. + +"It is good," she said. "Money is a wonderful thing. Without it +one can do little. You have not forgotten, Mr. Laverick, that you +were going to show me this passage?" + +"Certainly not. Come with me now, if you will. It is only a yard +or two away." + +He took her out into the street. Every clerk in the office forgot +his manners and craned his neck. Outside, Mademoiselle let fall +her veil and passed unrecognized. Laverick showed her the entry. + +"It was just there," he explained, "about half a dozen yards up on +the left, that the body was found." + +She looked at the place steadily. Then she looked along the +passage. + +"Where does it lead to--that?" she asked. + +"Come and I will show you. On the left"--as they passed along the +flagged pavement--"is St. Nicholas Church and churchyard. On the +right here there are just offices. The street in front of us is +Henschell Street. All of those buildings are stockbrokers' offices." + +"And directly opposite," she asked,--"that is a café, is it +not,--a restaurant, as you would call it?" + +Laverick nodded. + +"That is so," he agreed. "One goes in there sometimes for a drink." + +"And a meeting place, perhaps?" she inquired. "It would probably +be a meeting place. One might leave there and walk down this +passage naturally enough." + +Laverick inclined his head. + +"As a matter of fact," he declared, "I think that the evidence went +to prove that there were no visitors in the restaurant that night. +You see, all these offices round here close at six or seven o'clock, +and the whole neighborhood becomes deserted." + +She shrugged her shoulders impatiently. + +"Your English police, they do not know how to collect evidence. In +the hands of Frenchmen, this mystery would have been solved long +before now. The guilty person would be in the hands of the law. +As it is, I suppose that he will go free." + +"Well, we must give the police a chance, at any rate," answered +Laverick. "They haven't had much time so far." + +"No," she admitted, "they have not had much time. I wonder--" She +hesitated for a moment and did not conclude her sentence. "Come," +she exclaimed, with a little shiver, "let us go back to your office! +This place is not cheerful. All the time I think of that poor man. +It does make me frightened." + +Laverick escorted his visitor back to the electric brougham which +was waiting before his door. + +"A list of stocks purchased on your behalf will reach you by +to-night's post," he promised her. "We shall do our best in your +interests." + +He held out his hand, but she seemed in no hurry to let him go. + +"You are very kind, Mr. Laverick. I would like to see you again +very soon. You have heard me sing in Samson and Delilah?" + +"Not yet, but I am hoping to very shortly." + +"To-night," she declared, "you must come to the Opera House. I +leave a box for you at the door. Send me round a note that you +are there, and it is possible that I may see you. It is against +the rules, but for me there are no rules." + +Laverick hesitating, she leaned forward and looked into his face. + +"You are doing something else?" she protested. "You were, perhaps, +thinking of taking out again the little girl with whom you were +sitting last night?" + +"I had half promised--" + +"No, no!" she exclaimed, holding his hand tighter. "She is not for +you--that child. She is too young. She knows nothing. Better to +leave her alone. She is not for a man of the world like you. Soon +she would cease to amuse you. You would be dull and she would still +care. Oh, there is so much tragedy in these things, Mr. Laverick--so +much tragedy for the woman! It is she always who suffers. You +will take my advice. You will leave that little girl alone." + +Laverick smiled. + +"I am afraid," said he, "that I cannot promise that so quickly. You +see, I have not known her long, but she has very few friends and I +think that she would miss me. Perhaps," he added, after a second's +pause, "I care for her too much." + +"It is not for you," she answered scornfully, "to care too much. +An Englishman, he cares never enough. A woman to him is something +amusing,--his companion for a little of his spare time, something +to be pleased about, to show off to his friends,--to share, even, +the passion of the moment. But an Englishman he does not care too +much. He never cares enough. He does not know what it is to care +enough." + +"Mademoiselle, there may be truth in what you say, and again there +may not. We have the name, I know, of being cold lovers, but at +least we are faithful." + +She held up her hand with a little grimace. + +"Oh, how I do hate that word!" she exclaimed. "Who is there, indeed, +who wishes that you would be faithful? How much we poor women do +suffer from that! Why can you never understand that a woman would +be cared for very, very much, with all the strength and all the +passion you can conceive, but let it not last for too long. It gets +weary. It gets stale. It is as you say,--the Englishman he cares +very little, perhaps, but he cares always; and the woman, if she be +an artiste and a woman, she tires. But good afternoon, Mr. Laverick! +I must not keep you here on the pavement talking of these frivolous +matters. You come to-night?" + +"You are very kind," Laverick said. "If I may come until eleven +o'clock, it would give me the greatest pleasure." + +"As you will," she declared. "We shall see. I expect you, then. +You ask for your box." + +"If you wish it, certainly." + +She smiled and waved her hand. + +"You will tell him, please," she directed, "to drive to Bond Street." + +Laverick re-entered his office, pausing for a minute to give his +clerk instructions for the purchase of stocks for Mademoiselle +Idiale. He had scarcely reached his own room when he was told that +Mr. James Shepherd wished to speak to him for a moment upon the +telephone. He took up the receiver. + +"Who is it?" he asked. + +"It is Shepherd," was the answer. "Is that Mr. Laverick?" + +"Yes!" + +"You were outside the restaurant here a few minutes ago," Shepherd +continued. "You had with you a lady--a young, tall lady with a +veil." + +"That's right," Laverick admitted. "What about her?" + +"One of the two men who watch always here was reading the paper in +the window," Shepherd went on hoarsely. "He saw her with you and +I heard him mutter something as though he had received a shock. He +dropped his glass and his paper. He watched you every second of +the time you were there until you had disappeared. Then he, too, +put on his hat and went out." + +"Anything else?" + +"Nothing else," was the reply. "I thought you might like to know +this, sir. The man recognized the lady right enough." + +"It seems queer," Laverick admitted. "Thank you for ringing me up, +Shepherd. Good morning!" + +Laverick leaned back in his chair. There was no doubt whatever now +in his mind but that Mademoiselle Idiale, for some reason or other, +was interested in this crime. Her wish to see the place, her +introduction to him last night and her purchase of stocks, were all +part of a scheme. He was suddenly and absolutely convinced of it. +As friend or foe, she was very certainly about to take her place +amongst the few people over whom this tragedy loomed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES + + +Louise left her brougham in Piccadilly and walked across the Green +Park. Bellamy, who was waiting, rose up from a seat, hat in hand. +She took his arm in foreign fashion. They walked together towards +Buckingham Palace--a strangely distinguished-looking couple. + +"My dear David," she said, "the man perplexes me. To look at him, +to hear him speak, one would swear that he was honest. He has just +those clear blue eyes and the stolid face, half stupid and half +splendid, of your athletic Englishman. One would imagine him doing +a foolishly honorable thing, but he is not my conception of a +criminal at all." + +Bellamy kicked a pebble from the path. His forehead wore a perplexed +frown. + +"He didn't give himself away, then?" + +"Not in the least." + +"He took you out and showed you the spot where it happened?" + +"Without an instant's hesitation." + +"As a matter of curiosity," asked Bellamy, "did he try to make +love to you?" + +She shook her head. + +"I even gave him an opening," she said. "Of flirtation he has no +more idea than the average stupid Englishman one meets." + +Bellamy was silent for several moments. + +"I can't believe," he said, "that there is the least doubt but that +he has the money and the portfolio. I have made one or two other +inquiries, and I find that his firm was in very low water indeed +only a week ago. They were spoken of, in fact, as being hopelessly +insolvent. No one can imagine how they tided over the crisis." + +"The man who was watching for you?" she inquired. + +"He makes no mistakes," Bellamy assured her. "He saw Laverick enter +that passage and come out. Afterwards he went back to his office, +although he had closed up there and had been on his homeward way. +The thing could not have been accidental." + +"Why do you not go to him openly?" she suggested. "He is, after +all, an Englishman, and when you tell him what you know he will be +very much in your power. Tell him of the value of that document. +Tell him that you must have it." + +"It could be done," Bellamy admitted. "I think that one of us must +talk plainly to him. Listen, Louise,--are you seeing him again?" + +"I have invited him to come to the Opera House to-night." + +"See what you can do," he begged. "I would rather keep away from +him myself, if I can. Have you heard anything of Streuss?" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Nothing directly," she replied, "but my rooms have been searched--even +my dressing-room at the Opera House. That man's spies are +simply wonderful. He seems able to plant them everywhere. And, +David!--" + +"Yes, dear?" + +"He has got hold of Lassen," she continued. "I am perfectly +certain of it." + +"Then the sooner you get rid of Lassen, the better," Bellamy +declared. + +"It is so difficult," she murmured, in a perplexed tone. "The man +has all my affairs in his hands. Up till now, although he is +uncomely, and a brute in many ways, he has served me well." + +"If he is Streuss's creature he must go," Bellamy insisted. + +She nodded. + +"Let us sit down for a few minutes," she said. "I am tired." + +She sank on to a seat and Bellamy sat by her side. In full view +of them was Buckingham Palace with its flag flying. She looked +thoughtfully at it and across to Westminster. + +"Do they know, I wonder, your country-people?" she asked. + +"Half-a-dozen of them, perhaps," he answered gloomily, no more. + +"To-day," she declared, "I seem to have lost confidence. I seem to +feel the sense of impending calamity, to hear the guns as I walk, +to see the terror fall upon the faces of all these great crowds who +throng your streets. They are a stolid, unbelieving people--these. +The blow, when it comes, will be the harder." + +Bellamy sighed. + +"You are right," he said. "When one comes to think of it, it is +amazing. How long the prophets of woe have preached, and how +completely their teachings have been ignored! The invasion bogey +has been so long among us that it has become nothing but a jest. +Even I, in a way, am one of the unbelievers." + +"You are not serious, David!" she exclaimed. + +"I am," he affirmed. "I think that if we could read that document +we should see that there is no plan there for the immediate invasion +of England. I think you would find that the blow would be struck +simultaneously at our Colonies. We should either have to submit or +send a considerable fleet away from home waters. Then, I presume, +the question of invasion would come again. All the time, of course, +the gage would be flung down, treaties would be defied, we should be +scorned as though we were a nation of weaklings. Austria would +gather in what she wanted, and there would be no one to interfere." + +Louise was very pale but her eyes were flashing fire. + +"It is the most terrible thing which has happened in history," she +said, "this decadence of your country. Once England held the scales +of justice for the world. Now she is no longer strong enough, and +there is none to take her place. David, even if you know what that +document contains, even then will it help very much?" + +"Very much indeed. Don't you see that there is one hope left to +us--one hope--and that is Russia? The Czar must be made to +withdraw from that compact. We want to know his share in it. When +we know that, there will be a secret mission sent to Russia. Germany +and Austria are strong, but they are not all the world. With Russia +behind and France and England westward, the struggle is at least an +equal one. They have to face both directions, they have to face two +great armies working from the east and from the west." + +She nodded, and they sat there in silence for several moments. +Bellamy was thinking deeply. + +"You say, Louise," he asked, looking up quickly, "that your rooms +have been searched. When was this?" + +"Only last night," she replied. + +Bellamy drew a little sigh of relief. + +"At any rate," he said, "Streuss has no idea that the document is +not in our possession. He knows nothing about Laverick. How are +we going to deal with him, Louise, when he comes for his answer?" + +"You have a plan?" she asked. + +"There is only one thing to be done," Bellamy declared. "I shall +say that we have already handed over the document to the English +Government. It will be a bluff, pure and simple. He may believe +it or he may not." + +"You will break your compact then," she reminded him. + +"I shall call myself justified," he continued. "He has attempted +to rob us of the document. You are sure of what you say--that your +rooms and dressing-room have been searched?" + +"Absolutely certain," she declared. + +"That will be sufficient," Bellamy decided. "If Streuss comes to +me, I shall meet him frankly. I shall tell him that he has tried +to play the burglar and that it must be war. I shall tell him that +the compact is in the hands of the Prime Minister, and that he and +his spies had better clear out." + +She looked at him questioningly. + +"Of course, you understand," he added, "there is one thing we can +do, and one thing only. We must send a mission to Russia and another +to France, and before the German fleet can pass down the North Sea +we must declare war. It is the only thing left to us--a bold front. +Without that packet we have no casus belli. With it, we can strike, +and strike hard. I still believe that if we declare war within seven +days, we shall save ourselves." + +Streuss and Kahn looked, too, across the panorama of London, across +the dingy Adelphi Gardens, the turbid Thames, the smoke-hung world +beyond. They were together in Streuss's sitting-room on the seventh +floor of one of the great Strand hotels. + +"Our enterprise is a failure!" Kahn exclaimed gloomily. "We cannot +doubt it any longer. I think, Streuss, that the best course you +and I could adopt would be to realize it and to get back. We do no +good here. We only run needless risks." + +The face of the other man was dark with anger. His tone, when he +spoke, shook with passion. + +"You don't know what you say, Kahn!" he cried hoarsely. "I tell you +that we must succeed. If that document reaches the hands of any one +in authority here, it would be the worst disaster which has fallen +upon our country since you or I were born. You don't understand, +Kahn! You keep your eyes closed!" + +"What men can do we have done," the other answered. "Von Behrling +played us false. He has died a traitor's death, but it is very +certain that he parted with his document before he received that +twenty thousand pounds." + +"Once and for all, I do not believe it!" Streuss declared. "At +mid-day, I can swear to it that the contents of that envelope were +unknown to the Ministers of the King here. Now if Von Behrling +had parted with that document last Monday night, don't you suppose +that everything would be known by now? He did not part with it. +Bellamy and Mademoiselle lie when they say that they possess it. +That document remains in the possession of Von Behrling's murderer, +and it is for us to find him." + +Kahn sighed. + +"It is outside our sphere--that. What can we do against the police +of this country working in their own land?" + +Streuss struck the table before which they were standing. The veins +in his temples were like whipcord. + +"Adolf," he muttered, "you talk like a fool! Can't you see what it +means? If that document reaches its destination, what do you suppose +will happen?" + +"They will know our plans, of course," Kahn answered. "They will +have time to make preparation." + +Streuss laughed bitterly. + +"Worse than that!" he exclaimed. "They are not all fools, these +English statesmen, though one would think so to read their speeches. +Can't you see what the result would be if that document reaches +Downing Street? War at a moment's notice, war six months too soon! +Don't you know that every shipbuilding yard in Germany is working +night and day? Don't you know that every nerve is being strained, +that the muscles of the country are hammering the rivets into our +new battleships? There is but one chance for this country, and if +her statesmen read that document they will know what it is. It is +open to them to destroy the German navy utterly, to render themselves +secure against attack." + +"They would never have the courage," Kahn declared. "They might +make a show of defending themselves if they were attacked, but to +take the initiative--no! I do not believe it." + +"There is one man who has wit enough to do it," Streuss said. "He +may not be in the Cabinet, but he commands it. Kahn, wake up, man! +You and I together have never known what failure means. I tell you +that that document is still to be bought or fought for, and we must +find it. This morning Mademoiselle drove into the city and called +at the offices of a stockbroker within a dozen yards of Crooked +Friars' Alley. She was there a long time. The stockbroker himself +came out with her into the street, took her to see the entry, stood +with her there and returned. What was her interest in him, Kahn? +His name is Laverick. Four days ago he was on the brink of ruin. +To the amazement of every one, he met all his engagements. Why did +Mademoiselle go to the city to see him? He was at his office late +that Tuesday night. He had a partner who has disappeared." + +Kahn looked at his companion with admiration. + +"You have found all this out!" he exclaimed. + +"And more," Streuss declared. "For twenty-four hours, this man +Laverick has not moved without my spies at his heels." + +"Why not approach him boldly?" Kahn suggested. "If he has the +document, let us outbid Mademoiselle Louise, and do it quickly." + +Streuss shook his head. + +"You don't know the man. He is an Englishman, and if he had any +idea what that document contained, our chances of buying it would +be small indeed. This is what I think will happen. Mademoiselle +will try to obtain it, and try in vain. Then Bellamy will tell him +the truth, and he will part with it willingly. In the meantime, I +believe that it is in his possession. + +"The evidence is slender enough," objected Kahn. + +"What if it is!" Streuss exclaimed. "If it is only a hundred to one +chance, we have to take it. I have no fancy for disgrace, Adolf, +and I know very well what will happen if we go back empty-handed." + +The telephone bell rang. Streuss took off the receiver and held it +to his ear. The words which he spoke were few, but when he laid +the instrument down there was a certain amount of satisfaction in +his face. + +"At any rate," he announced, "this man Laverick did not part with +the document to-day. Mademoiselle Louise and Bellamy have been +sitting in the Park for an hour. When they separated, she drove +home and dropped him at his club. Up till now, then, they have not +the document. We shall see what Mr. Laverick does when he leaves +business this evening; if he goes straight home, either the document +has never been in his possession, or else it is in the safe in his +office; if he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale's--" + +"Well?" Kahn asked eagerly. + +"If he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale's," Streuss repeated slowly, +"there is still a chance for us!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +LAVERICK AT THE OPERA + + +Laverick, in presenting his card at the box office at Covent Garden +that evening, did so without the slightest misconception of the +reasons which had prompted Mademoiselle Idiale to beg him to become +her guest. It was sheer curiosity which prompted him to pursue this +adventure. He was perfectly convinced that personally he had no +interest for her. In some way or other he had become connected in +her mind with the murder which had taken place within a few yards of +his office, and in some other equally mysterious manner that murder +had become a subject of interest to her. Either that, or this was +one of the whims of a spoiled and pleasure-surfeited woman. + +He found an excellent box reserved for him, and a measure of +courtesy from the attendants not often vouchsafed to an ordinary +visitor. The opera was Samson and Delilah, and even before her +wonderful voice thrilled the house, it seemed to Laverick that no +person more lovely than the woman he had come to see had ever moved +upon any stage. It appeared impossible that movement so graceful +and passionate should remain so absolutely effortless. There +seemed to be some strange power inside the woman. Surely her will +guided her feet! The necessity for physical effort never once +appeared. Notwithstanding the slight prejudice which he had felt +against her, it was impossible to keep his admiration altogether +in check. The fascination of her wonderful presence, and then her +glorious voice, moved him with the rest of the audience. He +clapped as the others did at the end of the first act, and he +leaned forward just as eagerly to catch a glimpse of her when she +reappeared and stood there with that marvelous smile upon her lips, +accepting with faint, deprecating gratitude the homage of the +packed house. + +Just before the curtain rose upon the second act, there was a knock +at his box door. One of the attendants ushered in a short man of +somewhat remarkable personality. He was barely five feet in height, +and an extremely fat neck and a corpulent body gave him almost the +appearance of a hunchback. He had black, beady eyes, a black +moustache fiercely turned up, and sallow skin. His white gloves +had curious stitchings on the back not common in England, and his +silk hat, exceedingly glossy, had wider brims than are usually +associated with Bond Street. + +Laverick half rose, but the little man spread out one hand and +commenced to speak. His accent was foreign, but, if not an +Englishman, he at any rate spoke the language with confidence. + +"My dear sir," he began, "I owe you many apologies. It was +Mademoiselle Idiale's wish that I should make your acquaintance. +My name is Lassen. I have the fortune to be Mademoiselle's business +manager. + +"I am very glad to meet you, Mr. Lassen," said Laverick. "Will +you sit down?" + +Mr. Lassen thereupon hung his hat upon a peg, removed his overcoat, +straightened his white tie with the aid of a looking-glass, brushed +back his glossy black hair with the palms of his hands, and took +the seat opposite Laverick. His first question was inevitable. + +"What do you think of the opera, sir?" + +"It is like Mademoiselle Idiale herself," Laverick answered. "It +is above criticism." + +"She is," Mr. Lassen said firmly, "the loveliest woman in Europe +and her voice is the most wonderful. It is a great combination, +this. I myself have managed for many stars, I have brought to +England most of those whose names are known during the last ten +years; but there has never been another Louise Idiale,--never will +be." + +"I can believe it," Laverick admitted. + +"She has wonderful qualities, too," continued Mr. Lassen. "Your +acquaintance with her, I believe, sir, is of the shortest." + +"That is so," Laverick answered, a little coldly. He was not +particularly taken with his visitor. + +"Mademoiselle has spoken to me of you," the latter proceeded. +"She desired that I should pay my respects during the performance." + +"It is very kind of you," Laverick answered. "As a matter of fact, +it is exceedingly kind, also, of Mademoiselle Idiale to insist +upon my coming here to-night. She did me the honor, as you may +know, of paying me a visit in the city this morning." + +"So she did tell me," Mr. Lassen declared. "Mademoiselle is a +great woman of business. Most of her investments she controls +herself. She has whims, however, and it never does to contradict +her. She has also, curiously enough, a preference for the men of +affairs." + +Laverick had reached that stage when he felt indisposed to discuss +Mademoiselle any longer with a stranger, even though that stranger +should be her manager. He nodded and took up his programme. As +he did so, the curtain rang up upon the next act. Laverick turned +deliberately towards the stage. The little man had paid his respects, +as he put it. Laverick felt disinclined for further conversation +with him. Yet, though his head was turned, he knew very well that +his companion's eyes were fixed upon him. He had an uncomfortable +sense that he was an object of more than ordinary interest to this +visitor, that he had come for some specific object which as yet he +had not declared. + +"You will like to go round and see Mademoiselle," the latter +remarked, some time afterwards. + +Laverick shook his head. + +"I shall find another opportunity, I hope, to congratulate her." + +"But, my dear sir, she expects to see you," Mr. Lassen protested. +"You are here at her invitation. It is usual, I can assure you." + +"Mademoiselle Idiale will perhaps excuse me," Laverick said. "I +have an engagement immediately after the performance is over." + +His companion muttered something which Laverick could not catch, +and made some excuse to leave the box a few minutes later. When +he returned, he carried a little, note which he presented to +Laverick with an air of triumph. + +"It is as I said!" he exclaimed. "Mademoiselle expects you." + +Laverick read the few lines which she had written. + + + I wish to see you after the performance. If you cannot come + round or escort me yourself, will you come later to the restaurant + of Luigi, where, as always, I shall sup. Do not fail. + + Louise Idiale. + + +Laverick placed the note in his waistcoat pocket without immediate +remark. Later on he turned to his companion. + +"Will you tell Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "that I will do myself +the honor of coming to her at Luigi's restaurant. I have an +engagement after the performance which I must keep." + +"You will certainly come?" Lassen asked anxiously. + +"Without a doubt," Laverick promised. + +Mr. Lassen took up his hat... + +"I will go and tell Mademoiselle. For some reason or other she +seemed particularly desirous of seeing you this evening. She has +her whims, and those who have most to do with her, like myself, +find it well to keep them gratified. If I do not see you again, +sir, permit me to wish you good evening." + +He disappeared with several bows of his pudgy little person, and +Laverick was left with another puzzle to solve. He was not in the +least conceited, and he did not for a moment misinterpret this +woman's interest in him. Her invitation, he knew very well, was +one which half London would have coveted. Yet it meant nothing +personal, he was sure of that. It simply meant that for some +mysterious reason, the same reason which had prompted her to visit +him in the city he was of interest to her. + +At a few minutes before eleven Laverick left the place and drove +to the stage-door of the Universal Theatre. Zoe came out among the +first and paused upon the threshold, looking up and down the street +eagerly. When she recognized him, her smile was heavenly. + +"Oh, how nice of you!" she exclaimed, stepping at once into his +taxicab. "You don't know how different it feels to hope that there +is some one waiting for you and then to find your hope come true. +To-night I was not sure. You had said nothing about it, and yet I +could not help believing that you would be here." + +"I was hoping," he said, "that we might have another supper together. +Unfortunately, I have an engagement." + +"An engagement?" she repeated, her face falling. + +Laverick loved the truth and he seldom hesitated to tell it. + +"It is rather an odd thing," he declared. "You remember that woman +at Luigi's last night--Mademoiselle Idiale?" + +"Of course." + +"She came to my office to-day and gave me six thousand pounds to +invest for her. She made me take her out and show her where the +murder was committed, and asked a great many questions about it. +Then she insisted that I should go and hear her sing this evening, +and I find that I was expected to take her on to supper afterwards. +I excused myself for a little while, but I have promised to go to +Luigi's, where she will be." + +The girl was silent for a moment. + +"Where are we going now, then?" she asked. + +"Wherever you like. I can take you home first, or I can leave you +anywhere." + +She looked at him with a piteous little smile. + +"The last two nights you have spoiled me," she said. "I have so +many evil thoughts and I am afraid to go home." + +"I am sorry. If I could think of anything or anywhere--" + +"No, you must take me home, please," said she. "It was selfish of +me. Only Mademoiselle Idiale is such a wonderful person. Do you +think that she will want you every night?" + +"Of course not," he laughed. "Come, I will make an engagement with +you. We will have supper together to-morrow evening." + +She brightened up at once. + +"I wonder," she asked timidly, a few minutes afterwards, "have you +heard anything from Arthur? He promised to send a telegram from +Queenstown." + +Laverick shook his head. He said nothing about the marconigram he +had sent, or the answer which he had received informing him that +there was no such person on board. It seemed scarcely worth while +to worry her. + +"I have heard nothing," he replied. "Of course, he must be half-way +to America by now." + +"There have been no more inquiries about him?" she asked. + +"No more than the usual ones from his friends, and a few creditors. +The latter I am paying as they come. But there is one thing you +ought to do with me. I think we ought to go to his rooms and lock +up his papers and letters. He never even went back, you know, after +that night." + +She nodded thoughtfully. + +"When would you like to do this?" + +"I am so busy just now that I am afraid I can spare no time until +Monday afternoon. Would you go with me then?" + +"Of course... My time is my own. We have no matinee, and I have +nothing to do except in the evening." + +They had reached her home. It looked very dark and very uninviting. +She shivered as she took her latchkey from the bag which she was +carrying. + +"Come in with me, please, while I light the gas," she begged. "It +looks so dreary, doesn't it?" + +"You ought to have some one with you," he declared, "especially in +a part like this." + +"Oh, I am not really afraid," she answered. "I am only lonely." + +He stood in the passage while she felt for a box of matches and lit +the gas jet. In the parlor there was a bowl of milk standing waiting +for her, and some bread. + +"Thank you so much," she said. "Now I am going to make up the fire +and read for a short time. I hope that you will enjoy your supper--well, +moderately," she added, with a little laugh. + +"I can promise you," he answered, "that I shall enjoy it no more than +last night's or to-morrow night's." + +She sighed. + +"Poor little me!" she exclaimed. "It is not fair to have to compete +with Mademoiselle Idiale. Good night!" + +Something he saw in her eyes moved him strangely as he turned away. + +"Would you like me," he asked hesitatingly, "supposing I get away +early--would you like me to come in and say good night to you +later on?" + +Her face was suddenly flushed with joy. + +"Oh, do!" she begged. "Do!" + +He turned away with a smile. + +"Very well," he said. "Don't shut up just yet and I will try." + +"I shall stay here until three o'clock," she declared,--"until +four, even. You must come. Remember, you must come. See." + +She held out to him her key. + +"I can knock at the door," he protested. "You would hear me." + +"But I might fall asleep," she answered. "I am afraid. If you have +the key, I am sure that you will come." + +He put it in his waistcoat pocket with a laugh. + +"Very well," he said, "if it is only for five minutes, I will come." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S + + +Laverick walked into Luigi's Restaurant at about a quarter to +twelve, and found the place crowded with many little supper-parties +on their way to a fancy dress ball. The demand for tables was far +in excess of the supply, but he had scarcely shown himself before +the head maitre d'hotel came hurrying up. + +"Mademoiselle Idiale is waiting for you, sir," he announced at once. +"Will you be so good as to come this way?" + +Laverick followed him. She was sitting at the same table as last +night, but she was alone, and it was laid, he noticed with surprise, +only for two. + +"You have treated me," she said, as she held out her fingers, "to +a new sensation. I have waited for you alone here for a quarter of +an hour--I! Such a thing has never happened to me before." + +"You do me too much honor," Laverick declared, seating himself and +taking up the carte. + +"Then, too," she continued, "I sup alone with you. That is what I +seldom do with any man. Not that I care for the appearance," she +added, with a contemptuous wave of the hand. "Nothing troubles me +less. It is simply that one man alone wearies me. Almost always +he will make love, and that I do not like. You, Mr. Laverick, I am +not afraid of. I do not think that you will make love to me." + +"Any intentions I may have had," Laverick remarked, with a sigh, "I +forthwith banish. You ask a hard task of your cavaliers, though, +Mademoiselle." + +She smiled and looked at him from under her eyelids. + +"Not of you, I fancy, Mr. Laverick," she said. "I do not think that +you are one of those who make love to every woman because she is +good-looking or famous." + +"To tell you the truth," Laverick admitted, "I find it hard to make +love to any one. I often feel the most profound admiration for +individual members of your sex, but to express one's self is +difficult--sometimes it is even embarrassing. For supper?" + +"It is ordered," she declared. "You are my guest." + +"Impossible!" Laverick asserted firmly. "I have been your guest +at the Opera. You at least owe me the honor of being mine for +supper." + +She frowned a little. She was obviously unused to being contradicted. + +"I sup with you, then, another night," she insisted. "No," she +continued, "If you are going to look like that, I take it back. I +sup with you to-night. This is an ill omen for our future +acquaintance. I have given in to you already--I, who give in to +no man. Give me some champagne, please." + +Laverick took the bottle from the ice-pail by his side, but the +sommelier darted forward and served them. + +"I drink to our better understanding of one another, Mr. Laverick," +she said, raising her glass, "and, if you would like a double toast, +I drink also to the early gratification of the curiosity which is +consuming you." + +"The curiosity?" + +"Yes! You are wondering all the time why it is that I chose last +night to send and have you presented to me, why I came to your +office in the city to-day with the excuse of investing money with +you, why I invited you to the Opera to-night, why I commanded you +to supper here and am supping with you alone. Now confess the +truth; you are full of curiosity, is it not so?" + +"Frankly, I am." + +She smiled good-humoredly. + +"I knew it quite well. You are not conceited. You do not believe, +as so many men would, that I have fallen in love with you. You +think that there must be some object, and you ask yourself all the +time, 'What is it?' in your heart, Mr. Laverick, I wonder whether +you have any idea." + +Her voice had fallen almost to a whisper. She looked at him with a +suggestion of stealthiness from under her eyelids, a look which only +needed the slightest softening of her face to have made it something +almost irresistible. + +"I can assure you," Laverick said firmly, "that I have no idea." + +"Do you remember almost my first question to you?" she asked. + +"It was about the murder. You seemed interested in the fact that +my office was within a few yards of the passage where it occurred." + +"Quite right," she admitted. "I see that your memory is very good. +There, then, Mr. Laverick, you have the secret of my desire to meet +you." + +Laverick drank his wine slowly. The woman knew! Impossible! Her +eyes were watching his face, but he held himself bravely. What +could she know? How could she guess? + +"Frankly," he said, "I do not understand. Your interest in me +arises from the fact that my offices are near the scene of that +murder. Well, to begin with, what concern have you in that?" + +"The murdered man," she declared thoughtfully, "was an acquaintance +of mine." + +"An acquaintance of yours!" Laverick exclaimed. "Why, he has not +been identified. No one knows who he was." + +She raised her eyebrows very slightly. + +"Mr. Laverick," she murmured, "the newspapers do not tell you +everything. I repeat that the murdered man was an acquaintance of +mine. Only three days ago I traveled part of the way from Vienna +with him." + +Laverick was intensely interested. + +"You could, perhaps, throw some light, then, upon his death?" + +"Perhaps I could," she answered. "I can tell you one thing, at any +rate, Mr. Laverick, if it is news to you. At the time when he was +murdered, he was carrying a very large sum of money with him. This +is a fact which has not been spoken of in the Press." + +Once again Laverick was thankful for those nerves of his. He sat +quite still. His face exhibited nothing more than the blank +amazement which he certainly felt. + +"This is marvelous," he said. "Have you told the police?" + +"I have not," she answered. "I wish, if I can, to avoid telling +the police." + +"But the money? To whom did it belong?" + +"Not to the murdered man." + +"To any one whom you know of?" he inquired. + +"I wonder," she said, after a moment of hesitation, "whether I am +telling you too much." + +"You are telling me a good deal," he admitted frankly. + +"I wonder how far," she asked, "you will be inclined to reciprocate?" + +"I reciprocate!" he exclaimed. "But what can I do? What do I know +of these things?" + +She stretched out her hand lazily, and drew towards her a wonderful +gold purse set with emeralds. Carefully opening it, she drew from +the interior a small flat pocketbook, also of gold, with a great +uncut emerald set into its centre. This, too, she opened, and drew +out several sheets of foreign note-paper pinned together at the top. +These she glanced through until she came to the third or fourth. +Then she bent it down and passed it across the table to Laverick. + +"You may read that," she said. "It is part of a report which I have +had in my pos session since Wednesday morning." + +Laverick drew the sheet towards him and read, in thin, angular +characters, very distinct and plain: + + Some ten minutes after the assault, a policeman passed down + the street but did not glance toward the passage. The next + person to appear was a gentleman who left some offices on the + same side as the passage, and walked down evidently on his + homeward way. He glanced up the passage and saw the body + lying there. He disappeared for a moment and struck a match. + A minute afterwards he emerged from the passage, looked up and + down the street, and finding it empty returned to the office + from which he had issued, let himself in with his latchkey, + and closed the door behind him. He was there for about ten + minutes. When he reappeared, he walked quickly down the street + and for obvious reasons I was unable to follow him. + + The address of the offices which he left and re-entered was + Messrs. Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers. + +"That interests you, Mr. Laverick?" she asked softly. + +He handed it back to her. + +"It interests me very much," he answered. "Who was this unseen +person who wrote from the clouds?" + +"I may not tell you all my secrets, Mr. Laverick," she declared. +"What have you done with that twenty thousand pounds?" + +Laverick helped himself to champagne. He listened for a moment to +the music, and looked into the wonderful eyes which shone from that +beautiful face a few feet away. Her lips were slightly parted, her +forehead wrinkled. There was nothing of the accuser in her +countenance; a gentle irony was its most poignant expression. + +"Is this a fairy tale, Mademoiselle Idiale?" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"It might seem so," she answered. "Sometimes I think that all the +time we live two lives,--the life of which the world sees the +outside, and the life inside of which no one save ourselves knows +anything at all. Look, for instance, at all these people--these +chorus girls and young men about town--the older ones, too--all +hungry for pleasure, all drinking at the cup of life as though they +had indeed but to-day and to-morrow in which to live and enjoy. +Have they no shadows, too, no secrets? They seem so harmless, yet +if the great white truth shone down, might one not find a murderer +there, a dying man who knew his terrible secret, yonder a Croesus +on the verge of bankruptcy, a strong man playing with dishonor? But +those are the things of the other world which we do not see. The +men look at us to-night and they envy you because you are with me. +The women envy me more because I have emeralds upon my neck and +shoulders for which they would give their souls, and a fame +throughout Europe which would turn their foolish heads in a very +few minutes. But they do not know. There are the shadows across +my path, and I think that there are the shadows across yours. What +do you say, Mr. Laverick?" + +He looked at her, curiously moved. Now at last he began to believe +that it was true what they said of her, that she was indeed a +marvelous woman. She had a fame which would have contented nine +hundred and ninety-nine women out of a thousand. She had beauty, +and, more wonderful still, the grace, the fascination which are +irresistible. She had but to lift a finger and there were few +who would not kneel to do her bidding. And yet, behind it all there +were other things in her life. Had she sought them, or had they +come to her? + +"You are one of those wise people, Mr. Laverick," she said, "who +realize the danger of words. You believe in silence. Well, silence +is often good. You do not choose to admit anything." + +"What is there for me to admit? Do you want to know whether I am +the man who left those offices, who disappeared into the passage, +who reappeared again--" + +"With a pocket-book containing twenty thousand pounds," she murmured +across the flowers. + +"At least tell me this?" he demanded. "Was the money yours?" + +"I am not like you," she replied. "I have talked a great deal and +I have reached the limit of the things which I may tell you." + +"But where are we?" he asked. "Are you seriously accusing me of +having robbed this murdered man?" + +"Be thankful," she declared, "that I am not accusing you of having +murdered him." + +"But seriously," he insisted, "am I on my defence have I to account +for my movements that night as against the written word of your +mysterious informant? Is it you who are charging me with being a +thief? Is it to you I am to account for my actions, to defend myself +or to plead guilty?" + +She shook her head. + +"No," she answered. "I have said almost my last word to you upon +this subject. All that I have to ask of you is this. If that +pocket-book is in your possession, empty it first of its contents, +then go over it carefully with your fingers and see if there is not +a secret pocket. If you discover that, I think that you will find +in it a sealed document. If you find that document, you must bring +it to me." + +The lights went down. The voice of the waiter murmured something +in his ears. + +"It is after hours," Mademoiselle Idiale said, "but Luigi does not +wish to disturb us. Still, perhaps we had better go." + +They passed down the room. To Laverick it was all--like a dream--the +laughing crowd, the flushed men and bright-eyed women, the +lowered lights, the air of voluptuousness which somehow seemed to +have enfolded the place. In the hall her maid came up. A small +motor-brougham, with two servants on the box, was standing at the +doorway. Mademoiselle turned suddenly and gave him her hand. + +"Our supper-party, I think, Mr. Laverick," she said, "has been quite +a success. We shall before long, I hope, meet again." + +He handed her into the carriage. Her maid walked with them. The +footman stood erect by his side. There were no further words to be +spoken. A little crowd in the doorway envied him as he stood +bareheaded upon the pavement. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE + + +It was, in its way, a pathetic sight upon which Laverick gazed when +he stole into that shabby little sitting-room. Zoe had fallen +asleep in a small, uncomfortable easy-chair with its back to the +window. Her supper of bread and milk was half finished, her hat +lay upon the table. A book was upon her lap as though she had +started to read only to find it slip through her fingers. He stood +with his elbow upon the mantelpiece, looking down at her. Her +eyelashes, long and silky, were more beautiful than ever now that +her eyes were closed. Her complexion, pale though she was, seemed +more the creamy pallor of some southern race than the whiteness of +ill-health. The bodice of her dress was open a few inches at the +neck, showing the faint white smoothness of her flawless skin. +Not even her shabby shoes could conceal the perfect shape of her +feet and ankles. Once more he remembered his first simile, his +first thought of her. She seemed, indeed, like some dainty +statuette, uncouthly clad, who had strayed from a world of her +own upon rough days and found herself ill-equipped indeed for the +struggle. His heart grew hot with anger against Morrison as he +stood and watched her. Supposing she had been different! It +would have been his fault, leaving her alone to battle her way +through the most difficult of all lives. Brute! + +He had muttered the word half aloud and she suddenly opened her +eyes. At first she seemed bewildered. Then she smiled and sat up. + +"I have been asleep!" she exclaimed. + +"A most unnecessary statement," he answered, smiling. "I have +been standing looking at you for five minutes at least." + +"How fortunate that I gave you the key!" she declared. "I don't +suppose I should ever have heard you. Now please stand there in +the light and let me look at you." + +"Why?" + +"I want to look at a man who has had supper with Mademoiselle +Idiale." + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"Am I supposed to be a wanderer out of Paradise, then?" + +She looked at him doubtfully. + +"They tell strange stories about her," she said; "but oh, she is so +beautiful! If I were a man, I should fall in love with her if she +even looked my way." + +"Then I am glad," he answered, "that I am less impressionable." + +"And you are not in love with her?" she asked eagerly. + +"Why should I be?" he laughed. "She is like a wonderful picture, a +marvelous statue, if you will. Everything about her is faultless. +But one looks at these things calmly enough, you know. It is life +which stirs life." + +"Do you think that there is no life in her veins, then?" Zoe asked. + +"If there is," he answered, "I do not think that I am the man to stir +it." + +She drew a little sigh of content. + +"You see," she said, "you are my first admirer, and I haven't the +least desire to let you go." + +"Incredible!" he declared. + +"But it is true," she answered earnestly. "You would not have me +talk to these boys who come and hang on at the stage-door. The men +to whom I have been introduced by the other girls have been very +few, and they have not been very nice, and they have not cared for +me and I have not cared for them. I think," she said, disconsolately, +"I am too small. Every one to-day seems to like big women. Cora +Sinclair, who is just behind me in the chorus, gets bouquets every +night, and simply chooses with whom she should go out to supper." + +Laverick looked grave. + +"You are not envying her?" he asked. + +"Not in the least, as long as I too am taken out sometimes." + +Laverick smiled and sat on the arm of her chair. + +"Miss Zoe," he said, "I have come because you told me to, just to +prove, you see, that I am not in the toils of Mademoiselle Idiale. +But do you know that it is half past one? I must not stay here any +longer." + +She sighed once more. + +"You are right," she admitted, "but it is so lonely. I have never +been here without May and her mother. I have never slept alone in +the house before the other night. If I had known that they were +going away, I should never have dared to come here." + +"It is too bad," he declared. "Couldn't you get one of the other +girls to stay with you?" + +She shook her head. + +"There are one or two whom I would like to have," she said, "but +they are all living either at home or with relatives. The others I +am afraid about. They seem to like to sit up so late and--" + +"You are quite right," he interrupted hastily,--"quite right. You +are better alone. But you ought to have a servant." + +She laughed. + +"On two pounds fifteen a week?" she asked. "You must remember that +I could not even live here, only I have practically no rent to pay." + +He fidgeted for a moment. + +"Miss Zoe," he said, "I am perfectly serious when I tell you that I +have money which should go to your brother. Why will you not let me +alter your arrangements just a little? I cannot bear to think of +you here all alone." + +"It is very kind of you," she answered doubtfully; "but please, no. +Somehow, I think that it would spoil everything if I accepted that +sort of help from you. If you have any money of Arthur's, keep it +for a time and I think when you write him--I do not want to seem +grasping--but I think if he has any to spare you might suggest that +he does give me just a little. I have never had anything from him +at all. Perhaps he does not quite understand how hard it is for me. + +"I will do that, of course," Laverick answered, "but I wish you +would let me at least pay over a little of what I consider due to +you. I will take the responsibility for it. It will come from him +and not from me." + +She remained unconvinced. + +"I would rather wait," she said. "If you really want to give me +something, I will let you--out of my brother's money, of course, +I mean," she added. "I haven't anything saved at all, or I wouldn't +have that. But one day you shall take me out and buy me a dress and +hat. You can tell Arthur directly you write to him. I don't mind +that, for sometimes I do feel ashamed--I did the other night to +have you sit with me there, and to feel that I was dressed so very +differently from all of them." + +He laughed reassuringly. + +"I don't think men notice those things. To me you seemed just as +you should seem. I only know that I was glad enough to be there +with you." + +"Were you?"--rather wistfully. + +"Of course I was. Now I am going, but before I go, don't forget +Monday afternoon. We'll have lunch and then go to your brother's +rooms." + +She glanced at the clock. + +"Is it really so late?" she asked. + +"It is. Don't you notice how quiet it is outside?" + +They stood hand in hand for a moment. A strange silence seemed to +have fallen upon the streets. Laverick was suddenly conscious of +something which he had never felt when Mademoiselle Idiale had +smiled upon him--a quickening of the pulses, a sense of gathering +excitement which almost took his breath away. His eyes were fixed +upon hers, and he seemed to see the reflection of that same wave +of feeling in her own expressive face. Her lips trembled, her eyes +were deeper and softer than ever. They seemed to be asking him a +question, asking and asking till every fibre of his body was +concentrated in the desperate effort with, which he kept her at +arm's length. + +"Is it so very late?" she whispered, coming just a little closer, +so that she was indeed almost within the shelter of his arms. + +He clutched her hands almost roughly and raised them to his lips. + +"Much too late for me to stay here, child," he said, and his voice +even to himself sounded hard and unnatural. + +"Run along to bed. To-morrow night--to-morrow night, then, I will +fetch you. Good-bye!" + +He let himself out. He did not even look behind to the spot where +he had left her. He closed the front door and walked with swift, +almost savage footsteps down the quiet Street, across the Square, +and into New Oxford Street. Here he seemed to breathe more freely. +He called a hansom and drove to his rooms. + +The hall-porter had left his post in the front hall, and there was +no one to inform Laverick that a visitor was awaiting him. When he +entered his sitting-room, however, he gave a little start of surprise. +Mr. James Shepherd was reclining in his easy-chair with his hands +upon his knees--Mr. James Shepherd with his face more pasty even +than usual, his eyes a trifle greener, his whole demeanor one of +unconcealed and unaffected terror. + +"Hullo!" Laverick exclaimed. "What the dickens--what do you want +here, Shepherd?" + +"Upon my word, sir, I'm not sure that I know," the man replied, +"but I'm scared. I've brought you back the certificates of them +shares. I want you to keep them for me. I'm terrified lest they +come and search my room. I am, I tell you fair. I'm terrified to +order a pint of beer for myself. They're watching me all the time." + +"Who are?" Laverick demanded. + +"Lord knows who;" Shepherd answered, "but there's two of them at it. +I told you about them as asked questions, and I thought there we'd +done and finished with it. Not a bit of it! There was another one +there this afternoon, said he was a journalist, making sketches of +the passage and asking me no end of questions. He wasn't no +journalist, I'll swear to that. I asked him about his paper. +'Half-a-dozen,' he declared. 'They're all glad to have what I send +them.' Journalist! Lord knows who the other chap was and what he +was asking questions for, but this one was a 'tec, straight. Joe +Forman, he was in to-day looking after my place, for I'd given a +month's notice, and he says to me, 'You see that big chap?'--meaning +him as had been asking me the questions--and I says 'Yes!' and he +says, 'That's a 'tee. I've seed him in a police court, giving +evidence.' I went all of a shiver so that you could have knocked me +down." + +"Come, come!" said Laverick. "There's no need for you to be feeling +like this about it. All that you've done is not to have remembered +those two customers who were in your restaurant late one night. +There's nothing criminal in that." + +"There's something criminal in having two hundred and fifty pounds' +worth of shares in one's pocket--something suspicious, anyway," +Shepherd declared, plumping them down on the table. "I ain't giving +you these back, mind, but you must keep 'em for me. I wish I'd never +given notice. I think I'll ask the boss to keep me on." + +"Why do you suppose that this man is particularly interested in you?" +Laverick inquired. + +"Ain't I told you?" Shepherd exclaimed, sitting up. "Why, he's +been to my place down in 'Ammersmith, asking questions about me. +My landlady swears he didn't go into my room, but who can tell +whether he did or not? Those sort of chaps can get in anywhere. +Then I went out for a bit of an airing after the one o'clock rush +was over to-day, and I'm danged if he wasn't at my 'eels. I seed +him coming round by Liverpool Street just as I went in a bar to get +a drop of something." + +Laverick frowned. + +"If there is anything in this Story, Shepherd," he said, "if you +are really being followed, what a thundering fool you were to come +here! All the world knows that Arthur Morrison was my partner." + +"I couldn't help it, sir," the man declared. "I couldn't, indeed. +I was so scared, I felt I must speak about it to some one. And then +there were these shares. There was nowhere I could keep 'em safe." + +"Look here," Laverick went on, "you're alarming yourself about +nothing. In any case, there is only one thing for you to do. Pull +yourself together and put a bold face upon it. I'll keep these +certificates for you, and when you want some money you can come +to me for it. Go back to your place, and if your master is willing +to keep you on perhaps it would be a good thing to stay there for +another month or so. But don't let any one see that you're +frightened. Remember, there's nothing that you can get into trouble +for. No one's obliged to answer such questions as you've been asked, +except in a court and under oath. Stick to your story, and if you +take my advice," Laverick added, glancing at his visitor's shaking +fingers, "you will keep away from the drink." + +"It's little enough I've had, sir," Shepherd assured him. "A drop +now and then just to keep up one's spirits--nothing that amounts +to anything." + +"Make it as little as possible," Laverick said. "Remember, I'm back +of you, I'll see that you get into no trouble. And don't come here +again. Come to my office, if you like--there's nothing in that--but +don't come here, you understand?" + +Shepherd took up his hat. + +"I understand, sir. I'm sorry to have troubled you, but the sight +of that man following me about fairly gave me the shivers." + +"Come into the office as often as you like, in reason," Laverick said, +showing him out, "but not here again. Keep your eyes open, and let +me know if you think you've been followed here." + +"There's no more news in the papers, sir? Nothing turned up?" + +"Nothing," replied Laverick. "If the police have found out anything +at all, they will keep it until after the inquest." + +"And you've heard nothing, sir," Shepherd asked, speaking in a +hoarse whisper, "of Mr. Morrison?" + +"Nothing," Laverick answered. "Mr. Morrison is abroad." + +The man wiped his forehead with his hand. + +"Of course!" he muttered. "A good job, too, for him!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED + + +On the following morning, Laverick surprised his office cleaner and +one errand-boy by appearing at about a quarter to nine. He found +a woman busy brushing out his room and a man Cleaning the windows. +They stared at him in amazement. His arrival at such an hour was +absolutely unprecedented. + +"You can leave the office just as it is, if you please," he told +them. "I have a few things to attend to at once." + +He was accordingly left alone. He had reckoned upon this as being +the one period during the day when he could rely upon not being +disturbed. Nevertheless, he locked the door so as to be secure +against any possible intruder. Then he went to his safe, unlocked +it, and drew from its secret drawer the worn brown-leather +pocket-book. + +First of all he took out the notes and laid them upon the table. +Then he felt the pocket-book all over and his heart gave a little +leap. It was true what Mademoiselle Idiale had told him. On one +side there was distinctly a rustling as of paper. He opened the +case quite flat and passed his fingers carefully over the lining. +Very soon he found the opening--it was simply a matter of drawing +down the stiff silk lining from underneath the overlapping edge. +Thrusting in his fingers, he drew out a long foreign envelope, +securely sealed. Scarcely stopping to glance at it, he rearranged +the pocket-book, replaced the notes, and locked it up again. Then +he unbolted his door and sat down at his desk, with the document +which he had discovered, on the pad in front of him. + +There was not much to be made of it. There was no address, but the +black seal at the end bore the impression of a foreign coat of arms, +and a motto which to him was indecipherable. He held it up to the +light, but the outside sheet had not been written on, and he gained +no idea as to its contents. He leaned back in his chair for a +moment, and looked at it. So this was the document which would +probably reveal the secret of the murder in Crooked Friars' Alley! +This was the document which Mademoiselle Idiale considered of so +much more importance than the fortune represented by that packet of +bank-notes! What did it all mean? Was this man, who had either +expiated a crime or been the victim of a terrible vengeance,--was +he a politician, a dealer in trade secrets, a member of a secret +society, an informer? Or was he one of the underground criminals +of the world, one of those who crawl beneath the surface of known +things--a creature of the dark places? Perhaps during those few +minutes, when his brain was cool and active, with the great city +awakening all around him, Laverick realized more completely than +ever before exactly how he stood. Without doubt he was walking on +the brink of a precipice. Four days ago there had been nothing for +him but ruin. The means of salvation had suddenly presented +themselves in this startling and dramatic manner, and without +hesitation he had embraced them. What did it all amount to? How +far was he guilty, and of what? Was he a thief? The law would +probably call him so. The law might have even more to say. It +would say that by keeping his mouth closed as to his adventure on +that night he had ranged himself on the side of the criminals,--he +was guilty not only of technical theft, but of a criminal knowledge +of this terrible crime. Events had followed upon one another so +rapidly during these last few days that he had little enough time +for reflection, little time to realize exactly how he stood. The +long-expected boom in "Unions," the coming of Zoe, the strange +advances made to him by Mademoiselle Idiale, her incomprehensible +connection with this tragedy across which he had stumbled, and her +apparent knowledge of his share in it,--these things were sufficient, +indeed, to give him food for thought. Laverick was not by nature a +pessimist. Other things being equal, he would have made, without +doubt, a magnificent soldier, for he had courage of a rare and high +order. It never occurred to him to sit and brood upon his own danger. +He rather welcomed the opportunity of occupying his mind with other +thoughts. Yet in those few minutes, while he waited for the business +of the day to commence, he looked his exact position in the face +and he realized more thoroughly how grave it really was. How was he +to find a way out--to set himself right with the law? What could +he do with those notes? They were there untouched. He had only +made use of them in an indirect way. They were there intact, as +he had picked them up upon that fateful night. Was there any +possible chance by means of which he might discover the owner and +restore them in such a way that his name might never be mentioned? +His eyes repeatedly sought that envelope which lay before him. +Inside it must lie the secret of the whole tragedy. Should he risk +everything and break the seal, or should he risk perhaps as much +and tell the whole truth to Mademoiselle Idiale? It was a strange +dilemma for a man to find himself in. + +Then, as he sat there, the business of the day commenced. A pile +of letters was brought in, the telephones in the outer office began +to ring. He thrust the sealed envelope into the breast-pocket of +his coat and buttoned it up. There, for the present, it must remain. +He owed it to himself to devote every energy he possessed to make +the most of this great tide of business. With set face he closed +the doors upon the unreal world, and took hold of the levers which +were to guide his passage through the one in which he was an actual +figure. + +Her visit was not altogether unexpected, and yet, when they told him +that Mademoiselle Idiale was outside, he hesitated. + +"It is the lady who was here the other day," his head clerk reminded +him. "We made a remarkably good choice of stocks for her. They +must be showing nearly sixteen hundred pounds profit. Perhaps she +wants to realize." + +"In any case, you had better show her in," said Laverick. + +She came, bringing with her, notwithstanding her black clothes and +heavy veil, the atmosphere of a strange world into his somewhat +severely furnished office. Her skirts swept his carpet with a +musical swirl. She carried with her a faint, indefinable perfume +of violets,--a perfume altogether peculiar, dedicated to her by a +famous chemist in the Rue Royale, and supplied to no other person +upon earth. Who else was there, indeed, who could have walked those +few yards as she walked? + +He rose to his feet and pointed to a chair. + +"You have come to ask about your shares?" he asked politely. "So +far, we have nothing but good news for you." + +She recognized that he spoke to her in the presence of his clerk, +and she waved her hand. + +"Women who will come themselves to look after their poor investments +are a nuisance, I suppose," she said. "But indeed I will not keep +you long. A few minutes are all that I shall ask of you. I am +beginning to find city affairs so interesting." + +They were alone by now and Louise raised her veil, raised it so +high that he could see her eyes. She leaned back in her chair, +supporting her chin with the long, exquisite fingers of her right +hand. She looked at him thoughtfully. + +"You have examined the pocket-book?" she asked. + +"I have." + +"And the document was there?" + +"The document was there," he admitted. "Perhaps you can tell me how +it would be addressed?" + +Looking at her closely, it came to him that her indifference was +assumed. She was shivering slightly, as though with cold. + +"I imagine that there would be no address," she said. + +"You are right. That document is in my pocket." + +"What are you going to do with it?" she asked. + +"What do you advise me to do with it?" + +"Give it to me." + +"Have you any claim?" + +She leaned a little nearer to him. + +"At least I have more claim to it," she whispered, "than you to that +twenty thousand pounds." + +"I do not claim them," he replied. "They are in my safe at this +moment, untouched. They are there ready to be returned to their +proper owner." + +"Why do you not find him?"--with a note of incredulity in her tone. + +"How am I to do that?" Laverick demanded. + +"We waste words," she continued coldly. "I think that if I leave +you with the contents of your safe, it will be wise for you to hand +me that document." + +"I am inclined to do so," Laverick admitted. "The very fact that +you knew of its existence would seem to give you a sort of claim to +it. But, Mademoiselle Idiale, will you answer me a few questions?" + +"I think," she said, "that it would be better if you asked me none." + +"But listen," he begged. "You are the only person with whom I have +come into touch who seems to know anything about this affair. I +should rather like to tell you exactly how I stumbled in upon it. +Why can we not exchange confidence for confidence? I want neither +the twenty thousand pounds nor the document. I want, to be frank +with you, nothing but to escape from the position I am now in of +being half a thief and half a criminal. Show me some claim to that +document and you shall have it. Tell me to whom that money belongs, +and it shall be restored." + +"You are incomprehensible," she declared. "Are you, by any chance, +playing a part with me? Do you think that it is worth while?" + +"Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick protested earnestly, "nothing in the +world is further from my thoughts. There is very little of the +conspirator about me. I am a plain man of business who stumbled in +upon this affair at a critical moment and dared to make temporary +use of his discovery. You can put it, if you like, that I am afraid. +I want to get out. Nothing would give me greater pleasure, if such +a thing were possible, than to send this pocket-book and its contents +anonymously to Scotland Yard, and never hear about them again." + +She listened to him with unchanged face. Yet for some moments after +he had finished speaking she was thoughtful. + +"You may be speaking the truth," she said. "If so, I have been +deceived. You are not quite the sort of man I did believe you were. +What you tell me is amazing, but it may be true." + +"It is the truth," Laverick repeated calmly. + +"Listen," she said, after a brief pause. "You were at school, were +you not, with Mr. David Bellamy? You know well who he is?" + +"Perfectly well," Laverick admitted. + +"You would consider him a person to be trusted?" + +"Absolutely." + +"Very well, then," she declared. "You shall come to my fiat at five +o'clock this afternoon and bring that document. If it is possible, +David Bellamy shall be there himself. We will try then and prove +to you that you do no harm in parting with that document to us." + +"I will come," Laverick promised, "at five o'clock; but you must +tell me where." + +"You will put it down, please," she said. "There must not be any +mistake. You must come, and you must come to-day. I am staying at +number 15, Dover Street. I will leave orders that you are shown +in at once." + +She rose to her feet and he walked to the door with her. On the way +she hesitated. + +"Take care of yourself to-day, Mr. Laverick," she begged. "There +are others beside myself who are interested in that packet you carry +with you. You represent to them things beside which life and death +are trivial happenings." + +Laverick laughed shortly. He was a matter-of-fact man, and there +seemed something a little absurd in such a warning. + +"I do not think," he declared, "that you need have any fear. London +is, as you doubtless find it, a dull old city, but it is a remarkably +safe one to live in." + +"Nevertheless, Mr. Laverick," she repeated earnestly, "be on your +guard to-day, for all our sakes." + +He bowed and changed the subject. + +"Your investments," he remarked, "you will be content, perhaps, to +leave as they are. It is, no doubt, of some interest to you to +know that they are showing already a profit of considerably over a +thousand pounds." + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"It was an excuse--that investment," she declared. "Yet money is +always good. Keep it for me, Mr. Laverick, and do what you will. I +will trust your judgment. Buy or sell as you please. You will let +nothing prevent your coming this afternoon?" + +"Nothing," he promised her. + +From the window of her beautifully appointed little electric brougham +she held out her hand in farewell. + +"You think me foolish, I know, that I persist," she said, "but I do +beg that you will remember what I say. Do not be alone to-day more +than you can help. Suspect every one who comes near to you. There +may be a trap before your feet at any moment. Be wary always and do +not forget--at five o'clock I expect you." + +Laverick smiled as he bowed his adieux. + +"It is a promise, Mademoiselle," he assured her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +PENETRATING A MYSTERY + + +About an hour after Mademoiselle Idiale's departure a note marked +"Urgent" was brought in and handed to Laverick. He tore it open. +It was dated from the address of a firm of stockbrokers, with two +of the partners of which he was on friendly terms. It ran thus: + + MY DEAR LAVERICK,--I want a chat with you, if you can spare + five minutes at lunch time. Come to Lyons' a little earlier + than usual, if you don't mind,--say at a quarter to one. + + J. HENSHAW. + + +Laverick read the typewritten note carelessly enough at first. He +had even laid it down and glanced at the clock, with the intention +of starting out, when a thought struck him. He took it up and read +it though again. Then he turned to the telephone. + +"Put me on to the office of Henshaw & Allen. I want to speak to Mr. +Henshaw particularly." + +Two minutes passed. Laverick, meanwhile, had been washing his hands +ready to go out. Then the telephone bell rang. He took up the +receiver. + +"Hullo! Is that Henshaw?" + +"I'm Henshaw," was the answer. "That's Laverick, isn't it? How +are you, old fellow?" + +"I'm all right," Laverick replied. "What is it that you want to +see me about?" + +"Nothing particular that I know of. Who told you that I wanted to?" + +Laverick, who had been standing with the instrument in his hand, sat +down in his chair. + +"Look here," he said, "Didn't you send me a note a few minutes ago, +asking me to come out to lunch at a quarter to one and meet you at +Lyons'?" + +Henshaw's laugh was sufficient response. + +"Delighted to lunch with you there or anywhere, old chap,--you know +that," was the answer, "but some one's been putting up a practical +joke on you." + +"You did not send me a note round this morning, then?" Laverick +insisted. + +"I'll swear I didn't," came the reply. "Do you seriously mean that +you've had one purporting to come from me?" + +Laverick pulled himself together. + +"Well, the signature's such a scrawl," he said, "that no one could +tell what the name really was. I guessed at you but I seem to have +guessed wrong. Good-bye!" + +He set down the receiver and rang off to escape further questioning. +Now indeed the plot was commencing to thicken. This was a deliberate +effort on the part of some one to secure his absence from his offices +at a quarter to one. + +With the document in his pocket and the safe securely locked, +Laverick felt at ease as to the result of any attempted burglary of +his premises. At the same time his curiosity was excited. Here, +perhaps, was a chance of finding some clue to this impenetrable +mystery. + +There were thee clerks in the outer office. He put on his hat and +despatched two of them on errands in different directions. The last +he was obliged to take into his confidence. + +"Halsey," he said, "I am going out to lunch. At least, I wish it +to be thought that I am going out to lunch. As a matter of fact, I +shall return in about ten minutes by the back way. I do not wish +you, however, to know this. I want you to have it in your mind +that I have gone to lunch and shall not be back until a quarter past +two. If there are visitors for me--Inquirers of any sort--act +exactly as you would have done if you really believed that I was +not in the building." + +Halsey appeared a good deal mystified. Laverick took him even +further into his confidence. + +"To tell you the truth, Halsey," he said, "I have just received a +bogus letter from Mr. Henshaw, asking me to lunch with him. Some +one was evidently anxious to get me out of my office for an hour +or so. I want to find out for myself what this means, if possible. +You understand?" + +"I think so, sir," the man replied doubtfully. "I am not to be +aware that you have returned, then?" + +"Certainly not," Laverick answered. "Please be quite clear about +that. If you hear any commotion in the office, you can come in, +but do not send for the police unless I tell you to. I wish to +look into this affair for myself." + +Halsey, who had started life as a lawyer's clerk, and was distinctly +formal in his ideas, was a little shocked. + +"Would it not be better, sir," he suggested, "for me to communicate +with the police in the first case? If this should really turn out +to be an attempt at burglary, it would surely be best to leave the +matter to them." + +Laverick frowned. + +"For certain reasons, Halsey, which I do not think it necessary to +tell you, I have a strong desire to investigate this matter +personally. Please do exactly as I say." + +He left the office and strolled up the street in the direction of +the restaurant which he chiefly frequented. He reached it in a +moment or two, but left it at once by another entrance. Within ten +minutes he was back at his office. + +"Has any one been, Halsey?" + +"No one, sir," the clerk answered. + +"You will be so good," Laverick continued, "as to forget that I +have returned." + +He passed on quickly into his own room and made his way into the +small closet where he kept his coat and washed his hands. He had +scarcely been there a minute when he heard voices in the outside +hall. The door of his office was opened. + +"Mr. Laverick said nothing about an appointment at this hour," he +heard Halsey protest in a somewhat deprecating tone. + +"He had, perhaps, forgotten," was the answer, in a totally unfamiliar +voice. "At any rate, I am not in a great hurry. The matter is of +some importance, however, and I will wait for Mr. Laverick." + +The visitor was shown in. Laverick investigated his appearance +through a crack in the door. He was a man of medium height, +well-dressed, clean-shaven, and wore gold-rimmed spectacles. He +made himself comfortable in Laverick's easy-chair, and accepted +the paper which Halsey offered him. + +"I shall be quite glad of a rest," he remarked genially. "I have +been running about all the morning." + +"Mr. Laverick is never very long out for lunch, sir," Halsey said. +"I daresay he will not keep you more than a quarter of an hour or +twenty minutes." + +The clerk withdrew and closed the door. The man in the chair waited +for a moment. Then he laid down his newspaper and looked cautiously +around the room. Satisfied apparently that he was alone, he rose to +his feet and walked swiftly to Laverick's writing-table. With fingers +which seemed gifted with a lightning-like capacity for movement, he +swung open the drawers, one by one, and turned over the papers. His +eyes were everywhere. Every document seemed to be scanned and as +rapidly discarded. At last he found something which interested him. +He held it up and paused in his search. Laverick heard a little +breath come though his teeth, and with a thrill he recognized the +paper as one which he had torn from a memorandum tablet and upon +which he had written down the address which Mademoiselle Idiale had +given him. The man with the gold-rimmed glasses replaced the paper +where he had found it. Evidently he had done with the writing-table. +He moved swiftly over to the safe and stood there listening for a +few seconds. Then from his pocket he drew a bunch of keys. To +Laverick's surprise, at the stranger's first effort the great door +of the safe swung open. He saw the man lean forward, saw his hand +reappear almost directly with the pocket-book clenched in his fingers. +Then he stood once more quite still, listening. Satisfied that no +one was disturbed, he closed the door of the safe softly and moved +once more to the writing-table. With marvelous swiftness the notes +were laid upon the table, the pocket-book was turned upside down, +the secret place disclosed--the secret place which was empty. It +seemed to Laverick that from his hiding-place he could hear the little +oath of disappointment which broke from the thin red lips. The man +replaced the notes and, with the pocket-book in his hand, hesitated. +Laverick, who thought that things had gone far enough, stepped lightly +out from his hiding-place and stood between his unbidden visitor and +the door. + +"You had better put down that pocket-book," he ordered quietly. + +The man was upon him with a single spring, but Laverick, without +the slightest hesitation, knocked him prone upon the floor, where +he lay, for a moment, motionless. Then he slowly picked himself up. +His spectacles were broken--he blinked as he stood there. + +"Sorry to be so rough," Laverick said. "Perhaps if you will kindly +realize that of the two I am much the stronger man, you will be so +good as to sit in that chair and tell me the meaning of your +intrusion." + +The man obeyed. He covered his eyes with his hand, for a moment, +as though in pain. + +"I imagine," he said--and it seemed to Laverick that his voice had +a slight foreign accent--"I imagine that the motive for my paying +you this visit is fairly clear to you. People who have compromising +possessions may always expect visits of this sort. You see, one +runs so little risk." + +"So little risk!" Laverick repeated. + +"Exactly," the other answered. "Confess that you are not in the +least inclined to ring your bell and send for a constable to give +me in charge for being in possession of a pocket-book abstracted +from your safe, containing twenty thousand pounds in Bank of +England notes." + +"It wouldn't do at all," Laverick admitted. + +"You are a man of common sense," declared the other. "It would not +do. Now comes the time when I have a question to ask you. There +was a sealed document in this pocket-book. Where is it? What +have you done with it?" + +"Can you tell me," Laverick asked, "why I should answer questions +from a person whom I discover apparently engaged in a nefarious +attempt at burglary?" + +The man's hand shot out from his trouser-pocket, and Laverick looked +into the gleaming muzzle of a revolver. + +"Because if you don't, you die," was the quick reply. "Whether +you've read that document or not, I want it. If you've read it, you +know the sort of men you've got to deal with. If you haven't, take +my word for it that we waste no time. The document! Will you give +it me?" + +"Do I understand that you are threatening me?" Laverick asked, +retreating a few steps. + +"You may understand that this is a repeating revolver, and that I +seldom miss a half-crown at twenty paces," his visitor answered. +"If you put out your hand toward that bell, it will be the last +movement you'll ever make on earth." + +"London isn't really the place for this sort of thing," Laverick +said. "If you discharge that revolver, you haven't a dog's chance +of getting clear of the building. My clerks would rush out after +you into the street. You'd find yourself surrounded by a crowd of +business men. You couldn't make your way through anywhere. You'd +be held up before you'd gone a dozen yards. Put down your revolver. +We can perhaps settle this little matter without it." + +"The document!" the man ordered. "You've got it! You must have it! +You took that pocket-book from a dead man, and in that pocket-book +was the document. We must have it. We intend to have it." + +"And who, may I ask, are we?" Laverick inquired. + +"If you do not know, what does it matter? Will you give it to me?" + +Laverick shook his head. + +"I have no document." + +The man in the chair leaned forward. The muzzle of his revolver was +very bright, and he held it in fingers which were firm as a rock. + +"Give it to me!" he repeated. "You ought to know that you are not +dealing with men who are unaccustomed to death. You have it about +you. Produce it, and I've done with you. Deny me, and you have not +time to say your prayers!" + +Laverick was leaning against a small table which stood near the door. +His fingers suddenly gripped the ledger which lay upon it. He held +it in front of his face for a single moment, and then dashed it at +his visitor. He followed behind with one desperate spring. Once, +twice, the revolver barked out. Laverick felt the skin of his temple +burn and a flick on the ear which reminded him of his school-days. +Then his hand was upon the other man's throat and the revolver lay +upon the carpet. + +"We'll see about that. By the Lord, I've a good mind to wring the +life out of you. That bullet of yours might have been in my temple." + +"It was meant to be there," the man gasped. "Hand over the document, +you pig-headed fool! It'll cost you your life--if not to-day, +to-morrow." + +"I'll be hanged if you get it, anyway!" Laverick answered fiercely. +"You assassin! Scoundrel! To come here and make a cold-blooded +effort at murder! You shall see what you think of the inside of an +English prison." + +The man laughed contemptuously. + +"And what about the pocket-book?" he asked. + +Laverick was silent. His assailant smiled and shrugged his shoulders. + +"Come," he said, "I have made my effort and failed. You have twenty +thousand pounds. That's a fair price, but I'll add another twenty +thousand for that document unopened." + +"It is possible that we might deal," Laverick remarked, kicking the +revolver a little further away. "Unfortunately, I am too much in the +dark. Tell me the real position of the murdered man? Tell me why he +was murdered? Tell me the contents of this document and why it was in +his possession? Perhaps I may then be inclined to treat with you." + +"You are either an astonishingly ingenuous person, Mr. Laverick," +his visitor declared, "or you're too subtle for me. You do not +expect me to believe that you are in this with your eyes blindfolded? +You do not expect me to believe that you do not know what is in that +sealed envelope? Bah! It is a child's game, that, and we play as +men with men." + +Laverick shook his head. + +"Your offer," he asked, "what is it exactly?" + +"Twenty thousand pounds," the man answered. "The document is worth +no more than that to you. How you came into this thing is a mystery, +but you are in and, what is more, you have possession. Twenty +thousand pounds, Mr. Laverick. It is a large sum of money. You +find it interesting?" + +"I find it interesting," Laverick answered dryly, "but I am not a +seller." + +The intruder moved his hand away from his eyes. His expression was +full of wonder. + +"Consider for a moment," he said. "While that document remains in +your possession, you walk the narrow way, your life hangs upon a +thread. Better surrender it and attend to your stocks and shares. +Heaven knows how you first came into our affairs, but the sooner +you are out of them the better. What do you say now to my offer?" + +"It is refused," Laverick declared. "I regret; to add," he +continued, "that I have already spared you all the time I have at +my disposal. Forgive me." + +He pressed a button with his finger. His visitor rose up in anger. + +"You are not such a fool!" he exclaimed. "You are not going to +send me away without it? Why, I tell you that there won't be a +safe corner in the World for you!" + +Halsey opened the door. Laverick nodded toward his visitor. + +"Show this gentleman out, Halsey," he ordered. + +Halsey started. The noise of the revolver shot had evidently been +muffled by the heavy connecting doors, but there was a smell of +gunpowder in the room, and a little wreath of smoke. The man rose +slowly to his feet, still blinking. + +"It must be as you will, of course. I wonder if you would be so +good as to let your clerk direct me to an oculist? I am, +unfortunately, a helpless man in this condition." + +"There is one a few yards off," Laverick answered. "Put on your +hat, Halsey, and show this gentleman where he can get some glasses." + +His visitor leaned towards Laverick. + +"It is your life which is in question, not my eyesight," he muttered. +"Do you accept my offer? Will you give me the document?" + +"I do not and I will not," Laverick replied. "I shall not part with +anything until I know more than I know at present." + +The man stood motionless for a moment. His fingers seemed to be +twitching. Laverick had a fancy that he was about to spring, but +if ever he had had any thoughts of the kind, Halsey's reappearance +checked them. + +"I am much obliged to you, Mr. Laverick," he said quietly. "We +shall, perhaps, resume this discussion at some future date." + +With that he turned and followed Halsey out of the room. Laverick +went to the window and threw it wide open. The smoke floated out, +the smell of gunpowder was gradually dispersed. Then he walked +back to his seat. Once more he locked up the notes. The document +was safe in his pocket. There was a slight mark by the side of his +temple, and his ear, he discovered, was bleeding. He rang the bell +and Halsey entered. + +"Has our friend gone, Halsey?" + +"I left him in the optician's, sir," the clerk answered. "He was +buying some spectacles." + +Laverick glanced at the floor, where the remains of those +gold-rimmed glasses were scattered. + +"You had better send for a locksmith at once," he said. "The +gentleman who has been here had a skeleton key to my safe. We'll +have a combination put on." + +"Very good, sir," Halsey answered. + +"And, Halsey," his master continued, "be careful about one thing, +for your own sake as well as mine. If that man presents himself +again, don't let him come into my room unannounced. If you can +help it, don't let him come in at all. I have an idea that he +might be dangerous." + +The clerk's face was a study. + +"If he presents himself here, sir," he announced stiffly, "I shall +take the liberty of sending for the police." + +Laverick made no reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE + + +At precisely a quarter past four, nothing having happened in the +meantime but a steady rush of business, Laverick ordered a taxicab +to be summoned. He then unlocked his safe, placed the pocket-book +securely in his breast pocket, walked through the office, and +directed the man to drive to Chancery Lane. Here at the headquarters +of the Safe Deposit Company he engaged a compartment, and down in +the strong-room locked up the pocket-book. There was only now the +document left. Stepping once more into the street, he found that +his taxicab had vanished. He looked up and down in vain. The man +had not been paid and there seemed to be no reason for his +departure. A policeman who was standing by touched his hat and +addressed him. + +"Were you looking for that taxi you stepped out of a few minutes ago, +sir?" he asked. + +"I was," Laverick answered. "I hadn't paid him and I told him to +wait." + +"I thought there was something queer about it," the policeman +remarked. "Soon after you had gone inside, two gentlemen drove up +in a hansom. They got out here and one of them spoke to your driver, +who shook his head and pointed to his flag. The gent then said +something else to him--can't say as I heard what it was, but it +was probably offering him double fare. Anyway, they both got in +and off went your taxi, sir." + +"Thank you," Laverick said thoughtfully. "It sounds a little +perplexing." + +He hesitated for a moment. + +"Constable," he continued, "I have just made a very valuable deposit +in there, and I had an idea that I might be followed. I have still +in my pocket a document of great importance. I have no doubt +whatever but that the object of the men who have taken my taxicab is +to leave me in the street here alone under circumstances which will +render a quick attack upon me likely to be successful." + +The policeman turned his head and looked at Laverick incredulously. +He was more than half inclined to believe that this was a practical +joke. Were they not standing on the pavement in Chancery Lane, and +was not he an able-bodied policeman of great bulk and immense muscle! +Yet his companion did not look by any means a man of the nervous +order. Laverick was broad-shouldered, his skin was tanned a +wholesome color, his bearing was the bearing of a man prepared to +defend himself at any time. The constable smiled in a non-committal +manner. + +"If you'll excuse my saying so, sir," he remarked, "I don't think +this is exactly the spot any one would choose for an assault." + +"I agree with you," Laverick answered, "but, on the other hand, you +must remember that these gentlemen have had no choice. I stepped +from my office direct into the taxi, and I proposed to drive straight +from here to the place where I shall probably leave the other +document I am carrying with me. Why I have taken you into my +confidence is to ask you this. Can you walk with me to the corner +of the street, or until we meet a taxicab? it sounds cowardly, but, +as a matter of fact, I am not afraid. I simply want to make sure +of delivering this document to the person to whom it belongs." + +The constable stood still, a little perplexed. + +"My beat, sir," he said, "only goes about twenty-five yards further +on. I will walk to the corner of Holborn with you, if you desire +it. At the same time, I may say that I am breaking regulations. +How do I know that it is not your scheme to get me away from this +neighborhood for some purpose of your own?" + +"You don't believe anything of the sort," Laverick declared, with +a smile. + +"I do not, sir," the policeman admitted. "Keep by my side, and I +think that nothing will happen to you before we reach Holborn." + +Laverick was a man of more than medium height, but by the side of +the policeman he seemed short. Both scanned the faces of the +passers-by closely--the police-man with mild interest, Laverick +with almost feverish anxiety. It was a gray afternoon, pleasant +but close. There seemed to be nothing whatever to account for the +feeling of nervousness which had suddenly come over Laverick. He +felt himself in danger--he had no idea how, or in what way--but +the conviction was there. He took every step fully alert, +absolutely on his guard. + +They were almost within sight of Holborn when a cry from the +bystanders caused them to look away into the middle of the road. +Laverick only cast one glance there and abandoned every instinct +of curiosity, thinking once more only of himself and his own +position. With the constable, however, it was naturally different. +He saw something which called at once for his intervention, and +he immediately forgot the somewhat singular task upon which he +was engaged. A man had fallen in the middle of the street, either +knocked down by the shaft of a passing vehicle or in some sort of +fit. There was a tangle of rearing horses, an omnibus was making +desperate efforts to avoid the prostrate body. The constable +sprang to the rescue. Laverick, instantly suspicious and realizing +that there was no one in front of him, turned swiftly around. He +was just in time to receive upon his left arm the blow which had +been meant for the back of his head. He was confronted by a man +dressed exactly as he himself was, in morning coat and silk hat, +a man with long, lean face and legal appearance, such a person as +would have passed anywhere without attracting a moment's suspicion. +Yet, in the space of a few seconds he had whipped out from one +pocket, with the skill almost of a juggler, a vicious-looking +life-preserver, and from the other a pocket-handkerchief soaked +with chloroform. Laverick, quick and resourceful, feeling his +left arm sink helpless, struck at the man with his right and sent +him staggering against the wall. The handkerchief, with its load +of sickening odor, fell to the pavement. The man was obviously +worsted. Laverick sprang at him. They were almost unobserved, +for the crowd was all intent upon the accident in the roadway. +With wonderful skill, his assailant eluded his attempt to close, +and tore at his coat. Laverick struck at him again but met only +the air. The man's fingers now were upon his pocket, but this +time Laverick made no mistake. He struck downward so hard that +with a fierce cry of pain the man relaxed his hold. Before he +could recover, Laverick had struck him again. He reeled into the +crowd that was fast gathering around them, attracted by what +seemed to be a fight between two men of unexceptionable appearance. +But there was to be no more fight. Through the people, +swift-footed, cunning, resourceful, his assailant seemed to +find some hidden way. Laverick glared fiercely around him, but +the man had gone. His left hand crept to his chest. The victory +was with him; the document was still there. + +At the outside of the double crowd he perceived a taxi. Ignoring +the storm of questions with which he was assailed, and the advancing +helmet of his friend the policeman at the back of the crowd, +Laverick hailed it and stepped quickly inside. + +"Back out of this and drive to Dover Street," he directed. The +man obeyed him. People raced to look through the window at him. +The other commotion had died away,--the man in the road had got up +and walked off. A policeman came hurrying along but he was just +too late. Very soon they were on their way down Holborn. Once +more Laverick had escaped. + +A French man-servant, with the sad face and immaculate dress of a +High-Church cleric, took possession of him as soon as he had asked +for Mademoiselle Idiale. He was shown into one of the most +delightful little rooms he had ever even dreamed of. The walls +were hung with that peculiar shade of blue satin which Mademoiselle +so often affected in her clothes. Laverick, who was something of +a connoisseur, saw nowhere any object which was not, of its sort, +priceless,--French furniture of the best and choicest period, a +statuette which made him, for a moment, almost forget the scene +from which he had just arrived. The air in the room seemed as +though it had passed through a grove of lemon trees,--it was fresh +and sweet yet curiously fragrant. Laverick sank down into one of +the luxurious blue-brocaded chairs, conscious for the first time +that he was out of breath. Then the door opened silently and +there entered not the woman whom he had been expecting, but Mr. +Lassen. Laverick rose to his feet half doubtfully. Lassen's +small, queerly-shaped face seemed to have become one huge +ingratiating smile. + +"I am very glad to see you, Mr. Laverick," he said,--"very glad +indeed." + +"I have come to call upon Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick answered, +somewhat curtly. He had disliked this man from the first moment +he had seen him, and he saw no particular reason why he should +conceal his feelings. + +"I am here to explain," Mr. Lassen continued, seating himself +opposite to Laverick. "Mademoiselle Idiale is unfortunately +prevented from seeing you. She has a severe nervous headache, +and her only chance of appearing tonight is to remain perfectly +undisturbed. Women of her position, as you may understand, have +to be exceptionally careful. It would be a very serious matter +indeed if she were unable to sing to-night." + +"I am exceedingly sorry to hear it," Laverick answered. "In that +case, I will call again when Mademoiselle Idiale has recovered." + +"By all means, my dear sir!" Mr. Lassen exclaimed. "Many times, +let us hope. But in the meantime, there is a little affair of a +document which you were going to deliver to Mademoiselle. She is +most anxious that you should hand it to me--most anxious. She +will tender you her thanks personally, tomorrow or the next day, +if she is well enough to receive." + +Laverick shook his head firmly. + +"Under no circumstances," he declared, "should I think of delivering +the document into any other hands save those of Mademoiselle Idiale. +To tell you the truth, I had not fully decided whether to part with +it even to her. I was simply prepared to hear what she had to say. +But it may save time if I assure you, Mr. Lassen, that nothing would +induce me to part with it to any one else." + +There was no trace left of that ingratiating smile upon Mr. Lassen's +face. He had the appearance now of an ugly animal about to show +its teeth. Laverick was suddenly on his guard. More adventures, +he thought, casting a somewhat contemptuous glance at the physique +of the other man. He laid his fingers as though carelessly upon a +small bronze ornament which reposed amongst others on a table by +his side. If Mr. Lassen's fat and ugly hand should steal toward +his pocket, Laverick was prepared to hurl the ornament at his head. + +"I am very sorry to hear you say that, Mr. Laverick," Lassen said +slowly. "I hope very much that you will see your way clear to +change your mind. I can assure you that I have as much right to +the document as Mademoiselle Idiale, and that it is her earnest +wish that you should hand it over to me. Further, I may inform you +that the document itself is a most incriminating one. Its possession +upon your person, or upon the person of any one who was not upon his +guard, might be a very serious matter indeed." + +Laverick shrugged his shoulders. + +"As a matter of fact," he declared, "I certainly have no idea of +carrying it about with me. On the other hand, I shall part with it +to no one. I might discuss the matter with Mademoiselle Idiale +as soon as she is recovered. I am not disposed--I mean no offence, +sir--but I may say frankly that I am not disposed even to do as +much with you." + +Laverick rose to his feet with the obvious intention of leaving. +Lassen followed his example and confronted him. + +"Mr. Laverick," he said, "in your own interests you must not talk +like that,--in your own interests, I say." + +"At any rate," Laverick remarked, "my interests are better looked +after by myself than by strangers. You must forgive my adding, +Mr. Lassen, that you are a stranger to me." + +"No more so than Mademoiselle Idiale!" the little man exclaimed. + +"Mademoiselle Idiale has given me certain proof that she knew at +least of the existence of this document," Laverick answered. "She +has established, therefore, a certain claim to my consideration. +You announce yourself as Mademoiselle Idiale's deputy, but you +bring me no proof of the fact, nor, in any case, am I disposed to +treat with you. You must allow me to wish you good afternoon." + +Lassen shook his head. + +"Mr. Laverick," he declared, "you are too impetuous. You force me +to remind you that your own position as holder of that document is +not a very secure one. All the police in this capital are searching +to-day for the man who killed that unfortunate creature who was +found murdered in Crooked Friars' Alley. If they could find the +man who was in possession of his pocket-book, who was in possession +of twenty thousand pounds taken from the dead man's body and with +it had saved his business and his credit, how then, do you think? +I say nothing of the document." + +Laverick was silent for a moment. He realized, however, that to +make terms with this man was impossible. Besides, he did not trust +him. He did not even trust him so far as to believe him the +accredited envoy of Mademoiselle. + +"My unfortunate position," Laverick said, "has nothing whatever to +do with the matter. Where you got your information from I cannot +say. I neither accept nor deny it. But I can assure you that I +am not to be intimidated. This document will remain in my possession +until some one can show me a very good reason for parting with it." + +Lassen beat the back of the chair against which he was standing with +his clenched fist. + +"A reason why you should part with it!" he exclaimed fiercely. "Man, +it stares you there in the face! If you do not part with it, you will +be arrested within twenty-four hours for the murder or complicity in +the murder of Rudolph Von Behrling! That I swear! That I shall +see to myself!" + +"In which case," Laverick remarked, "the document will fall into the +hands of the English police." + +The shot told. Laverick could have laughed as he watched its effect +upon his listener. Mr. Lassen's face was black with unuttered +curses. He looked as though he would have fallen upon Laverick +bodily. + +"What do you know about its contents?" he hissed. "Why do you +suppose it would not suit my purpose to have it fall into the hands +of the English police?" + +"I can see no reason whatever," Laverick answered, "why I should +take you into my confidence as to how much I know and how much I do +not know. I wish you good afternoon, Mr. Lassen! I shall be ready +to wait upon Mademoiselle Idiale at any time she sends for me. But +in case it should interest you to be made aware of the fact," he +added, with a little bow, "I am not going round with this terrible +document in my possession." + +He moved to the door. Already his hand was upon the knob when he +saw the movement for which he had watched. Laverick, with a single +bound, was upon his would-be assailant. The hand which had already +closed upon the butt of the small revolver was gripped as though +in a vice. With a scream of pain Lassen dropped the weapon upon +the floor. Laverick picked it up, thrust it into his coat pocket +and, taking the man's collar with both hands, he shook him till +the eyes seemed starting from his head and his shrieks of fear were +changed into moans. Then he flung him into a corner of the room. + +"You cowardly brute!" he exclaimed. "You come of the breed of men +who shoot from behind. If ever I lay my hands upon you again, +you'll be lucky if you live to whimper about it." + +He left the room and rang for the lift. He saw no trace of any +servants in the hall, nor heard any sound of any one moving. From +Dover Street he drove straight to Zoe's house. Keeping the cab +waiting, he knocked at the door. She opened it herself at once, +and her eyes glowed with pleasure. + +"How delightful!" she cried. "Please come in. Have you come to +take me to the theatre?" + +He followed her into the parlor and closed the door behind them. + +"Zoe," he said, "I am going to ask you a favor." + +"Me a favor?" she repeated. "I think you know how happy it will +make me if there is anything--anything at all in the world that I +could do." + +"A week ago," Laverick continued, "I was an honest but not very +successful stockbroker, with a natural longing for adventures which +never came my way. Since then things have altered. I have stumbled +in upon the most curious little chain of happenings which ever +became entwined with the life of a commonplace being like myself. +The net result, for the moment, is this. Every one is trying to +steal from me a certain document which I have in my pocket. I want +to hide it for the night. I cannot go to the police, it is too +late to go back to Chancery Lane, and I have an instinctive feeling +that my flat is absolutely at the mercy of my enemies. May I hide +my document in your room? I do not believe for a moment that any +one would think of searching here." + +"Of course you may," she answered. "But listen. Can you see out +into the street without moving very much?" + +He turned his head. He had been standing with his back to the +window, and Zoe had been facing it. + +"Yes, I can see into the street," he assented. + +"Tell me--you see that taxi on the other side of the way?" she +asked. + +He nodded. + +"It wasn't there when I drove up," he remarked. + +"I was at the window, looking out, when you came," she said. "It +followed you out from the Square into this street. Directly you +stopped, I saw the man put on the brake and pull up his cab. It +seemed to me so strange, just as though some one were watching you +all the time." + +Laverick stood still, looking out of the window. + +"Who lives in the house opposite?" he asked. + +"I am afraid," she answered, "that there are no very nice people +who live round here. The people whom I see coming in and out of +that house are not nice people at all." + +"I understand," he said. "Thank you, Zoe. You are right. Whatever +I do with my precious document, I will not leave it here. To tell +you the truth, I thought, for certain reasons, that after I had paid +my last call this afternoon I should not be followed any more. Come +back with me and I will give you some dinner before you go to the +theatre." + +She clapped her hands. + +"I shall love it," she declared. "But what shall you do with the +document?" + +"I shall take a room at the Milan Hotel," he said, "and give it to +the cashier. They have a wonderful safe there. It is the best +thing I can think of. Can you suggest anything?" + +She considered for a moment. + +"Do you know what is inside?" she asked. + +He shook his head. + +"I have no idea. It is the most mysterious document in the world, +so far as I am concerned." + +"Why not open it and read it?" she suggested; "then you will know +exactly what it is all about. You can learn it by heart and tear +it up." + +"I must think that over," he said. "One second before we go out." + +He took from his pocket the revolver which Lassen had dropped. It +was a perfect little weapon, and fully charged. He replaced it in +his pocket, keeping his finger upon the trigger. + +"Now, Zoe, if you are ready," he said, "come along." + +They stepped out and entered the taxi, unmolested, and Laverick +ordered: + +"To the Milan Hotel." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED + + +About twenty minutes past six on the same evening, Bellamy, his +clothes thick with dust, his face dark with anger, jumped lightly +from a sixty horse-power car and rang the bell of the lift at number +15, Dover Street. Arrived on the first floor, he was confronted +almost immediately by the sad-faced man-servant of Mademoiselle +Idiale. + +"Mademoiselle is in?" Bellamy asked quickly. + +The man's expression was one of sombre regret. + +"Mademoiselle is spending the day in the country, sir. Bellamy +took him by the shoulders and flung him against the wall. + +"Thank you," he said, "I've heard that before." + +He walked down the passage and knocked softly at the door of Louise's +sleeping apartment. There was no answer. He knocked again and +listened at the key-hole. There was some movement inside but no +one spoke. + +"Louise," he cried softly, "let me in. It is I--David." + +Again the only reply was the strangest of sounds. Almost it seemed +as though a woman were trying to speak with a hand over her mouth. +Then Bellamy suddenly stiffened into rigid attention. There were +voices in the small reception room,--the voice of Henri, the butler, +and another. Reluctantly he turned away from the closed door and +walked swiftly down the passage. He entered the reception room and +looked around him in amazement. It was still in disorder. Lassen +sat in an easy-chair with a tumbler of brandy by his side. Henri +was tying a bandage around his head, his collar was torn, there +were marks of blood about his shirt. Bellamy's eyes sparkled. He +closed the door behind him. + +"Come," he exclaimed, "after all, I fancy that my arrival is +somewhat opportune!" + +Henri turned towards him with a reproachful gesture. + +"Monsieur Lassen has been unwell, Monsieur," he said. "He has had +a fit and fallen down." + +Bellamy laughed contemptuously. + +"I think I can reconstruct the scene a little better than that," he +declared. "What do you say, Mr. Lassen?" + +The man glared at him viciously. + +"I do not know what you are talking about," he said. "I do not +wish to speak to you. I am ill. You had better go and persuade +Mademoiselle to return. She is at Dover, waiting." + +"You are a liar!" Bellamy answered. "She is in her room now, +locked up--guarded, perhaps, by one of your creatures. I have been +half-way to Dover, but I tumbled to your scheme in time, Mr. Lassen. +You found our friend Laverick a trifle awkward, I fancy." + +Lassen swore through his teeth but said nothing. + +"From your somewhat dishevelled appearance," Bellamy continued, "I +think I may conclude that you were not able to come to any amicable +arrangement with Mademoiselle's visitor. He declined to accept you +as her proxy, I imagine. Still, one must make sure." + +He advanced quickly. Lassen shrank back in his chair. + +"What do you mean?" he asked gruffly. "Keep him away from me, +Henri. Ring the bell for your other man. This fellow will do me +a mischief." + +"Not I," Bellamy answered scornfully. "Stay where you are, Henri. +To your other accomplishments I have no doubt you include that of +valeting. Take off his coat." + +"But, Monsieur!" Henri protested. + +"I'm d--d if he shall!" the man in the chair snarled. + +Bellamy turned to the door, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. + +"Look here," he said, "I do not for one moment believe that Laverick +handed over to you the document you were so anxious to obtain. On +the other hand, I imagine that your somewhat battered appearance is +the result of fruitless argument on your part with a view to inducing +him to do so. Nevertheless, I can afford to run no risks. The coat +first, please, Henri. It is necessary that I search it thoroughly." + +There was a brief hesitation. Bellamy's hand went reluctantly into +his pocket. + +"I hate to seem melodramatic," he declared, "and I never carry +firearms, but I have a little life-preserver here which I have +learned how to use pretty effectively. Come, you know, it isn't a +fair fight. You've had all you want, Lassen, and Henri there hasn't +the muscle of a chicken." + +Lassen rose, groaning, to his feet and allowed his coat to be +removed. Bellamy glanced through the pockets, holding one letter +for a moment in his hands as he glanced at the address. + +"The writing of our friend Streuss," he remarked, with a smile. +"No, you need not fear, Lassen! I am not going to read it. There +is plenty of proof of your treachery without this." + +Lassen's face was livid and his eyes seemed like beads. Bellamy +handed back the coat. + +"That's all right," he said. "Nothing there, I am glad to see--or +in the waistcoat," he added, passing his hands over it. "I'll +trouble you to stand up for a moment, Mr. Lassen." + +The man did as he was bid and Bellamy felt him all over. When he +had finished, he held in his hand a key. + +"The key of Mademoiselle's chamber, I have no doubt," he announced, +"I will leave you, then, while I see what deviltry you have been +up to." + +He walked calmly to the table which stood by the window and +deliberately cut the telephone wire. With the instrument under his +arm, he left the room. Lassen blundered to his feet as though to +intercept him, but Bellamy's eyes suddenly flashed red fury, and +the life-preserver of which he had spoken glittered above his head. +Lassen staggered away. + +"I'm a long-suffering man," Bellamy said, "and if you don't remember +now that you're the beaten dog, I may lose my temper." + +He locked them in, walked down the passage and opened the door of +Louise's bedchamber with fingers that trembled a little. With a +smothered oath he cut the cord from the arms of the maid and the +gag from her mouth. Louise, clad in a loose afternoon gown, was +lying upon the bed, as though asleep. Bellamy saw with an impulse +of relief that she was breathing regularly. + +"This is Lassen's work, of course!" he exclaimed. "What have they +done to her?" + +The maid spoke thickly. She was very pale, and unsteady upon her +feet. + +"It was something they put in her wine," she faltered. "I heard Mr. +Lassen say that it would keep her quiet for three or four hours. I +think--I think that she is waking now." + +Louise opened her eyes and looked at them with amazement. Bellamy +sat by the side of the bed and supported her with his arm. + +"It is only a skirmish, dear," he whispered, "and it is a drawn +battle, although you got the worst of it." + +She put her hand to her head, struggling to remember. + +"Mr. Laverick has been here?" she asked. + +"He has. Your friend Lassen has been taking a hand in the game. I +came here to find you like this and Annette tied up. Henri is in +with him. What has become of your other servants I don't know." + +"Henri asked for a holiday for them," she said, the color slowly +returning to her cheeks. "I begin to understand. But tell me, what +happened when Mr. Laverick came?" + +"I can only guess," Bellamy answered, "but it seems that Lassen must +have received him as though with your authority." + +"And what then?" she asked quickly. + +"I am almost certain," Bellamy declared, "that Laverick refused to +have anything to do with him. I received a wire from Dover to say +that you were on your way home, and asking me to meet you at the +Lord Warden Hotel. I borrowed Montresor's racing-car, but I sent +telegrams, and I was pretty soon on my way back. When I arrived +here, I found Lassen in your little room with a broken head. +Evidently Laverick and he had a scrimmage and he got the worst of +it. I have searched him to his bones and he has no paper. Laverick +brought it here, without a doubt, and has taken it away again." + +She rose to her feet. + +"Go and let Lassen out," she said. "Tell him he must never come +here again. I will see him at the Opera House to-night or to-morrow +night--that is, if I can get there. I do not know whether I shall +feel fit to sing." + +"I shall take the liberty, also," remarked Bellamy, "of kicking +Henri out." + +Louise sighed. + +"He was such a good servant. I think it must have cost our friend +Streuss a good deal to buy Henri. You will come back to me when +you have finished with them?" + +Bellamy made short work of his discomfited prisoners. Lassen was +surly but only eager to depart Henri was resigned but tearful. +Almost as they went the other servants began to return from their +various missions. Bellamy went back to Louise, who was lying down +again and drinking some tea. She motioned Bellamy to come over to +her side. + +"Tell me," she asked, "what are you going to do now?" + +"I am going to do what I ought to have done before," Bellamy answered. +"Laverick's connection with this affair is suspicious enough, but +after all he is a sportsman and an Englishman. I am going to tell +him what that envelope contains--tell him the truth." + +"You are right!" she exclaimed. "Whatever he may have done, if you +tell him the truth he will give you that document. I am sure of it. +Do you know where to find him?" + +"I shall go to his rooms," Bellamy declared. "I must be quick, too, +for Lassen is free--they will know that he has failed." + +"Come back to me, David," she begged, and he kissed her fingers and +hurried out. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS + + +Laverick, sitting with Zoe at dinner, caught his companion looking +around the restaurant with an expression in her face which he did +not wholly understand. + +"Something is the matter with you this evening, Zoe," he said +anxiously. "Tell me what it is. You don't like this place, perhaps?" + +"Of course I do." + +"It is your dinner, then, or me?" he persisted. "Come, out with it. +Haven't we promised to tell each other the truth always?" + +The pink color came slowly into her cheeks. Her eyes, raised for a +moment to his, were almost reproachful. + +"You know very well that it is not anything to do with you," she +whispered. "You are too kind to me all the time. Only," she went +on, a little hesitatingly, "don't you realize--can't you see how +differently most of the girls here are dressed? I don't mind so +much for myself--but you--you have so many friends. You keep on +seeing people whom you know. I am afraid they will think that I +ought not to be here." + +He looked at her in surprise, mingled, perhaps, with compunction. +For the first time he appreciated the actual shabbiness of her +clothes. Everything about her was so neat--pathetically neat, as +it seemed to him in one illuminating moment of realization. The +white linen collar, notwithstanding its frayed edges, was spotlessly +clean. The black bow was carefully tied to conceal its worn parts. +Her gloves had been stitched a good many times. Her gown, although +it was tidy, was old-fashioned and had distinctly seen its best days. +He suddenly recognized the effort--the almost despairing effort--which +her toilette had cost her. + +"I don't think that men notice these things," he said simply. "To +me you look just as you should look--and I wouldn't change places +with any other man in the room for a great deal." + +Her eyes were soft--perilously soft--as she looked at him with +uplifted eyebrows and a faint smile struggling at the corners of her +lips. A wave of tenderness crept into his heart. What a brave +little child she was! + +"You will quite spoil me if you make such nice speeches," she +murmured. + +"Anyhow," he went on, speaking with decision, "so long as you feel +like that, you are going to have a new gown--or two--and a new +hat, and you are going to have them at once. They are going to be +bought with your brother's money, mind. Shall I come shopping with +you?" + +She shook her head. + +"Mind, it is partly for your sake that I give in," she said. "It +would be lovely to have you come, but you would spend far too much +money. You really mean it all?" + +"Absolutely," he answered. "I insist upon it." + +She leaned towards him with dancing eyes. After all, she was very +much of a child. The prospect of a new gown, now that she permitted +herself to think of it, was enthralling. + +"I might get a coat and skirt," she remarked thoughtfully, "and a +simple white dress. A black hat would do for both of them, then." + +"Don't you study your brother too much," Laverick declared. "His +stock is going up all the time." + +"Tell me your favorite color," she begged confidentially. + +"I can't conceive your looking nicer than you do in black," he +replied. + +She made a wry face. + +"I suppose it must be black," she murmured doubtfully. "It is much +more economical than anything--" + +She broke off to bow to a stout, red-faced man who, after a rude +stare, had greeted her with a patronizing nod. Laverick frowned. + +"Who is that fellow?" he asked. + +"Mr. Heepman, our stage-manager," Zoe answered, a little timidly. + +"Is there any particular reason why he should behave like a boor?" +Laverick continued, raising his voice a little. + +She caught at his arm in terror. The man was sitting at the next +table. + +"Don't, please!" she implored. "He might hear you. He is just +behind there." + +Laverick half turned in his chair. She guessed what he was about +to say, and went on rapidly. + +"He has been so foolish," she whispered. "He has asked me so often +to go out with him. And he could get me sent away, if he wanted, +any time. He almost threatened it, the last time I refused. Now +that he has seen me with you, he will be worse than ever." + +Laverick's face darkened, and there was a peculiar flash in his eyes. +The man was certainly looking at them in a rude manner. + +"There are so many of the girls who would only be too pleased to go +with him," Zoe continued, in a terrified undertone. "I can't think +why he bothers me." + +"I can," Laverick muttered. "Let's forget about the brute." + +But the dinner was already spoiled for Zoe, so Laverick paid the +bill a few minutes later, and walked across to the stage-door of the +theatre with her. Her little hand, when she gave it to him at +parting, was quite cold. + +"I'm as nervous as I can be," she confessed. "Mr. Heepman will be +watching all the night for something to find fault with me about." + +"Don't you let him bully you," Laverick begged. + +"I won't," she promised. "Good-bye! Thanks so much for my dinner." + +She turned away with a brave attempt at a smile, but it was only an +attempt. Laverick walked on to his club. There was no one in the +dining-room whom he knew, and the card-room was empty. He played +one game of billiards, but he played badly. He was upset. His +nerves were wrong he told himself, and little wonder. There seemed +to be no chance of a rubber at bridge, so he sallied out again and +walked aimlessly towards Covent Garden. Outside the Opera House he +hesitated and finally entered, yielding to an impulse the nature of +which he scarcely recognized. While he was inquiring about a stall, +a small printed notice was thrust into his hand. He read it with +a slight start. + +We regret to announce that owing to indisposition Mademoiselle +Idiale will not be able to appear this evening. The part of Delilah +will be taken by Mademoiselle Blanche Temoigne, late of the Royal +Opera House, St. Petersburg. + +Ten minutes later, Laverick rang the bell of her flat in Dover Street. +A strange man-servant answered him. + +"I came to inquire after Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick said. + +The man held out a tray on which was already a small heap of cards. +Laverick, however, retained his. + +"I should be glad if you would take mine in to her," he said. "I +think it is just likely that she may see me for a moment." + +The servant's attitude was one of civil but unconcealed hostility. +He would have closed the door had not Laverick already passed over +the threshold. + +"Madame is not well enough to receive visitors, sir," the man +declared. "She shall have your card as soon as possible." + +"I should like her to have it now," Laverick persisted, drawing a +five-pound note from his pocket. + +The man looked at the note longingly. + +"It would be only waste of time, sir," he declared. "Mademoiselle +is confined to her bedroom and my orders are absolute." + +"You are not the man who was here earlier in the day," Laverick +remarked. "I wonder," he continued, with a sudden inspiration, +"whether you are not Mr. Bellamy's servant?" + +"That is so, sir. Mr. Bellamy has sent me here to see that no one +has access to Mademoiselle Idiale." + +"Then there is no harm whatever in taking in my card," Laverick +declared convincingly. "You can put that note in your pocket. I +am perfectly certain that Mademoiselle Idiale will see me, and +that your master would wish her to do so." + +"I will take the risk, sir," the man decided, "but the orders I have +received were stringent." + +He disappeared and was gone for several moments. When he came back +he was accompanied by a pale-faced woman dressed in black, obviously +a maid. + +"Monsieur Laverick," she said, "Mademoiselle Idiale will receive +you. If you will come this way?" + +She opened the door of the little reception-room, and Laverick +followed her. The man returned to his place in the hall. + +"Madame will be here in a moment," the maid said. "She will be glad +to see you, but she has been very badly frightened." + +Laverick bowed sympathetically. The woman herself was gray-faced, +terror-stricken. + +"It is Monsieur Lassen, the manager of Madame, who has caused a +great deal of trouble here," she said. "Madame never trusted him +and now we have discovered that he is a spy." + +The woman seemed to fade away. The door of the inner room was +opened and Louise came out. She was still exceedingly pale, and +there were dark rims under her eyes. She came across the room with +outstretched hands. There was no doubt whatever as to her pleasure. + +"You have seen Mr. Bellamy?" she asked. + +Laverick shook his head. + +"No, I have seen nothing of Bellamy to-day. I came to call upon +you this afternoon." + +She wrung her hands. + +"You understand, of course!" she exclaimed. "I did not trust +Lassen, but I never imagined anything like this. He is an Austrian. +Only a few hours ago I learned that he is one of their most heavily +paid spies. Streuss got hold of him. But there, I forgot--you do +not understand this. It is enough that he laid a plot to get that +document from you. Where is it, Mr. Laverick? You have brought it +now?" + +"Why, no," Laverick answered, "I have not." + +Her eyes were round with terror. She held out her hands as though +to keep away some tormenting thought. + +"Where is it?" she cried. "You have not parted with it? + +"I have not," Laverick replied gravely. "It is in the safe deposit +of a hotel to which I have moved." + +She closed her eyes and drew a long breath of relief. + +"You are not well," Laverick said. "Let me help you to a chair." + +She sat down wearily. + +"Why have you moved to a hotel?" she asked. + +"To tell you the truth," Laverick answered, "I seem to have +wandered into a sort of modern Arabian Nights. Three times to-day +attempts have been made to get that document from me by force. I +have been followed whereever I went. I felt that it was not safe +in my chambers, so I moved to a hotel and deposited it in their +strong-room. I have come to the conclusion that the best thing I +can do is to open it to-morrow morning, and decide for myself +as to its destination." + +Louise sat quite still for several moments. Then she opened her +eyes. + +"What you say is an immense relief to me, Mr. Laverick," she +declared. "I perceive now that we have made a mistake. We should +have told you the whole truth from the first. This afternoon when +Mr. Bellamy left me, it was to come to you and tell you everything." + +Laverick listened gravely. + +"Really," he said, "it seems to me the wisest course. I haven't +the least desire to keep the document. I cannot think why Bellamy +did not treat me with confidence from the first--" + +He stopped short. Suddenly he understood. Something in Louise's +face gave him the hint. + +"Of course!" he murmured to himself. + +"Mr. Laverick," Louise said quietly, "in this matter I am no man's +judge, yet, as you and I know well, that paper could have come into +your hands in one way, and one way only. There may be some +explanation. If so, it is for you to offer it or not, as you think +best. Mr. Bellamy and I are allies in this matter. It is not our +business to interfere with the course of justice. You will run no +risk in parting with that paper. + +"Where can I see Bellamy?" Laverick Inquired, rising and taking up +his hat. + +"He would go straight to your rooms," she answered. "Did you leave +word there where you had gone?" + +"Purposely I did not," Laverick replied. "I had better try and find +him, perhaps." + +"It is not necessary," she announced. "No wonder that you feel +yourself to have wandered into the Arabian Nights, Mr. Laverick. +There are two sets of spies who follow you everywhere--two sets that +I know of. There may be another." + +"You think that Bellamy will find me?" he asked. + +"I am sure of it." + +"Then I'll go back to the hotel and wait." + +She hurried him away, but at the door she detained him for a moment. + +"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking at him earnestly, "somehow or +other I cannot help believing that you are an honest man." + +Laverick sighed. He opened his lips but closed them again. + +"You are very kind, Mademoiselle," he declared simply. + +Laverick, as he entered the reception hall at the Milan Hotel, +noticed a man leaning over the cashier's desk talking confidentially +to the clerk in charge. The latter recognized Laverick with obvious +relief, and at once directed his questioner's attention to him. Kahn +turned swiftly around and without a moment's hesitation came smiling +towards Laverick with the apparent intention of accosting him. He +was correctly garbed, tall and fair, with every appearance of being +a man of breeding. He glanced at Laverick carelessly as he passed, +but, as though changing his original purpose, made no attempt to +address him. The cashier, who had been watching, gave vent to a +little exclamation of surprise and sprang over the counter. He +approached Laverick hastily. + +"Do you know that gentleman just going out, sir?" he asked. + +"I never saw him before in my life," Laverick answered. "Why?" + +"Is this your handwriting, sir?" the man inquired, touching with +his forefinger the half sheet of note-paper which he had been +carrying. + +Laverick read quickly,-- + + To the Cashier at the Milan Hotel,--Deliver to bearer + document deposited with you. STEPHEN LAVERICK. + +"It is not," he declared promptly. "It is an impudent forgery. +Good God! You don't mean to say that you parted with my property +to--" + +The cashier stopped his breathless question. + +"I haven't parted with anything, sir," he said. "I was just +wondering what to do when you came in. I'd no reason to believe +that the signature was a forgery, but I didn't like the look of it, +somehow. We'd better be after him. Come along, sir." + +They hurried outside. The man was nowhere in sight. The cashier +summoned the head porter. + +"A gentleman has just come out," he exclaimed,--"tall and fair, very +carefully dressed, with a single eyeglass! Which way did he go?" + +"He's just driven off in a big Daimler car, sir," the porter +answered. "I noticed him particularly. He spoke to the chauffeur +in Austrian." + +Laverick looked out into the Strand. + +"Can't we stop him?" he asked rapidly. + +The porter smiled as he shook his head. + +"Not the ghost of a chance, sir. He shot round the corner there as +though he were in a desperate hurry, and went the wrong side of the +island. I heard the police calling to him. I hope there's nothing +wrong, Mr. Dean?" + +The cashier hesitated and glanced at Laverick. + +"Nothing much," Laverick answered. "We should have liked to have +asked him a question--that is all." + +Bellamy came out from the hotel and paused to light a cigarette. + +"How are you, Laverick?" he said quietly. "Nothing the matter, I +hope?" + +"Nothing worth mentioning," Laverick replied. + +The cashier returned to his duties. The two men were alone. +Bellamy, most carefully dressed, with his silver-headed cane under +his arm, and his silk hat at precisely the correct angle, seemed +very far removed from the work of intrigue into which Laverick +felt himself to have blundered. He looked down for a moment at the +tips of his patent shoes and up again at the sky, as though anxious +about the weather. + +"What about a drink, Laverick?" he asked nonchalantly. + +"Delighted!" Laverick assented. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +MISS LENEVEU'S MESSAGE + + +The two men stepped back into the hotel. The cashier had returned +to his desk, and the incident which had just transpired seemed to +have passed unnoticed. Nevertheless, Laverick felt that the studied +indifference of his companion's manner had its significance, and he +endeavored to imitate it. + +"Shall we go through into the bar?" he asked. "There's very seldom +any one there at this time." + +"Anywhere you say," Bellamy answered. "It's years since we had a +drink together." + +They passed into the inner room and, finding it empty, drew two +chairs into the further corner. Bellamy summoned the waiter. + +"Two whiskies and sodas quick, Tim," he ordered. "Now, Laverick, +listen to me," he added, as the waiter turned away. "We are alone +for the moment but it won't be for long. You know very well that +it wasn't to renew our schoolboy acquaintance that I've asked you +to come in here with me." + +Laverick drew a little breath. + +"Please go on," he said. "I am as anxious as you can be to grasp +this affair properly." + +"When we left school," Bellamy remarked, "you were destined for +the Stock Exchange. I went first to Magdalen. Did you ever hear +what became of me afterwards?" + +"I always understood," Laverick answered, "that you went into one +of the Government offices." + +"Quite right," Bellamy assented. "I did. At this moment I have +the honor to serve His Majesty." + +"Two thousand a year and two hours work a day," Laverick laughed. +"I know the sort of thing." + +"You evidently don't," Bellamy answered. "I often work twenty +hours a day, I don't get half two thousand a year, and most of +the time I carry my life in my hands. When I am working--and I +am working now--I am never sure of the morrow." + +Laverick looked at him incredulously. + +"You're not joking, Bellamy?" he asked. + +"Not by any manner of means. I have the honor to be a humble member +of His Majesty's Secret Service." + +Laverick glanced at his companion wonderingly. + +"I really didn't know," he said, "that such a service had any actual +existence except in novels." + +"I am a proof to the contrary," Bellamy declared grimly. "Abroad, +I run always the risk of being dubbed a spy and treated like one. +At home, I am simply the head of the A2 Branch of the Secret Service. +Here come our drinks." + +Laverick raised his whiskey and soda to his lips mechanically. + +"Here's luck!" he exclaimed. "Now go on, Bellamy," he continued. +"The waiter can't overhear." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"Tim is one of the few persons in the place," he said, "whom one can +trust. As a matter of fact, he has been very useful to me more than +once. Now listen to me attentively, Laverick. I am going to speak +to you as one man to another." + +Laverick nodded. + +"I am ready," he said. + +"Last Monday," Bellamy went on, leaning forward and speaking in a +soft but very distinct undertone, "a man was murdered late at night +in the heart of the city--within one hundred yards of the Stock +Exchange. The papers called it a mysterious murder. No one knows +who the man was, or who committed the crime, or why. You and I, +Laverick, both know a little more than the rest of the world." + +"Well?" + +"The murder," Bellamy continued, with a strange light in his eyes, +"was accomplished only a stone's throw from your office." + +Laverick lit a cigarette and threw the match away. + +"Horrible affair it was," he remarked. + +Bellamy glanced toward the door,--a man had looked in and departed. + +"Enough of this fencing, Laverick," he said. "A theft was committed +from the person of that murdered man, of which the general public +knows nothing. A pocketbook was stolen from him containing twenty +thousand pounds and a sealed document. As to who murdered the man, +I want you to understand that that is not my affair. As to what has +become of that twenty thousand pounds, I have not the slightest +curiosity. I want the document." + +"What claim have you to it?" Laverick asked quickly. + +"I might retort, but I will not," Bellamy replied. "Time is too +short. I will answer you by explaining who the man was and what +that document consists of. The man's name was Von Behrling, and he +was a trusted agent of the Austrian Secret Service. The document +of which he was robbed contains a verbatim report of the conference +which recently took place at Vienna between the Emperor of Germany, +the Emperor of Austria, and the Czar of Russia. It contains the +details of a plot against this country and the undertakings entered +into by those several Powers. I want that document, Laverick. Have +I established my claim?" + +"You have," Laverick answered. "Why on earth Didn't you come to me +before? Don't you believe that I should have listened to you as +readily as to Mademoiselle Idiale?" + +"I wish that I had come," Bellamy admitted, "and yet, here is the +truth, Laverick, because the truth is best. Twenty-two years lie +between us and the time when we knew anything of one another. To +me, therefore, you are a stranger. I had my spies following Von +Behrling that night. I know that you took the pocket-book from his +dead body. If you did not murder him yourself, the deed was done +by an accomplice of yours. How was I to trust you? We are speaking +naked words, my friend. We are dealing with naked truths. To me +you were a murderer and a thief. A word from me and you would have +realized the value of that document. I tell you frankly that +Austria would give you almost any sum for it to-day." + +Laverick, strong man though he was, was conscious of a sudden +weakness. He raised his hand to his forehead and drew it away--wet. +He struggled desperately for self-control. + +"Bellamy," he said, "here's truth for truth. I am not on my trial +before you. Believe me, man, for God's sake!" + +"I'll try," Bellamy promised. "Go on." + +"That night I stayed at my office late because I saw ruin before me +on the morrow. I left it meaning to go straight home. I lit a +cigarette near that entry, and by the light of a match, as I was +throwing it away, I saw the murdered man. I think for a time I was +paralyzed. The pocket-book was half dragged out from his pocket. +Why I looked inside it I don't know. I had some sort of wild idea +that I must find out who he was. Mind you, though, I should have +given the alarm at once, but there wasn't a soul in the street. +There was a man lurking in the entry and I chased him, unsuccessfully. +When I came back, the body was still there and the street empty. I +looked inside that pocket-book, which would have been in the +possession of his murderer but for my unexpected appearance. I saw +the notes there. Once more I went out into the street. I gave no +alarm,--I am not attempting to explain why. I was like a man made +suddenly mad. I went back to my office and shut myself in." + +Bellamy pointed to the glasses silently. The waiter came forward +and refilled them. + +"Bellamy," Laverick continued, "your career and mine lie far apart, +and yet, at their backbone, as there is at the backbone of every +man's life, there must be something of the same sort of ambition. +My grandfather lived and died a member of the Stock Exchange, honored +and well thought of. My father followed in his footsteps. I, too, +was there. Without becoming wealthy, the name I bear has become +known and respected. Failure, whatever one may say, means a broken +life and a broken honor. I sat in my office and I knew that the use +of those notes for a few days might save me from disgrace, might +keep the name, which my father and grandfather had guarded so +jealously, free from shame. I would have paid any price for the use +of them. I would have paid with my life, if that had been possible. +Think of the risk I ran--the danger I am now in. I deposited those +notes on the morrow as security at my bank, and I met all my +engagements. The crisis is over! Those notes are in a safe deposit +vault in Chancery Lane! I only wish to Heaven that I could find +the owner!" + +"And the document?" Bellamy asked. "The document?" + +"It is in the hotel safe," Laverick answered. + +Bellamy drew a long sigh of relief. Then he emptied his tumbler +and lit a cigarette. + +"Laverick," he declared, "I believe you." + +"Thank God!" Laverick muttered. + +"I am no crime investigator," Bellamy went on thoughtfully. "As to +who killed Von Behrling, or why, I cannot now form the slightest +idea. That twenty thousand pounds, Laverick, is Secret Service +money, paid by me to Von Behrling only half-an-hour before he was +murdered, in a small restaurant there, for what I supposed to be +the document. He deceived me by making up a false packet. The real +one he kept. He deserved to die, and I am glad he is dead." + +Laverick's face was suddenly hopeful. + +"Then you can take these notes!" he exclaimed. + +Bellamy nodded. + +"In a few days," he said, "I shall take you with me to a friend of +mine--a Cabinet Minister. You shall tell him the story exactly as +you've told it to me, and restore the money." + +Laverick laughed like a child. + +"Don't think I'm mad," he apologized, "but I am not a person like +you, Bellamy,--used to adventures and this sort of wild happenings. +I'm a steady-going, matter-of-fact Englishman, and this thing has +been like a hateful nightmare to me. I can't believe that I'm going +to get rid of it." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"It's a great adventure," he declared, "to come to any one like you. +To tell you the truth, I can't imagine how you had the pluck--don't +misunderstand me, I mean the moral pluck--to run such a risk. Why, +at the moment you used those notes," Bellamy continued, "the odds +must have been about twenty to one against your not being found out." + +"One doesn't stop to count the odds," Laverick said grimly. "I saw +a chance of salvation and I went for it. And now about this letter." + +Bellamy rose to his feet. + +"On the King's service!" he whispered softly. + +They walked once more to the cashier's desk. A stranger greeted them. +Laverick produced his receipt. + +"I should like the packet I deposited here this evening," he said. +"I am sorry to trouble you, but I find that I require it unexpectedly." + +The clerk glanced at the receipt and up at the clock. "I am afraid, +sir," he answered, "that we cannot get at it before the morning." + +"Why not?" Laverick demanded, frowning. + +"Mr. Dean has just gone home," the man declared, "and he is the only +one who knows the combination on the 'L' safe. You see, sir," he +continued, "we keep this particular safe for documents, and we did +not expect that anything would be required from it to-night." + +Bellamy drew Laverick away. + +"After all," he said, "perhaps to-morrow morning would be better. +There's no need to get shirty with these fellows. As a matter of +fact, I don't think that I should have dared to receive it without +making some special preparations. I can get some plain clothes +men here upon whom I can rely, at nine o'clock." + +They strolled back into the hall. + +"Tell me," Laverick asked, "do you know who the man was who forged +my name to the order a few hours ago?" + +Bellamy nodded. + +"It was Adolf Kahn, an Austrian spy. I have been watching him for +days. If they'd given him the paper I had four men at the door, but +it would have been touch and go. He is a very prince of conspirators, +that fellow. To tell you the truth, I think I might as well go home." + +Bellamy was drawing on his gloves when the hall-porter brought a note +to Laverick. + +"A messenger has just left this for you, sir," he explained. + +Laverick tore open the envelope. The contents consisted of a few +words only, written on plain note-paper and in a handwriting which +was strange to him. + + "Ring up 1232 Gerrard." + +Laverick frowned, turned over the half sheet of paper and looked +once more at the envelope. Then he passed it on to his companion. + +"What do you make of that, Bellamy?" he asked. + +Bellamy smiled as he perused and returned it. + +"What could any one make of it?" he remarked, laconically. "Do you +know the handwriting?" + +"Never saw it before, to my knowledge," Laverick answered. "What +should you do about it?" + +"I think," Bellamy suggested, "that I should ring up number 1232 +Gerrard." + +They crossed the hall and Laverick entered one of the telephone booths. + +"1232 Gerrard," he said. + +The connection was made almost at once. + +"Who are you?" Laverick asked. + +"I am speaking for Miss Zoe Leneven," was the reply. "Are you Mr. +Laverick?" + +"I am," Laverick answered. "Is Miss Leneveu there? Can she speak +to me herself?" + +"She is not here," the voice continued. "She was fetched away in +a hurry from the theatre--we understood by her brother. She left +two and sixpence with the doorkeeper here to ring you up and explain +that she had been summoned to her brother's rooms, 25, Jermyn Street, +and would you kindly go on there." + +"Who are you?" Laverick demanded. + +There was no reply. Laverick remained speechless, listening +intently. He stood still with the receiver pressed to his ear. Was +it his fancy, or was that really Zoe's protesting voice which he +heard in the background? It was a woman or a child who was +speaking--he was almost sure that it was Zoe. + +"Who are you?" he asked fiercely. "Miss Leneveu is there with you. +Why does she not speak for herself?" + +"Miss Leneveu is not here," was the answer. "I have done what she +desired. You can please yourself whether you go or not. The address +is 25, Jermyn Street. Ring off." + +The connection was gone. Laverick laid down the receiver and +stepped out of the booth. + +"I must be off at once," he said to Bellamy. "You'll be round in +the morning?" + +Bellamy smiled. + +"After all," he remarked, "I have changed my plans. I shall not +leave the hotel. I am going to telephone round to my man to bring +me some clothes. By the bye, do you mind telling me whether this +message which you have just received had anything to do with the +little affair in which we are interested?" + +"Not directly," Laverick answered, after a moment's hesitation. +"The message was from a young lady. I have to go and meet her." + +"A young lady whom you can trust?" Bellamy inquired quietly. + +"Implicitly," Laverick assured him. + +"She spoke herself?" + +"No, she sent a message. Excuse me, Bellamy, won't you, but I +must really go." + +"By all means," Bellamy answered. + +They stood at the entrance to the hotel together while a taxicab +was summoned. Laverick stepped quickly in. + +"25, Jermyn Street," he ordered. + +Bellamy watched him drive off. Then he sighed. + +"I think, my friend Laverick," he said softly, "that you will need +some one to look after you to-night." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +MORRISON IS DESPERATE + + +Certainly it was a strange little gathering that waited in Morrison's +room for the coming of Laverick. There was Lassen--flushed, ugly, +breathing heavily, and watching the door with fixed, beady eyes. +There was Adolf Kahn, the man who had strolled out from the Milan +Hotel as Laverick had entered it, leaving the forged order behind +him. There was Streuss--stern, and desperate with anxiety. There +was Morrison himself, in the clothes of a workman, worn to a shadow, +with the furtive gleam of terrified guilt shining in his sunken +eyes, and the slouched shoulders and broken mien of the habitual +criminal. There was Zoe, around whom they were all standing, with +anger burning in her cheeks and gleaming out of her passion-filled +eyes. She, too, like the others, watched the door. So they waited. + +Streuss, not for the first time, moved to the window and drawing +aside the curtains looked down into the street. + +"Will he come--this Englishman?" he muttered. "Has he courage?" + +"More courage than you who keep a girl here against her will!" Zoe +panted, looking at him defiantly. "More courage than my poor +brother, who stands there like a coward!" + +"Shut up, Zoe!" Morrison exclaimed harshly. "There is nothing for +you to be furious about or frightened. No one wants to ill-treat +you. These gentlemen all want to behave kindly to us. It is +Laverick they want." + +"And you," she cried, "are content to stand by and let him walk +into a trap--you let them even use my name to bring him here! +Arthur, be a man! Have nothing more to do with them. Help me to +get away from this place. Call out. Do something instead of +standing there and wasting the precious minutes." + +He came towards her--ugly and threatening. + +"I'll do something in a minute," he declared savagely,--"something +you won't like, either. Keep your mouth shut, I tell you. It's me +or him, and, by Heavens, he deserves what he'll get!" + +Streuss turned away from the window and looked towards Zoe. + +"Young lady," he said quietly, "let me beg you not to distress +yourself so. I sincerely trust that nothing unpleasant will happen. +If it does, I promise you that we will arrange for your temporary +absence. You shall not be disturbed in any way." + +"And as regards your brother, have a care, young lady," Lassen +growled. "If any one's in danger, it's he. He'll be lucky if he +saves his own skin." + +The young man glowered at her. + +"You hear that, you little fool!" he muttered. "Keep still, can't +you?" + +Her face was full of defiance. He came nearer to her and changed +his tone. + +"Zoe," he whispered hoarsely, "don't you understand? If they can't +get what they want from Laverick, they'll visit it upon me. They're +desperate, I tell you. They mean mischief all the time." + +"Yet you let him be brought here, your partner who looked after you +when you were ill, and who helped you to get away!" she cried +indignantly. + +He laughed unpleasantly. + +"When it comes to a matter of life or death, it's every man for +himself. Besides, if I'd known as much about Laverick as I know +now, I'm not sure that I should have been so ready to go--not +empty-handed, by any manner of means." + +"What have you done that you should be so much in the power of +these people?" she demanded, fixing her dark eyes upon him +searchingly. + +The terror whitened his face once more. The perspiration stood out +in beads upon his forehead. + +"Don't dare to ask me questions!" he exclaimed nervously. "I should +like to know what Laverick is to you, eh, that you take so much +interest in him? Listen here, my fine young lady. If I've been mug +enough to do the dirty work, he hasn't made any bones about taking +advantage of it. He's a nice sort of sportsman, I can tell you." + +The man at the window suddenly dropped the curtain and spoke across +the room to them all. + +"He is here," he announced. + +"Alone?" Lassen asked thickly. + +"Alone," Streuss echoed. + +A little thrill seemed to pass through the room. Zoe made no attempt +to cry out. Instead she leaned forward towards the door, as though +listening. Her attitude seemed harmless enough. No one took any +more notice of her. They all watched the entrance to the apartment. +Zoe remembered the two flights of stairs. She was absorbed in a +breathless calculation. Now--now he should be coming quite close. +Her whole being was concentrated upon one effort of listening. At +last she raised her head. The room resounded with her cries. + +"Don't come in! Don't come in here!" she shrieked. "Mr. Laverick, +do you hear? Go away! Don't come in here alone!" + +Her brother was the first to reach her, his hand fell upon her mouth +brutally. Her little effort was naturally a failure--defeating, +in fact, its own object. Laverick, hearing her cries, simply +hastened his coming, threw open the door without waiting to knock, +and stepped quickly across the threshold. He saw a man dressed in +shabby workman's clothes, unshaven, dishevelled, holding Zoe in a +rough grasp, and with a single well-directed blow he sent him reeling +across the room. Then something in the man's cry, a momentary +glimpse of his white face, revealed his identity. + +"Morrison!" he cried. "Good God, it's Morrison!" + +Arthur Morrison was crouching in a corner of the room, his evil face +turned upon his aggressor. Laverick took quick stock of his +surroundings. There was the tall, fair young man--Adolf Kahn--whom +he had seen at the Milan a few hours ago--the man who had +unsuccessfully forged his name. There was Lassen, the man who, under +pretence of being her manager, had been a spy upon Louise. There was +Streuss, with blanched face and hard features, standing with his back +to the door. There was Zoe, and, behind, her brother. She held out +her hands timidly towards him, and her eyes were soft with pleading. + +"I did not want you to come here, Mr. Laverick," she cried softly. +"I tried so hard to stop you. It was not I who sent that message." + +He took her cold little fingers and raised them to his lips. + +"I know it, dear," he murmured. + +Then a movement in the room warned him, and he was suddenly on guard. +Lassen was close to his side, some evil purpose plainly enough +written in his pasty face and unwholesome eyes. Laverick gave him +his left shoulder and sent him staggering across the floor. He was +angry at having been outwitted and his eyes gleamed ominously. + +"Well, gentlemen," he exclaimed, "you seem to have taken unusual +pains to secure my presence here! Tell me now, what can I do for +you?" + +It was Streuss who became spokesman. He addressed Laverick with +the consideration of one gentleman addressing another. His voice +had many agreeable qualities. His demeanor was entirely amicable. + +"Mr. Laverick," he answered, "let us first apologize if we used a +little subterfuge to procure for us the pleasure of your visit. We +are men who are in earnest, and across whose path you have either +wilfully or accidentally strayed. An understanding between us has +become a necessity." + +"Go on," Laverick interrupted. "Tell me exactly who you are and +what you want." + +"As to who we are," Streuss answered, "does that really matter? I +repeat that we are men who are in earnest--let that be enough. As +to what we want, it is a certain document to which we have every +claim, and which has come into your possession--I flatter you +somewhat, Mr. Laverick, if I say by chance." + +Laverick shrugged his shoulders. + +"Let that go," he said. "I know all about the document you refer to, +and the notes. They were contained in a pocket-book which it is +perfectly true has come into my possession. Prove your claim to +both and you shall have them." + +Streuss smiled. + +"You will admit that our claim, since we know of its existence," he +asked suavely, "is equal to yours?" + +"Certainly," Laverick answered, "but then I never had any idea of +keeping either the document or the money. That your claim is better +than mine is no guarantee that there is not some one else whose title +is better still." + +Streuss frowned. + +"Be reasonable, Mr. Laverick," he begged. "We are men of peace--when +peace is possible. The money of which you spoke you can +consider as treasure trove, if you will, but it is our intention +to possess ourselves of the document. It is for that reason that +we are here in London. I, personally, am committed to the extent +of my life and my honor to its recovery." + +A declaration of war, courteously veiled but decisive. Laverick +looked around him a little defiantly, and shrugged his shoulders. + +"You know very well that I do not carry it about with me," he said. +"The gentleman on my left," he added, pointing to Kahn, "can tell +you where it is kept." + +"Quite so," Streuss admitted. "We are not doing you the injustice +to suppose that you would be so foolhardy as to trust yourself +anywhere with that document upon your person. It is in the safe +at the Milan Hotel. I may add that probably, if it had not +occurred to you to change your quarters, it would have been in +our possession before now. We are hoping to persuade you to return +to the hotel with one of our friends here, and procure it." + +"As it happens," Laverick remarked, "that is impossible. The man +who set the combination for that particular safe has gone off duty, +and will not be back again at the hotel till to-morrow morning." + +"But he is to be found," Streuss answered easily. "His present +whereabouts and his address are known to us. He lives with his +family at Harvard Court, Hampstead. We shall assist you in making +it worth his while to return to the hotel or to give you the +combination word for the safe." + +"You are rather great on detail!" Laverick exclaimed. + +"It is our business. The question for you to decide, and to decide +immediately, is whether you are ready to end this, in some respects, +constrained situation, and give your word to place that document in +our hands." + +"You are ready to accept my word, then?" Laverick asked. + +"We have a certain hold upon you," Streuss continued slowly. "Your +partner Mr. Morrison's position in connection with the murder in +Crooked Friars' Alley is, as you may have surmised, a somewhat +unfortunate one. Your own I will not allude to. I will simply +suggest that for both your sakes publicity--any measure of +publicity, in fact, as regards this little affair--would not be +desirable." + +Laverick hesitated. He understood all that was implied. Morrison's +eyes were fixed upon him--the eyes of a craven coward. He felt the +intensity of the moment. Then Zoe turned suddenly towards him. + +"You are not to give it up!" she cried, with trembling lips. "They +cannot hurt you, and it is not true--about Arthur." + +Kahn, who was nearest, clapped his hand over her mouth and Laverick +knocked him down. Instantly the pacific atmosphere of the room was +changed. Lassen and Morrison closed swiftly upon Laverick from +different sides. Streuss covered him with the shining barrel of a +revolver. + +"Mr. Laverick," he said, "we are not here to be trifled with. Keep +your sister quiet, Morrison, or, by God, you'll swing!" + +Laverick looked at the revolver--fascinated, for an instant, by +its unexpected appearance. The face of the man who held it had +changed. There was lightning playing about the room. + +"It's the dock for you both!" Streuss exclaimed fiercely,--"for +you, Laverick, and you, Morrison, too, if you play with us any +longer! One of you's a murderer and the other receives the booty. +Who are you to have scruples--criminals, both of you? Your place +is in the dock, and you shall be there within twenty-four hours if +there are any more evasions. Now, Laverick, will you fetch that +document? It is your last chance." + +Upon the breathless silence that followed a quiet voice intervened--a +voice calm and emotionless, tinged with a measure of polite +inquiry. Yet its level utterance fell like a bomb among the little +company. The curtain separating this from the inner room had been +drawn a few feet back, and Bellamy was standing there, in black +overcoat and white muffler, his silk hat on the back of his head, +his left hand, carefully gloved, resting still upon the curtain +which he had drawn aside. + +"I hope I am not disturbing you at all?" he murmured softly. + +For a moment the development of the situation remained uncertain. +The gleaming barrel of Streuss's revolver changed its destination. +Bellamy glanced at it with the pleased curiosity of a child. + +"I really ought not to have intruded," he continued amiably. "I +happened to hear the address my friend Laverick gave to the taxicab +driver, and I was particularly anxious to have a word or two with +him before I left for the Continent." + +Streuss was surely something of a charlatan! His revolver had +disappeared. The smile upon his lips was both gracious and +unembarrassed. + +"One is always only too pleased to welcome Mr. Bellamy +anywhere--anyhow," he declared. "If apologies are needed at all," he +continued, "it is to our friend and host--Mr. Morrison here. +Permit me--Mr. Arthur Morrison--the Honorable David Bellamy! +These are Mr. Morrison's rooms." + +Morrison could do no more than stare. Bellamy, on the contrary, +with a little bow came further into the apartment, removing his hat +from his head. Lassen glided round behind him, remaining between +Bellamy and the heavy curtains. Adolf Kahn moved as though +unconsciously in front of the door of the room in which they were. + +Bellamy smiled courteously. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that I must not stay for more than a moment. +I have a car full of friends below--we are on our way, in fact, to +the Covent Garden Ball--and one or two of them, I fear," he added +indulgently, "have already reached that stage of exhilaration which +such an entertainment in England seems to demand. They will +certainly come and rout me out if I am here much longer. There!" he + exclaimed, "you hear that?" + +There was the sound of a motor horn from the street below. Streuss, +with an oath trembling upon his lips, lifted the blind. There were +two motor-cars waiting there--large cars with Limousine bodies, +and apparently full of men. After all, it was to be expected. +Bellamy was no fool! + +"Since we are to lose you, then Mr. Laverick," Streuss remarked with +a gesture of farewell, "let us say good night. The little matter +of business which we were discussing can be concluded with your +partner." + +Laverick turned toward Zoe. Their eyes met and he read their message +of terror. + +"You are coming back to your own rooms, Miss Leneveu," he said. +"You must let me offer you my escort." + +She half rose, but in obedience to a gesture from Streuss Morrison +moved near to them. + +"If you leave me here, Laverick," he muttered beneath his breath,--"if +you leave me to these hounds, do you know what they will do? +They will hand me over to the police--they have sworn it!" + +"Why did you come back?" Laverick asked quickly. + +"They stopped me as I was boarding the steamer," Morrison declared. +"I tell you they have eyes everywhere. You cannot move without their +knowledge. I had to come. Now that I am here they have told me +plainly the price of my freedom. It is that document. Laverick, it +is my life! You must give in--you must, indeed! Remember you're +in it, too." + +"Am I?" Laverick asked quietly. + +"You fool, of course you are!" Morrison whispered hoarsely. "Didn't +you come into the entry and take the pocket-book? Heaven knows what +possessed you to do it! Heaven knows how you found the pluck to use +the money! But you did it, and you are a criminal--a criminal as I +am. Don't be a fool, Laverick. Make terms with these people. They +want the document--the document--nothing but the document! They +will let us keep the money." + +"And you?" Laverick asked, turning suddenly to Zoe. "What do you +say about all this?" + +She looked at him fearlessly. + +"I trust you," she said. "I trust you to do what is right." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +LAVERICK S ARREST + + +"At last, David!" + +Louise welcomed her visitor eagerly with outstretched hands, which +Bellamy raised for a moment to his lips. Then she turned toward the +third person, who had also risen at the opening of the door--a +short, somewhat thick-set man, with swarthy complexion, close-cropped +black hair, and upturned black moustache. + +"You remember Prince Rosmaran?" she said to Bellamy. "He left +Servia only the day before yesterday. He has come to England on a +special mission to the King." + +Bellamy shook hands. + +"I think," he remarked, "I had the honor of meeting you once before, +Prince, at the opening of the Servian Parliament two years ago. It +was just then, I believe, that you were elected to lead the patriotic +party." + +The Prince bowed sadly. + +"My leadership, I fear," he declared, "has brought little good to +my unhappy country." + +"It is a terrible crisis through which your nation is passing," +Bellamy reminded him sympathetically. "At the same time, we must +not despair. Austria holds out her clenched hands, but as yet she +has not dared to strike." + +The face of the Prince was dark with passion. + +"As yet, no!" he answered. "But how long--how long, I wonder--before +the blow falls? We in Servia have been blamed for arming +ourselves, but I tell you that to-day the Austrian troops are being +secretly concentrated on the frontier. Their arsenals are working +night and day. Her soldiers are manoeuvering almost within sight +of Belgrade. We have hoped against hope, yet in our hearts we know +that our fate was sealed when the Czar of Russia left Vienna last +week." + +"Nothing is certain," Bellamy declared restlessly. "England has +been ill-governed for a great many years, but we are not yet a +negligible Power." + +Louise leaned a little towards him. + +"David," she whispered, "the compact!" + +He answered her unspoken question. + +"It is arranged," he said,--"finished. To-morrow morning at nine +o'clock I receive it." + +"You are sure?" she begged. "Why need there be any delay?" + +"It is locked up in a powerful safe," he explained, "and the clerk +who has the combination will not be on duty again till nine. +Laverick is there simply waiting for the hour. You were right, +Louise, as usual. I should have trusted him from the first." + +The Prince had been listening to their conversation with undisguised +interest. + +"There is a rumor," he said, "that some secret information concerning +the compact of Vienna has found its way to this country." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"Hence, I presume, your mission, Prince." + +"We three have no secrets from one another," the Prince declared. +"Our interests in this matter are absolutely identical. What you +suggest, Mr. Bellamy, is the truth. There is a rumor that the +Chancellor, in the first few moments of his illness, gave valuable +information to some one who is likely to have communicated it to the +Government here. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. That, I +know, is one of your own mottoes. So I am here to know if there is +anything to be learned." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Your arrival is not inopportune, Prince. When did you come?" + +"I reached Charing Cross at midnight," the Prince answered. "Our +train was an hour late. I am presenting my credentials early this +morning, and I am hoping for an interview during the afternoon." + +Bellamy considered for a moment. + +"It is true!" he said. "Between us three there is indeed no need +for secrecy. The information you speak of will be in our hands +within a few hours. I have no doubt whatever but that your Minister +will share in it." + +"You know of what it Consists?" the Prince inquired curiously. + +"I think so," Bellamy answered, glancing at the clock. "For my own +part, although the information itself is invaluable, I see another +and a profounder source of interest in that document. If, indeed, +it is what we believe it to be, it amounts to a casus belli." + +"You mean that you would provoke war?" Prince Rosmaran asked. + +Bellamy shrugged his shoulders. + +"I," said he,--"I am not even a politician. But, you know, the +lookers-on see a good deal of the game, and in my opinion there is +only one course open for this country,--to work upon Russia so +that she withdraws from any compact she may have entered into with +Austria and Germany, to accept Germany's cooperation with Austria +in the despoilment of your country as a casus belli, and to declare +war at once while our fleet is invincible and our Colonies free +from danger." + +The Prince nodded. + +"It is good," he admitted, "to hear man's talk once more. Wherever +one moves, people bow the head before the might of Germany and +Austria. Let them alone but a little longer, and they will indeed +rule Europe." + +Three o'clock struck. The Prince rose. + +"I go," he announced. + +"And I," Bellamy declared. "Come to my rooms at ten o'clock +tomorrow morning, Prince, and you shall hear the news." + +Bellamy lingered behind. For a moment he held Louise in his arms +and gazed sorrowfully into her weary face. + +"Is it worth while, I wonder?" he asked bitterly. + +"Worth while," she answered, opening her eyes and looking at him, +"to feel the mother love? Who can help it who would not be ignoble?" + +"But yours, dear," he murmured, "is all grief. Even now I am afraid." + +"We can do no more than toil to the end," she said. "David, you are +sure this time?" + +"I am sure," he replied. "I am going back now to the hotel where +Laverick is staying. We are going to sit together and smoke until +the morning. Nothing short of an army could storm the hotel. I +was with them all only an hour ago,--Streuss, that blackguard +Lassen, and Adolf Kahn, the police spy. They are beaten men and +they know it. They had Laverick, had him by a trick, but I made a +dramatic entrance and the game was up." + +"Telephone me directly you have taken it safely to Downing Street," +she begged. + +"I will," he promised. + +Bellamy walked from Dover Street to the Strand. The streets were +almost brilliant with the cold, hard moonlight. The air seemed +curiously keen. Once or twice the fall of his feet upon the pavement +was so clear and distinct that he fancied he was being followed and +glanced sharply around. He reached the Milan Hotel, however, +without adventure, and looked towards the little open space in the +hall where he had expected to find Laverick. There was no one +there! He stood still for a moment, troubled with a sudden sense +of apprehension. The place was deserted except for a couple of +sleepy-looking clerks and a small army of cleaners busy with their +machines down in the restaurant, moving about like mysterious +figures in the dim light. + +Bellamy turned back to the hall-porter who had admitted him. + +"Do you happen to know what has become of the gentleman whom I was +with about an hour ago?" he asked,--"a tall, fair gentleman--Mr. +Laverick his name was?" + +The hall-porter recognized Bellamy and touched his hat. + +"Why, yes, sir!" he answered with a somewhat mysterious air. "Mr. +Laverick was sitting over there in an easy-chair until about +half-an-hour ago. Then two gentle-men arrived in a taxicab and +inquired for him. They talked for a little time, and finally Mr. +Laverick went away with them." + +Bellamy was puzzled. + +"Went away with them?" he repeated. "I don't understand that, +Reynolds. He was to have waited here till I returned." + +The man hesitated. + +"It didn't strike me, sir," he said, "that Mr. Laverick was very +wishful to go. It seemed as though he hadn't much choice about the +matter." + +Bellamy looked at him keenly. + +"Tell me what is in your mind?" he asked. + +"Mr. Bellamy, sir," the hall-porter replied, "I knew one of those +gentlemen by sight. He was a detective from Scotland Yard, and the +one who was with him was a policeman in plain clothes." + +"Good God!" Bellamy exclaimed. "You think, then,--" + +"I am afraid there was no doubt about it, sir," the man answered. +"Mr. Laverick was arrested on some charge." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE + + +Into New Oxford Street, one of the ceaseless streams of polyglot +humanity, came Zoe from her cheerless day bound for the theatre. +She was a little whiter, a little more tired than usual. All day +long she had heard nothing of Laverick. All day long she had sat +in her tiny room with the memory of that horrible night before her. +She had tried in vain to sleep,--she had made no effort whatever +to eat. She knew now why Arthur Morrison had fled away. She knew +the cause of that paroxysm of fear in which he had sought her out. +The horror of the whole thing had crept into her blood like poison. +Life was once more a dreary, profitless struggle. All the wonderful +dreams, which had made existence seem almost like a fairy-tale for +this last week, had faded away. She was once more a mournful +little waif among the pitiless crowds. + +She turned to the left and past the Holborn Tube. Boys were +shouting everywhere the contents of the evening papers. Nearly +every one seemed to be carrying one of the pink sheets. She herself +passed on with unseeing eyes. News was nothing to her. Governments +might rise and fall, war might come and go,--she had still life to +support, a friendless little life, too, on two pounds fifteen +shillings a week. The news they shouted fell upon deaf ears, but +one boy unfurled almost before her eyes the headlines of his sheet. + + SENSATIONAL ARREST OF A WELL-KNOWN + STOCKBROKER. CHARGE OF MURDER. + +She came to a sudden stop and pulled out her purse. Her fingers +trembled so that the penny fell on to the pavement. The boy picked +it up willingly enough, however, and she passed on with the paper in +her hand. There it was on the front page--staring her in the face: + + Early yesterday morning Mr. Stephen Laverick, of the firm of + Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers, Old Broad Street, was + arrested at the Milan Hotel on the charge of being concerned + in the murder of a person unknown, in Crooked Friars' Alley, + on Monday last. The accused, who made no reply to the charge, + was removed to Bow Street Police-Station. Particulars of his + examination before the magistrates will be found on page 4. + +There was a dull singing in her ears. An electric tram, coming up +from the underground passage, seemed to bring with it some sort of +thunder from an unknown world. She staggered on, unseeing, gasping +for breath. If she could find somewhere to sit down! If she could +only rest for a moment! Then a sudden wave of strength came to her, +the blood flowed once more in her veins--blood that was hot with +anger, that stained her cheeks with a spot of red. It was the man +she loved, this, being made to suffer falsely. It was the fulfilment +of their threat--a deliberate plot against him. The murderer of +Crooked Friars' Alley--she knew who that was!--she knew! Perhaps +she might help! + +She had not the slightest recollection of the remainder of that +walk, but she found herself presently sitting in a quiet corner of +the theatre with the paper spread out before her. She read that +Stephen Laverick had been brought before Mr. Rawson, the magistrate +of Bow Street Police Court, on a warrant charging him with having +been concerned with the murder of a person unknown, and that he had +pleaded "Not Guilty!" Her eyes glittered as she read that the +first witness called was Mr. Arthur Morrison, late partner of the +accused. She read his deposition--that he had left Laverick at +their offices at eleven o'clock on the night in question, that they +were at that time absolutely without means, and had no prospect +of meeting their engagements on the morrow. She read the evidence +of Mr. Fenwick, bank manager, to the effect that Mr. Laverick had, +on the following morning, deposited with him the sum of twenty +thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, by means of which the +engagements of the firm were duly met, that those notes had since +been redeemed, and that he had no idea of their present whereabouts. +She read, too, the evidence of Adolf Kahn, an Austrian visiting +this country upon private business, who deposed that he was in the +vicinity just before midnight, that he saw a person, whom he +identified as the accused, walking down the street and, after +disappearing for a few minutes down the entry, return and re-enter +the offices from which he had issued. He explained his presence +there by the fact that he was waiting for a clerk employed by the +Goldfields' Corporation, Limited, whose offices were close by. +Further formal evidence was given, and a remand asked for. The +accused's solicitor was on the point of addressing the court when +Mr. Rawson was unfortunately taken ill. After waiting for some +time, the case was adjourned until the next day, and the accused +man was removed in custody. + +Zoe laid down the paper and rose to her feet. She made her way to +where the stage-manager was superintending the erection of some new +scenery. + +"Mr. Heepman," she exclaimed, "I cannot stay to rehearsal! I have +to go out." + +He turned heavily round and looked at her. + +"Rehearsal postponed," he declared solemnly. "Shall you be back +for the evening performance, or shall we close the theatre?" + +His clumsy irony missed its mark. Her thoughts were too intensely +focussed upon one thing. + +"I am sorry," she replied, turning away. "I will come back as soon +as I can." + +He called out after her and she paused. + +"Look here," he said, "you were absent from the performance the +other evening, and now you are skipping rehearsal without even +waiting for permission. It can't be done, young lady. You must +do your playing around some other time. If you're not here when +you're called, you needn't trouble to turn up again. Do you +understand?" + +Her lips quivered and the sense of impending disaster which seemed +to be brooding over her life became almost overwhelming. + +"I'll come back as soon as I can," she promised, with a little break +in her voice,--"as soon as ever I can, Mr. Heepman." + +She hurried out of the theatre and took her place once more among +the hurrying throng of pedestrians. Several people turned round to +look at her. Her white face, tight-drawn mouth, and eyes almost +unnaturally large, seemed to have become the abiding-place for +tragedy. She herself saw no one. She would have taken a cab, but +a glimpse at the contents of her purse dissuaded her. She walked +steadily on to Jermyn Street, walked up the stairs to the third +floor, and knocked at her brother's door. No one answered her at +first. She turned the handle and entered to find the room empty. +There were sounds, however, in the further apartment, and she +called out to him. + +"Arthur," she cried, "are you there?" + +"Who is it?" he demanded. + +"It is I--Zoe!" she exclaimed. + +"What do you want?" + +"I want to speak to you, Arthur. I must speak to you. Please +come as quickly as you can." + +He growled something and in a few moments he appeared. He was +wearing the morning clothes in which he had attended court earlier +in the day, but the change in him was perhaps all the more marked +by reason of this resumption of his old attire. His cheeks were +hollow, his eyes scarcely for an instant seemed to lose that +feverish gleam of terror with which he had returned from Liverpool. +He knew very well what she had come about, and he began nervously +to try and bully her. + +"I wish you wouldn't come to these rooms, Zoe," he said. "I've +told you before they're bachelors' apartments, and they don't like +women about the place. What is it? What do you want?" + +"I was brought here last time without any particular desire on my +part," she answered, looking him in the face. "I've come now to +ask you what accursed plot this is against Stephen Laverick? What +were you doing in the court this morning, lying? What is the +meaning of it, Arthur?" + +"If you've come to talk rubbish like that," he declared roughly, +"you'd better be off." + +"No, it is not rubbish!" she went on fearlessly. "I think I can +understand what it is that has happened. They have terrified you +and bribed you until you are willing to do any despicable thing--even +this. Your father was good to my mother, Arthur, and I +have tried to feel towards you as though you were indeed a relation. +But nothing of that counts. I want you to realize that I know the +truth, and that I will not see an innocent man convicted while the +guilty go free." + +He moved a step towards her. They were on opposite sides of the +small round table which stood in the centre of the apartment. + +"What do you mean?" he demanded hoarsely. + +"Isn't it plain enough?" she exclaimed. "You came to my rooms a +week or so ago, a terrified, broken-down man. If ever there was +guilt in a man's face, it was in yours. You sent for Laverick. He +pitied you and helped you away. At Liverpool they would not let +you embark--these men. They have brought you back here. You are +their tool. But you know very well, Arthur, that it was not Stephen +Laverick who killed the man in Crooked Friars' Alley! You know very +well that it was not Stephen Laverick!" + +"Why the devil should I know anything about it?" he asked fiercely. + +A note of passion suddenly crept into her voice. Her little white +hand, with its accusing forefinger, shot out towards him. + +"Because it was you, Arthur Morrison, who committed that crime," she +cried, "and sooner than another man should suffer for it, I shall +go to court myself and tell the truth." + +He was, for the moment, absolutely speechless, pale as death, with +nervously twitching lips and fingers. But there was murder in his eyes. + +"What do you know about this?" he muttered. + +"Never mind," she answered. "I know and I guess quite enough to +convince me--and I think anybody else--that you are the guilty man. +I would have helped you and shielded you, whatever it cost me, but +I will not do so at Stephen Laverick's expense." + +"What is Laverick to you?" he growled. + +"He is nothing to me," she replied, "but the best of friends. Even +were he less than that, do you suppose that I would let an innocent +man suffer?" + +He moistened his dry lips rapidly. + +"You are talking nonsense, Zoe," he said,--"nonsense! Even if +there has been some little mistake, what could I do now? I have +given my evidence. So far as I am concerned, the case is finished. +I shall not be called again until the trial." + +"Then you had better go to the magistrates tomorrow morning and +take back your evidence," she declared boldly, "for if you do not, +I shall be there and I shall tell the truth." + +"Zoe," he gasped, "don't try me too high. This thing has upset me. +I'm ill. Can't you see it, Zoe? Look at me. I haven't slept for +weeks. Night and day I've had the fear--the fear always with me. +You don't know what it is--you can't imagine. It's like a terrible +ghost, keeping pace with you wherever you go, laying his icy finger +upon you whenever you would rest, mocking at you when you try to +drown thought even for a moment. Don't you try me too far, Zoe. +I'm not responsible. Laverick isn't the man you think him to be. +He isn't the man I believed. He did have that money--he did, +indeed." + +"That," she said, "is to be explained. But he is not a murderer." + +"Listen to me, Zoe," Morrison continued, leaning across the table. +"Come and stay with me for a time and we will go away for a +week--somewhere to the seaside. We will talk about this and think it +over. I want to get away from London. We will go to Brighton, if +you like. I must do something for you, Zoe. I'm afraid I've +neglected you a good deal. Perhaps I could get you a better part +at one of the theatres. I must make you an allowance. You ought +to be wearing better clothes." + +She drew a little away. + +"I want nothing from you, Arthur," she said, "except this--that +you speak the truth." + +He wiped his forehead and struck the table before her. + +"But, good God, Zoe!" he exclaimed, "do you know what it is that +you are asking me? Do you want me to go into court and say--'That +isn't the man... It is I who am the murderer'? Do you want me to +feel their hands upon my shoulder, to be put there in the dock and +have all the people staring at me curiously because they know that +before very long I am to stand upon the scaffold and have that rope +around my neck and--" + +He broke off with a low cry, wringing his hands like a child in a +fit of impotent terror. But the girl in front of him never flinched. + +"Arthur," she said, "crime is a terrible thing, but nothing in the +world can alter its punishment. If it is frightful for you to +think of this, what must it be for him? And you are guilty and he +is not." + +"I was mad!" Morrison went on, now almost beside himself. "Zoe, I +was mad! I called there to have a drink. We were broke,--the firm +was broke. I'd a hundred or so in my pocket and I was going to bolt +the next day. And there, within a few yards of me, was that man, +with such a roll of notes as I had never seen in my life. Five +hundred pounds, every one of them, and a wad as thick as my fists. +Zoe, they fascinated me. I had two drinks quickly and I followed +him out. Somehow or other, I found that I'd caught up a knife that +was on the counter. I never meant to hurt him seriously, but I +wanted some of those notes! I was leaving the next day for Africa +and I hadn't enough money to make a fair start. I wanted it--my +God, how I wanted money!" + +"It couldn't have been worth--that!" she cried, looking at him +wonderingly. + +"I was mad," he continued. "I saw the notes and they went to my +head. Men do wild things sometimes when they are drunk, or for +love. I don't drink much, and I'm not over fond of women, but, my +God, money is like the blood of my body to me! I saw it, and I +wanted it and I wanted it, and I went mad! Zoe, you won't give me +away? Say you won't!" + +"But what am I to do?" she protested. "He must not suffer." + +"He'll get off," Morrison assured her thickly. "I tell you he'll +get off. He's only to part with the document, which never belonged +to him, and the charge will be withdrawn. They know who the +murdered man was. They know where the money came from which he was +carrying. I tell you he can save himself. You wouldn't dream of +sending me to the gallows, Zoe!" + +"Stephen Laverick will never give up that document to those people," +she declared. "I am sure of that." + +"It's his own lookout," Morrison muttered. "He has the chance, +anyway." + +She turned toward the door. + +"I must go away," she said. "I must go away and think. It is all +too horrible." + +He came round the table swiftly and caught at her wrists. + +"Listen," he said, "I can't let you go like this. You must tell me +that you are not going to give me up. Do you hear?" + +"I can make no promises, Arthur," she answered sadly, "only this--I +shall not let Stephen Laverick suffer in your stead." + +He opened his hand and she shrank back, terrified, when she saw what +it was that he was holding. Then he struck her down and without a +backward glance fled out of the place. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +BELLAMY'S SUCCESS + + +Late that afternoon the hall-porter at the Milan Hotel, the +commissionaire, and the chief maitre d'hotel from the Café, who +happened to be in the hall, together with several others around the +place who knew Stephen Laverick by sight, were treated to an +unexpected surprise. A large closed motor-car drove up to the +front entrance and several men descended, among whom was Laverick +himself. He nodded to the hall-porter, whose salute was purely +mechanical, and making his way without hesitation to the interior +of the hotel, presented his receipt at the cashier's desk and asked +for his packet. The clerk looked up at him in amazement. He did +not, for the moment, notice that the two men standing immediately +behind bore the stamp of plain-clothes policemen. He had only a +few minutes ago finished reading the report of Laverick's +examination before the magistrates and his remand until the morrow, +upon the charge of murder. His knowledge of English law was by no +means perfect, but he was at least aware that Laverick's appearance +outside the purlieus of the prison was an unusual happening. + +"Your packet, sir!" he repeated, in amazement. "Why, this is Mr. +Laverick himself, is it not?" + +"Certainly," was the quiet reply. "I am Stephen Laverick." + +The clerk called the head cashier, who also stared at Laverick as +though he were a ghost. They whispered together in the background +for a moment, and their faces were a study in perplexity. Of +Laverick's identity, however, there was no manner of doubt. Besides, +the presence of what was obviously a very ample escort somewhat +reassured them. The cashier himself came forward. + +"We shall be exceedingly glad, Mr. Laverick," he said dryly, "to +get rid of your packet. Your instructions were that we should +disregard all orders to hand it over to any person whatsoever, and +I may say that they have been strictly adhered to. We have, +however, had two applications in your name this morning." + +"They were both forgeries," Laverick declared. + +The cashier hesitated. Then he leaned across the broad mahogany +counter towards Laverick. One of the men who appeared to form part +of the escort detached himself from them and approached a few +steps nearer. + +"This gentleman is your friend, sir?" the cashier asked, glancing +towards him. + +"He is my solicitor," Laverick answered, "and is entirely in my +confidence. If you have anything to tell me, I should like Mr. +Bellamy also to hear." + +Bellamy, who was standing a little in the background, took his place +by Laverick's side. The cashier, who knew him by sight, bowed. + +"Beside these two forged orders, sir," he said, turning again to +Laverick, "we have had a man who took a room in the hotel leave a +small black bag here, which he insisted upon having deposited in +our document safe. My assistant had accepted it and was actually +locking it up when he noticed a faint sound inside which he could +not understand. The bag was opened and found to contain an +infernal machine which would have exploded in a quarter of an hour." + +Bellamy drew his breath sharply between his teeth. + +"We should have thought of that!" he exclaimed softly. "That's +Kahn's work!" + +"I seem to have given you a great deal of trouble," Laverick +remarked quietly. "I gather, however, from what you say, that my +packet is still in your possession?" + +"It is, sir," the man assented. "We have two detectives from +Scotland Yard here at the present moment, though, and we had +almost decided to place it in their charge for greater security." + +"It will be well taken care of from now, I promise you," Laverick +declared. + +The cashier and his clerk led the way into the inner office. At +their invitation Laverick and his solicitor followed, and a few +yards behind came the two plain-clothes policemen, Bellamy, and +the superintendent. The safe was opened and the packet placed in +Laverick's hands. He passed it on at once to Bellamy, and +immediately afterwards the doorway behind was thronged with men, +apparently ordinary loiterers around the hotel. They made a slow +and exceedingly cautious exit. Once outside, Bellamy turned to +Laverick with outstretched hand. + +"Au revoir and good luck, old chap!" he said heartily. "I think +you'll find things go your way all right to-morrow morning." + +He departed, forming one of a somewhat singular cavalcade--two +of his friends on either side, two in front, and two behind. It +had almost the appearance of a procession. The whole party stepped +into a closed motor-car. Three or four men were lounging on the +pavement and there was some excited whispering, but no one actually +interfered. As soon as they had left the courtyard, Laverick and +his solicitor, with his own guard, re-entered the motor-car in +which they had arrived, and drove back to Bow Street. Very few +words were exchanged during the short journey. His solicitor, +however, bade him good-night cheerfully, and Laverick's bearing +was by no means the bearing of a man in despair. + +In Downing Street, within the next half-an-hour, a somewhat +remarkable little gathering took place. The two men chiefly +responsible for the destinies of the nation--the Prime Minister +and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs--sat side by side +before a small table. Facing them was Bellamy, and spread out in +front were those few pages of foolscap, released from their +envelope a few minutes ago for the first time since the hand of +the great Chancellor himself had pressed down the seal. The +Foreign Minister had just finished a translation for the benefit +of his colleague, and the two men were silent, as men are in the +presence of big events. + +"Bellamy," the Prime Minister said slowly, "you are willing to +stake, I presume, your reputation upon the authenticity of this +document?" + +"My honor and my life, if you will," Bellamy answered earnestly. +"That is no copy which you have there. On the contrary, the +handwriting is the handwriting of the Chancellor himself." + +The Prime Minister turned silently towards his colleague. The +latter, whose eyes still seemed glued to those fateful words, +looked up. + +"All I can say is this," he remarked impressively, "that never in +my time have I seen written words possessed of so much significance. +One moment, if you please." + +He touched the bell, and his private secretary entered at once from +an adjoining room. + +"Anthony," he said, "telephone to the Great Western Railway Company +at Paddington. Ask for the station master in my name, and see that +a special train is held ready to depart for Windsor in half-an-hour. +Tell the station-master that all ordinary traffic must be held up, +but that the destination of the special is not to be divulged." + +The young man bowed and withdrew. + +"The more I consider this matter," the Foreign Minister went on, +"the more miraculous does the appearance of this document seem. +We know now why the Czar is struggling so frantically to curtail +his visit--why he came, as it were, under protest, and seeks +everywhere for an opportunity to leave before the appointed time. +His health is all right. He has had a hint from Vienna that there +has been a leakage. His special mission only reached Paris this +morning. The President is in the country and their audience is not +fixed until to-morrow. Rawson will go over with a copy of these +papers and a dispatch from His Majesty by the nine o'clock train. +It is not often that we have had the chance of such a 'coup' as +this." + +He drew his chief a few steps away. They whispered together for +several moments. When they returned, the Foreign Minister rang +the bell again for his secretary. + +"Anthony," he said, "Sir James and I will be leaving in a few +minutes for Windsor. Go round yourself to General Hamilton, +telephone to Aldershot for Lord Neville, and call round at the +Admiralty Board for Sir John Harrison. Tell them all to be here +at ten o'clock tonight. If I am not back, they must wait. If +either of them have royal commands, you need only repeat the +word 'Finisterre.' They will understand." + +The young man once more withdrew. The Prime Minister turned +back to the papers. + +"It will be worth a great deal," he remarked, with a grim smile, +"to see His Majesty's face when he reads this." + +"It would be worth a great deal more," his fellow statesman +answered dryly, "to be with his August cousin at the interview +which will follow. A month ago, the thought that war might come +under our administration was a continual terror to me. To-day +things are entirely different. To-day it really seems that if +war does come, it may be the most glorious happening for England +of this century. You saw the last report from Kiel?" + +Sir James nodded. + +"There isn't a battleship or a cruiser worth a snap of the fingers +south of the German Ocean," his colleague continued earnestly. +"They are cooped up--safe enough, they think--under the shelter +of their fortifications. Hamilton has another idea. Between you +and me, Sir James, so have I. I tell you," he went on, in a +deeper and more passionate tone, "it's like the passing of a +terrible nightmare--this. We have had ten years of panic, of +nervous fears of a German invasion, and no one knows more than you +and I, Sir James, how much cause we have had for those fears. It +will seem strange if, after all, history has to write that chapter +differently." + +The secretary re-entered and announced the result of his telephone +interview with the superintendent at Paddington. The two great +men rose. The Prime Minister held out his hand to Bellamy. + +"Bellamy," he declared, "you've done us one more important service. +There may be work for you within the next few weeks, but you've +earned a rest for a day or two, at any rate. There is nothing more +we can do?" + +"Nothing except a letter to the Home Secretary, Sir James," Bellamy +answered. "Remember, sir, that although I have worked hard, the +man to whom we really owe those papers is Stephen Laverick." + +The Prime Minister frowned thoughtfully. + +"It's a difficult situation, Bellamy," he said. "You are asking a +great deal when you suggest that we should interfere in the +slightest manner with the course of justice. You are absolutely +convinced, I suppose, that this man Laverick had nothing to do +with the murder?" + +"Absolutely and entirely, sir," Bellamy replied. + +"The murdered man has never been identified by the police," Sir +James remarked. "Who was he?" + +"His name was Rudolph Von Behrling," Bellamy announced, "and he was +actually the Chancellor's nephew, also his private secretary. I +have told you the history, sir, of those papers. It was Von +Behrling who, without a doubt, murdered the American journalist +and secured them. It was he who insisted upon coming to London +instead of returning with them to Vienna, which would have been the +most obvious course for him to have adopted. He was a pauper, and +desperately in love with a certain lady who has helped me throughout +this matter. He agreed to part with the papers for twenty thousand +pounds, and the lady incidentally promised to elope with him the +same night. I met him by appointment at that little restaurant in +the city, paid him the twenty thousand pounds, and received the +false packet which you remember I brought to you, sir. As a matter +of fact, Von Behrling, either by accident or design, and no man now +will ever know which, left me with those papers which I was supposed +to have bought in his possession, and also the money. Within five +minutes he was murdered. Doubtless we shall know sometime by whom, +but it was not by Stephen Laverick. Laverick's share in the whole +thing was nothing but this--that he found the pocket-book, and that +he made use of the notes in his business for twenty-four hours to +save himself from ruin. That was unjustifiable, of course. He has +made atonement. The notes at this minute are in a safe deposit +vault and will be returned intact to the fund from which they came. +I want, also, to impress upon you, Sir James, the fact that Baron +de Streuss offered one hundred thousand pounds for that letter." + +Sir James nodded thoughtfully. He stooped down and scrawled a few +lines on half a sheet of note-paper. + +"You must take this to Lord Estcourt at once," he said, "and tell +him the whole affair, omitting all specific information as to the +nature of the papers. The thing must be arranged, of course." + +Half-a-dozen reporters, who had somehow got hold of the fact that +the Prime Minister and his colleague from the Foreign Office were +going down to Windsor on a special mission, followed them, but even +they remained altogether in the dark as to the events which were +really transpiring. They knew nothing of the interview between the +Czar and his August host--an interview which in itself was a +chapter in the history of these times. They knew nothing of the +reason of their royal visitor's decision to prolong his visit +instead of shortening it, or of his autograph letter to the +President of the French Republic, which reached Paris even before +the special mission from St. Petersburg had presented themselves. +The one thing which they did know, and that alone was significant +enough, was that the Czar's Foreign Minister was cabled for that +night to come to his master by special train from St. Petersburg. +At the Austrian and German Embassies, forewarned by a report from +Baron de Streuss, something like consternation reigned. The +Russian Ambassador, heckled to death, took refuge at Windsor under +pretence of a command from his royal master. The happiest man in +London was Prince Rosmaran. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +LAVERICK ACQUITTED + + +At mid-day on the following morning Laverick stepped down from the +dock at Bow Street and, as the evening papers put it, "in company +with his friends left the court." The proceedings altogether took +scarcely more than half-an-hour. Laverick's solicitor first put +Shepherd in the box, who gave his account of Morrison's visit to +the restaurant, spoke of his hurried exit, and identified the knife +which he had seen him snatch up. Cross-examined as to why he had +kept silent, he explained that Mr. Morrison had been a good customer +and he saw no reason why he should give unsolicited evidence which +would cost a man his life. Directly, however, another man had been +accused, the matter appeared to him to be altogether different. He +had come forward the moment he had heard of Laverick's ARREST, to +offer his evidence. + +While the opinion of the court was still undecided, Laverick's +solicitor called Miss Zoe Leneveu. A little murmur of interest ran +though the court. Laverick himself started. Zoe stepped into the +witness-box, looking exceedingly pale, and with a bandage over the +upper part of her head. She admitted that she was the half-sister +of Arthur Morrison, although there was no blood relationship. She +described his sudden visit to her rooms on the night of the murder, +and his state of great alarm. She declared that he had confessed +to her on the previous afternoon that he had been guilty of the +murder in question. + +Her place in the witness-box was taken by the Honorable David +Bellamy. He declared that the prisoner was an old friend of his, +and that the twenty thousand pounds of which he had been recently +possessed, had come from him for investment in Laverick's business. +The circumstances, he admitted, were somewhat peculiar, and until +negotiations had been concluded Mr. Laverick had doubtless felt +uncertain how to make use of the money. But he assured the court +that there was no person who had any claim to the sum of money in +question save himself, and that he was perfectly aware of the use +to which Laverick had put it. + +Laverick was discharged within a very few minutes, and a warrant +was issued for the apprehension of Morrison. Laverick found +Bellamy waiting for him, and was hurried into his motor. + +"Well, you see," the latter exclaimed, "we kept our word! That +dear plucky little friend of yours turned the scale, but in any +case I think that there would not have been much trouble about the +matter. The magistrate had received a communication direct from +the Home Secretary concerning your case." + +"I am very grateful indeed," Laverick declared. "I tell you I +think I am very lucky. I wish I knew what had become of Miss +Leneveu. The usher told me she left the court before we came out." + +"I asked her to go straight back to her rooms," Bellamy said. "You +must excuse me for interfering, Laverick, but I found her almost in +a state of collapse last night in Jermyn Street. I was having +Morrison watched, and my man reported to me that he had left his +rooms in a state of great excitement, and that a young lady was +there who appeared to be seriously injured." + +"D--d scamp!" Laverick muttered. + +"I did everything I could," Bellamy continued. "I fetched her at +once and sent her back to her house with a hospital nurse and some +one to look after her. The wound wasn't serious, but the fellow +must have been a brute indeed to have lifted his hand against such +a child. I wonder whether he'll get away." + +"I should doubt it," Laverick remarked. "He hasn't the nerve. +He'll probably get drunk and blow his brains out. He's a +broken-spirited cur, after all." + +"You'll have some lunch?" Bellamy asked. + +Laverick shook his head. + +"If you don't mind, I'd like to go on and see Miss Leneveu." + +"Put me down at the club, then, and take my car on, if you will." + + +Laverick walked up and down the pavement outside Zoe's little +house for nearly half-an-hour. He had found the door closed and +locked, and a neighbor had informed him that Miss Leneveu had +gone out in a cab with the nurse, some time ago, and had not +returned. Laverick sent Bellamy's car back and waited. Presently +a four-wheel cab came round the corner and stopped in front of +her house. Laverick opened the door and helped Zoe out. She was +as white as death, and the nurse who was with her was looking +anxious. + +"You are safe, then?" she murmured, holding out her hands. + +"Quite," he answered. "You dear little girl!" + +Zoe had fainted, however, and Laverick hurried out for the doctor. +Curiously enough, it was the same man who only a week or so ago +had come to see Arthur Morrison. + +"She has had a bad scalp wound," he declared, "and her nervous +system is very much run down. There is nothing serious. She +seems to have just escaped concussion. The nurse had better stay +with her for another day, at any rate." + +"You are sure that it isn't serious?" Laverick asked eagerly. + +"Not in the least," the doctor answered dryly. "I see worse +wounds every day of my life. I'll come again to-morrow, if you like, +but it really isn't necessary with the nurse on the spot." + +His natural pessimism was for a moment lightened by the fee which +Laverick pressed upon him, and he departed with a few more +encouraging words. Laverick stayed and talked for a short time +with the nurse. + +"She has gone off to sleep now, sir," the latter announced. "There +isn't anything to worry about. She seems as though she had been +having a hard time, though. There was scarcely a thing in the house +but half a packet of tea--and these." + +She held up a packet of pawn tickets. + +"I found these in a drawer when I came," she said. "I had to look +round, because there was no money and nothing whatever in the house." + +Laverick was suddenly conscious of an absurd mistiness before his +eyes. + +"Poor little woman!" he murmured. "I think she'd sooner have starved +than ask for help." + +The nurse smiled. + +"I thought at first that she was rather a vain young lady," she +remarked. "An empty larder and a pile of pawn tickets, and a new +hat with a receipted bill for thirty shillings," she added, pointing +to the sofa. + +Laverick placed some notes in her hands. + +"Please keep these," he begged, "and see that she has everything she +wants. I shall be here again later in the day. There is not the +slightest need for all this. She will be quite well off for the rest +of her life. Will you try and engage some one for a day or two to +come in until she is able to be moved?" + +"I'll look after her," the nurse promised. + +Laverick went reluctantly away. The events of the last few days were +becoming more and more like a dream to him. He went to his club +almost from habit. Presently the excitement which all London seemed +to be sharing drove his own personal feelings a little into the +background. The air was full of rumors. The Prime Minister and the +Foreign Secretary were spoken of as one speaks of heroes. Nothing +was definitely known, but there was a splendid feeling of confidence +that for once in her history England was preparing to justify her +existence as a great Power. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THE PLOT THAT FAILED + + +The progress of the Czar from Buckingham Palace to the Mansion +House, where he had, after all, consented to lunch with the Lord +Mayor, witnessed a popular outburst of enthusiasm absolutely +inexplicable to the general public. It was known that affairs in +Central Europe were in a dangerously precarious state, and it was +felt that the Czar's visit here, and the urgent summons which had +brought from St. Petersburg his Foreign Minister, were indications +that the long wished-for entente between Russia and this country +was now actually at hand. There was in the Press a curious +reticence with regard to the development of the political situation. +One felt everywhere that it was the calm before the storm--that at +any moment the great black headlines might tell of some startling +stroke of diplomacy, some dangerous peril averted or defied. The +circumstances themselves of the Czar's visit had been a little +peculiar. On his arrival it was announced that, for reasons of +health, the original period of his stay, namely a week, was to be +cut down to two days. No sooner had he arrived at Windsor, however, +than a change was announced. The Czar had so far recovered as to +be able even to extend the period at first fixed for his visit. +Simultaneously with this, the German and Austrian Press were full +of bitter and barely veiled articles, whose meaning was unmistakable. +The Czar had thrown in his lot at first with Austria and Germany. +That he was going deliberately to break away from that arrangement +there seemed now scarcely any manner of doubt. + +Bellamy and Louise, from a window in Fleet Street, watched him go +by. Prince Rosmaran had been specially bidden to the luncheon, but +he, too, had been with them earlier in the morning. Afterwards +they turned their backs upon the city, and as soon as the crowd had +thinned made their way to one of the west-end restaurants. + +"It seems too good to be true," declared Louise. Bellamy nodded. + +"Nevertheless I am convinced that it is true. The humor of the +whole thing is that it was our friends in Germany themselves who +pressed the Czar not to altogether cancel his visit for fear of +exciting suspicion. That, of course, was when there seemed to be +no question of the news of the Vienna compact leaking out. They +would never have dared to expose a man to such a trial as the +Czar must have faced when the resume of the Vienna proceedings, in +the Chancellor's own handwriting, was read to him at Windsor." + +"You saw the telegram from Paris?" Louise interposed. "The +special mission from St. Petersburg has been recalled." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"It all goes to prove what I say," he went on. "Any morning you +may expect to hear that Austria and Germany have received an +ultimatum." + +"I wonder," she remarked, "what became of Streuss." + +"He is hiding somewhere in London, without a doubt," Bellamy +answered. "There's always plenty of work for spies." + +"Don't use that word," she begged. + +He made a little grimace. + +"You are thinking of my own connection with the profession, are you +not?" he asked. "Well, that counts for nothing now. I hope I may +still serve my country for many years, but it must be in a different +way." + +"What do you mean?" she demanded. + +"I heard from my uncle's solicitors this morning," Bellamy continued, +"that he is very feeble and cannot live more than a few months. +When he dies, of course, I must take my place in the House of Lords. +It is his wish that I should not leave England again now, so I +suppose there is nothing left for me but to give it up. I have done +my share of traveling and work, after all," he concluded, +thoughtfully. + +"Your share, indeed," she murmured. "Remember that but for that +document which was read to the Czar at Windsor, Servia must have +gone down, and England would have had to take a place among the +second-class Powers. There may be war now, it is true, but it +will be a glorious war." + +"Louise, very soon we shall know. Until then I will say nothing. +But I do not want you altogether to forget that there has been +something in my life dearer to me even than my career for these +last few years." + +Her blue eyes were suddenly soft. She looked across towards him +wistfully. + +"Dear," she whispered, "things will be altered with you now. I am +not fit to be the wife of an English peer--I am not noble." + +He laughed. + +"I am afraid," he assured her, "that I am democrat enough to think +you one of the noblest women on earth. Why should I not? Your +life itself has been a study in devotion. The modern virtues seem +almost to ignore patriotism, yet the love of one's country is a +splendid thing. But don't you think, Louise, that we have done +our work that it is time to think of ourselves?" + +She gave him her hand. + +"Let us see," she said. "Let us wait for a little time and see what +comes." + +That night another proof of the popular feeling, absolutely +spontaneous, broke out in one of the least expected places. Louise +was encored for her wonderful solo in a modern opera of bellicose +trend, and instead of repeating it she came alone on the stage after +a few minutes' absence, dressed in Servian national dress. For a +short time the costume was not recognized. Then the music--the +national hymn of Servia, and the recollection of her parentage, +brought the thing home to the audience. They did not even wait for +her to finish. In the middle of her song the applause broke like a +crash of thunder. From the packed gallery to the stalls they cheered +her wildly, madly. A dozen times she came before the curtain. It +seemed impossible that they would ever let her go. Directly she +turned to leave the stage, the uproar broke out again. The manager +at last insisted upon it that she should speak a few words. She +stood in the centre of the stage amid a silence as complete as the +previous applause had been unanimous. Her voice reached easily to +every place in the House. + +"I thank you all very much," she said. "I am very happy indeed to +be in London, because it is the capital city of the most generous +country in the world--the country that is always ready to protect +and help her weaker neighbors. I am a Servian, and I love my +country, and therefore," she added, with a little break in her +voice,--"therefore I love you all." + +It was nearly midnight before the audience was got rid of, and the +streets of London had not been so impassable for years. Crowds +made their way to the front of Buckingham Palace and on to the War +Office, where men were working late. Everything seemed to denote +that the spirit of the country was roused: The papers next morning +made immense capital of the incident, and for the following +twenty-four hours suspense throughout the country was almost at +fever height. It was known that the Cabinet Council had been +sitting for six hours. It was known, too, that without the least +commotion, with scarcely any movements of ships that could be +called directly threatening, the greatest naval force which the +world had ever known was assembling off Dover. The stock markets +were wildly excited. Laverick, back again in his office, found +that his return to his accustomed haunts occasioned scarcely any +comment. More startling events were shaping themselves. His own +remarkable adventure remained, curiously enough, almost undiscussed. + +He left the office shortly before his usual time, notwithstanding +the rush of business, and drove at once to the little house in +Theobald Square. Zoe was lying on the sofa, still white, but +eager to declare that the pain had gone and that she was no longer +suffering. + +"It is too absurd," she declared, smiling, "my having this nurse +here. Really, there is nothing whatever the matter with me. I +should have gone to the theatre, but you see it is no use." + +She passed him the letter which she had been reading, and which +contained her somewhat curt dismissal. He laughed as he tore it +into pieces. + +"Are you so sorry, Zoe? Is the stage so wonderful a place that +you could not bear to think of leaving it?" + +She shook her head. + +"It is not that," she whispered. "You know that it is not that." + +He smiled as he took her confidently into his arms. + +"There is a much more arduous life in front of you, dear," he said. +"You have to come and look after me for the rest of your days. A +bachelor who marries as late in life as I do, you know, is a trying +sort of person." + +She shrank away a little. + +"You don't mean it," she murmured. + +"You know very well that I mean it," he answered, kissing her. "I +think you knew from the very first that sooner or later you were +doomed to become my wife." + +She sighed faintly and half-closed her eyes. For the moment she +had forgotten everything. She was absolutely and completely happy. + +Later on he made her dress and come out to dinner, and afterwards, +as they sat talking, he laid an evening paper before her. + +"Zoe," he declared, "the best thing that could has happened. You +will not be foolish, dear, about it, I know. Remember the +alternative--and read that." + +She glanced at the few lines which announced the finding of Arthur +Morrison in a house in Bloomsbury Square. The police had apparently +tracked him down, and he had shot himself at the final moment. The +details of his last few hours were indescribable. Zoe shuddered, +and her eyes filled with tears. She smiled bravely in his face, +however. + +"It is terrible," she whispered simply, "but, after all, he was no +relation of mine, and he tried to do you a frightful injury. When +I think of that, I find it hard even to be sorry." + +There was indeed almost a pitiless look in her face as she folded +up the paper, as though she felt something of that common instinct +of her sex which transforms a gentle woman so quickly into a hard, +merciless creature when the being whom she loves is threatened. + +Laverick smiled. + +"Let us go out into the streets," he said, "and hear what all this +excitement is about." + +They bought a late edition, and there it was at last in black and +white. An ultimatum had been presented at Berlin and Vienna. +Certain treaty rights which had been broken with regard to Austria's +action in the East were insisted upon by Great Britain. It was +demanded that Austria should cease the mobilization of her troops +upon the Servian frontier, and renounce all rights to a protectorate +over that country, whose independence Great Britain felt called upon, +from that time forward, to guarantee. It was further announced that +England, France, and Russia were acting in this matter in complete +concert, and that the neutrality of Italy was assured. Further, it +was known that the great English fleet had left for the North Sea +with sealed orders. + +Laverick took Zoe home early and called later at Bellamy's rooms. +Bellamy greeted him heartily. He was on the point of going out, +and the two men drove off together in the latter's car. + +"See, my dear friend," Bellamy exclaimed, "what great things come +from small means! The document which you preserved for us, and +for which we had to fight so hard, has done all this." + +"It is marvelous!" Laverick murmured. + +"It is very simple," Bellamy declared. "That meeting in Vienna was +meant to force our hands. It is all a question of the balance of +strength. Germany and Austria together, with Russia friendly,--even +with Russia neutral,--could have defied Europe. Germany could +have spread out her army westwards while Austria seized upon her +prey. It was a splendid plot, and it was going very well until the +Czar himself was suddenly confronted by our King and his Ministers +with a revelation of the whole affair. At Windsor the thing seemed +different to him. The French Government behaved splendidly, and the +Czar behaved like a man. Germany and Austria are left plante la. +If they fight, well, it will be no one-sided affair. They have no +fleet, or rather they will have none in a fortnight's time. They +have no means of landing an army here. Austria, perhaps, can hold +Russia, but with a French army in better shape than it has been for +years, and the English landing as many men as they care to do, with +ease, anywhere on the north coast of Germany, the entire scheme +proved abortive. Come into the club and have a drink, Laverick. +To-day great things have happened to me." + +"And to me," Laverick interposed. + +"You can guess my news, perhaps," Bellamy said, as they seated +themselves in easy-chairs. "Mademoiselle Idiale has promised to +be my wife." + +Laverick held out his hand. + +"I congratulate you heartily!" he exclaimed. "I have been an +engaged man myself for something like half-an-hour." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +A FAREWELL APPEARANCE + + +"One thing, at least, these recent adventures should teach whoever +may be responsible for the government of this country," Bellamy +remarked to his wife, as he laid down the morning paper. "For the +first time in many years we have taken the aggressive against Powers +of equal standing. We were always rather good at bullying smaller +countries, but the bare idea of an ultimatum to Germany would have +made our late Premier go lightheaded." + +"And yet it succeeded," Louise reminded him. + +"Absolutely," he affirmed. "To-day's news makes peace a certainty. +If your country knew everything, Louise, they'd give us a royal +welcome next month." + +"You really mean that we are to go there, then?" she asked. + +"It isn't exactly one of my privileges," he declared, "to fix upon +the spot where we shall take our belated honeymoon, but I haven't +been in Belgrade for years, and I know you'd like to see your +people." + +"It will be more happiness than I ever dreamed of," she murmured. +"Do you think we shall be safe in passing through Vienna?" + +Bellamy laughed. + +"Remember," he said, "that I am no longer David Bellamy, with a +silver greyhound attached to my watch-chain and an obnoxious +reputation in foreign countries. I am Lord Denchester of +Denchester, a harmless English peer traveling on his honeymoon. +By the way, I hope you like the title." + +"I shall love it when I get used to it," she declared. "To be an +English Countess is dazzling, but I do think that I ought not to +go on singing at Covent Garden." + +"To-morrow will be your last night," he reminded her. "I have asked +Laverick and the dear little girl he is going to marry to come with +me. Afterwards we must all have supper together." + +"How nice of you!" she exclaimed. + +"I don't know about that," Bellamy said, smiling. "I really like +Laverick. He is a decent fellow and a good sort. Incidentally, he +was thundering useful to us, and pretty plucky about it. He +interests me, too, in another way. He is a man who, face to face +with a moral problem, acted exactly as I should have done myself!" + +"You mean about the twenty thousand pounds?" she asked. + +Bellamy assented. + +"He was practically dishonest," he pointed out. "He had no right +to use that money and he ought to have taken the pocket-book to the +police-station. If he had done so--that is to say, if he had +waited there for the police, if he had been seen to hold out that +pocket-book, to have discussed it with any one, it is ten to one +that there would have been another tragedy that night. At any +rate, the document would never have come to us." + +She smiled. + +"My moral judgment is warped," she asserted, "from the fact that +Laverick's decision brought us the document." + +He nodded. + +"Perhaps so," he agreed, "and yet, there was the man face to face +with ruin. The use of that money for a few hours did no one any +harm, and saved him. I say that such a deed is always a matter of +calculation, and in this case that he was justified." + +"I wonder what he really thinks about it himself," she remarked. + +"Perhaps I'll ask him." + +But when the time came, and he sat in the box with Laverick and Zoe, +he forgot everything else in the joy of watching the woman whom he +had loved so long. She moved about the stage that night as though +her feet indeed fell upon the air. She appeared to be singing +always with restraint, yet with some new power in her voice, a +quality which even in her simpler notes left the great audience +thrilled. Already there was a rumor that it was her last appearance. +Her marriage to Bellamy had been that day announced in the Morning +Post. When, in the last act, she sang alone on the stage the famous +love song, it seemed to them all that although her voice trembled +more than once, it was a new thing to which they listened. Zoe +found herself clasping Laverick's hand in tremulous excitement. +Bellamy sat like a statue, a little back in the box, his clean-cut +face thrown into powerful relief by the shadows beyond. Yet, as +he listened, his eyes, too, were marvelously soft. The song grew +and grew till, with the last notes, the whole story of an exquisite +and expectant passion seemed trembling in her voice. The last note +came from her lips almost as though unwillingly, and was prolonged +for an extraordinary period. When it died away, its passing seemed +something almost unrealizable. It quivered away into a silence +which lasted for many seconds before the gathering roar of applause +swept the house. And in those last few seconds she had turned and +faced Bellamy. Their eyes met, and the light which flashed from +his seemed answered by the quivering of her throat. It was her +good-bye. She was singing a new love-song, singing her way into +the life of the man whom she loved, singing her way into love +itself. Once more the great house, packed to the ceiling, was worked +up to a state of frenzied excitement. Bellamy was recognized, and +the significance of her song sent a wave of sentiment through the +house whose only possible form of expression took to itself shape in +the frantic greetings which called her to the front again and again. +But the three in the box were silent. Bellamy stood back in the +shadows. Laverick and Zoe seemed suddenly to become immersed in +themselves. Bellamy threw open the door of the box and pointed +outside. + +"At Luigi's in half-an-hour," said he softly. "You will excuse me +for a few minutes? I am going to Louise." + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVOC *** + +***** This file should be named 2287-8.txt or 2287-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/8/2287/ + +Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. HTML +version by Al Haines. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions 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-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.net/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.net + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/2287-8.zip b/old/2287-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bbfc3a1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2287-8.zip diff --git a/old/2287-h.htm b/old/2287-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c71e49d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2287-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,17169 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: Havoc + +Author: E. Philips Oppenheim + +Posting Date: March 21, 2009 [EBook #2287] +Release Date: August, 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVOC *** + + + + +Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. HTML +version by Al Haines. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +Havoc +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +by +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +E. Philips Oppenheim +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">CROWNED HEADS MEET</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">"OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">"VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">"WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">ROBBING THE DEAD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">VON BEHRLING'S FATE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">LAVERICK'S PARTNER FLEES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">THE PRICE OF SILENCE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">LAVERICK IS CROSS EXAMINED</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">LAVERICK AT THE OPERA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap26">THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap27">PENETRATING A MYSTERY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap28">LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap29">LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap30">THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap31">MISS LENEVEU'S MESSAGE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap32">MORRISON IS DESPERATE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap33">LAVERICK'S ARREST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap34">MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap35">BELLAMY'S SUCCESS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap36">LAVERICK ACQUITTED</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap37">THE PLOT TEAT FAILED</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap38">A FAREWELL APPEARANCE</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +HAVOC +</H1> + +<BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CROWNED HEADS MEET +</H3> + +<P> +Bellamy, King's Spy, and Dorward, journalist, known to fame in every +English-speaking country, stood before the double window of their +spacious sitting-room, looking down upon the thoroughfare beneath. +Both men were laboring under a bitter sense of failure. Bellamy's +face was dark with forebodings; Dorward was irritated and nervous. +Failure was a new thing to him—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP" +</H3> + +<P> +"What's wrong, old man?" Bellamy asked quickly. +</P> + +<P> +Dorward from a side table had seized the bottle of whiskey and a +siphon, and was mixing himself a drink with trembling fingers. He +tossed it off before he spoke a word. Then he turned around and +faced his companion. "Bellamy," he ordered, "lock the door." +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy obeyed. He had no doubt now but that Dorward had lost his +head in the Chancellor's presence—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. "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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +"OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP" +</H3> + +<P> +Louise looked up eagerly as he entered. +</P> + +<P> +"There is news!" she exclaimed. "I can see it in your face." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," Bellamy answered, "there is news! That is why I have come. +Where can we talk?" +</P> + +<P> +She rose to her feet. Before them the open French windows led on +to a smooth green lawn. She took his arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Come outside with me," she said. "I am shut up here because I +will not see the doctors whom they send, or any one from the Opera +House. An envoy from the Palace has been and I have sent him away." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean to keep your word, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Have I ever broken it? Never again will I sing in this City. It +is so." +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy looked around. The garden of the villa was enclosed by +high gray stone walls. They were secure here, at least, from +eavesdroppers. She rested her fingers lightly upon his arm, holding +up the skirts of her loose gown with her other hand. +</P> + +<P> +"I have spoken to you," he said, "of Dorward, the American journalist." +</P> + +<P> +She nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," she assented. "You told me that the Chancellor had +promised him an interview for to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he went to the Palace and the Chancellor saw him.". +</P> + +<P> +She looked at him with upraised eyebrows. +</P> + +<P> +"The newspapers are full of lies as usual, then, I suppose. The +latest telegrams say that the Chancellor is dangerously ill." +</P> + +<P> +"It is quite true," Bellamy declared. "What I am going to tell you +is surprising, but I had it from Dorward himself. When he reached +the Palace, the Chancellor was practically insane. His doctors were +trying to persuade him to go to his room and lie down, but he heard +Dorward's voice and insisted upon seeing him. The man was mad—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA +</H3> + +<P> +Dorwood, whistling softly to himself, sat in a corner of his coupe +rolling innumerable cigarettes. He was a man of unbounded courage +and wonderful resource, but with a slightly exaggerated idea as +to the sanctity of an American citizen. He had served his +apprenticeship in his own country, and his name had become a +household word owing to his brilliant success as war correspondent +in the Russo-Japanese War. His experience of European countries, +however, was limited. After the more obvious dangers with which +he had grappled and which he had overcome during his adventurous +career, he was disposed to be a little contemptuous of the subtler +perils at which his friend Bellamy had plainly hinted. He had made +his escape from the hotel without any very serious difficulty, and +since that time, although he had taken no particular precautions, +he had remained unmolested. From his own point of view, therefore, +it was perhaps only reasonable that he should no longer have any +misgiving as to his personal safety. ARREST as a thief was the +worst which he had feared. Even that he seemed now to have evaded. +</P> + +<P> +The coupe was exceedingly comfortable and, after all, he had had a +somewhat exciting day. He lit a cigarette and stretched himself +out with a murmur of immense satisfaction. He was close upon the +great triumph of his life. He was perfectly content to lie there +and look out upon the flying landscape, upon which the shadows were +now fast descending. He was safe, absolutely safe, he assured +himself. Nevertheless, when the door of his coupe was opened, he +started almost like a guilty man. The relief in his face as he +recognized his visitor was obvious. It was Bellamy who entered +and dropped into a seat by his side. +</P> + +<P> +"Wasting your time, aren't you?" the latter remarked, pointing to +the growing heap of cigarettes. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I guess not," Dorward answered. "I can smoke this lot before +we reach London." +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy smiled enigmatically. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think that you will," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" +</P> + +<P> +"You are such a sanguine person," Bellamy sighed. "Personally, I +do not think that there is the slightest chance of your reaching +London at all." +</P> + +<P> +Dorward laughed scornfully. +</P> + +<P> +"And why not?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy merely shrugged his shoulders. Dorward seemed to find the +gesture irritating. +</P> + +<P> +"You've got espionage on the brain, my dear friend," he declared +dryly. "I suppose it's the result of your profession. I may not +know so much about Europe as you do, but I am inclined to think +that an American citizen traveling with his passport on a train +like this is moderately safe, especially when he's not above a +scrap by way of taking care of himself." +</P> + +<P> +"You're a plucky fellow," remarked Bellamy. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see any pluck about it. In Vienna, I must admit, I +shouldn't have been surprised if they'd tried to fake up some sort +of charge against me, but anyhow they didn't. Guess they'd find +it a pretty tall order trying to interfere with an American citizen." +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy looked at his friend curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose you're not bluffing, by any chance, Dorward?" he said. +"You really believe what you say?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why in thunder shouldn't I?" Dorward asked. +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy sighed. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear Dorward," he said, "it is amazing to me that a man of your +experience should talk and behave like a baby. You've taken some +notice of your fellow-passengers, I suppose?" +</P> + +<P> +"I've seen a few of them," Dorward answered carelessly. "What about +them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing much," Bellamy declared, "except that there are, to my +certain knowledge, three high officials of the Secret Police of +Austria in the next coupe but one, and at least four or five of +their subordinates somewhere on board the train." +</P> + +<P> +Dorward withdrew his cigarette from his mouth and looked at his +friend keenly. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess you're trying to scare me, Bellamy," he remarked. +</P> + +<P> +But Bellamy was suddenly grave. There had come into his face an +utterly altered expression. His tone, when he spoke, was almost +solemn. +</P> + +<P> +"Dorward," he said, "upon my honor, I assure you that what I have +told you is the truth. I cannot seem to make you realize the +seriousness of your position. When you left the Palace with that +paper in your pocket, you were, to all intents and purposes, a +doomed man. Your passport and your American citizenship count for +absolutely nothing. I have come in to warn you that if you have +any last messages to leave, you had better give them to me now." +</P> + +<P> +"This is a pretty good bluff you're putting up!" Dorward exclaimed +contemptuously. "The long and short of it is, I suppose, that you +want me to break the seal of this document and let you read it." +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"It is too late for that, Dorward," he said. "If the seal were +broken, they'd very soon guess where I came in, and it wouldn't help +the work I have in hand for me to be picked up with a bullet in my +forehead on the railway track." +</P> + +<P> +Dorward frowned uneasily. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you here for, anyway, then?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, frankly, not to argue with you," Bellamy answered. "As a +matter of fact, you are of no use to me any longer. I am sorry, +old man. You can't say that I didn't give you good advice. I am +bound to play for my own hand, though, in this matter, and if I +get any benefit at all out of my journey, it will be after some +regrettable accident has happened to you." +</P> + +<P> +"Say, ring the bell for drinks and chuck this!" Dorward exclaimed. +"I've had about enough of it. I am not denying anything you say, +but if these fellows really are on board, they'll think twice +before they meddle with me." +</P> + +<P> +"On the contrary," Bellamy assured him, "they will not take the +trouble to think at all. Their minds are perfectly made up as to +what they are going to do. However, that's finished. I have +nothing more to say." +</P> + +<P> +Dorward gazed for a minute or two fixedly out of the window. +</P> + +<P> +"Look here, Bellamy," he said, turning abruptly round, "supposing +I change my mind, supposing I open this precious document and let +you read it over with me?" +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy rose hastily to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"You must not think of it!" he exclaimed. "You would simply +write my death-warrant. Don't allude to that matter again. I +have risked enough in coming in here to sit with you." +</P> + +<P> +"Then, for Heaven's sake, don't stop any longer!" Dorward said +irritably. "You get on my nerves with all this foolish talk. In +an hour's time I am going to bolt my door and go to sleep. We'll +breakfast together in the morning, if you like." +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy said nothing. The steward had brought them the whiskies +and sodas which Dorward had ordered. Bellamy raised his tumbler +to his lips and set it down again. +</P> + +<P> +"Forgive me," he said, "I do not think that I am thirsty." +</P> + +<P> +Dorward drank his off at a gulp. Almost immediately he closed his +eyes. Bellamy, with a little shrug of the shoulders, left him +alone. As he passed along to his own coupe, he met Louise in the +corridor. +</P> + +<P> +"You have seen Von Behrling?" he whispered. She nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"He is in that coupe, number 7, alone," she said. "I invited him +to come in with me but he seemed embarrassed. It is his companions +who watch him all the time. He has promised to talk with me later." +</P> + +<P> +In the middle of the night, Louise opened her eyes to find Bellamy +bending over her. +</P> + +<P> +"Louise," he whispered, "it is Von Behrling who will take possession +of the packet. They have been discussing whether it will not be +safer to go on to London instead of doubling back. See Von Behrling +again. Do all you can to persuade him to come to London,—all you +can, Louise, remember." +</P> + +<P> +"So!" she whispered. "I shall put on my dressing-gown and sit in +the corridor. It is hot here." +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy glided out, closing the door softly behind him. The train +was rushing on now through the blackness of an unusually dark night. +For some time he sat in his own compartment, listening. The voices +whose muttered conversation he had overheard were silent now, but +once he fancied that he heard shuffling footsteps and a little cry. +In his heart he knew well that before morning Dorward would have +disappeared. The man within him was hard to subdue. He longed to +make his way to Dorward's side, to interfere in this terribly +unequal struggle, yet he made no movement. Dorward was a man and a +friend, but what was a life more or less? It was to a greater cause +that he was pledged. Towards three o'clock he lay down on his bed +and slept.... +</P> + +<P> +The train attendant brought him his coffee soon after daylight. The +man's hands were trembling. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are we?" Bellamy asked sleepily. +</P> + +<P> +"Near Munich, Monsieur," the man answered. "Monsieur noticed, +perhaps, that we stopped for some time in the night?" +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"I sleep soundly," he said. "I heard nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"There has been an accident," the man declared. "An American +gentleman who got in at Vienna was drinking whiskey all night and +became very drunk. In a tunnel he threw himself out upon the line." +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy shuddered a little. He had been prepared, but none the +less it was an awful thing, this. +</P> + +<P> +"You are sure that he is dead?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +The man was very sure indeed. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a doctor from Vienna upon the train, sir," he said. "He +examined him at once, but death must have been instantaneous." +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy drew a long breath and commenced to put on his clothes. +The next move was for him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +"VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET" +</H3> + +<P> +Bellamy stole along the half-lit corridors of the train until he +came to the 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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED +</H3> + +<P> +The night was dark but fine, and the crossing smooth. Louise, +wrapped in furs, abandoned her private cabin directly they had left +the harbor, and had a chair placed on the upper deck. Von Behrling +found her there, but not before they were nearly half-way across. +She beckoned him to her side. Her eyes glowed at him through the +darkness. +</P> + +<P> +"You are not looking after me, my friend," she declared. "By myself +I had to find this place." +</P> + +<P> +Von Behrling was ruffled. He was also humbly apologetic. +</P> + +<P> +"It is those idiots who are with me," he said. "All the time they +worry." +</P> + +<P> +She laughed and drew him down so that she could whisper in his ear. +</P> + +<P> +"I know what it is," she said. "You have secrets which you are +taking to London, and they are afraid of me because I am a Servian. +Tell me, is it not so? Perhaps, even, they think that I am a spy." +</P> + +<P> +Von Behrling hesitated. She drew him closer towards her. +</P> + +<P> +"Sit down on the deck," she continued, "and lean against the rail. +You are too big to talk to up there. So! Now you can come +underneath my rug. Tell me, are they afraid of me, your friends?" +</P> + +<P> +"Is it without reason?" he asked. "Would not any one be afraid of +you—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> + +<BR> + +<P> +The details of the great singer's journey had been most carefully +planned by an excited manager who had received the telegram +announcing her journey to London. There was an engaged carriage at +Dover, into which she was duly escorted by a representative of the +Opera Syndicate, who had been sent down from London to receive her. +Von Behrling seemed to be missing. She had seen nothing of him +since he had descended to summon her maids. But just as the train +was starting, she heard the sound of angry voices, and a moment +later his white face was pressed through the open window of the +carriage. +</P> + +<P> +"Louise," he muttered, "I am on fire! I cannot talk to you! I fear +that they suspect something. They have told me that if I travel +with you they will force their way in. Even now, Streuss comes. +Listen for your telephone to-night or whenever I can. I must +think—I must think!" +</P> + +<P> +He passed on, and Louise, leaning back in her seat, closed her eyes. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +"WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES" +</H3> + +<P> +Bellamy, travel-stained and weary, arrived at his rooms at two +o'clock on the following afternoon to find amongst a pile of +correspondence a penciled message awaiting him in a handwriting he +knew well. He tore open the envelope. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +DAVID DEAR,—I have just arrived and I am sending you these few +lines at once. As to what progress I have made, I cannot say for +certain, but there is a chance. You had better get the money ready +and come to me here. If R. could only escape from Streuss and +those who watch him all the time, I should be quite sure, but they +are suspicious. What may happen I cannot tell. I do my best and +I have hated it. Get the money ready and come to me. +<BR><BR> + LOUISE. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Bellamy drew a little breath and tore the note into pieces. Then +he rang for his servant. "A bath and some clean clothes quickly," +he ordered. "While I am changing, ring up Downing Street and see +if Sir James is there. If not, find out exactly where he is. I +must see him within half an hour. Afterwards, get me a taxicab." +</P> + +<P> +The man obeyed with the swift efficiency of the thoroughly trained +servant. In rather less than the time which he had stated, Bellamy +had left his rooms. Before four o'clock he had arrived at the +address which Louise had given him. A commissionaire telephoned his +name to the first floor, and in a very few moments a pale-faced +French man-servant, in sombre black livery, descended and bowed to +Bellamy. +</P> + +<P> +"Monsieur will be so good as to come this way," he directed. +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy followed him into the lift, which stopped at the first +floor. He was ushered into a small boudoir, already smothered with +roses. +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle will be here immediately," the man announced. "She is +engaged with a gentleman from the Opera, but she will leave him to +receive Monsieur." +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"Pray let Mademoiselle understand," he said, "that I am entirely at +her service. My time is of no consequence." +</P> + +<P> +The man bowed and withdrew. Louise came to him almost directly from +an inner chamber. She was wearing a loose gown, but the fatigue of +her journey seemed already to have passed away. Her eyes were +bright, and a faint color glowed in her cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +"David," she exclaimed, "thank Heaven that you are here!" +</P> + +<P> +She took both his hands and held them for a moment. Then she walked +to the door, made sure that it was securely fastened, and stood +there listening for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose I am foolish," she said, coming back to him, "and yet I +cannot help fancying that I am being watched on every side since we +landed in England. I detest my new manager, and I don't trust any +of the servants he has engaged for me. You got my note?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he answered, "I had your note—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. "De. Henschell was +almost beside himself that I came away. I come, Doctor," she called +out. "David, good fortune!" she added, giving him her hands. "Now +go, dear." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE +</H3> + +<P> +Between the two men, seated opposite each other in the large but +somewhat barely furnished office, the radical differences, both in +appearance and mannerisms, perhaps, also, in disposition, had never +been more strongly evident. They were partners in business and face +to face with ruin. Stephen Laverick, senior member of the firm, +although an air of steadfast gloom had settled upon his clean-cut, +powerful countenance, retained even in despair something of that +dogged composure, temperamental and wholly British, which had served +him well along the road to fortune. Arthur Morrison, the man who +sat on the other side of the table, a Jew to his finger-tips +notwithstanding his altered name, sat like a broken thing, with +tears in his terrified eyes, disordered hair, and parchment-pale +face. Words had flown from his lips in a continual stream. He +floundered in his misery, sobbed about it like a child. The hand +of misfortune had stripped him naked, and one man, at least, saw +him as he really was. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't stand it, Laverick,—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ROBBING THE DEAD +</H3> + +<P> +The roar of the day was long since over. The rattle of vehicles, +the tinkling of hansom bells, the tooting of horns from motor-cars +and cabs, the ceaseless tramp of footsteps, all had died away. +Outside, the streets were almost deserted. An occasional wayfarer +passed along the flagged pavement with speedy footsteps. Here and +there a few lights glimmered at the windows of some of the larger +blocks of offices. The bustle of the day was finished. There is +no place in London so strangely quiet as the narrow thoroughfares +of the city proper when the hour approaches midnight. +</P> + +<P> +Laverick, who since his partner's departure had been studying with +infinite care his private ledger, closed it at last with a little +snap and leaned back in his chair. After all, save that he had got +rid of Morrison, it had been a wasted evening. Not even he, whose +financial astuteness no man had ever questioned, could raise from +those piles of figures any other answer save the one inevitable +one, the knowledge of which had been like a black nightmare stalking +by his side for the last thirty-six hours. One by one during the +evening his clerks had left him, and it was a proof not only of his +wonderful self-control but also of the confidence which he invariably +inspired, that not a single one of them had the slightest idea how +things were. Not a soul knew that the firm of Laverick & Morrison +was already practically derelict, that they had on the morrow +twenty-five thousand pounds to find, neither credit nor balance at +their bankers, and eight hundred and fifty pounds in the safe. +</P> + +<P> +Laverick, haggard from his long vigil, locked up his books at last, +turned out the lights, and locking the doors behind him walked into +the silent street. Instinctively he turned his steps westwards. +This might well be the last night on which he would care to show +himself in his accustomed haunts, the last night on which he could +mix with his fellows freely, and without that terrible sense of +consciousness which follows upon disaster. Already there was little +enough left of it. It was too late to change and go to his club. +The places of amusement were already closed. To-morrow night, both +club and theatres would lie outside his world. He walked slowly, +yet he had scarcely taken, in fact, a dozen steps when, with a +purely mechanical impulse, he paused by a stone-flagged entry to +light a cigarette. It was a passage, almost a tunnel for a few +yards, leading to an open space, on one side of which was an old +churchyard—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> +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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED +</H3> + +<P> +Bellamy was a man used to all hazards, whose supreme effort of life +it was to meet success and disaster with unvarying mien. But this +was disaster too appalling even for his self-control. He felt his +knees shake so that he caught at the edge of the table before which +he was standing. There was no possible doubt about it, he had been +tricked. Von Behrling, after all,—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VON BEHRLING'S FATE +</H3> + +<P> +It seemed to Louise that she had scarcely been in bed an hour when +the more confidential of her maids—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL +</H3> + +<P> +The Baron adjusted his eyeglass with shaking fingers. His face now +was waxen-white as he spread out the newspaper upon the table and +read the paragraph word by word. +</P> + +<PRE> + TERRIBLE CRIME IN THE CITY + + Early this morning the body of a man was discovered + in a narrow passageway leading from Crooked Friars to + Royal Street, under circumstances which leave little + doubt but that the man's death was owing to foul play. + The deceased had apparently been stabbed, and had + received several severe blows about the head. He was + shabbily dressed but was well supplied with money, and + he was wearing a gold watch and chain when he was found. + + LATER + + There appears to be no further doubt but that the man + found in the entry leading from Crooked Friars had been + the victim of a particularly murderous assault. Neither + his clothes nor his linen bore any mark by means of which + he could be identified. The body has been removed to the + nearest mortuary, and an inquest will shortly be held. +</PRE> + +<P> +Streuss looked up from the newspaper and the reality of his surprise +was apparent. He had all the appearance of a man shaken with emotion. +While he looked at his two companions wonderingly, strange thoughts +were forming in his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"Von Behrling dead!" he muttered. "But who—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE +</H3> + +<P> +Stephen Laverick was a bachelor—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, lie found there, +however, a small boy waiting for him with a note in his hand. It +was addressed in pencil only, and his name was printed upon it. +</P> + +<P> +Laverick tore it open with a haste which he only imperfectly +concealed. There was something ominous to him in those printed +characters. Its contents, however, were short enough. +</P> + +<P> +DEAR LAVERICK, +I must see you. Come the moment you get this. Come without fail, +for your own sake and mine. A. M. +</P> + +<P> +Laverick looked at the boy. His fingers were trembling, but it +was with relief. The note was from Morrison. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no address here," he remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"The gent said as I was to take you back with me," the boy answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it far?" Laverick asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Close to Red Lion Square," the boy declared. "Not more nor five +minutes in one of them taxicabs. The gent said we was to take +one. He is in a great hurry to see you." +</P> + +<P> +Laverick did not hesitate a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," he said, "we'll start at once." +</P> + +<P> +He put on his hat again and waited while the commissionaire called +them a taxicab. +</P> + +<P> +"What address?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Number 7, Theobald Square," the boy said. Laverick nodded and +repeated the address to the driver. +</P> + +<P> +"What the dickens can Morrison be doing in a part like that!" he +thought, as they passed up Northumberland Avenue. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE +</H3> + +<P> +The Square was a small one, and in a particularly unsavory +neighborhood. Laverick, who had once visited his partner's somewhat +extensive suite of rooms in Jermyn Street, rang the bell doubtfully. +The door was opened almost at once, not by a servant but by a young +lady who was obviously expecting him. Before he could open his lips +to frame an inquiry, she had closed the door behind him. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you please come this way?" she said timidly. +</P> + +<P> +Laverick found himself in a small sitting-room, unexpectedly neat, +and with the plainness of its furniture relieved by certain +undeniable traces of some cultured presence. The girl who had +followed him stood with her back to the door, a little out of breath. +Laverick contemplated her in surprise. She was under medium height, +with small pale face and wonderful dark eyes. Her brown hair was +parted in the middle and arranged low down, so that at first, taking +into account her obvious nervousness, he thought that she was a +child. When she spoke, however, he knew that for some reason she +was afraid. Her voice was soft and low, but it was the voice of a +woman. +</P> + +<P> +"It is Mr. Laverick, is it not?" she asked, looking at him eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"My name is Stephen Laverick," he admitted. "I understood that I +should find Mr. Arthur Morrison here." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," the girl answered, "he sent for you. The note was from him. +He is here." +</P> + +<P> +She made no movement to summon him. She still stood, in fact, with +her back to the door. Laverick was distinctly puzzled. He felt +himself unable to place this timid, childlike woman, with her +terrified face and beautiful eyes. He had never heard Morrison +speak of having any relations. His presence in such a locality, +indeed, was hard to understand unless he had met with an accident. +Morrison was one of those young men who would have chosen Hell with +a "W" rather than Heaven E. C. +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid," Laverick said, "that for some reason or other you +are afraid of me. I can assure you that I am quite harmless," he +added smiling. "Won't you sit down and tell me what is the matter? +Is Mr. Morrison in any trouble?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she answered, "he is. As for me, I am terrified." +</P> + +<P> +She came a little away from the door. Laverick was a man who +inspired trust. His tone, too, was unusually kind. He had the +protective instinct of a big man toward a small woman. +</P> + +<P> +"Come and tell me all about it," he suggested. "I expected to hear +that he had gone abroad." +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking up at him tremulously. "I was +hoping that you could have told me what it was that had come to him." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that rather depends," Laverick answered. "We certainly had +a terribly anxious time yesterday. Our business has been most +unfortunate—" +</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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LAVERICK's PARTNER FLEES +</H3> + +<P> +The doctor, a grave, incurious person, arrived within a few minutes +to find Morrison already conscious but absolutely exhausted. He +felt his patient's pulse, prescribed a draught, and followed +Laverick down into the sitting room. +</P> + +<P> +"An ordinary case of nervous exhaustion," he pronounced. "The +patient appears to have had a very severe shock lately. He will be +all right with proper diet and treatment, and a complete rest. I +will call again to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +He accepted the fee which Laverick slipped into his hand, and took +his departure. Once more Laverick was alone with the girl, who had +followed them downstairs. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"There is nothing to be alarmed at, you see," he remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not his health which frightens me. I am sure—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 Leneven is my name," she interrupted. +</P> + +<P> +"I beg your pardon. Your brother evidently has something on his +mind apart from business. I am afraid that he has been getting +into some sort of trouble. I don't think there is any object in +bothering him about it, but the great thing is to get him away." +</P> + +<P> +"You will help?" she begged. +</P> + +<P> +"I will help, certainly," Laverick answered. "I have promised to. +You must see that he is ready to leave here at seven o'clock +to-morrow morning. He wants to go to New York, and the special +to catch the German boat will leave Waterloo somewhere about eight +to eight-thirty." +</P> + +<P> +"But his clothes!" she cried. "How can he be ready by then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Your brother does not wish me or any one to go near his rooms or +to send him any of his belongings," Laverick continued quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"But how strange!" the girl exclaimed. "Do you mean to say, then, +that he is going without anything?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid," Laverick said kindly, "that we must take it for +granted that your brother has got mixed up in some undesirable +business or other. He is nervously anxious to keep his whereabouts +an entire secret. He has been asking me whether any one has been +to the office to inquire for him. Under the circumstances, I think +the best thing we can do is to humor him. I shall buy him before +to-morrow morning a cheap dressing-case and a ready-made suit of +clothes, and a few things for the voyage. Then I shall send a cab +for you both at seven o'clock and meet you at the station. +</P> + +<P> +"You are very kind," she murmured. "What should I have done without +you? Oh, I cannot think!" +</P> + +<P> +The protective instinct in the man was suddenly strong. Naturally +unaffectionate, he was conscious of an almost overmastering desire +to take her hands in his, even to lift her up and kiss away the +tears which shone in her deep, childlike eyes. He reminded himself +that she was a stranger, that her appearance of youth was a delusion, +that she could only construe such an action as a liberty, an +impertinence, offered under circumstances for which there could be +no possible excuse. +</P> + +<P> +He moved away towards the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Naturally," he said, "I am glad to be of use to your brother. You +see," he explained, a little awkwardly, "after all, we have been +partners in business." +</P> + +<P> +He caught a look upon her face and smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"Naturally, too," he continued, "it has been a great pleasure for +me to do anything to relieve your anxiety." +</P> + +<P> +She gave him her hands then of her own accord. The gratitude which +shone out of her swimming eyes seemed mingled with something which +was almost invitation. Laverick was suddenly swept off his feet. +Something had come into his life—something absurd, uncounted upon, +incomprehensible. The atmosphere of the room seemed electrified. +In a moment, he had done what only a second or two before he had +told himself would be the action of a cad. He had taken her, +unresisting, up into his arms, kissed her eyes and lips. Afterwards, +he was never able to remember those few moments clearly, only it +seemed to him that she had accepted his caress almost without +hesitation, with the effortless serenity of a child receiving a +natural consolation in a time of trouble. But Laverick was conscious +of other feelings as he leaned hard back in the corner of his taxicab +and was driven swiftly away. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST" +</H3> + +<P> +Laverick, notwithstanding that the hour was becoming late, found an +outfitter's shop in the Strand still open, and made such purchases +as he could on Morrison's behalf. Then, with the bag ready packed, +he returned to his rooms. Time had passed quickly during the last +three hours. It was nearly nine o'clock when he stepped out of the +lift and opened the door of his small suite of rooms with the +latchkey which hung from his chain. He began to change his clothes +mechanically, and he had nearly finished when the telephone bell +upon his table rang. +</P> + +<P> +"Who's that?" he asked, taking up the receiver. +</P> + +<P> +"Hall-porter, sir," was the answer. "Person here wishes to see you +particularly." +</P> + +<P> +"A person!" Laverick repeated. "Man or woman?" +</P> + +<P> +"Man, sir. +</P> + +<P> +"Better send him up," Laverick ordered. +</P> + +<P> +"He's a seedy-looking lot, sir," the porter explained "I told him +that I scarcely thought you'd see him." +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind," Laverick answered. "I can soon get rid of the fellow +if he's cadging." +</P> + +<P> +He went back to his room and finished fastening his tie. His own +affairs had sunk a little into the background lately, but the +announcement of this unusual visitor brought them back into his +mind with a rush. Notwithstanding his iron nerves, his fingers +shook as he drew on his dinner-jacket and walked out to the +passageway to answer the bell which rang a few seconds later. A +man stood outside, dressed in shabby black clothes, whose face +somehow was familiar to him, although he could not, for the moment, +place it. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you want to see me?" Laverick asked. +</P> + +<P> +"If you please, Mr. Laverick," the man replied, "if you could spare +me just a moment." +</P> + +<P> +"You had better come inside, then," Laverick said, closing the door +and preceding the way into the sitting-room. At any rate, there +was nothing threatening about the appearance of this visitor—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> + +<BR> + +<P> +"I knew I'd seen your face somewhere," he said. "What do you want +with Mr. Morrison?" +</P> + +<P> +The man was silent. He twirled his hat and looked embarrassed. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a matter I shouldn't like to mention to any one except Mr. +Morrison himself, sir," he declared finally. "If you could put me +in the way of seeing him, I'd be glad. I may say that it would be +to his advantage, too." +</P> + +<P> +Laverick was thoughtful for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"As it happens, that's a little difficult," he explained. "Mr. +Morrison and I disagreed on a matter of business last night. I +undertook certain responsibilities which he should have shared, +and he arranged to leave the firm and the country at once. We +parted—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,—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PRICE OF SILENCE +</H3> + +<P> +The man's manner was expressive. Laverick repeated his phrase, +frowning. +</P> + +<P> +"His life!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir!" +</P> + +<P> +Laverick shrugged his shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"Come," he declared, "you must not go too far with this thing. I +have admitted, so as to clear the way for anything you have to say, +that Mr. Morrison would not care to have his name mentioned in +connection with this affair. But because he left your bar a few +minutes after the murdered man, it is sheer folly to assume that +therefore he is necessarily implicated in his death. I cannot +conceive anything more unlikely." +</P> + +<P> +The man smiled—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL +</H3> + +<P> +They stood together upon the platform watching the receding train. +The girl's eyes were filled with tears, but Laverick was conscious +of a sense of immense relief. Morrison had been at the station +some time before the train was due to leave, and, although a +physical wreck, he seemed only too anxious to depart. He had all +the appearance of a broken-spirited man. He looked about him on +the platform, and even from the carriage, in the furtive way of a +criminal expecting apprehension at any moment. The whistle of the +train had been a relief as great to him as to Laverick. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll write you to New York, care of Barclays," Laverick called out. +"Good luck, Morrison! Pull yourself together and make a fresh +start." +</P> + +<P> +Morrison's only reply was a somewhat feeble nod. Laverick had not +attempted to shake hands. He felt himself at the last moment, +stirred almost to anger by the perfunctory farewell which was all +this man had offered to the girl he had treated so inconsiderately. +His thoughts were engrossed upon himself and his own danger. He +would not even have kissed her if she had not drawn his face down +to hers and whispered a reassuring little message. Laverick turned +away. For some reason or other he felt himself shuddering. +Conversation during those last few moments had been increasingly +difficult. The train was off at last, however, and they were alone. +</P> + +<P> +The girl drew a long breath, which might very well have been one of +relief. They turned silently toward the exit. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you going back home?" Laverick asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she answered listlessly. "There is nothing else to do." +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't it rather sad for you there by yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +She nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the first time," she said. "Another girl and her mother +have lived with me always. They started off last week, touring. +They are paying a little toward the house or I should have to go +into rooms. As it is, I think that it would be more comfortable." +</P> + +<P> +Laverick looked at her wonderingly. +</P> + +<P> +"You seem such a child," he said, "to be left all alone in the +world like this." +</P> + +<P> +"But I am not a child actually, you see," she answered, with an +effort at lightness. "Somehow, though, I do miss Arthur's going. +His father was always very good to me, and made him promise that +he would do what he could. I didn't see much of him, but one felt +always that there was somebody. It's different now. It makes +one feel very lonely." +</P> + +<P> +"I, too," Laverick said, with commendable mendacity, "am rather a +lonely person. You must let me see something of you now and then." +</P> + +<P> +She looked up at him quickly. Her gaze was altogether disingenuous, +but her eyes—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> + +<PRE> + Murder in the City.—We understand that very important + information has come into the hands of the police. An + ARREST is expected to-night or to-morrow at the latest. +</PRE> + +<P> +He crushed the paper in his hand and threw it on one side. It was +the usual sort of thing. There was nothing they could have found +out—nothing, he told himself. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES +</H3> + +<P> +As soon as he had gone through his letters on the following morning, +Laverick, in response to a second and more urgent message, went +round to his bank. Mr. Fenwick greeted him gravely. He was feeling +keenly the responsibilities of his position. Just how much to say +and how much to leave unsaid was a question which called for a full +measure of diplomacy. +</P> + +<P> +"You understand, Mr. Laverick," he began, "that I wished to see you +with regard to the arrangement we came to the day before yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +Laverick nodded. It suited him to remain monosyllabic. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"The arrangement, of course, was most unusual," the manager continued. +"I agreed to it as you were an old customer and the matter was an +urgent one." +</P> + +<P> +"I do not quite follow you," Laverick remarked, frowning. "What is +it you wish me to do? Withdraw my account?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not in the least," the manager answered hastily. +</P> + +<P> +"You know the position of our market, of course," Laverick went on. +"Three days ago I was in a situation which might have been called +desperate. I could quite understand that you needed security to +go on making the necessary payments on my behalf. To-day, things +are entirely different. I am twenty thousand pounds better off, +and if necessary I could realize sufficient to pay off the whole of +my overdraft within half-an-hour. That I do not do so is simply a +matter of policy and prices." +</P> + +<P> +"I quite understand that, my dear Mr. Laverick," the bank manager +declared. "The position is simply this. We have had a most unusual +and a strictly private inquiry, of a nature which I cannot divulge +to you, asking whether any large sum in five hundred pound banknotes +has been passed through our account during the last few days." +</P> + +<P> +"You have actually had this inquiry?" Laverick asked calmly. +</P> + +<P> +"We have. I can tell you no more. The source of the inquiry was, +in a sense, amazing." +</P> + +<P> +"May I ask what your reply was?" +</P> + +<P> +"My reply was," Mr. Fenwick said slowly, "that no such notes had +passed through our account. We asked them, however, without giving +any reasons, to repeat their question in a few days' time. Our +reply was perfectly truthful. Owing to your peculiar stipulations, +we are simply holding a certain packet for you in our security +chamber. We know it to contain bank-notes, and there is very little +doubt but that it contains the notes which have been the subject of +this inquiry. I want to ask you, Mr. Laverick, to be so good as to +open that packet, let me credit the notes to your account in the +usual way, and leave me free to reply as I ought to have done in +the first instance to this inquiry." +</P> + +<P> +"The course which you suggest," replied the other, "is one which I +absolutely decline to take. It is not for me to tell you the nature +of the relations which should exist between a banker and his client. +All that I can say is that those notes are deposited with you and +must remain on deposit, and that the transaction is one which must +be treated entirely as a confidential one. If you decline to do +this, I must remove my account, in which case I shall, of course, +take the packet away with me. To be plain with you, Mr. Fenwick," +he wound up, "I do not intend to make use of those notes, I never +intended to do so. I simply deposited them as security until the +turn in price of 'Unions' came. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a very nice point, Mr. Laverick," the bank manager remarked. +"I should consider that you had already made use of them." +</P> + +<P> +"Every one to his own conscience," Laverick answered calmly. +</P> + +<P> +"You place me in a very embarrassing position, Mr. Laverick." +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot admit that at all," Laverick replied. "There is only one +inquiry which you could have had which could justify you in insisting +upon what you have suggested. It emanated, I presume, from Scotland +Yard?" +</P> + +<P> +"If it had," Mr. Fenwick answered, "no considerations of etiquette +would have intervened at all. I should have felt it my duty to +have revealed at once the fact of your deposit. At the same time, +the inquiry comes from an even more important source,—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> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +Are you coming to fetch me to-night? Don't let me be a nuisance, +but do come if you have nothing to do. I have something to tell +you. +<BR><BR> + ZOE.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Laverick gave the boy a shilling for himself and suddenly forgot +that he was tired. He changed his clothes, whistling softly to +himself all the time. At eleven o'clock, he was at the stage-door +of the Universal Theatre, waiting in a taxicab. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LAVERICK IS CROSS-EXAMINED +</H3> + +<P> +One by one the young ladies of the chorus came out from the +stage-door of the Universal, in most cases to be assisted into a +waiting hansom or taxicab by an attendant cavalier. Laverick stood +back in the shadows as much as possible, smiling now and then to +himself at this, to him, somewhat novel way of spending the evening. +Zoe was among the last to appear. She came up to him with a +delightful little gesture of pleasure, and took his arm as a matter +of course as he led her across to the waiting cab. +</P> + +<P> +"This sort of thing is making me feel absurdly young," he declared. +"Luigi's for supper, I suppose?" +</P> + +<P> +"Supper!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Delightful! Two +nights following, too! I did love last night." +</P> + +<P> +"We had better engage a table at Luigi's permanently," he remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"If only you meant it!" she sighed. +</P> + +<P> +He laughed at her, but he was thoughtful for a few minutes. +Afterwards, when they sat at a small round table in the somewhat +Bohemian restaurant which was the fashionable rendezvous of the +moment for ladies of the theatrical profession, he asked her a +question. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me what you meant in your note," he begged. "You said that +you had some information for me. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid it wasn't anything very much," she admitted. "I found +out to-day that some one had been inquiring at the stage-door about +me, and whether I was connected in any way with a Mr. Arthur +Morrison, the stockbroker." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know who it was?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +She shook her head. +</P> + +<P> +"The man left no name at all. I tried to get the doorkeeper to tell +me about him, but he's such a surly old fellow, and he's so used to +that sort of thing, that he pretended he didn't remember anything." +</P> + +<P> +"It seems odd," he remarked thoughtfully, "that any one should have +found you out. You were so seldom with Morrison. I dare say," he +added, "it was just some one to whom your brother owes some small +sum of money." +</P> + +<P> +"Very likely," she answered. "But I was going to tell you. He came +again to-night while the performance was on, and sent a note round. +I have brought it for you to see." +</P> + +<P> +The note—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> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +DEAR MISS LENEVEU, +<BR><BR> +I believe that Mr. Arthur Morrison is a connection of yours, and I +am venturing to introduce myself to you as a friend of his. Could +you spare me half-an-hour of your company after the performance of +this evening? If you could honor me so much, you might perhaps +allow me to give you some supper. +<BR><BR> + Sincerely,<BR> + PHILIP E. MILES.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Laverick felt an absurd pang of jealousy as he handed back the +programme. +</P> + +<P> +"I should say," he declared, "that this was simply some young man +who was trying to scrape an acquaintance with you because he was +or had been a friend of Morrison's." +</P> + +<P> +"In that case," answered Zoe, "he is very soon forgotten." +</P> + +<P> +She tore the programme into two pieces, and Laverick was conscious +of a ridiculous feeling of pleasure at her indifference. +</P> + +<P> +"If you hear anything more about him," he said, "you might let me +know. You are a brave young lady to dismiss your admirers so +summarily." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I am quite satisfied with one," laughing softly. +</P> + +<P> +Laverick told himself that at his age he was behaving like an idiot, +nevertheless his eyes across the table expressed his appreciation +of her speech. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me something about yourself, Mr. Laverick," she begged. +</P> + +<P> +"For instance?" +</P> + +<P> +"First of all, then, how old are you?" +</P> + +<P> +He made a grimace. +</P> + +<P> +"Thirty-eight—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> + +<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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT +</H3> + +<P> +Laverick, on the following morning, found many things to think +about. He was accustomed to lunch always at the same restaurant, +within a few yards of his office, and with the same little company +of friends. Just as he was leaving, an outside broker whom he +knew slightly came across the room to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me, Laverick," he asked, "what's become of your partner?" +</P> + +<P> +"He has gone abroad for a few weeks. As a matter of fact, we shall +be announcing a change in the firm shortly." +</P> + +<P> +"Queer thing," the broker remarked. "I was in Liverpool yesterday, +and I could have sworn that I saw him hanging around the docks. I +should never have doubted it, but Morrison was always so careful +about his appearance, and this fellow was such a seedy-looking +individual. I called out to him and he vanished like a streak." +</P> + +<P> +"It could scarcely have been Morrison," Laverick said. "He sailed +several days ago for New York." +</P> + +<P> +"That settles it," the man declared, passing on. "All the same, +it was the most extraordinary likeness I ever saw." +</P> + +<P> +Laverick, on his way back, went into a cable office and wrote out +a marconigram to the Lusitania, +</P> + +<PRE> + Have you passenger Arthur Morrison on board? Reply. +</PRE> + +<P> +He signed his name and paid for an answer. Then he went back to +his office. +</P> + +<P> +"Any one to see me?" he inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Shepherd is here waiting," his clerk told him,—"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 Samson and Delilah?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet, but I am hoping to very shortly." +</P> + +<P> +"To-night," she declared, "you must come to the Opera House. I +leave a box for you at the door. Send me round a note that you +are there, and it is possible that I may see you. It is against +the rules, but for me there are no rules." +</P> + +<P> +Laverick hesitating, she leaned forward and looked into his face. +</P> + +<P> +"You are doing something else?" she protested. "You were, perhaps, +thinking of taking out again the little girl with whom you were +sitting last night?" +</P> + +<P> +"I had half promised—" +</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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES +</H3> + +<P> +Louise left her brougham in Piccadilly and walked across the Green +Park. Bellamy, who was waiting, rose up from a seat, hat in hand. +She took his arm in foreign fashion. They walked together towards +Buckingham Palace—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LAVERICK AT THE OPERA +</H3> + +<P> +Laverick, in presenting his card at the box office at Covent Garden +that evening, did so without the slightest misconception of the +reasons which had prompted Mademoiselle Idiale to beg him to become +her guest. It was sheer curiosity which prompted him to pursue this +adventure. He was perfectly convinced that personally he had no +interest for her. In some way or other he had become connected in +her mind with the murder which had taken place within a few yards of +his office, and in some other equally mysterious manner that murder +had become a subject of interest to her. Either that, or this was +one of the whims of a spoiled and pleasure-surfeited woman. +</P> + +<P> +He found an excellent box reserved for him, and a measure of +courtesy from the attendants not often vouchsafed to an ordinary +visitor. The opera was Samson and Delilah, and even before her +wonderful voice thrilled the house, it seemed to Laverick that no +person more lovely than the woman he had come to see had ever moved +upon any stage. It appeared impossible that movement so graceful +and passionate should remain so absolutely effortless. There +seemed to be some strange power inside the woman. Surely her will +guided her feet! The necessity for physical effort never once +appeared. Notwithstanding the slight prejudice which he had felt +against her, it was impossible to keep his admiration altogether +in check. The fascination of her wonderful presence, and then her +glorious voice, moved him with the rest of the audience. He +clapped as the others did at the end of the first act, and he +leaned forward just as eagerly to catch a glimpse of her when she +reappeared and stood there with that marvelous smile upon her lips, +accepting with faint, deprecating gratitude the homage of the +packed house. +</P> + +<P> +Just before the curtain rose upon the second act, there was a knock +at his box door. One of the attendants ushered in a short man of +somewhat remarkable personality. He was barely five feet in height, +and an extremely fat neck and a corpulent body gave him almost the +appearance of a hunchback. He had black, beady eyes, a black +moustache fiercely turned up, and sallow skin. His white gloves +had curious stitchings on the back not common in England, and his +silk hat, exceedingly glossy, had wider brims than are usually +associated with Bond Street. +</P> + +<P> +Laverick half rose, but the little man spread out one hand and +commenced to speak. His accent was foreign, but, if not an +Englishman, he at any rate spoke the language with confidence. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear sir," he began, "I owe you many apologies. It was +Mademoiselle Idiale's wish that I should make your acquaintance. +My name is Lassen. I have the fortune to be Mademoiselle's business +manager. +</P> + +<P> +"I am very glad to meet you, Mr. Lassen," said Laverick. "Will +you sit down?" +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Lassen thereupon hung his hat upon a peg, removed his overcoat, +straightened his white tie with the aid of a looking-glass, brushed +back his glossy black hair with the palms of his hands, and took +the seat opposite Laverick. His first question was inevitable. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you think of the opera, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is like Mademoiselle Idiale herself," Laverick answered. "It +is above criticism." +</P> + +<P> +"She is," Mr. Lassen said firmly, "the loveliest woman in Europe +and her voice is the most wonderful. It is a great combination, +this. I myself have managed for many stars, I have brought to +England most of those whose names are known during the last ten +years; but there has never been another Louise Idiale,—never will +be." +</P> + +<P> +"I can believe it," Laverick admitted. +</P> + +<P> +"She has wonderful qualities, too," continued Mr. Lassen. "Your +acquaintance with her, I believe, sir, is of the shortest." +</P> + +<P> +"That is so," Laverick answered, a little coldly. He was not +particularly taken with his visitor. +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle has spoken to me of you," the latter proceeded. +"She desired that I should pay my respects during the performance." +</P> + +<P> +"It is very kind of you," Laverick answered. "As a matter of fact, +it is exceedingly kind, also, of Mademoiselle Idiale to insist +upon my coming here to-night. She did me the honor, as you may +know, of paying me a visit in the city this morning." +</P> + +<P> +"So she did tell me," Mr. Lassen declared. "Mademoiselle is a +great woman of business. Most of her investments she controls +herself. She has whims, however, and it never does to contradict +her. She has also, curiously enough, a preference for the men of +affairs." +</P> + +<P> +Laverick had reached that stage when he felt indisposed to discuss +Mademoiselle any longer with a stranger, even though that stranger +should be her manager. He nodded and took up his programme. As +he did so, the curtain rang up upon the next act. Laverick turned +deliberately towards the stage. The little man had paid his respects, +as he put it. Laverick felt disinclined for further conversation +with him. Yet, though his head was turned, he knew very well that +his companion's eyes were fixed upon him. He had an uncomfortable +sense that he was an object of more than ordinary interest to this +visitor, that he had come for some specific object which as yet he +had not declared. +</P> + +<P> +"You will like to go round and see Mademoiselle," the latter +remarked, some time afterwards. +</P> + +<P> +Laverick shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall find another opportunity, I hope, to congratulate her." +</P> + +<P> +"But, my dear sir, she expects to see you," Mr. Lassen protested. +"You are here at her invitation. It is usual, I can assure you." +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle Idiale will perhaps excuse me," Laverick said. "I +have an engagement immediately after the performance is over." +</P> + +<P> +His companion muttered something which Laverick could not catch, +and made some excuse to leave the box a few minutes later. When +he returned, he carried a little, note which he presented to +Laverick with an air of triumph. +</P> + +<P> +"It is as I said!" he exclaimed. "Mademoiselle expects you." +</P> + +<P> +Laverick read the few lines which she had written. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> + I wish to see you after the performance. If you cannot come + round or escort me yourself, will you come later to the restaurant + of Luigi, where, as always, I shall sup. Do not fail. +<BR><BR> + Louise Idiale. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Laverick placed the note in his waistcoat pocket without immediate +remark. Later on he turned to his companion. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you tell Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "that I will do myself +the honor of coming to her at Luigi's restaurant. I have an +engagement after the performance which I must keep." +</P> + +<P> +"You will certainly come?" Lassen asked anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Without a doubt," Laverick promised. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Lassen took up his hat... +</P> + +<P> +"I will go and tell Mademoiselle. For some reason or other she +seemed particularly desirous of seeing you this evening. She has +her whims, and those who have most to do with her, like myself, +find it well to keep them gratified. If I do not see you again, +sir, permit me to wish you good evening." +</P> + +<P> +He disappeared with several bows of his pudgy little person, and +Laverick was left with another puzzle to solve. He was not in the +least conceited, and he did not for a moment misinterpret this +woman's interest in him. Her invitation, he knew very well, was +one which half London would have coveted. Yet it meant nothing +personal, he was sure of that. It simply meant that for some +mysterious reason, the same reason which had prompted her to visit +him in the city he was of interest to her. +</P> + +<P> +At a few minutes before eleven Laverick left the place and drove +to the stage-door of the Universal Theatre. Zoe came out among the +first and paused upon the threshold, looking up and down the street +eagerly. When she recognized him, her smile was heavenly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, how nice of you!" she exclaimed, stepping at once into his +taxicab. "You don't know how different it feels to hope that there +is some one waiting for you and then to find your hope come true. +To-night I was not sure. You had said nothing about it, and yet I +could not help believing that you would be here." +</P> + +<P> +"I was hoping," he said, "that we might have another supper together. +Unfortunately, I have an engagement." +</P> + +<P> +"An engagement?" she repeated, her face falling. +</P> + +<P> +Laverick loved the truth and he seldom hesitated to tell it. +</P> + +<P> +"It is rather an odd thing," he declared. "You remember that woman +at Luigi's last night—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S +</H3> + +<P> +Laverick walked into Luigi's Restaurant at about a quarter to +twelve, and found the place crowded with many little supper-parties +on their way to a fancy dress ball. The demand for tables was far +in excess of the supply, but he had scarcely shown himself before +the head maitre d'hotel came hurrying up. +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle Idiale is waiting for you, sir," he announced at once. +"Will you be so good as to come this way?" +</P> + +<P> +Laverick followed him. She was sitting at the same table as last +night, but she was alone, and it was laid, he noticed with surprise, +only for two. +</P> + +<P> +"You have treated me," she said, as she held out her fingers, "to +a new sensation. I have waited for you alone here for a quarter of +an hour—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 pos session since Wednesday morning." +</P> + +<P> +Laverick drew the sheet towards him and read, in thin, angular +characters, very distinct and plain: +</P> + +<PRE> + Some ten minutes after the assault, a policeman passed down + the street but did not glance toward the passage. The next + person to appear was a gentleman who left some offices on the + same side as the passage, and walked down evidently on his + homeward way. He glanced up the passage and saw the body + lying there. He disappeared for a moment and struck a match. + A minute afterwards he emerged from the passage, looked up and + down the street, and finding it empty returned to the office + from which he had issued, let himself in with his latchkey, + and closed the door behind him. He was there for about ten + minutes. When he reappeared, he walked quickly down the street + and for obvious reasons I was unable to follow him. + + The address of the offices which he left and re-entered was + Messrs. Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers. +</PRE> + +<P> +"That interests you, Mr. Laverick?" she asked softly. +</P> + +<P> +He handed it back to her. +</P> + +<P> +"It interests me very much," he answered. "Who was this unseen +person who wrote from the clouds?" +</P> + +<P> +"I may not tell you all my secrets, Mr. Laverick," she declared. +"What have you done with that twenty thousand pounds?" +</P> + +<P> +Laverick helped himself to champagne. He listened for a moment to +the music, and looked into the wonderful eyes which shone from that +beautiful face a few feet away. Her lips were slightly parted, her +forehead wrinkled. There was nothing of the accuser in her +countenance; a gentle irony was its most poignant expression. +</P> + +<P> +"Is this a fairy tale, Mademoiselle Idiale?" +</P> + +<P> +She shrugged her shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"It might seem so," she answered. "Sometimes I think that all the +time we live two lives,—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE +</H3> + +<P> +It was, in its way, a pathetic sight upon which Laverick gazed when +he stole into that shabby little sitting-room. Zoe had fallen +asleep in a small, uncomfortable easy-chair with its back to the +window. Her supper of bread and milk was half finished, her hat +lay upon the table. A book was upon her lap as though she had +started to read only to find it slip through her fingers. He stood +with his elbow upon the mantelpiece, looking down at her. Her +eyelashes, long and silky, were more beautiful than ever now that +her eyes were closed. Her complexion, pale though she was, seemed +more the creamy pallor of some southern race than the whiteness of +ill-health. The bodice of her dress was open a few inches at the +neck, showing the faint white smoothness of her flawless skin. +Not even her shabby shoes could conceal the perfect shape of her +feet and ankles. Once more he remembered his first simile, his +first thought of her. She seemed, indeed, like some dainty +statuette, uncouthly clad, who had strayed from a world of her +own upon rough days and found herself ill-equipped indeed for the +struggle. His heart grew hot with anger against Morrison as he +stood and watched her. Supposing she had been different! It +would have been his fault, leaving her alone to battle her way +through the most difficult of all lives. Brute! +</P> + +<P> +He had muttered the word half aloud and she suddenly opened her +eyes. At first she seemed bewildered. Then she smiled and sat up. +</P> + +<P> +"I have been asleep!" she exclaimed. +</P> + +<P> +"A most unnecessary statement," he answered, smiling. "I have +been standing looking at you for five minutes at least." +</P> + +<P> +"How fortunate that I gave you the key!" she declared. "I don't +suppose I should ever have heard you. Now please stand there in +the light and let me look at you." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"I want to look at a man who has had supper with Mademoiselle +Idiale." +</P> + +<P> +He shrugged his shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"Am I supposed to be a wanderer out of Paradise, then?" +</P> + +<P> +She looked at him doubtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"They tell strange stories about her," she said; "but oh, she is so +beautiful! If I were a man, I should fall in love with her if she +even looked my way." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I am glad," he answered, "that I am less impressionable." +</P> + +<P> +"And you are not in love with her?" she asked eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Why should I be?" he laughed. "She is like a wonderful picture, a +marvelous statue, if you will. Everything about her is faultless. +But one looks at these things calmly enough, you know. It is life +which stirs life." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think that there is no life in her veins, then?" Zoe asked. +</P> + +<P> +"If there is," he answered, "I do not think that I am the man to stir +it." +</P> + +<P> +She drew a little sigh of content. +</P> + +<P> +"You see," she said, "you are my first admirer, and I haven't the +least desire to let you go." +</P> + +<P> +"Incredible!" he declared. +</P> + +<P> +"But it is true," she answered earnestly. "You would not have me +talk to these boys who come and hang on at the stage-door. The men +to whom I have been introduced by the other girls have been very +few, and they have not been very nice, and they have not cared for +me and I have not cared for them. I think," she said, disconsolately, +"I am too small. Every one to-day seems to like big women. Cora +Sinclair, who is just behind me in the chorus, gets bouquets every +night, and simply chooses with whom she should go out to supper." +</P> + +<P> +Laverick looked grave. +</P> + +<P> +"You are not envying her?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Not in the least, as long as I too am taken out sometimes." +</P> + +<P> +Laverick smiled and sat on the arm of her chair. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Zoe," he said, "I have come because you told me to, just to +prove, you see, that I am not in the toils of Mademoiselle Idiale. +But do you know that it is half past one? I must not stay here any +longer." +</P> + +<P> +She sighed once more. +</P> + +<P> +"You are right," she admitted, "but it is so lonely. I have never +been here without May and her mother. I have never slept alone in +the house before the other night. If I had known that they were +going away, I should never have dared to come here." +</P> + +<P> +"It is too bad," he declared. "Couldn't you get one of the other +girls to stay with you?" +</P> + +<P> +She shook her head. +</P> + +<P> +"There are one or two whom I would like to have," she said, "but +they are all living either at home or with relatives. The others I +am afraid about. They seem to like to sit up so late and—" +</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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED +</H3> + +<P> +On the following morning, Laverick surprised his office cleaner and +one errand-boy by appearing at about a quarter to nine. He found +a woman busy brushing out his room and a man Cleaning the windows. +They stared at him in amazement. His arrival at such an hour was +absolutely unprecedented. +</P> + +<P> +"You can leave the office just as it is, if you please," he told +them. "I have a few things to attend to at once." +</P> + +<P> +He was accordingly left alone. He had reckoned upon this as being +the one period during the day when he could rely upon not being +disturbed. Nevertheless, he locked the door so as to be secure +against any possible intruder. Then he went to his safe, unlocked +it, and drew from its secret drawer the worn brown-leather +pocket-book. +</P> + +<P> +First of all he took out the notes and laid them upon the table. +Then he felt the pocket-book all over and his heart gave a little +leap. It was true what Mademoiselle Idiale had told him. On one +side there was distinctly a rustling as of paper. He opened the +case quite flat and passed his fingers carefully over the lining. +Very soon he found the opening—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> +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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap27"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PENETRATING A MYSTERY +</H3> + +<P> +About an hour after Mademoiselle Idiale's departure a note marked +"Urgent" was brought in and handed to Laverick. He tore it open. +It was dated from the address of a firm of stockbrokers, with two +of the partners of which he was on friendly terms. It ran thus: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> + MY DEAR LAVERICK,—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. +<BR><BR> + J. HENSHAW. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Laverick read the typewritten note carelessly enough at first. He +had even laid it down and glanced at the clock, with the intention +of starting out, when a thought struck him. He took it up and read +it though again. Then he turned to the telephone. +</P> + +<P> +"Put me on to the office of Henshaw & Allen. I want to speak to Mr. +Henshaw particularly." +</P> + +<P> +Two minutes passed. Laverick, meanwhile, had been washing his hands +ready to go out. Then the telephone bell rang. He took up the +receiver. +</P> + +<P> +"Hullo! Is that Henshaw?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm Henshaw," was the answer. "That's Laverick, isn't it? How +are you, old fellow?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm all right," Laverick replied. "What is it that you want to +see me about?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing particular that I know of. Who told you that I wanted to?" +</P> + +<P> +Laverick, who had been standing with the instrument in his hand, sat +down in his chair. +</P> + +<P> +"Look here," he said, "Didn't you send me a note a few minutes ago, +asking me to come out to lunch at a quarter to one and meet you at +Lyons'?" +</P> + +<P> +Henshaw's laugh was sufficient response. +</P> + +<P> +"Delighted to lunch with you there or anywhere, old chap,—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap28"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE +</H3> + +<P> +At precisely a quarter past four, nothing having happened in the +meantime but a steady rush of business, Laverick ordered a taxicab +to be summoned. He then unlocked his safe, placed the pocket-book +securely in his breast pocket, walked through the office, and +directed the man to drive to Chancery Lane. Here at the headquarters +of the Safe Deposit Company he engaged a compartment, and down in +the strong-room locked up the pocket-book. There was only now the +document left. Stepping once more into the street, he found that +his taxicab had vanished. He looked up and down in vain. The man +had not been paid and there seemed to be no reason for his +departure. A policeman who was standing by touched his hat and +addressed him. +</P> + +<P> +"Were you looking for that taxi you stepped out of a few minutes ago, +sir?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I was," Laverick answered. "I hadn't paid him and I told him to +wait." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought there was something queer about it," the policeman +remarked. "Soon after you had gone inside, two gentlemen drove up +in a hansom. They got out here and one of them spoke to your driver, +who shook his head and pointed to his flag. The gent then said +something else to him—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> +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> + +<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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap29"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED +</H3> + +<P> +About twenty minutes past six on the same evening, Bellamy, his +clothes thick with dust, his face dark with anger, jumped lightly +from a sixty horse-power car and rang the bell of the lift at number +15, Dover Street. Arrived on the first floor, he was confronted +almost immediately by the sad-faced man-servant of Mademoiselle +Idiale. +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle is in?" Bellamy asked quickly. +</P> + +<P> +The man's expression was one of sombre regret. +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle is spending the day in the country, sir. Bellamy +took him by the shoulders and flung him against the wall. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," he said, "I've heard that before." +</P> + +<P> +He walked down the passage and knocked softly at the door of Louise's +sleeping apartment. There was no answer. He knocked again and +listened at the key-hole. There was some movement inside but no +one spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Louise," he cried softly, "let me in. It is I—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap30"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS +</H3> + +<P> +Laverick, sitting with Zoe at dinner, caught his companion looking +around the restaurant with an expression in her face which he did +not wholly understand. +</P> + +<P> +"Something is the matter with you this evening, Zoe," he said +anxiously. "Tell me what it is. You don't like this place, perhaps?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I do." +</P> + +<P> +"It is your dinner, then, or me?" he persisted. "Come, out with it. +Haven't we promised to tell each other the truth always?" +</P> + +<P> +The pink color came slowly into her cheeks. Her eyes, raised for a +moment to his, were almost reproachful. +</P> + +<P> +"You know very well that it is not anything to do with you," she +whispered. "You are too kind to me all the time. Only," she went +on, a little hesitatingly, "don't you realize—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> +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> +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> + +<PRE> + To the Cashier at the Milan Hotel,—Deliver to bearer + document deposited with you. STEPHEN LAVERICK. +</PRE> + +<P> +"It is not," he declared promptly. "It is an impudent forgery. +Good God! You don't mean to say that you parted with my property +to—" +</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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap31"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MISS LENEVEU'S MESSAGE +</H3> + +<P> +The two men stepped back into the hotel. The cashier had returned +to his desk, and the incident which had just transpired seemed to +have passed unnoticed. Nevertheless, Laverick felt that the studied +indifference of his companion's manner had its significance, and he +endeavored to imitate it. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall we go through into the bar?" he asked. "There's very seldom +any one there at this time." +</P> + +<P> +"Anywhere you say," Bellamy answered. "It's years since we had a +drink together." +</P> + +<P> +They passed into the inner room and, finding it empty, drew two +chairs into the further corner. Bellamy summoned the waiter. +</P> + +<P> +"Two whiskies and sodas quick, Tim," he ordered. "Now, Laverick, +listen to me," he added, as the waiter turned away. "We are alone +for the moment but it won't be for long. You know very well that +it wasn't to renew our schoolboy acquaintance that I've asked you +to come in here with me." +</P> + +<P> +Laverick drew a little breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Please go on," he said. "I am as anxious as you can be to grasp +this affair properly." +</P> + +<P> +"When we left school," Bellamy remarked, "you were destined for +the Stock Exchange. I went first to Magdalen. Did you ever hear +what became of me afterwards?" +</P> + +<P> +"I always understood," Laverick answered, "that you went into one +of the Government offices." +</P> + +<P> +"Quite right," Bellamy assented. "I did. At this moment I have +the honor to serve His Majesty." +</P> + +<P> +"Two thousand a year and two hours work a day," Laverick laughed. +"I know the sort of thing." +</P> + +<P> +"You evidently don't," Bellamy answered. "I often work twenty +hours a day, I don't get half two thousand a year, and most of +the time I carry my life in my hands. When I am working—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> + "Ring up 1232 Gerrard."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +Laverick frowned, turned over the half sheet of paper and looked +once more at the envelope. Then he passed it on to his companion. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you make of that, Bellamy?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy smiled as he perused and returned it. +</P> + +<P> +"What could any one make of it?" he remarked, laconically. "Do you +know the handwriting?" +</P> + +<P> +"Never saw it before, to my knowledge," Laverick answered. "What +should you do about it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think," Bellamy suggested, "that I should ring up number 1232 +Gerrard." +</P> + +<P> +They crossed the hall and Laverick entered one of the telephone booths. +</P> + +<P> +"1232 Gerrard," he said. +</P> + +<P> +The connection was made almost at once. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you?" Laverick asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I am speaking for Miss Zoe Leneven," was the reply. "Are you Mr. +Laverick?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am," Laverick answered. "Is Miss Leneveu there? Can she speak +to me herself?" +</P> + +<P> +"She is not here," the voice continued. "She was fetched away in +a hurry from the theatre—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap32"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MORRISON IS DESPERATE +</H3> + +<P> +Certainly it was a strange little gathering that waited in Morrison's +room for the coming of Laverick. There was Lassen—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?"<BR> +</P> + +<P> +There was the sound of a motor horn from the street below. Streuss, +with an oath trembling upon his lips, lifted the blind. There were +two motor-cars waiting there—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap33"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LAVERICK S ARREST +</H3> + +<P> +"At last, David!" +</P> + +<P> +Louise welcomed her visitor eagerly with outstretched hands, which +Bellamy raised for a moment to his lips. Then she turned toward the +third person, who had also risen at the opening of the door—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> +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> +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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap34"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE +</H3> + +<P> +Into New Oxford Street, one of the ceaseless streams of polyglot +humanity, came Zoe from her cheerless day bound for the theatre. +She was a little whiter, a little more tired than usual. All day +long she had heard nothing of Laverick. All day long she had sat +in her tiny room with the memory of that horrible night before her. +She had tried in vain to sleep,—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> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> + SENSATIONAL ARREST OF A WELL-KNOWN<BR> + STOCKBROKER. CHARGE OF MURDER.<BR> +</H4> + +<P> +She came to a sudden stop and pulled out her purse. Her fingers +trembled so that the penny fell on to the pavement. The boy picked +it up willingly enough, however, and she passed on with the paper in +her hand. There it was on the front page—staring her in the face: +</P> + +<PRE> + Early yesterday morning Mr. Stephen Laverick, of the firm of + Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers, Old Broad Street, was + arrested at the Milan Hotel on the charge of being concerned + in the murder of a person unknown, in Crooked Friars' Alley, + on Monday last. The accused, who made no reply to the charge, + was removed to Bow Street Police-Station. Particulars of his + examination before the magistrates will be found on page 4. +</PRE> + +<P> +There was a dull singing in her ears. An electric tram, coming up +from the underground passage, seemed to bring with it some sort of +thunder from an unknown world. She staggered on, unseeing, gasping +for breath. If she could find somewhere to sit down! If she could +only rest for a moment! Then a sudden wave of strength came to her, +the blood flowed once more in her veins—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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap35"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BELLAMY'S SUCCESS +</H3> + +<P> +Late that afternoon the hall-porter at the Milan Hotel, the +commissionaire, and the chief maitre d'hotel from the 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> +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> +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> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap36"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LAVERICK ACQUITTED +</H3> + +<P> +At mid-day on the following morning Laverick stepped down from the +dock at Bow Street and, as the evening papers put it, "in company +with his friends left the court." The proceedings altogether took +scarcely more than half-an-hour. Laverick's solicitor first put +Shepherd in the box, who gave his account of Morrison's visit to +the restaurant, spoke of his hurried exit, and identified the knife +which he had seen him snatch up. Cross-examined as to why he had +kept silent, he explained that Mr. Morrison had been a good customer +and he saw no reason why he should give unsolicited evidence which +would cost a man his life. Directly, however, another man had been +accused, the matter appeared to him to be altogether different. He +had come forward the moment he had heard of Laverick's ARREST, to +offer his evidence. +</P> + +<P> +While the opinion of the court was still undecided, Laverick's +solicitor called Miss Zoe Leneveu. A little murmur of interest ran +though the court. Laverick himself started. Zoe stepped into the +witness-box, looking exceedingly pale, and with a bandage over the +upper part of her head. She admitted that she was the half-sister +of Arthur Morrison, although there was no blood relationship. She +described his sudden visit to her rooms on the night of the murder, +and his state of great alarm. She declared that he had confessed +to her on the previous afternoon that he had been guilty of the +murder in question. +</P> + +<P> +Her place in the witness-box was taken by the Honorable David +Bellamy. He declared that the prisoner was an old friend of his, +and that the twenty thousand pounds of which he had been recently +possessed, had come from him for investment in Laverick's business. +The circumstances, he admitted, were somewhat peculiar, and until +negotiations had been concluded Mr. Laverick had doubtless felt +uncertain how to make use of the money. But he assured the court +that there was no person who had any claim to the sum of money in +question save himself, and that he was perfectly aware of the use +to which Laverick had put it. +</P> + +<P> +Laverick was discharged within a very few minutes, and a warrant +was issued for the apprehension of Morrison. Laverick found +Bellamy waiting for him, and was hurried into his motor. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you see," the latter exclaimed, "we kept our word! That +dear plucky little friend of yours turned the scale, but in any +case I think that there would not have been much trouble about the +matter. The magistrate had received a communication direct from +the Home Secretary concerning your case." +</P> + +<P> +"I am very grateful indeed," Laverick declared. "I tell you I +think I am very lucky. I wish I knew what had become of Miss +Leneveu. The usher told me she left the court before we came out." +</P> + +<P> +"I asked her to go straight back to her rooms," Bellamy said. "You +must excuse me for interfering, Laverick, but I found her almost in +a state of collapse last night in Jermyn Street. I was having +Morrison watched, and my man reported to me that he had left his +rooms in a state of great excitement, and that a young lady was +there who appeared to be seriously injured." +</P> + +<P> +"D—d scamp!" Laverick muttered. +</P> + +<P> +"I did everything I could," Bellamy continued. "I fetched her at +once and sent her back to her house with a hospital nurse and some +one to look after her. The wound wasn't serious, but the fellow +must have been a brute indeed to have lifted his hand against such +a child. I wonder whether he'll get away." +</P> + +<P> +"I should doubt it," Laverick remarked. "He hasn't the nerve. +He'll probably get drunk and blow his brains out. He's a +broken-spirited cur, after all." +</P> + +<P> +"You'll have some lunch?" Bellamy asked. +</P> + +<P> +Laverick shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"If you don't mind, I'd like to go on and see Miss Leneveu." +</P> + +<P> +"Put me down at the club, then, and take my car on, if you will." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Laverick walked up and down the pavement outside Zoe's little +house for nearly half-an-hour. He had found the door closed and +locked, and a neighbor had informed him that Miss Leneveu had +gone out in a cab with the nurse, some time ago, and had not +returned. Laverick sent Bellamy's car back and waited. Presently +a four-wheel cab came round the corner and stopped in front of +her house. Laverick opened the door and helped Zoe out. She was +as white as death, and the nurse who was with her was looking +anxious. +</P> + +<P> +"You are safe, then?" she murmured, holding out her hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Quite," he answered. "You dear little girl!" +</P> + +<P> +Zoe had fainted, however, and Laverick hurried out for the doctor. +Curiously enough, it was the same man who only a week or so ago +had come to see Arthur Morrison. +</P> + +<P> +"She has had a bad scalp wound," he declared, "and her nervous +system is very much run down. There is nothing serious. She +seems to have just escaped concussion. The nurse had better stay +with her for another day, at any rate." +</P> + +<P> +"You are sure that it isn't serious?" Laverick asked eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Not in the least," the doctor answered dryly. "I see worse +wounds every day of my life. I'll come again to-morrow, if you like, +but it really isn't necessary with the nurse on the spot." +</P> + +<P> +His natural pessimism was for a moment lightened by the fee which +Laverick pressed upon him, and he departed with a few more +encouraging words. Laverick stayed and talked for a short time +with the nurse. +</P> + +<P> +"She has gone off to sleep now, sir," the latter announced. "There +isn't anything to worry about. She seems as though she had been +having a hard time, though. There was scarcely a thing in the house +but half a packet of tea—and these." +</P> + +<P> +She held up a packet of pawn tickets. +</P> + +<P> +"I found these in a drawer when I came," she said. "I had to look +round, because there was no money and nothing whatever in the house." +</P> + +<P> +Laverick was suddenly conscious of an absurd mistiness before his +eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor little woman!" he murmured. "I think she'd sooner have starved +than ask for help." +</P> + +<P> +The nurse smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought at first that she was rather a vain young lady," she +remarked. "An empty larder and a pile of pawn tickets, and a new +hat with a receipted bill for thirty shillings," she added, pointing +to the sofa. +</P> + +<P> +Laverick placed some notes in her hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Please keep these," he begged, "and see that she has everything she +wants. I shall be here again later in the day. There is not the +slightest need for all this. She will be quite well off for the rest +of her life. Will you try and engage some one for a day or two to +come in until she is able to be moved?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll look after her," the nurse promised. +</P> + +<P> +Laverick went reluctantly away. The events of the last few days were +becoming more and more like a dream to him. He went to his club +almost from habit. Presently the excitement which all London seemed +to be sharing drove his own personal feelings a little into the +background. The air was full of rumors. The Prime Minister and the +Foreign Secretary were spoken of as one speaks of heroes. Nothing +was definitely known, but there was a splendid feeling of confidence +that for once in her history England was preparing to justify her +existence as a great Power. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap37"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PLOT THAT FAILED +</H3> + +<P> +The progress of the Czar from Buckingham Palace to the Mansion +House, where he had, after all, consented to lunch with the Lord +Mayor, witnessed a popular outburst of enthusiasm absolutely +inexplicable to the general public. It was known that affairs in +Central Europe were in a dangerously precarious state, and it was +felt that the Czar's visit here, and the urgent summons which had +brought from St. Petersburg his Foreign Minister, were indications +that the long wished-for entente between Russia and this country +was now actually at hand. There was in the Press a curious +reticence with regard to the development of the political situation. +One felt everywhere that it was the calm before the storm—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 plante la. +If they fight, well, it will be no one-sided affair. They have no +fleet, or rather they will have none in a fortnight's time. They +have no means of landing an army here. Austria, perhaps, can hold +Russia, but with a French army in better shape than it has been for +years, and the English landing as many men as they care to do, with +ease, anywhere on the north coast of Germany, the entire scheme +proved abortive. Come into the club and have a drink, Laverick. +To-day great things have happened to me." +</P> + +<P> +"And to me," Laverick interposed. +</P> + +<P> +"You can guess my news, perhaps," Bellamy said, as they seated +themselves in easy-chairs. "Mademoiselle Idiale has promised to +be my wife." +</P> + +<P> +Laverick held out his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"I congratulate you heartily!" he exclaimed. "I have been an +engaged man myself for something like half-an-hour." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap38"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXVIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A FAREWELL APPEARANCE +</H3> + +<P> +"One thing, at least, these recent adventures should teach whoever +may be responsible for the government of this country," Bellamy +remarked to his wife, as he laid down the morning paper. "For the +first time in many years we have taken the aggressive against Powers +of equal standing. We were always rather good at bullying smaller +countries, but the bare idea of an ultimatum to Germany would have +made our late Premier go lightheaded." +</P> + +<P> +"And yet it succeeded," Louise reminded him. +</P> + +<P> +"Absolutely," he affirmed. "To-day's news makes peace a certainty. +If your country knew everything, Louise, they'd give us a royal +welcome next month." +</P> + +<P> +"You really mean that we are to go there, then?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't exactly one of my privileges," he declared, "to fix upon +the spot where we shall take our belated honeymoon, but I haven't +been in Belgrade for years, and I know you'd like to see your +people." +</P> + +<P> +"It will be more happiness than I ever dreamed of," she murmured. +"Do you think we shall be safe in passing through Vienna?" +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"Remember," he said, "that I am no longer David Bellamy, with a +silver greyhound attached to my watch-chain and an obnoxious +reputation in foreign countries. I am Lord Denchester of +Denchester, a harmless English peer traveling on his honeymoon. +By the way, I hope you like the title." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall love it when I get used to it," she declared. "To be an +English Countess is dazzling, but I do think that I ought not to +go on singing at Covent Garden." +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow will be your last night," he reminded her. "I have asked +Laverick and the dear little girl he is going to marry to come with +me. Afterwards we must all have supper together." +</P> + +<P> +"How nice of you!" she exclaimed. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know about that," Bellamy said, smiling. "I really like +Laverick. He is a decent fellow and a good sort. Incidentally, he +was thundering useful to us, and pretty plucky about it. He +interests me, too, in another way. He is a man who, face to face +with a moral problem, acted exactly as I should have done myself!" +</P> + +<P> +"You mean about the twenty thousand pounds?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +Bellamy assented. +</P> + +<P> +"He was practically dishonest," he pointed out. "He had no right +to use that money and he ought to have taken the pocket-book to the +police-station. If he had done so—that is to say, if he had +waited there for the police, if he had been seen to hold out that +pocket-book, to have discussed it with any one, it is ten to one +that there would have been another tragedy that night. At any +rate, the document would never have come to us." +</P> + +<P> +She smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"My moral judgment is warped," she asserted, "from the fact that +Laverick's decision brought us the document." +</P> + +<P> +He nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps so," he agreed, "and yet, there was the man face to face +with ruin. The use of that money for a few hours did no one any +harm, and saved him. I say that such a deed is always a matter of +calculation, and in this case that he was justified." +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder what he really thinks about it himself," she remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I'll ask him." +</P> + +<P> +But when the time came, and he sat in the box with Laverick and Zoe, +he forgot everything else in the joy of watching the woman whom he +had loved so long. She moved about the stage that night as though +her feet indeed fell upon the air. She appeared to be singing +always with restraint, yet with some new power in her voice, a +quality which even in her simpler notes left the great audience +thrilled. Already there was a rumor that it was her last appearance. +Her marriage to Bellamy had been that day announced in the Morning +Post. When, in the last act, she sang alone on the stage the famous +love song, it seemed to them all that although her voice trembled +more than once, it was a new thing to which they listened. Zoe +found herself clasping Laverick's hand in tremulous excitement. +Bellamy sat like a statue, a little back in the box, his clean-cut +face thrown into powerful relief by the shadows beyond. Yet, as +he listened, his eyes, too, were marvelously soft. The song grew +and grew till, with the last notes, the whole story of an exquisite +and expectant passion seemed trembling in her voice. The last note +came from her lips almost as though unwillingly, and was prolonged +for an extraordinary period. When it died away, its passing seemed +something almost unrealizable. It quivered away into a silence +which lasted for many seconds before the gathering roar of applause +swept the house. And in those last few seconds she had turned and +faced Bellamy. Their eyes met, and the light which flashed from +his seemed answered by the quivering of her throat. It was her +good-bye. She was singing a new love-song, singing her way into +the life of the man whom she loved, singing her way into love +itself. Once more the great house, packed to the ceiling, was worked +up to a state of frenzied excitement. Bellamy was recognized, and +the significance of her song sent a wave of sentiment through the +house whose only possible form of expression took to itself shape in +the frantic greetings which called her to the front again and again. +But the three in the box were silent. Bellamy stood back in the +shadows. Laverick and Zoe seemed suddenly to become immersed in +themselves. Bellamy threw open the door of the box and pointed +outside. +</P> + +<P> +"At Luigi's in half-an-hour," said he softly. "You will excuse me +for a few minutes? I am going to Louise." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVOC *** + +***** This file should be named 2287-h.htm or 2287-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/8/2287/ + +Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. HTML +version by Al Haines. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions 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-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.net/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.net + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</BODY> + +</HTML> + + diff --git a/old/2287.txt b/old/2287.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..62c9b51 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2287.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11619 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: Havoc + +Author: E. Philips Oppenheim + +Posting Date: March 21, 2009 [EBook #2287] +Release Date: August, 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVOC *** + + + + +Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. HTML +version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + +Havoc + + +by + +E. Philips Oppenheim + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I CROWNED HEADS MEET + II ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP" + III "OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP" + IV THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA + V "VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET" + VI VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED + VII "WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES + VIII THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE + IX ROBBING THE DEAD + X BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED + XI VON BEHRLING'S FATE + XII BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL + XIII STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE + XIV ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE + XV LAVERICK'S PARTNER FLEES + XVI THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST + XVII THE PRICE OF SILENCE + XVIII THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL + XIX MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES + XX LAVERICK IS CROSS EXAMINED + XXI MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT + XXII ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES + XXIII LAVERICK AT THE OPERA + XXIV A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S + XXV JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE + XXVI THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED + XXVII PENETRATING A MYSTERY + XXVIII LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE + XXIX LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED + XXX THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS + XXXI MISS LENEVEU'S MESSAGE + XXXII MORRISON IS DESPERATE + XXXIII LAVERICK'S ARREST + XXXIV MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE + XXXV BELLAMY'S SUCCESS + XXXVI LAVERICK ACQUITTED + XXXVII THE PLOT TEAT FAILED + XXXVIII A FAREWELL APPEARANCE + + + + +HAVOC + + +CHAPTER I + +CROWNED HEADS MEET + + +Bellamy, King's Spy, and Dorward, journalist, known to fame in every +English-speaking country, stood before the double window of their +spacious sitting-room, looking down upon the thoroughfare beneath. +Both men were laboring under a bitter sense of failure. Bellamy's +face was dark with forebodings; Dorward was irritated and nervous. +Failure was a new thing to him--a thing which those behind the +great journals which he represented understood less, even, than he. +Bellamy loved his country, and fear was gnawing at his heart. + +Below, the crowds which had been waiting patiently for many hours +broke into a tumult of welcoming voices. Down their thickly-packed +lines the volume of sound arose and grew, a faint murmur at first, +swelling and growing to a thunderous roar. Myriads of hats were +suddenly torn from the heads of the excited multitude, handkerchiefs +waved from every window. It was a wonderful greeting, this. + +"The Czar on his way to the railway station," Bellamy remarked. + +The broad avenue was suddenly thronged with a mass of soldiery--guardsmen +of the most famous of Austrian regiments, brilliant in their white +uniforms, their flashing helmets. The small brougham with its +great black horses was almost hidden within a ring of naked steel. +Dorward, an American to the backbone and a bitter democrat, thrust +out his under-lip. + +"The Anointed of the Lord!" he muttered. + +Far away from some other quarter came the same roar of voices, +muffled yet insistent, charged with that faint, exciting timbre +which seems always to live in the cry of the multitude. + +"The Emperor," declared Bellamy. "He goes to the West station." + +The commotion had passed. The crowds in the street below were on +the move, melting away now with a muffled trampling of feet and a +murmur of voices. The two men turned from their window back into +the room. Dorward commenced to roll a cigarette with yellow-stained, +nervous fingers, while Bellamy threw himself into an easy-chair with +a gesture of depression. + +"So it is over, this long-talked-of meeting," he said, half to +himself, half to Dorward. "It is over, and Europe is left to wonder." + +"They were together for scarcely more than an hour," Dorward murmured. + +"Long enough," Bellamy answered. "That little room in the Palace, +my friend, may yet become famous." + +"If you and I could buy its secrets," Dorward remarked, finally +shaping a cigarette and lighting it, "we should be big bidders, I +think. I'd give fifty thousand dollars myself to be able to cable +even a hundred words of their conversation." + +"For the truth," Bellamy said, "the whole truth, there could be no +price sufficient. We made our effort in different directions, both +of us. With infinite pains I planted--I may tell you this now that +the thing is over--seven spies in the Palace. They have been of +as much use as rabbits. I don't believe that a single one of them +got any further than the kitchens." + +Dorward nodded gloomily. + +"I guess they weren't taking any chances up there," he remarked. +"There wasn't a secretary in the room. Carstairs was nearly thrown +out, and he had a permit to enter the Palace. The great staircase +was held with soldiers, and Dick swore that there were Maxims in the +corridors." + +Bellamy sighed. + +"We shall hear the roar of bigger guns before we are many months +older, Dorward," he declared. + +The journalist glanced at his friend keenly. "You believe that?" + +Bellamy shrugged his shoulders. + +"Do you suppose that this meeting is for nothing?" he asked. "When +Austria, Germany and Russia stand whispering in a corner, can't you +believe it is across the North Sea that they point? Things have +been shaping that way for years, and the time is almost ripe." + +"You English are too nervous to live, nowadays," Dorward declared +impatiently. "I'd just like to know what they said about America." + +Bellamy smiled with faint but delicate irony. + +"Without a doubt, the Prince will tell you," he said. "He can +scarcely do more to show his regard for your country. He is giving +you a special interview--you alone out of about two hundred +journalists. Very likely he will give you an exact account of +everything that transpired. First of all, he will assure you that +this meeting has been brought about in the interests of peace. He +will tell you that the welfare of your dear country is foremost in +the thoughts of his master. He will assure you--" + +"Say, you're jealous, my friend," Dorward interrupted calmly. "I +wonder what you'd give me for my ten minutes alone with the +Chancellor, eh?" + +"If he told me the truth," Bellamy asserted, "I'd give my life for +it. For the sort of stuff you're going to hear, I'd give nothing. +Can't you realize that for yourself, Dorward? You know the man--false +as Hell but with the tongue of a serpent. He will grasp your +hand; he will declare himself glad to speak through you to the great +Anglo-Saxon races--to England and to his dear friends the Americans. +He is only too pleased to have the opportunity of expressing himself +candidly and openly. Peace is to be the watchword of the future. +The white doves have hovered over the Palace. The rulers of the +earth have met that the crash of arms may be stilled and that this +terrible unrest which broods over Europe shall finally be broken up. +They have pledged themselves hand in hand to work together for this +object,--Russia, broken and humiliated, but with an immense army +still available, whose only chance of holding her place among the +nations is another and a successful war; Austria, on fire for the +seaboard--Austria, to whom war would give the desire of her +existence; Germany, with Bismarck's last but secret words written in +letters of fire on the walls of her palaces, in the hearts of her +rulers, in the brain of her great Emperor. Colonies! Expansion! +Empire! Whose colonies, I wonder? Whose empire? Will he tell you +that, my friend Dorward?" + +The journalist shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the clock. + +"I guess he'll tell me what he chooses and I shall print it," he +answered indifferently. "It's all part of the game, of course. I +am not exactly chicken enough to expect the truth. All the same, +my message will come from the lips of the Chancellor immediately +after this wonderful meeting." + +"He makes use of you," Bellamy declared, "to throw dust into our +eyes and yours." + +"Even so," Dorward admitted, "I don't care so long as I get the +copy. It's good-bye, I suppose?" + +Bellamy nodded. + +"I shall go on to Berlin, perhaps, to-morrow," he said. "I can do +no more good here. And you?" + +"After I've sent my cable I'm off to Belgrade for a week, at any +rate," Dorward answered. "I hear the women are forming rifle +clubs all through Servia." + +Bellamy smiled thoughtfully. + +"I know one who'll want a place among the leaders," he murmured. + +"Mademoiselle Idiale, I suppose?" + +Bellamy assented. + +"It's a queer position hers, if you like," he said. "All Vienna +raves about her. They throng the Opera House every night to hear +her sing, and they pay her the biggest salary which has ever been +known here. Three parts of it she sends to Belgrade to the Chief +of the Committee for National Defence. The jewels that are sent her +anonymously go to the same place, all to buy arms to fight these +people who worship her. I tell you, Dorward," he added, rising to +his feet and walking to the window, "the patriotism of these people +is something we colder races scarcely understand. Perhaps it is +because we have never dwelt under the shadow of a conqueror. If +ever Austria is given a free hand, it will be no mere war upon which +she enters,--it will be a carnage, an extermination!" + +Dorward looked once more at the clock and rose slowly to his feet. + +"Well," he said, "I mustn't keep His Excellency waiting. Good-bye, +and cheer up, Bellamy! Your old country isn't going to turn up +her heels yet." + +Out he went--long, lank, uncouth, with yellow-stained fingers and +hatchet-shaped, gray face--a strange figure but yet a power. +Bellamy remained. For a while he seemed doubtful how to pass the +time. He stood in front of the window, watching the dispersal of +the crowds and the marching by of a regiment of soldiers, whose +movements he followed with critical interest, for he, too, had been +in the service. He had still a military bearing,--tall, and with +complexion inclined to be dusky, a small black moustache, dark eyes, +a silent mouth,--a man of many reserves. Even his intimates knew +little of him. Nevertheless, his was the reticence which befitted +well his profession. + +After a time he sat down and wrote some letters. He had just +finished when there came a sharp tap at the door. Before he could +open his lips some one had entered. He heard the soft swirl of +draperies and turned sharply round, then sprang to his feet and +held out both his hands. There was expression in his face now--as +much as he ever suffered to appear there. + +"Louise!" he exclaimed. "What good fortune!" + +She held his fingers for a moment in a manner which betokened a +more than common intimacy. Then she threw herself into an +easy-chair and raised her thick veil. Bellamy looked at her for a +moment in sorrowful silence. There were violet lines underneath +her beautiful eyes, her cheeks were destitute of any color. There +was an abandonment of grief about her attitude which moved him. +She sat as one broken-spirited, in whom the power of resistance was +dead. + +"It is over, then," she said softly, "this meeting. The word has +been spoken." + +He came and stood by her side. + +"As yet," he reminded her, "we do not know what that word may be." + +She shook her head mournfully. + +"Who can doubt?" she exclaimed. "For myself, I feel it in the air! +I can see it in the faces of the people who throng the city! I can +hear it in the peals of those awful bells! You know nothing? You +have heard nothing?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"I did all that was humanly possible," he said, dropping his voice. +"An Englishman in Vienna to-day has very little opportunity. I +filled the Palace with spies, but they hadn't a dog's chance. There +wasn't even a secretary present. The Czar, the two Emperors and the +Chancellor,--not another soul was in the room." + +"If only Von Behrling had been taken!" she exclaimed. "He was there +in reserve, I know, as stenographer. I have but to lift my hand +and it is enough. I would have had the truth from him, whatever it +cost me." + +Bellamy looked at her thoughtfully. It was not for nothing that +the Press of every European nation had called her the most beautiful +woman in the world. He frowned slightly at her last words, for he +loved her. + +"Von Behrling was not even allowed to cross the threshold," he said +sharply. + +She moved her head and looked up at him. She was leaning a little +forward now, her chin resting upon her hands. Something about the +lines of her long, supple body suggested to him the savage animal +crouching for a spring. She was quiet, but her bosom was heaving, +and he could guess at the passion within. With purpose he spoke to +set it loose. + +"You sing to-night?" he asked. + +"Before God, no!" she answered, the anger blazing out of her eyes, +shaking in her voice. "I sing no more in this accursed city!" + +"There will be a revolution," Bellamy remarked. "I see that the +whole city is placarded with notices. It is to be a gala night at +the Opera. The royal party is to be present." + +Her body seemed to quiver like a tree shaken by the wind. + +"What do I care--I--I--for their gala night! If I were like +Samson, if I could pull down the pillars of their Opera House and +bury them all in its ruins, I would do it!" + +He took her hand and smoothed it in his. + +"Dear Louise, it is useless, this. You do everything that can be +done for your country." + +Her eyes were streaming and her fingers sought his. + +"My friend David," she said, "you do not understand. None of you +English yet can understand what it is to crouch in the shadow of +this black fear, to feel a tyrant's hand come creeping out, to know +that your life-blood and the life-blood of all your people must be +shed, and shed in vain. To rob a nation of their liberty, ah! it +is worse, this, than murder,--a worse crime than his who stains +the soul of a poor innocent girl! It is a sin against nature +herself!" + +She was sobbing now, and she clutched his hands passionately. + +"Forgive me," she murmured, "I am overwrought. I have borne up +against this thing so long. I can do no more good here. I come +to tell you that I go away till the time comes. I go to your +London. They want me to sing for them there. I shall do it." + +"You will break your engagement?" + +She laughed at him scornfully. + +"I am Idiale," she declared. "I keep no engagement if I do not +choose. I will sing no more to this people whom I hate. My friend +David, I have suffered enough. Their applause I loathe--their +covetous eyes as they watch me move about the stage--oh, I could +strike them all dead! They come to me, these young Austrian +noblemen, as though I were already one of a conquered race. I keep +their diamonds but I destroy their messages. Their jewels go to +my chorus girls or to arm my people. But no one of them has had a +kind word from me save where there has been something to be gained. +Even Von Behrling I have fooled with promises. No Austrian shall +ever touch my lips--I have sworn it!" + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Yes," he assented, "they call you cold here in the capital! Even +in the Palace--" + +She held out her hand. + +"It is finished!" she declared. "I sing no more. I have sent word +to the Opera House. I came here to be in hiding for a while. They +will search for me everywhere. To-night or to-morrow I leave for +England." + +Bellamy stood thoughtfully silent. + +"I am not sure that you are wise," he said. "You take it too much +for granted that the end has come." + +"And do you not yourself believe it?" she demanded. He hesitated. + +"As yet there is no proof," he reminded her. + +"Proof!" + +She sat upright in her chair. Her hands thrust him from her, her +bosom heaved, a spot of color flared in her cheeks. + +"Proof!" she cried. "What do you suppose, then, that these wolves +have plotted for? What else do you suppose could be Austria's share +of the feast? Couldn't you hear our fate in the thunder of their +voices when that miserable monarch rode back to his captivity? We +are doomed--betrayed! You remember the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, +a blood-stained page of history for all time. The world would tell +you that we have outlived the age of such barbarous doings. It is +not true. My friend David, it is not true. It is a more terrible +thing, this which is coming. Body and soul we are to perish." + +He came over to her side once more and laid his hand soothingly on +hers. It was heart-rending to witness the agony of the woman he +loved. + +"Dear Louise," he said, "after all, this is profitless. There may +yet be compromises." + +She suffered her hand to remain in his, but the bitterness did not +pass out of her face or tone. + +"Compromises!" she repeated. "Do you believe, then, that we are +like those ancient races who felt the presence of a conqueror +because their hosts were scattered in battle, and who suffered +themselves passively to be led into captivity? My country can be +conquered in one way, and one way only,--not until her sons, ay, +and her daughters too, have perished, can these people rule. They +will come to an empty and a stricken country--a country red with +blood, desolate, with blackened houses and empty cities. The +horror of it! Think, my friend David, the horror of it!" + +Bellamy threw his head back with a sudden gesture of impatience. + +"You take too much for granted," he declared. "England, at any +rate, is not yet a conquered race. And there is France--Italy, +too, if she is wise, will never suffer this thing from her ancient +enemy." + +"It is the might of the world which threatens," she murmured. +"Your country may defend herself, but here she is powerless. +Already it has been proved. Last year you declared yourself our +friend--you and even Russia. Of what avail was it? Word came +from Berlin and you were powerless." + +Then tragedy broke into the room, tragedy in the shape of a man +demented. For fifteen years Bellamy had known Arthur Dorward, but +this man was surely a stranger! He was hatless, dishevelled, wild. +A dull streak of color had mounted almost to his forehead, his eyes +were on fire. + +"Bellamy!" he cried. "Bellamy!" + +Words failed him suddenly. He leaned against the table, breathless, +panting heavily. + +"For God's sake, man," Bellamy began,-- + +"Alone!" Dorward interrupted. "I must see you alone! I have news!" + +Mademoiselle Idiale rose. She touched Bellamy on the shoulder. + +"You will come to me, or telephone," she whispered. "So?" + +Bellamy opened the door and she passed out, with a farewell pressure +of his fingers. Then he closed it firmly and came back. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP" + + +"What's wrong, old man?" Bellamy asked quickly. + +Dorward from a side table had seized the bottle of whiskey and a +siphon, and was mixing himself a drink with trembling fingers. He +tossed it off before he spoke a word. Then he turned around and +faced his companion. "Bellamy," he ordered, "lock the door." + +Bellamy obeyed. He had no doubt now but that Dorward had lost his +head in the Chancellor's presence--had made some absurd attempt to +gain the knowledge which they both craved, and had failed. + +"Bellamy," Dorward exclaimed, speaking hoarsely and still a little +out of breath, "I guess I've had the biggest slice of luck that was +ever dealt out to a human being. If only I can get safe out of +this city, I tell you I've got the greatest scoop that living man +ever handled." + +"You don't mean that--" + +Dorward wiped his forehead and interrupted. + +"It's the most amazing thing that ever happened," he declared, "but +I've got it here in my pocket, got it in black and white, in the +Chancellor's own handwriting." + +"Got what?" + +"Why, what you and I, an hour ago, would have given a million for," +Dorward replied. + +Bellamy's expression was one of blank but wondering incredulity. + +"You can't mean this, Dorward!" he exclaimed. "You may have +something--just what the Chancellor wants you to print. You're +not supposing for an instant that you've got the whole truth?" + +Dorward's smile was the smile of certainty, his face that of a +conqueror. + +"Here in my pocket," he declared, striking his chest, "in the +Chancellor's own handwriting. I tell you I've got the original +verbatim copy of everything that passed and was resolved upon this +afternoon between the Czar of Russia, the Emperor of Austria and +the Emperor of Germany. I've got it word for word as the Chancellor +took it down. I've got their decision. I've got their several +undertakings." + +Bellamy for a moment was stricken dumb. He looked toward the door +and back into his friend's face aglow with triumph. Then his power +of speech returned. + +"Do you mean to say that you stole it?" + +Dorward struck the table with his fist. + +"Not I! I tell you that the Chancellor gave it to me, gave it to +me with his own hands, willingly,--pressed it upon me. No, don't +scoff!" he went on quickly. "Listen! This is a genuine thing. +The Chancellor's mad. He was lying in a fit when I left the Palace. +It will be in all the evening papers. You will hear the boys +shouting it in the streets within a few minutes. Don't interrupt +and I'll tell you the whole truth. You can believe me or not, as +you like. It makes no odds. I arrived punctually and was shown up +into the anteroom. Even from there I could hear loud voices in the +inner chamber and I knew that something was up. Presently a little +fellow came out to me--a dark-bearded chap with gold-rimmed glasses. +He was very polite, introduced himself as the Chancellor's physician, +regretted exceedingly that the Chancellor was unwell and could see +no one,--the excitement and hard work of the last few days had +knocked him out. Well, I stood there arguing as pleasantly as I +could about it, and then all of a sudden the door of the inner room +was thrown open. The Chancellor himself stood on the threshold. +There was no doubt about his being ill; his face was as pale as +parchment, his eyes were simply wild, and his hair was all ruffled +as though he had been standing upon his head. He began to talk to +the physician in German. I didn't understand him until he began to +swear,--then it was wonderful! In the end he brushed them all +away and, taking me by the arm, led me right into the inner room. +For a long time he went on jabbering away half to himself, and I +was wondering how on earth to bring the conversation round to the +things I wanted to know about. Then, all of a sudden, he turned to +me and seemed to remember who I was and what I wanted. 'Ah!' he +said, 'you are Dorward, the American journalist. I remember you now. +Lock the door.' I obeyed him pretty quick, for I had noticed they +were mighty uneasy outside, and I was afraid they'd be disturbing +us every moment. 'Come and sit down,' he ordered. I did so at +once. 'You're a sensible fellow,' he declared. 'To-day every one +is worrying me. They think that I am not well. It is foolish. I +am quite well. Who would not be well on such a day as this?' I +told him that I had never seen him looking better in my life, and +he nodded and seemed pleased. 'You have come to hear the truth +about the meeting of my master with the Czar and the Emperor of +Germany?' he asked. 'That's so,' I told him. 'America's more +than a little interested in these things, and I want to know what +to tell her.' Then he leaned across the table. 'My young friend,' +he said, 'I like you. You are straightforward. You speak plainly +and you do not worry me. It is good. You shall tell your country +what it is that we have planned, what the things are that are +coming. Yours is a great and wise country. When they know the +truth, they will remember that Europe is a long way off and that +the things which happen there are really no concern of theirs.' +'You are right,' I assured him,--'dead right. Treat us openly, +that's all we ask.' 'Shall I not do that, my young friend?' he +answered. 'Now look, I give you this.' He fumbled through all his +pockets and at last he drew out a long envelope, sealed at both ends +with black sealing wax on which was printed a coat of arms with two +tigers facing each other. He looked toward the door cautiously, and +there was just that gleam in his eyes which madmen always have. +'Here it is,' he whispered, 'written with my own hand. This will +tell you exactly what passed this afternoon. It will tell you our +plans. It will tell you of the share which my master and the other +two are taking. Button it up safely,' he said, 'and, whatever you +do, do not let them know outside that you have got it. Between +you and me,' he went on, leaning across the table, 'something seems +to have happened to them all to-day. There's my old doctor there. +He is worrying all the time, but he himself is not well. I can see +it whenever he comes near me.' I nodded as though I understood and +the Chancellor tapped his forehead and grinned. Then I got up as +casually as I could, for I was terribly afraid that he wouldn't let +me go. We shook hands, and I tell you his fingers were like pieces +of burning coal. Just as I was moving, some one knocked at the +door. Then he began to storm again, kicked his chair over, threw a +paperweight at the window, and talked such nonsense that I couldn't +follow him. I unlocked the door myself and found the doctor there. +I contrived to look as frightened as possible. 'His Highness is not +well enough to talk to me,' I whispered. 'You had better look after +him.' I heard a shout behind and a heavy fall. Then I closed the +door and slipped away as quietly as I could--and here I am." + +Bellamy drew a long breath. + +"My God, but this is wonderful!" he muttered. "How long is it +since you left the Palace?" + +"About ten minutes or a quarter of an hour," Dorward answered. + +"They'll find it out at once," declared the other. "They'll miss +the paper. Perhaps he'll tell them himself that he has given it to +you. Don't let us run any risks, Dorward. Tear it open. Let us +know the truth, at any rate. If you have to part with the document, +we can remember its contents. Out with it, man, quick! They may +be here at any moment." + +Dorward drew a few steps back. Then he shook his head. + +"I guess not," he said firmly. + +Bellamy regarded his friend in blank and uncomprehending amazement. + +"What do you mean?" he exclaimed. "You're not going to keep it to +yourself? You know what it means to me--to England?" + +"Your old country can look after herself pretty well," Dorward +declared. "Anyhow, she'll have to take her chance. I am not here +as a philanthropist. I am an American journalist, and I'll part to +nobody with the biggest thing that's ever come into any man's bands." + +Bellamy, with a tremendous effort, maintained his self-control. + +"What are you going to do with it?" he asked quickly. "I tell you +I'm off out of the country to-night," Dorward declared. "I shall +head for England. Pearce is there himself, and I tell you it will +be just the greatest day of my life when I put this packet in his +hand. We'll make New York hum, I can promise you, and Europe too." + +Bellamy's manner was perfectly quiet--too quiet to be altogether +natural. His hand was straying towards his pocket. + +"Dorward," he said, speaking rapidly, and keeping his back to the +door, "you don't realize what you're up against. This sort of thing +is new to you. You haven't a dog's chance of leaving Vienna alive +with that in your pocket. If you trust yourself in the Orient +Express to-night, you'll never be allowed to cross the frontier. +By this time they know that the packet is missing; they know, too, +that you are the only man who could have it, whether the Chancellor +has told them the truth or not. Open it at once so that we get some +good out of it. Then we'll go round to the Embassy. We can slip +out by the back way, perhaps. Remember I have spent my life in the +service, and I tell you that there's no other place in the city +where your life is worth a snap of the fingers but at your Embassy +or mine. Open the packet, man." + +"I think not," Dorward answered firmly. "I am an American citizen. +I have broken no laws and done no one any harm. If there's any +slaughtering about, I guess they'll hesitate before they begin with +Arthur Dorward.... Don't be a fool, man!" + +He took a quick step backward,--he was looking into the muzzle of +Bellamy's revolver. + +"Dorward," the latter exclaimed, "I can't help it! Yours is only +a personal ambition--I stand for my country. Share the knowledge +of that packet with me or I shall shoot." + +"Then shoot and be d--d to you!" Dorward declared fiercely. "This +is my show, not yours. You and your country can go to--" + +He broke off without finishing his sentence. There was a thunderous +knocking at the door. The two men looked at one another for a +moment, speechless. Then Bellamy, with a smothered oath, replaced +the revolver in his pocket. + +"You've thrown away our chance," he said bitterly. + +The knocking was repeated. When Bellamy with a shrug of the +shoulders answered the summons, three men in plain clothes entered. +They saluted Bellamy, but their eyes were traveling around the room. + +"We are seeking Herr Dorward, the American journalist!" one exclaimed. +"He was here but a moment ago." + +Bellamy pointed to the inner door. He had had too much experience +in such matters to attempt any prevarication. The three men crossed +the room quickly and Bellamy followed in the rear. He heard a cry +of disappointment from the foremost as he opened the door. The inner +room was empty! + + + + +CHAPTER III + +"OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP" + + +Louise looked up eagerly as he entered. + +"There is news!" she exclaimed. "I can see it in your face." + +"Yes," Bellamy answered, "there is news! That is why I have come. +Where can we talk?" + +She rose to her feet. Before them the open French windows led on +to a smooth green lawn. She took his arm. + +"Come outside with me," she said. "I am shut up here because I +will not see the doctors whom they send, or any one from the Opera +House. An envoy from the Palace has been and I have sent him away." + +"You mean to keep your word, then?" + +"Have I ever broken it? Never again will I sing in this City. It +is so." + +Bellamy looked around. The garden of the villa was enclosed by +high gray stone walls. They were secure here, at least, from +eavesdroppers. She rested her fingers lightly upon his arm, holding +up the skirts of her loose gown with her other hand. + +"I have spoken to you," he said, "of Dorward, the American journalist." + +She nodded. + +"Of course," she assented. "You told me that the Chancellor had +promised him an interview for to-day." + +"Well, he went to the Palace and the Chancellor saw him.". + +She looked at him with upraised eyebrows. + +"The newspapers are full of lies as usual, then, I suppose. The +latest telegrams say that the Chancellor is dangerously ill." + +"It is quite true," Bellamy declared. "What I am going to tell you +is surprising, but I had it from Dorward himself. When he reached +the Palace, the Chancellor was practically insane. His doctors were +trying to persuade him to go to his room and lie down, but he heard +Dorward's voice and insisted upon seeing him. The man was mad--on +the verge of a collapse--and he handed over to Dorward his notes, +and a verbatim report of all that passed at the Palace this morning." + +She looked at him incredulously. + +"My dear David!" she exclaimed. + +"It is amazing," he admitted, "but it is the truth. I know it for +a fact. The man was absolutely beside himself, he had no idea what +he was doing." + +"Where is it?" she asked quickly. "You have seen it?" + +"Dorward would not give it up," he said bitterly. "While we argued +in our sitting-room at the hotel the police arrived. Dorward escaped +through the bedroom and down the service stairs. He spoke of trying +to catch the Orient Express to-night, but I doubt if they will ever +let him leave the city." + +"It is wonderful, this," she murmured softly. "What are you going +to do?" + +"Louise, you and I have few secrets from each other. I would have +killed Dorward to obtain that sealed envelope, because I believe +that the knowledge of its contents in London to-day would save us +from disaster. To know how far each is pledged, and from which +direction the first blow is to come, would be our salvation." + +"I cannot understand," she said, "why he should have refused to +share his knowledge with you. He is an American--it is almost the +same thing as being an Englishman. And you are friends,--I am +sure that you have helped him often." + +"It was a matter of vanity--simply cursed vanity," Bellamy answered. +"It would have been the greatest journalistic success of modern +times for him to have printed that document, word for word, in his +paper. He fights for his own hand alone." + +"And you?" she whispered. + +"He will have to reckon with me," Bellamy declared. "I know that he +is going to try and leave Vienna to-night, and if he does I shall be +at his heels." + +She nodded her head thoughtfully. + +"I, too," she announced. "I come with you, my friend. I do no +more good here, and they worry my life out all the time. I come to +sing in London at Covent Garden. I have agreements there which only +await my signature. We will go together; is it not so?" + +"Very well," he answered, "only remember that my movements must +depend very largely upon Dorward's. The train leaves at eight +o'clock, station time. I have already a coupe reserved." + +"I come with you," she murmured. "I am very weary of this city." + +They walked on for a few paces in silence. Bellamy looked around +the gardens, brilliant with flowering shrubs and rose trees, with +here and there some delicate piece of statuary half-hidden amongst +the wealth of foliage. The villa had once belonged to a royal +favorite, and the grounds had been its chief glory. They reached +a sheltered seat and sat down. A few yards away a tiny waterfall +came tumbling over the rocks into a deep pool. They were hidden +from the windows of the villa by the boughs of a drooping chestnut +tree. Bellamy stooped and kissed her upon the lips. + +"Ours is a strange courtship, Louise," he whispered softly. + +She took his hand in hers and smoothed it. She had returned his +kiss, but she drew a little further away from him. + +"Ah! my dear friend," looking at him with sorrow in her eyes, +"courtship is scarcely the word, is it? For you and me there is +nothing to hope for, nothing beyond." + +He leaned towards her. + +"Never believe that," he begged. "These days are dark enough, +Heaven knows, yet the work of every one has its goal. Even our +turn may come." + +Something flickered for a moment in her face, something which seemed +to make a different woman of her. Bellamy saw it, and hardened +though he was he felt the slow stirring of his own pulses. He +kissed her hand passionately and she shivered. + +"We must not talk of these things," she said. "We must not think +of them. At least our friendship has been wonderful. Now I must +go in. I must tell my maid and arrange to steal away to-night." + +They stood up, and he held her in his arms for a moment. Though her +lips met his freely enough, he was very conscious of the reserve +with which she yielded herself to him, conscious of it and thankful, +too. They walked up the path together, and as they went she plucked +a red rose and thrust it through his buttonhole. + +"If we had no dreams," she said softly, "life would not be possible. +Perhaps some day even we may pluck roses together." + +He raised her fingers to his lips. It was not often that they +lapsed into sentiment. When she spoke again it was finished. + +"You had better leave," she told him, "by the garden gate. There +are the usual crowd in my anteroom, and it is well that you and I +are not seen too much together." + +"Till this evening," he whispered, as he turned away. "I shall be at +the station early. If Dorward is taken, I shall still leave Vienna. +If he goes, it may be an eventful journey." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA + + +Dorwood, whistling softly to himself, sat in a corner of his coupe +rolling innumerable cigarettes. He was a man of unbounded courage +and wonderful resource, but with a slightly exaggerated idea as +to the sanctity of an American citizen. He had served his +apprenticeship in his own country, and his name had become a +household word owing to his brilliant success as war correspondent +in the Russo-Japanese War. His experience of European countries, +however, was limited. After the more obvious dangers with which +he had grappled and which he had overcome during his adventurous +career, he was disposed to be a little contemptuous of the subtler +perils at which his friend Bellamy had plainly hinted. He had made +his escape from the hotel without any very serious difficulty, and +since that time, although he had taken no particular precautions, +he had remained unmolested. From his own point of view, therefore, +it was perhaps only reasonable that he should no longer have any +misgiving as to his personal safety. ARREST as a thief was the +worst which he had feared. Even that he seemed now to have evaded. + +The coupe was exceedingly comfortable and, after all, he had had a +somewhat exciting day. He lit a cigarette and stretched himself +out with a murmur of immense satisfaction. He was close upon the +great triumph of his life. He was perfectly content to lie there +and look out upon the flying landscape, upon which the shadows were +now fast descending. He was safe, absolutely safe, he assured +himself. Nevertheless, when the door of his coupe was opened, he +started almost like a guilty man. The relief in his face as he +recognized his visitor was obvious. It was Bellamy who entered +and dropped into a seat by his side. + +"Wasting your time, aren't you?" the latter remarked, pointing to +the growing heap of cigarettes. + +"Well, I guess not," Dorward answered. "I can smoke this lot before +we reach London." + +Bellamy smiled enigmatically. + +"I don't think that you will," he said. + +"Why not?" + +"You are such a sanguine person," Bellamy sighed. "Personally, I +do not think that there is the slightest chance of your reaching +London at all." + +Dorward laughed scornfully. + +"And why not?" he asked. + +Bellamy merely shrugged his shoulders. Dorward seemed to find the +gesture irritating. + +"You've got espionage on the brain, my dear friend," he declared +dryly. "I suppose it's the result of your profession. I may not +know so much about Europe as you do, but I am inclined to think +that an American citizen traveling with his passport on a train +like this is moderately safe, especially when he's not above a +scrap by way of taking care of himself." + +"You're a plucky fellow," remarked Bellamy. + +"I don't see any pluck about it. In Vienna, I must admit, I +shouldn't have been surprised if they'd tried to fake up some sort +of charge against me, but anyhow they didn't. Guess they'd find +it a pretty tall order trying to interfere with an American citizen." + +Bellamy looked at his friend curiously. + +"I suppose you're not bluffing, by any chance, Dorward?" he said. +"You really believe what you say?" + +"Why in thunder shouldn't I?" Dorward asked. + +Bellamy sighed. + +"My dear Dorward," he said, "it is amazing to me that a man of your +experience should talk and behave like a baby. You've taken some +notice of your fellow-passengers, I suppose?" + +"I've seen a few of them," Dorward answered carelessly. "What about +them?" + +"Nothing much," Bellamy declared, "except that there are, to my +certain knowledge, three high officials of the Secret Police of +Austria in the next coupe but one, and at least four or five of +their subordinates somewhere on board the train." + +Dorward withdrew his cigarette from his mouth and looked at his +friend keenly. + +"I guess you're trying to scare me, Bellamy," he remarked. + +But Bellamy was suddenly grave. There had come into his face an +utterly altered expression. His tone, when he spoke, was almost +solemn. + +"Dorward," he said, "upon my honor, I assure you that what I have +told you is the truth. I cannot seem to make you realize the +seriousness of your position. When you left the Palace with that +paper in your pocket, you were, to all intents and purposes, a +doomed man. Your passport and your American citizenship count for +absolutely nothing. I have come in to warn you that if you have +any last messages to leave, you had better give them to me now." + +"This is a pretty good bluff you're putting up!" Dorward exclaimed +contemptuously. "The long and short of it is, I suppose, that you +want me to break the seal of this document and let you read it." + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"It is too late for that, Dorward," he said. "If the seal were +broken, they'd very soon guess where I came in, and it wouldn't help +the work I have in hand for me to be picked up with a bullet in my +forehead on the railway track." + +Dorward frowned uneasily. + +"What are you here for, anyway, then?" he asked. + +"Well, frankly, not to argue with you," Bellamy answered. "As a +matter of fact, you are of no use to me any longer. I am sorry, +old man. You can't say that I didn't give you good advice. I am +bound to play for my own hand, though, in this matter, and if I +get any benefit at all out of my journey, it will be after some +regrettable accident has happened to you." + +"Say, ring the bell for drinks and chuck this!" Dorward exclaimed. +"I've had about enough of it. I am not denying anything you say, +but if these fellows really are on board, they'll think twice +before they meddle with me." + +"On the contrary," Bellamy assured him, "they will not take the +trouble to think at all. Their minds are perfectly made up as to +what they are going to do. However, that's finished. I have +nothing more to say." + +Dorward gazed for a minute or two fixedly out of the window. + +"Look here, Bellamy," he said, turning abruptly round, "supposing +I change my mind, supposing I open this precious document and let +you read it over with me?" + +Bellamy rose hastily to his feet. + +"You must not think of it!" he exclaimed. "You would simply +write my death-warrant. Don't allude to that matter again. I +have risked enough in coming in here to sit with you." + +"Then, for Heaven's sake, don't stop any longer!" Dorward said +irritably. "You get on my nerves with all this foolish talk. In +an hour's time I am going to bolt my door and go to sleep. We'll +breakfast together in the morning, if you like." + +Bellamy said nothing. The steward had brought them the whiskies +and sodas which Dorward had ordered. Bellamy raised his tumbler +to his lips and set it down again. + +"Forgive me," he said, "I do not think that I am thirsty." + +Dorward drank his off at a gulp. Almost immediately he closed his +eyes. Bellamy, with a little shrug of the shoulders, left him +alone. As he passed along to his own coupe, he met Louise in the +corridor. + +"You have seen Von Behrling?" he whispered. She nodded. + +"He is in that coupe, number 7, alone," she said. "I invited him +to come in with me but he seemed embarrassed. It is his companions +who watch him all the time. He has promised to talk with me later." + +In the middle of the night, Louise opened her eyes to find Bellamy +bending over her. + +"Louise," he whispered, "it is Von Behrling who will take possession +of the packet. They have been discussing whether it will not be +safer to go on to London instead of doubling back. See Von Behrling +again. Do all you can to persuade him to come to London,--all you +can, Louise, remember." + +"So!" she whispered. "I shall put on my dressing-gown and sit in +the corridor. It is hot here." + +Bellamy glided out, closing the door softly behind him. The train +was rushing on now through the blackness of an unusually dark night. +For some time he sat in his own compartment, listening. The voices +whose muttered conversation he had overheard were silent now, but +once he fancied that he heard shuffling footsteps and a little cry. +In his heart he knew well that before morning Dorward would have +disappeared. The man within him was hard to subdue. He longed to +make his way to Dorward's side, to interfere in this terribly +unequal struggle, yet he made no movement. Dorward was a man and a +friend, but what was a life more or less? It was to a greater cause +that he was pledged. Towards three o'clock he lay down on his bed +and slept.... + +The train attendant brought him his coffee soon after daylight. The +man's hands were trembling. + +"Where are we?" Bellamy asked sleepily. + +"Near Munich, Monsieur," the man answered. "Monsieur noticed, +perhaps, that we stopped for some time in the night?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"I sleep soundly," he said. "I heard nothing." + +"There has been an accident," the man declared. "An American +gentleman who got in at Vienna was drinking whiskey all night and +became very drunk. In a tunnel he threw himself out upon the line." + +Bellamy shuddered a little. He had been prepared, but none the +less it was an awful thing, this. + +"You are sure that he is dead?" he asked. + +The man was very sure indeed. + +"There is a doctor from Vienna upon the train, sir," he said. "He +examined him at once, but death must have been instantaneous." + +Bellamy drew a long breath and commenced to put on his clothes. +The next move was for him. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +"VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET" + + +Bellamy stole along the half-lit corridors of the train until he +came to the coupe which had been reserved for Mademoiselle Idiale. +Assured that he was not watched, he softly turned the handle of +the door and entered. Louise was sitting up in her dressing-gown, +drinking her coffee. He held up his finger and she greeted him +only with a nod. + +"Forgive me, Louise," he whispered, "I dared not knock, and I was +obliged to see you at once." + +She smiled. + +"It is of no consequence," she said. "One is always prepared here. +The porter, the ticket-man, and at the customs--they all enter. +Is anything wrong?" + +"It has happened," he answered. + +She shivered a little and her face became grave. + +"Poor fellow!" she murmured. + +"He simply sat still and asked for it," Bellamy declared, still +speaking in a cautious undertone. "He would not be warned. I could +have saved him, if any one could, but he would not hear reason." + +"He was what you call pig-headed," she remarked. + +"He has paid the penalty," Bellamy continued. "Now listen to me, +Louise. I got into that small coupe next to Von Behrling's, and I +feel sure, from what I overheard, that they will go on to London, +all three of them." + +"Who is there on the train?" she demanded. + +"Baron Streuss, who is head of the Secret Police, Von Behrling and +Adolf Kahn," Bellamy answered. "Then there are four or five Secret +Service men of the rank and file, but they are all traveling +separately. Von Behrling has the packet. The others form a sort +of cordon around him." + +"But why," she asked, "does he go on to London? Why not return to +Vienna?" + +"For one thing," Bellamy replied, with a grim smile, "they are +afraid of me. Then you must remember that this affair of Dorward +will be talked about. They do not want to seem in any way +implicated. To return from any one of these stations down the line +would create suspicion." + +She nodded. + +"Well?" + +"I am going to leave the train at the next stop," he continued. "I +find that I shall just catch the Northern Express to Berlin. From +there I shall come on to London as quickly as I can. You know the +address of my rooms?" + +She nodded. + +"15, Fitzroy Street." + +"When I get there, let me have a line waiting to tell me where I +can see you. While I am on the train you will find Von Behrling +almost inaccessible. Directly I have gone it will be different. +Play with him carefully. He should not be difficult. To tell you +the truth, I am rather surprised that he has been trusted upon a +mission like this. He was in disgrace with the Chancellor a short +while ago, and I know that he was hurt at not being allowed to +attend the conference. The others will watch him closely, but +they cannot overhear everything that passes between you two. Von +Behrling is a poor man. You will know how to make him wish he were +rich." + +Very slowly her eyebrows rose up. She looked at him doubtfully. + +"It is a slender chance, David," she remarked. "Von Behrling is a +little wild, I know, and he pretends to be very much in love with +me, but I do not think that he would sell his country. Then, too, +see how he will be watched. I do not suppose that they will leave +us alone for a moment." + +Bellamy took her hands in his, gripping them with almost unnatural +force. + +"Louise," he declared earnestly, "you don't quite realize Von +Behrling's special weakness and your extraordinary strength. You +know that you are beautiful, I suppose, but you do not quite know +what that means. I have heard men talk about you till one would +think that they were children. You have something of that art or +guile--call it what you will--which passes from you through a +man's blood to his brain, and carries him indeed to Heaven--but +carries him there mad. Louise, don't be angry with me for what I +say. Remember that I know my sex. I know you, too, and I trust +you, but you can turn Von Behrling from a sane, honorable man into +what you will, without suffering even his lips to touch your +fingers. Von Behrling has that packet in his possession. When I +come to see you in London, I will bring you twenty thousand pounds +in Bank of England notes. With that Von Behrling might fancy +himself on his way to America--with you." + +She closed her eyes for a moment. Perhaps she wished to keep hidden +from him the thoughts which chased one another through her brain. +He wished to make use of her--of her, the woman whom he loved. +Then she remembered that it was for her country and his, and the +anger passed. + +"But I am afraid," she said softly, "that the moment they reach +London this document will be taken to the Austrian Embassy." + +"Before then," Bellamy declared, "Von Behrling must not know whether +he is in heaven or upon earth. It will not be opened in London. +He can make up another packet to resemble precisely the one of which +he robbed Dorward. Oh! it is a difficult game, I know, but it is +worth playing. Remember, Louise, that we are not petty conspirators. +It is your country's very existence that is threatened. It is for +her sake as well as for England." + +"I shall do my best," she murmured, looking into his face. "Oh, +you may be sure that I shall do my best!" + +Bellamy raised her fingers to his lips and stole away. The electric +lamps had been turned out, but the morning was cloudy and the light +dim. Back in his own berth, he put his things together, ready to +leave at Munich. Then he rang for the porter. + +"I am getting out at the next stop," he announced. + +"Very good, Monsieur," the man answered. + +Bellamy looked at him closely. + +"You are a Frenchman?" + +"It is so, Monsieur!" + +"I may be wrong," Bellamy continued slowly, "but I believe that if +I asked you a question and it concerned some Germans and Austrians +you would tell me the truth." + +The man's gesture was inimitable. Englishmen to him were obviously +the salt of the earth. Germans and Austrians--why, they existed +as the cattle in the fields--nothing more. Bellamy gave him a +sovereign. + +"There were three Austrians who got in at Vienna," he said. "They +are in numbers ten and eleven." + +"But yes, Monsieur!" the man assented. "As yet I think they are +fast asleep. Not one of them has rung for his coffee." + +"Where are they booked for?" + +"For London, Monsieur." + +"You do not happen," Bellamy continued, "to have heard them say +anything about leaving the train before then?" + +"On the contrary, sir," the porter answered, "two of the gentlemen +have been inquiring about the boat across to Dover. They were very +anxious to travel by a turbine." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Thank you very much. You will be so discreet as to forget that I +have asked you any questions concerning them. As for me, if one +would know, I am on my way to Berlin." + +The bell rang. The man looked outside and put his head once more +in Bellamy's coupe. + +"It is one of the gentleman who has rung," he declared. "If +anything is said about leaving the train, I shall report it at once +to Monsieur." + +"You will do well," Bellamy answered. + +The porter returned in a few moments. + +"Two of the gentlemen, sir," he announced, "are undressed and in +their pyjamas. They have ordered their breakfast to be served after +we leave Munich." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Further, sir," the man continued, coming a little closer, "one of +them asked me whether the English gentleman--meaning you--was +going through to London or not. I told them that you were getting +out at the next station and that I thought you were going to Berlin." + +"Quite right," Bellamy said. "If they ask any more questions, let +me know." + +Mademoiselle Idiale, with the aid of one of the two maids who were +traveling with her, was able to make a sufficiently effective +toilette. At a few minutes before the time for luncheon, she walked +down the corridor and recognized Von Behrling, who was sitting with +his companions in one of the compartments. + +"Ah, it is indeed you, then!" she exclaimed, smiling at him. + +He rose to his feet and came out. Tall, with a fair moustache and +blue eyes, he was often taken for an Englishman and was inclined to +be proud of the fact. + +"You have rested well, I trust, Mademoiselle?" he asked, bowing low +over her fingers. + +"Excellently," replied Louise. "Will you not take me in to luncheon? +The car is full of men and I am not comfortable alone. It is not +pleasant, either, to eat with one's maids." + +"I am honored," he declared. "Will you permit me for one moment?" + +He turned and spoke to his companions. Louise saw at once that they +were protesting vigorously. She saw, too, that Von Behrling only +became more obstinate and that he was very nearly angry. She moved +a few steps on down the corridor, and stood looking out of the +window. He joined her almost immediately. + +"Come," he said, "they will be serving luncheon in five minutes. +We will go and take a good place." + +"Your friends, I am afraid," she remarked, "did not like your +leaving them. They are not very gallant." + +"To me it is indifferent," he answered, fiercely twirling his +moustache. "Streuss there is an old fool. He has always some +fancy in his brain." + +Louise raised her eyebrows slightly. + +"You are your own master, I suppose," she said. "The Baron is +used to command his policemen, and sometimes he forgets. There are +many people who find him too autocratic." + +"He means well," Von Behrling asserted. "It is his manner only +which is against him." + +They found a comfortable table, and she sat smiling at him across +the white cloth. + +"If this is not Sachers," she said, "it is at least more pleasant +than lunching alone." + +"I can assure you, Mademoiselle," he declared, with a vigorous +twirl of his moustache, "that I find it so." + +"Always gallant," she murmured. "Tell me, is it true of you--the +news which I heard just before I left Vienna? Have you really +resigned your post with the Chancellor?" + +"You heard that?" he asked slowly. + +She hesitated for a moment. + +"I heard something of the sort," she admitted. "To be quite candid +with you, I think it was reported that the Chancellor was making a +change on his own account." + +"So that is what they say, is it? What do they know about it--these +gossipers?" + +"You were not allowed at the conference yesterday," she remarked. + +"No one was allowed there, so that goes for nothing." + +"Ah! well," she said, looking meditatively out upon the landscape, +"a year ago the thought of that conference would have driven me +wild. I should not have been content until I had learned somehow +or other what had transpired. Lately, I am afraid, my interest in +my country seems to have grown a trifle cold. Perhaps because I +have lived in Vienna I have learned to look at things from your +point of view. Then, too, the world is a selfish place, and our own +little careers are, after all, the most important part of it." + +Von Behrling eyed her Curiously. + +"It seems strange to hear you talk like this," he remarked. + +She looked out of the window for a moment. + +"Oh! I still love my country, in a way," she answered, "and I still +hate all Austrians, in a way, but it is not as it used to be with +me, I must admit. If we had two lives, I would give one to my +country and keep one for myself. Since we have only one, I am +afraid, after all, that I am human, and I want to taste some of its +pleasures." + +"Some of its pleasures," Von Behrling repeated, a little gloomily. +"Ah, that is easy enough for you, Mademoiselle!" + +"Not so easy as it may appear," she answered. "One needs many +things to get the best out of life. One needs wealth and one needs +love, and one needs them while one is young, while one can enjoy." + +"It is true," Von Behrling admitted,--"quite true." + +"If one is not careful," she continued, "one lets the years slip by. +They can never come again. If one does not live while one is young, +there is no other chance." + +Von Behrling assented with renewed gloom. He was twenty-five years +old, and his income barely paid for his uniforms. Of late, this +fact had materially interfered with his enjoyments. + +"It is strange," he said, "that you should talk like this. You have +the world at your feet, Mademoiselle. You have only to throw the +handkerchief." + +Her lips parted in a dazzling smile. The bluest eyes in the world +grew softer as they looked into his. Von Behrling felt his cheeks +burn. + +"My friend, it is not so easy," she murmured. "Tell me," she +continued, "why it is that you have so little self-confidence. Is +it because you are poor?" + +"I am a beggar,"--bitterly. + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Well," she said, glancing down the menu which the waiter had brought, +"if you are poor and content to remain so, one must presume that you +have compensations." + +"But I have none!" he declared. "You should know that--you, +Mademoiselle. Life for me means one thing and one thing only!" + +She looked at him, for a moment, and down upon the tablecloth. Von +Behrling shook like a man in the throes of some great passion. + +"We talk too intimately," she whispered, as the people began to file +in to take their places. "After luncheon we will take our coffee +in my coupe. Then, if you like, we will speak of these matters. I +have a headache. Will you order me some champagne? It is a terrible +thing, I know, to drink wine in the morning, but when one travels, +what can one do? Here come your bodyguard. They look at me as +though I had stolen you away. Remember we take our coffee together +afterwards. I am bored with so much traveling, and I look to you +to amuse me." + +Von Behrling's journey was, after all, marked with sharp contrasts. +The kindness of the woman whom he adored was sufficient in itself +to have transported him into a seventh heaven. On the other hand, +he had trouble with his friends. Streuss drew him on one side at +Ostend, and talked to him plainly. + +"Von Behrling," he said, "I speak to you on behalf of Kahn and +myself. Wine and women and pleasure are good things. We two, we +love them, perhaps, as you do, but there is a place and a time for +them, and it is not now. Our mission is too serious." + +"Well, well!" Von Behrling exclaimed impatiently, "what is all this? +What do I do wrong? What have you to say against me? If I talk +with Mademoiselle Idiale, it is because it is the natural thing for +me to do. Would you have us three--you and Kahn and myself--travel +arm in arm and speak never a word to our fellow passengers? Would +you have us proclaim to all the world that we are on a secret +mission, carrying a secret document, to obtain which we have already +committed a crime? These are old-fashioned methods, Streuss. It +is better that we behave like ordinary mortals. You talk foolishly, +Streuss!" + +"It is you," the older man declared, "who play the fool, and we will +not have it! Mademoiselle Idiale is a Servian and a patriot. She +is the friend, too, of Bellamy, the Englishman. She and he were +together last night." + +"Bellamy is not even on the train," Von Behrling protested. "He +went north to Berlin. That itself is the proof that they know +nothing. If he had had the merest suspicion, do you not think that +he would have stayed with us?" + +"Bellamy is very clever," Streuss answered. "There are too many of +us to deal with,--he knew that. Mademoiselle Idiale is clever, +too. Remember that half the trouble in life has come about through +false women. + +"What is it that you want?" Von Behrling demanded. + +"That you travel the rest of the way with us, and speak no more with +Mademoiselle." + +Von Behrling drew himself up. After all, it was he who was noble; +Streuss was little more than a policeman. + +"I refuse!" he exclaimed. "Let me remind you, Streuss, that I am +in charge of this expedition. It was I who planned it. It was I"--he +dropped his voice and touched his chest--"who struck the +first blow for its success. I think that we need talk no more," he +went on. "I welcome your companionship. It makes for strength +that we travel together. But for the rest, the enterprise has been +mine, the success so far has been mine, and the termination of it +shall be mine. Watch me, if you like. Stay with me and see that +I am not robbed, if you fear that I am not able to take care of +myself, but do not ask me to behave like an idiot." + +Von Behrling stepped away quickly. The siren was already blowing +from the steamer. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED + + +The night was dark but fine, and the crossing smooth. Louise, +wrapped in furs, abandoned her private cabin directly they had left +the harbor, and had a chair placed on the upper deck. Von Behrling +found her there, but not before they were nearly half-way across. +She beckoned him to her side. Her eyes glowed at him through the +darkness. + +"You are not looking after me, my friend," she declared. "By myself +I had to find this place." + +Von Behrling was ruffled. He was also humbly apologetic. + +"It is those idiots who are with me," he said. "All the time they +worry." + +She laughed and drew him down so that she could whisper in his ear. + +"I know what it is," she said. "You have secrets which you are +taking to London, and they are afraid of me because I am a Servian. +Tell me, is it not so? Perhaps, even, they think that I am a spy." + +Von Behrling hesitated. She drew him closer towards her. + +"Sit down on the deck," she continued, "and lean against the rail. +You are too big to talk to up there. So! Now you can come +underneath my rug. Tell me, are they afraid of me, your friends?" + +"Is it without reason?" he asked. "Would not any one be afraid of +you--if, indeed, they believed that you wished to know our secrets? +I wonder if there is a man alive whom you could not turn round your +little finger." + +She laughed at him softly. + +"Ah, no!" she said. "Men are not like that, nowadays. They talk +and they talk, but it is not much they would do for a woman's sake." + +"You believe that?" he asked, in a low tone. + +"I do, indeed. One reads love-stories--no, I do not mean romances, +but memoirs--memoirs of the French and Austrian Courts--memoirs, +even, written by Englishmen. Men were different a generation ago. +Honor was dear to them then, honor and position and wealth, and yet +there were many, very many then who were willing to give all these +things for the love of a woman. + +"And do you think there are none now?" he whispered hoarsely. + +"My friend," she answered, looking down at him, "I think that there +are very few." + +She heard his breath come fast between his teeth, and she realized +his state of excitement. + +"Mademoiselle Louise," he said, "my love for you has made me a +laughing-stock in the clubs of Vienna. I--the poverty-stricken, +who have nothing but a noble name, nothing to offer you--have dared +to show others what I think, have dared to place you in my heart +above all the women on earth." + +"It is very nice of you," she murmured. "Why do you tell me this +now?" + +"Why, indeed?" he answered. "What have I to hope for?" + +She looked along the deck. Not a dozen yards away, two cigar ends +burned red through the gloom. She knew very well that those cigar +ends belonged to Streuss and his friend. She laughed softly and +once more she bent her head. + +"How they watch you, those men!" she said. "Listen, my friend +Rudolph. Supposing their fears were true, supposing I were really +a spy, supposing I offered you wealth and with it whatever else +you might claim from me, for the secret which you carry to England!" + +"How do you know that I am carrying a secret?" he asked hoarsely. + +She laughed. + +"My friend," she said, "with your two absurd companions shadowing +you all the time and glowering at me, how could one possibly doubt +it? The Baron Streuss is, I believe, the Chief of your Secret +Service Department, is he not? To me he seems the most obvious +policeman I ever saw dressed as a gentleman." + +"You don't mean it!" he muttered. "You can't mean what you said +just now!" + +She was silent for a few moments. Some one passing struck a match, +and she caught a glimpse of the white face of the man who sat by +her side--strained now and curiously intense. + +"Supposing I did!" + +"You must be mad!" he declared. "You must not talk to me like this, +Mademoiselle. I have no secret. It is your humor, I know, but it +is dangerous." + +"There is no danger," she murmured, "for we are alone. I say again, +Rudolph, supposing this were true?" + +His hand passed across his forehead. She fancied that he made a +motion as though to rise to his feet, but she laid her hand upon his. + +"Stay here," she whispered. "No, I do not wish to drive you away. +Now you are here you shall listen to me." + +"But you are not in earnest!" he faltered. "Don't tell me that you +are in earnest. It is treason. I am Rudolph Von Behrling, +Secretary to the Chancellor." + +Again she leaned towards him so that he could see into her eyes. + +"Rudolph," she said, "you are indeed Rudolph Von Behrling, you are +indeed the Chancellor's secretary. What do you gain from it? A +pittance! Many hours work a day and a pittance. What have you to +look forward to? A little official life, a stupid official position. +Rudolph, here am I, and there is the world. Do I not represent +other things?" + +"God knows you do!" he muttered. + +"I, too, am weary of singing. I want a long rest--a long rest and +a better name than my own. Don't shrink away from me. It isn't so +wonderful, after all. Bellamy, the Englishman, came to me a few +hours ago. He was Dorward's friend. He knew well what Dorward +carried. It was not his affair, he told me, and interposition from +him was hopeless, but he knew that you and I were friends." + +"You must stop!" Von Behrling declared. "You must stop! I must +not listen to this!" + +"He offered me twenty thousand pounds," she went on, "for the packet +in your pocket. Think of that, my friend. It would be a start in +life, would it not? I am an extravagant woman. Even if I would, I +dared not think of a poor man. But twenty thousand pounds is +sufficient. When I reach London, I am going to a flat which has +been waiting for me for weeks--15, Dover Street. If you bring that +packet to me instead of taking it to the Austrian Embassy, there +will be twenty thousand pounds and--" + +Her fingers suddenly held his. She could almost hear his heart +beating. Her eyes, by now accustomed to the gloom, could see the +tumult which was passing within the man, reflected in his face. +She whispered a warning under her breath. The two cigar ends had +moved nearer. The forms of the two men were now distinct. One was +leaning over the side of the ship by Von Behrling's side. The other +stood a few feet away, gazing at the lights of Dover. Von Behrling +staggered to his feet. He said something in an angry undertone to +Streuss. Louise rose and shook out her furs. + +"My friend," she said, turning to Von Behrling, "if your friends can +spare you so long, will you fetch one of my maids? You will find +them both in my cabin, number three. I wish to walk for a few +moments before we arrive." + +Von Behrling turned away like a man in a dream. Mademoiselle Idiale +followed him slowly, and behind her came Von Behrling's companions. + + +The details of the great singer's journey had been most carefully +planned by an excited manager who had received the telegram +announcing her journey to London. There was an engaged carriage at +Dover, into which she was duly escorted by a representative of the +Opera Syndicate, who had been sent down from London to receive her. +Von Behrling seemed to be missing. She had seen nothing of him +since he had descended to summon her maids. But just as the train +was starting, she heard the sound of angry voices, and a moment +later his white face was pressed through the open window of the +carriage. + +"Louise," he muttered, "I am on fire! I cannot talk to you! I fear +that they suspect something. They have told me that if I travel +with you they will force their way in. Even now, Streuss comes. +Listen for your telephone to-night or whenever I can. I must +think--I must think!" + +He passed on, and Louise, leaning back in her seat, closed her eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +"WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES" + + +Bellamy, travel-stained and weary, arrived at his rooms at two +o'clock on the following afternoon to find amongst a pile of +correspondence a penciled message awaiting him in a handwriting he +knew well. He tore open the envelope. + + +DAVID DEAR,--I have just arrived and I am sending you these few +lines at once. As to what progress I have made, I cannot say for +certain, but there is a chance. You had better get the money ready +and come to me here. If R. could only escape from Streuss and +those who watch him all the time, I should be quite sure, but they +are suspicious. What may happen I cannot tell. I do my best and +I have hated it. Get the money ready and come to me. + + LOUISE. + + +Bellamy drew a little breath and tore the note into pieces. Then +he rang for his servant. "A bath and some clean clothes quickly," +he ordered. "While I am changing, ring up Downing Street and see +if Sir James is there. If not, find out exactly where he is. I +must see him within half an hour. Afterwards, get me a taxicab." + +The man obeyed with the swift efficiency of the thoroughly trained +servant. In rather less than the time which he had stated, Bellamy +had left his rooms. Before four o'clock he had arrived at the +address which Louise had given him. A commissionaire telephoned his +name to the first floor, and in a very few moments a pale-faced +French man-servant, in sombre black livery, descended and bowed to +Bellamy. + +"Monsieur will be so good as to come this way," he directed. + +Bellamy followed him into the lift, which stopped at the first +floor. He was ushered into a small boudoir, already smothered with +roses. + +"Mademoiselle will be here immediately," the man announced. "She is +engaged with a gentleman from the Opera, but she will leave him to +receive Monsieur." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Pray let Mademoiselle understand," he said, "that I am entirely at +her service. My time is of no consequence." + +The man bowed and withdrew. Louise came to him almost directly from +an inner chamber. She was wearing a loose gown, but the fatigue of +her journey seemed already to have passed away. Her eyes were +bright, and a faint color glowed in her cheeks. + +"David," she exclaimed, "thank Heaven that you are here!" + +She took both his hands and held them for a moment. Then she walked +to the door, made sure that it was securely fastened, and stood +there listening for a moment. + +"I suppose I am foolish," she said, coming back to him, "and yet I +cannot help fancying that I am being watched on every side since we +landed in England. I detest my new manager, and I don't trust any +of the servants he has engaged for me. You got my note?" + +"Yes," he answered, "I had your note--and I am here." + +The restraint of his manner was obvious. He was standing a little +away from her. She came suddenly up to him, her hands fell upon +his shoulders, her face was upturned to his. Even then he made no +motion to embrace her. + +"David," she whispered softly, "what I am doing--what I have done--was +at your suggestion. I do it for you, I do it for my country, +I do it against every natural feeling I possess. I hate and loathe +the lies I tell. Are you remembering that? Is it in your heart at +this moment?" + +He stooped and kissed her. + +"Forgive me," he said, "it is I who am to blame, but I am only human. +We play for great stakes, Louise, but sometimes one forgets." + +"As I live," she murmured, "the kiss you gave me last is still upon +my lips. What I have promised goes for nothing. What he has +promised is this--the papers to-night." + +"Unopened?" + +"Unopened," she repeated, softly. + +"But how is it to be done?" Bellamy asked. "He must have arrived +in London when you did last night. How is it they are not already +at the Embassy?" + +"The Ambassador was commanded to Cowes," she explained. "He cannot +be back until late to-night. No one else has a key to the treaty +safe, and Von Behrling declined to give up the document to any one +save the Ambassador himself." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"What about Streuss?" + +"Streuss and the others are all furious," Louise said. "Yet, after +all, Behrling has a certain measure of right on his side. His +orders were to see with his own eyes this envelope deposited in the +safe by the Ambassador himself." + +"He returns to-night!" Bellamy exclaimed quickly. + +She nodded. + +"Before he comes," she declared, "I think that the document will be +in your hands." + +"How is it to be done?" + +"The report is written," she explained, "on five pages of foolscap. +They are contained in a long envelope, scaled with the Chancellor's +crest. Von Behrling, being one of the family, has the same crest. +He has prepared another envelope, the same size and weight, and +signed it with his seal. It is this which he will hand over to the +Ambassador if he should return unexpectedly. The real one he has +concealed." + +"Is he here?" Bellamy inquired. + +"Thank Heavens, no!" she answered. "My dear David, what are you +thinking of? He is not here and he dare not come here. You are to +go to your rooms," she added, glancing at the clock, "and between +five and six o'clock this evening you will be rung up on the +telephone. A rendezvous will be given you for later on to-night. +You must take the money there and receive the packet. Von Behrling +will be disguised and prepared for flight." + +Bellamy's eyes glowed. + +"You believe this?" he exclaimed. + +"I believe it," she replied. "He is going to do it. After he has +seen you, he will make his way to Plymouth. I have promised--don't +look at me, David--I have promised to join him there." + +Bellamy was grave. + +"There will be trouble," he said. "He will come back. He will want +to shoot you. He may be slow-witted in some things, but he is +passionate." + +"Am I a coward?" she asked, with a scornful laugh. "Have I ever +shown fear of my life? No, David! It is not that of which I am +afraid. It is the memory of the man's touch, it is the look which +was in your face when you came into the room. These are the things +I fear--not death." + +Bellamy drew her into his arms and kissed her. + +"Forgive me," he begged. "At such times a man is a weak thing--a +weak and selfish thing. I am ashamed of myself. I should have +known better than to have doubted you for a moment. I know you so +well, Louise. I know what you are." + +She smiled. + +"Dear," she said, "you have made me happy. And now you must go away. +Remember that these few minutes are only an interlude. Over here I +am Mademoiselle Idiale who sings to-night at Covent Garden. See my +roses. There are two rooms full of reporters and photographers in +the place now. The leader of the orchestra is in my bedroom, and +two of the directors are drinking whiskies and sodas with this new +manager of mine in the dining-room. Between five and six o'clock +this afternoon you will get the message. It is somewhere, I think, +in the city that you will have to go. There will be no trouble +about the money? Nothing but notes or gold will be of any use." + +"I have it in my pocket," he answered. "I have it in notes, but he +need never fear that they will be traced. The numbers of notes +given for Secret Service purposes are expunged from every one's +memory." + +She drew a little sigh. + +"It is a great sum," she said. "After all, he should be grateful +to me. If only he would be sensible and get away to the United +States or to South America! He could live there like a prince, +poor fellow. He would be far happier." + +"I only hope that he will go," Bellamy agreed. "There is one thing +to be remembered. If he does not go, if he stays for twenty-four +hours in this country, I do not believe that he will live to do you +harm. The men who are with him are not the sort to stop short at +trifles. Besides Streuss and Kahn, they have a regular army of +spies at their bidding here. If they find out that he has tricked +them, they will hunt him down, and before long." + +Louise shivered. + +"Oh, I hope," she exclaimed, "that he gets away! He is a traitor, +of course, but he is a traitor to a hateful cause, and, after all, +I think it is less for the money than for my sake that he does it. +That sounds very conceited, I suppose," she added, with a faint +smile. "Ah! well, you see, for five years so many have been trying +to turn my head. No wonder if I begin to believe some of their +stories. David, I must go. I must not keep Dr. Henschell waiting +any longer." + +"To-morrow," he said, "to-morrow early I shall come. I am afraid +I shall miss your first appearance in England, Louise." + +The sound of a violin came floating out from the inner room. + +"That is my signal," she declared smiling. "De. Henschell was +almost beside himself that I came away. I come, Doctor," she called +out. "David, good fortune!" she added, giving him her hands. "Now +go, dear." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE + + +Between the two men, seated opposite each other in the large but +somewhat barely furnished office, the radical differences, both in +appearance and mannerisms, perhaps, also, in disposition, had never +been more strongly evident. They were partners in business and face +to face with ruin. Stephen Laverick, senior member of the firm, +although an air of steadfast gloom had settled upon his clean-cut, +powerful countenance, retained even in despair something of that +dogged composure, temperamental and wholly British, which had served +him well along the road to fortune. Arthur Morrison, the man who +sat on the other side of the table, a Jew to his finger-tips +notwithstanding his altered name, sat like a broken thing, with +tears in his terrified eyes, disordered hair, and parchment-pale +face. Words had flown from his lips in a continual stream. He +floundered in his misery, sobbed about it like a child. The hand +of misfortune had stripped him naked, and one man, at least, saw +him as he really was. + +"I can't stand it, Laverick,--I couldn't face them all. It's too +cruel--too horrible! Eighteen thousand pounds gone in one week, +forty thousand in a month! Forty thousand pounds! Oh, my God!" + +He writhed in agony. The man on the other side of the table said +nothing. + +"If we could only have held on a little longer! 'Unions' must turn! +They will turn! Laverick, have you tried all your friends? Think! +Have you tried them all? Twenty thousand pounds would see us through +it. We should get our own money back--I am sure of it. There's +Rendell, Laverick. He'd do anything for you. You're always shooting +or playing cricket with him. Have you asked him, Laverick? He'd +never miss the money." + +"You and I see things differently, Morrison," Laverick answered. +"Nothing would induce me to borrow money from a friend." + +"But at a time like this," Morrison pleaded passionately. "Every +one does it sometimes. He'd be glad to help you. I know he would. +Have you ever thought what it will be like, Laverick, to be +hammered?" + +"I have," Laverick admitted wearily. "God knows it seems as +terrible a thing to me as it can to you! But if we go down, we +must go down with clean hands. I've no faith in your infernal +market, and not one penny will I borrow from a friend." + +The Jew's face was almost piteous. He stretched himself across the +table. There were genuine tears in his eyes. + +"Laverick," he said, "old man, you're wrong. I know you think I've +been led away. I've taken you out of our depth, but the only +trouble has been that we haven't had enough capital, and no backing. +Those who stand up will win. They will make money." + +"Unfortunately," Laverick remarked, "we cannot stand up. Please +understand that I will not discuss this matter with you in any way. +I will not borrow money from Rendell or any friend. I have asked +the bank and I have asked Pages, who will be our largest creditors. +To help us would simply be a business proposition, so far as they +are concerned. As you know, they have refused. If you see any hope +in that direction, why don't you try some of your own friends? For +every one man I know in the House, you have seemed to be bosom +friends with at least twenty." + +Morrison groaned. + +"Those I know are not that sort of friend," he answered. "They will +drink with you and spend a night out or a week-end at Brighton, but +they do not lend money. If they would, do you think I would mind +asking? Why, I would go on my knees to any man who would lend us +the money. I would even kiss his feet. I cannot bear it, Laverick! +I cannot! I cannot!" + +Laverick said nothing. Words were useless things, wasted upon such +a creature. He eyed his partner with a contempt which he took no +pains to conceal. This, then, was the smart young fellow recommended +to him on all sides, a few years ago, as one of the shrewdest young +men in his own particular department, a person bound to succeed, a +money-maker if ever there was one! Laverick thought of him as he +appeared at the office day by day, glossy and immaculately dressed, +with a flower in his buttonhole, boots that were a trifle too shiny, +hat and coat, gloves and manner, all imitation but all very near the +real thing. What a collapse! + +"You're going to stay and see it through?" he whined across the table. + +"Certainly," Laverick answered. + +The young man buried his face in his hands. + +"I can't! I can't!" he moaned. "I couldn't bear seeing all the +fellows, hearing them whisper things--oh, Lord! Oh, Lord!... +Laverick, we've a few hundreds left. Give me something and let me +out of it. You're a stronger sort of man than I am. You can face +it,--I can't! Give me enough to get abroad with, and if ever I +do any good I'll remember it, I will indeed." + +Laverick was silent for a moment. His companion watched his face +eagerly. After all, why not let him go? He was no help, no comfort. +The very sight of him was contemptible. + +"I have paid no money into the bank for several days," Laverick said +slowly. "When they refused to help us, it was, of course, obvious +that they guessed how things were." + +"Quite right, quite right!" the young man interrupted feverishly. +"They would have stuck to it against the overdraft. How much have +we got in the safe?" + +"This afternoon," Laverick continued, "I changed all our cheques. +You can count the proceeds for yourself. There are, I think, eleven +hundred pounds. You can take two hundred and fifty, and you can take +them with you--to any place you like." + +The young man was already at the safe. The notes were between them, +on the table. He counted quickly with the fingers of a born +manipulator of money. When he had gathered up two hundred and fifty +pounds, Laverick's hand fell upon his. + +"No more," he ordered sternly. + +"But, my dear fellow," Morrison protested, "half of eleven hundred +is five hundred and fifty. Why should we not go halves? That is +only fair, Laverick. It is little enough. We ought to have had a +great deal more." + +Laverick pushed him contemptuously away and locked up the remainder +of the notes. + +"I am letting you take two hundred and fifty pounds of this money," +he said, "for various reasons. For one, I can bear this thing +better alone. As for the rest of the money, it remains there for +the accountant who liquidates our affairs. I do not propose to +touch a penny of it." + +The young man buttoned up his coat with an hysterical little laugh. +Such ways were not his ways. They were not, indeed, within the +limit of his understanding. But of his partner he had learned one +thing, at least. The word of Stephen Laverick was the word of truth. +He shambled toward the door. On the whole, he was lucky to have +got the two hundred and fifty pounds. + +"So long, Laverick," he said from the door. "I'm--I'm sorry." + +It was characteristic of him that he did not venture to offer his +hand. Laverick nodded, not unkindly. After all, this young man was +as he had been made. + +"I wish you good luck, Morrison," he said. "Try South Africa." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ROBBING THE DEAD + + +The roar of the day was long since over. The rattle of vehicles, +the tinkling of hansom bells, the tooting of horns from motor-cars +and cabs, the ceaseless tramp of footsteps, all had died away. +Outside, the streets were almost deserted. An occasional wayfarer +passed along the flagged pavement with speedy footsteps. Here and +there a few lights glimmered at the windows of some of the larger +blocks of offices. The bustle of the day was finished. There is +no place in London so strangely quiet as the narrow thoroughfares +of the city proper when the hour approaches midnight. + +Laverick, who since his partner's departure had been studying with +infinite care his private ledger, closed it at last with a little +snap and leaned back in his chair. After all, save that he had got +rid of Morrison, it had been a wasted evening. Not even he, whose +financial astuteness no man had ever questioned, could raise from +those piles of figures any other answer save the one inevitable +one, the knowledge of which had been like a black nightmare stalking +by his side for the last thirty-six hours. One by one during the +evening his clerks had left him, and it was a proof not only of his +wonderful self-control but also of the confidence which he invariably +inspired, that not a single one of them had the slightest idea how +things were. Not a soul knew that the firm of Laverick & Morrison +was already practically derelict, that they had on the morrow +twenty-five thousand pounds to find, neither credit nor balance at +their bankers, and eight hundred and fifty pounds in the safe. + +Laverick, haggard from his long vigil, locked up his books at last, +turned out the lights, and locking the doors behind him walked into +the silent street. Instinctively he turned his steps westwards. +This might well be the last night on which he would care to show +himself in his accustomed haunts, the last night on which he could +mix with his fellows freely, and without that terrible sense of +consciousness which follows upon disaster. Already there was little +enough left of it. It was too late to change and go to his club. +The places of amusement were already closed. To-morrow night, both +club and theatres would lie outside his world. He walked slowly, +yet he had scarcely taken, in fact, a dozen steps when, with a +purely mechanical impulse, he paused by a stone-flagged entry to +light a cigarette. It was a passage, almost a tunnel for a few +yards, leading to an open space, on one side of which was an old +churchyard--strange survival in such a part--and on the other +the offices of several firms of stockbrokers, a Russian banker, +an actuary. It was the barest of impulses which led him to glance +up the entry before he blew out the match. Then he gave a quick +start and became for a moment paralyzed. Within a few feet of him +something was lying on the ground--a dark mass, black and soft--the +body of a man, perhaps. Just above it, a pair of eyes gleamed +at him through the semi-darkness. + +Laverick at first had no thought of tragedy. It might be a tramp +or a drunkard, perhaps,--a fight, or a man taken ill. Then +something sinister about the light of those burning eyes set his +heart beating faster. He struck another match with firm fingers, +and bent forward. What he saw upon the ground made him feel a +little sick. What he saw racing away down the passage prompted him +to swift pursuit. Down the arched court into the open space he ran, +himself an athlete, but mocked by the swiftness of the shadowlike +form which he pursued. At the end was another street--empty. He +looked up and down, seeking in vain for any signs of life. There +was nothing to tell him which way to turn. Opposite was a very +labyrinth of courts and turnings. There was not even the sound of +a footfall to guide him. Slowly he retraced his steps, lit another +match, and leaned over the prostrate figure. Then he knew that it +was a tragedy indeed upon which he had stumbled. + +The man was dead, and he had met with his death by unusual means. +These were the first two things of which Laverick assured himself. +Without any doubt, a savage and a terrible crime had been committed. +A hornhandled knife of unusual length had been driven up to the hilt +through the heart of the murdered man. There had been other blows, +notably about the head. There was not much blood, but the position +of the knife alone told its ugly story. Laverick, though his nerves +were of the strongest, felt his head swim as he looked. He rose to +his feet and walked to the opening of the passage, gasping. The +street was no longer empty. + +About thirty yards away, looking westwards, a man was standing in +the middle of the road. The light from the lamp-post escaped his +face. Laverick could only see that he was slim, of medium height, +dressed in dark clothes, with his hands in the pockets of his +overcoat. To all appearance, he was watching the entry. Laverick +took a step towards him--the man as deliberately took a step further +away. Laverick held up his hand. + +"Hullo!" he called out, and beckoned. + +The person addressed took no notice. Laverick advanced another two +or three steps--the man retreated a similar distance. Laverick +changed his tactics and made a sudden spring forward. The man +hesitated no longer--he turned and ran as though for his life. In +a few minutes he was round the corner of the street and out of sight. +Laverick returned slowly to the entry. + +A distant clock struck midnight. A couple of clerks came along the +pavement on the other side, their hands and arms full of letters. +Laverick hesitated. He was never afterwards able to account for the +impulse which prevented his calling out to them. Instead he lurked +in the shadows and watched them go by. When he was sure that they +had disappeared, he bent once more over the body of the murdered +man. Already that huddled-up heap was beginning to exercise a +nameless and terrible fascination for him. His first feelings of +horror were mingled now with an insatiable curiosity. What manner +of man was he? He was tall and strongly built; fair--of almost +florid complexion. His clothes were very shabby and apparently +ready-made. His moustache was upturned, and his hair was trimmed +closer than is the custom amongst Englishmen. Laverick stooped +lower and lower until he found himself almost on his knees. There +was something projecting from the man's pocket as though it had been +half snatched out--a large portfolio of brown leather, almost the +size of a satchel. Laverick drew it out, holding it in one hand +whilst with firm fingers he struck another match. Then, for the +first time, a little cry broke from his lips. Both sides of the +pocket-book were filled with bank-notes. As his match flickered +out, he caught a glimpse of the figures in the left-hand corner--500 +pounds!--great rolls of them! Laverick rose gasping to his +feet. It was a new Arabian Nights, this!--a dream!--a continuation +of the nightmare which had threatened him all day! Or was it, +perhaps, the madness coming--the madness which he had begun only +an hour or so ago to fear! + +He walked into the gaslit streets and looked up and down. The +mysterious stranger had vanished. There was not a soul in sight. +He clutched the rough stone wall with his hands, he kicked the +pavement with his heels. There was no doubt about it--everything +around him was real. Most real of all was the fact that within a +few feet of him lay a murdered man, and that in his hands was that +brown leather pocket-book with its miraculous contents. For the +last time Laverick retraced his steps and bent over that huddled-up +shape. One by one he went through the other pockets. There was a +packet of Russian cigarettes; an empty card-case of chased silver, +and obviously of foreign workmanship; a cigarette holder stained +with much use, but of the finest amber, with rich gold mountings. +There was nothing else upon the dead man, no means of identification +of any sort. Laverick stood up, giddy, half terrified with the +thoughts that went tearing through his brain. The pocket-book began +to burn his hand; he felt the perspiration breaking out anew upon +his forehead. Yet he never hesitated. He walked like a man in a +dream, but his footsteps were steady and short. Deliberately, and +without any sign of hurry, he made his way towards his offices. If +a policeman had come in sight up or down the street, he had decided +to call him and to acquaint him with what had happened. It was the +one chance he held against himself,--the gambler's method of +decision, perhaps, unconsciously arrived at. As it turned out, there +was still not a soul in sight. Laverick opened the outer door with +his latchkey, let himself in and closed it. Then he groped his way +through the clerk's office into his own room, switched on the +electric light and once more sat down before his desk. + +He drew his shaded writing lamp towards him and looked around with +a nervousness wholly unfamiliar. Then he opened the pocket-book, +drew out the roll of bank-notes and counted them. It was curious +that he felt no surprise at their value. Bank-notes for five +hundred pounds are not exactly common, and yet he proceeded with +his task without the slightest instinct of surprise. Then he leaned +back in his chair. Twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes! +There they lay on the table before him. A man had died for their +sake,--another must go through all the days with the price of blood +upon his head--a murderer--a haunted creature for the rest of his +life. And there on the table were the spoils. Laverick tried to +think the matter out dispassionately. He was a man of average moral +fibre--that is to say, he was honest in his dealings with other +men because his father and his grandfather before him had been +honest, and because the penalty for dishonesty was shameful. Here, +however, he was face to face with an altogether unusual problem. +These notes belonged, without a doubt, to the dead man. Save for +his own interference, they would have been in the hands of his +murderer. The use of them for a few days could do no one any harm. +Such risk as there was he took himself. That it was a risk he knew +and fully realized. Laverick had sat in his place unmoved when his +partner had poured out his wail of fear and misery. Yet of the two +men it was probable that Laverick himself had felt their position +the more keenly. He was a man of some social standing, with a +large circle of friends; a sportsman, and with many interests +outside the daily routine of his city life. To him failure meant +more than the loss of money; it would rob him of everything in life +worth having. The days to come had been emptied of all promise. +He had held himself stubbornly because he was a man, because he had +strength enough to refuse to let his mind dwell upon the indignities +and humiliation to come. And here before him was possible salvation. +There was a price to be paid, of course, a risk to be run in making +use even for an hour of this money. Yet from the first he had known +that he meant to do it. + +Quite cool now, he opened his private safe, thrust the pocket-book +into one of the drawers, and locked it up. Then he lit a cigarette, +finally shut up the office and walked down the street. As he passed +the entry he turned his head slowly. Apparently no one had been +there, nothing had been disturbed. Straining his eyes through the +darkness, he could even see that dark shape still lying huddled up +on the ground. Then he walked on. He had burned his boats now and +was prepared for all emergencies. At the corner he met a policeman, +to whom he wished a cheery good-night. He told himself that the +thing which he had done was for the best. He owed it to himself. +He owed it to those who had trusted him. After all, it was the +chief part of his life--his city career. It was here that his +friends lived. It was here that his ambitions flourished. Disgrace +here was eternal disgrace. His father and his grandfather before +him had been men honored and respected in this same circle. Disgrace +to him, such disgrace as that with which he had stood face to face a +few hours ago, would have been, in a certain sense, a reflection +upon their memories. The names upon the brass plates to right and +to left of him were the names of men he knew, men with whom he +desired to stand well, whose friendship or contempt made life worth +living or the reverse. It was worth a great risk--this effort of +his to keep his place. His one mistake--this association with +Morrison--had been such an unparalleled stroke of bad luck. He +was rid of the fellow now. For the future there should be no more +partners. He had his life to live. It was not reasonable that he +should allow himself to be dragged down into the mire by such a +creature. He found an empty taxicab at the corner of Queen Victoria +Street, and hailed it. + +"Whitehall Court," he told the driver. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED + + +Bellamy was a man used to all hazards, whose supreme effort of life +it was to meet success and disaster with unvarying mien. But this +was disaster too appalling even for his self-control. He felt his +knees shake so that he caught at the edge of the table before which +he was standing. There was no possible doubt about it, he had been +tricked. Von Behrling, after all,--Von Behrling, whom he had +looked upon merely as a stupid, infatuated Austrian, ready to sell +his country for the sake of a woman, had fooled him utterly! + +The man who sat at the head of the table--the only other occupant +of the room--was in Court dress, with many orders upon his coat. +He had just been attending a Court function, from which Bellamy's +message had summoned him. Before him on the table was an envelope, +hastily torn open, and several sheets of blank paper. It was upon +these that Bellamy's eyes were fixed with an expression of mingled +horror and amazement. The Cabinet Minister had already pushed them +away with a little gesture of contempt. + +"Bellamy," he said gravely, "it is not like you to make so serious +an error. + +"I hope not, sir," Bellamy answered. "I--yes, I have been deceived." + +The Minister glanced at the clock. + +"What is to be done?" he asked. + +Bellamy, with an effort, pulled himself together. He caught up the +envelope, looked once more inside, held up the blank sheets of paper +to the lamp and laid them down. Then with clenched fists he walked +to the other side of the room and returned. He was himself again. + +"Sir James, I will not waste your time by saying that I am sorry. +Only an hour ago I met Von Behrling in a little restaurant in the +city, and gave him twenty thousand pounds for that envelope." + +"You paid him the money," the Minister remarked slowly, "without +opening the envelope." + +Bellamy admitted it. + +"In such transactions as these," he declared, "great risks are +almost inevitable. I took what must seem to you now to be an absurd +risk. To tell you the honest truth, sir, and I have had experience +in these things, I thought it no risk at all when I handed over the +money. Von Behrling was there in disguise. The men with whom he +came to this country are furious with him. To all appearance, he +seemed to have broken with them absolutely. Even now-- + +"Well?" + +"Even now," Bellamy said slowly, with his eyes fixed upon the wall +of the room, and a dawning light growing stronger every moment in +his face, "even now I believe that Von Behrling made a mistake. An +envelope such as this had been arranged for him to show the others +or leave at the Austrian Embassy in case of emergency. He had it +with him in his pocket-book. He even told me so. God in Heaven, +he gave me the wrong one!" + +The Minister glanced once more at the clock. + +"In that case," he said, "perhaps he would not go to the Embassy +to-night, especially if he was in disguise. You may still be able +to find him and repair the error. + +"I will try," answered Bellamy. "Thank Heaven!" he added, with a +sudden gleam of satisfaction, "my watchers are still dogging his +footsteps. I can find out before morning where he went when he +left our rendezvous. There is another way, too. Mademoiselle--this +man Von Behrling believed that she was leaving the country +with him. She was to have had a message within the next few hours." + +The Minister nodded thoughtfully. + +"Bellamy, I have been your friend and you have done us good service +often. The Secret Service estimates, as you know, are above +supervision, but twenty thousand pounds is a great deal of money to +have paid for this." + +He touched the sheets of blank paper with his forefinger. Bellamy's +teeth were clenched. + +"The money shall be returned, sir. + +"Do not misunderstand me," Sir James went on, speaking a little more +kindly. "The money, after all, in comparison with what it was +destined to purchase, is nothing. We might even count it a fair +risk if it was lost." + +"It shall not be lost," Bellamy promised. "If Von Behrling has +played the traitor to us, then he will go back to his country. In +that case, I will have the money from him without a doubt. If, on +the other hand, he was honest to us and a traitor to his country, +as I firmly believe, it may not yet be too late." + +"Let us hope not," Sir James declared. "Bellamy," he continued, a +note of agitation trembling in his tone, "I need not tell you, I +am sure, how important this matter is. You work like a mole in the +dark, yet you have brains,--you understand. Let me tell you how +things are with us. A certain amount of confidence is due to you, +if to any one. I may tell you that at the Cabinet Council to-day a +very serious tone prevailed. We do not understand in the least the +attitude of several of the European Powers. It can be understood +only under certain assumptions. A note of ours sent through the +Ambassador to Vienna has remained unanswered for two days. The +German Ambassador has left unexpectedly for Berlin on urgent +business. We have just heard, too, that a secret mission from +Russia left St. Petersburg last night for Paris. Side by side with +all this," Sir James continued, "the Czar is trying to evade his +promised visit here. The note we have received speaks of his +health. Well, we know all about that. We know, I may tell you, +that his health has never been better than at the present moment." + +"It all means one thing and one thing only," Bellamy affirmed. "In +Vienna and Berlin to-day they look at an Englishman and smile. Even +the man in the street seems to know what is coming." + +Sir James leaned a little back in his seat. His hands were tightly +clenched, and there was a fierce light in his hollow eyes. Those +who were intimate with him knew that he had aged many years during +the last few weeks. + +"The cruel part is," he said softly, "that it should have come in +my administration, when for ten years I have prayed from the +Opposition benches for the one thing which would have made us safe +to-day." + +"An army," murmured Bellamy. + +"The days are coming," Sir James continued, "when those who prated +of militarism and the security of our island walls will see with +their own eyes the ruin they have brought upon us. Secretly we are +mobilizing all that we have to mobilize," he added, with a little +sigh. "At the very best, however, our position is pitiful. Even +if we are prepared to defend, I am afraid that we shall see things +on the Continent in which we shall be driven to interfere, or else +suffer the greatest blow which our prestige has ever known. If we +could only tell what was coming!" he wound up, looking once more at +those empty sheets of paper. "It is this darkness which is so +alarming!" + +Bellamy turned toward the door. + +"You have the telephone in your bedroom, sir?" he asked. + +"Yes, ring me up at any time in the night or morning, if you have +news." + +Bellamy drove at once to Dover Street. It was half-past one, but +he had no fear of not being admitted. Louise's French maid answered +the bell. + +"Madame has not retired?" Bellamy inquired. + +"But no, sir," the woman assured him, with a welcoming smile. "It +is only a few minutes ago that she has returned." + +Bellamy was ushered at once into her room. She was gorgeous in blue +satin and pearls. Her other maid was taking off her jewels. She +dismissed both the women abruptly. + +"I absolutely couldn't avoid a supper-party," she said, holding out +her hands. "You expected that, of course. You were not at the +Opera House?" + +He shook his head, and walking to the door tried the handle. It +was securely closed. He came back slowly to her side. Her eyes +were questioning him fiercely. + +"Well?" she exclaimed. "Well?" + +"Have you heard from Von Behrling?" + +"No," she answered. "He knew that I must sing to-night. I have +been expecting him to telephone every moment since I got home. You +have seen him?" + +"I have seen him," Bellamy admitted. "Either he has deceived us +both, or the most unfortunate mistake in the world has happened. +Listen. I met him where he appointed. He was there, disguised, +almost unrecognizable. He was nervous and desperate; he had the air +of a man who has cut himself adrift from the world. I gave him the +money,--twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, Louise,--and +he gave me the papers, or what we thought were the papers. +He told me that he was keeping a false duplicate upon him for a +little time, in case he was seized, but that he was going to +Liverpool Street station to wait, and would telephone you from the +hotel there later on. You have not heard yet, then?" + +She shook her head. + +"There has been no message, but go on." + +"He gave me the wrong document--the wrong envelope," continued +Bellamy. "When I took it to--to Downing Street, it was full of +blank paper." + +The color slowly left her cheeks. She looked at him with horror in +her face. + +"Do you think that he meant to do it?" she exclaimed. + +"We cannot tell," Bellamy answered. "My own impression is that he +did not. We must find out at once what has become of him. He might +even, if he fancies himself safe, destroy the envelope he has, +believing it to be the duplicate. He is sure to telephone you. The +moment you hear you must let me know." + +"You had better stay here," she declared. "There are plenty of +rooms. You will be on the spot then." + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"The joke of it is that I, too, am being watched whereever I go. +That fellow Streuss has spies everywhere. That is one reason why +I believe that Von Behrling was serious. + +"Oh, he was serious!" Louise repeated. + +"You are sure?" Bellamy asked. "You have never had even any doubt +about him?" + +"Never," she answered firmly. "David, I had not meant to tell you +this. You know that I saw him for a moment this morning. He was +in deadly earnest. He gave me a ring--a trifle--but it had +belonged to his mother. He would not have done this if he had been +playing us false." + +Bellamy sprang to his feet. + +"You are right, Louise!" he exclaimed. "I shall go back to my rooms +at once. Fortunately, I had a man shadowing Von Behrling, and there +may be a report for me. If anything comes here, you will telephone +at once?" + +"Of course," she assented. + +"You do not think it possible," he asked slowly, "that he would +attempt to see you here?" + +Louise shuddered for a moment. + +"I absolutely forbade it, so I am sure there is no chance of that." + +"Very well, then," he decided, "we will wait. Dear," he added, in +an altered tone, "how splendid you look!" + +Her face suddenly softened. + +"Ah, David!" she murmured, "to hear you speak naturally even for a +moment--it makes everything seem so different!" + +He held out his arms and she came to him with a little sigh of +satisfaction. + +"Louise," he said, "some day the time may come when we shall be able +to give up this life of anxiety and terrors. But it cannot be +yet--not for your country's sake or mine." + +She kissed him fondly. + +"So long as there is hope!" she whispered. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +VON BEHRLING'S FATE + + +It seemed to Louise that she had scarcely been in bed an hour when +the more confidential of her maids--Annette, the Frenchwoman--woke +her with a light touch of the arm. She sat up in bed sleepily. + +"What is it, Annette?" she asked. "Surely it is not mid-day yet? +Why do you disturb me?" + +"It is barely nine o'clock, Mademoiselle, but Monsieur +Bellamy--Mademoiselle told me that she wished to receive him whenever +he came. He is in the boudoir now, and very impatient." + +"Did he send any message?" + +"Only that his business was of the most urgent," the maid replied. + +Louise sighed,--she was really very sleepy. Then, as the thoughts +began to crowd into her brain, she began also to remember. Some +part of the excitement of a few hours ago returned. + +"My bath, Annette, and a dressing-gown," she ordered. "Tell Monsieur +Bellamy that I hurry. I will be with him in twenty minutes." + +To Bellamy, the twenty minutes were minutes of purgatory. She came +at last, however, fresh and eager; her hair tied up with ribbon, she +herself clad in a pink dressing-gown and pink slippers. + +"David!" she cried,--"my dear David--!" + +Then she broke off. + +"What is it?" she asked, in a different tone. + +He showed her the headlines of the newspaper he was carrying. + +"Tragedy!" he answered hoarsely. "Von Behrling was true, after +all,--at least, it seems so." + +"What has happened?" she demanded. + +Bellamy pointed once more to the newspaper. + +"He was murdered last night, within fifty yards of the place of our +rendezvous." + +A little exclamation broke from Louise's lips. She sat down +suddenly. The color called into her cheeks by the exercise of her +bath was rapidly fading away. + +"David," she murmured, "is this true?" + +"It is indeed," Bellamy assured her. "Not only that, but there is +no mention of his pocket-book in the account of his murder. It must +have been engineered by Streuss and the others, and they have got +away with the pocket-book and the money." + +"What can we do?" she asked. + +"There is nothing to be done," Bellamy declared calmly. "We are +defeated. The thing is quite apparent. Von Behrling never +succeeded, after all, in shaking off the espionage of the men who +were watching him. They tracked him to our rendezvous, they waited +about while I met him. Afterwards, he had to pass along a narrow +passage. It was there that he was found murdered." + +"But, David, I don't understand! Why did they wait until after he +had seen you? How did they know that he had not parted with the +paper in the restaurant? To all intents and purposes he ought to +have done so." + +"I cannot understand that myself," Bellamy admitted. "In fact, it +is inexplicable." + +She took up the newspaper and glanced at the report. Then, "You +are sure, I suppose, that this does refer to Von Behrling? He is +quite unidentified, you see." + +"There is no doubt about it," Bellamy declared. "I have been to +the Mortuary. It is certainly he. All our work has been in +vain--just as I thought, too, that we had made a splendid success of +it." + +She looked at him compassionately. + +"It is hard lines, dear," she admitted. "You are tired, too. You +look as though you had been up all night." + +"Yes, I am tired," he answered, sinking into a chair. "I am worse +than tired. This has been the grossest failure of my career, and I +am afraid that it is the end of everything. I have lost twenty +thousand pounds of Secret Service money; I have lost the one chance +which might have saved England. They will never trust me again." + +"You did your best," she said, coming over and sitting on the arm +of his chair. "You did your best, David." + +She laid her hands upon his forehead, her cheek against his--smooth +and cold--exquisitely refreshing it seemed to his jaded nerves. + +"Ah, Louise!" he murmured, "life is getting a little too strenuous. +Perhaps we have given too much of it up to others. What do you +think?" + +She shook her head. + +"Dear, I have felt like that sometimes, yet what can we do? Could +we be happy, you and I, in exile, if the things which we dread were +coming to pass? Could I go away and hide while my countrymen were +being butchered out of existence?-- And you--you are not the sort +of man to be content with an ignoble peace. No, it isn't possible. +Our work may not be over yet--" + +There was a knock at the door, and Annette entered with many +apologies. + +"Mademoiselle," she explained, "a thousand pardons, and to Monsieur +also, but there is a gentleman here who says that his business is +of the most urgent importance, and that he must see you at once. I +have done all that I can, but he will not go away. He knows that +Monsieur Bellamy is here, too," she added, turning to him, "and +he says his business has to do with Monsieur as well as Mademoiselle." + +Bellamy almost snatched the card from the girl's fingers. He read +out the name in blank amazement. + +"Baron de Streuss!" + +There was a moment's silence. Louise and he exchanged wondering +glances. + +"What can this mean?" she asked hoarsely. + +"Heaven knows!" he answered. "Let us see him together. After +all--after all--" + +"You can show the gentleman in, Annette," her mistress ordered. + +"If he has the papers," Bellamy continued slowly, "why does he come +to us? It is not like these men to be vindictive. Diplomacy to +them is nothing--a game of chess. I do not understand." + +The door opened. Annette announced their visitor. Streuss bowed +low to Louise--he bowed, also, to Bellamy. + +"I need not introduce myself," he said. "With Mr. Bellamy I have +the honor to be well acquainted. Madame is known to all the world." + +Louise nodded, somewhat coldly. + +"We can dispense with an introduction, I think, Monsieur le Baron," +she said. "At the same time, you will perhaps explain to what I +owe this somewhat unexpected pleasure?" + +"Mademoiselle, an explanation there must certainly be. I know that +it is an impossible hour. I know, too, that to have forced my +presence upon you in this manner may seem discourteous. Yet the +urgency of the matter, I am convinced, justifies me." + +Louise motioned him to a chair, but he declined with a little bow +of thanks. + +"Mademoiselle," he said, "and you, Mr. Bellamy, we need not waste +words. We have played a game of chess together. You, Mademoiselle, +and Mr. Bellamy on the one side--I and my friends upon the other. +The honor of Rudolph Von Behrling was the pawn for which we fought. +The victory remains with you." + +Bellamy never moved a muscle. Louise, on the contrary, could not +help a slight start. + +"Under the circumstances," the Baron continued smoothly, "the +struggle was uneven. I do myself the justice to remember that from +the first I realized that we played a losing game. Mademoiselle," +he added, "from the days of Cleopatra--ay, and throughout those +shadowy days which lie beyond--the diplomats of the world have been +powerless when matched against your sex. Rudolph Von Behrling was +an honest fellow enough until he looked into your eyes. Mademoiselle, +you have gifts which might, perhaps, have driven from his senses a +stronger man." + +Louise smiled, but there was no suggestion of mirth in the curl of +her lips. Her eyes all the time sought his questioningly. She did +not understand. + +"You flatter me, Baron," she murmured. + +"No, I do not flatter you, I speak the truth. This plain talking +is pleasant enough when the time comes that one may indulge in it. +That time, I think, is now. Rudolph Von Behrling, against my advice, +but because he was the Chancellor's nephew, was associated with me +in a certain enterprise, the nature of which is no secret to you, +Mademoiselle, or to Mr. Bellamy here. We followed a man who, by +some strange chance, was in possession of a few sheets of foolscap, +the contents of which were alike priceless to my country and +priceless to yours. The subsequent history of those papers should +have been automatic. The first step was fulfilled readily enough. +The man disappeared--the papers were ours. Von Behrling was the +man who secured them, and Von Behrling it was who retained them. +If my advice had been followed, I admit frankly that we should have +ignored all possible comment and returned with them at once to +Vienna. The others thought differently. They ruled that we should +come on to London and deposit the packet with our Ambassador here. +In a weak moment I consented. It was your opportunity, Mademoiselle, +an opportunity of which you have splendidly availed yourself." + +This time Louise held herself with composure. Bellamy's brain was +in a whirl but he remained silent. + +"I come to you both," the Baron continued, "with my hands open. I +come--I make no secret of it--I come to make terms. But first of +all I must know whether I am in time. There is one question which +I must ask. I address it, sir, to you," he added, turning to +Bellamy. "Have you yet placed in the hands of your Government the +papers which you obtained from Von Behrling?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +The Baron drew a long breath of relief. Though he had maintained +his savoir faire perfectly, the fingers which for a moment played +with his tie, as though to rearrange it, were trembling. + +"Well, then, I am in time. Will you see my hand?" + +"Mademoiselle and I," answered Bellamy, "are at least ready to +listen to anything you may have to say." + +"You know quite well," the Baron continued, "what it is that I have +come to say, yet I want you to remember this. I do not come to +bribe you in any ordinary manner. The things which are to come will +happen; they must happen, if not this year, next,--if not next year, +within half a decade of years. History is an absolute science. The +future as well as the past can be read by those who know the signs. +The thing which has been resolved upon is certain. The knowledge +of the contents of those papers by your Government might delay the +final catastrophe for a short while; it could do no more. In the +long run, it would be better for your country, Mr. Bellamy, in every +way, that the end come soon. Therefore, I ask you to perform no +traitorous deed. I ask you to do that which is simply reasonable +for all of us, which is, indeed, for the advantage of all of us. +restore those papers to me instead of handing them to your Government, +and I will pay you for them the sum of one hundred thousand pounds!" + +"One hundred thousand pounds," Bellamy repeated. + +"One hundred thousand pounds!" murmured Louise. + +There was a brief, intense pause. Louise waited, warned by the +expression in Bellamy's face. Silence, she felt, was safest, and it +was Bellamy who spoke. + +"Baron," said he, "your visit and your proposal are both a little +amazing. Forgive me if I speak alone with Mademoiselle for a moment." + +"Most certainly," the Baron agreed. "I go away and leave you--out +of the room, if you will." + +"It is not necessary," Bellamy replied. "Louise!" The Baron +withdrew to the window, and Bellamy led Louise into the furthest +corner of the room. + +"What can it mean?" he whispered. "What do you suppose has happened?" + +"I cannot imagine. My brain is in a whirl." + +"If they have not got the pocket-book," Bellamy muttered, "it must +have gone with Von Behrling to the Mortuary. If so, there is a +chance. Louise, say nothing; leave this to me." + +"As you will," she assented. "I have no wish to interfere. I only +hope that he does not ask me any questions." + +They came once more into the middle of the room, and the Baron +turned to meet them. + +"You must forgive Mademoiselle," said Bellamy, "if she is a little +upset this morning. She knows, of course, as I know and you know, +that Von Behrling was playing a desperate game, and that he carried +his life in his hands. Yet his death has been a shock--has been a +shock, I may say, to both of us. From your point of view," Bellamy +went on, "it was doubtless deserved, but--" + +"What, in God's name, is this that you say?" the Baron interrupted. +"I do not understand at all! You speak of Von Behrling's death! +What do you mean?" + +Bellamy looked at him as one who listens to strange words. + +"Baron," he said, "between us who know so much there is surely no +need for you to play a part. Von Behrling knew that you were +watching him. Your spies were shadowing him as they have done me. +He knew that he was running terrible risks. He was not unprepared +and he has paid. It is not for us--" + +"Now, in God's name, tell me the truth!" Baron de Streuss interrupted +once more. "What is it that you are saying about Von Behrling's +death?" + +Bellamy drew a little breath between his teeth. He leaned forward +with his hands resting upon the table. + +"Do you mean to say that you do not know?" + +"Upon my soul, no!" replied the Baron. + +Bellamy threw open the newspaper before him. + +"Von Behrling was murdered last night, ten minutes after our +interview." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL + + +The Baron adjusted his eyeglass with shaking fingers. His face now +was waxen-white as he spread out the newspaper upon the table and +read the paragraph word by word. + + TERRIBLE CRIME IN THE CITY + + Early this morning the body of a man was discovered + in a narrow passageway leading from Crooked Friars to + Royal Street, under circumstances which leave little + doubt but that the man's death was owing to foul play. + The deceased had apparently been stabbed, and had + received several severe blows about the head. He was + shabbily dressed but was well supplied with money, and + he was wearing a gold watch and chain when he was found. + + LATER + + There appears to be no further doubt but that the man + found in the entry leading from Crooked Friars had been + the victim of a particularly murderous assault. Neither + his clothes nor his linen bore any mark by means of which + he could be identified. The body has been removed to the + nearest mortuary, and an inquest will shortly be held. + +Streuss looked up from the newspaper and the reality of his surprise +was apparent. He had all the appearance of a man shaken with emotion. +While he looked at his two companions wonderingly, strange thoughts +were forming in his mind. + +"Von Behrling dead!" he muttered. "But who--who could have done +this?" + +"Until this moment," Bellamy answered dryly, "it was not a matter +concerning which we had any doubt. The only wonder to us was that +it should have been done too late." + +"You mean," Streuss said slowly, "that he was murdered after he had +completed his bargain with you?" + +"Naturally." + +"I suppose," the Baron continued, "there is no question but that it +was done afterwards? You smile," he exclaimed, "but what am I to +think? Neither I nor my people had any hand in this deed. How about +yours?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"We do not fight that way," he replied. "I had bought Von Behrling. +He was of no further interest to me. I did not care whether he +lived or died." + +"There is something very strange about this," the Baron said. "If +neither you nor I were responsible for his death, who was?" + +"That I can't tell you. Perhaps later in the day we shall hear from +the police. It is scarcely the sort of murder which would remain +long undetected, especially as he was robbed of a large sum in +bank-notes." + +"Supplied by His Majesty's Government, I presume?" Streuss remarked. + +"Precisely," Bellamy assented, "and paid to him by me." + +"At any rate," Streuss said grimly, "we have now no more secrets +from one another. I will ask you one last question. Where is that +packet at the present moment?" + +Bellamy raised his eyebrows. + +"It is a question," he declared, "which you could scarcely expect me +to answer." + +"I will put it another way," Streuss continued. "Supposing you +decide to accept my offer, how long will it be before the packet can +be placed in my hands?" + +"If we decide to accept," Bellamy answered, "there is no reason why +there should be any delay at all." + +Streuss was silent for several moments. His hands were thrust deep +down into the pockets of his overcoat. With eyes fixed upon the +tablecloth, he seemed to be thinking deeply, till presently he raised +his head and looked steadily at Bellamy. + +"You are sure that Von Behrling has not fooled you? You are sure +that you have that identical packet?" + +"I am absolutely certain that I have," Bellamy answered, without +flinching. + +"Then accept my price and have done with this matter," Streuss +begged. "I will sign a draft for you here, and I will undertake +to bring you the money, or honor it wherever you say, within +twenty-four hours." + +"I cannot decide so quickly," said Bellamy, shaking his head. +"Mademoiselle Idiale and I must talk together first. I am not sure," +he added, "whether I might not find a higher bidder." + +Streuss laughed mirthlessly. + +"There is little fear of that," he said. "The papers are of no +use except to us and to England. To England, I will admit that the +foreknowledge of what is to come would be worth much, although the +eventful result would be the same. It is for that reason that I am +here, for that reason that I have made you this offer." + +"Mademoiselle and I must discuss it," Bellamy declared. "It is not +a matter to be decided upon off-hand. Remember that it is not only +the packet which you are offering to buy, but also my career and my +honor." + +"One hundred thousand pounds," Streuss said slowly. "From your own +side you get nothing--nothing but your beggarly salary and an +occasional reprimand. One hundred thousand pounds is not immense +wealth, but it is something." + +"Your offer is a generous one," admitted Bellamy, "there is no doubt +about that. On the other hand, I cannot decide without further +consideration. It is a big thing for us, remember. I have worked +very hard for the contents of that packet." + +Once more Streuss felt an uneasy pang of incredulity. After all, +was this Englishman playing with him? So he asked: "You are quite +sure that you have it?" + +"There is no means of convincing you of which I care to make use. +You must be content with my word. I have the packet. I paid Von +Behrling for it and he gave it to me with his own hands." + +"I must accept your word," Streuss declared. "I give you three days +for reflection. Before I go, Mr. Bellamy, forgive me if I refer +once more to this,"--touching the newspaper which still lay upon +the table. "Remember that Rudolph Von Behrling moved about a marked +man. Your spies and mine were most of the time upon his heels. Yet +in the end some third person seems to have intervened. Are you +quite sure that you know nothing of this?" + +"Upon my honor," Bellamy replied, "I have not the slightest +information concerning Von Behrling's death beyond what you can read +there. It was as great a surprise to me as to you." + +"It is incomprehensible," Streuss murmured. + +"One can only conclude," Bellamy remarked thoughtfully, "that someone +must have seen him with those notes. There were people moving about +in the little restaurant where we met. The rustle of bank-notes has +cost more than one man his life. + +"For the present," Streuss said, "we must believe that it was so. +Listen to me, both of you. You will be wiser if you do not delay. +You are young people, and the world is before you. With money one +can do everything. Without it, life is but a slavery. The world +is full of beautiful dwelling-places for those who have the means +to choose. Remember, too, that not a soul will ever know of this +transaction, if you should decide to accept my offer." + +"We shall remember all those things," Bellamy assured him. + +Streuss took up his hat and gloves. + +"With your permission, then, Mademoiselle," he concluded, turning to +Louise, "I go. I must try and understand for myself the meaning of +this thing which has happened to Von Behrling." + +"Do not forget," Bellamy said, "that if you discover anything, we +are equally interested."... + +They heard him go out. Bellamy purposely held the door open until +he saw the lift descend. Then he closed it firmly and came back +into the room. Louise and he looked at each other, their faces full +of anxious questioning. + +"What does it mean?" Louise cried. "What can it mean?" + +"Heaven alone knows!" Bellamy answered. "There is not a gleam of +daylight. My people are absolutely innocent of any attempt upon Von +Behrling. If Streuss tells the truth, and I believe he does, his +people are in the same position. Who, then, in the name of all that +is miraculous, can have murdered and robbed Von Behrling?" + +"In London, too," Louise murmured. "It is not Vienna, this, or +Belgrade." + +"You are right," Bellamy agreed. "London is one of the most +law-abiding cities in Europe. Besides, the quarter where the murder +occurred is entirely unfrequented by the criminal classes. It is +simply a region of great banks and the offices of merchant princes. + +"Is it possible that there is some one else who knew about that +document?" Louise asked,--"some one else who has been watching Von +Behrling?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"How can that be? Besides, if any one else were really on his track, +they must have believed that he had parted with it to me. I shall +go back now to Downing Street to ask for a letter to the Chief of +Scotland Yard. If anything comes out, I must have plenty of warning." + +"And I," she said, with an approving nod, "shall go back to bed +again. These days are too strenuous for me. Won't you stay and take +your coffee with me?" + +Bellamy held her hand for a moment in his. + +"Dear," he said, "I would stay, but you understand, don't you, what +a maze this is into which we have wandered. Von Behrling has been +murdered by some person who seems to have dropped from the skies. +Whoever they may be, they have in their possession my twenty +thousand pounds and the packet which should have been mine. I must +trace them if I can, Louise. It is a poor chance, but I must do +my best. I myself am of the opinion that Von Behrling was murdered +for the money, and for the money only. If so, that packet may be +in the hands of people who have no idea what use to make of it. +They may even destroy it. If Streuss returns and you are forced to +see him, be careful. Remember, we have the document--we are +hesitating. So long as he believes that it is in our possession, +he will not look elsewhere." + +"I will be careful," Louise promised, with her arms around his neck. +"And, dear, take care. When I think of poor Rudolph Von Behrling, +I tremble, also, for you. It seems to me that your danger is no +less than his." + +"I do not go about with twenty thousand pounds in my pocket-book," +with a smile. + +She shook her head. + +"No, but Streuss believes that you have the document which he is +pledged to recover. Be careful that they do not lead you into a +trap. They are not above anything, these men. I heard once of a +Bulgarian in Vienna who was tortured--tortured almost to death--before +he spoke. Then they thrust him into a lunatic asylum. Remember, +dear, they have no consciences and no pity." + +"We are in London," he reminded her. + +"So was Von Behrling," she answered quickly,--"not only in London +but in a safe part of London. Yet he is dead." + +"It was not their doing," he declared. "In their own country, they +have the whole machinery of their wonderful police system at their +backs, and no fear of the law in their hearts. Here they must needs +go cautiously. I don't think you need be afraid," he added, smiling, +as he opened the door. "I think I can promise you that if you will +do me the honor we will sup together to-night." + +"You must fetch me from the Opera House," Louise insisted. "It is +a bargain. I have suffered enough neglect at your hands. One thing, +David,--where do you go first from here?" + +"To find the man," Bellamy answered gravely, "who was watching Von +Behrling when he left me. If any man in England knows anything of +the murder, it must be he. He should be at my rooms by now." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE + + +Stephen Laverick was a bachelor--his friends called him an +incorrigible one. He had a small but pleasantly situated suite of +rooms in Whitehall Court, looking out upon the river. His habits +were almost monotonous in their regularity, and the morning +following his late night in the city was no exception to the +general rule. At eight o'clock, the valet attached to the suite +knocked at his door and informed him that his bath was ready. He +awoke at once from a sound sleep, sat up in bed, and remembered the +events of the preceding evening. + +At first he was inclined to doubt that slowly stirring effort of +memory. He was a man of unromantic temperament, unimaginative, and +by no means of an adventurous turn of mind. He sought naturally +for the most reasonable explanation of this strange picture, which +no effort of his will could dismiss from his memory. It was a dream, +of course. But the dream did not fade. Slowly it spread itself out +so that he could no longer doubt. He knew very well as he sat there +on the edge of his bed that the thing was truth. He, Stephen +Laverick, a man hitherto of upright character, with a reputation of +which unconsciously he was proud, had robbed a dead man, had looked +into the burning eyes of his murderer, had stolen away with twenty +thousand pounds of someone else's money. Morally, at any +rate,--probably legally as well,--he was a thief. A glimpse inside his +safe on the part of an astute detective might very easily bring him +under the grave suspicion of being a criminal of altogether deeper +dye. + +Stephen Laverick was, in his way, something of a philosopher. In +the cold daylight, with the sound of the water running into his bath, +this deed which he had done seemed to him foolish and reprehensible. +Nevertheless, he realized the absolute finality of his action. The +thing was done; he must make the best of it. Behaving in every way +like a sensible man, he did not send for the newspapers and search +hysterically for their account of last night's tragedy, but took his +bath as usual, dressed with more than ordinary care, and sat down +to his breakfast before he even unfolded the paper. The item for +which he searched occupied by no means so prominent a position as +he had expected. It appeared under one of the leading headlines, +but it consisted of only a few words. He read them with interest +but without emotion. Afterwards he turned to the Stock Exchange +quotations and made notes of a few prices in which he was interested. + +He completed in leisurely fashion an excellent breakfast and followed +his usual custom of walking along the Embankment as far as the Royal +Hotel, where he called a taxicab and drove to his offices. A little +crowd had gathered around the end of the passage which led from +Crooked Friars, and Laverick himself leaned forward and looked +curiously at the spot where the body of the murdered man had lain. +It seemed hard to him to reconstruct last night's scene in his mind +now that the narrow street was filled with hurrying men and a stream +of vehicles blocked every inch of the roadway. In his early morning +mood the thing was impossible. In a moment or two he paid his driver +and dismissed him. + +He fancied that a certain relief was visible among his clerks when +he opened the door at precisely his usual time and with a cheerful +"Good-morning!" made his way into the private office. He lit his +customary cigarette and dealt rapidly with the correspondence which +was brought in to him by his head-clerk. Afterwards, as soon as he +was alone, he opened the safe, thrust the contents of that inner +drawer into his breast-pocket, and took up once more his hat and +gloves. + +"I am going around to the bank," he told his clerk as he passed out. +"I shall be back in half-an-hour--perhaps less." + +"Very good, sir," the man answered. "Will Mr. Morrison be here this +morning?" + +Laverick hesitated. + +"No, Mr. Morrison will not be here to-day." + +It was only a few steps to his bankers, and his request for an +interview with the manager was immediately granted. The latter +received him kindly but with a certain restraint. There are not +many secrets in the city, and Morrison's big plunge on a particular +mining share, notwithstanding its steady drop, had been freely +commented upon. + +"What can I do for you, Mr. Laverick?" the banker asked. + +"I am not sure," answered Laverick. "To tell you the truth, I am +in a somewhat singular position." + +The banker nodded. He had not a doubt but that he understood +exactly what that position was. + +"You have perhaps heard," Laverick continued slowly, "that my late +partner, Mr. Morrison,--" + +"Late partner?" the manager interrupted. + +Laverick assented. + +"We had a few words last night," he explained "and Mr. Morrison +left the office with an understanding between us that he should not +return. You will receive a formal intimation of that during the +course of the next day or so. We will revert to the matter +presently, if you wish. My immediate business with you is to +discuss the fact that I have to provide something like twenty +thousand pounds to-day if I decide to take up the purchases of stock +which Morrison has made." + +"You understand the position, of course, Mr. Laverick, if you fail +to do so?" the manager remarked gravely. + +"Naturally," Laverick answered. "I am quite aware of the fact that +Morrison acted on behalf of the firm and that I am responsible for +his transactions. He has plunged pretty deeply, though, a great +deal more deeply than our capital warranted. I may add that I had +not the slightest idea as to the extent of his dealings." + +The bank manager adopted a sympathetic but serious attitude. + +"Twenty thousand pounds," he declared, "is a great deal of money, +Mr. Laverick." + +"It is a great deal of money," Laverick admitted. "I am here to +ask you to lend it to me." + +The bank manager raised his eyebrows. + +"My dear Mr. Laverick!" he exclaimed reproachfully. + +"Upon unimpeachable security," Laverick continued. The bank manager +was conscious that he had allowed a little start of surprise to +escape him, and bit his lip with annoyance. It was entirely contrary +to his tenets to display at any time during office hours any sort of +emotion. + +"Unimpeachable security," he repeated. "Of course, if you have that +to offer, Mr. Laverick, although the sum is a large one, it is our +business to see what we can do for you." + +"My security is of the best," Laverick declared grimly. "I have +bank-notes here, Mr. Fenwick, for twenty thousand pounds." + +The bank manager was again guilty of an unprofessional action. He +whistled softly under his breath. A very respectable client he +had always considered Mr. Stephen Laverick, but he had certainly +never suspected him of being able to produce at a pinch such evidence +of means. Laverick smoothed out the notes and laid them upon the +table. + +"Mr. Fenwick," he said, "I believe I am right in assuming that when +one comes to one's bankers, one enters, as it were, into a +confessional. I feel convinced that nothing which I say to you will +be repeated outside this office, or will be allowed to dwell in your +own mind except with reference to this particular transaction between +you and me. I have the right, have I not, to take that for granted?" + +"Most certainly," the banker agreed. + +"From a strictly ethical point of view," Laverick went on, "this +money is not mine. I hold it in trust for its owner, but I hold it +without any conditions. I have power to make what use I wish of +it, and I choose to-day to use it on my own behalf. Whether I am +justified or not is scarcely a matter, I presume, which concerns +this excellent banking establishment over which you preside so ably. +I do not pay these bank-notes in to my account and ask you to +credit me with twenty thousand pounds. I ask you to allow me to +deposit them here for seven days as security against an overdraft. +You can then advance me enough money to meet my engagements of +to-day." + +The banker took up the notes and looked them through, one by one. +They were very crisp, very new, and absolutely genuine. + +"This is somewhat an extraordinary proceeding, Mr. Laverick," he +said. + +"I have no doubt that it must seem so to you," Laverick admitted. +"At the same time, there the money is. You can run no risk. If I +am exceeding my moral right in making use of these notes, it is I +who will have to pay. Will you do as I ask?" + +The banker hesitated. The transaction was somewhat a peculiar one, +but on the face of it there could be no possible risk. At the same +time, there was something about it which he could not understand. + +"Your wish, Mr. Laverick," he remarked, looking at him thoughtfully, +"seems to be to keep these notes out of circulation." + +Laverick returned his gaze without flinching. + +"In a sense, that is so," he assented. + +"On the whole," the banker declared, "I should prefer to credit +them to your account in the usual way." + +"I am sorry," Laverick answered, "but I have a sentimental feeling +about it. I prefer to keep the notes intact. If you cannot follow +out my suggestion, I must remove my account at once. This isn't a +threat, Mr. Fenwick,--you will understand that, I am sure. It is +simply a matter of business, and owing to Morrison's speculations +I have no time for arguments. I am quite satisfied to remain in +your hands, but my feeling in the matter is exactly as I have stated, +and I cannot change. If you are to retain my account, my +engagements for to-day must be met precisely in the way I have +pointed out." + +The banker excused himself and left the room for a few moments. +When he returned, he shrugged his shoulders with the air of one who +is giving in to an unreasonable client. + +"It shall be as you say, Mr. Laverick," he announced. "The notes +are placed upon deposit. Your engagements to-day up to twenty +thousand pounds shall be duly honored." + +Laverick shook hands with him, talked for a moment or two about +indifferent matters, and strolled back towards his office. He had +rather the sense of a man who moves in a dream, who is living, +somehow, in a life which doesn't belong to him. He was doing the +impossible. He knew very well that his name was in every one's +mouth. People were looking at him sympathetically, wondering how +he could have been such a fool as to become the victim of an +irresponsible speculator. No one ever imagined that he would be +able to keep his engagements. And he had done it. The price +might be a great one, but he was prepared to pay. At any moment +the sensational news might be upon the placards, and the whole +world might know that the man who had been murdered in Crooked +Friars last night had first been robbed of twenty thousand pounds. +So far he had felt himself curiously free from anything in the +shape of direct apprehensions. Already, however, the shadow was +beginning to fall. Even as he entered his office, the sight of a +stranger offering office files for sale made him start. He half +expected to feel a hand upon his shoulder, a few words whispered in +his ear. He set his teeth tight. This was his risk and he must +take it. + +For several hours he remained in his office, engaged in a scheme +for the redirection of its policy. With the absence of Morrison, +too, there were other changes to be made,--changes in the nature +of the business they were prepared to handle, limits to be fixed. +It was not until nearly luncheon time that the telephone, the +simultaneous arrival of several clients, and the breathless entry +of his own head-clerk rushing in from the house, told him what was +going on. + +"'Unions' have taken their turn at last!" the clerk announced, in +an excited tone. "They sagged a little this morning, but since +eleven they have been going steadily up. Just now there seems to +be a boom. Listen." + +Laverick heard the roar of voices in the street, and nodded. He +was prepared to be surprised at nothing. + +"They were bound to go within a day or two," he remarked. "Morrison +wasn't an absolute idiot." + +The luncheon hour passed. The excitement in the city grew. By +three o'clock, ten thousand pounds would have covered all of +Laverick's engagements. Just before closing-time, it was even +doubtful whether he might not have borrowed every penny without +security at all. He took it all quite calmly and as a matter of +course. He left the office a little earlier than usual, and every +man whom he met stopped to slap him on the back and chaff him. He +escaped as soon as he could, bought the evening papers, found a +taxicab, and as soon as he had started spread them open. It was +a remarkable proof of the man's self-restraint that at no time +during the afternoon had he sent out for one of these early editions. +He turned them over now with firm fingers. There was absolutely no +fresh news. No one had come forward with any suggestion as to the +identity of the murdered man. All day long the body had lain in +the Mortuary, visited by a constant stream of the curious, but +presumably unrecognized. Laverick could scarcely believe the words +he read. The thing seemed ludicrously impossible. The twenty +thousand pounds must have come from some one. Why did they keep +silence? What was the mystery about it? Could it be that they were +not in a position to disclose the fact? Curiously enough, this +unnatural absence of news inspired him with something which was +almost fear. He had taken his risks boldly enough. Now that Fate +was playing him this unexpectedly good turn, he was conscious of a +growing nervousness. Who could he have been, this man? Whence +could he have derived this great sum? One person at least must +know that he had been robbed--the man who murdered him must know +it. A cold shiver passed through Laverick's veins at the thought. +Somewhere in London there must be a man thirsting for his blood, +a man who had committed a murder in vain and been robbed of his +spoil. + +Laverick had no engagements for that evening, but instead of going +to his club he drove straight to his rooms, meaning to change a +little early for dinner and go to a theatre, lie found there, +however, a small boy waiting for him with a note in his hand. It +was addressed in pencil only, and his name was printed upon it. + +Laverick tore it open with a haste which he only imperfectly +concealed. There was something ominous to him in those printed +characters. Its contents, however, were short enough. + +DEAR LAVERICK, +I must see you. Come the moment you get this. Come without fail, +for your own sake and mine. A. M. + +Laverick looked at the boy. His fingers were trembling, but it +was with relief. The note was from Morrison. + +"There is no address here," he remarked. + +"The gent said as I was to take you back with me," the boy answered. + +"Is it far?" Laverick asked. + +"Close to Red Lion Square," the boy declared. "Not more nor five +minutes in one of them taxicabs. The gent said we was to take +one. He is in a great hurry to see you." + +Laverick did not hesitate a moment. + +"Very well," he said, "we'll start at once." + +He put on his hat again and waited while the commissionaire called +them a taxicab. + +"What address?" he asked. + +"Number 7, Theobald Square," the boy said. Laverick nodded and +repeated the address to the driver. + +"What the dickens can Morrison be doing in a part like that!" he +thought, as they passed up Northumberland Avenue. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE + + +The Square was a small one, and in a particularly unsavory +neighborhood. Laverick, who had once visited his partner's somewhat +extensive suite of rooms in Jermyn Street, rang the bell doubtfully. +The door was opened almost at once, not by a servant but by a young +lady who was obviously expecting him. Before he could open his lips +to frame an inquiry, she had closed the door behind him. + +"Will you please come this way?" she said timidly. + +Laverick found himself in a small sitting-room, unexpectedly neat, +and with the plainness of its furniture relieved by certain +undeniable traces of some cultured presence. The girl who had +followed him stood with her back to the door, a little out of breath. +Laverick contemplated her in surprise. She was under medium height, +with small pale face and wonderful dark eyes. Her brown hair was +parted in the middle and arranged low down, so that at first, taking +into account her obvious nervousness, he thought that she was a +child. When she spoke, however, he knew that for some reason she +was afraid. Her voice was soft and low, but it was the voice of a +woman. + +"It is Mr. Laverick, is it not?" she asked, looking at him eagerly. + +"My name is Stephen Laverick," he admitted. "I understood that I +should find Mr. Arthur Morrison here." + +"Yes," the girl answered, "he sent for you. The note was from him. +He is here." + +She made no movement to summon him. She still stood, in fact, with +her back to the door. Laverick was distinctly puzzled. He felt +himself unable to place this timid, childlike woman, with her +terrified face and beautiful eyes. He had never heard Morrison +speak of having any relations. His presence in such a locality, +indeed, was hard to understand unless he had met with an accident. +Morrison was one of those young men who would have chosen Hell with +a "W" rather than Heaven E. C. + +"I am afraid," Laverick said, "that for some reason or other you +are afraid of me. I can assure you that I am quite harmless," he +added smiling. "Won't you sit down and tell me what is the matter? +Is Mr. Morrison in any trouble?" + +"Yes," she answered, "he is. As for me, I am terrified." + +She came a little away from the door. Laverick was a man who +inspired trust. His tone, too, was unusually kind. He had the +protective instinct of a big man toward a small woman. + +"Come and tell me all about it," he suggested. "I expected to hear +that he had gone abroad." + +"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking up at him tremulously. "I was +hoping that you could have told me what it was that had come to him." + +"Well, that rather depends," Laverick answered. "We certainly had +a terribly anxious time yesterday. Our business has been most +unfortunate--" + +"Yes, yes!" the girl interrupted. "Please go on. There have been +business troubles, then." + +"Rather," Laverick continued. "Last night they reached such a +pitch that I gave Morrison some money and it was agreed that he +should leave the firm and try his luck somewhere else. I quite +understood that he was going abroad." + +The girl seemed, for some reason, relieved. + +"There was something, then," she said, half to herself. "There was +something. Oh, I am glad of that! You were angry with him, perhaps, +Mr. Laverick?" + +Laverick stood with his back to the little fireplace and with his +hands behind him--a commanding figure in the tiny room full of +feminine trifles. He looked a great deal more at his ease than +he really was. + +"Perhaps I was inclined to be short-tempered," he admitted. "You +see, to be frank with you, the department of our business that was +going wrong was the one over which Morrison has had sole control. +He had entered into certain speculations which I considered +unjustifiable. To-day, however, matters took an unexpected turn +for the better." + +Almost as he spoke his face clouded. Morrison, of course, would be +triumphant. Perhaps he would even expect to be reinstated. For +many reasons, this was a thing which Laverick did not desire. + +"Now tell me," he continued, "what is the matter with Morrison, and +why has he sent for me, and, if you will pardon my saying so, why +is he here instead of in his own rooms?" + +"I will explain," she began softly. + +"You will please explain sitting down," he said firmly. "And don't +look so terrified," he added, with a little laugh. "I can assure +you that I am not going to eat you, or anything of that sort. You +make me feel quite uncomfortable." + +She smiled for the first time, and Laverick thought that he had +never seen anything so wonderful as the change in her features. The +strained rigidity passed away. An altogether softer light gleamed +in her wonderful eyes. She was certainly by far the prettiest child +he had ever seen. As yet he could not take her altogether seriously. + +"Thank you," she said, sinking down upon the arm of an easy-chair. +"first of all, then, Arthur is here because he is my brother." + +"Your brother!" Laverick repeated wonderingly. + +Somehow or other, he had never associated Morrison with relations. +Besides, this meant that she must be of his race. There was nothing +in her face to denote it except the darkness of her eyes, and that +nameless charm of manner, a sort of ultra-sensitiveness, which +belongs sometimes to the highest type of Jews. It was not a quality, +Laverick thought, which he should have associated with Morrison's +sister. + +"My brother, in a way," she resumed. "Arthur's father was a widower +and my mother was a widow when they were married. You are surprised?" + +"There is no reason why I should be," he answered, curiously relieved +at her last statement. "Your brother and I have been connected in +business for some years. We have seen very little of one another +outside." + +"I dare say," she continued, still timidly, "that Arthur's friends +would not be your friends, and that he wouldn't care for the same +sort of things. You see, my mother is dead and also his father, and +as we aren't really related at all, I cannot expect that he would +come to see me very often. Last night, though, quite late--long +after I had gone to bed--he rang the bell here. I was frightened, +for just now I am all alone, and my servant only comes in the +morning. So I looked out of the window and I saw him on the +pavement, huddled up against the door. I hurried down and let him +in. Mr. Laverick," she went on, with an appealing glance at him, +"I have never seen any one look like it. He was terrified to death. +Something seemed to have happened which had taken away from him +even the power of speech. He pushed past me into this room, threw +himself into that chair," she added, pointing across the room, "and +he sobbed and beat his hands upon his knees as though he were a +woman in a fit of hysterics. His clothes were all untidy, he was +as pale as death, and his eyes looked as though they were ready +to start out of his head." + +"You must indeed have been frightened," Laverick said softly. + +"Frightened! I shall never forget it! I did not sleep all night. +He would tell me nothing--he has scarcely spoken a sensible word. +Early this morning I persuaded him to go upstairs, and made him +lie down. He has taken two draughts which I bought from the chemist, +but he has not slept. Every now and then he tries to get up, but +in a minute or two he throws himself down on the bed again and hides +his face. If any one rings at the bell, he shrieks. If he hears a +footfall in the street, even, he calls out for me. Mr. Laverick, I +have never been so frightened in my life. I didn't know whom to +send for or what to do. When he wrote that note to you I was so +relieved. You can't imagine how glad I am to think you have come!" + +Laverick's eyes were full of sympathy. One could see that the +scene of last night had risen up again before her eyes. She was +shrinking back, and the terror was upon her once more. He moved +over to her side, and with an impulse which, when he thought of it +afterwards, amazed him, laid his hand gently upon her shoulder. + +"Don't worry yourself thinking about it," he said. "I will talk to +your brother. We did have words, I'll admit, last night, but there +wasn't the slightest reason why it should have upset him in this +way. Things in the city were shocking yesterday, but they have +improved a great deal to-day. Let me go upstairs and I'll try and +pump some courage into him." + +"You are so kind," she murmured, suddenly dropping her hands from +before her face and looking up at him with shining eyes, "so very +kind. Will you come, then?" + +She rose and he followed her out of the room, up the stairs, and +into a tiny bedroom. Laverick had no time to look around, but it +seemed to him, notwithstanding the cheap white furniture and very +ordinary appointments, that the same note of dainty femininity +pervaded this little apartment as the one below. + +"It is my room," she said shyly. "There is no other properly +furnished, and I thought that he might sleep upon the bed." + +"Perhaps he is asleep now," Laverick whispered. + +Even as he spoke, the dark figure stretched upon the sheets sprang +into a sitting posture. Laverick was conscious of a distinct shock. +It was Morrison, still wearing the clothes in which he had left the +office, his collar crushed out of all shape, his tie vanished. His +black hair, usually so shiny and perfectly arranged, was all +disordered. Out of his staring eyes flashed an expression which one +sees seldom in life,--an expression of real and mortal terror. + +"Who is it?" he cried out, and even his voice was unrecognizable. +"Who is that? What do you want?" + +"It is I--Laverick," Laverick answered. "What on earth is the +matter with you, man?" + +Morrison drew a quick breath. Some part of the terror seemed to +leave his face, but he was still an alarming-looking object. +Laverick quietly opened the door and laid his hand upon the girl's +shoulder. + +"Will you leave us alone?" he asked. "I will come and talk to +you afterwards, if I may." + +She nodded understandingly, and passed out. Laverick closed the +door and came up to the bedside. + +"What in the name of thunder has come over you, Morrison?" he said. +"Are you ill, or what is it?" + +Morrison opened his lips--opened them twice--without any sort of +sound issuing. + +"This is absurd!" Laverick exclaimed protestingly. "I have been +feeling worried myself, but there's nothing so terrifying in losing +one's money, after all. As a matter of fact, things are altogether +better in the city to-day. You made a big mistake in taking us out +of our depth, but we are going to pull through, after all. 'Unions' +have been going up all day." + +Laverick's presence, and the sound of his even, matter-of-fact tone, +seemed to act like a tonic upon his late partner. He made no +reference, however, to Laverick's words. + +"You got my note?" he asked hoarsely. + +"Naturally I got it," Laverick answered impatiently, "and I came at +once. Try and pull yourself together. Sit up and tell me what you +are doing here, frightening your sister out of her life." + +Morrison groaned. + +"I came here," he muttered, "because I dared not go to my own rooms. +I was afraid!" + +Laverick struggled with the contempt he felt. + +"Man alive," he exclaimed, "what was there to be afraid of?" + +"You don't know!" Morrison faltered. "You don't know!" + +Then, for the first time, it occurred to Laverick that perhaps the +financial crisis in their affairs was not the only thing which had +reduced his late partner to this hopeless state. He looked at him +narrowly. + +"Where did you go last night," he asked, "when you left me?" + +"Nowhere," Morrison gasped. "I came here." + +Laverick made a space for himself at the end of the bed, and sat +down. + +"Look here," he said, "it's no use sending for me unless you mean +to tell me everything. Have you been getting yourself into any +trouble apart from our affairs, or is there anything in connection +with them which I don't know?" + +Again Morrison opened his lips, and again, for some reason or other, +he remained speechless. Then a certain fear came also upon Laverick. +There was something in Morrison's state which was in itself +terrifying. + +"You had better tell me all about it," Laverick persisted, "whatever +it is. I will help you if I can." + +Morrison shook his head. There was a glass of water by his side. +He thrust his finger into it and passed it across his lips. They +were dry, almost cracking. + +"Look here," he said, "I've got a breakdown--that's what's the +matter with me. My nerves were never good. I'm afraid of going +mad. The anxiety of the last few weeks has been too much for me. +I want to get out of the country quickly, and I don't know how to +manage it. I can't think. Directly I try to think my head goes +round." + +"There is nothing in the world to prevent your going away," Laverick +answered. "It is the simplest matter possible. Even if we had gone +under to-day, no one could have stopped your going wherever you +chose to go. Ruin, even if it had been ruin,--and I told you just +now that business was better,--is not a crime. Pull yourself +together, for Heaven's sake, man! You should be ashamed to come +here and frighten that poor little girl downstairs almost to death." + +Morrison gripped his partner's arm. + +"You must do as I ask," he declared hoarsely. "It doesn't matter +about prices being better. I want to get away. You must help me." + +Laverick looked at him steadily. Morrison was an ordinary young +man of his type, something of a swaggerer, probably at heart a +coward. But this was no ordinary fear--not even the ordinary fear +of a coward. Laverick's face became graver. There was something +else, then! + +"I will get you out of the country if I can," said he. "There is +no difficulty about it at all unless you are concealing something +from me. You can catch a fast steamer to-morrow, either for South +Africa or New York, but before I make any definite plans, hadn't +you better tell me exactly what happened last night?" + +Once more Morrison's lips parted without the ability to frame words. +Then a feeble moan escaped him. He threw up his hands and his head +fell back. The ghastliness of his face spread almost to his lips, +and he sank back among the pillows. Laverick strode across the +room to the door. + +"Are you anywhere about?" he called out. + +The girl was by his side in a moment. + +"There is nothing to be alarmed at," he said, "but your brother has +fainted. Bring me some sal volatile if you have it, and I think +that you had better run out and get a doctor. I will stay with him. +I know exactly what to do." + +She pointed to the dressing-table, where a little bottle was +standing, and ran downstairs without a word. Laverick mixed some +of the spirit, and moved over to the side of the fainting man. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +LAVERICK's PARTNER FLEES + + +The doctor, a grave, incurious person, arrived within a few minutes +to find Morrison already conscious but absolutely exhausted. He +felt his patient's pulse, prescribed a draught, and followed +Laverick down into the sitting room. + +"An ordinary case of nervous exhaustion," he pronounced. "The +patient appears to have had a very severe shock lately. He will be +all right with proper diet and treatment, and a complete rest. I +will call again to-morrow." + +He accepted the fee which Laverick slipped into his hand, and took +his departure. Once more Laverick was alone with the girl, who had +followed them downstairs. + + +"There is nothing to be alarmed at, you see," he remarked. + +"It is not his health which frightens me. I am sure--I am quite +sure that he has something upon his mind. Did he tell you nothing?" + +"Nothing at all," Laverick answered, with an inward sense of +thankfulness. "To tell you the truth, though, I am afraid you are +right and that he did get into some sort of trouble last night. He +was just about to tell me something when he fainted." + +Upstairs they could hear him moaning. The girl listened with +pitiful face. + +"What am I to do?" she asked. "I cannot leave him like this, and +if I am not at the theatre in twenty minutes, I shall be fined." + +"The theatre?" Laverick repeated. + +She nodded. + +"I am on the stage," she said,--"only a chorus girl at the +Universal, worse luck. Still, they don't allow us to stay away, +and I can't afford to lose my place." + +"Do you mean to say that you have been keeping yourself here, then?" +Laverick asked bluntly. + +"Of course," she answered. "I do not like to be a burden on any +one, and after all, you see, Arthur and I are really not related at +all. He has always told me, too, that times have been so bad lately." + +Laverick was on the point of telling her that bad though they had +been Arthur Morrison had never drawn less than fifteen hundred a +year, but he checked himself. It was not his business to interfere. + +"I think," he said, "that your brother ought to have provided for +you. He could have done so with very little effort." + +"But what am I to do now?" she asked him. "If I am absent, I shall +lose my place." + +Laverick thought for a moment. + +"If you went round there and told them," he suggested, "would that +make any difference? I could stay until you came back." + +"Do you mind?" she asked eagerly. "It would be so kind of you." + +"Not at all," he answered. "Perhaps you would be good enough to +bring a taxicab back, and I could take it on to my rooms. Take +one from here, if you can find it. There are always some at the +corner." + +"I'd love to," she answered. "I must run upstairs and get my hat +and coat." + +He watched her go up on tiptoe for fear of disturbing her brother. +Her feet seemed almost unearthly in the lightness of their pressure. +Not a board creaked. She seemed to float down to him in a most +becoming little hat but a shockingly shabby jacket, of whose +deficiencies she seemed wholly unaware. Her lips were parted once +more in a smile. + +"He is fast asleep and breathing quite regularly," she announced. +"It is nice of you to stay." + +He looked at her almost jealously. + +"Do you know," he said, "you ought not to go about alone?" + +She laughed, softly but heartily. + +"Have you any idea how old I am?" + +"I took you for fourteen when I came inside," he answered. +"Afterwards I thought you might be sixteen. Later on, it seemed +to me possible that you were eighteen. I am absolutely certain +that you are not more than nineteen." + +"That shows how little you know about it. I am twenty, and I am +quite used to going about alone. Will you sit upstairs or here? +I am so sorry that I have nothing to offer you." + +"Thanks, I need nothing. I think I will sit upstairs in case he +wakes." + +She nodded and stole out, closing the door behind her noiselessly. +Laverick watched her from the window until she was out of sight, +moving without any appearance of haste, yet with an incredible +swiftness. When she had turned the corner, he went slowly +upstairs and into the room where Morrison still lay asleep. He +drew a chair to the bedside and leaning forward opened out the +evening paper. The events of the last hour or so had completely +blotted out from his mind, for the time being, his own expedition +into the world of tragical happenings. He glanced at the sleeping +man, then opened his paper. There was very little fresh news +except that this time the fact was mentioned that upon the body +of the murdered man was discovered a sum larger than was at first +supposed. It seemed doubtful, therefore, whether robbery, after +all, was the motive of the crime, especially as it took place in +a neighborhood which was by no means infested with criminals. There +was a suggestion of political motive, a reference to the "Black +Hand," concerning whose doings the papers had been full since the +murder of a well-known detective a few weeks ago. But apart from +this there was nothing fresh. + +Laverick folded up the paper and leaned back in his chair. The +strain of the last twenty-four hours was beginning to tell even upon +his robust constitution. The atmosphere of the room, too, was close. +He leaned back in his chair and was suddenly weary. Perhaps he +dozed. At any rate, the whisper which called him back to realization +of where he was, came to him so unexpectedly that he sat up with a +sudden start. + +Morrison's eyes were open, he had raised himself on his elbow, his +lips were parted. His manner was quieter, but there were black +lines deep engraven under his eyes, in which there still shone +something of that haunting fear. + +"Laverick!" he repeated hoarsely. + +Laverick, fully awakened now, leaned towards him. + +"Hullo," he said, "are you feeling more like yourself?" + +Morrison nodded. + +"Yes," he admitted, "I am feeling--better. How did you come here? +I can't remember anything." + +"You sent for me," Laverick answered. "I arrived to find you +pretty well in a state of collapse. Your sister has gone round to +the theatre to ask them to excuse her this evening." + +"I remember now that I sent for you," Morrison continued. "Tell me, +has any one been around at the office asking after me?" + +"No one particular," Laverick answered,--"no one at all that I can +think of. There were one or two inquiries through the telephone, +but they were all ordinary business matters." + +The man on the bed drew a little breath which sounded like a sigh +of relief. + +"I have made a fool of myself, Laverick," he said hoarsely. + +"You are making a worse one of yourself by lying here and giving +way," Laverick declared, "besides frightening your sister half to +death." + +Morrison passed his hand across his forehead. + +"We talked--some time ago," he went on, "about my getting away. +You promised that you would help me. You said that I could get +off to Africa or America to-morrow." + +"Not the slightest difficulty about that," Laverick answered. "There +are half-a-dozen steamers sailing, at least. At the same time, I +suppose I ought to remind you that the firm is going to pull through. +Mind--don't take this unkindly but the truth is best--I will not +have you back again. There may have to be a more definite +readjustment of our affairs now, but the old business is finished +with." + +"I don't want to come back," Morrison murmured. "I have had enough +of the city for the rest of my life. I'd rather get away somewhere +and make a fresh start. You'll help me, Laverick, won't you?" + +"Yes, I will help you," Laverick promised. + +"You were always a good sort," Morrison continued, "much too good +for me. It was a rotten partnership for you. We could never have +pulled together." + +"Let that go," Laverick interrupted. "If you really mean getting +away, that simplifies matters, of course. Have you made any plans +at all? Where do you want to go?" + +"To New York," answered Morrison; "New York would suit me best. +There is money to be made there if one has something to make a +start with." + +"There will be some more money to come to you," Laverick answered, +"probably a great deal more. I shall place our affairs in the hands +of an accountant, and shall have an estimate drawn up to yesterday. +You shall have every penny that is due to you. You have quite +enough, however, to get there with. I will see to your ticket +to-night, if possible. When you've arrived you can cable me your +address, or you can decide where you will stay before you leave, +and I will send you a further remittance." + +"You're a good sort, Laverick," Morrison mumbled. + +"You'd better give me the key of your rooms," Laverick continued, +"and I will go back and put together some of your things. I suppose +you will not want much to go away with. The rest can be sent on +afterwards. And what about your letters?" + +Morrison, with a sudden movement, threw himself almost out of the +bed. He clutched at Laverick's shoulder frantically. + +"Don't go near my rooms, Laverick!" he begged. "Promise me that you +won't! I don't want any letters! I don't want any of my things!" + +Laverick was dumfounded. + +"You mean you want to go away without--" + +"I mean just what I have said," Morrison continued hysterically. +"If you go there they will watch you, they will follow you, they +will find out where I am. I should be there now but for that." + +Laverick was silent for a moment. The matter was becoming serious. + +"Very well," he said, "I will do as you say. I will not go near +your rooms. I will get you a few things somewhere to start with." + +Morrison sank back upon his pillow. + +"Thank you, Laverick," he said; "thank you. I wish--I wish--" + +His voice seemed to die away. Laverick glanced towards him, +wondering at the unfinished sentence. Once again the man's face +seemed to be convulsed with horror. He flung himself face downward +upon the bed and tore at the sheets with both his hands. + +"Don't be a fool," Laverick said sternly. "If you've anything on +your mind apart from business, tell me about it and I'll do what +I can to help you." + +Morrison made no reply. He was sobbing now like a child. Laverick +rose to his feet and went to the window. What was to be done with +such a creature! When he got back, Morrison had raised himself once +more into a sitting posture. His appearance was absolutely spectral. + +"Laverick," he said feebly, "there is something else, but I cannot +tell you--I cannot tell any one." + +"Just as you please, of course," Laverick answered. "I am simply +anxious to help you." + +"You can do that as it is!" Morrison exclaimed feverishly. "You +must promise me something--promise that if any one asks for me +to-morrow before I get away, you will not tell them where I am. +Say you suppose that I am at my rooms, or that I have gone into +the country for a few days. Say that you are expecting me back. +Don't let any one know that I have gone abroad, until I am safely +away. And then don't tell a soul where I have gone." + +"Have you been up to any tricks with your friends?" Laverick asked +sternly. + +"I haven't--I swear that I haven't," Morrison declared. "It's +something quite outside business--quite outside business altogether." + +"Very well," answered Laverick, "I will promise what you have asked, +then. Listen--here is your sister back again," he added, as he +heard the taxicab stop outside. "Pull yourself together and don't +frighten her so much. I am going down to meet her. I shall tell +her that you are better. Try and buck up when she comes in to see +you." + +"I'll do my best," Morrison said humbly. "If you knew! If you +only knew!" + +He began to sob again. Laverick left the room and, descending the +stairs, met the girl in the hall. Her white face questioned him +before her lips had time to frame the speech. + +"Your brother is very much better," Laverick said. "I am sure that +you need not be anxious about him." + +"I am so glad," she murmured. "They let me off but I had to pay a +fine. I had no idea before that I was so important. Shall I go to +him now?" + +"One moment," Laverick answered, holding open the door of the +sitting-room. "Miss Morrison," he went on,-- + +"Miss Leneven is my name," she interrupted. + +"I beg your pardon. Your brother evidently has something on his +mind apart from business. I am afraid that he has been getting +into some sort of trouble. I don't think there is any object in +bothering him about it, but the great thing is to get him away." + +"You will help?" she begged. + +"I will help, certainly," Laverick answered. "I have promised to. +You must see that he is ready to leave here at seven o'clock +to-morrow morning. He wants to go to New York, and the special +to catch the German boat will leave Waterloo somewhere about eight +to eight-thirty." + +"But his clothes!" she cried. "How can he be ready by then?" + +"Your brother does not wish me or any one to go near his rooms or +to send him any of his belongings," Laverick continued quietly. + +"But how strange!" the girl exclaimed. "Do you mean to say, then, +that he is going without anything?" + +"I am afraid," Laverick said kindly, "that we must take it for +granted that your brother has got mixed up in some undesirable +business or other. He is nervously anxious to keep his whereabouts +an entire secret. He has been asking me whether any one has been +to the office to inquire for him. Under the circumstances, I think +the best thing we can do is to humor him. I shall buy him before +to-morrow morning a cheap dressing-case and a ready-made suit of +clothes, and a few things for the voyage. Then I shall send a cab +for you both at seven o'clock and meet you at the station. + +"You are very kind," she murmured. "What should I have done without +you? Oh, I cannot think!" + +The protective instinct in the man was suddenly strong. Naturally +unaffectionate, he was conscious of an almost overmastering desire +to take her hands in his, even to lift her up and kiss away the +tears which shone in her deep, childlike eyes. He reminded himself +that she was a stranger, that her appearance of youth was a delusion, +that she could only construe such an action as a liberty, an +impertinence, offered under circumstances for which there could be +no possible excuse. + +He moved away towards the door. + +"Naturally," he said, "I am glad to be of use to your brother. You +see," he explained, a little awkwardly, "after all, we have been +partners in business." + +He caught a look upon her face and smiled. + +"Naturally, too," he continued, "it has been a great pleasure for +me to do anything to relieve your anxiety." + +She gave him her hands then of her own accord. The gratitude which +shone out of her swimming eyes seemed mingled with something which +was almost invitation. Laverick was suddenly swept off his feet. +Something had come into his life--something absurd, uncounted upon, +incomprehensible. The atmosphere of the room seemed electrified. +In a moment, he had done what only a second or two before he had +told himself would be the action of a cad. He had taken her, +unresisting, up into his arms, kissed her eyes and lips. Afterwards, +he was never able to remember those few moments clearly, only it +seemed to him that she had accepted his caress almost without +hesitation, with the effortless serenity of a child receiving a +natural consolation in a time of trouble. But Laverick was conscious +of other feelings as he leaned hard back in the corner of his taxicab +and was driven swiftly away. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST" + + +Laverick, notwithstanding that the hour was becoming late, found an +outfitter's shop in the Strand still open, and made such purchases +as he could on Morrison's behalf. Then, with the bag ready packed, +he returned to his rooms. Time had passed quickly during the last +three hours. It was nearly nine o'clock when he stepped out of the +lift and opened the door of his small suite of rooms with the +latchkey which hung from his chain. He began to change his clothes +mechanically, and he had nearly finished when the telephone bell +upon his table rang. + +"Who's that?" he asked, taking up the receiver. + +"Hall-porter, sir," was the answer. "Person here wishes to see you +particularly." + +"A person!" Laverick repeated. "Man or woman?" + +"Man, sir. + +"Better send him up," Laverick ordered. + +"He's a seedy-looking lot, sir," the porter explained "I told him +that I scarcely thought you'd see him." + +"Never mind," Laverick answered. "I can soon get rid of the fellow +if he's cadging." + +He went back to his room and finished fastening his tie. His own +affairs had sunk a little into the background lately, but the +announcement of this unusual visitor brought them back into his +mind with a rush. Notwithstanding his iron nerves, his fingers +shook as he drew on his dinner-jacket and walked out to the +passageway to answer the bell which rang a few seconds later. A +man stood outside, dressed in shabby black clothes, whose face +somehow was familiar to him, although he could not, for the moment, +place it. + +"Do you want to see me?" Laverick asked. + +"If you please, Mr. Laverick," the man replied, "if you could spare +me just a moment." + +"You had better come inside, then," Laverick said, closing the door +and preceding the way into the sitting-room. At any rate, there +was nothing threatening about the appearance of this visitor--nor +anything official. + +"I have taken the liberty of coming, sir," the man announced, "to +ask you if you can tell me where I can find Mr. Arthur Morrison." + +Laverick's face showed no sign of his relief. What he felt he +succeeded in keeping to himself. + +"You mean Morrison--my partner, I suppose?" he answered. + +"If you please, sir," the man admitted. "I wanted a word or two +with him most particular. I found out his address from the +caretaker of your office, but he don't seem to have been home to +his rooms at all last night, and they know nothing about him there." + +"Your face seems familiar to me," Laverick remarked. "Where do you +come from?" + +The man hesitated. + +"I am the waiter, sir, at the 'Black Post,'--little bar and +restaurant, you know," he added, "just behind your offices, sir, +at the end of Crooked Friars' Alley. You've been in once or +twice, Mr. Laverick, I think. Mr. Morrison's a regular customer. +He comes in for a drink most mornings." + +Laverick nodded. + + +"I knew I'd seen your face somewhere," he said. "What do you want +with Mr. Morrison?" + +The man was silent. He twirled his hat and looked embarrassed. + +"It's a matter I shouldn't like to mention to any one except Mr. +Morrison himself, sir," he declared finally. "If you could put me +in the way of seeing him, I'd be glad. I may say that it would be +to his advantage, too." + +Laverick was thoughtful for a moment. + +"As it happens, that's a little difficult," he explained. "Mr. +Morrison and I disagreed on a matter of business last night. I +undertook certain responsibilities which he should have shared, +and he arranged to leave the firm and the country at once. We +parted--well, not exactly the best of friends. I am afraid I +cannot give you any information." + +"You haven't seen him since then, sir?" the man asked. + +Laverick lied promptly but he lied badly. His visitor was not in +the least convinced. + +"I am afraid I haven't made myself quite plain, sir," he said. +"It's to do him a bit o' good that I'm here. I'm not wishing him +any harm at all. On the contrary, it's a great deal more to his +advantage to see me than it will be mine to find him." + +"I think," Laverick suggested, "that you had better be frank with +me. Supposing I knew where to catch Morrison before he left the +country, I could easily deal with you on his behalf." + +The man looked doubtful. + +"You see, sir," he replied awkwardly, "it's a matter I wouldn't +like to breathe a word about to any one but Mr. Morrison himself. +It's--it's a bit serious." + +The man's face gave weight to his words. Curiously enough, the +gleam of terror which Laverick caught in his white face reminded +him of a similar look which he had seen in Morrison's eyes barely +an hour ago. To gain time, Laverick moved across the room, took +a cigarette from a box and lit it. A conviction was forming +itself in his mind. There was something definite behind these +hysterical paroxysms of his late partner, something of which this +man had an inkling. + +"Look here," he said, throwing himself into an easychair, "I think +you had better be frank with me. I must know more than I know at +present before I help you to find Morrison, even if he is to be +found. We didn't part very good friends, but I'm his friend +enough--for the sake of others," he added, after a moment's hesitation, +"to do all that I could to help him out of any difficulty he may +have stumbled into. So you see that so far as anything you may have +to say to him is concerned, I think you might as well say it to me." + +"You couldn't see your way, then, sir," the man continued doggedly, +"to tell me where I could find Mr. Morrison himself?" + +"No, I couldn't," Laverick decided. "Even if I knew exactly where +he was--and I'm not admitting that--I couldn't put you in touch +with him unless I knew what your business was." + +The man's eyes gleamed. He was a typical waiter--pasty-faced, +unwholesome-looking--but he had small eyes of a greenish cast, and +they were expressive. + +"I think, sir," he said, "you've some idea yourself, then, that Mr. +Morrison has been getting into a bit of trouble." + +"We won't discuss that," Laverick answered. "You must either go +away--it's past nine o'clock and I haven't had my dinner yet--or +you must treat me as you would Mr. Morrison." + +The man looked upon the carpet for several moments. + +"Very well, sir," he said, "there's no great reason why I should put +myself out about this at all. The only thing is--" + +He hesitated. + +"Well, go on," Laverick said encouragingly. + +"I think," the man continued, "that Mr. Morrison--knowing, as I +well do, sir, the sort of gent he is--would be more likely to talk +common sense with me about this matter than you, sir." + +"I'll imagine I'm Morrison, for the moment," Laverick said smiling, +"especially as I'm acting for him." + +The man looked around the room. The door behind had been left ajar. +He stepped backward and closed it. + +"You'll pardon the liberty, sir," he said, "but this is a serious +matter I'm going to speak about. I'll just tell you a little thing +and you can form your own conclusions. Last night we was open late +at the 'Black Post.' We keep open, sir, as you know, when you +gentlemen at the Stock Exchange are busy. About nine o'clock there +was a strange customer came in. He had two drinks and he sat as +though he were waiting. In about 'arf-an-hour another gent came in, +and they went into a corner together and seemed to be doing some sort +of business. Anyways, there was papers passed between them. I was +fairly busy about then, as there were one or two more customers in +the place, but I noticed these two talking together, and I noticed +the dark gentleman leave. The others went out a few minutes +afterwards, and the gent who had come first was alone in the place. +He sat in the corner and he had a pocket-book on the table before +him. I had a sort of casual glance at it when I brought him a drink, +and it seemed to me that it was full of bank-notes. He sat there +just like a man extra deep in thought. Just after eleven, in came +Mr. Morrison. I could see he was rare and put out, for he was white, +and shaking all over. 'Give me a drink, Jim,' he said,--'a big +brandy and soda, big as you make 'em."' + +The man paused for a moment as though to collect himself. Laverick +was suddenly conscious of a strange thrill creeping through his +pulses. + +"Go on," he said. "That was after he left me. Go on." + +"He was quite close to the other gent, Mr. Morrison was," the waiter +continued, "but they didn't say nowt to each other. All of a sudden +I see Mr. Morrison set down his glass and stare at the other chap +as though he'd seen something that had given him a turn. I leaned +over the counter and had a look, too. There he sat--this tall, +fair chap who had been in the place so long--with his big +pocket-book on the table in front of him, and even from where I was +I could see that there was a great pile of bank-notes sticking out +from it. All of a sudden he looks up and sees Mr. Morrison +a-watching him and me from behind the counter. Back he whisks the +pocket-book into his pocket, calls me for my bill, gives me two +mouldy pennies for a tip, buttons up his coat and walks out." + +"You know who he was?" Laverick inquired. + +Again the waiter paused for a moment before he answered--paused +and looked nervously around the room. His voice shook. + +"He was the man as was murdered about a hundred yards off the +'Black Post' last night, sir," he said. + +"How do you know?" Laverick asked. + +"I got an hour off to-day," the waiter continued, "and went down to +the Mortuary. There was no doubt about it. There he was--same +chap, same clothes. I could swear to him anywhere, and I reckon +I'll have to at the inquest." + +Laverick's cigarette burned away between his fingers. It seemed to +him that he was no longer in the room. He was listening to Big +Ben striking the hour, he was back again in that tiny little bedroom +with its spotless sheets and lace curtains. The man on the bed was +looking at him. Laverick remembered the look and shivered. + +"What has this to do with Morrison?" he demanded. + +Once more the waiter looked around in that half mysterious, half +terrified way. + +"Mr. Morrison, sir," he said, dropping his voice to a hoarse whisper, +"he followed the other chap out within thirty seconds. A sort of +queer look he'd got in his face too, and he went out without paying +me. I've read the papers pretty careful, sir," the man went on, +"but I ain't seen no word of that pocket-book of bank-notes being +found on the man as was murdered." + +Laverick threw the end of his burning cigarette away. He walked to +the window, keeping his back deliberately turned on his visitor. +His eyes followed the glittering arc of lights which fringed the +Thames Embankment, were caught by the flaring sky-sign on the other +side of the river. He felt his heart beating with unaccustomed vigor. +Was this, then, the secret of Morrison's terror? He wondered no +longer at his collapse. The terror was upon him, too. He felt his +forehead, and his hand, when he drew it away, was wet. It was not +Morrison alone but he himself who might be implicated in this man's +knowledge. The thoughts flitted through his brain like parts of a +nightmare. He saw Morrison arrested, he saw the whole story of the +missing pocket-book in the papers, he imagined his bank manager +reading it and thinking of that parcel of mysterious bank-notes +deposited in his keeping on the morning after the tragedy... +Laverick was a strong man, and his moment of weakness, poignant +though it had been, passed. This was no new thing with which he +was confronted. All the time he had known that the probabilities +were in favor of such a discovery. He set his teeth and turned to +face his visitor. + +"This is a very serious thing which you have told me," he said. +"Have you spoken about it to any one else?" + +"Not a soul, sir," the man answered. "I thought it best to have a +word or two first with Mr. Morrison." + +"You were thinking of attending the inquest," Laverick said +thoughtfully. "The police would thank you for your evidence, and +there, I suppose, the matter would end." + +"You've hit it precisely, sir," the man admitted. "There the matter +would end." + +"On the other hand," Laverick continued, speaking as though he were +reasoning this matter out to himself, "supposing you decided not to +meddle in an affair which does not concern you, supposing you were +not sure as to the identity of your customer last night, and being +a little tired you could not rightly remember whether Mr. Morrison +called in for a drink or not, and so, to cut the matter short, you +dismissed the whole matter from your mind and let the inquest take +its own course,--Laverick paused. His visitor scratched the side +of his chin and nodded. + +"You've put this matter plainly, sir," he said, "in what I call an +understandable, straightforward way. I'm a poor man--I've been a +poor man all my life--and I've never seed a chance before of +getting away from it. I see one now." + +"You want to do the best you can for yourself?" + +"So 'elp me God, sir, I do!" the man agreed. + +Laverick nodded. + +"You have done a remarkably wise thing," he said, "in coming to me +and in telling me about this affair. The idea of connecting Mr. +Morrison with the murder would, of course, be ridiculous, but, on +the other hand, it would be very disagreeable to him to have his +name mentioned in connection with it. You have behaved discreetly, +and you have done Mr. Morrison a service in trying to find him out. +You will do him a further service by adopting the second course I +suggested with regard to the inquest. What do you consider that +service is worth?" + +"It depends, sir," the man answered quietly, "at what price Mr. +Morrison values his life!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE PRICE OF SILENCE + + +The man's manner was expressive. Laverick repeated his phrase, +frowning. + +"His life!" + +"Yes, sir!" + +Laverick shrugged his shoulders. + +"Come," he declared, "you must not go too far with this thing. I +have admitted, so as to clear the way for anything you have to say, +that Mr. Morrison would not care to have his name mentioned in +connection with this affair. But because he left your bar a few +minutes after the murdered man, it is sheer folly to assume that +therefore he is necessarily implicated in his death. I cannot +conceive anything more unlikely." + +The man smiled--a slow, uncomfortable smile which suggested mirth +less than anything in the world. + +"There are a few other things, sir," he remarked,--"one in especial." + +"Well?" Laverick inquired. "Let's have it. You had better tell me +everything that is in your mind." + +"The man was stabbed with a horn-handled knife." + +"I remember reading that," Laverick admitted. + +"Well?" + +"The knife was mine," his visitor affirmed, dropping his voice once +more to a whisper. "It lay on the edge of the counter, close to +where Mr. Morrison was leaning, and as soon as he'd gone I missed it." + +Laverick was silent. What was there to be said? + +"Horn-handled knives," he muttered, "are not rare not uncommon things." + +"One don't possess a knife for a matter of eight or nine years +without being able to swear to it," the other remarked dryly. + +"Is there anything more?" + +"There don't need to be," was the quiet reply. "You know that, sir. +So do I. There don't need to be any more evidence than mine to send +Mr. Morrison to the gallows." + +"We will waive that point," Laverick declared. "The jury sometimes +are very hard to convince by circumstantial evidence alone. However, +as I have said, let us waive that point. Your position is clear +enough. You go to the inquest, you tell all you know, and you get +nothing. You are a poor man, you have worked hard all your life. +The chance has come in your way to do yourself a little good. Now +take my advice. Don't spoil it all by asking for anything ridiculous. +It won't do for you to come into a fortune a few days after this +affair, especially if it ever comes out that the murdered man was in +your place. I am here to act for Mr. Morrison. What is it that you +want?" + +"You are talking like a gent, sir," the man said,--"like a sensible +gent, too. I'd have to keep it quiet, of course, that I'd come into +a bit of money,--just at present, at any rate. I could easy find +an excuse for changing my job--perhaps get away from London +altogether. I've got a few pounds saved and I've always wanted to +open a banking account. A gent like you, perhaps, could put me in +the way of doing it." + +"How much do you consider would be a satisfactory balance to +commence with?" Laverick asked. + +"I was thinking of a thousand pounds, sir." + +Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments. + +"By the way, what is your name?" he inquired at last. + +"James Shepherd, sir," the man answered,--"generally called Jim, +sir." + +"Well, you see, Shepherd," Laverick continued, "the difficulty is, +in your case, as in all similar ones, that one never knows where +the thing will end. A thousand pounds is a considerable sum, but +in four amounts, with three months interval between each, it could +be arranged. This would be better for you, in any case. Two +hundred and fifty pounds is not an unheard-of sum for you to have +saved or got together. After that your investments would be my +lookout, and they would produce, as I have said, another seven +hundred and fifty pounds. But what security have I--has Mr. +Morrison, let us say--that you will be content with this sum?" + +"He hasn't any, sir," the man admitted at once. "He couldn't have +any. I'm a modest-living man, and I've no desire to go shouting +around that I'm independent all of a sudden. That wouldn't do +nohow. A thousand pounds would bring me in near enough a pound a +week if I invested it, or two pounds a week for an annuity, my +health being none too good. I've no wife or children, sir. I was +thinking of an annuity. With two pounds a week I'd have no cause +to trouble any one again." + +Laverick considered. + +"It shall be done," he said. "To-morrow I shall buy shares for +you to the extent of two hundred and fifty pounds. They will be +deposited in a bank. Some day you can look in and see me, and I +will take you round there. You are my client who has speculated +under my instructions successfully, and you will sign your name +and become a customer. After that, you will speculate again. +When your thousand pounds has been made, I will show you how to +buy an annuity. Keep your mouth shut, and last night will be +the luckiest night of your life. Do you drink?" + +"A drop or two, sir," the man admitted. "If I didn't, I guess +I'd go off my chump." + +"Do you talk when you're drunk?" Laverick asked. + +"Never, sir," the man declared. "I've a way of getting a drop +too much when I'm by myself. Then I tumbles off to sleep and +that's the end of it. I've no fancy for company at such times." + +"It's a good thing," Laverick remarked, thrusting his hand into +his pocket. "Here's a five-pound note on account. I daresay you +can manage to keep sober to-night, at any rate. That's all, isn't +it?" + +"That's all, sir," the man answered, "unless I might make so bold as +to ask whether Mr. Morrison has really hooked it?" + +"Mr. Morrison had decided to hook it, as you graphically say, before +he came in for that drink to your bar, Shepherd," Laverick affirmed. +"Business had been none too good with us, and we had had a +disagreement." + +The man nodded. + +"I see, sir," he said, taking up his hat. "Good night, sir!" + +"Good night!" Laverick answered. "You can find your way down?" + +"Quite well, sir, and thank you," declared Mr. Shepherd, closing +the door softly behind him. + +Laverick sat down in his chair. He had forgotten that he was hungry. +He was faced now with a new tragedy. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL + + +They stood together upon the platform watching the receding train. +The girl's eyes were filled with tears, but Laverick was conscious +of a sense of immense relief. Morrison had been at the station +some time before the train was due to leave, and, although a +physical wreck, he seemed only too anxious to depart. He had all +the appearance of a broken-spirited man. He looked about him on +the platform, and even from the carriage, in the furtive way of a +criminal expecting apprehension at any moment. The whistle of the +train had been a relief as great to him as to Laverick. + +"We'll write you to New York, care of Barclays," Laverick called out. +"Good luck, Morrison! Pull yourself together and make a fresh +start." + +Morrison's only reply was a somewhat feeble nod. Laverick had not +attempted to shake hands. He felt himself at the last moment, +stirred almost to anger by the perfunctory farewell which was all +this man had offered to the girl he had treated so inconsiderately. +His thoughts were engrossed upon himself and his own danger. He +would not even have kissed her if she had not drawn his face down +to hers and whispered a reassuring little message. Laverick turned +away. For some reason or other he felt himself shuddering. +Conversation during those last few moments had been increasingly +difficult. The train was off at last, however, and they were alone. + +The girl drew a long breath, which might very well have been one of +relief. They turned silently toward the exit. + +"Are you going back home?" Laverick asked. + +"Yes," she answered listlessly. "There is nothing else to do." + +"Isn't it rather sad for you there by yourself?" + +She nodded. + +"It is the first time," she said. "Another girl and her mother +have lived with me always. They started off last week, touring. +They are paying a little toward the house or I should have to go +into rooms. As it is, I think that it would be more comfortable." + +Laverick looked at her wonderingly. + +"You seem such a child," he said, "to be left all alone in the +world like this." + +"But I am not a child actually, you see," she answered, with an +effort at lightness. "Somehow, though, I do miss Arthur's going. +His father was always very good to me, and made him promise that +he would do what he could. I didn't see much of him, but one felt +always that there was somebody. It's different now. It makes +one feel very lonely." + +"I, too," Laverick said, with commendable mendacity, "am rather a +lonely person. You must let me see something of you now and then." + +She looked up at him quickly. Her gaze was altogether disingenuous, +but her eyes--those wonderful eyes--spoke volumes. + +"If you really mean it," she said, "I should be so glad." + +"Supposing we start to-day," he suggested, smiling. "I cannot ask +you to lunch, as I have a busy day before me, but we might have +dinner together quite early. Then I would take you to the theatre +and meet you afterwards, if you liked." + +"If I liked!" she whispered. "Oh, how good you are." + +"I am not at all sure about that. Now I'll put you in this taxi +and send you home." + +She laughed. + +"You mustn't do anything so extravagant. I can get a 'bus just +outside. I never have taxicabs." + +"Just this morning," he insisted, "and I think he won't trouble you +for his fare. You must let me, please. Remember that there's a +large account open still between your half-brother and me, so you +needn't mind these trifles. Till this evening, then. Shall I +fetch you or will you come to me?" + +"Let me fetch you, if I may," she said. "It isn't nice for you to +come down to where I live. It's such a horrid part." + +"Just as you like," he answered. "I'd be very glad to fetch you +if you prefer it, but it would give me more time if you came. Shall +we say seven o'clock? I've written the address down on this card +so that you can make no mistake." + +She laughed gayly. + +"You know, all the time," she said, "I feel that you are treating +me as though I were a baby. I'll be there punctually, and I don't +think I need tie the card around my neck." + +The cab glided off. Laverick caught a glimpse of a wan little face +with a faint smile quivering at the corner of her lips as she +leaned out for a moment to say good-bye. Then he went back to his +rooms, breakfasted, and made his way to his office. + +The morning papers had nothing new to report concerning the murder +in Crooked Friars' Alley. Evidently what information the police +had obtained they were keeping for the inquest. Laverick, from the +moment when he entered the office, had little or no time to think +of the tragedy under whose shadow he had come. The long-predicted +boom had arrived at last. Without lunch, he and all his clerks +worked until after six o'clock. Even then Laverick found it hard +to leave. During the day, a dozen people or so had been in to ask +for Morrison. To all of them he had given the same reply,--Morrison +had gone abroad on private business for the firm. Very few were +deceived by Laverick's dry statement. He was quite aware that he +was looked upon either as one of the luckiest men on earth, or as +a financier of consummate skill. The failure of Laverick & Morrison +had been looked upon as a certainty. How they had tided over that +twenty-four hours had been known to no one--to no one but Laverick +himself and the manager of his bank. + +Just before four o'clock, the telephone rang at his elbow. + +"Mr. Fenwick from the bank, sir, is wishing to speak to you for a +moment," his head-clerk announced. + +Laverick took up the telephone. + +"Yes," he said, "I am Laverick. Good afternoon, Mr. Fenwick! +Absolutely impossible to spare any time to-day. What is it? The +account is all right, isn't it?" + +"Quite right, Mr. Laverick," was the answer. "At the same time, +if you could spare me a moment I should be glad to see you +concerning the deposit you made yesterday." + +"I will come in to-morrow," Laverick promised. "This afternoon it +is quite out of the question. I have a crowd of people waiting to +see me, and several important engagements for which I am late +already." + +The banker seemed scarcely satisfied. + +"I may rely upon seeing you to-morrow?" he pressed. + +"To-morrow," Laverick repeated, ringing off. + +For a time this last message troubled him. As soon as the day's +work was over, however, and he stepped into his cab, he dismissed +it entirely from his thoughts. It was curious how, notwithstanding +this new seriousness which had come into his life, notwithstanding +that sensation of walking all the time on the brink of a precipice, +he set his face homeward and looked forward to his evening, with a +pleasure which he had not felt for many months. The whirl of the +day faded easily from his mind. He lived no more in an atmosphere +of wild excitement, of changing prices, of feverish anxiety. How +empty his life must have unconsciously grown that he could find so +much pleasure in being kind to a pretty child! It was hard to think +of her otherwise--impossible. A strange heritage, this, to have +been left him by such a person as Arthur Morrison. How in the world, +he wondered, did he happen to have such a connection. + +She was a little shy when she arrived. Laverick had left special +orders downstairs, and she was brought up into his sitting-room +immediately. She was very quietly dressed except for her hat, +which was large and wavy. He found it becoming, but he knew enough +to understand that her clothes were very simple and very inexpensive, +and he was conscious of being curiously glad of the fact. + +"I am afraid," she said timidly, with a glance at his evening attire, +"that we must go somewhere very quiet. You see, I have only one +evening gown and I couldn't wear that. There wouldn't be time to +change afterwards. Besides, one's clothes do get so knocked about +in the dressing-rooms." + +"There are heaps of places we can go to," he assured her pleasantly. +"Of course you can't, dress for the evening when you have to go on +to work, but you must remember that there are a good many other +smart young ladies in the same position. I had to change because I +have taken a stall to see your performance. Tell me, how are you +feeling now?" + +"Rather lonely," she admitted, making a pathetic little grimace. +"That is to say I have been feeling lonely," she added softly. "I +don't now, of course. + +"You are a queer little person," he said kindly, as they went down +in the lift. "Haven't you any friends?" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"What sort of friends could I have?" she asked. "The girls in the +chorus with me are very nice, some of them, but they know so many +people whom I don't, and they are always out to supper, or something +of the sort." + +"And you?" + +She shook her head. + +"I went to one supper-party with the girl who is near me," she said. +"I liked it very much, but they didn't ask me again." + +"I wonder why?" he remarked. + +"Oh, I don't know!" she went on drearily. "You see, I think the +men who take out girls who are in the chorus, generally expect to +be allowed to make love to them. At any rate, they behaved like +that. Such a horrid man tried to say nice things to me and I didn't +like it a bit. So they left me alone afterwards. The girl I lived +with and her mother are quite nice, and they have a few friends we +go to see sometimes on Sunday or holidays. It's dull, though, very +dull, especially now they're away." + +"What on earth made you think of going on the stage at all?" he +asked. + +"What could one do?" she answered. "My mother's money died with +her--she had only an annuity--and my stepfather, who had promised +to look after me, lost all his money and died quite suddenly. Arthur +was in a stockbroker's office and he couldn't save anything. My only +friend was my old music-master, and he had given up teaching and was +director of the orchestra at the Universal. All he could do for me +was to get me a place in the chorus. I have been there ever since. +They keep on promising me a little part but I never get it. It's +always like that in theatres. You have to be a favorite of the +manager's, for some reason or other, or you never get your chance +unless you are unusually lucky." + +"I don't know much about theatres," he admitted. "I am afraid I am +rather a stupid person. When I can get away from work I go into +the country and play cricket or golf, or anything that's going. +When I am up in town, I am generally content with looking up a few +friends, or playing bridge at the club. I never have been a +theatre-goer. + +"I wonder," she asked, as they seated themselves at a small round +table in the restaurant which he had chosen,--"I wonder why every +now and then you look so serious." + +"I didn't know that I did," he answered. "We've had thundering +hard times lately in business, though. I suppose that makes a man +look thoughtful." + +"Poor Mr. Laverick," she murmured softly. "Are things any better +now?" + +"Much better." + +"Then you have nothing really to bother you?" she persisted. + +"I suppose we all have something," he replied, suddenly grave. +"Why do you ask that?" + +She leaned across the table. In the shaded light, her oval face +with its little halo of deep brown hair seemed to him as though +it might have belonged to some old miniature. She was delightful, +like Watteau-work upon a piece of priceless porcelain--delightful +when the lights played in her eyes and the smile quivered at the +corner of her lips. Just now, however, she became very much in +earnest. + +"I will tell you why I ask that question," she said. "I cannot +help worrying still about Arthur. You know you admitted last +night that he had done something. You saw how terribly frightened +he was this morning, and how he kept on looking around as though +he were afraid that he would see somebody whom he wished to avoid. +Oh! I don't want to worry you," she went on, "but I feel so +terrified sometimes. I feel that he must have done something--bad. +It was not an ordinary business trouble which took the life out of +him so completely." + +"It was not," Laverick admitted at once. "He has done something, I +believe, quite foolish; but the matter is in my hands to arrange, +and I think you can assure yourself that nothing will come of it." + +"Did you tell him so this morning?" she asked eagerly. + +"I did not," he answered. "I told him nothing. For many reasons +it was better to keep him ignorant. He and I might not have seen +things the same way, and I am sure that what I am doing is for the +best. If I were you, Miss Leneveu, I think I wouldn't worry any +more. Soon you will hear from your brother that he is safe in +New York, and I think I can promise you that the trouble will +never come to anything serious." + +"Why have you been so kind to him?" she asked timidly. "From what +he said, I do not think that he was very useful to you, and, indeed, +you and he are so different." + +Laverick was silent for a moment. + +"To be honest," he said, "I think that I should not have taken so +much trouble for his sake alone. You see," he continued, smiling, +"you are rather a delightful young person, and you were very +anxious, weren't you?" + +Her hand came across the table--an impulsive little gesture, +which he nevertheless found perfectly natural and delightful. He +took it into his, and would have raised the fingers to his lips +but for the waiters who were hovering around. + +"You are so kind," she said, "and I am so fortunate. I think that +I wanted a friend." + +"You poor child," he answered, "I should think you did. You are +not drinking your wine." + +She shook her head. + +"Do you mind?" she asked. "A very little gets into my head +because I take it so seldom, and the manager is cross if one makes +the least bit of a mistake. Besides, I do not think that I like +to drink wine. If one does not take it at all, there is an excuse +for never having anything when the girls ask you." + +He nodded sympathetically. + +"I believe you are quite right," he said; "in a general way, at any +rate. Well, I will drink by myself to your brother's safe arrival +in New York. Are you ready?" + +She glanced at the clock. + +"I must be there in a quarter of an hour," she told him. + +"I will drive you to the theatre," he said, "and then go round and +fetch my ticket." + +As he waited for her in the reception hall of the restaurant, he +took an evening paper from the stall. A brief paragraph at once +attracted his attention. + + Murder in the City.--We understand that very important + information has come into the hands of the police. An + ARREST is expected to-night or to-morrow at the latest. + +He crushed the paper in his hand and threw it on one side. It was +the usual sort of thing. There was nothing they could have found +out--nothing, he told himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES + + +As soon as he had gone through his letters on the following morning, +Laverick, in response to a second and more urgent message, went +round to his bank. Mr. Fenwick greeted him gravely. He was feeling +keenly the responsibilities of his position. Just how much to say +and how much to leave unsaid was a question which called for a full +measure of diplomacy. + +"You understand, Mr. Laverick," he began, "that I wished to see you +with regard to the arrangement we came to the day before yesterday." + +Laverick nodded. It suited him to remain monosyllabic. + +"Well?" he asked. + +"The arrangement, of course, was most unusual," the manager continued. +"I agreed to it as you were an old customer and the matter was an +urgent one." + +"I do not quite follow you," Laverick remarked, frowning. "What is +it you wish me to do? Withdraw my account?" + +"Not in the least," the manager answered hastily. + +"You know the position of our market, of course," Laverick went on. +"Three days ago I was in a situation which might have been called +desperate. I could quite understand that you needed security to +go on making the necessary payments on my behalf. To-day, things +are entirely different. I am twenty thousand pounds better off, +and if necessary I could realize sufficient to pay off the whole of +my overdraft within half-an-hour. That I do not do so is simply a +matter of policy and prices." + +"I quite understand that, my dear Mr. Laverick," the bank manager +declared. "The position is simply this. We have had a most unusual +and a strictly private inquiry, of a nature which I cannot divulge +to you, asking whether any large sum in five hundred pound banknotes +has been passed through our account during the last few days." + +"You have actually had this inquiry?" Laverick asked calmly. + +"We have. I can tell you no more. The source of the inquiry was, +in a sense, amazing." + +"May I ask what your reply was?" + +"My reply was," Mr. Fenwick said slowly, "that no such notes had +passed through our account. We asked them, however, without giving +any reasons, to repeat their question in a few days' time. Our +reply was perfectly truthful. Owing to your peculiar stipulations, +we are simply holding a certain packet for you in our security +chamber. We know it to contain bank-notes, and there is very little +doubt but that it contains the notes which have been the subject of +this inquiry. I want to ask you, Mr. Laverick, to be so good as to +open that packet, let me credit the notes to your account in the +usual way, and leave me free to reply as I ought to have done in +the first instance to this inquiry." + +"The course which you suggest," replied the other, "is one which I +absolutely decline to take. It is not for me to tell you the nature +of the relations which should exist between a banker and his client. +All that I can say is that those notes are deposited with you and +must remain on deposit, and that the transaction is one which must +be treated entirely as a confidential one. If you decline to do +this, I must remove my account, in which case I shall, of course, +take the packet away with me. To be plain with you, Mr. Fenwick," +he wound up, "I do not intend to make use of those notes, I never +intended to do so. I simply deposited them as security until the +turn in price of 'Unions' came. + +"It is a very nice point, Mr. Laverick," the bank manager remarked. +"I should consider that you had already made use of them." + +"Every one to his own conscience," Laverick answered calmly. + +"You place me in a very embarrassing position, Mr. Laverick." + +"I cannot admit that at all," Laverick replied. "There is only one +inquiry which you could have had which could justify you in insisting +upon what you have suggested. It emanated, I presume, from Scotland +Yard?" + +"If it had," Mr. Fenwick answered, "no considerations of etiquette +would have intervened at all. I should have felt it my duty to +have revealed at once the fact of your deposit. At the same time, +the inquiry comes from an even more important source,--a source +which cannot be ignored." + +Laverick thought for a moment. + +"After all, the matter is a very simple one," he declared. "By +four o'clock this afternoon my account shall be within its limits. +You will then automatically restore to me the packet which you hold +on my behalf, and the possession of which seems to embarrass you." + +"If you do not mind," the banker answered, "I should be glad if you +would take it with you. It means, I think, a matter of six or +seven thousand pounds added to your overdraft, but as a temporary +thing we will pass that." + +"As you will," Laverick assented carelessly. "The charge of those +documents is a trust with me as well as with yourself. I have no +doubt that I can arrange for their being held in a secure place +elsewhere." + +The usual formalities were gone through, and Laverick left the bank +with the brown leather pocket-book in his breast-coat pocket. +Arrived at his office, he locked it up at once in his private safe +and proceeded with the usual business of the day. Even with an +added staff of clerks, the office was almost in an uproar. Laverick +threw himself into the struggle with a whole-hearted desire to +escape from these unpleasant memories. He succeeded perfectly. It +was two hours before he was able to sit down even for a moment. His +head-clerk, almost as exhausted, followed him into his room. + +"I forgot to tell you, sir," he announced, "that there s a man +outside--Mr. Shepherd was his name, I believe--said he had a small +investment to make which you promised to look after personally. He +would insist on seeing you--said he was a waiter at a restaurant +which you visited sometimes." + +"That's all right," Laverick declared. "You can show him in. We'll +probably give him American rails." + +"Can't we attend to it in the office for you, sir?" the clerk asked. +"I suppose it's only a matter of a few hundreds." + +"Less than that, probably, but I promised the fellow I'd look after +it myself. Send him in, Scropes." + +There was a brief delay and then Mr. Shepherd was announced. +Laverick, who was sitting with his coat off, smoking a well-earned +cigarette, looked up and nodded to his visitor as the door was closed. + +"Sorry to keep you waiting," he remarked. "We're having a bit of a +rush." + +The man laid down his hat and came up to Laverick's side. + +"I guess that, sir," he said, "from the number of people we've had +in the 'Black Post' to-day, and the way they've all been shouting +and talking. They don't seem to eat much these days, but there's +some of them can shift the drink." + +"I've got some sound stocks looked out for you," Laverick remarked, +"two hundred and fifty pounds' worth. If you'll just approve that +list as a matter of form," he added, pushing a piece of paper across, +"you can come in to-morrow and have the certificates. I shall tell +them to debit the purchase money to my private account, so that if +any one asks you anything, you can say that you paid me for them." + +"I'm sure I'm much obliged, sir," the man said. "To tell you the +truth," he went on, "I've had a bit of a scare to-day." + +Laverick looked up quickly. + +"What do you mean?" he demanded. + +"May I sit down, sir? I'm a bit worn out. I've been on the go +since half-past ten." + +Laverick nodded and pointed to a chair. Shepherd brought it up to +the side of the table and leaned forward. + +"There's been two men in to-day," he said, "asking questions. They +wanted to know how many customers I had there on Monday night, and +could I describe them. Was there any one I recognized, and so on." + +"What did you say?" + +"I declared I couldn't remember any one. To the best of my +recollection, I told them, there was no one served at all after ten +o'clock. I wouldn't say for certain--it looked as though I might +have had a reason." + +"And were they satisfied?" + +"I don't think they were," Shepherd admitted. "Not altogether, +that is to say." + +"Did they mention any names?" asked Laverick--"Morrison's, for +instance? Did they want to know whether he was a regular customer?" + +"They didn't mention no names at all, sir," the man answered, "but +they did begin to ask questions about my regular clients. Fortunate +like, the place was so crowded that I had every excuse for not +paying any too much attention to them. It was all I could do to +keep on getting orders attended to." + +"What sort of men were they?" Laverick asked. "Do you think that +they came from the police?" + +"I shouldn't have said so," Shepherd replied, "but one can't tell, +and these gentlemen from Scotland Yard do make themselves up so +sometimes on purpose to deceive. I should have said that these two +were foreigners, the same kidney as the poor chap as was murdered. +I heard a word or two pass, and I sort of gathered that they'd a +shrewd idea as to that meeting in the 'Black Post' between the man +who was murdered and the little dark fellow." + +Laverick nodded. + +"Jim Shepherd," he declared, "you appear to me to be a very +sagacious person." + +"I'm sure I'm much obliged, sir; I can tell you, though," he added, +"I don't half like these chaps coming round making inquiries. My +nerves ain't quite what they were, and it gives me the jumps." + +Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments. + +"After all, there was no one else in the bar that night," he +remarked,--"no one who could contradict you?" + +"Not a soul," Jim Shepherd agreed. + +"Then don't you bother," Laverick continued. "You see, you've been +wise. You haven't given yourself away altogether. You've simply +said that you don't recollect any one coming in. Why should you +recollect? At the end of a day's work you are not likely to notice +every stray customer. Stick to it, and, if you take my advice, +don't go throwing any money about, and don't give your notice in +for another week or so. Pave the way for it a bit. Ask the governor +for a rise--say you're not making a living out of it." + +"I'm on," Jim Shepherd remarked, nodding his head. "I'm on to it, +sir. I don't want to get into no trouble, I'm sure." + +"You can't," Laverick answered dryly, "unless you chuck yourself in. +You're not obliged to remember anything. No one can ever prove that +you remembered anything. Keep your eyes open, and let me hear if +these fellows turn up again." + +"I'm pretty certain they will, sir," the man declared. "They sat +about waiting for me to be disengaged, but when my time off came, I +hopped out the back way. They'll be there again to-night, sure +enough." + +Laverick nodded. + +"Well, you must let me know," he said, "what happens." + +Jim Shepherd leaned across the corner of the table and dropped his +voice. + +"It's an awful thing to think of, sir," he whispered, blinking +rapidly. "I wouldn't be that young Mr. Morrison for all that great +pocketful of notes. But my! there was a sight of money there, +sir! He'll be a rich man for all his days if nothing comes out." + +"We won't talk any more about it," Laverick insisted. "It isn't a +pleasant thing to think about or talk about. We won't know anything, +Shepherd. We shall be better off." + +The man took his departure and the whirl of business recommenced. +Laverick turned his back upon the city only a few minutes before +eight and, tired out, he dined at a restaurant on his homeward way. +When at last he reached his sitting-room he threw himself on the +sofa and lit a cigar. Once more the evening papers had no +particular news. This time, however, one of them had a leading +article upon the English police system. The fact that an undetected +murder should take place in a wealthy neighborhood, away from the +slums, a murder which must have been premeditated, was in itself +alarming. Until the inquest had been held, it was better to make +little comment upon the facts of the case so far as they were known. +At the same time, the circumstance could not fail to incite a +considerable amount of alarm among those who had offices in the +vicinity of the tragedy. It was rumored that some mysterious +inquiries were being circulated around London banks. It was +possible that robbery, after all, had been the real motive of the +crime, but robbery on a scale as yet unimagined. The whole interest +of the case now was centred upon the discovery of the man's identity. +As soon as this was solved, some very startling developments might +be expected. + +Laverick threw the paper away. He tried to rest upon the sofa, but +tried in vain. He found himself continually glancing at the clock. + +"To-night," he muttered to himself,--"no, I will not go to-night! +It is not fair to the child. It is absurd. Why, she would think +that I was--" + +He stopped short. + +"I'll change and go to the club," he decided. + +He rose to his feet. Just then there was a ring at his bell. He +opened the door and found a messenger boy standing in the vestibule. + +"Note, sir, for Mr. Stephen Laverick," the boy announced, opening +his wallet. + +Laverick held out his hand. The boy gave him a large square +envelope, and upon the back of it was "Universal Theatre." +Laverick tried to assure himself that he was not so ridiculously +pleased. He stepped back into the room, tore open the envelope, +and read the few lines traced in rather faint but delicate +handwriting. + + +Are you coming to fetch me to-night? Don't let me be a nuisance, +but do come if you have nothing to do. I have something to tell +you. + + ZOE. + + +Laverick gave the boy a shilling for himself and suddenly forgot +that he was tired. He changed his clothes, whistling softly to +himself all the time. At eleven o'clock, he was at the stage-door +of the Universal Theatre, waiting in a taxicab. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +LAVERICK IS CROSS-EXAMINED + + +One by one the young ladies of the chorus came out from the +stage-door of the Universal, in most cases to be assisted into a +waiting hansom or taxicab by an attendant cavalier. Laverick stood +back in the shadows as much as possible, smiling now and then to +himself at this, to him, somewhat novel way of spending the evening. +Zoe was among the last to appear. She came up to him with a +delightful little gesture of pleasure, and took his arm as a matter +of course as he led her across to the waiting cab. + +"This sort of thing is making me feel absurdly young," he declared. +"Luigi's for supper, I suppose?" + +"Supper!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Delightful! Two +nights following, too! I did love last night." + +"We had better engage a table at Luigi's permanently," he remarked. + +"If only you meant it!" she sighed. + +He laughed at her, but he was thoughtful for a few minutes. +Afterwards, when they sat at a small round table in the somewhat +Bohemian restaurant which was the fashionable rendezvous of the +moment for ladies of the theatrical profession, he asked her a +question. + +"Tell me what you meant in your note," he begged. "You said that +you had some information for me. + +"I'm afraid it wasn't anything very much," she admitted. "I found +out to-day that some one had been inquiring at the stage-door about +me, and whether I was connected in any way with a Mr. Arthur +Morrison, the stockbroker." + +"Do you know who it was?" he asked. + +She shook her head. + +"The man left no name at all. I tried to get the doorkeeper to tell +me about him, but he's such a surly old fellow, and he's so used to +that sort of thing, that he pretended he didn't remember anything." + +"It seems odd," he remarked thoughtfully, "that any one should have +found you out. You were so seldom with Morrison. I dare say," he +added, "it was just some one to whom your brother owes some small +sum of money." + +"Very likely," she answered. "But I was going to tell you. He came +again to-night while the performance was on, and sent a note round. +I have brought it for you to see." + +The note--it was really little more than a message--was written +on the back of a programme and enclosed in an envelope evidently +borrowed from the box-office. It read as follows: + + +DEAR MISS LENEVEU, + +I believe that Mr. Arthur Morrison is a connection of yours, and I +am venturing to introduce myself to you as a friend of his. Could +you spare me half-an-hour of your company after the performance of +this evening? If you could honor me so much, you might perhaps +allow me to give you some supper. + + Sincerely, + PHILIP E. MILES. + + +Laverick felt an absurd pang of jealousy as he handed back the +programme. + +"I should say," he declared, "that this was simply some young man +who was trying to scrape an acquaintance with you because he was +or had been a friend of Morrison's." + +"In that case," answered Zoe, "he is very soon forgotten." + +She tore the programme into two pieces, and Laverick was conscious +of a ridiculous feeling of pleasure at her indifference. + +"If you hear anything more about him," he said, "you might let me +know. You are a brave young lady to dismiss your admirers so +summarily." + +"Perhaps I am quite satisfied with one," laughing softly. + +Laverick told himself that at his age he was behaving like an idiot, +nevertheless his eyes across the table expressed his appreciation +of her speech. + +"Tell me something about yourself, Mr. Laverick," she begged. + +"For instance?" + +"First of all, then, how old are you?" + +He made a grimace. + +"Thirty-eight--thirty-nine my next birthday. Doesn't that seem +grandfatherly to you?" + +"You must not be absurd!" she exclaimed. "It is not even +middle-aged. Now tell me--how do you spend your time generally? +Do you really mean that you go and play cards at your club most +evenings?" + +"I have a good many friends, and I dine out quite a great deal." + +"You have no sisters?" + +"I have no relatives at all in London," he explained. + +"It is to be a real cross-examination," she warned him. + +"I am quite content," he answered. "Go ahead, but remember, though, +that I am a very dull person." + +"You look so young for your years," she declared. "I wonder, have +you ever been in love?" + +He laughed heartily. + +"About a dozen times, I suppose. Why? Do I seem to you like a +misanthrope?" + +"I don't know," she admitted, hesitatingly. "You don't seem to me +as though you cared to make friends very easily. I just felt I +wanted to ask you. Have you ever been engaged?" + +"Never," he assured her. + +"And when was the last time," she asked, "that you felt you cared a +little for any one?" + +"It dates from the day before yesterday," he declared, filling her +glass. + +She laughed at him. + +"Of course, it is nonsense to talk to you like this!" she said. +"You are quite right to make fun of me." + +"On the contrary," he insisted. "I am very much in earnest." + +"Very well, then," she answered, "if you are in earnest you shall +be in love with me. You shall take me about, give me supper every +night, send me some sweets and cigarettes to the theatre--oh, and +there are heaps of things you ought to do if you really mean it!" +she wound up. + +"If those things mean being fond of you," he answered, "I'll prove +it with pleasure. Sweets, cigarettes, suppers, taxicabs at the +stage-door." + +"It all sounds very terrible," she sighed. "It's a horrid little +life." + +"Yet I suppose you enjoy it?" he remarked tentatively. + +"I hate it, but I must do something. I could not live on charity. +If I knew any other way I could make money, I would rather, but +there is no other way. I tried once to give music lessons. I had +a few pupils, but they never paid--they never do pay. + +"I wish I could think of something," Laverick said thoughtfully. +"Of course, it is occupation you want. So far as regards the +monetary part of it, I still owe your brother a great deal--" + +She shook her head, interrupting him with a quick little gesture. + +"No, no!" she declared. "I have never complained about Arthur. +Sometimes he made me suffer, because I know that he was ashamed of +having a relative in the chorus, but I am quite sure that I do not +wish to take any of his money--or of anybody else's," she added. +"I want always to earn my own living." + +"For such a child," he remarked, smiling, "you are wonderfully +independent." + +"Why not?" she answered softly. "It is years since I had any one +to do very much for me. Necessity teaches us a good many things. +Oh, I was helpless enough when it began!" she added, with a little +sigh. "I got over it. We all do. Tell me--who is that woman, +and why does she stare so at you?" + +Laverick looked across the room. Louise and Bellamy were sitting +at the opposite table. The former was strikingly handsome and very +wonderfully dressed. Her closely-clinging gown, cut slightly open +in front, displayed her marvelous figure. She wore long pearl +earrings, and a hat with white feathers which drooped over her fair +hair. Laverick recognized her at once. + +"It is Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "the most wonderful soprano +in the world." + +"Why does she look so at you?" Zoe asked. + +Laverick shook his head. + +"I do not know her," he said. "I know who she is, of course,--every +one does. She is a Servian, and they say that she is devoted to her +country. She left Vienna at a moment's notice, only a few days ago, +and they say that it was because she had sworn never to sing again +before the enemies of her country. She had been engaged a long time +to appear at Covent Garden, but no one believed that she would really +come. She breaks her engagements just when she chooses. In fact, +she is a very wonderful person altogether." + +"I never saw such pearls in my life," Zoe whispered. "And how +lovely she is! I do not understand, though, why she is so +interested in you." + +"She mistakes me for some one, perhaps." + +It certainly seemed probable. Even at that moment she touched +her escort upon the arm, and he distinctly looked across at +Laverick. It was obvious that he was the subject of her +conversation. + +"I know the man," Laverick said. "He was at Harrow with me, and I +have played cricket with him since. But I have certainly never met +Mademoiselle Idiale. One does not forget that sort of person." + +"Her figure is magnificent," Zoe murmured wistfully. "Do you like +tall women very much, Mr. Laverick?" + +"I adore them," he answered, smiling, "but I prefer small ones." + +"We are very foolish people, you and I," she laughed. "We came +together so strangely and yet we talk such frivolous nonsense." + +"You are making me young again," he declared. + +"Oh, you are quite young enough!" she assured him. "To tell you +the truth, I am jealous. Mademoiselle Idiale looks at you all the +time. Look at her now. Is she not beautiful?" + +There was no doubt about her beauty, but those who were criticising +her--and she was by far the most interesting person in the room--thought +her a little sad. Though Bellamy was doing his utmost to +be entertaining, her eyes seemed to travel every now and then over +his head and out of the room. Wherever her thoughts were, one could +be very sure that they were not fixed upon the subject under +discussion. + +"She is like that when she sings," Laverick remarked. "She has none +of the vivacity of the Frenchwomen. Yet there was never anything +so graceful in the world as the way she moves about the stage." + +"If I were a man," Zoe sighed, "that is the sort of woman I would +die for." + +"If you were a man," he replied, "you would probably find some one +whom you preferred to live for. Do you know, you are rather a +morbid sort of person, Miss Zoe?" + +"Ah, I like that!" she declared. "I will not be called Miss Leneveu +any more by you. You must call me Miss Zoe, please,--Zoe, if you +like." + +"Zoe, by all means. Under the circumstances, I think it is only +fitting." + +His eyes wandered across the room again. + +"Ah!" she cried softly, "you, too, are coming under the spell, then. +I was reading about her only the other day. They say that so many +men fall in love with her--so many men to whom she gives no +encouragement at all." + +Laverick looked into his companion's face. + +"Come," he said, "my heart is not so easily won. I can assure you +that I never aspire to so mighty a personage as a Covent Garden star. +Don't you know that she gets a salary of five hundred pounds a week, +and wears ropes of pearls which would represent ten times my entire +income? Heaven alone knows what her gowns cost!" + +"After all, though," murmured Zoe, "she is a woman. See, your +friend is coming to speak to you." + +Bellamy was indeed crossing the room. He nodded to Laverick and +bowed to his companion. + +"Forgive my intruding, Laverick," he said. "You do remember me, I +hope? Bellamy, you know." + +"I remember you quite well. We used to play together at Lord's, +even after we left school." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"That is so," he answered. "I see by the papers that you have kept +up your cricket. Mine, alas! has had to go. I have been too much +of a rolling stone lately. Do you know that I have come to ask you +a favor?" + +"Go ahead," Laverick interposed. + +"Mademoiselle Idiale has a fancy to meet you," Bellamy explained. +"You know, or I dare say you have heard, what a creature of whims +she is. If you won't come across and be introduced like a good +fellow, she probably won't speak a word all through supper-time, +go off in a huff, and my evening will be spoiled." + +Laverick laughed heartily. A little smile played at the corner of +Zoe's lips--nevertheless, she was looking slightly anxious. + +"Under those circumstances," remarked Laverick, "perhaps I had +better go. You will understand," he added, with a glance at Zoe, +"that I cannot stay for more than a second." + +"Naturally," Bellamy answered. "If Mademoiselle really has anything +to say to you, I will, if I am permitted, return for a moment." + +Laverick introduced him to Zoe. + +"I am sure I have seen you at the Universal," he declared. "You're +in the front row, aren't you? I have seen you in that clever little +step-dance and song in the second act." + +She nodded, evidently pleased. + +"Does it seem clever to you?" she asked wistfully. "You see, we +are all so tired of it." + +"I think it is ripping," Bellamy declared. "I shall have the +pleasure again directly," he added, with a bow. + +The two men crossed the room. + +"What the dickens does Mademoiselle Idiale want with me?" Laverick +demanded. "Does she know that I am a poor stockbroker, struggling +against hard times?" + +Bellamy shrugged his shoulders. + +"She isn't the sort to care who or what you are," he answered. "And +as for the rest, I suppose she could buy any of us up if she wanted +to. Her interest in you is rather a curious one. No time to explain +it now. She'll tell you." + +Louise smiled as he paused before her. She was certainly exquisitely +beautiful. Her dress, her carriage, her delicate hands, even her +voice, were all perfection. She gave him the tips of her fingers as +Bellamy pronounced his name. + +"It is so kind of you," she said, "to come and speak to me. And +indeed you will laugh when I tell you why I thought that I would +like to say one word with you." + +Laverick bowed. + +"I am thankful, Mademoiselle," he replied, "for anything which +procures me such a pleasure." + +She smiled. + +"Ah! you, too, are gallant," she said. "But indeed, then, I fear +you will not be flattered when I tell you why I was so interested. +I read all your newspapers. I read of that terrible murder in +Crooked Friars' Alley only a few days ago,--is not that how you +call the place?" + +Laverick was suddenly grave. What was this that was coming? + +"One of the reports," she continued, "says that the man was a +foreigner. The maker's name upon his clothes was Austrian. I, +too, come from that part of Europe--if not from Austria, from a +country very near--and I am always interested in my country-people. +A few moments ago I asked my friend Mr. Bellamy, 'Where is this +Crooked Friars' Alley?' Just then he bowed to you, and he answered +me, 'It is in the city. It is within a yard or two of the offices +of the gentleman to whom I just have said good-evening.' So I +looked across at you and I thought that it was strange." + +Laverick scarcely knew what to say. + +"It was a terrible affair," he admitted, "and, as Mr. Bellamy has +told you, it occurred within a few steps of my office. So far, too, +the police seem completely at a loss." + +"Ah!" she went on, shaking her head, "your police, I am afraid they +are not very clever. It is too bad, but I am afraid that it is so. +Tell me, Mr. Laverick, is this, then, a very lonely spot where your +offices are?" + +"Not at all," Laverick replied. "On the contrary, in the daytime +it might be called the heart of the city--of the money-making part +of the city, at any rate. Only this thing, you see, seems to have +taken place very late at night." + +"When all the offices were closed," she remarked. + +"Most of them," Laverick answered. "Mine, as it happened, was open +late that night. I passed the spot within half-an-hour or so of +the time when the murder must have been committed." + +"But that is terrible!" she declared, shaking her head. "Tell me, +Mr. Laverick, if I drive to your office some morning you will show +me this place,--yes?" + +"If you are in earnest, Mademoiselle, I will certainly do so, but +there is nothing there. It is just a passage." + +"You give me your address," she insisted, "and I think that I will +come. You are a stockbroker, Mr. Bellamy tells me. Well, sometimes +I have a good deal of money to invest. I come to you and you will +give me your advice. So! You have a card!" + +Laverick found one and scribbled his city address upon it. She +thanked him and once more held out the tips of her fingers. + +"So I shall see you again some day, Mr. Laverick." + +He bowed and recrossed the room. Bellamy was standing talking to +Zoe. + +"Well," he asked, as Laverick returned, "are you, too, going to +throw yourself beneath the car?" + +Laverick shook his head. + +"I do not think so," he answered. "Our acquaintance promises to be +a business one. Mademoiselle spoke of investing some money though +me." + +Bellamy laughed. + +"Then you have kept your heart," he remarked. "Ah, well, you have +every reason!" + +He bowed to Zoe, nodded to Laverick, and returned to his place. +Laverick looked after him a little compassionately. + +"Poor fellow," he said. + +"Who is he?" + +"He has some sort of a Government appointment," Laverick answered. +"They say he is hopelessly in love with Mademoiselle Idiale." + +"Why not?" Zoe exclaimed. "He is nice. She must care for some +one. Why do you pity him?" + +"They say, too, that she has no more heart than a stone," Laverick +continued, "and that never a man has had even a kind word from her. +She is very patriotic, and all the thoughts and love she has to +spare from herself are given to her country." + +Zoe shuddered. + +"Ah!" she murmured, "I do not like to think of heartless women. +Perhaps she is not so cruel, after all. To me she seems only very, +very sad. Tell me, Mr. Laverick, why did she send for you?" + +"I imagine," said he, "that it was a whim. It must have been a +whim." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT + + +Laverick, on the following morning, found many things to think +about. He was accustomed to lunch always at the same restaurant, +within a few yards of his office, and with the same little company +of friends. Just as he was leaving, an outside broker whom he +knew slightly came across the room to him. + +"Tell me, Laverick," he asked, "what's become of your partner?" + +"He has gone abroad for a few weeks. As a matter of fact, we shall +be announcing a change in the firm shortly." + +"Queer thing," the broker remarked. "I was in Liverpool yesterday, +and I could have sworn that I saw him hanging around the docks. I +should never have doubted it, but Morrison was always so careful +about his appearance, and this fellow was such a seedy-looking +individual. I called out to him and he vanished like a streak." + +"It could scarcely have been Morrison," Laverick said. "He sailed +several days ago for New York." + +"That settles it," the man declared, passing on. "All the same, +it was the most extraordinary likeness I ever saw." + +Laverick, on his way back, went into a cable office and wrote out +a marconigram to the Lusitania, + + Have you passenger Arthur Morrison on board? Reply. + +He signed his name and paid for an answer. Then he went back to +his office. + +"Any one to see me?" he inquired. + +"Mr. Shepherd is here waiting," his clerk told him,--"queer +looking fellow who paid you two hundred and fifty pounds in cash +for some railway stock." + +Laverick nodded. + +"I'll see him," he said. "Anything else?" + +"A lady rang up--name sounded like a French one, but we could none +of us catch what it was--to say that she was coming down to see you." + +"If it is Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick directed, "I must see her +directly she arrives. How are you, Shepherd?" he added, nodding to +the waiter as he passed towards his room. "Come in, will you? +You've got your certificates all right?" + +Mr. James Shepherd had the air of a man with whom prosperity had not +wholly agreed. He was paler and pastier-looking than ever, and his +little green eyes seemed even more restless. His attire--a long +rough overcoat over the livery of his profession--scarcely enhanced +the dignity of his appearance. + +"Well, what is it?" Laverick asked, as soon as the door was closed. + +"Our bar is being watched," the man declared. "I don't think it's +anything to do with the police. Seems to be a sort of foreign gang. +They're all round the place, morning, noon, and night. They've +pumped everybody." + +"There isn't very much," Laverick remarked slowly, "for them to find +out except from you." + +"They've found out something, anyway," Shepherd continued. "My +junior waiter, unfortunately, who was asleep in the sitting-room, +told them he was sure there were customers in the place between ten +and twelve on Monday night, because they woke him up twice, talking. +They're beginning to look at me a bit doubtful." + +"I shouldn't worry," Laverick advised. "The inquest's on now and +you haven't been called. I don't fancy you're running any sort of +risk. Any one may say they believe there were people in the bar +between those hours, but there isn't any one who can contradict you +outright. Besides, you haven't sworn to anything. You've simply +said, as might be very possible, that you don't remember any one." + +"It makes me a bit nervous, though," Shepherd remarked apologetically. +"They're a regular keen-looking tribe, I can tell you. Their eyes +seem to follow you all over the place." + +"I shall come in for a drink presently myself," Laverick declared. +"I should like to see them. I might get an idea as to their +nationality, at any rate." + +"Very good, sir. I'm sure I'm doing just as you suggested. I've +said nothing about leaving, but I'm beginning to grumble a bit at +the work, so as to pave the way. It's a hard job, and no mistake. +I had thirty-nine chops between one and half-past, single-handed, +too, with only a boy to carry the bread and that, and no one to +serve the drinks unless they go to the counter for them. It's +more than one man's work, Mr. Laverick." + +Laverick assented. + +"So much the better," he declared. "All the more excuse for your +leaving. + +"You'll be round sometime to-day, sir, then?" the man asked, taking +up his hat. + +"I shall look in for a few moments, for certain," Laverick answered. +"If you get a chance you must point out to me one of those fellows." + +Jim Shepherd departed. There was a shouting of newspaper boys in +the street outside. Laverick sent out for a paper. The account of +the inquest was brief enough, and there were no witnesses called +except the men who had found the dead body. The nature of the +wounds was explained to the jury, also the impossibility of their +having been self-inflicted. In the absence of any police evidence +or any identification, the discussion as to the manner of the death +was naturally limited. The jury contented themselves by bringing +in a verdict of "Wilful murder against some person or persons +unknown." Laverick laid down the paper. The completion of the +inquest was at least the first definite step toward safety. The +question now before him was what to do with that twenty thousand +pounds. He sat at his desk, looking into vacancy. After all, had +he paid too great a price? The millstone was gone from around his +neck, something new and incomprehensible had crept into his life. +Yet for a background there was always this secret knowledge. + +A clerk announcing Mademoiselle Idiale broke in upon his reflections. +Laverick rose from his seat to greet his visitor. She was +wonderfully dressed, as usual, yet with the utmost simplicity,--a +white serge gown with a large black hat, but a gown that seemed to +have been moulded on to her slim, faultless figure. She brought with +her a musical rustle, a slight suggestion of subtle perfumes--a +perfume so thin and ethereal that it was unrecognizable except in its +faint suggestion of hothouse flowers. She held out her hand to +Laverick, who placed for her at once an easy-chair. + +"This is indeed an honor, Mademoiselle." + +She inclined her head graciously. + +"You are very kind," said she. "I know that here in the city you +are very busy making money all the time, so I must not stay long. +Will you buy me some stocks,--some good safe stocks, which will +bring me in at least four per cent?" + +"I can promise to do that," Laverick answered. "Have you any +choice?" + +"No, I have no choice," Louise told him. "I bring with me a +cheque,--see, I give it to you,--it is for six thousand pounds. I would +like to buy some stocks with this, and to know the names so that I +may watch them in the paper. I like to see whether they go up or +down, but I do not wish to risk their going down too much. It is +something like gambling but it is no trouble." + +"Your money shall be spent in a few minutes, Mademoiselle," Laverick +assured her, "and I think I can promise you that for a week or two, +at any rate, your stocks will go up. With regard to selling--" + +"I leave everything to you," she interrupted, "only let me know what +you propose." + +"We will do our best," Laverick promised. + +"It is good," she said. "Money is a wonderful thing. Without it +one can do little. You have not forgotten, Mr. Laverick, that you +were going to show me this passage?" + +"Certainly not. Come with me now, if you will. It is only a yard +or two away." + +He took her out into the street. Every clerk in the office forgot +his manners and craned his neck. Outside, Mademoiselle let fall +her veil and passed unrecognized. Laverick showed her the entry. + +"It was just there," he explained, "about half a dozen yards up on +the left, that the body was found." + +She looked at the place steadily. Then she looked along the +passage. + +"Where does it lead to--that?" she asked. + +"Come and I will show you. On the left"--as they passed along the +flagged pavement--"is St. Nicholas Church and churchyard. On the +right here there are just offices. The street in front of us is +Henschell Street. All of those buildings are stockbrokers' offices." + +"And directly opposite," she asked,--"that is a cafe, is it +not,--a restaurant, as you would call it?" + +Laverick nodded. + +"That is so," he agreed. "One goes in there sometimes for a drink." + +"And a meeting place, perhaps?" she inquired. "It would probably +be a meeting place. One might leave there and walk down this +passage naturally enough." + +Laverick inclined his head. + +"As a matter of fact," he declared, "I think that the evidence went +to prove that there were no visitors in the restaurant that night. +You see, all these offices round here close at six or seven o'clock, +and the whole neighborhood becomes deserted." + +She shrugged her shoulders impatiently. + +"Your English police, they do not know how to collect evidence. In +the hands of Frenchmen, this mystery would have been solved long +before now. The guilty person would be in the hands of the law. +As it is, I suppose that he will go free." + +"Well, we must give the police a chance, at any rate," answered +Laverick. "They haven't had much time so far." + +"No," she admitted, "they have not had much time. I wonder--" She +hesitated for a moment and did not conclude her sentence. "Come," +she exclaimed, with a little shiver, "let us go back to your office! +This place is not cheerful. All the time I think of that poor man. +It does make me frightened." + +Laverick escorted his visitor back to the electric brougham which +was waiting before his door. + +"A list of stocks purchased on your behalf will reach you by +to-night's post," he promised her. "We shall do our best in your +interests." + +He held out his hand, but she seemed in no hurry to let him go. + +"You are very kind, Mr. Laverick. I would like to see you again +very soon. You have heard me sing in Samson and Delilah?" + +"Not yet, but I am hoping to very shortly." + +"To-night," she declared, "you must come to the Opera House. I +leave a box for you at the door. Send me round a note that you +are there, and it is possible that I may see you. It is against +the rules, but for me there are no rules." + +Laverick hesitating, she leaned forward and looked into his face. + +"You are doing something else?" she protested. "You were, perhaps, +thinking of taking out again the little girl with whom you were +sitting last night?" + +"I had half promised--" + +"No, no!" she exclaimed, holding his hand tighter. "She is not for +you--that child. She is too young. She knows nothing. Better to +leave her alone. She is not for a man of the world like you. Soon +she would cease to amuse you. You would be dull and she would still +care. Oh, there is so much tragedy in these things, Mr. Laverick--so +much tragedy for the woman! It is she always who suffers. You +will take my advice. You will leave that little girl alone." + +Laverick smiled. + +"I am afraid," said he, "that I cannot promise that so quickly. You +see, I have not known her long, but she has very few friends and I +think that she would miss me. Perhaps," he added, after a second's +pause, "I care for her too much." + +"It is not for you," she answered scornfully, "to care too much. +An Englishman, he cares never enough. A woman to him is something +amusing,--his companion for a little of his spare time, something +to be pleased about, to show off to his friends,--to share, even, +the passion of the moment. But an Englishman he does not care too +much. He never cares enough. He does not know what it is to care +enough." + +"Mademoiselle, there may be truth in what you say, and again there +may not. We have the name, I know, of being cold lovers, but at +least we are faithful." + +She held up her hand with a little grimace. + +"Oh, how I do hate that word!" she exclaimed. "Who is there, indeed, +who wishes that you would be faithful? How much we poor women do +suffer from that! Why can you never understand that a woman would +be cared for very, very much, with all the strength and all the +passion you can conceive, but let it not last for too long. It gets +weary. It gets stale. It is as you say,--the Englishman he cares +very little, perhaps, but he cares always; and the woman, if she be +an artiste and a woman, she tires. But good afternoon, Mr. Laverick! +I must not keep you here on the pavement talking of these frivolous +matters. You come to-night?" + +"You are very kind," Laverick said. "If I may come until eleven +o'clock, it would give me the greatest pleasure." + +"As you will," she declared. "We shall see. I expect you, then. +You ask for your box." + +"If you wish it, certainly." + +She smiled and waved her hand. + +"You will tell him, please," she directed, "to drive to Bond Street." + +Laverick re-entered his office, pausing for a minute to give his +clerk instructions for the purchase of stocks for Mademoiselle +Idiale. He had scarcely reached his own room when he was told that +Mr. James Shepherd wished to speak to him for a moment upon the +telephone. He took up the receiver. + +"Who is it?" he asked. + +"It is Shepherd," was the answer. "Is that Mr. Laverick?" + +"Yes!" + +"You were outside the restaurant here a few minutes ago," Shepherd +continued. "You had with you a lady--a young, tall lady with a +veil." + +"That's right," Laverick admitted. "What about her?" + +"One of the two men who watch always here was reading the paper in +the window," Shepherd went on hoarsely. "He saw her with you and +I heard him mutter something as though he had received a shock. He +dropped his glass and his paper. He watched you every second of +the time you were there until you had disappeared. Then he, too, +put on his hat and went out." + +"Anything else?" + +"Nothing else," was the reply. "I thought you might like to know +this, sir. The man recognized the lady right enough." + +"It seems queer," Laverick admitted. "Thank you for ringing me up, +Shepherd. Good morning!" + +Laverick leaned back in his chair. There was no doubt whatever now +in his mind but that Mademoiselle Idiale, for some reason or other, +was interested in this crime. Her wish to see the place, her +introduction to him last night and her purchase of stocks, were all +part of a scheme. He was suddenly and absolutely convinced of it. +As friend or foe, she was very certainly about to take her place +amongst the few people over whom this tragedy loomed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES + + +Louise left her brougham in Piccadilly and walked across the Green +Park. Bellamy, who was waiting, rose up from a seat, hat in hand. +She took his arm in foreign fashion. They walked together towards +Buckingham Palace--a strangely distinguished-looking couple. + +"My dear David," she said, "the man perplexes me. To look at him, +to hear him speak, one would swear that he was honest. He has just +those clear blue eyes and the stolid face, half stupid and half +splendid, of your athletic Englishman. One would imagine him doing +a foolishly honorable thing, but he is not my conception of a +criminal at all." + +Bellamy kicked a pebble from the path. His forehead wore a perplexed +frown. + +"He didn't give himself away, then?" + +"Not in the least." + +"He took you out and showed you the spot where it happened?" + +"Without an instant's hesitation." + +"As a matter of curiosity," asked Bellamy, "did he try to make +love to you?" + +She shook her head. + +"I even gave him an opening," she said. "Of flirtation he has no +more idea than the average stupid Englishman one meets." + +Bellamy was silent for several moments. + +"I can't believe," he said, "that there is the least doubt but that +he has the money and the portfolio. I have made one or two other +inquiries, and I find that his firm was in very low water indeed +only a week ago. They were spoken of, in fact, as being hopelessly +insolvent. No one can imagine how they tided over the crisis." + +"The man who was watching for you?" she inquired. + +"He makes no mistakes," Bellamy assured her. "He saw Laverick enter +that passage and come out. Afterwards he went back to his office, +although he had closed up there and had been on his homeward way. +The thing could not have been accidental." + +"Why do you not go to him openly?" she suggested. "He is, after +all, an Englishman, and when you tell him what you know he will be +very much in your power. Tell him of the value of that document. +Tell him that you must have it." + +"It could be done," Bellamy admitted. "I think that one of us must +talk plainly to him. Listen, Louise,--are you seeing him again?" + +"I have invited him to come to the Opera House to-night." + +"See what you can do," he begged. "I would rather keep away from +him myself, if I can. Have you heard anything of Streuss?" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Nothing directly," she replied, "but my rooms have been searched--even +my dressing-room at the Opera House. That man's spies are +simply wonderful. He seems able to plant them everywhere. And, +David!--" + +"Yes, dear?" + +"He has got hold of Lassen," she continued. "I am perfectly +certain of it." + +"Then the sooner you get rid of Lassen, the better," Bellamy +declared. + +"It is so difficult," she murmured, in a perplexed tone. "The man +has all my affairs in his hands. Up till now, although he is +uncomely, and a brute in many ways, he has served me well." + +"If he is Streuss's creature he must go," Bellamy insisted. + +She nodded. + +"Let us sit down for a few minutes," she said. "I am tired." + +She sank on to a seat and Bellamy sat by her side. In full view +of them was Buckingham Palace with its flag flying. She looked +thoughtfully at it and across to Westminster. + +"Do they know, I wonder, your country-people?" she asked. + +"Half-a-dozen of them, perhaps," he answered gloomily, no more. + +"To-day," she declared, "I seem to have lost confidence. I seem to +feel the sense of impending calamity, to hear the guns as I walk, +to see the terror fall upon the faces of all these great crowds who +throng your streets. They are a stolid, unbelieving people--these. +The blow, when it comes, will be the harder." + +Bellamy sighed. + +"You are right," he said. "When one comes to think of it, it is +amazing. How long the prophets of woe have preached, and how +completely their teachings have been ignored! The invasion bogey +has been so long among us that it has become nothing but a jest. +Even I, in a way, am one of the unbelievers." + +"You are not serious, David!" she exclaimed. + +"I am," he affirmed. "I think that if we could read that document +we should see that there is no plan there for the immediate invasion +of England. I think you would find that the blow would be struck +simultaneously at our Colonies. We should either have to submit or +send a considerable fleet away from home waters. Then, I presume, +the question of invasion would come again. All the time, of course, +the gage would be flung down, treaties would be defied, we should be +scorned as though we were a nation of weaklings. Austria would +gather in what she wanted, and there would be no one to interfere." + +Louise was very pale but her eyes were flashing fire. + +"It is the most terrible thing which has happened in history," she +said, "this decadence of your country. Once England held the scales +of justice for the world. Now she is no longer strong enough, and +there is none to take her place. David, even if you know what that +document contains, even then will it help very much?" + +"Very much indeed. Don't you see that there is one hope left to +us--one hope--and that is Russia? The Czar must be made to +withdraw from that compact. We want to know his share in it. When +we know that, there will be a secret mission sent to Russia. Germany +and Austria are strong, but they are not all the world. With Russia +behind and France and England westward, the struggle is at least an +equal one. They have to face both directions, they have to face two +great armies working from the east and from the west." + +She nodded, and they sat there in silence for several moments. +Bellamy was thinking deeply. + +"You say, Louise," he asked, looking up quickly, "that your rooms +have been searched. When was this?" + +"Only last night," she replied. + +Bellamy drew a little sigh of relief. + +"At any rate," he said, "Streuss has no idea that the document is +not in our possession. He knows nothing about Laverick. How are +we going to deal with him, Louise, when he comes for his answer?" + +"You have a plan?" she asked. + +"There is only one thing to be done," Bellamy declared. "I shall +say that we have already handed over the document to the English +Government. It will be a bluff, pure and simple. He may believe +it or he may not." + +"You will break your compact then," she reminded him. + +"I shall call myself justified," he continued. "He has attempted +to rob us of the document. You are sure of what you say--that your +rooms and dressing-room have been searched?" + +"Absolutely certain," she declared. + +"That will be sufficient," Bellamy decided. "If Streuss comes to +me, I shall meet him frankly. I shall tell him that he has tried +to play the burglar and that it must be war. I shall tell him that +the compact is in the hands of the Prime Minister, and that he and +his spies had better clear out." + +She looked at him questioningly. + +"Of course, you understand," he added, "there is one thing we can +do, and one thing only. We must send a mission to Russia and another +to France, and before the German fleet can pass down the North Sea +we must declare war. It is the only thing left to us--a bold front. +Without that packet we have no casus belli. With it, we can strike, +and strike hard. I still believe that if we declare war within seven +days, we shall save ourselves." + +Streuss and Kahn looked, too, across the panorama of London, across +the dingy Adelphi Gardens, the turbid Thames, the smoke-hung world +beyond. They were together in Streuss's sitting-room on the seventh +floor of one of the great Strand hotels. + +"Our enterprise is a failure!" Kahn exclaimed gloomily. "We cannot +doubt it any longer. I think, Streuss, that the best course you +and I could adopt would be to realize it and to get back. We do no +good here. We only run needless risks." + +The face of the other man was dark with anger. His tone, when he +spoke, shook with passion. + +"You don't know what you say, Kahn!" he cried hoarsely. "I tell you +that we must succeed. If that document reaches the hands of any one +in authority here, it would be the worst disaster which has fallen +upon our country since you or I were born. You don't understand, +Kahn! You keep your eyes closed!" + +"What men can do we have done," the other answered. "Von Behrling +played us false. He has died a traitor's death, but it is very +certain that he parted with his document before he received that +twenty thousand pounds." + +"Once and for all, I do not believe it!" Streuss declared. "At +mid-day, I can swear to it that the contents of that envelope were +unknown to the Ministers of the King here. Now if Von Behrling +had parted with that document last Monday night, don't you suppose +that everything would be known by now? He did not part with it. +Bellamy and Mademoiselle lie when they say that they possess it. +That document remains in the possession of Von Behrling's murderer, +and it is for us to find him." + +Kahn sighed. + +"It is outside our sphere--that. What can we do against the police +of this country working in their own land?" + +Streuss struck the table before which they were standing. The veins +in his temples were like whipcord. + +"Adolf," he muttered, "you talk like a fool! Can't you see what it +means? If that document reaches its destination, what do you suppose +will happen?" + +"They will know our plans, of course," Kahn answered. "They will +have time to make preparation." + +Streuss laughed bitterly. + +"Worse than that!" he exclaimed. "They are not all fools, these +English statesmen, though one would think so to read their speeches. +Can't you see what the result would be if that document reaches +Downing Street? War at a moment's notice, war six months too soon! +Don't you know that every shipbuilding yard in Germany is working +night and day? Don't you know that every nerve is being strained, +that the muscles of the country are hammering the rivets into our +new battleships? There is but one chance for this country, and if +her statesmen read that document they will know what it is. It is +open to them to destroy the German navy utterly, to render themselves +secure against attack." + +"They would never have the courage," Kahn declared. "They might +make a show of defending themselves if they were attacked, but to +take the initiative--no! I do not believe it." + +"There is one man who has wit enough to do it," Streuss said. "He +may not be in the Cabinet, but he commands it. Kahn, wake up, man! +You and I together have never known what failure means. I tell you +that that document is still to be bought or fought for, and we must +find it. This morning Mademoiselle drove into the city and called +at the offices of a stockbroker within a dozen yards of Crooked +Friars' Alley. She was there a long time. The stockbroker himself +came out with her into the street, took her to see the entry, stood +with her there and returned. What was her interest in him, Kahn? +His name is Laverick. Four days ago he was on the brink of ruin. +To the amazement of every one, he met all his engagements. Why did +Mademoiselle go to the city to see him? He was at his office late +that Tuesday night. He had a partner who has disappeared." + +Kahn looked at his companion with admiration. + +"You have found all this out!" he exclaimed. + +"And more," Streuss declared. "For twenty-four hours, this man +Laverick has not moved without my spies at his heels." + +"Why not approach him boldly?" Kahn suggested. "If he has the +document, let us outbid Mademoiselle Louise, and do it quickly." + +Streuss shook his head. + +"You don't know the man. He is an Englishman, and if he had any +idea what that document contained, our chances of buying it would +be small indeed. This is what I think will happen. Mademoiselle +will try to obtain it, and try in vain. Then Bellamy will tell him +the truth, and he will part with it willingly. In the meantime, I +believe that it is in his possession. + +"The evidence is slender enough," objected Kahn. + +"What if it is!" Streuss exclaimed. "If it is only a hundred to one +chance, we have to take it. I have no fancy for disgrace, Adolf, +and I know very well what will happen if we go back empty-handed." + +The telephone bell rang. Streuss took off the receiver and held it +to his ear. The words which he spoke were few, but when he laid +the instrument down there was a certain amount of satisfaction in +his face. + +"At any rate," he announced, "this man Laverick did not part with +the document to-day. Mademoiselle Louise and Bellamy have been +sitting in the Park for an hour. When they separated, she drove +home and dropped him at his club. Up till now, then, they have not +the document. We shall see what Mr. Laverick does when he leaves +business this evening; if he goes straight home, either the document +has never been in his possession, or else it is in the safe in his +office; if he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale's--" + +"Well?" Kahn asked eagerly. + +"If he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale's," Streuss repeated slowly, +"there is still a chance for us!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +LAVERICK AT THE OPERA + + +Laverick, in presenting his card at the box office at Covent Garden +that evening, did so without the slightest misconception of the +reasons which had prompted Mademoiselle Idiale to beg him to become +her guest. It was sheer curiosity which prompted him to pursue this +adventure. He was perfectly convinced that personally he had no +interest for her. In some way or other he had become connected in +her mind with the murder which had taken place within a few yards of +his office, and in some other equally mysterious manner that murder +had become a subject of interest to her. Either that, or this was +one of the whims of a spoiled and pleasure-surfeited woman. + +He found an excellent box reserved for him, and a measure of +courtesy from the attendants not often vouchsafed to an ordinary +visitor. The opera was Samson and Delilah, and even before her +wonderful voice thrilled the house, it seemed to Laverick that no +person more lovely than the woman he had come to see had ever moved +upon any stage. It appeared impossible that movement so graceful +and passionate should remain so absolutely effortless. There +seemed to be some strange power inside the woman. Surely her will +guided her feet! The necessity for physical effort never once +appeared. Notwithstanding the slight prejudice which he had felt +against her, it was impossible to keep his admiration altogether +in check. The fascination of her wonderful presence, and then her +glorious voice, moved him with the rest of the audience. He +clapped as the others did at the end of the first act, and he +leaned forward just as eagerly to catch a glimpse of her when she +reappeared and stood there with that marvelous smile upon her lips, +accepting with faint, deprecating gratitude the homage of the +packed house. + +Just before the curtain rose upon the second act, there was a knock +at his box door. One of the attendants ushered in a short man of +somewhat remarkable personality. He was barely five feet in height, +and an extremely fat neck and a corpulent body gave him almost the +appearance of a hunchback. He had black, beady eyes, a black +moustache fiercely turned up, and sallow skin. His white gloves +had curious stitchings on the back not common in England, and his +silk hat, exceedingly glossy, had wider brims than are usually +associated with Bond Street. + +Laverick half rose, but the little man spread out one hand and +commenced to speak. His accent was foreign, but, if not an +Englishman, he at any rate spoke the language with confidence. + +"My dear sir," he began, "I owe you many apologies. It was +Mademoiselle Idiale's wish that I should make your acquaintance. +My name is Lassen. I have the fortune to be Mademoiselle's business +manager. + +"I am very glad to meet you, Mr. Lassen," said Laverick. "Will +you sit down?" + +Mr. Lassen thereupon hung his hat upon a peg, removed his overcoat, +straightened his white tie with the aid of a looking-glass, brushed +back his glossy black hair with the palms of his hands, and took +the seat opposite Laverick. His first question was inevitable. + +"What do you think of the opera, sir?" + +"It is like Mademoiselle Idiale herself," Laverick answered. "It +is above criticism." + +"She is," Mr. Lassen said firmly, "the loveliest woman in Europe +and her voice is the most wonderful. It is a great combination, +this. I myself have managed for many stars, I have brought to +England most of those whose names are known during the last ten +years; but there has never been another Louise Idiale,--never will +be." + +"I can believe it," Laverick admitted. + +"She has wonderful qualities, too," continued Mr. Lassen. "Your +acquaintance with her, I believe, sir, is of the shortest." + +"That is so," Laverick answered, a little coldly. He was not +particularly taken with his visitor. + +"Mademoiselle has spoken to me of you," the latter proceeded. +"She desired that I should pay my respects during the performance." + +"It is very kind of you," Laverick answered. "As a matter of fact, +it is exceedingly kind, also, of Mademoiselle Idiale to insist +upon my coming here to-night. She did me the honor, as you may +know, of paying me a visit in the city this morning." + +"So she did tell me," Mr. Lassen declared. "Mademoiselle is a +great woman of business. Most of her investments she controls +herself. She has whims, however, and it never does to contradict +her. She has also, curiously enough, a preference for the men of +affairs." + +Laverick had reached that stage when he felt indisposed to discuss +Mademoiselle any longer with a stranger, even though that stranger +should be her manager. He nodded and took up his programme. As +he did so, the curtain rang up upon the next act. Laverick turned +deliberately towards the stage. The little man had paid his respects, +as he put it. Laverick felt disinclined for further conversation +with him. Yet, though his head was turned, he knew very well that +his companion's eyes were fixed upon him. He had an uncomfortable +sense that he was an object of more than ordinary interest to this +visitor, that he had come for some specific object which as yet he +had not declared. + +"You will like to go round and see Mademoiselle," the latter +remarked, some time afterwards. + +Laverick shook his head. + +"I shall find another opportunity, I hope, to congratulate her." + +"But, my dear sir, she expects to see you," Mr. Lassen protested. +"You are here at her invitation. It is usual, I can assure you." + +"Mademoiselle Idiale will perhaps excuse me," Laverick said. "I +have an engagement immediately after the performance is over." + +His companion muttered something which Laverick could not catch, +and made some excuse to leave the box a few minutes later. When +he returned, he carried a little, note which he presented to +Laverick with an air of triumph. + +"It is as I said!" he exclaimed. "Mademoiselle expects you." + +Laverick read the few lines which she had written. + + + I wish to see you after the performance. If you cannot come + round or escort me yourself, will you come later to the restaurant + of Luigi, where, as always, I shall sup. Do not fail. + + Louise Idiale. + + +Laverick placed the note in his waistcoat pocket without immediate +remark. Later on he turned to his companion. + +"Will you tell Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "that I will do myself +the honor of coming to her at Luigi's restaurant. I have an +engagement after the performance which I must keep." + +"You will certainly come?" Lassen asked anxiously. + +"Without a doubt," Laverick promised. + +Mr. Lassen took up his hat... + +"I will go and tell Mademoiselle. For some reason or other she +seemed particularly desirous of seeing you this evening. She has +her whims, and those who have most to do with her, like myself, +find it well to keep them gratified. If I do not see you again, +sir, permit me to wish you good evening." + +He disappeared with several bows of his pudgy little person, and +Laverick was left with another puzzle to solve. He was not in the +least conceited, and he did not for a moment misinterpret this +woman's interest in him. Her invitation, he knew very well, was +one which half London would have coveted. Yet it meant nothing +personal, he was sure of that. It simply meant that for some +mysterious reason, the same reason which had prompted her to visit +him in the city he was of interest to her. + +At a few minutes before eleven Laverick left the place and drove +to the stage-door of the Universal Theatre. Zoe came out among the +first and paused upon the threshold, looking up and down the street +eagerly. When she recognized him, her smile was heavenly. + +"Oh, how nice of you!" she exclaimed, stepping at once into his +taxicab. "You don't know how different it feels to hope that there +is some one waiting for you and then to find your hope come true. +To-night I was not sure. You had said nothing about it, and yet I +could not help believing that you would be here." + +"I was hoping," he said, "that we might have another supper together. +Unfortunately, I have an engagement." + +"An engagement?" she repeated, her face falling. + +Laverick loved the truth and he seldom hesitated to tell it. + +"It is rather an odd thing," he declared. "You remember that woman +at Luigi's last night--Mademoiselle Idiale?" + +"Of course." + +"She came to my office to-day and gave me six thousand pounds to +invest for her. She made me take her out and show her where the +murder was committed, and asked a great many questions about it. +Then she insisted that I should go and hear her sing this evening, +and I find that I was expected to take her on to supper afterwards. +I excused myself for a little while, but I have promised to go to +Luigi's, where she will be." + +The girl was silent for a moment. + +"Where are we going now, then?" she asked. + +"Wherever you like. I can take you home first, or I can leave you +anywhere." + +She looked at him with a piteous little smile. + +"The last two nights you have spoiled me," she said. "I have so +many evil thoughts and I am afraid to go home." + +"I am sorry. If I could think of anything or anywhere--" + +"No, you must take me home, please," said she. "It was selfish of +me. Only Mademoiselle Idiale is such a wonderful person. Do you +think that she will want you every night?" + +"Of course not," he laughed. "Come, I will make an engagement with +you. We will have supper together to-morrow evening." + +She brightened up at once. + +"I wonder," she asked timidly, a few minutes afterwards, "have you +heard anything from Arthur? He promised to send a telegram from +Queenstown." + +Laverick shook his head. He said nothing about the marconigram he +had sent, or the answer which he had received informing him that +there was no such person on board. It seemed scarcely worth while +to worry her. + +"I have heard nothing," he replied. "Of course, he must be half-way +to America by now." + +"There have been no more inquiries about him?" she asked. + +"No more than the usual ones from his friends, and a few creditors. +The latter I am paying as they come. But there is one thing you +ought to do with me. I think we ought to go to his rooms and lock +up his papers and letters. He never even went back, you know, after +that night." + +She nodded thoughtfully. + +"When would you like to do this?" + +"I am so busy just now that I am afraid I can spare no time until +Monday afternoon. Would you go with me then?" + +"Of course... My time is my own. We have no matinee, and I have +nothing to do except in the evening." + +They had reached her home. It looked very dark and very uninviting. +She shivered as she took her latchkey from the bag which she was +carrying. + +"Come in with me, please, while I light the gas," she begged. "It +looks so dreary, doesn't it?" + +"You ought to have some one with you," he declared, "especially in +a part like this." + +"Oh, I am not really afraid," she answered. "I am only lonely." + +He stood in the passage while she felt for a box of matches and lit +the gas jet. In the parlor there was a bowl of milk standing waiting +for her, and some bread. + +"Thank you so much," she said. "Now I am going to make up the fire +and read for a short time. I hope that you will enjoy your supper--well, +moderately," she added, with a little laugh. + +"I can promise you," he answered, "that I shall enjoy it no more than +last night's or to-morrow night's." + +She sighed. + +"Poor little me!" she exclaimed. "It is not fair to have to compete +with Mademoiselle Idiale. Good night!" + +Something he saw in her eyes moved him strangely as he turned away. + +"Would you like me," he asked hesitatingly, "supposing I get away +early--would you like me to come in and say good night to you +later on?" + +Her face was suddenly flushed with joy. + +"Oh, do!" she begged. "Do!" + +He turned away with a smile. + +"Very well," he said. "Don't shut up just yet and I will try." + +"I shall stay here until three o'clock," she declared,--"until +four, even. You must come. Remember, you must come. See." + +She held out to him her key. + +"I can knock at the door," he protested. "You would hear me." + +"But I might fall asleep," she answered. "I am afraid. If you have +the key, I am sure that you will come." + +He put it in his waistcoat pocket with a laugh. + +"Very well," he said, "if it is only for five minutes, I will come." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S + + +Laverick walked into Luigi's Restaurant at about a quarter to +twelve, and found the place crowded with many little supper-parties +on their way to a fancy dress ball. The demand for tables was far +in excess of the supply, but he had scarcely shown himself before +the head maitre d'hotel came hurrying up. + +"Mademoiselle Idiale is waiting for you, sir," he announced at once. +"Will you be so good as to come this way?" + +Laverick followed him. She was sitting at the same table as last +night, but she was alone, and it was laid, he noticed with surprise, +only for two. + +"You have treated me," she said, as she held out her fingers, "to +a new sensation. I have waited for you alone here for a quarter of +an hour--I! Such a thing has never happened to me before." + +"You do me too much honor," Laverick declared, seating himself and +taking up the carte. + +"Then, too," she continued, "I sup alone with you. That is what I +seldom do with any man. Not that I care for the appearance," she +added, with a contemptuous wave of the hand. "Nothing troubles me +less. It is simply that one man alone wearies me. Almost always +he will make love, and that I do not like. You, Mr. Laverick, I am +not afraid of. I do not think that you will make love to me." + +"Any intentions I may have had," Laverick remarked, with a sigh, "I +forthwith banish. You ask a hard task of your cavaliers, though, +Mademoiselle." + +She smiled and looked at him from under her eyelids. + +"Not of you, I fancy, Mr. Laverick," she said. "I do not think that +you are one of those who make love to every woman because she is +good-looking or famous." + +"To tell you the truth," Laverick admitted, "I find it hard to make +love to any one. I often feel the most profound admiration for +individual members of your sex, but to express one's self is +difficult--sometimes it is even embarrassing. For supper?" + +"It is ordered," she declared. "You are my guest." + +"Impossible!" Laverick asserted firmly. "I have been your guest +at the Opera. You at least owe me the honor of being mine for +supper." + +She frowned a little. She was obviously unused to being contradicted. + +"I sup with you, then, another night," she insisted. "No," she +continued, "If you are going to look like that, I take it back. I +sup with you to-night. This is an ill omen for our future +acquaintance. I have given in to you already--I, who give in to +no man. Give me some champagne, please." + +Laverick took the bottle from the ice-pail by his side, but the +sommelier darted forward and served them. + +"I drink to our better understanding of one another, Mr. Laverick," +she said, raising her glass, "and, if you would like a double toast, +I drink also to the early gratification of the curiosity which is +consuming you." + +"The curiosity?" + +"Yes! You are wondering all the time why it is that I chose last +night to send and have you presented to me, why I came to your +office in the city to-day with the excuse of investing money with +you, why I invited you to the Opera to-night, why I commanded you +to supper here and am supping with you alone. Now confess the +truth; you are full of curiosity, is it not so?" + +"Frankly, I am." + +She smiled good-humoredly. + +"I knew it quite well. You are not conceited. You do not believe, +as so many men would, that I have fallen in love with you. You +think that there must be some object, and you ask yourself all the +time, 'What is it?' in your heart, Mr. Laverick, I wonder whether +you have any idea." + +Her voice had fallen almost to a whisper. She looked at him with a +suggestion of stealthiness from under her eyelids, a look which only +needed the slightest softening of her face to have made it something +almost irresistible. + +"I can assure you," Laverick said firmly, "that I have no idea." + +"Do you remember almost my first question to you?" she asked. + +"It was about the murder. You seemed interested in the fact that +my office was within a few yards of the passage where it occurred." + +"Quite right," she admitted. "I see that your memory is very good. +There, then, Mr. Laverick, you have the secret of my desire to meet +you." + +Laverick drank his wine slowly. The woman knew! Impossible! Her +eyes were watching his face, but he held himself bravely. What +could she know? How could she guess? + +"Frankly," he said, "I do not understand. Your interest in me +arises from the fact that my offices are near the scene of that +murder. Well, to begin with, what concern have you in that?" + +"The murdered man," she declared thoughtfully, "was an acquaintance +of mine." + +"An acquaintance of yours!" Laverick exclaimed. "Why, he has not +been identified. No one knows who he was." + +She raised her eyebrows very slightly. + +"Mr. Laverick," she murmured, "the newspapers do not tell you +everything. I repeat that the murdered man was an acquaintance of +mine. Only three days ago I traveled part of the way from Vienna +with him." + +Laverick was intensely interested. + +"You could, perhaps, throw some light, then, upon his death?" + +"Perhaps I could," she answered. "I can tell you one thing, at any +rate, Mr. Laverick, if it is news to you. At the time when he was +murdered, he was carrying a very large sum of money with him. This +is a fact which has not been spoken of in the Press." + +Once again Laverick was thankful for those nerves of his. He sat +quite still. His face exhibited nothing more than the blank +amazement which he certainly felt. + +"This is marvelous," he said. "Have you told the police?" + +"I have not," she answered. "I wish, if I can, to avoid telling +the police." + +"But the money? To whom did it belong?" + +"Not to the murdered man." + +"To any one whom you know of?" he inquired. + +"I wonder," she said, after a moment of hesitation, "whether I am +telling you too much." + +"You are telling me a good deal," he admitted frankly. + +"I wonder how far," she asked, "you will be inclined to reciprocate?" + +"I reciprocate!" he exclaimed. "But what can I do? What do I know +of these things?" + +She stretched out her hand lazily, and drew towards her a wonderful +gold purse set with emeralds. Carefully opening it, she drew from +the interior a small flat pocketbook, also of gold, with a great +uncut emerald set into its centre. This, too, she opened, and drew +out several sheets of foreign note-paper pinned together at the top. +These she glanced through until she came to the third or fourth. +Then she bent it down and passed it across the table to Laverick. + +"You may read that," she said. "It is part of a report which I have +had in my pos session since Wednesday morning." + +Laverick drew the sheet towards him and read, in thin, angular +characters, very distinct and plain: + + Some ten minutes after the assault, a policeman passed down + the street but did not glance toward the passage. The next + person to appear was a gentleman who left some offices on the + same side as the passage, and walked down evidently on his + homeward way. He glanced up the passage and saw the body + lying there. He disappeared for a moment and struck a match. + A minute afterwards he emerged from the passage, looked up and + down the street, and finding it empty returned to the office + from which he had issued, let himself in with his latchkey, + and closed the door behind him. He was there for about ten + minutes. When he reappeared, he walked quickly down the street + and for obvious reasons I was unable to follow him. + + The address of the offices which he left and re-entered was + Messrs. Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers. + +"That interests you, Mr. Laverick?" she asked softly. + +He handed it back to her. + +"It interests me very much," he answered. "Who was this unseen +person who wrote from the clouds?" + +"I may not tell you all my secrets, Mr. Laverick," she declared. +"What have you done with that twenty thousand pounds?" + +Laverick helped himself to champagne. He listened for a moment to +the music, and looked into the wonderful eyes which shone from that +beautiful face a few feet away. Her lips were slightly parted, her +forehead wrinkled. There was nothing of the accuser in her +countenance; a gentle irony was its most poignant expression. + +"Is this a fairy tale, Mademoiselle Idiale?" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"It might seem so," she answered. "Sometimes I think that all the +time we live two lives,--the life of which the world sees the +outside, and the life inside of which no one save ourselves knows +anything at all. Look, for instance, at all these people--these +chorus girls and young men about town--the older ones, too--all +hungry for pleasure, all drinking at the cup of life as though they +had indeed but to-day and to-morrow in which to live and enjoy. +Have they no shadows, too, no secrets? They seem so harmless, yet +if the great white truth shone down, might one not find a murderer +there, a dying man who knew his terrible secret, yonder a Croesus +on the verge of bankruptcy, a strong man playing with dishonor? But +those are the things of the other world which we do not see. The +men look at us to-night and they envy you because you are with me. +The women envy me more because I have emeralds upon my neck and +shoulders for which they would give their souls, and a fame +throughout Europe which would turn their foolish heads in a very +few minutes. But they do not know. There are the shadows across +my path, and I think that there are the shadows across yours. What +do you say, Mr. Laverick?" + +He looked at her, curiously moved. Now at last he began to believe +that it was true what they said of her, that she was indeed a +marvelous woman. She had a fame which would have contented nine +hundred and ninety-nine women out of a thousand. She had beauty, +and, more wonderful still, the grace, the fascination which are +irresistible. She had but to lift a finger and there were few +who would not kneel to do her bidding. And yet, behind it all there +were other things in her life. Had she sought them, or had they +come to her? + +"You are one of those wise people, Mr. Laverick," she said, "who +realize the danger of words. You believe in silence. Well, silence +is often good. You do not choose to admit anything." + +"What is there for me to admit? Do you want to know whether I am +the man who left those offices, who disappeared into the passage, +who reappeared again--" + +"With a pocket-book containing twenty thousand pounds," she murmured +across the flowers. + +"At least tell me this?" he demanded. "Was the money yours?" + +"I am not like you," she replied. "I have talked a great deal and +I have reached the limit of the things which I may tell you." + +"But where are we?" he asked. "Are you seriously accusing me of +having robbed this murdered man?" + +"Be thankful," she declared, "that I am not accusing you of having +murdered him." + +"But seriously," he insisted, "am I on my defence have I to account +for my movements that night as against the written word of your +mysterious informant? Is it you who are charging me with being a +thief? Is it to you I am to account for my actions, to defend myself +or to plead guilty?" + +She shook her head. + +"No," she answered. "I have said almost my last word to you upon +this subject. All that I have to ask of you is this. If that +pocket-book is in your possession, empty it first of its contents, +then go over it carefully with your fingers and see if there is not +a secret pocket. If you discover that, I think that you will find +in it a sealed document. If you find that document, you must bring +it to me." + +The lights went down. The voice of the waiter murmured something +in his ears. + +"It is after hours," Mademoiselle Idiale said, "but Luigi does not +wish to disturb us. Still, perhaps we had better go." + +They passed down the room. To Laverick it was all--like a dream--the +laughing crowd, the flushed men and bright-eyed women, the +lowered lights, the air of voluptuousness which somehow seemed to +have enfolded the place. In the hall her maid came up. A small +motor-brougham, with two servants on the box, was standing at the +doorway. Mademoiselle turned suddenly and gave him her hand. + +"Our supper-party, I think, Mr. Laverick," she said, "has been quite +a success. We shall before long, I hope, meet again." + +He handed her into the carriage. Her maid walked with them. The +footman stood erect by his side. There were no further words to be +spoken. A little crowd in the doorway envied him as he stood +bareheaded upon the pavement. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE + + +It was, in its way, a pathetic sight upon which Laverick gazed when +he stole into that shabby little sitting-room. Zoe had fallen +asleep in a small, uncomfortable easy-chair with its back to the +window. Her supper of bread and milk was half finished, her hat +lay upon the table. A book was upon her lap as though she had +started to read only to find it slip through her fingers. He stood +with his elbow upon the mantelpiece, looking down at her. Her +eyelashes, long and silky, were more beautiful than ever now that +her eyes were closed. Her complexion, pale though she was, seemed +more the creamy pallor of some southern race than the whiteness of +ill-health. The bodice of her dress was open a few inches at the +neck, showing the faint white smoothness of her flawless skin. +Not even her shabby shoes could conceal the perfect shape of her +feet and ankles. Once more he remembered his first simile, his +first thought of her. She seemed, indeed, like some dainty +statuette, uncouthly clad, who had strayed from a world of her +own upon rough days and found herself ill-equipped indeed for the +struggle. His heart grew hot with anger against Morrison as he +stood and watched her. Supposing she had been different! It +would have been his fault, leaving her alone to battle her way +through the most difficult of all lives. Brute! + +He had muttered the word half aloud and she suddenly opened her +eyes. At first she seemed bewildered. Then she smiled and sat up. + +"I have been asleep!" she exclaimed. + +"A most unnecessary statement," he answered, smiling. "I have +been standing looking at you for five minutes at least." + +"How fortunate that I gave you the key!" she declared. "I don't +suppose I should ever have heard you. Now please stand there in +the light and let me look at you." + +"Why?" + +"I want to look at a man who has had supper with Mademoiselle +Idiale." + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"Am I supposed to be a wanderer out of Paradise, then?" + +She looked at him doubtfully. + +"They tell strange stories about her," she said; "but oh, she is so +beautiful! If I were a man, I should fall in love with her if she +even looked my way." + +"Then I am glad," he answered, "that I am less impressionable." + +"And you are not in love with her?" she asked eagerly. + +"Why should I be?" he laughed. "She is like a wonderful picture, a +marvelous statue, if you will. Everything about her is faultless. +But one looks at these things calmly enough, you know. It is life +which stirs life." + +"Do you think that there is no life in her veins, then?" Zoe asked. + +"If there is," he answered, "I do not think that I am the man to stir +it." + +She drew a little sigh of content. + +"You see," she said, "you are my first admirer, and I haven't the +least desire to let you go." + +"Incredible!" he declared. + +"But it is true," she answered earnestly. "You would not have me +talk to these boys who come and hang on at the stage-door. The men +to whom I have been introduced by the other girls have been very +few, and they have not been very nice, and they have not cared for +me and I have not cared for them. I think," she said, disconsolately, +"I am too small. Every one to-day seems to like big women. Cora +Sinclair, who is just behind me in the chorus, gets bouquets every +night, and simply chooses with whom she should go out to supper." + +Laverick looked grave. + +"You are not envying her?" he asked. + +"Not in the least, as long as I too am taken out sometimes." + +Laverick smiled and sat on the arm of her chair. + +"Miss Zoe," he said, "I have come because you told me to, just to +prove, you see, that I am not in the toils of Mademoiselle Idiale. +But do you know that it is half past one? I must not stay here any +longer." + +She sighed once more. + +"You are right," she admitted, "but it is so lonely. I have never +been here without May and her mother. I have never slept alone in +the house before the other night. If I had known that they were +going away, I should never have dared to come here." + +"It is too bad," he declared. "Couldn't you get one of the other +girls to stay with you?" + +She shook her head. + +"There are one or two whom I would like to have," she said, "but +they are all living either at home or with relatives. The others I +am afraid about. They seem to like to sit up so late and--" + +"You are quite right," he interrupted hastily,--"quite right. You +are better alone. But you ought to have a servant." + +She laughed. + +"On two pounds fifteen a week?" she asked. "You must remember that +I could not even live here, only I have practically no rent to pay." + +He fidgeted for a moment. + +"Miss Zoe," he said, "I am perfectly serious when I tell you that I +have money which should go to your brother. Why will you not let me +alter your arrangements just a little? I cannot bear to think of +you here all alone." + +"It is very kind of you," she answered doubtfully; "but please, no. +Somehow, I think that it would spoil everything if I accepted that +sort of help from you. If you have any money of Arthur's, keep it +for a time and I think when you write him--I do not want to seem +grasping--but I think if he has any to spare you might suggest that +he does give me just a little. I have never had anything from him +at all. Perhaps he does not quite understand how hard it is for me. + +"I will do that, of course," Laverick answered, "but I wish you +would let me at least pay over a little of what I consider due to +you. I will take the responsibility for it. It will come from him +and not from me." + +She remained unconvinced. + +"I would rather wait," she said. "If you really want to give me +something, I will let you--out of my brother's money, of course, +I mean," she added. "I haven't anything saved at all, or I wouldn't +have that. But one day you shall take me out and buy me a dress and +hat. You can tell Arthur directly you write to him. I don't mind +that, for sometimes I do feel ashamed--I did the other night to +have you sit with me there, and to feel that I was dressed so very +differently from all of them." + +He laughed reassuringly. + +"I don't think men notice those things. To me you seemed just as +you should seem. I only know that I was glad enough to be there +with you." + +"Were you?"--rather wistfully. + +"Of course I was. Now I am going, but before I go, don't forget +Monday afternoon. We'll have lunch and then go to your brother's +rooms." + +She glanced at the clock. + +"Is it really so late?" she asked. + +"It is. Don't you notice how quiet it is outside?" + +They stood hand in hand for a moment. A strange silence seemed to +have fallen upon the streets. Laverick was suddenly conscious of +something which he had never felt when Mademoiselle Idiale had +smiled upon him--a quickening of the pulses, a sense of gathering +excitement which almost took his breath away. His eyes were fixed +upon hers, and he seemed to see the reflection of that same wave +of feeling in her own expressive face. Her lips trembled, her eyes +were deeper and softer than ever. They seemed to be asking him a +question, asking and asking till every fibre of his body was +concentrated in the desperate effort with, which he kept her at +arm's length. + +"Is it so very late?" she whispered, coming just a little closer, +so that she was indeed almost within the shelter of his arms. + +He clutched her hands almost roughly and raised them to his lips. + +"Much too late for me to stay here, child," he said, and his voice +even to himself sounded hard and unnatural. + +"Run along to bed. To-morrow night--to-morrow night, then, I will +fetch you. Good-bye!" + +He let himself out. He did not even look behind to the spot where +he had left her. He closed the front door and walked with swift, +almost savage footsteps down the quiet Street, across the Square, +and into New Oxford Street. Here he seemed to breathe more freely. +He called a hansom and drove to his rooms. + +The hall-porter had left his post in the front hall, and there was +no one to inform Laverick that a visitor was awaiting him. When he +entered his sitting-room, however, he gave a little start of surprise. +Mr. James Shepherd was reclining in his easy-chair with his hands +upon his knees--Mr. James Shepherd with his face more pasty even +than usual, his eyes a trifle greener, his whole demeanor one of +unconcealed and unaffected terror. + +"Hullo!" Laverick exclaimed. "What the dickens--what do you want +here, Shepherd?" + +"Upon my word, sir, I'm not sure that I know," the man replied, +"but I'm scared. I've brought you back the certificates of them +shares. I want you to keep them for me. I'm terrified lest they +come and search my room. I am, I tell you fair. I'm terrified to +order a pint of beer for myself. They're watching me all the time." + +"Who are?" Laverick demanded. + +"Lord knows who;" Shepherd answered, "but there's two of them at it. +I told you about them as asked questions, and I thought there we'd +done and finished with it. Not a bit of it! There was another one +there this afternoon, said he was a journalist, making sketches of +the passage and asking me no end of questions. He wasn't no +journalist, I'll swear to that. I asked him about his paper. +'Half-a-dozen,' he declared. 'They're all glad to have what I send +them.' Journalist! Lord knows who the other chap was and what he +was asking questions for, but this one was a 'tec, straight. Joe +Forman, he was in to-day looking after my place, for I'd given a +month's notice, and he says to me, 'You see that big chap?'--meaning +him as had been asking me the questions--and I says 'Yes!' and he +says, 'That's a 'tee. I've seed him in a police court, giving +evidence.' I went all of a shiver so that you could have knocked me +down." + +"Come, come!" said Laverick. "There's no need for you to be feeling +like this about it. All that you've done is not to have remembered +those two customers who were in your restaurant late one night. +There's nothing criminal in that." + +"There's something criminal in having two hundred and fifty pounds' +worth of shares in one's pocket--something suspicious, anyway," +Shepherd declared, plumping them down on the table. "I ain't giving +you these back, mind, but you must keep 'em for me. I wish I'd never +given notice. I think I'll ask the boss to keep me on." + +"Why do you suppose that this man is particularly interested in you?" +Laverick inquired. + +"Ain't I told you?" Shepherd exclaimed, sitting up. "Why, he's +been to my place down in 'Ammersmith, asking questions about me. +My landlady swears he didn't go into my room, but who can tell +whether he did or not? Those sort of chaps can get in anywhere. +Then I went out for a bit of an airing after the one o'clock rush +was over to-day, and I'm danged if he wasn't at my 'eels. I seed +him coming round by Liverpool Street just as I went in a bar to get +a drop of something." + +Laverick frowned. + +"If there is anything in this Story, Shepherd," he said, "if you +are really being followed, what a thundering fool you were to come +here! All the world knows that Arthur Morrison was my partner." + +"I couldn't help it, sir," the man declared. "I couldn't, indeed. +I was so scared, I felt I must speak about it to some one. And then +there were these shares. There was nowhere I could keep 'em safe." + +"Look here," Laverick went on, "you're alarming yourself about +nothing. In any case, there is only one thing for you to do. Pull +yourself together and put a bold face upon it. I'll keep these +certificates for you, and when you want some money you can come +to me for it. Go back to your place, and if your master is willing +to keep you on perhaps it would be a good thing to stay there for +another month or so. But don't let any one see that you're +frightened. Remember, there's nothing that you can get into trouble +for. No one's obliged to answer such questions as you've been asked, +except in a court and under oath. Stick to your story, and if you +take my advice," Laverick added, glancing at his visitor's shaking +fingers, "you will keep away from the drink." + +"It's little enough I've had, sir," Shepherd assured him. "A drop +now and then just to keep up one's spirits--nothing that amounts +to anything." + +"Make it as little as possible," Laverick said. "Remember, I'm back +of you, I'll see that you get into no trouble. And don't come here +again. Come to my office, if you like--there's nothing in that--but +don't come here, you understand?" + +Shepherd took up his hat. + +"I understand, sir. I'm sorry to have troubled you, but the sight +of that man following me about fairly gave me the shivers." + +"Come into the office as often as you like, in reason," Laverick said, +showing him out, "but not here again. Keep your eyes open, and let +me know if you think you've been followed here." + +"There's no more news in the papers, sir? Nothing turned up?" + +"Nothing," replied Laverick. "If the police have found out anything +at all, they will keep it until after the inquest." + +"And you've heard nothing, sir," Shepherd asked, speaking in a +hoarse whisper, "of Mr. Morrison?" + +"Nothing," Laverick answered. "Mr. Morrison is abroad." + +The man wiped his forehead with his hand. + +"Of course!" he muttered. "A good job, too, for him!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED + + +On the following morning, Laverick surprised his office cleaner and +one errand-boy by appearing at about a quarter to nine. He found +a woman busy brushing out his room and a man Cleaning the windows. +They stared at him in amazement. His arrival at such an hour was +absolutely unprecedented. + +"You can leave the office just as it is, if you please," he told +them. "I have a few things to attend to at once." + +He was accordingly left alone. He had reckoned upon this as being +the one period during the day when he could rely upon not being +disturbed. Nevertheless, he locked the door so as to be secure +against any possible intruder. Then he went to his safe, unlocked +it, and drew from its secret drawer the worn brown-leather +pocket-book. + +First of all he took out the notes and laid them upon the table. +Then he felt the pocket-book all over and his heart gave a little +leap. It was true what Mademoiselle Idiale had told him. On one +side there was distinctly a rustling as of paper. He opened the +case quite flat and passed his fingers carefully over the lining. +Very soon he found the opening--it was simply a matter of drawing +down the stiff silk lining from underneath the overlapping edge. +Thrusting in his fingers, he drew out a long foreign envelope, +securely sealed. Scarcely stopping to glance at it, he rearranged +the pocket-book, replaced the notes, and locked it up again. Then +he unbolted his door and sat down at his desk, with the document +which he had discovered, on the pad in front of him. + +There was not much to be made of it. There was no address, but the +black seal at the end bore the impression of a foreign coat of arms, +and a motto which to him was indecipherable. He held it up to the +light, but the outside sheet had not been written on, and he gained +no idea as to its contents. He leaned back in his chair for a +moment, and looked at it. So this was the document which would +probably reveal the secret of the murder in Crooked Friars' Alley! +This was the document which Mademoiselle Idiale considered of so +much more importance than the fortune represented by that packet of +bank-notes! What did it all mean? Was this man, who had either +expiated a crime or been the victim of a terrible vengeance,--was +he a politician, a dealer in trade secrets, a member of a secret +society, an informer? Or was he one of the underground criminals +of the world, one of those who crawl beneath the surface of known +things--a creature of the dark places? Perhaps during those few +minutes, when his brain was cool and active, with the great city +awakening all around him, Laverick realized more completely than +ever before exactly how he stood. Without doubt he was walking on +the brink of a precipice. Four days ago there had been nothing for +him but ruin. The means of salvation had suddenly presented +themselves in this startling and dramatic manner, and without +hesitation he had embraced them. What did it all amount to? How +far was he guilty, and of what? Was he a thief? The law would +probably call him so. The law might have even more to say. It +would say that by keeping his mouth closed as to his adventure on +that night he had ranged himself on the side of the criminals,--he +was guilty not only of technical theft, but of a criminal knowledge +of this terrible crime. Events had followed upon one another so +rapidly during these last few days that he had little enough time +for reflection, little time to realize exactly how he stood. The +long-expected boom in "Unions," the coming of Zoe, the strange +advances made to him by Mademoiselle Idiale, her incomprehensible +connection with this tragedy across which he had stumbled, and her +apparent knowledge of his share in it,--these things were sufficient, +indeed, to give him food for thought. Laverick was not by nature a +pessimist. Other things being equal, he would have made, without +doubt, a magnificent soldier, for he had courage of a rare and high +order. It never occurred to him to sit and brood upon his own danger. +He rather welcomed the opportunity of occupying his mind with other +thoughts. Yet in those few minutes, while he waited for the business +of the day to commence, he looked his exact position in the face +and he realized more thoroughly how grave it really was. How was he +to find a way out--to set himself right with the law? What could +he do with those notes? They were there untouched. He had only +made use of them in an indirect way. They were there intact, as +he had picked them up upon that fateful night. Was there any +possible chance by means of which he might discover the owner and +restore them in such a way that his name might never be mentioned? +His eyes repeatedly sought that envelope which lay before him. +Inside it must lie the secret of the whole tragedy. Should he risk +everything and break the seal, or should he risk perhaps as much +and tell the whole truth to Mademoiselle Idiale? It was a strange +dilemma for a man to find himself in. + +Then, as he sat there, the business of the day commenced. A pile +of letters was brought in, the telephones in the outer office began +to ring. He thrust the sealed envelope into the breast-pocket of +his coat and buttoned it up. There, for the present, it must remain. +He owed it to himself to devote every energy he possessed to make +the most of this great tide of business. With set face he closed +the doors upon the unreal world, and took hold of the levers which +were to guide his passage through the one in which he was an actual +figure. + +Her visit was not altogether unexpected, and yet, when they told him +that Mademoiselle Idiale was outside, he hesitated. + +"It is the lady who was here the other day," his head clerk reminded +him. "We made a remarkably good choice of stocks for her. They +must be showing nearly sixteen hundred pounds profit. Perhaps she +wants to realize." + +"In any case, you had better show her in," said Laverick. + +She came, bringing with her, notwithstanding her black clothes and +heavy veil, the atmosphere of a strange world into his somewhat +severely furnished office. Her skirts swept his carpet with a +musical swirl. She carried with her a faint, indefinable perfume +of violets,--a perfume altogether peculiar, dedicated to her by a +famous chemist in the Rue Royale, and supplied to no other person +upon earth. Who else was there, indeed, who could have walked those +few yards as she walked? + +He rose to his feet and pointed to a chair. + +"You have come to ask about your shares?" he asked politely. "So +far, we have nothing but good news for you." + +She recognized that he spoke to her in the presence of his clerk, +and she waved her hand. + +"Women who will come themselves to look after their poor investments +are a nuisance, I suppose," she said. "But indeed I will not keep +you long. A few minutes are all that I shall ask of you. I am +beginning to find city affairs so interesting." + +They were alone by now and Louise raised her veil, raised it so +high that he could see her eyes. She leaned back in her chair, +supporting her chin with the long, exquisite fingers of her right +hand. She looked at him thoughtfully. + +"You have examined the pocket-book?" she asked. + +"I have." + +"And the document was there?" + +"The document was there," he admitted. "Perhaps you can tell me how +it would be addressed?" + +Looking at her closely, it came to him that her indifference was +assumed. She was shivering slightly, as though with cold. + +"I imagine that there would be no address," she said. + +"You are right. That document is in my pocket." + +"What are you going to do with it?" she asked. + +"What do you advise me to do with it?" + +"Give it to me." + +"Have you any claim?" + +She leaned a little nearer to him. + +"At least I have more claim to it," she whispered, "than you to that +twenty thousand pounds." + +"I do not claim them," he replied. "They are in my safe at this +moment, untouched. They are there ready to be returned to their +proper owner." + +"Why do you not find him?"--with a note of incredulity in her tone. + +"How am I to do that?" Laverick demanded. + +"We waste words," she continued coldly. "I think that if I leave +you with the contents of your safe, it will be wise for you to hand +me that document." + +"I am inclined to do so," Laverick admitted. "The very fact that +you knew of its existence would seem to give you a sort of claim to +it. But, Mademoiselle Idiale, will you answer me a few questions?" + +"I think," she said, "that it would be better if you asked me none." + +"But listen," he begged. "You are the only person with whom I have +come into touch who seems to know anything about this affair. I +should rather like to tell you exactly how I stumbled in upon it. +Why can we not exchange confidence for confidence? I want neither +the twenty thousand pounds nor the document. I want, to be frank +with you, nothing but to escape from the position I am now in of +being half a thief and half a criminal. Show me some claim to that +document and you shall have it. Tell me to whom that money belongs, +and it shall be restored." + +"You are incomprehensible," she declared. "Are you, by any chance, +playing a part with me? Do you think that it is worth while?" + +"Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick protested earnestly, "nothing in the +world is further from my thoughts. There is very little of the +conspirator about me. I am a plain man of business who stumbled in +upon this affair at a critical moment and dared to make temporary +use of his discovery. You can put it, if you like, that I am afraid. +I want to get out. Nothing would give me greater pleasure, if such +a thing were possible, than to send this pocket-book and its contents +anonymously to Scotland Yard, and never hear about them again." + +She listened to him with unchanged face. Yet for some moments after +he had finished speaking she was thoughtful. + +"You may be speaking the truth," she said. "If so, I have been +deceived. You are not quite the sort of man I did believe you were. +What you tell me is amazing, but it may be true." + +"It is the truth," Laverick repeated calmly. + +"Listen," she said, after a brief pause. "You were at school, were +you not, with Mr. David Bellamy? You know well who he is?" + +"Perfectly well," Laverick admitted. + +"You would consider him a person to be trusted?" + +"Absolutely." + +"Very well, then," she declared. "You shall come to my fiat at five +o'clock this afternoon and bring that document. If it is possible, +David Bellamy shall be there himself. We will try then and prove +to you that you do no harm in parting with that document to us." + +"I will come," Laverick promised, "at five o'clock; but you must +tell me where." + +"You will put it down, please," she said. "There must not be any +mistake. You must come, and you must come to-day. I am staying at +number 15, Dover Street. I will leave orders that you are shown +in at once." + +She rose to her feet and he walked to the door with her. On the way +she hesitated. + +"Take care of yourself to-day, Mr. Laverick," she begged. "There +are others beside myself who are interested in that packet you carry +with you. You represent to them things beside which life and death +are trivial happenings." + +Laverick laughed shortly. He was a matter-of-fact man, and there +seemed something a little absurd in such a warning. + +"I do not think," he declared, "that you need have any fear. London +is, as you doubtless find it, a dull old city, but it is a remarkably +safe one to live in." + +"Nevertheless, Mr. Laverick," she repeated earnestly, "be on your +guard to-day, for all our sakes." + +He bowed and changed the subject. + +"Your investments," he remarked, "you will be content, perhaps, to +leave as they are. It is, no doubt, of some interest to you to +know that they are showing already a profit of considerably over a +thousand pounds." + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"It was an excuse--that investment," she declared. "Yet money is +always good. Keep it for me, Mr. Laverick, and do what you will. I +will trust your judgment. Buy or sell as you please. You will let +nothing prevent your coming this afternoon?" + +"Nothing," he promised her. + +From the window of her beautifully appointed little electric brougham +she held out her hand in farewell. + +"You think me foolish, I know, that I persist," she said, "but I do +beg that you will remember what I say. Do not be alone to-day more +than you can help. Suspect every one who comes near to you. There +may be a trap before your feet at any moment. Be wary always and do +not forget--at five o'clock I expect you." + +Laverick smiled as he bowed his adieux. + +"It is a promise, Mademoiselle," he assured her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +PENETRATING A MYSTERY + + +About an hour after Mademoiselle Idiale's departure a note marked +"Urgent" was brought in and handed to Laverick. He tore it open. +It was dated from the address of a firm of stockbrokers, with two +of the partners of which he was on friendly terms. It ran thus: + + MY DEAR LAVERICK,--I want a chat with you, if you can spare + five minutes at lunch time. Come to Lyons' a little earlier + than usual, if you don't mind,--say at a quarter to one. + + J. HENSHAW. + + +Laverick read the typewritten note carelessly enough at first. He +had even laid it down and glanced at the clock, with the intention +of starting out, when a thought struck him. He took it up and read +it though again. Then he turned to the telephone. + +"Put me on to the office of Henshaw & Allen. I want to speak to Mr. +Henshaw particularly." + +Two minutes passed. Laverick, meanwhile, had been washing his hands +ready to go out. Then the telephone bell rang. He took up the +receiver. + +"Hullo! Is that Henshaw?" + +"I'm Henshaw," was the answer. "That's Laverick, isn't it? How +are you, old fellow?" + +"I'm all right," Laverick replied. "What is it that you want to +see me about?" + +"Nothing particular that I know of. Who told you that I wanted to?" + +Laverick, who had been standing with the instrument in his hand, sat +down in his chair. + +"Look here," he said, "Didn't you send me a note a few minutes ago, +asking me to come out to lunch at a quarter to one and meet you at +Lyons'?" + +Henshaw's laugh was sufficient response. + +"Delighted to lunch with you there or anywhere, old chap,--you know +that," was the answer, "but some one's been putting up a practical +joke on you." + +"You did not send me a note round this morning, then?" Laverick +insisted. + +"I'll swear I didn't," came the reply. "Do you seriously mean that +you've had one purporting to come from me?" + +Laverick pulled himself together. + +"Well, the signature's such a scrawl," he said, "that no one could +tell what the name really was. I guessed at you but I seem to have +guessed wrong. Good-bye!" + +He set down the receiver and rang off to escape further questioning. +Now indeed the plot was commencing to thicken. This was a deliberate +effort on the part of some one to secure his absence from his offices +at a quarter to one. + +With the document in his pocket and the safe securely locked, +Laverick felt at ease as to the result of any attempted burglary of +his premises. At the same time his curiosity was excited. Here, +perhaps, was a chance of finding some clue to this impenetrable +mystery. + +There were thee clerks in the outer office. He put on his hat and +despatched two of them on errands in different directions. The last +he was obliged to take into his confidence. + +"Halsey," he said, "I am going out to lunch. At least, I wish it +to be thought that I am going out to lunch. As a matter of fact, I +shall return in about ten minutes by the back way. I do not wish +you, however, to know this. I want you to have it in your mind +that I have gone to lunch and shall not be back until a quarter past +two. If there are visitors for me--Inquirers of any sort--act +exactly as you would have done if you really believed that I was +not in the building." + +Halsey appeared a good deal mystified. Laverick took him even +further into his confidence. + +"To tell you the truth, Halsey," he said, "I have just received a +bogus letter from Mr. Henshaw, asking me to lunch with him. Some +one was evidently anxious to get me out of my office for an hour +or so. I want to find out for myself what this means, if possible. +You understand?" + +"I think so, sir," the man replied doubtfully. "I am not to be +aware that you have returned, then?" + +"Certainly not," Laverick answered. "Please be quite clear about +that. If you hear any commotion in the office, you can come in, +but do not send for the police unless I tell you to. I wish to +look into this affair for myself." + +Halsey, who had started life as a lawyer's clerk, and was distinctly +formal in his ideas, was a little shocked. + +"Would it not be better, sir," he suggested, "for me to communicate +with the police in the first case? If this should really turn out +to be an attempt at burglary, it would surely be best to leave the +matter to them." + +Laverick frowned. + +"For certain reasons, Halsey, which I do not think it necessary to +tell you, I have a strong desire to investigate this matter +personally. Please do exactly as I say." + +He left the office and strolled up the street in the direction of +the restaurant which he chiefly frequented. He reached it in a +moment or two, but left it at once by another entrance. Within ten +minutes he was back at his office. + +"Has any one been, Halsey?" + +"No one, sir," the clerk answered. + +"You will be so good," Laverick continued, "as to forget that I +have returned." + +He passed on quickly into his own room and made his way into the +small closet where he kept his coat and washed his hands. He had +scarcely been there a minute when he heard voices in the outside +hall. The door of his office was opened. + +"Mr. Laverick said nothing about an appointment at this hour," he +heard Halsey protest in a somewhat deprecating tone. + +"He had, perhaps, forgotten," was the answer, in a totally unfamiliar +voice. "At any rate, I am not in a great hurry. The matter is of +some importance, however, and I will wait for Mr. Laverick." + +The visitor was shown in. Laverick investigated his appearance +through a crack in the door. He was a man of medium height, +well-dressed, clean-shaven, and wore gold-rimmed spectacles. He +made himself comfortable in Laverick's easy-chair, and accepted +the paper which Halsey offered him. + +"I shall be quite glad of a rest," he remarked genially. "I have +been running about all the morning." + +"Mr. Laverick is never very long out for lunch, sir," Halsey said. +"I daresay he will not keep you more than a quarter of an hour or +twenty minutes." + +The clerk withdrew and closed the door. The man in the chair waited +for a moment. Then he laid down his newspaper and looked cautiously +around the room. Satisfied apparently that he was alone, he rose to +his feet and walked swiftly to Laverick's writing-table. With fingers +which seemed gifted with a lightning-like capacity for movement, he +swung open the drawers, one by one, and turned over the papers. His +eyes were everywhere. Every document seemed to be scanned and as +rapidly discarded. At last he found something which interested him. +He held it up and paused in his search. Laverick heard a little +breath come though his teeth, and with a thrill he recognized the +paper as one which he had torn from a memorandum tablet and upon +which he had written down the address which Mademoiselle Idiale had +given him. The man with the gold-rimmed glasses replaced the paper +where he had found it. Evidently he had done with the writing-table. +He moved swiftly over to the safe and stood there listening for a +few seconds. Then from his pocket he drew a bunch of keys. To +Laverick's surprise, at the stranger's first effort the great door +of the safe swung open. He saw the man lean forward, saw his hand +reappear almost directly with the pocket-book clenched in his fingers. +Then he stood once more quite still, listening. Satisfied that no +one was disturbed, he closed the door of the safe softly and moved +once more to the writing-table. With marvelous swiftness the notes +were laid upon the table, the pocket-book was turned upside down, +the secret place disclosed--the secret place which was empty. It +seemed to Laverick that from his hiding-place he could hear the little +oath of disappointment which broke from the thin red lips. The man +replaced the notes and, with the pocket-book in his hand, hesitated. +Laverick, who thought that things had gone far enough, stepped lightly +out from his hiding-place and stood between his unbidden visitor and +the door. + +"You had better put down that pocket-book," he ordered quietly. + +The man was upon him with a single spring, but Laverick, without +the slightest hesitation, knocked him prone upon the floor, where +he lay, for a moment, motionless. Then he slowly picked himself up. +His spectacles were broken--he blinked as he stood there. + +"Sorry to be so rough," Laverick said. "Perhaps if you will kindly +realize that of the two I am much the stronger man, you will be so +good as to sit in that chair and tell me the meaning of your +intrusion." + +The man obeyed. He covered his eyes with his hand, for a moment, +as though in pain. + +"I imagine," he said--and it seemed to Laverick that his voice had +a slight foreign accent--"I imagine that the motive for my paying +you this visit is fairly clear to you. People who have compromising +possessions may always expect visits of this sort. You see, one +runs so little risk." + +"So little risk!" Laverick repeated. + +"Exactly," the other answered. "Confess that you are not in the +least inclined to ring your bell and send for a constable to give +me in charge for being in possession of a pocket-book abstracted +from your safe, containing twenty thousand pounds in Bank of +England notes." + +"It wouldn't do at all," Laverick admitted. + +"You are a man of common sense," declared the other. "It would not +do. Now comes the time when I have a question to ask you. There +was a sealed document in this pocket-book. Where is it? What +have you done with it?" + +"Can you tell me," Laverick asked, "why I should answer questions +from a person whom I discover apparently engaged in a nefarious +attempt at burglary?" + +The man's hand shot out from his trouser-pocket, and Laverick looked +into the gleaming muzzle of a revolver. + +"Because if you don't, you die," was the quick reply. "Whether +you've read that document or not, I want it. If you've read it, you +know the sort of men you've got to deal with. If you haven't, take +my word for it that we waste no time. The document! Will you give +it me?" + +"Do I understand that you are threatening me?" Laverick asked, +retreating a few steps. + +"You may understand that this is a repeating revolver, and that I +seldom miss a half-crown at twenty paces," his visitor answered. +"If you put out your hand toward that bell, it will be the last +movement you'll ever make on earth." + +"London isn't really the place for this sort of thing," Laverick +said. "If you discharge that revolver, you haven't a dog's chance +of getting clear of the building. My clerks would rush out after +you into the street. You'd find yourself surrounded by a crowd of +business men. You couldn't make your way through anywhere. You'd +be held up before you'd gone a dozen yards. Put down your revolver. +We can perhaps settle this little matter without it." + +"The document!" the man ordered. "You've got it! You must have it! +You took that pocket-book from a dead man, and in that pocket-book +was the document. We must have it. We intend to have it." + +"And who, may I ask, are we?" Laverick inquired. + +"If you do not know, what does it matter? Will you give it to me?" + +Laverick shook his head. + +"I have no document." + +The man in the chair leaned forward. The muzzle of his revolver was +very bright, and he held it in fingers which were firm as a rock. + +"Give it to me!" he repeated. "You ought to know that you are not +dealing with men who are unaccustomed to death. You have it about +you. Produce it, and I've done with you. Deny me, and you have not +time to say your prayers!" + +Laverick was leaning against a small table which stood near the door. +His fingers suddenly gripped the ledger which lay upon it. He held +it in front of his face for a single moment, and then dashed it at +his visitor. He followed behind with one desperate spring. Once, +twice, the revolver barked out. Laverick felt the skin of his temple +burn and a flick on the ear which reminded him of his school-days. +Then his hand was upon the other man's throat and the revolver lay +upon the carpet. + +"We'll see about that. By the Lord, I've a good mind to wring the +life out of you. That bullet of yours might have been in my temple." + +"It was meant to be there," the man gasped. "Hand over the document, +you pig-headed fool! It'll cost you your life--if not to-day, +to-morrow." + +"I'll be hanged if you get it, anyway!" Laverick answered fiercely. +"You assassin! Scoundrel! To come here and make a cold-blooded +effort at murder! You shall see what you think of the inside of an +English prison." + +The man laughed contemptuously. + +"And what about the pocket-book?" he asked. + +Laverick was silent. His assailant smiled and shrugged his shoulders. + +"Come," he said, "I have made my effort and failed. You have twenty +thousand pounds. That's a fair price, but I'll add another twenty +thousand for that document unopened." + +"It is possible that we might deal," Laverick remarked, kicking the +revolver a little further away. "Unfortunately, I am too much in the +dark. Tell me the real position of the murdered man? Tell me why he +was murdered? Tell me the contents of this document and why it was in +his possession? Perhaps I may then be inclined to treat with you." + +"You are either an astonishingly ingenuous person, Mr. Laverick," +his visitor declared, "or you're too subtle for me. You do not +expect me to believe that you are in this with your eyes blindfolded? +You do not expect me to believe that you do not know what is in that +sealed envelope? Bah! It is a child's game, that, and we play as +men with men." + +Laverick shook his head. + +"Your offer," he asked, "what is it exactly?" + +"Twenty thousand pounds," the man answered. "The document is worth +no more than that to you. How you came into this thing is a mystery, +but you are in and, what is more, you have possession. Twenty +thousand pounds, Mr. Laverick. It is a large sum of money. You +find it interesting?" + +"I find it interesting," Laverick answered dryly, "but I am not a +seller." + +The intruder moved his hand away from his eyes. His expression was +full of wonder. + +"Consider for a moment," he said. "While that document remains in +your possession, you walk the narrow way, your life hangs upon a +thread. Better surrender it and attend to your stocks and shares. +Heaven knows how you first came into our affairs, but the sooner +you are out of them the better. What do you say now to my offer?" + +"It is refused," Laverick declared. "I regret; to add," he +continued, "that I have already spared you all the time I have at +my disposal. Forgive me." + +He pressed a button with his finger. His visitor rose up in anger. + +"You are not such a fool!" he exclaimed. "You are not going to +send me away without it? Why, I tell you that there won't be a +safe corner in the World for you!" + +Halsey opened the door. Laverick nodded toward his visitor. + +"Show this gentleman out, Halsey," he ordered. + +Halsey started. The noise of the revolver shot had evidently been +muffled by the heavy connecting doors, but there was a smell of +gunpowder in the room, and a little wreath of smoke. The man rose +slowly to his feet, still blinking. + +"It must be as you will, of course. I wonder if you would be so +good as to let your clerk direct me to an oculist? I am, +unfortunately, a helpless man in this condition." + +"There is one a few yards off," Laverick answered. "Put on your +hat, Halsey, and show this gentleman where he can get some glasses." + +His visitor leaned towards Laverick. + +"It is your life which is in question, not my eyesight," he muttered. +"Do you accept my offer? Will you give me the document?" + +"I do not and I will not," Laverick replied. "I shall not part with +anything until I know more than I know at present." + +The man stood motionless for a moment. His fingers seemed to be +twitching. Laverick had a fancy that he was about to spring, but +if ever he had had any thoughts of the kind, Halsey's reappearance +checked them. + +"I am much obliged to you, Mr. Laverick," he said quietly. "We +shall, perhaps, resume this discussion at some future date." + +With that he turned and followed Halsey out of the room. Laverick +went to the window and threw it wide open. The smoke floated out, +the smell of gunpowder was gradually dispersed. Then he walked +back to his seat. Once more he locked up the notes. The document +was safe in his pocket. There was a slight mark by the side of his +temple, and his ear, he discovered, was bleeding. He rang the bell +and Halsey entered. + +"Has our friend gone, Halsey?" + +"I left him in the optician's, sir," the clerk answered. "He was +buying some spectacles." + +Laverick glanced at the floor, where the remains of those +gold-rimmed glasses were scattered. + +"You had better send for a locksmith at once," he said. "The +gentleman who has been here had a skeleton key to my safe. We'll +have a combination put on." + +"Very good, sir," Halsey answered. + +"And, Halsey," his master continued, "be careful about one thing, +for your own sake as well as mine. If that man presents himself +again, don't let him come into my room unannounced. If you can +help it, don't let him come in at all. I have an idea that he +might be dangerous." + +The clerk's face was a study. + +"If he presents himself here, sir," he announced stiffly, "I shall +take the liberty of sending for the police." + +Laverick made no reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE + + +At precisely a quarter past four, nothing having happened in the +meantime but a steady rush of business, Laverick ordered a taxicab +to be summoned. He then unlocked his safe, placed the pocket-book +securely in his breast pocket, walked through the office, and +directed the man to drive to Chancery Lane. Here at the headquarters +of the Safe Deposit Company he engaged a compartment, and down in +the strong-room locked up the pocket-book. There was only now the +document left. Stepping once more into the street, he found that +his taxicab had vanished. He looked up and down in vain. The man +had not been paid and there seemed to be no reason for his +departure. A policeman who was standing by touched his hat and +addressed him. + +"Were you looking for that taxi you stepped out of a few minutes ago, +sir?" he asked. + +"I was," Laverick answered. "I hadn't paid him and I told him to +wait." + +"I thought there was something queer about it," the policeman +remarked. "Soon after you had gone inside, two gentlemen drove up +in a hansom. They got out here and one of them spoke to your driver, +who shook his head and pointed to his flag. The gent then said +something else to him--can't say as I heard what it was, but it +was probably offering him double fare. Anyway, they both got in +and off went your taxi, sir." + +"Thank you," Laverick said thoughtfully. "It sounds a little +perplexing." + +He hesitated for a moment. + +"Constable," he continued, "I have just made a very valuable deposit +in there, and I had an idea that I might be followed. I have still +in my pocket a document of great importance. I have no doubt +whatever but that the object of the men who have taken my taxicab is +to leave me in the street here alone under circumstances which will +render a quick attack upon me likely to be successful." + +The policeman turned his head and looked at Laverick incredulously. +He was more than half inclined to believe that this was a practical +joke. Were they not standing on the pavement in Chancery Lane, and +was not he an able-bodied policeman of great bulk and immense muscle! +Yet his companion did not look by any means a man of the nervous +order. Laverick was broad-shouldered, his skin was tanned a +wholesome color, his bearing was the bearing of a man prepared to +defend himself at any time. The constable smiled in a non-committal +manner. + +"If you'll excuse my saying so, sir," he remarked, "I don't think +this is exactly the spot any one would choose for an assault." + +"I agree with you," Laverick answered, "but, on the other hand, you +must remember that these gentlemen have had no choice. I stepped +from my office direct into the taxi, and I proposed to drive straight +from here to the place where I shall probably leave the other +document I am carrying with me. Why I have taken you into my +confidence is to ask you this. Can you walk with me to the corner +of the street, or until we meet a taxicab? it sounds cowardly, but, +as a matter of fact, I am not afraid. I simply want to make sure +of delivering this document to the person to whom it belongs." + +The constable stood still, a little perplexed. + +"My beat, sir," he said, "only goes about twenty-five yards further +on. I will walk to the corner of Holborn with you, if you desire +it. At the same time, I may say that I am breaking regulations. +How do I know that it is not your scheme to get me away from this +neighborhood for some purpose of your own?" + +"You don't believe anything of the sort," Laverick declared, with +a smile. + +"I do not, sir," the policeman admitted. "Keep by my side, and I +think that nothing will happen to you before we reach Holborn." + +Laverick was a man of more than medium height, but by the side of +the policeman he seemed short. Both scanned the faces of the +passers-by closely--the police-man with mild interest, Laverick +with almost feverish anxiety. It was a gray afternoon, pleasant +but close. There seemed to be nothing whatever to account for the +feeling of nervousness which had suddenly come over Laverick. He +felt himself in danger--he had no idea how, or in what way--but +the conviction was there. He took every step fully alert, +absolutely on his guard. + +They were almost within sight of Holborn when a cry from the +bystanders caused them to look away into the middle of the road. +Laverick only cast one glance there and abandoned every instinct +of curiosity, thinking once more only of himself and his own +position. With the constable, however, it was naturally different. +He saw something which called at once for his intervention, and +he immediately forgot the somewhat singular task upon which he +was engaged. A man had fallen in the middle of the street, either +knocked down by the shaft of a passing vehicle or in some sort of +fit. There was a tangle of rearing horses, an omnibus was making +desperate efforts to avoid the prostrate body. The constable +sprang to the rescue. Laverick, instantly suspicious and realizing +that there was no one in front of him, turned swiftly around. He +was just in time to receive upon his left arm the blow which had +been meant for the back of his head. He was confronted by a man +dressed exactly as he himself was, in morning coat and silk hat, +a man with long, lean face and legal appearance, such a person as +would have passed anywhere without attracting a moment's suspicion. +Yet, in the space of a few seconds he had whipped out from one +pocket, with the skill almost of a juggler, a vicious-looking +life-preserver, and from the other a pocket-handkerchief soaked +with chloroform. Laverick, quick and resourceful, feeling his +left arm sink helpless, struck at the man with his right and sent +him staggering against the wall. The handkerchief, with its load +of sickening odor, fell to the pavement. The man was obviously +worsted. Laverick sprang at him. They were almost unobserved, +for the crowd was all intent upon the accident in the roadway. +With wonderful skill, his assailant eluded his attempt to close, +and tore at his coat. Laverick struck at him again but met only +the air. The man's fingers now were upon his pocket, but this +time Laverick made no mistake. He struck downward so hard that +with a fierce cry of pain the man relaxed his hold. Before he +could recover, Laverick had struck him again. He reeled into the +crowd that was fast gathering around them, attracted by what +seemed to be a fight between two men of unexceptionable appearance. +But there was to be no more fight. Through the people, +swift-footed, cunning, resourceful, his assailant seemed to +find some hidden way. Laverick glared fiercely around him, but +the man had gone. His left hand crept to his chest. The victory +was with him; the document was still there. + +At the outside of the double crowd he perceived a taxi. Ignoring +the storm of questions with which he was assailed, and the advancing +helmet of his friend the policeman at the back of the crowd, +Laverick hailed it and stepped quickly inside. + +"Back out of this and drive to Dover Street," he directed. The +man obeyed him. People raced to look through the window at him. +The other commotion had died away,--the man in the road had got up +and walked off. A policeman came hurrying along but he was just +too late. Very soon they were on their way down Holborn. Once +more Laverick had escaped. + +A French man-servant, with the sad face and immaculate dress of a +High-Church cleric, took possession of him as soon as he had asked +for Mademoiselle Idiale. He was shown into one of the most +delightful little rooms he had ever even dreamed of. The walls +were hung with that peculiar shade of blue satin which Mademoiselle +so often affected in her clothes. Laverick, who was something of +a connoisseur, saw nowhere any object which was not, of its sort, +priceless,--French furniture of the best and choicest period, a +statuette which made him, for a moment, almost forget the scene +from which he had just arrived. The air in the room seemed as +though it had passed through a grove of lemon trees,--it was fresh +and sweet yet curiously fragrant. Laverick sank down into one of +the luxurious blue-brocaded chairs, conscious for the first time +that he was out of breath. Then the door opened silently and +there entered not the woman whom he had been expecting, but Mr. +Lassen. Laverick rose to his feet half doubtfully. Lassen's +small, queerly-shaped face seemed to have become one huge +ingratiating smile. + +"I am very glad to see you, Mr. Laverick," he said,--"very glad +indeed." + +"I have come to call upon Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick answered, +somewhat curtly. He had disliked this man from the first moment +he had seen him, and he saw no particular reason why he should +conceal his feelings. + +"I am here to explain," Mr. Lassen continued, seating himself +opposite to Laverick. "Mademoiselle Idiale is unfortunately +prevented from seeing you. She has a severe nervous headache, +and her only chance of appearing tonight is to remain perfectly +undisturbed. Women of her position, as you may understand, have +to be exceptionally careful. It would be a very serious matter +indeed if she were unable to sing to-night." + +"I am exceedingly sorry to hear it," Laverick answered. "In that +case, I will call again when Mademoiselle Idiale has recovered." + +"By all means, my dear sir!" Mr. Lassen exclaimed. "Many times, +let us hope. But in the meantime, there is a little affair of a +document which you were going to deliver to Mademoiselle. She is +most anxious that you should hand it to me--most anxious. She +will tender you her thanks personally, tomorrow or the next day, +if she is well enough to receive." + +Laverick shook his head firmly. + +"Under no circumstances," he declared, "should I think of delivering +the document into any other hands save those of Mademoiselle Idiale. +To tell you the truth, I had not fully decided whether to part with +it even to her. I was simply prepared to hear what she had to say. +But it may save time if I assure you, Mr. Lassen, that nothing would +induce me to part with it to any one else." + +There was no trace left of that ingratiating smile upon Mr. Lassen's +face. He had the appearance now of an ugly animal about to show +its teeth. Laverick was suddenly on his guard. More adventures, +he thought, casting a somewhat contemptuous glance at the physique +of the other man. He laid his fingers as though carelessly upon a +small bronze ornament which reposed amongst others on a table by +his side. If Mr. Lassen's fat and ugly hand should steal toward +his pocket, Laverick was prepared to hurl the ornament at his head. + +"I am very sorry to hear you say that, Mr. Laverick," Lassen said +slowly. "I hope very much that you will see your way clear to +change your mind. I can assure you that I have as much right to +the document as Mademoiselle Idiale, and that it is her earnest +wish that you should hand it over to me. Further, I may inform you +that the document itself is a most incriminating one. Its possession +upon your person, or upon the person of any one who was not upon his +guard, might be a very serious matter indeed." + +Laverick shrugged his shoulders. + +"As a matter of fact," he declared, "I certainly have no idea of +carrying it about with me. On the other hand, I shall part with it +to no one. I might discuss the matter with Mademoiselle Idiale +as soon as she is recovered. I am not disposed--I mean no offence, +sir--but I may say frankly that I am not disposed even to do as +much with you." + +Laverick rose to his feet with the obvious intention of leaving. +Lassen followed his example and confronted him. + +"Mr. Laverick," he said, "in your own interests you must not talk +like that,--in your own interests, I say." + +"At any rate," Laverick remarked, "my interests are better looked +after by myself than by strangers. You must forgive my adding, +Mr. Lassen, that you are a stranger to me." + +"No more so than Mademoiselle Idiale!" the little man exclaimed. + +"Mademoiselle Idiale has given me certain proof that she knew at +least of the existence of this document," Laverick answered. "She +has established, therefore, a certain claim to my consideration. +You announce yourself as Mademoiselle Idiale's deputy, but you +bring me no proof of the fact, nor, in any case, am I disposed to +treat with you. You must allow me to wish you good afternoon." + +Lassen shook his head. + +"Mr. Laverick," he declared, "you are too impetuous. You force me +to remind you that your own position as holder of that document is +not a very secure one. All the police in this capital are searching +to-day for the man who killed that unfortunate creature who was +found murdered in Crooked Friars' Alley. If they could find the +man who was in possession of his pocket-book, who was in possession +of twenty thousand pounds taken from the dead man's body and with +it had saved his business and his credit, how then, do you think? +I say nothing of the document." + +Laverick was silent for a moment. He realized, however, that to +make terms with this man was impossible. Besides, he did not trust +him. He did not even trust him so far as to believe him the +accredited envoy of Mademoiselle. + +"My unfortunate position," Laverick said, "has nothing whatever to +do with the matter. Where you got your information from I cannot +say. I neither accept nor deny it. But I can assure you that I +am not to be intimidated. This document will remain in my possession +until some one can show me a very good reason for parting with it." + +Lassen beat the back of the chair against which he was standing with +his clenched fist. + +"A reason why you should part with it!" he exclaimed fiercely. "Man, +it stares you there in the face! If you do not part with it, you will +be arrested within twenty-four hours for the murder or complicity in +the murder of Rudolph Von Behrling! That I swear! That I shall +see to myself!" + +"In which case," Laverick remarked, "the document will fall into the +hands of the English police." + +The shot told. Laverick could have laughed as he watched its effect +upon his listener. Mr. Lassen's face was black with unuttered +curses. He looked as though he would have fallen upon Laverick +bodily. + +"What do you know about its contents?" he hissed. "Why do you +suppose it would not suit my purpose to have it fall into the hands +of the English police?" + +"I can see no reason whatever," Laverick answered, "why I should +take you into my confidence as to how much I know and how much I do +not know. I wish you good afternoon, Mr. Lassen! I shall be ready +to wait upon Mademoiselle Idiale at any time she sends for me. But +in case it should interest you to be made aware of the fact," he +added, with a little bow, "I am not going round with this terrible +document in my possession." + +He moved to the door. Already his hand was upon the knob when he +saw the movement for which he had watched. Laverick, with a single +bound, was upon his would-be assailant. The hand which had already +closed upon the butt of the small revolver was gripped as though +in a vice. With a scream of pain Lassen dropped the weapon upon +the floor. Laverick picked it up, thrust it into his coat pocket +and, taking the man's collar with both hands, he shook him till +the eyes seemed starting from his head and his shrieks of fear were +changed into moans. Then he flung him into a corner of the room. + +"You cowardly brute!" he exclaimed. "You come of the breed of men +who shoot from behind. If ever I lay my hands upon you again, +you'll be lucky if you live to whimper about it." + +He left the room and rang for the lift. He saw no trace of any +servants in the hall, nor heard any sound of any one moving. From +Dover Street he drove straight to Zoe's house. Keeping the cab +waiting, he knocked at the door. She opened it herself at once, +and her eyes glowed with pleasure. + +"How delightful!" she cried. "Please come in. Have you come to +take me to the theatre?" + +He followed her into the parlor and closed the door behind them. + +"Zoe," he said, "I am going to ask you a favor." + +"Me a favor?" she repeated. "I think you know how happy it will +make me if there is anything--anything at all in the world that I +could do." + +"A week ago," Laverick continued, "I was an honest but not very +successful stockbroker, with a natural longing for adventures which +never came my way. Since then things have altered. I have stumbled +in upon the most curious little chain of happenings which ever +became entwined with the life of a commonplace being like myself. +The net result, for the moment, is this. Every one is trying to +steal from me a certain document which I have in my pocket. I want +to hide it for the night. I cannot go to the police, it is too +late to go back to Chancery Lane, and I have an instinctive feeling +that my flat is absolutely at the mercy of my enemies. May I hide +my document in your room? I do not believe for a moment that any +one would think of searching here." + +"Of course you may," she answered. "But listen. Can you see out +into the street without moving very much?" + +He turned his head. He had been standing with his back to the +window, and Zoe had been facing it. + +"Yes, I can see into the street," he assented. + +"Tell me--you see that taxi on the other side of the way?" she +asked. + +He nodded. + +"It wasn't there when I drove up," he remarked. + +"I was at the window, looking out, when you came," she said. "It +followed you out from the Square into this street. Directly you +stopped, I saw the man put on the brake and pull up his cab. It +seemed to me so strange, just as though some one were watching you +all the time." + +Laverick stood still, looking out of the window. + +"Who lives in the house opposite?" he asked. + +"I am afraid," she answered, "that there are no very nice people +who live round here. The people whom I see coming in and out of +that house are not nice people at all." + +"I understand," he said. "Thank you, Zoe. You are right. Whatever +I do with my precious document, I will not leave it here. To tell +you the truth, I thought, for certain reasons, that after I had paid +my last call this afternoon I should not be followed any more. Come +back with me and I will give you some dinner before you go to the +theatre." + +She clapped her hands. + +"I shall love it," she declared. "But what shall you do with the +document?" + +"I shall take a room at the Milan Hotel," he said, "and give it to +the cashier. They have a wonderful safe there. It is the best +thing I can think of. Can you suggest anything?" + +She considered for a moment. + +"Do you know what is inside?" she asked. + +He shook his head. + +"I have no idea. It is the most mysterious document in the world, +so far as I am concerned." + +"Why not open it and read it?" she suggested; "then you will know +exactly what it is all about. You can learn it by heart and tear +it up." + +"I must think that over," he said. "One second before we go out." + +He took from his pocket the revolver which Lassen had dropped. It +was a perfect little weapon, and fully charged. He replaced it in +his pocket, keeping his finger upon the trigger. + +"Now, Zoe, if you are ready," he said, "come along." + +They stepped out and entered the taxi, unmolested, and Laverick +ordered: + +"To the Milan Hotel." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED + + +About twenty minutes past six on the same evening, Bellamy, his +clothes thick with dust, his face dark with anger, jumped lightly +from a sixty horse-power car and rang the bell of the lift at number +15, Dover Street. Arrived on the first floor, he was confronted +almost immediately by the sad-faced man-servant of Mademoiselle +Idiale. + +"Mademoiselle is in?" Bellamy asked quickly. + +The man's expression was one of sombre regret. + +"Mademoiselle is spending the day in the country, sir. Bellamy +took him by the shoulders and flung him against the wall. + +"Thank you," he said, "I've heard that before." + +He walked down the passage and knocked softly at the door of Louise's +sleeping apartment. There was no answer. He knocked again and +listened at the key-hole. There was some movement inside but no +one spoke. + +"Louise," he cried softly, "let me in. It is I--David." + +Again the only reply was the strangest of sounds. Almost it seemed +as though a woman were trying to speak with a hand over her mouth. +Then Bellamy suddenly stiffened into rigid attention. There were +voices in the small reception room,--the voice of Henri, the butler, +and another. Reluctantly he turned away from the closed door and +walked swiftly down the passage. He entered the reception room and +looked around him in amazement. It was still in disorder. Lassen +sat in an easy-chair with a tumbler of brandy by his side. Henri +was tying a bandage around his head, his collar was torn, there +were marks of blood about his shirt. Bellamy's eyes sparkled. He +closed the door behind him. + +"Come," he exclaimed, "after all, I fancy that my arrival is +somewhat opportune!" + +Henri turned towards him with a reproachful gesture. + +"Monsieur Lassen has been unwell, Monsieur," he said. "He has had +a fit and fallen down." + +Bellamy laughed contemptuously. + +"I think I can reconstruct the scene a little better than that," he +declared. "What do you say, Mr. Lassen?" + +The man glared at him viciously. + +"I do not know what you are talking about," he said. "I do not +wish to speak to you. I am ill. You had better go and persuade +Mademoiselle to return. She is at Dover, waiting." + +"You are a liar!" Bellamy answered. "She is in her room now, +locked up--guarded, perhaps, by one of your creatures. I have been +half-way to Dover, but I tumbled to your scheme in time, Mr. Lassen. +You found our friend Laverick a trifle awkward, I fancy." + +Lassen swore through his teeth but said nothing. + +"From your somewhat dishevelled appearance," Bellamy continued, "I +think I may conclude that you were not able to come to any amicable +arrangement with Mademoiselle's visitor. He declined to accept you +as her proxy, I imagine. Still, one must make sure." + +He advanced quickly. Lassen shrank back in his chair. + +"What do you mean?" he asked gruffly. "Keep him away from me, +Henri. Ring the bell for your other man. This fellow will do me +a mischief." + +"Not I," Bellamy answered scornfully. "Stay where you are, Henri. +To your other accomplishments I have no doubt you include that of +valeting. Take off his coat." + +"But, Monsieur!" Henri protested. + +"I'm d--d if he shall!" the man in the chair snarled. + +Bellamy turned to the door, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. + +"Look here," he said, "I do not for one moment believe that Laverick +handed over to you the document you were so anxious to obtain. On +the other hand, I imagine that your somewhat battered appearance is +the result of fruitless argument on your part with a view to inducing +him to do so. Nevertheless, I can afford to run no risks. The coat +first, please, Henri. It is necessary that I search it thoroughly." + +There was a brief hesitation. Bellamy's hand went reluctantly into +his pocket. + +"I hate to seem melodramatic," he declared, "and I never carry +firearms, but I have a little life-preserver here which I have +learned how to use pretty effectively. Come, you know, it isn't a +fair fight. You've had all you want, Lassen, and Henri there hasn't +the muscle of a chicken." + +Lassen rose, groaning, to his feet and allowed his coat to be +removed. Bellamy glanced through the pockets, holding one letter +for a moment in his hands as he glanced at the address. + +"The writing of our friend Streuss," he remarked, with a smile. +"No, you need not fear, Lassen! I am not going to read it. There +is plenty of proof of your treachery without this." + +Lassen's face was livid and his eyes seemed like beads. Bellamy +handed back the coat. + +"That's all right," he said. "Nothing there, I am glad to see--or +in the waistcoat," he added, passing his hands over it. "I'll +trouble you to stand up for a moment, Mr. Lassen." + +The man did as he was bid and Bellamy felt him all over. When he +had finished, he held in his hand a key. + +"The key of Mademoiselle's chamber, I have no doubt," he announced, +"I will leave you, then, while I see what deviltry you have been +up to." + +He walked calmly to the table which stood by the window and +deliberately cut the telephone wire. With the instrument under his +arm, he left the room. Lassen blundered to his feet as though to +intercept him, but Bellamy's eyes suddenly flashed red fury, and +the life-preserver of which he had spoken glittered above his head. +Lassen staggered away. + +"I'm a long-suffering man," Bellamy said, "and if you don't remember +now that you're the beaten dog, I may lose my temper." + +He locked them in, walked down the passage and opened the door of +Louise's bedchamber with fingers that trembled a little. With a +smothered oath he cut the cord from the arms of the maid and the +gag from her mouth. Louise, clad in a loose afternoon gown, was +lying upon the bed, as though asleep. Bellamy saw with an impulse +of relief that she was breathing regularly. + +"This is Lassen's work, of course!" he exclaimed. "What have they +done to her?" + +The maid spoke thickly. She was very pale, and unsteady upon her +feet. + +"It was something they put in her wine," she faltered. "I heard Mr. +Lassen say that it would keep her quiet for three or four hours. I +think--I think that she is waking now." + +Louise opened her eyes and looked at them with amazement. Bellamy +sat by the side of the bed and supported her with his arm. + +"It is only a skirmish, dear," he whispered, "and it is a drawn +battle, although you got the worst of it." + +She put her hand to her head, struggling to remember. + +"Mr. Laverick has been here?" she asked. + +"He has. Your friend Lassen has been taking a hand in the game. I +came here to find you like this and Annette tied up. Henri is in +with him. What has become of your other servants I don't know." + +"Henri asked for a holiday for them," she said, the color slowly +returning to her cheeks. "I begin to understand. But tell me, what +happened when Mr. Laverick came?" + +"I can only guess," Bellamy answered, "but it seems that Lassen must +have received him as though with your authority." + +"And what then?" she asked quickly. + +"I am almost certain," Bellamy declared, "that Laverick refused to +have anything to do with him. I received a wire from Dover to say +that you were on your way home, and asking me to meet you at the +Lord Warden Hotel. I borrowed Montresor's racing-car, but I sent +telegrams, and I was pretty soon on my way back. When I arrived +here, I found Lassen in your little room with a broken head. +Evidently Laverick and he had a scrimmage and he got the worst of +it. I have searched him to his bones and he has no paper. Laverick +brought it here, without a doubt, and has taken it away again." + +She rose to her feet. + +"Go and let Lassen out," she said. "Tell him he must never come +here again. I will see him at the Opera House to-night or to-morrow +night--that is, if I can get there. I do not know whether I shall +feel fit to sing." + +"I shall take the liberty, also," remarked Bellamy, "of kicking +Henri out." + +Louise sighed. + +"He was such a good servant. I think it must have cost our friend +Streuss a good deal to buy Henri. You will come back to me when +you have finished with them?" + +Bellamy made short work of his discomfited prisoners. Lassen was +surly but only eager to depart Henri was resigned but tearful. +Almost as they went the other servants began to return from their +various missions. Bellamy went back to Louise, who was lying down +again and drinking some tea. She motioned Bellamy to come over to +her side. + +"Tell me," she asked, "what are you going to do now?" + +"I am going to do what I ought to have done before," Bellamy answered. +"Laverick's connection with this affair is suspicious enough, but +after all he is a sportsman and an Englishman. I am going to tell +him what that envelope contains--tell him the truth." + +"You are right!" she exclaimed. "Whatever he may have done, if you +tell him the truth he will give you that document. I am sure of it. +Do you know where to find him?" + +"I shall go to his rooms," Bellamy declared. "I must be quick, too, +for Lassen is free--they will know that he has failed." + +"Come back to me, David," she begged, and he kissed her fingers and +hurried out. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS + + +Laverick, sitting with Zoe at dinner, caught his companion looking +around the restaurant with an expression in her face which he did +not wholly understand. + +"Something is the matter with you this evening, Zoe," he said +anxiously. "Tell me what it is. You don't like this place, perhaps?" + +"Of course I do." + +"It is your dinner, then, or me?" he persisted. "Come, out with it. +Haven't we promised to tell each other the truth always?" + +The pink color came slowly into her cheeks. Her eyes, raised for a +moment to his, were almost reproachful. + +"You know very well that it is not anything to do with you," she +whispered. "You are too kind to me all the time. Only," she went +on, a little hesitatingly, "don't you realize--can't you see how +differently most of the girls here are dressed? I don't mind so +much for myself--but you--you have so many friends. You keep on +seeing people whom you know. I am afraid they will think that I +ought not to be here." + +He looked at her in surprise, mingled, perhaps, with compunction. +For the first time he appreciated the actual shabbiness of her +clothes. Everything about her was so neat--pathetically neat, as +it seemed to him in one illuminating moment of realization. The +white linen collar, notwithstanding its frayed edges, was spotlessly +clean. The black bow was carefully tied to conceal its worn parts. +Her gloves had been stitched a good many times. Her gown, although +it was tidy, was old-fashioned and had distinctly seen its best days. +He suddenly recognized the effort--the almost despairing effort--which +her toilette had cost her. + +"I don't think that men notice these things," he said simply. "To +me you look just as you should look--and I wouldn't change places +with any other man in the room for a great deal." + +Her eyes were soft--perilously soft--as she looked at him with +uplifted eyebrows and a faint smile struggling at the corners of her +lips. A wave of tenderness crept into his heart. What a brave +little child she was! + +"You will quite spoil me if you make such nice speeches," she +murmured. + +"Anyhow," he went on, speaking with decision, "so long as you feel +like that, you are going to have a new gown--or two--and a new +hat, and you are going to have them at once. They are going to be +bought with your brother's money, mind. Shall I come shopping with +you?" + +She shook her head. + +"Mind, it is partly for your sake that I give in," she said. "It +would be lovely to have you come, but you would spend far too much +money. You really mean it all?" + +"Absolutely," he answered. "I insist upon it." + +She leaned towards him with dancing eyes. After all, she was very +much of a child. The prospect of a new gown, now that she permitted +herself to think of it, was enthralling. + +"I might get a coat and skirt," she remarked thoughtfully, "and a +simple white dress. A black hat would do for both of them, then." + +"Don't you study your brother too much," Laverick declared. "His +stock is going up all the time." + +"Tell me your favorite color," she begged confidentially. + +"I can't conceive your looking nicer than you do in black," he +replied. + +She made a wry face. + +"I suppose it must be black," she murmured doubtfully. "It is much +more economical than anything--" + +She broke off to bow to a stout, red-faced man who, after a rude +stare, had greeted her with a patronizing nod. Laverick frowned. + +"Who is that fellow?" he asked. + +"Mr. Heepman, our stage-manager," Zoe answered, a little timidly. + +"Is there any particular reason why he should behave like a boor?" +Laverick continued, raising his voice a little. + +She caught at his arm in terror. The man was sitting at the next +table. + +"Don't, please!" she implored. "He might hear you. He is just +behind there." + +Laverick half turned in his chair. She guessed what he was about +to say, and went on rapidly. + +"He has been so foolish," she whispered. "He has asked me so often +to go out with him. And he could get me sent away, if he wanted, +any time. He almost threatened it, the last time I refused. Now +that he has seen me with you, he will be worse than ever." + +Laverick's face darkened, and there was a peculiar flash in his eyes. +The man was certainly looking at them in a rude manner. + +"There are so many of the girls who would only be too pleased to go +with him," Zoe continued, in a terrified undertone. "I can't think +why he bothers me." + +"I can," Laverick muttered. "Let's forget about the brute." + +But the dinner was already spoiled for Zoe, so Laverick paid the +bill a few minutes later, and walked across to the stage-door of the +theatre with her. Her little hand, when she gave it to him at +parting, was quite cold. + +"I'm as nervous as I can be," she confessed. "Mr. Heepman will be +watching all the night for something to find fault with me about." + +"Don't you let him bully you," Laverick begged. + +"I won't," she promised. "Good-bye! Thanks so much for my dinner." + +She turned away with a brave attempt at a smile, but it was only an +attempt. Laverick walked on to his club. There was no one in the +dining-room whom he knew, and the card-room was empty. He played +one game of billiards, but he played badly. He was upset. His +nerves were wrong he told himself, and little wonder. There seemed +to be no chance of a rubber at bridge, so he sallied out again and +walked aimlessly towards Covent Garden. Outside the Opera House he +hesitated and finally entered, yielding to an impulse the nature of +which he scarcely recognized. While he was inquiring about a stall, +a small printed notice was thrust into his hand. He read it with +a slight start. + +We regret to announce that owing to indisposition Mademoiselle +Idiale will not be able to appear this evening. The part of Delilah +will be taken by Mademoiselle Blanche Temoigne, late of the Royal +Opera House, St. Petersburg. + +Ten minutes later, Laverick rang the bell of her flat in Dover Street. +A strange man-servant answered him. + +"I came to inquire after Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick said. + +The man held out a tray on which was already a small heap of cards. +Laverick, however, retained his. + +"I should be glad if you would take mine in to her," he said. "I +think it is just likely that she may see me for a moment." + +The servant's attitude was one of civil but unconcealed hostility. +He would have closed the door had not Laverick already passed over +the threshold. + +"Madame is not well enough to receive visitors, sir," the man +declared. "She shall have your card as soon as possible." + +"I should like her to have it now," Laverick persisted, drawing a +five-pound note from his pocket. + +The man looked at the note longingly. + +"It would be only waste of time, sir," he declared. "Mademoiselle +is confined to her bedroom and my orders are absolute." + +"You are not the man who was here earlier in the day," Laverick +remarked. "I wonder," he continued, with a sudden inspiration, +"whether you are not Mr. Bellamy's servant?" + +"That is so, sir. Mr. Bellamy has sent me here to see that no one +has access to Mademoiselle Idiale." + +"Then there is no harm whatever in taking in my card," Laverick +declared convincingly. "You can put that note in your pocket. I +am perfectly certain that Mademoiselle Idiale will see me, and +that your master would wish her to do so." + +"I will take the risk, sir," the man decided, "but the orders I have +received were stringent." + +He disappeared and was gone for several moments. When he came back +he was accompanied by a pale-faced woman dressed in black, obviously +a maid. + +"Monsieur Laverick," she said, "Mademoiselle Idiale will receive +you. If you will come this way?" + +She opened the door of the little reception-room, and Laverick +followed her. The man returned to his place in the hall. + +"Madame will be here in a moment," the maid said. "She will be glad +to see you, but she has been very badly frightened." + +Laverick bowed sympathetically. The woman herself was gray-faced, +terror-stricken. + +"It is Monsieur Lassen, the manager of Madame, who has caused a +great deal of trouble here," she said. "Madame never trusted him +and now we have discovered that he is a spy." + +The woman seemed to fade away. The door of the inner room was +opened and Louise came out. She was still exceedingly pale, and +there were dark rims under her eyes. She came across the room with +outstretched hands. There was no doubt whatever as to her pleasure. + +"You have seen Mr. Bellamy?" she asked. + +Laverick shook his head. + +"No, I have seen nothing of Bellamy to-day. I came to call upon +you this afternoon." + +She wrung her hands. + +"You understand, of course!" she exclaimed. "I did not trust +Lassen, but I never imagined anything like this. He is an Austrian. +Only a few hours ago I learned that he is one of their most heavily +paid spies. Streuss got hold of him. But there, I forgot--you do +not understand this. It is enough that he laid a plot to get that +document from you. Where is it, Mr. Laverick? You have brought it +now?" + +"Why, no," Laverick answered, "I have not." + +Her eyes were round with terror. She held out her hands as though +to keep away some tormenting thought. + +"Where is it?" she cried. "You have not parted with it? + +"I have not," Laverick replied gravely. "It is in the safe deposit +of a hotel to which I have moved." + +She closed her eyes and drew a long breath of relief. + +"You are not well," Laverick said. "Let me help you to a chair." + +She sat down wearily. + +"Why have you moved to a hotel?" she asked. + +"To tell you the truth," Laverick answered, "I seem to have +wandered into a sort of modern Arabian Nights. Three times to-day +attempts have been made to get that document from me by force. I +have been followed whereever I went. I felt that it was not safe +in my chambers, so I moved to a hotel and deposited it in their +strong-room. I have come to the conclusion that the best thing I +can do is to open it to-morrow morning, and decide for myself +as to its destination." + +Louise sat quite still for several moments. Then she opened her +eyes. + +"What you say is an immense relief to me, Mr. Laverick," she +declared. "I perceive now that we have made a mistake. We should +have told you the whole truth from the first. This afternoon when +Mr. Bellamy left me, it was to come to you and tell you everything." + +Laverick listened gravely. + +"Really," he said, "it seems to me the wisest course. I haven't +the least desire to keep the document. I cannot think why Bellamy +did not treat me with confidence from the first--" + +He stopped short. Suddenly he understood. Something in Louise's +face gave him the hint. + +"Of course!" he murmured to himself. + +"Mr. Laverick," Louise said quietly, "in this matter I am no man's +judge, yet, as you and I know well, that paper could have come into +your hands in one way, and one way only. There may be some +explanation. If so, it is for you to offer it or not, as you think +best. Mr. Bellamy and I are allies in this matter. It is not our +business to interfere with the course of justice. You will run no +risk in parting with that paper. + +"Where can I see Bellamy?" Laverick Inquired, rising and taking up +his hat. + +"He would go straight to your rooms," she answered. "Did you leave +word there where you had gone?" + +"Purposely I did not," Laverick replied. "I had better try and find +him, perhaps." + +"It is not necessary," she announced. "No wonder that you feel +yourself to have wandered into the Arabian Nights, Mr. Laverick. +There are two sets of spies who follow you everywhere--two sets that +I know of. There may be another." + +"You think that Bellamy will find me?" he asked. + +"I am sure of it." + +"Then I'll go back to the hotel and wait." + +She hurried him away, but at the door she detained him for a moment. + +"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking at him earnestly, "somehow or +other I cannot help believing that you are an honest man." + +Laverick sighed. He opened his lips but closed them again. + +"You are very kind, Mademoiselle," he declared simply. + +Laverick, as he entered the reception hall at the Milan Hotel, +noticed a man leaning over the cashier's desk talking confidentially +to the clerk in charge. The latter recognized Laverick with obvious +relief, and at once directed his questioner's attention to him. Kahn +turned swiftly around and without a moment's hesitation came smiling +towards Laverick with the apparent intention of accosting him. He +was correctly garbed, tall and fair, with every appearance of being +a man of breeding. He glanced at Laverick carelessly as he passed, +but, as though changing his original purpose, made no attempt to +address him. The cashier, who had been watching, gave vent to a +little exclamation of surprise and sprang over the counter. He +approached Laverick hastily. + +"Do you know that gentleman just going out, sir?" he asked. + +"I never saw him before in my life," Laverick answered. "Why?" + +"Is this your handwriting, sir?" the man inquired, touching with +his forefinger the half sheet of note-paper which he had been +carrying. + +Laverick read quickly,-- + + To the Cashier at the Milan Hotel,--Deliver to bearer + document deposited with you. STEPHEN LAVERICK. + +"It is not," he declared promptly. "It is an impudent forgery. +Good God! You don't mean to say that you parted with my property +to--" + +The cashier stopped his breathless question. + +"I haven't parted with anything, sir," he said. "I was just +wondering what to do when you came in. I'd no reason to believe +that the signature was a forgery, but I didn't like the look of it, +somehow. We'd better be after him. Come along, sir." + +They hurried outside. The man was nowhere in sight. The cashier +summoned the head porter. + +"A gentleman has just come out," he exclaimed,--"tall and fair, very +carefully dressed, with a single eyeglass! Which way did he go?" + +"He's just driven off in a big Daimler car, sir," the porter +answered. "I noticed him particularly. He spoke to the chauffeur +in Austrian." + +Laverick looked out into the Strand. + +"Can't we stop him?" he asked rapidly. + +The porter smiled as he shook his head. + +"Not the ghost of a chance, sir. He shot round the corner there as +though he were in a desperate hurry, and went the wrong side of the +island. I heard the police calling to him. I hope there's nothing +wrong, Mr. Dean?" + +The cashier hesitated and glanced at Laverick. + +"Nothing much," Laverick answered. "We should have liked to have +asked him a question--that is all." + +Bellamy came out from the hotel and paused to light a cigarette. + +"How are you, Laverick?" he said quietly. "Nothing the matter, I +hope?" + +"Nothing worth mentioning," Laverick replied. + +The cashier returned to his duties. The two men were alone. +Bellamy, most carefully dressed, with his silver-headed cane under +his arm, and his silk hat at precisely the correct angle, seemed +very far removed from the work of intrigue into which Laverick +felt himself to have blundered. He looked down for a moment at the +tips of his patent shoes and up again at the sky, as though anxious +about the weather. + +"What about a drink, Laverick?" he asked nonchalantly. + +"Delighted!" Laverick assented. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +MISS LENEVEU'S MESSAGE + + +The two men stepped back into the hotel. The cashier had returned +to his desk, and the incident which had just transpired seemed to +have passed unnoticed. Nevertheless, Laverick felt that the studied +indifference of his companion's manner had its significance, and he +endeavored to imitate it. + +"Shall we go through into the bar?" he asked. "There's very seldom +any one there at this time." + +"Anywhere you say," Bellamy answered. "It's years since we had a +drink together." + +They passed into the inner room and, finding it empty, drew two +chairs into the further corner. Bellamy summoned the waiter. + +"Two whiskies and sodas quick, Tim," he ordered. "Now, Laverick, +listen to me," he added, as the waiter turned away. "We are alone +for the moment but it won't be for long. You know very well that +it wasn't to renew our schoolboy acquaintance that I've asked you +to come in here with me." + +Laverick drew a little breath. + +"Please go on," he said. "I am as anxious as you can be to grasp +this affair properly." + +"When we left school," Bellamy remarked, "you were destined for +the Stock Exchange. I went first to Magdalen. Did you ever hear +what became of me afterwards?" + +"I always understood," Laverick answered, "that you went into one +of the Government offices." + +"Quite right," Bellamy assented. "I did. At this moment I have +the honor to serve His Majesty." + +"Two thousand a year and two hours work a day," Laverick laughed. +"I know the sort of thing." + +"You evidently don't," Bellamy answered. "I often work twenty +hours a day, I don't get half two thousand a year, and most of +the time I carry my life in my hands. When I am working--and I +am working now--I am never sure of the morrow." + +Laverick looked at him incredulously. + +"You're not joking, Bellamy?" he asked. + +"Not by any manner of means. I have the honor to be a humble member +of His Majesty's Secret Service." + +Laverick glanced at his companion wonderingly. + +"I really didn't know," he said, "that such a service had any actual +existence except in novels." + +"I am a proof to the contrary," Bellamy declared grimly. "Abroad, +I run always the risk of being dubbed a spy and treated like one. +At home, I am simply the head of the A2 Branch of the Secret Service. +Here come our drinks." + +Laverick raised his whiskey and soda to his lips mechanically. + +"Here's luck!" he exclaimed. "Now go on, Bellamy," he continued. +"The waiter can't overhear." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"Tim is one of the few persons in the place," he said, "whom one can +trust. As a matter of fact, he has been very useful to me more than +once. Now listen to me attentively, Laverick. I am going to speak +to you as one man to another." + +Laverick nodded. + +"I am ready," he said. + +"Last Monday," Bellamy went on, leaning forward and speaking in a +soft but very distinct undertone, "a man was murdered late at night +in the heart of the city--within one hundred yards of the Stock +Exchange. The papers called it a mysterious murder. No one knows +who the man was, or who committed the crime, or why. You and I, +Laverick, both know a little more than the rest of the world." + +"Well?" + +"The murder," Bellamy continued, with a strange light in his eyes, +"was accomplished only a stone's throw from your office." + +Laverick lit a cigarette and threw the match away. + +"Horrible affair it was," he remarked. + +Bellamy glanced toward the door,--a man had looked in and departed. + +"Enough of this fencing, Laverick," he said. "A theft was committed +from the person of that murdered man, of which the general public +knows nothing. A pocketbook was stolen from him containing twenty +thousand pounds and a sealed document. As to who murdered the man, +I want you to understand that that is not my affair. As to what has +become of that twenty thousand pounds, I have not the slightest +curiosity. I want the document." + +"What claim have you to it?" Laverick asked quickly. + +"I might retort, but I will not," Bellamy replied. "Time is too +short. I will answer you by explaining who the man was and what +that document consists of. The man's name was Von Behrling, and he +was a trusted agent of the Austrian Secret Service. The document +of which he was robbed contains a verbatim report of the conference +which recently took place at Vienna between the Emperor of Germany, +the Emperor of Austria, and the Czar of Russia. It contains the +details of a plot against this country and the undertakings entered +into by those several Powers. I want that document, Laverick. Have +I established my claim?" + +"You have," Laverick answered. "Why on earth Didn't you come to me +before? Don't you believe that I should have listened to you as +readily as to Mademoiselle Idiale?" + +"I wish that I had come," Bellamy admitted, "and yet, here is the +truth, Laverick, because the truth is best. Twenty-two years lie +between us and the time when we knew anything of one another. To +me, therefore, you are a stranger. I had my spies following Von +Behrling that night. I know that you took the pocket-book from his +dead body. If you did not murder him yourself, the deed was done +by an accomplice of yours. How was I to trust you? We are speaking +naked words, my friend. We are dealing with naked truths. To me +you were a murderer and a thief. A word from me and you would have +realized the value of that document. I tell you frankly that +Austria would give you almost any sum for it to-day." + +Laverick, strong man though he was, was conscious of a sudden +weakness. He raised his hand to his forehead and drew it away--wet. +He struggled desperately for self-control. + +"Bellamy," he said, "here's truth for truth. I am not on my trial +before you. Believe me, man, for God's sake!" + +"I'll try," Bellamy promised. "Go on." + +"That night I stayed at my office late because I saw ruin before me +on the morrow. I left it meaning to go straight home. I lit a +cigarette near that entry, and by the light of a match, as I was +throwing it away, I saw the murdered man. I think for a time I was +paralyzed. The pocket-book was half dragged out from his pocket. +Why I looked inside it I don't know. I had some sort of wild idea +that I must find out who he was. Mind you, though, I should have +given the alarm at once, but there wasn't a soul in the street. +There was a man lurking in the entry and I chased him, unsuccessfully. +When I came back, the body was still there and the street empty. I +looked inside that pocket-book, which would have been in the +possession of his murderer but for my unexpected appearance. I saw +the notes there. Once more I went out into the street. I gave no +alarm,--I am not attempting to explain why. I was like a man made +suddenly mad. I went back to my office and shut myself in." + +Bellamy pointed to the glasses silently. The waiter came forward +and refilled them. + +"Bellamy," Laverick continued, "your career and mine lie far apart, +and yet, at their backbone, as there is at the backbone of every +man's life, there must be something of the same sort of ambition. +My grandfather lived and died a member of the Stock Exchange, honored +and well thought of. My father followed in his footsteps. I, too, +was there. Without becoming wealthy, the name I bear has become +known and respected. Failure, whatever one may say, means a broken +life and a broken honor. I sat in my office and I knew that the use +of those notes for a few days might save me from disgrace, might +keep the name, which my father and grandfather had guarded so +jealously, free from shame. I would have paid any price for the use +of them. I would have paid with my life, if that had been possible. +Think of the risk I ran--the danger I am now in. I deposited those +notes on the morrow as security at my bank, and I met all my +engagements. The crisis is over! Those notes are in a safe deposit +vault in Chancery Lane! I only wish to Heaven that I could find +the owner!" + +"And the document?" Bellamy asked. "The document?" + +"It is in the hotel safe," Laverick answered. + +Bellamy drew a long sigh of relief. Then he emptied his tumbler +and lit a cigarette. + +"Laverick," he declared, "I believe you." + +"Thank God!" Laverick muttered. + +"I am no crime investigator," Bellamy went on thoughtfully. "As to +who killed Von Behrling, or why, I cannot now form the slightest +idea. That twenty thousand pounds, Laverick, is Secret Service +money, paid by me to Von Behrling only half-an-hour before he was +murdered, in a small restaurant there, for what I supposed to be +the document. He deceived me by making up a false packet. The real +one he kept. He deserved to die, and I am glad he is dead." + +Laverick's face was suddenly hopeful. + +"Then you can take these notes!" he exclaimed. + +Bellamy nodded. + +"In a few days," he said, "I shall take you with me to a friend of +mine--a Cabinet Minister. You shall tell him the story exactly as +you've told it to me, and restore the money." + +Laverick laughed like a child. + +"Don't think I'm mad," he apologized, "but I am not a person like +you, Bellamy,--used to adventures and this sort of wild happenings. +I'm a steady-going, matter-of-fact Englishman, and this thing has +been like a hateful nightmare to me. I can't believe that I'm going +to get rid of it." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"It's a great adventure," he declared, "to come to any one like you. +To tell you the truth, I can't imagine how you had the pluck--don't +misunderstand me, I mean the moral pluck--to run such a risk. Why, +at the moment you used those notes," Bellamy continued, "the odds +must have been about twenty to one against your not being found out." + +"One doesn't stop to count the odds," Laverick said grimly. "I saw +a chance of salvation and I went for it. And now about this letter." + +Bellamy rose to his feet. + +"On the King's service!" he whispered softly. + +They walked once more to the cashier's desk. A stranger greeted them. +Laverick produced his receipt. + +"I should like the packet I deposited here this evening," he said. +"I am sorry to trouble you, but I find that I require it unexpectedly." + +The clerk glanced at the receipt and up at the clock. "I am afraid, +sir," he answered, "that we cannot get at it before the morning." + +"Why not?" Laverick demanded, frowning. + +"Mr. Dean has just gone home," the man declared, "and he is the only +one who knows the combination on the 'L' safe. You see, sir," he +continued, "we keep this particular safe for documents, and we did +not expect that anything would be required from it to-night." + +Bellamy drew Laverick away. + +"After all," he said, "perhaps to-morrow morning would be better. +There's no need to get shirty with these fellows. As a matter of +fact, I don't think that I should have dared to receive it without +making some special preparations. I can get some plain clothes +men here upon whom I can rely, at nine o'clock." + +They strolled back into the hall. + +"Tell me," Laverick asked, "do you know who the man was who forged +my name to the order a few hours ago?" + +Bellamy nodded. + +"It was Adolf Kahn, an Austrian spy. I have been watching him for +days. If they'd given him the paper I had four men at the door, but +it would have been touch and go. He is a very prince of conspirators, +that fellow. To tell you the truth, I think I might as well go home." + +Bellamy was drawing on his gloves when the hall-porter brought a note +to Laverick. + +"A messenger has just left this for you, sir," he explained. + +Laverick tore open the envelope. The contents consisted of a few +words only, written on plain note-paper and in a handwriting which +was strange to him. + + "Ring up 1232 Gerrard." + +Laverick frowned, turned over the half sheet of paper and looked +once more at the envelope. Then he passed it on to his companion. + +"What do you make of that, Bellamy?" he asked. + +Bellamy smiled as he perused and returned it. + +"What could any one make of it?" he remarked, laconically. "Do you +know the handwriting?" + +"Never saw it before, to my knowledge," Laverick answered. "What +should you do about it?" + +"I think," Bellamy suggested, "that I should ring up number 1232 +Gerrard." + +They crossed the hall and Laverick entered one of the telephone booths. + +"1232 Gerrard," he said. + +The connection was made almost at once. + +"Who are you?" Laverick asked. + +"I am speaking for Miss Zoe Leneven," was the reply. "Are you Mr. +Laverick?" + +"I am," Laverick answered. "Is Miss Leneveu there? Can she speak +to me herself?" + +"She is not here," the voice continued. "She was fetched away in +a hurry from the theatre--we understood by her brother. She left +two and sixpence with the doorkeeper here to ring you up and explain +that she had been summoned to her brother's rooms, 25, Jermyn Street, +and would you kindly go on there." + +"Who are you?" Laverick demanded. + +There was no reply. Laverick remained speechless, listening +intently. He stood still with the receiver pressed to his ear. Was +it his fancy, or was that really Zoe's protesting voice which he +heard in the background? It was a woman or a child who was +speaking--he was almost sure that it was Zoe. + +"Who are you?" he asked fiercely. "Miss Leneveu is there with you. +Why does she not speak for herself?" + +"Miss Leneveu is not here," was the answer. "I have done what she +desired. You can please yourself whether you go or not. The address +is 25, Jermyn Street. Ring off." + +The connection was gone. Laverick laid down the receiver and +stepped out of the booth. + +"I must be off at once," he said to Bellamy. "You'll be round in +the morning?" + +Bellamy smiled. + +"After all," he remarked, "I have changed my plans. I shall not +leave the hotel. I am going to telephone round to my man to bring +me some clothes. By the bye, do you mind telling me whether this +message which you have just received had anything to do with the +little affair in which we are interested?" + +"Not directly," Laverick answered, after a moment's hesitation. +"The message was from a young lady. I have to go and meet her." + +"A young lady whom you can trust?" Bellamy inquired quietly. + +"Implicitly," Laverick assured him. + +"She spoke herself?" + +"No, she sent a message. Excuse me, Bellamy, won't you, but I +must really go." + +"By all means," Bellamy answered. + +They stood at the entrance to the hotel together while a taxicab +was summoned. Laverick stepped quickly in. + +"25, Jermyn Street," he ordered. + +Bellamy watched him drive off. Then he sighed. + +"I think, my friend Laverick," he said softly, "that you will need +some one to look after you to-night." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +MORRISON IS DESPERATE + + +Certainly it was a strange little gathering that waited in Morrison's +room for the coming of Laverick. There was Lassen--flushed, ugly, +breathing heavily, and watching the door with fixed, beady eyes. +There was Adolf Kahn, the man who had strolled out from the Milan +Hotel as Laverick had entered it, leaving the forged order behind +him. There was Streuss--stern, and desperate with anxiety. There +was Morrison himself, in the clothes of a workman, worn to a shadow, +with the furtive gleam of terrified guilt shining in his sunken +eyes, and the slouched shoulders and broken mien of the habitual +criminal. There was Zoe, around whom they were all standing, with +anger burning in her cheeks and gleaming out of her passion-filled +eyes. She, too, like the others, watched the door. So they waited. + +Streuss, not for the first time, moved to the window and drawing +aside the curtains looked down into the street. + +"Will he come--this Englishman?" he muttered. "Has he courage?" + +"More courage than you who keep a girl here against her will!" Zoe +panted, looking at him defiantly. "More courage than my poor +brother, who stands there like a coward!" + +"Shut up, Zoe!" Morrison exclaimed harshly. "There is nothing for +you to be furious about or frightened. No one wants to ill-treat +you. These gentlemen all want to behave kindly to us. It is +Laverick they want." + +"And you," she cried, "are content to stand by and let him walk +into a trap--you let them even use my name to bring him here! +Arthur, be a man! Have nothing more to do with them. Help me to +get away from this place. Call out. Do something instead of +standing there and wasting the precious minutes." + +He came towards her--ugly and threatening. + +"I'll do something in a minute," he declared savagely,--"something +you won't like, either. Keep your mouth shut, I tell you. It's me +or him, and, by Heavens, he deserves what he'll get!" + +Streuss turned away from the window and looked towards Zoe. + +"Young lady," he said quietly, "let me beg you not to distress +yourself so. I sincerely trust that nothing unpleasant will happen. +If it does, I promise you that we will arrange for your temporary +absence. You shall not be disturbed in any way." + +"And as regards your brother, have a care, young lady," Lassen +growled. "If any one's in danger, it's he. He'll be lucky if he +saves his own skin." + +The young man glowered at her. + +"You hear that, you little fool!" he muttered. "Keep still, can't +you?" + +Her face was full of defiance. He came nearer to her and changed +his tone. + +"Zoe," he whispered hoarsely, "don't you understand? If they can't +get what they want from Laverick, they'll visit it upon me. They're +desperate, I tell you. They mean mischief all the time." + +"Yet you let him be brought here, your partner who looked after you +when you were ill, and who helped you to get away!" she cried +indignantly. + +He laughed unpleasantly. + +"When it comes to a matter of life or death, it's every man for +himself. Besides, if I'd known as much about Laverick as I know +now, I'm not sure that I should have been so ready to go--not +empty-handed, by any manner of means." + +"What have you done that you should be so much in the power of +these people?" she demanded, fixing her dark eyes upon him +searchingly. + +The terror whitened his face once more. The perspiration stood out +in beads upon his forehead. + +"Don't dare to ask me questions!" he exclaimed nervously. "I should +like to know what Laverick is to you, eh, that you take so much +interest in him? Listen here, my fine young lady. If I've been mug +enough to do the dirty work, he hasn't made any bones about taking +advantage of it. He's a nice sort of sportsman, I can tell you." + +The man at the window suddenly dropped the curtain and spoke across +the room to them all. + +"He is here," he announced. + +"Alone?" Lassen asked thickly. + +"Alone," Streuss echoed. + +A little thrill seemed to pass through the room. Zoe made no attempt +to cry out. Instead she leaned forward towards the door, as though +listening. Her attitude seemed harmless enough. No one took any +more notice of her. They all watched the entrance to the apartment. +Zoe remembered the two flights of stairs. She was absorbed in a +breathless calculation. Now--now he should be coming quite close. +Her whole being was concentrated upon one effort of listening. At +last she raised her head. The room resounded with her cries. + +"Don't come in! Don't come in here!" she shrieked. "Mr. Laverick, +do you hear? Go away! Don't come in here alone!" + +Her brother was the first to reach her, his hand fell upon her mouth +brutally. Her little effort was naturally a failure--defeating, +in fact, its own object. Laverick, hearing her cries, simply +hastened his coming, threw open the door without waiting to knock, +and stepped quickly across the threshold. He saw a man dressed in +shabby workman's clothes, unshaven, dishevelled, holding Zoe in a +rough grasp, and with a single well-directed blow he sent him reeling +across the room. Then something in the man's cry, a momentary +glimpse of his white face, revealed his identity. + +"Morrison!" he cried. "Good God, it's Morrison!" + +Arthur Morrison was crouching in a corner of the room, his evil face +turned upon his aggressor. Laverick took quick stock of his +surroundings. There was the tall, fair young man--Adolf Kahn--whom +he had seen at the Milan a few hours ago--the man who had +unsuccessfully forged his name. There was Lassen, the man who, under +pretence of being her manager, had been a spy upon Louise. There was +Streuss, with blanched face and hard features, standing with his back +to the door. There was Zoe, and, behind, her brother. She held out +her hands timidly towards him, and her eyes were soft with pleading. + +"I did not want you to come here, Mr. Laverick," she cried softly. +"I tried so hard to stop you. It was not I who sent that message." + +He took her cold little fingers and raised them to his lips. + +"I know it, dear," he murmured. + +Then a movement in the room warned him, and he was suddenly on guard. +Lassen was close to his side, some evil purpose plainly enough +written in his pasty face and unwholesome eyes. Laverick gave him +his left shoulder and sent him staggering across the floor. He was +angry at having been outwitted and his eyes gleamed ominously. + +"Well, gentlemen," he exclaimed, "you seem to have taken unusual +pains to secure my presence here! Tell me now, what can I do for +you?" + +It was Streuss who became spokesman. He addressed Laverick with +the consideration of one gentleman addressing another. His voice +had many agreeable qualities. His demeanor was entirely amicable. + +"Mr. Laverick," he answered, "let us first apologize if we used a +little subterfuge to procure for us the pleasure of your visit. We +are men who are in earnest, and across whose path you have either +wilfully or accidentally strayed. An understanding between us has +become a necessity." + +"Go on," Laverick interrupted. "Tell me exactly who you are and +what you want." + +"As to who we are," Streuss answered, "does that really matter? I +repeat that we are men who are in earnest--let that be enough. As +to what we want, it is a certain document to which we have every +claim, and which has come into your possession--I flatter you +somewhat, Mr. Laverick, if I say by chance." + +Laverick shrugged his shoulders. + +"Let that go," he said. "I know all about the document you refer to, +and the notes. They were contained in a pocket-book which it is +perfectly true has come into my possession. Prove your claim to +both and you shall have them." + +Streuss smiled. + +"You will admit that our claim, since we know of its existence," he +asked suavely, "is equal to yours?" + +"Certainly," Laverick answered, "but then I never had any idea of +keeping either the document or the money. That your claim is better +than mine is no guarantee that there is not some one else whose title +is better still." + +Streuss frowned. + +"Be reasonable, Mr. Laverick," he begged. "We are men of peace--when +peace is possible. The money of which you spoke you can +consider as treasure trove, if you will, but it is our intention +to possess ourselves of the document. It is for that reason that +we are here in London. I, personally, am committed to the extent +of my life and my honor to its recovery." + +A declaration of war, courteously veiled but decisive. Laverick +looked around him a little defiantly, and shrugged his shoulders. + +"You know very well that I do not carry it about with me," he said. +"The gentleman on my left," he added, pointing to Kahn, "can tell +you where it is kept." + +"Quite so," Streuss admitted. "We are not doing you the injustice +to suppose that you would be so foolhardy as to trust yourself +anywhere with that document upon your person. It is in the safe +at the Milan Hotel. I may add that probably, if it had not +occurred to you to change your quarters, it would have been in +our possession before now. We are hoping to persuade you to return +to the hotel with one of our friends here, and procure it." + +"As it happens," Laverick remarked, "that is impossible. The man +who set the combination for that particular safe has gone off duty, +and will not be back again at the hotel till to-morrow morning." + +"But he is to be found," Streuss answered easily. "His present +whereabouts and his address are known to us. He lives with his +family at Harvard Court, Hampstead. We shall assist you in making +it worth his while to return to the hotel or to give you the +combination word for the safe." + +"You are rather great on detail!" Laverick exclaimed. + +"It is our business. The question for you to decide, and to decide +immediately, is whether you are ready to end this, in some respects, +constrained situation, and give your word to place that document in +our hands." + +"You are ready to accept my word, then?" Laverick asked. + +"We have a certain hold upon you," Streuss continued slowly. "Your +partner Mr. Morrison's position in connection with the murder in +Crooked Friars' Alley is, as you may have surmised, a somewhat +unfortunate one. Your own I will not allude to. I will simply +suggest that for both your sakes publicity--any measure of +publicity, in fact, as regards this little affair--would not be +desirable." + +Laverick hesitated. He understood all that was implied. Morrison's +eyes were fixed upon him--the eyes of a craven coward. He felt the +intensity of the moment. Then Zoe turned suddenly towards him. + +"You are not to give it up!" she cried, with trembling lips. "They +cannot hurt you, and it is not true--about Arthur." + +Kahn, who was nearest, clapped his hand over her mouth and Laverick +knocked him down. Instantly the pacific atmosphere of the room was +changed. Lassen and Morrison closed swiftly upon Laverick from +different sides. Streuss covered him with the shining barrel of a +revolver. + +"Mr. Laverick," he said, "we are not here to be trifled with. Keep +your sister quiet, Morrison, or, by God, you'll swing!" + +Laverick looked at the revolver--fascinated, for an instant, by +its unexpected appearance. The face of the man who held it had +changed. There was lightning playing about the room. + +"It's the dock for you both!" Streuss exclaimed fiercely,--"for +you, Laverick, and you, Morrison, too, if you play with us any +longer! One of you's a murderer and the other receives the booty. +Who are you to have scruples--criminals, both of you? Your place +is in the dock, and you shall be there within twenty-four hours if +there are any more evasions. Now, Laverick, will you fetch that +document? It is your last chance." + +Upon the breathless silence that followed a quiet voice intervened--a +voice calm and emotionless, tinged with a measure of polite +inquiry. Yet its level utterance fell like a bomb among the little +company. The curtain separating this from the inner room had been +drawn a few feet back, and Bellamy was standing there, in black +overcoat and white muffler, his silk hat on the back of his head, +his left hand, carefully gloved, resting still upon the curtain +which he had drawn aside. + +"I hope I am not disturbing you at all?" he murmured softly. + +For a moment the development of the situation remained uncertain. +The gleaming barrel of Streuss's revolver changed its destination. +Bellamy glanced at it with the pleased curiosity of a child. + +"I really ought not to have intruded," he continued amiably. "I +happened to hear the address my friend Laverick gave to the taxicab +driver, and I was particularly anxious to have a word or two with +him before I left for the Continent." + +Streuss was surely something of a charlatan! His revolver had +disappeared. The smile upon his lips was both gracious and +unembarrassed. + +"One is always only too pleased to welcome Mr. Bellamy +anywhere--anyhow," he declared. "If apologies are needed at all," he +continued, "it is to our friend and host--Mr. Morrison here. +Permit me--Mr. Arthur Morrison--the Honorable David Bellamy! +These are Mr. Morrison's rooms." + +Morrison could do no more than stare. Bellamy, on the contrary, +with a little bow came further into the apartment, removing his hat +from his head. Lassen glided round behind him, remaining between +Bellamy and the heavy curtains. Adolf Kahn moved as though +unconsciously in front of the door of the room in which they were. + +Bellamy smiled courteously. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that I must not stay for more than a moment. +I have a car full of friends below--we are on our way, in fact, to +the Covent Garden Ball--and one or two of them, I fear," he added +indulgently, "have already reached that stage of exhilaration which +such an entertainment in England seems to demand. They will +certainly come and rout me out if I am here much longer. There!" he + exclaimed, "you hear that?" + +There was the sound of a motor horn from the street below. Streuss, +with an oath trembling upon his lips, lifted the blind. There were +two motor-cars waiting there--large cars with Limousine bodies, +and apparently full of men. After all, it was to be expected. +Bellamy was no fool! + +"Since we are to lose you, then Mr. Laverick," Streuss remarked with +a gesture of farewell, "let us say good night. The little matter +of business which we were discussing can be concluded with your +partner." + +Laverick turned toward Zoe. Their eyes met and he read their message +of terror. + +"You are coming back to your own rooms, Miss Leneveu," he said. +"You must let me offer you my escort." + +She half rose, but in obedience to a gesture from Streuss Morrison +moved near to them. + +"If you leave me here, Laverick," he muttered beneath his breath,--"if +you leave me to these hounds, do you know what they will do? +They will hand me over to the police--they have sworn it!" + +"Why did you come back?" Laverick asked quickly. + +"They stopped me as I was boarding the steamer," Morrison declared. +"I tell you they have eyes everywhere. You cannot move without their +knowledge. I had to come. Now that I am here they have told me +plainly the price of my freedom. It is that document. Laverick, it +is my life! You must give in--you must, indeed! Remember you're +in it, too." + +"Am I?" Laverick asked quietly. + +"You fool, of course you are!" Morrison whispered hoarsely. "Didn't +you come into the entry and take the pocket-book? Heaven knows what +possessed you to do it! Heaven knows how you found the pluck to use +the money! But you did it, and you are a criminal--a criminal as I +am. Don't be a fool, Laverick. Make terms with these people. They +want the document--the document--nothing but the document! They +will let us keep the money." + +"And you?" Laverick asked, turning suddenly to Zoe. "What do you +say about all this?" + +She looked at him fearlessly. + +"I trust you," she said. "I trust you to do what is right." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +LAVERICK S ARREST + + +"At last, David!" + +Louise welcomed her visitor eagerly with outstretched hands, which +Bellamy raised for a moment to his lips. Then she turned toward the +third person, who had also risen at the opening of the door--a +short, somewhat thick-set man, with swarthy complexion, close-cropped +black hair, and upturned black moustache. + +"You remember Prince Rosmaran?" she said to Bellamy. "He left +Servia only the day before yesterday. He has come to England on a +special mission to the King." + +Bellamy shook hands. + +"I think," he remarked, "I had the honor of meeting you once before, +Prince, at the opening of the Servian Parliament two years ago. It +was just then, I believe, that you were elected to lead the patriotic +party." + +The Prince bowed sadly. + +"My leadership, I fear," he declared, "has brought little good to +my unhappy country." + +"It is a terrible crisis through which your nation is passing," +Bellamy reminded him sympathetically. "At the same time, we must +not despair. Austria holds out her clenched hands, but as yet she +has not dared to strike." + +The face of the Prince was dark with passion. + +"As yet, no!" he answered. "But how long--how long, I wonder--before +the blow falls? We in Servia have been blamed for arming +ourselves, but I tell you that to-day the Austrian troops are being +secretly concentrated on the frontier. Their arsenals are working +night and day. Her soldiers are manoeuvering almost within sight +of Belgrade. We have hoped against hope, yet in our hearts we know +that our fate was sealed when the Czar of Russia left Vienna last +week." + +"Nothing is certain," Bellamy declared restlessly. "England has +been ill-governed for a great many years, but we are not yet a +negligible Power." + +Louise leaned a little towards him. + +"David," she whispered, "the compact!" + +He answered her unspoken question. + +"It is arranged," he said,--"finished. To-morrow morning at nine +o'clock I receive it." + +"You are sure?" she begged. "Why need there be any delay?" + +"It is locked up in a powerful safe," he explained, "and the clerk +who has the combination will not be on duty again till nine. +Laverick is there simply waiting for the hour. You were right, +Louise, as usual. I should have trusted him from the first." + +The Prince had been listening to their conversation with undisguised +interest. + +"There is a rumor," he said, "that some secret information concerning +the compact of Vienna has found its way to this country." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"Hence, I presume, your mission, Prince." + +"We three have no secrets from one another," the Prince declared. +"Our interests in this matter are absolutely identical. What you +suggest, Mr. Bellamy, is the truth. There is a rumor that the +Chancellor, in the first few moments of his illness, gave valuable +information to some one who is likely to have communicated it to the +Government here. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. That, I +know, is one of your own mottoes. So I am here to know if there is +anything to be learned." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Your arrival is not inopportune, Prince. When did you come?" + +"I reached Charing Cross at midnight," the Prince answered. "Our +train was an hour late. I am presenting my credentials early this +morning, and I am hoping for an interview during the afternoon." + +Bellamy considered for a moment. + +"It is true!" he said. "Between us three there is indeed no need +for secrecy. The information you speak of will be in our hands +within a few hours. I have no doubt whatever but that your Minister +will share in it." + +"You know of what it Consists?" the Prince inquired curiously. + +"I think so," Bellamy answered, glancing at the clock. "For my own +part, although the information itself is invaluable, I see another +and a profounder source of interest in that document. If, indeed, +it is what we believe it to be, it amounts to a casus belli." + +"You mean that you would provoke war?" Prince Rosmaran asked. + +Bellamy shrugged his shoulders. + +"I," said he,--"I am not even a politician. But, you know, the +lookers-on see a good deal of the game, and in my opinion there is +only one course open for this country,--to work upon Russia so +that she withdraws from any compact she may have entered into with +Austria and Germany, to accept Germany's cooperation with Austria +in the despoilment of your country as a casus belli, and to declare +war at once while our fleet is invincible and our Colonies free +from danger." + +The Prince nodded. + +"It is good," he admitted, "to hear man's talk once more. Wherever +one moves, people bow the head before the might of Germany and +Austria. Let them alone but a little longer, and they will indeed +rule Europe." + +Three o'clock struck. The Prince rose. + +"I go," he announced. + +"And I," Bellamy declared. "Come to my rooms at ten o'clock +tomorrow morning, Prince, and you shall hear the news." + +Bellamy lingered behind. For a moment he held Louise in his arms +and gazed sorrowfully into her weary face. + +"Is it worth while, I wonder?" he asked bitterly. + +"Worth while," she answered, opening her eyes and looking at him, +"to feel the mother love? Who can help it who would not be ignoble?" + +"But yours, dear," he murmured, "is all grief. Even now I am afraid." + +"We can do no more than toil to the end," she said. "David, you are +sure this time?" + +"I am sure," he replied. "I am going back now to the hotel where +Laverick is staying. We are going to sit together and smoke until +the morning. Nothing short of an army could storm the hotel. I +was with them all only an hour ago,--Streuss, that blackguard +Lassen, and Adolf Kahn, the police spy. They are beaten men and +they know it. They had Laverick, had him by a trick, but I made a +dramatic entrance and the game was up." + +"Telephone me directly you have taken it safely to Downing Street," +she begged. + +"I will," he promised. + +Bellamy walked from Dover Street to the Strand. The streets were +almost brilliant with the cold, hard moonlight. The air seemed +curiously keen. Once or twice the fall of his feet upon the pavement +was so clear and distinct that he fancied he was being followed and +glanced sharply around. He reached the Milan Hotel, however, +without adventure, and looked towards the little open space in the +hall where he had expected to find Laverick. There was no one +there! He stood still for a moment, troubled with a sudden sense +of apprehension. The place was deserted except for a couple of +sleepy-looking clerks and a small army of cleaners busy with their +machines down in the restaurant, moving about like mysterious +figures in the dim light. + +Bellamy turned back to the hall-porter who had admitted him. + +"Do you happen to know what has become of the gentleman whom I was +with about an hour ago?" he asked,--"a tall, fair gentleman--Mr. +Laverick his name was?" + +The hall-porter recognized Bellamy and touched his hat. + +"Why, yes, sir!" he answered with a somewhat mysterious air. "Mr. +Laverick was sitting over there in an easy-chair until about +half-an-hour ago. Then two gentle-men arrived in a taxicab and +inquired for him. They talked for a little time, and finally Mr. +Laverick went away with them." + +Bellamy was puzzled. + +"Went away with them?" he repeated. "I don't understand that, +Reynolds. He was to have waited here till I returned." + +The man hesitated. + +"It didn't strike me, sir," he said, "that Mr. Laverick was very +wishful to go. It seemed as though he hadn't much choice about the +matter." + +Bellamy looked at him keenly. + +"Tell me what is in your mind?" he asked. + +"Mr. Bellamy, sir," the hall-porter replied, "I knew one of those +gentlemen by sight. He was a detective from Scotland Yard, and the +one who was with him was a policeman in plain clothes." + +"Good God!" Bellamy exclaimed. "You think, then,--" + +"I am afraid there was no doubt about it, sir," the man answered. +"Mr. Laverick was arrested on some charge." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE + + +Into New Oxford Street, one of the ceaseless streams of polyglot +humanity, came Zoe from her cheerless day bound for the theatre. +She was a little whiter, a little more tired than usual. All day +long she had heard nothing of Laverick. All day long she had sat +in her tiny room with the memory of that horrible night before her. +She had tried in vain to sleep,--she had made no effort whatever +to eat. She knew now why Arthur Morrison had fled away. She knew +the cause of that paroxysm of fear in which he had sought her out. +The horror of the whole thing had crept into her blood like poison. +Life was once more a dreary, profitless struggle. All the wonderful +dreams, which had made existence seem almost like a fairy-tale for +this last week, had faded away. She was once more a mournful +little waif among the pitiless crowds. + +She turned to the left and past the Holborn Tube. Boys were +shouting everywhere the contents of the evening papers. Nearly +every one seemed to be carrying one of the pink sheets. She herself +passed on with unseeing eyes. News was nothing to her. Governments +might rise and fall, war might come and go,--she had still life to +support, a friendless little life, too, on two pounds fifteen +shillings a week. The news they shouted fell upon deaf ears, but +one boy unfurled almost before her eyes the headlines of his sheet. + + SENSATIONAL ARREST OF A WELL-KNOWN + STOCKBROKER. CHARGE OF MURDER. + +She came to a sudden stop and pulled out her purse. Her fingers +trembled so that the penny fell on to the pavement. The boy picked +it up willingly enough, however, and she passed on with the paper in +her hand. There it was on the front page--staring her in the face: + + Early yesterday morning Mr. Stephen Laverick, of the firm of + Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers, Old Broad Street, was + arrested at the Milan Hotel on the charge of being concerned + in the murder of a person unknown, in Crooked Friars' Alley, + on Monday last. The accused, who made no reply to the charge, + was removed to Bow Street Police-Station. Particulars of his + examination before the magistrates will be found on page 4. + +There was a dull singing in her ears. An electric tram, coming up +from the underground passage, seemed to bring with it some sort of +thunder from an unknown world. She staggered on, unseeing, gasping +for breath. If she could find somewhere to sit down! If she could +only rest for a moment! Then a sudden wave of strength came to her, +the blood flowed once more in her veins--blood that was hot with +anger, that stained her cheeks with a spot of red. It was the man +she loved, this, being made to suffer falsely. It was the fulfilment +of their threat--a deliberate plot against him. The murderer of +Crooked Friars' Alley--she knew who that was!--she knew! Perhaps +she might help! + +She had not the slightest recollection of the remainder of that +walk, but she found herself presently sitting in a quiet corner of +the theatre with the paper spread out before her. She read that +Stephen Laverick had been brought before Mr. Rawson, the magistrate +of Bow Street Police Court, on a warrant charging him with having +been concerned with the murder of a person unknown, and that he had +pleaded "Not Guilty!" Her eyes glittered as she read that the +first witness called was Mr. Arthur Morrison, late partner of the +accused. She read his deposition--that he had left Laverick at +their offices at eleven o'clock on the night in question, that they +were at that time absolutely without means, and had no prospect +of meeting their engagements on the morrow. She read the evidence +of Mr. Fenwick, bank manager, to the effect that Mr. Laverick had, +on the following morning, deposited with him the sum of twenty +thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, by means of which the +engagements of the firm were duly met, that those notes had since +been redeemed, and that he had no idea of their present whereabouts. +She read, too, the evidence of Adolf Kahn, an Austrian visiting +this country upon private business, who deposed that he was in the +vicinity just before midnight, that he saw a person, whom he +identified as the accused, walking down the street and, after +disappearing for a few minutes down the entry, return and re-enter +the offices from which he had issued. He explained his presence +there by the fact that he was waiting for a clerk employed by the +Goldfields' Corporation, Limited, whose offices were close by. +Further formal evidence was given, and a remand asked for. The +accused's solicitor was on the point of addressing the court when +Mr. Rawson was unfortunately taken ill. After waiting for some +time, the case was adjourned until the next day, and the accused +man was removed in custody. + +Zoe laid down the paper and rose to her feet. She made her way to +where the stage-manager was superintending the erection of some new +scenery. + +"Mr. Heepman," she exclaimed, "I cannot stay to rehearsal! I have +to go out." + +He turned heavily round and looked at her. + +"Rehearsal postponed," he declared solemnly. "Shall you be back +for the evening performance, or shall we close the theatre?" + +His clumsy irony missed its mark. Her thoughts were too intensely +focussed upon one thing. + +"I am sorry," she replied, turning away. "I will come back as soon +as I can." + +He called out after her and she paused. + +"Look here," he said, "you were absent from the performance the +other evening, and now you are skipping rehearsal without even +waiting for permission. It can't be done, young lady. You must +do your playing around some other time. If you're not here when +you're called, you needn't trouble to turn up again. Do you +understand?" + +Her lips quivered and the sense of impending disaster which seemed +to be brooding over her life became almost overwhelming. + +"I'll come back as soon as I can," she promised, with a little break +in her voice,--"as soon as ever I can, Mr. Heepman." + +She hurried out of the theatre and took her place once more among +the hurrying throng of pedestrians. Several people turned round to +look at her. Her white face, tight-drawn mouth, and eyes almost +unnaturally large, seemed to have become the abiding-place for +tragedy. She herself saw no one. She would have taken a cab, but +a glimpse at the contents of her purse dissuaded her. She walked +steadily on to Jermyn Street, walked up the stairs to the third +floor, and knocked at her brother's door. No one answered her at +first. She turned the handle and entered to find the room empty. +There were sounds, however, in the further apartment, and she +called out to him. + +"Arthur," she cried, "are you there?" + +"Who is it?" he demanded. + +"It is I--Zoe!" she exclaimed. + +"What do you want?" + +"I want to speak to you, Arthur. I must speak to you. Please +come as quickly as you can." + +He growled something and in a few moments he appeared. He was +wearing the morning clothes in which he had attended court earlier +in the day, but the change in him was perhaps all the more marked +by reason of this resumption of his old attire. His cheeks were +hollow, his eyes scarcely for an instant seemed to lose that +feverish gleam of terror with which he had returned from Liverpool. +He knew very well what she had come about, and he began nervously +to try and bully her. + +"I wish you wouldn't come to these rooms, Zoe," he said. "I've +told you before they're bachelors' apartments, and they don't like +women about the place. What is it? What do you want?" + +"I was brought here last time without any particular desire on my +part," she answered, looking him in the face. "I've come now to +ask you what accursed plot this is against Stephen Laverick? What +were you doing in the court this morning, lying? What is the +meaning of it, Arthur?" + +"If you've come to talk rubbish like that," he declared roughly, +"you'd better be off." + +"No, it is not rubbish!" she went on fearlessly. "I think I can +understand what it is that has happened. They have terrified you +and bribed you until you are willing to do any despicable thing--even +this. Your father was good to my mother, Arthur, and I +have tried to feel towards you as though you were indeed a relation. +But nothing of that counts. I want you to realize that I know the +truth, and that I will not see an innocent man convicted while the +guilty go free." + +He moved a step towards her. They were on opposite sides of the +small round table which stood in the centre of the apartment. + +"What do you mean?" he demanded hoarsely. + +"Isn't it plain enough?" she exclaimed. "You came to my rooms a +week or so ago, a terrified, broken-down man. If ever there was +guilt in a man's face, it was in yours. You sent for Laverick. He +pitied you and helped you away. At Liverpool they would not let +you embark--these men. They have brought you back here. You are +their tool. But you know very well, Arthur, that it was not Stephen +Laverick who killed the man in Crooked Friars' Alley! You know very +well that it was not Stephen Laverick!" + +"Why the devil should I know anything about it?" he asked fiercely. + +A note of passion suddenly crept into her voice. Her little white +hand, with its accusing forefinger, shot out towards him. + +"Because it was you, Arthur Morrison, who committed that crime," she +cried, "and sooner than another man should suffer for it, I shall +go to court myself and tell the truth." + +He was, for the moment, absolutely speechless, pale as death, with +nervously twitching lips and fingers. But there was murder in his eyes. + +"What do you know about this?" he muttered. + +"Never mind," she answered. "I know and I guess quite enough to +convince me--and I think anybody else--that you are the guilty man. +I would have helped you and shielded you, whatever it cost me, but +I will not do so at Stephen Laverick's expense." + +"What is Laverick to you?" he growled. + +"He is nothing to me," she replied, "but the best of friends. Even +were he less than that, do you suppose that I would let an innocent +man suffer?" + +He moistened his dry lips rapidly. + +"You are talking nonsense, Zoe," he said,--"nonsense! Even if +there has been some little mistake, what could I do now? I have +given my evidence. So far as I am concerned, the case is finished. +I shall not be called again until the trial." + +"Then you had better go to the magistrates tomorrow morning and +take back your evidence," she declared boldly, "for if you do not, +I shall be there and I shall tell the truth." + +"Zoe," he gasped, "don't try me too high. This thing has upset me. +I'm ill. Can't you see it, Zoe? Look at me. I haven't slept for +weeks. Night and day I've had the fear--the fear always with me. +You don't know what it is--you can't imagine. It's like a terrible +ghost, keeping pace with you wherever you go, laying his icy finger +upon you whenever you would rest, mocking at you when you try to +drown thought even for a moment. Don't you try me too far, Zoe. +I'm not responsible. Laverick isn't the man you think him to be. +He isn't the man I believed. He did have that money--he did, +indeed." + +"That," she said, "is to be explained. But he is not a murderer." + +"Listen to me, Zoe," Morrison continued, leaning across the table. +"Come and stay with me for a time and we will go away for a +week--somewhere to the seaside. We will talk about this and think it +over. I want to get away from London. We will go to Brighton, if +you like. I must do something for you, Zoe. I'm afraid I've +neglected you a good deal. Perhaps I could get you a better part +at one of the theatres. I must make you an allowance. You ought +to be wearing better clothes." + +She drew a little away. + +"I want nothing from you, Arthur," she said, "except this--that +you speak the truth." + +He wiped his forehead and struck the table before her. + +"But, good God, Zoe!" he exclaimed, "do you know what it is that +you are asking me? Do you want me to go into court and say--'That +isn't the man... It is I who am the murderer'? Do you want me to +feel their hands upon my shoulder, to be put there in the dock and +have all the people staring at me curiously because they know that +before very long I am to stand upon the scaffold and have that rope +around my neck and--" + +He broke off with a low cry, wringing his hands like a child in a +fit of impotent terror. But the girl in front of him never flinched. + +"Arthur," she said, "crime is a terrible thing, but nothing in the +world can alter its punishment. If it is frightful for you to +think of this, what must it be for him? And you are guilty and he +is not." + +"I was mad!" Morrison went on, now almost beside himself. "Zoe, I +was mad! I called there to have a drink. We were broke,--the firm +was broke. I'd a hundred or so in my pocket and I was going to bolt +the next day. And there, within a few yards of me, was that man, +with such a roll of notes as I had never seen in my life. Five +hundred pounds, every one of them, and a wad as thick as my fists. +Zoe, they fascinated me. I had two drinks quickly and I followed +him out. Somehow or other, I found that I'd caught up a knife that +was on the counter. I never meant to hurt him seriously, but I +wanted some of those notes! I was leaving the next day for Africa +and I hadn't enough money to make a fair start. I wanted it--my +God, how I wanted money!" + +"It couldn't have been worth--that!" she cried, looking at him +wonderingly. + +"I was mad," he continued. "I saw the notes and they went to my +head. Men do wild things sometimes when they are drunk, or for +love. I don't drink much, and I'm not over fond of women, but, my +God, money is like the blood of my body to me! I saw it, and I +wanted it and I wanted it, and I went mad! Zoe, you won't give me +away? Say you won't!" + +"But what am I to do?" she protested. "He must not suffer." + +"He'll get off," Morrison assured her thickly. "I tell you he'll +get off. He's only to part with the document, which never belonged +to him, and the charge will be withdrawn. They know who the +murdered man was. They know where the money came from which he was +carrying. I tell you he can save himself. You wouldn't dream of +sending me to the gallows, Zoe!" + +"Stephen Laverick will never give up that document to those people," +she declared. "I am sure of that." + +"It's his own lookout," Morrison muttered. "He has the chance, +anyway." + +She turned toward the door. + +"I must go away," she said. "I must go away and think. It is all +too horrible." + +He came round the table swiftly and caught at her wrists. + +"Listen," he said, "I can't let you go like this. You must tell me +that you are not going to give me up. Do you hear?" + +"I can make no promises, Arthur," she answered sadly, "only this--I +shall not let Stephen Laverick suffer in your stead." + +He opened his hand and she shrank back, terrified, when she saw what +it was that he was holding. Then he struck her down and without a +backward glance fled out of the place. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +BELLAMY'S SUCCESS + + +Late that afternoon the hall-porter at the Milan Hotel, the +commissionaire, and the chief maitre d'hotel from the Cafe, who +happened to be in the hall, together with several others around the +place who knew Stephen Laverick by sight, were treated to an +unexpected surprise. A large closed motor-car drove up to the +front entrance and several men descended, among whom was Laverick +himself. He nodded to the hall-porter, whose salute was purely +mechanical, and making his way without hesitation to the interior +of the hotel, presented his receipt at the cashier's desk and asked +for his packet. The clerk looked up at him in amazement. He did +not, for the moment, notice that the two men standing immediately +behind bore the stamp of plain-clothes policemen. He had only a +few minutes ago finished reading the report of Laverick's +examination before the magistrates and his remand until the morrow, +upon the charge of murder. His knowledge of English law was by no +means perfect, but he was at least aware that Laverick's appearance +outside the purlieus of the prison was an unusual happening. + +"Your packet, sir!" he repeated, in amazement. "Why, this is Mr. +Laverick himself, is it not?" + +"Certainly," was the quiet reply. "I am Stephen Laverick." + +The clerk called the head cashier, who also stared at Laverick as +though he were a ghost. They whispered together in the background +for a moment, and their faces were a study in perplexity. Of +Laverick's identity, however, there was no manner of doubt. Besides, +the presence of what was obviously a very ample escort somewhat +reassured them. The cashier himself came forward. + +"We shall be exceedingly glad, Mr. Laverick," he said dryly, "to +get rid of your packet. Your instructions were that we should +disregard all orders to hand it over to any person whatsoever, and +I may say that they have been strictly adhered to. We have, +however, had two applications in your name this morning." + +"They were both forgeries," Laverick declared. + +The cashier hesitated. Then he leaned across the broad mahogany +counter towards Laverick. One of the men who appeared to form part +of the escort detached himself from them and approached a few +steps nearer. + +"This gentleman is your friend, sir?" the cashier asked, glancing +towards him. + +"He is my solicitor," Laverick answered, "and is entirely in my +confidence. If you have anything to tell me, I should like Mr. +Bellamy also to hear." + +Bellamy, who was standing a little in the background, took his place +by Laverick's side. The cashier, who knew him by sight, bowed. + +"Beside these two forged orders, sir," he said, turning again to +Laverick, "we have had a man who took a room in the hotel leave a +small black bag here, which he insisted upon having deposited in +our document safe. My assistant had accepted it and was actually +locking it up when he noticed a faint sound inside which he could +not understand. The bag was opened and found to contain an +infernal machine which would have exploded in a quarter of an hour." + +Bellamy drew his breath sharply between his teeth. + +"We should have thought of that!" he exclaimed softly. "That's +Kahn's work!" + +"I seem to have given you a great deal of trouble," Laverick +remarked quietly. "I gather, however, from what you say, that my +packet is still in your possession?" + +"It is, sir," the man assented. "We have two detectives from +Scotland Yard here at the present moment, though, and we had +almost decided to place it in their charge for greater security." + +"It will be well taken care of from now, I promise you," Laverick +declared. + +The cashier and his clerk led the way into the inner office. At +their invitation Laverick and his solicitor followed, and a few +yards behind came the two plain-clothes policemen, Bellamy, and +the superintendent. The safe was opened and the packet placed in +Laverick's hands. He passed it on at once to Bellamy, and +immediately afterwards the doorway behind was thronged with men, +apparently ordinary loiterers around the hotel. They made a slow +and exceedingly cautious exit. Once outside, Bellamy turned to +Laverick with outstretched hand. + +"Au revoir and good luck, old chap!" he said heartily. "I think +you'll find things go your way all right to-morrow morning." + +He departed, forming one of a somewhat singular cavalcade--two +of his friends on either side, two in front, and two behind. It +had almost the appearance of a procession. The whole party stepped +into a closed motor-car. Three or four men were lounging on the +pavement and there was some excited whispering, but no one actually +interfered. As soon as they had left the courtyard, Laverick and +his solicitor, with his own guard, re-entered the motor-car in +which they had arrived, and drove back to Bow Street. Very few +words were exchanged during the short journey. His solicitor, +however, bade him good-night cheerfully, and Laverick's bearing +was by no means the bearing of a man in despair. + +In Downing Street, within the next half-an-hour, a somewhat +remarkable little gathering took place. The two men chiefly +responsible for the destinies of the nation--the Prime Minister +and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs--sat side by side +before a small table. Facing them was Bellamy, and spread out in +front were those few pages of foolscap, released from their +envelope a few minutes ago for the first time since the hand of +the great Chancellor himself had pressed down the seal. The +Foreign Minister had just finished a translation for the benefit +of his colleague, and the two men were silent, as men are in the +presence of big events. + +"Bellamy," the Prime Minister said slowly, "you are willing to +stake, I presume, your reputation upon the authenticity of this +document?" + +"My honor and my life, if you will," Bellamy answered earnestly. +"That is no copy which you have there. On the contrary, the +handwriting is the handwriting of the Chancellor himself." + +The Prime Minister turned silently towards his colleague. The +latter, whose eyes still seemed glued to those fateful words, +looked up. + +"All I can say is this," he remarked impressively, "that never in +my time have I seen written words possessed of so much significance. +One moment, if you please." + +He touched the bell, and his private secretary entered at once from +an adjoining room. + +"Anthony," he said, "telephone to the Great Western Railway Company +at Paddington. Ask for the station master in my name, and see that +a special train is held ready to depart for Windsor in half-an-hour. +Tell the station-master that all ordinary traffic must be held up, +but that the destination of the special is not to be divulged." + +The young man bowed and withdrew. + +"The more I consider this matter," the Foreign Minister went on, +"the more miraculous does the appearance of this document seem. +We know now why the Czar is struggling so frantically to curtail +his visit--why he came, as it were, under protest, and seeks +everywhere for an opportunity to leave before the appointed time. +His health is all right. He has had a hint from Vienna that there +has been a leakage. His special mission only reached Paris this +morning. The President is in the country and their audience is not +fixed until to-morrow. Rawson will go over with a copy of these +papers and a dispatch from His Majesty by the nine o'clock train. +It is not often that we have had the chance of such a 'coup' as +this." + +He drew his chief a few steps away. They whispered together for +several moments. When they returned, the Foreign Minister rang +the bell again for his secretary. + +"Anthony," he said, "Sir James and I will be leaving in a few +minutes for Windsor. Go round yourself to General Hamilton, +telephone to Aldershot for Lord Neville, and call round at the +Admiralty Board for Sir John Harrison. Tell them all to be here +at ten o'clock tonight. If I am not back, they must wait. If +either of them have royal commands, you need only repeat the +word 'Finisterre.' They will understand." + +The young man once more withdrew. The Prime Minister turned +back to the papers. + +"It will be worth a great deal," he remarked, with a grim smile, +"to see His Majesty's face when he reads this." + +"It would be worth a great deal more," his fellow statesman +answered dryly, "to be with his August cousin at the interview +which will follow. A month ago, the thought that war might come +under our administration was a continual terror to me. To-day +things are entirely different. To-day it really seems that if +war does come, it may be the most glorious happening for England +of this century. You saw the last report from Kiel?" + +Sir James nodded. + +"There isn't a battleship or a cruiser worth a snap of the fingers +south of the German Ocean," his colleague continued earnestly. +"They are cooped up--safe enough, they think--under the shelter +of their fortifications. Hamilton has another idea. Between you +and me, Sir James, so have I. I tell you," he went on, in a +deeper and more passionate tone, "it's like the passing of a +terrible nightmare--this. We have had ten years of panic, of +nervous fears of a German invasion, and no one knows more than you +and I, Sir James, how much cause we have had for those fears. It +will seem strange if, after all, history has to write that chapter +differently." + +The secretary re-entered and announced the result of his telephone +interview with the superintendent at Paddington. The two great +men rose. The Prime Minister held out his hand to Bellamy. + +"Bellamy," he declared, "you've done us one more important service. +There may be work for you within the next few weeks, but you've +earned a rest for a day or two, at any rate. There is nothing more +we can do?" + +"Nothing except a letter to the Home Secretary, Sir James," Bellamy +answered. "Remember, sir, that although I have worked hard, the +man to whom we really owe those papers is Stephen Laverick." + +The Prime Minister frowned thoughtfully. + +"It's a difficult situation, Bellamy," he said. "You are asking a +great deal when you suggest that we should interfere in the +slightest manner with the course of justice. You are absolutely +convinced, I suppose, that this man Laverick had nothing to do +with the murder?" + +"Absolutely and entirely, sir," Bellamy replied. + +"The murdered man has never been identified by the police," Sir +James remarked. "Who was he?" + +"His name was Rudolph Von Behrling," Bellamy announced, "and he was +actually the Chancellor's nephew, also his private secretary. I +have told you the history, sir, of those papers. It was Von +Behrling who, without a doubt, murdered the American journalist +and secured them. It was he who insisted upon coming to London +instead of returning with them to Vienna, which would have been the +most obvious course for him to have adopted. He was a pauper, and +desperately in love with a certain lady who has helped me throughout +this matter. He agreed to part with the papers for twenty thousand +pounds, and the lady incidentally promised to elope with him the +same night. I met him by appointment at that little restaurant in +the city, paid him the twenty thousand pounds, and received the +false packet which you remember I brought to you, sir. As a matter +of fact, Von Behrling, either by accident or design, and no man now +will ever know which, left me with those papers which I was supposed +to have bought in his possession, and also the money. Within five +minutes he was murdered. Doubtless we shall know sometime by whom, +but it was not by Stephen Laverick. Laverick's share in the whole +thing was nothing but this--that he found the pocket-book, and that +he made use of the notes in his business for twenty-four hours to +save himself from ruin. That was unjustifiable, of course. He has +made atonement. The notes at this minute are in a safe deposit +vault and will be returned intact to the fund from which they came. +I want, also, to impress upon you, Sir James, the fact that Baron +de Streuss offered one hundred thousand pounds for that letter." + +Sir James nodded thoughtfully. He stooped down and scrawled a few +lines on half a sheet of note-paper. + +"You must take this to Lord Estcourt at once," he said, "and tell +him the whole affair, omitting all specific information as to the +nature of the papers. The thing must be arranged, of course." + +Half-a-dozen reporters, who had somehow got hold of the fact that +the Prime Minister and his colleague from the Foreign Office were +going down to Windsor on a special mission, followed them, but even +they remained altogether in the dark as to the events which were +really transpiring. They knew nothing of the interview between the +Czar and his August host--an interview which in itself was a +chapter in the history of these times. They knew nothing of the +reason of their royal visitor's decision to prolong his visit +instead of shortening it, or of his autograph letter to the +President of the French Republic, which reached Paris even before +the special mission from St. Petersburg had presented themselves. +The one thing which they did know, and that alone was significant +enough, was that the Czar's Foreign Minister was cabled for that +night to come to his master by special train from St. Petersburg. +At the Austrian and German Embassies, forewarned by a report from +Baron de Streuss, something like consternation reigned. The +Russian Ambassador, heckled to death, took refuge at Windsor under +pretence of a command from his royal master. The happiest man in +London was Prince Rosmaran. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +LAVERICK ACQUITTED + + +At mid-day on the following morning Laverick stepped down from the +dock at Bow Street and, as the evening papers put it, "in company +with his friends left the court." The proceedings altogether took +scarcely more than half-an-hour. Laverick's solicitor first put +Shepherd in the box, who gave his account of Morrison's visit to +the restaurant, spoke of his hurried exit, and identified the knife +which he had seen him snatch up. Cross-examined as to why he had +kept silent, he explained that Mr. Morrison had been a good customer +and he saw no reason why he should give unsolicited evidence which +would cost a man his life. Directly, however, another man had been +accused, the matter appeared to him to be altogether different. He +had come forward the moment he had heard of Laverick's ARREST, to +offer his evidence. + +While the opinion of the court was still undecided, Laverick's +solicitor called Miss Zoe Leneveu. A little murmur of interest ran +though the court. Laverick himself started. Zoe stepped into the +witness-box, looking exceedingly pale, and with a bandage over the +upper part of her head. She admitted that she was the half-sister +of Arthur Morrison, although there was no blood relationship. She +described his sudden visit to her rooms on the night of the murder, +and his state of great alarm. She declared that he had confessed +to her on the previous afternoon that he had been guilty of the +murder in question. + +Her place in the witness-box was taken by the Honorable David +Bellamy. He declared that the prisoner was an old friend of his, +and that the twenty thousand pounds of which he had been recently +possessed, had come from him for investment in Laverick's business. +The circumstances, he admitted, were somewhat peculiar, and until +negotiations had been concluded Mr. Laverick had doubtless felt +uncertain how to make use of the money. But he assured the court +that there was no person who had any claim to the sum of money in +question save himself, and that he was perfectly aware of the use +to which Laverick had put it. + +Laverick was discharged within a very few minutes, and a warrant +was issued for the apprehension of Morrison. Laverick found +Bellamy waiting for him, and was hurried into his motor. + +"Well, you see," the latter exclaimed, "we kept our word! That +dear plucky little friend of yours turned the scale, but in any +case I think that there would not have been much trouble about the +matter. The magistrate had received a communication direct from +the Home Secretary concerning your case." + +"I am very grateful indeed," Laverick declared. "I tell you I +think I am very lucky. I wish I knew what had become of Miss +Leneveu. The usher told me she left the court before we came out." + +"I asked her to go straight back to her rooms," Bellamy said. "You +must excuse me for interfering, Laverick, but I found her almost in +a state of collapse last night in Jermyn Street. I was having +Morrison watched, and my man reported to me that he had left his +rooms in a state of great excitement, and that a young lady was +there who appeared to be seriously injured." + +"D--d scamp!" Laverick muttered. + +"I did everything I could," Bellamy continued. "I fetched her at +once and sent her back to her house with a hospital nurse and some +one to look after her. The wound wasn't serious, but the fellow +must have been a brute indeed to have lifted his hand against such +a child. I wonder whether he'll get away." + +"I should doubt it," Laverick remarked. "He hasn't the nerve. +He'll probably get drunk and blow his brains out. He's a +broken-spirited cur, after all." + +"You'll have some lunch?" Bellamy asked. + +Laverick shook his head. + +"If you don't mind, I'd like to go on and see Miss Leneveu." + +"Put me down at the club, then, and take my car on, if you will." + + +Laverick walked up and down the pavement outside Zoe's little +house for nearly half-an-hour. He had found the door closed and +locked, and a neighbor had informed him that Miss Leneveu had +gone out in a cab with the nurse, some time ago, and had not +returned. Laverick sent Bellamy's car back and waited. Presently +a four-wheel cab came round the corner and stopped in front of +her house. Laverick opened the door and helped Zoe out. She was +as white as death, and the nurse who was with her was looking +anxious. + +"You are safe, then?" she murmured, holding out her hands. + +"Quite," he answered. "You dear little girl!" + +Zoe had fainted, however, and Laverick hurried out for the doctor. +Curiously enough, it was the same man who only a week or so ago +had come to see Arthur Morrison. + +"She has had a bad scalp wound," he declared, "and her nervous +system is very much run down. There is nothing serious. She +seems to have just escaped concussion. The nurse had better stay +with her for another day, at any rate." + +"You are sure that it isn't serious?" Laverick asked eagerly. + +"Not in the least," the doctor answered dryly. "I see worse +wounds every day of my life. I'll come again to-morrow, if you like, +but it really isn't necessary with the nurse on the spot." + +His natural pessimism was for a moment lightened by the fee which +Laverick pressed upon him, and he departed with a few more +encouraging words. Laverick stayed and talked for a short time +with the nurse. + +"She has gone off to sleep now, sir," the latter announced. "There +isn't anything to worry about. She seems as though she had been +having a hard time, though. There was scarcely a thing in the house +but half a packet of tea--and these." + +She held up a packet of pawn tickets. + +"I found these in a drawer when I came," she said. "I had to look +round, because there was no money and nothing whatever in the house." + +Laverick was suddenly conscious of an absurd mistiness before his +eyes. + +"Poor little woman!" he murmured. "I think she'd sooner have starved +than ask for help." + +The nurse smiled. + +"I thought at first that she was rather a vain young lady," she +remarked. "An empty larder and a pile of pawn tickets, and a new +hat with a receipted bill for thirty shillings," she added, pointing +to the sofa. + +Laverick placed some notes in her hands. + +"Please keep these," he begged, "and see that she has everything she +wants. I shall be here again later in the day. There is not the +slightest need for all this. She will be quite well off for the rest +of her life. Will you try and engage some one for a day or two to +come in until she is able to be moved?" + +"I'll look after her," the nurse promised. + +Laverick went reluctantly away. The events of the last few days were +becoming more and more like a dream to him. He went to his club +almost from habit. Presently the excitement which all London seemed +to be sharing drove his own personal feelings a little into the +background. The air was full of rumors. The Prime Minister and the +Foreign Secretary were spoken of as one speaks of heroes. Nothing +was definitely known, but there was a splendid feeling of confidence +that for once in her history England was preparing to justify her +existence as a great Power. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THE PLOT THAT FAILED + + +The progress of the Czar from Buckingham Palace to the Mansion +House, where he had, after all, consented to lunch with the Lord +Mayor, witnessed a popular outburst of enthusiasm absolutely +inexplicable to the general public. It was known that affairs in +Central Europe were in a dangerously precarious state, and it was +felt that the Czar's visit here, and the urgent summons which had +brought from St. Petersburg his Foreign Minister, were indications +that the long wished-for entente between Russia and this country +was now actually at hand. There was in the Press a curious +reticence with regard to the development of the political situation. +One felt everywhere that it was the calm before the storm--that at +any moment the great black headlines might tell of some startling +stroke of diplomacy, some dangerous peril averted or defied. The +circumstances themselves of the Czar's visit had been a little +peculiar. On his arrival it was announced that, for reasons of +health, the original period of his stay, namely a week, was to be +cut down to two days. No sooner had he arrived at Windsor, however, +than a change was announced. The Czar had so far recovered as to +be able even to extend the period at first fixed for his visit. +Simultaneously with this, the German and Austrian Press were full +of bitter and barely veiled articles, whose meaning was unmistakable. +The Czar had thrown in his lot at first with Austria and Germany. +That he was going deliberately to break away from that arrangement +there seemed now scarcely any manner of doubt. + +Bellamy and Louise, from a window in Fleet Street, watched him go +by. Prince Rosmaran had been specially bidden to the luncheon, but +he, too, had been with them earlier in the morning. Afterwards +they turned their backs upon the city, and as soon as the crowd had +thinned made their way to one of the west-end restaurants. + +"It seems too good to be true," declared Louise. Bellamy nodded. + +"Nevertheless I am convinced that it is true. The humor of the +whole thing is that it was our friends in Germany themselves who +pressed the Czar not to altogether cancel his visit for fear of +exciting suspicion. That, of course, was when there seemed to be +no question of the news of the Vienna compact leaking out. They +would never have dared to expose a man to such a trial as the +Czar must have faced when the resume of the Vienna proceedings, in +the Chancellor's own handwriting, was read to him at Windsor." + +"You saw the telegram from Paris?" Louise interposed. "The +special mission from St. Petersburg has been recalled." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"It all goes to prove what I say," he went on. "Any morning you +may expect to hear that Austria and Germany have received an +ultimatum." + +"I wonder," she remarked, "what became of Streuss." + +"He is hiding somewhere in London, without a doubt," Bellamy +answered. "There's always plenty of work for spies." + +"Don't use that word," she begged. + +He made a little grimace. + +"You are thinking of my own connection with the profession, are you +not?" he asked. "Well, that counts for nothing now. I hope I may +still serve my country for many years, but it must be in a different +way." + +"What do you mean?" she demanded. + +"I heard from my uncle's solicitors this morning," Bellamy continued, +"that he is very feeble and cannot live more than a few months. +When he dies, of course, I must take my place in the House of Lords. +It is his wish that I should not leave England again now, so I +suppose there is nothing left for me but to give it up. I have done +my share of traveling and work, after all," he concluded, +thoughtfully. + +"Your share, indeed," she murmured. "Remember that but for that +document which was read to the Czar at Windsor, Servia must have +gone down, and England would have had to take a place among the +second-class Powers. There may be war now, it is true, but it +will be a glorious war." + +"Louise, very soon we shall know. Until then I will say nothing. +But I do not want you altogether to forget that there has been +something in my life dearer to me even than my career for these +last few years." + +Her blue eyes were suddenly soft. She looked across towards him +wistfully. + +"Dear," she whispered, "things will be altered with you now. I am +not fit to be the wife of an English peer--I am not noble." + +He laughed. + +"I am afraid," he assured her, "that I am democrat enough to think +you one of the noblest women on earth. Why should I not? Your +life itself has been a study in devotion. The modern virtues seem +almost to ignore patriotism, yet the love of one's country is a +splendid thing. But don't you think, Louise, that we have done +our work that it is time to think of ourselves?" + +She gave him her hand. + +"Let us see," she said. "Let us wait for a little time and see what +comes." + +That night another proof of the popular feeling, absolutely +spontaneous, broke out in one of the least expected places. Louise +was encored for her wonderful solo in a modern opera of bellicose +trend, and instead of repeating it she came alone on the stage after +a few minutes' absence, dressed in Servian national dress. For a +short time the costume was not recognized. Then the music--the +national hymn of Servia, and the recollection of her parentage, +brought the thing home to the audience. They did not even wait for +her to finish. In the middle of her song the applause broke like a +crash of thunder. From the packed gallery to the stalls they cheered +her wildly, madly. A dozen times she came before the curtain. It +seemed impossible that they would ever let her go. Directly she +turned to leave the stage, the uproar broke out again. The manager +at last insisted upon it that she should speak a few words. She +stood in the centre of the stage amid a silence as complete as the +previous applause had been unanimous. Her voice reached easily to +every place in the House. + +"I thank you all very much," she said. "I am very happy indeed to +be in London, because it is the capital city of the most generous +country in the world--the country that is always ready to protect +and help her weaker neighbors. I am a Servian, and I love my +country, and therefore," she added, with a little break in her +voice,--"therefore I love you all." + +It was nearly midnight before the audience was got rid of, and the +streets of London had not been so impassable for years. Crowds +made their way to the front of Buckingham Palace and on to the War +Office, where men were working late. Everything seemed to denote +that the spirit of the country was roused: The papers next morning +made immense capital of the incident, and for the following +twenty-four hours suspense throughout the country was almost at +fever height. It was known that the Cabinet Council had been +sitting for six hours. It was known, too, that without the least +commotion, with scarcely any movements of ships that could be +called directly threatening, the greatest naval force which the +world had ever known was assembling off Dover. The stock markets +were wildly excited. Laverick, back again in his office, found +that his return to his accustomed haunts occasioned scarcely any +comment. More startling events were shaping themselves. His own +remarkable adventure remained, curiously enough, almost undiscussed. + +He left the office shortly before his usual time, notwithstanding +the rush of business, and drove at once to the little house in +Theobald Square. Zoe was lying on the sofa, still white, but +eager to declare that the pain had gone and that she was no longer +suffering. + +"It is too absurd," she declared, smiling, "my having this nurse +here. Really, there is nothing whatever the matter with me. I +should have gone to the theatre, but you see it is no use." + +She passed him the letter which she had been reading, and which +contained her somewhat curt dismissal. He laughed as he tore it +into pieces. + +"Are you so sorry, Zoe? Is the stage so wonderful a place that +you could not bear to think of leaving it?" + +She shook her head. + +"It is not that," she whispered. "You know that it is not that." + +He smiled as he took her confidently into his arms. + +"There is a much more arduous life in front of you, dear," he said. +"You have to come and look after me for the rest of your days. A +bachelor who marries as late in life as I do, you know, is a trying +sort of person." + +She shrank away a little. + +"You don't mean it," she murmured. + +"You know very well that I mean it," he answered, kissing her. "I +think you knew from the very first that sooner or later you were +doomed to become my wife." + +She sighed faintly and half-closed her eyes. For the moment she +had forgotten everything. She was absolutely and completely happy. + +Later on he made her dress and come out to dinner, and afterwards, +as they sat talking, he laid an evening paper before her. + +"Zoe," he declared, "the best thing that could has happened. You +will not be foolish, dear, about it, I know. Remember the +alternative--and read that." + +She glanced at the few lines which announced the finding of Arthur +Morrison in a house in Bloomsbury Square. The police had apparently +tracked him down, and he had shot himself at the final moment. The +details of his last few hours were indescribable. Zoe shuddered, +and her eyes filled with tears. She smiled bravely in his face, +however. + +"It is terrible," she whispered simply, "but, after all, he was no +relation of mine, and he tried to do you a frightful injury. When +I think of that, I find it hard even to be sorry." + +There was indeed almost a pitiless look in her face as she folded +up the paper, as though she felt something of that common instinct +of her sex which transforms a gentle woman so quickly into a hard, +merciless creature when the being whom she loves is threatened. + +Laverick smiled. + +"Let us go out into the streets," he said, "and hear what all this +excitement is about." + +They bought a late edition, and there it was at last in black and +white. An ultimatum had been presented at Berlin and Vienna. +Certain treaty rights which had been broken with regard to Austria's +action in the East were insisted upon by Great Britain. It was +demanded that Austria should cease the mobilization of her troops +upon the Servian frontier, and renounce all rights to a protectorate +over that country, whose independence Great Britain felt called upon, +from that time forward, to guarantee. It was further announced that +England, France, and Russia were acting in this matter in complete +concert, and that the neutrality of Italy was assured. Further, it +was known that the great English fleet had left for the North Sea +with sealed orders. + +Laverick took Zoe home early and called later at Bellamy's rooms. +Bellamy greeted him heartily. He was on the point of going out, +and the two men drove off together in the latter's car. + +"See, my dear friend," Bellamy exclaimed, "what great things come +from small means! The document which you preserved for us, and +for which we had to fight so hard, has done all this." + +"It is marvelous!" Laverick murmured. + +"It is very simple," Bellamy declared. "That meeting in Vienna was +meant to force our hands. It is all a question of the balance of +strength. Germany and Austria together, with Russia friendly,--even +with Russia neutral,--could have defied Europe. Germany could +have spread out her army westwards while Austria seized upon her +prey. It was a splendid plot, and it was going very well until the +Czar himself was suddenly confronted by our King and his Ministers +with a revelation of the whole affair. At Windsor the thing seemed +different to him. The French Government behaved splendidly, and the +Czar behaved like a man. Germany and Austria are left plante la. +If they fight, well, it will be no one-sided affair. They have no +fleet, or rather they will have none in a fortnight's time. They +have no means of landing an army here. Austria, perhaps, can hold +Russia, but with a French army in better shape than it has been for +years, and the English landing as many men as they care to do, with +ease, anywhere on the north coast of Germany, the entire scheme +proved abortive. Come into the club and have a drink, Laverick. +To-day great things have happened to me." + +"And to me," Laverick interposed. + +"You can guess my news, perhaps," Bellamy said, as they seated +themselves in easy-chairs. "Mademoiselle Idiale has promised to +be my wife." + +Laverick held out his hand. + +"I congratulate you heartily!" he exclaimed. "I have been an +engaged man myself for something like half-an-hour." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +A FAREWELL APPEARANCE + + +"One thing, at least, these recent adventures should teach whoever +may be responsible for the government of this country," Bellamy +remarked to his wife, as he laid down the morning paper. "For the +first time in many years we have taken the aggressive against Powers +of equal standing. We were always rather good at bullying smaller +countries, but the bare idea of an ultimatum to Germany would have +made our late Premier go lightheaded." + +"And yet it succeeded," Louise reminded him. + +"Absolutely," he affirmed. "To-day's news makes peace a certainty. +If your country knew everything, Louise, they'd give us a royal +welcome next month." + +"You really mean that we are to go there, then?" she asked. + +"It isn't exactly one of my privileges," he declared, "to fix upon +the spot where we shall take our belated honeymoon, but I haven't +been in Belgrade for years, and I know you'd like to see your +people." + +"It will be more happiness than I ever dreamed of," she murmured. +"Do you think we shall be safe in passing through Vienna?" + +Bellamy laughed. + +"Remember," he said, "that I am no longer David Bellamy, with a +silver greyhound attached to my watch-chain and an obnoxious +reputation in foreign countries. I am Lord Denchester of +Denchester, a harmless English peer traveling on his honeymoon. +By the way, I hope you like the title." + +"I shall love it when I get used to it," she declared. "To be an +English Countess is dazzling, but I do think that I ought not to +go on singing at Covent Garden." + +"To-morrow will be your last night," he reminded her. "I have asked +Laverick and the dear little girl he is going to marry to come with +me. Afterwards we must all have supper together." + +"How nice of you!" she exclaimed. + +"I don't know about that," Bellamy said, smiling. "I really like +Laverick. He is a decent fellow and a good sort. Incidentally, he +was thundering useful to us, and pretty plucky about it. He +interests me, too, in another way. He is a man who, face to face +with a moral problem, acted exactly as I should have done myself!" + +"You mean about the twenty thousand pounds?" she asked. + +Bellamy assented. + +"He was practically dishonest," he pointed out. "He had no right +to use that money and he ought to have taken the pocket-book to the +police-station. If he had done so--that is to say, if he had +waited there for the police, if he had been seen to hold out that +pocket-book, to have discussed it with any one, it is ten to one +that there would have been another tragedy that night. At any +rate, the document would never have come to us." + +She smiled. + +"My moral judgment is warped," she asserted, "from the fact that +Laverick's decision brought us the document." + +He nodded. + +"Perhaps so," he agreed, "and yet, there was the man face to face +with ruin. The use of that money for a few hours did no one any +harm, and saved him. I say that such a deed is always a matter of +calculation, and in this case that he was justified." + +"I wonder what he really thinks about it himself," she remarked. + +"Perhaps I'll ask him." + +But when the time came, and he sat in the box with Laverick and Zoe, +he forgot everything else in the joy of watching the woman whom he +had loved so long. She moved about the stage that night as though +her feet indeed fell upon the air. She appeared to be singing +always with restraint, yet with some new power in her voice, a +quality which even in her simpler notes left the great audience +thrilled. Already there was a rumor that it was her last appearance. +Her marriage to Bellamy had been that day announced in the Morning +Post. When, in the last act, she sang alone on the stage the famous +love song, it seemed to them all that although her voice trembled +more than once, it was a new thing to which they listened. Zoe +found herself clasping Laverick's hand in tremulous excitement. +Bellamy sat like a statue, a little back in the box, his clean-cut +face thrown into powerful relief by the shadows beyond. Yet, as +he listened, his eyes, too, were marvelously soft. The song grew +and grew till, with the last notes, the whole story of an exquisite +and expectant passion seemed trembling in her voice. The last note +came from her lips almost as though unwillingly, and was prolonged +for an extraordinary period. When it died away, its passing seemed +something almost unrealizable. It quivered away into a silence +which lasted for many seconds before the gathering roar of applause +swept the house. And in those last few seconds she had turned and +faced Bellamy. Their eyes met, and the light which flashed from +his seemed answered by the quivering of her throat. It was her +good-bye. She was singing a new love-song, singing her way into +the life of the man whom she loved, singing her way into love +itself. Once more the great house, packed to the ceiling, was worked +up to a state of frenzied excitement. Bellamy was recognized, and +the significance of her song sent a wave of sentiment through the +house whose only possible form of expression took to itself shape in +the frantic greetings which called her to the front again and again. +But the three in the box were silent. Bellamy stood back in the +shadows. Laverick and Zoe seemed suddenly to become immersed in +themselves. Bellamy threw open the door of the box and pointed +outside. + +"At Luigi's in half-an-hour," said he softly. "You will excuse me +for a few minutes? I am going to Louise." + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HAVOC *** + +***** This file should be named 2287.txt or 2287.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/8/2287/ + +Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. HTML +version by Al Haines. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions 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-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.net/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.net + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/2287.zip b/old/2287.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..39515b3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2287.zip diff --git a/old/havoc10.txt b/old/havoc10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0f1ef9f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/havoc10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11531 @@ +*The Project Gutenberg Etext of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim* +#9 in our series by J. Walker McSpadden + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +Havoc + +by E. Philips Oppenheim + +August, 2000 [Etext #2287] + + +*The Project Gutenberg Etext of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim* +*****This file should be named havoc10.txt or havoc10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, havoc11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, havoc10a.txt + + +This Etext prepared by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. + + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any +of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. To be sure you have an +up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes +in the first week of the next month. Since our ftp program has +a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a +look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a +new copy has at least one byte more or less. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-six text +files per month, or 432 more Etexts in 1999 for a total of 2000+ +If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the +total should reach over 200 billion Etexts given away this year. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only ~5% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding; currently our funding is mostly +from Michael Hart's salary at Carnegie-Mellon University, and an +assortment of sporadic gifts; this salary is only good for a few +more years, so we are looking for something to replace it, as we +don't want Project Gutenberg to be so dependent on one person. + +We need your donations more than ever! + + +All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/CMU": and are +tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. (CMU = Carnegie- +Mellon University). + +For these and other matters, please mail to: + +Project Gutenberg +P. O. Box 2782 +Champaign, IL 61825 + +When all other email fails. . .try our Executive Director: +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +We would prefer to send you this information by email. + +****** + +To access Project Gutenberg etexts, use any Web browser +to view http://promo.net/pg. This site lists Etexts by +author and by title, and includes information about how +to get involved with Project Gutenberg. You could also +download our past Newsletters, or subscribe here. This +is one of our major sites, please email hart@pobox.com, +for a more complete list of our various sites. + +To go directly to the etext collections, use FTP or any +Web browser to visit a Project Gutenberg mirror (mirror +sites are available on 7 continents; mirrors are listed +at http://promo.net/pg). + +Mac users, do NOT point and click, typing works better. + +Example FTP session: + +ftp sunsite.unc.edu +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + +*** + +**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor** + +(Three Pages) + + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG- +tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor +Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at +Carnegie-Mellon University (the "Project"). Among other +things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this +etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors, +officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost +and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or +indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause: +[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification, +or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word pro- + cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the + net profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This Etext prepared by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. + + + + + +Havoc + +by E. Philips Oppenheim + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + +I CROWNED HEADS MEET + +II ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP" + +III "OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP" + +IV THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA + +V "VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET" + +VI VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED + +VII "WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES + +VIII THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE + +IX ROBBING THE DEAD + +X BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED + +XI VON BEHRLING'S FATE + +XII BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL + +XIII STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE + +XIV ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE + +XV LAVERICK'S PARTNER FLEES + +XVI THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST + +XVII THE PRICE OF SILENCE + +XVIII THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL + +XIX MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES + +XX LAVERICK IS CROSS EXAMINED + +XXI MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT + +XXII ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES + +XXIII LAVERICK AT THE OPERA + +XXIV A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S + +XXV JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE + +XXVI THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED + +XXVII PENETRATING A MYSTERY + +XXVIII LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE + +XXIX LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED + +XXX THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS + +XXXI MISS LENEVEU'S MESSAGE + +XXXII MORRISON Is DESPERATE + +XXXIII LAVERICK'S ARREST + +XXXIV MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE + +XXXV BELLAMY'S SUCCESS + +XXXVI LAVERICK ACQUITTED + +XXXVII THE PLOT TEAT FAILED + +XXXVIII A FAREWELL APPEARANCE + + + + + + +HAVOC + + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +CROWNED HEADS MEET + + +Bellamy, King's Spy, and Dorward, journalist, known to fame in every +English-speaking country, stood before the double window of their +spacious sitting-room, looking down upon the thoroughfare beneath. +Both men were laboring under a bitter sense of failure. Bellamy's +face was dark with forebodings; Dorward was irritated and nervous. +Failure was a new thing to him - a thing which those behind the +great journals which he represented understood less, even, than he. +Bellamy loved his country, and fear was gnawing at his heart. + +Below, the crowds which had been waiting patiently for many hours +broke into a tumult of welcoming voices. Down their thickly-packed +lines the volume of sound arose and grew, a faint murmur at first, +swelling and growing to a thunderous roar. Myriads of hats were +suddenly torn from the heads of the excited multitude, handkerchiefs +waved from every window. It was a wonderful greeting, this. + +"The Czar on his way to the railway station," Bellamy remarked. + +The broad avenue was suddenly thronged with a mass of soldiery - +guardsmen of the most famous of Austrian regiments, brilliant in +their white uniforms, their flashing helmets. The small brougham +with its great black horses was almost hidden within a ring of +naked steel. Dorward, an American to the backbone and a bitter +democrat, thrust out his under-lip. + +"The Anointed of the Lord!" he muttered. + +Far away from some other quarter came the same roar of voices, +muffled yet insistent, charged with that faint, exciting timbre +which seems always to live in the cry of the multitude. + +"The Emperor," declared Bellamy. "He goes to the West station." + +The commotion had passed. The crowds in the street below were on +the move, melting away now with a muffled trampling of feet and a +murmur of voices. The two men turned from their window back into +the room. Dorward commenced to roll a cigarette with yellow-stained, +nervous fingers, while Bellamy threw himself into an easy-chair with +a gesture of depression. + +"So it is over, this long-talked-of meeting," he said, half to +himself, half to Dorward. "It is over, and Europe is left to wonder." + +"They were together for scarcely more than an hour," Dorward murmured. + +"Long enough," Bellamy answered. "That little room in the Palace, +my friend, may yet become famous." + +"If you and I could buy its secrets," Dorward remarked, finally +shaping a cigarette and lighting it, "we should be big bidders, I +think. I'd give fifty thousand dollars myself to be able to cable +even a hundred words of their conversation." + +"For the truth," Bellamy said, "the whole truth, there could be no +price sufficient. We made our effort in different directions, both +of us. With infinite pains I planted - I may tell you this now that +the thing is over - seven spies in the Palace. They have been of +as much use as rabbits. I don't believe that a single one of them +got any further than the kitchens." + +Dorward nodded gloomily. + +"I guess they weren't taking any chances up there," he remarked. +"There wasn't a secretary in the room. Carstairs was nearly thrown +out, and he had a permit to enter the Palace. The great staircase +was held with soldiers, and Dick swore that there were Maxims in the +corridors." + +Bellamy sighed. + +"We shall hear the roar of bigger guns before we are many months +older, Dorward," he declared. + +The journalist glanced at his friend keenly. "You believe that?" + +Bellamy shrugged his shoulders. + +"Do you suppose that this meeting is for nothing?" he asked. "When +Austria, Germany and Russia stand whispering in a corner, can't you +believe it is across the North Sea that they point? Things have +been shaping that way for years, and the time is almost ripe." + +"You English are too nervous to live, nowadays," Dorward declared +impatiently. "I'd just like to know what they said about America." + +Bellamy smiled with faint but delicate irony. + +"Without a doubt, the Prince will tell you," he said. "He can +scarcely do more to show his regard for your country. He is giving +you a special interview - you alone out of about two hundred +journalists. Very likely he will give you an exact account of +everything that transpired. first of all, he will assure you that +this meeting has been brought about in the interests of peace. He +will tell you that the welfare of your dear country is foremost in +the thoughts of his master. He will assure you - " + +"Say, you're jealous, my friend," Dorward interrupted calmly. "I +wonder what you'd give me for my ten minutes alone with the +Chancellor, eh?" + +"If he told me the truth," Bellamy asserted, "I'd give my life for +it. For the sort of stuff you're going to hear, I'd give nothing. +Can't you realize that for yourself, Dorward? You know the man - +false as Hell but with the tongue of a serpent. He will grasp your +hand; he will declare himself glad to speak through you to the great +Anglo-Saxon races - to England and to his dear friends the Americans. +He is only too pleased to have the opportunity of expressing himself +candidly and openly. Peace is to be the watchword of the future. +The white doves have hovered over the Palace. The rulers of the +earth have met that the crash of arms may be stilled and that this +terrible unrest which broods over Europe shall finally be broken up. +They have pledged themselves hand in hand to work together for this +object, - Russia, broken and humiliated, but with an immense army +still available, whose only chance of holding her place among the +nations is another and a successful war; Austria, on fire for the +seaboard - Austria, to whom war would give the desire of her +existence; Germany, with Bismarck's last but secret words written in +letters of fire on the walls of her palaces, in the hearts of her +rulers, in the brain of her great Emperor. Colonies! Expansion! +Empire! Whose colonies, I wonder? Whose empire? Will he tell you +that, my friend Dorward?" + +The journalist shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the clock. + +"I guess he'll tell me what he chooses and I shall print it," he +answered indifferently. "It's all part of the game, of course. I +am not exactly chicken enough to expect the truth. All the same, +my message will come from the lips of the Chancellor immediately +after this wonderful meeting." + +"He makes use of you," Bellamy declared, "to throw dust into our +eyes and yours." + +"Even so," Dorward admitted, "I don't care so long as I get the +copy. It's good-bye, I suppose?" + +Bellamy nodded. + +"I shall go on to Berlin, perhaps, to-morrow," he said. "I can do +no more good here. And you?" + +"After I've sent my cable I'm off to Belgrade for a week, at any +rate," Dorward answered. "I hear the women are forming rifle +clubs all through Servia." + +Bellamy smiled thoughtfully. + +"I know one who'll want a place among the leaders," he murmured. + +"Mademoiselle Idiale, I suppose?" + +Bellamy assented. + +"It's a queer position hers, if you like," he said. "All Vienna +raves about her. They throng the Opera House every night to hear +her sing, and they pay her the biggest salary which has ever been +known here. Three parts of it she sends to Belgrade to the Chief +of the Committee for National Defence. The jewels that are sent her +anonymously go to the same place, all to buy arms to fight these +people who worship her. I tell you, Dorward," he added, rising to +his feet and walking to the window, "the patriotism of these people +is something we colder races scarcely understand. Perhaps it is +because we have never dwelt under the shadow of a conqueror. If +ever Austria is given a free hand, it will be no mere war upon which +she enters, - it will be a carnage, an extermination!" + +Dorward looked once more at the clock and rose slowly to his feet. + +"Well," he said, "I mustn't keep His Excellency waiting. Good-bye, +and cheer up, Bellamy! Your old country isn't going to turn up +her heels yet." + +Out he went - long, lank, uncouth, with yellow-stained fingers and +hatchet-shaped, gray face - a strange figure but yet a power. +Bellamy remained. For a while he seemed doubtful how to pass the +time. He stood in front of the window, watching the dispersal of +the crowds and the marching by of a regiment of soldiers, whose +movements he followed with critical interest, for he, too, had been +in the service. He had still a military bearing, - tall, and with +complexion inclined to be dusky, a small black moustache, dark eyes, +a silent mouth, - a man of many reserves. Even his intimates knew +little of him. Nevertheless, his was the reticence which befitted +well his profession. + +After a time he sat down and wrote some letters. He had just +finished when there came a sharp tap at the door. Before he could +open his lips some one had entered. He heard the soft swirl of +draperies and turned sharply round, then sprang to his feet and +held out both his hands. There was expression in his face now - as +much as he ever suffered to appear there. + +"Louise!" he exclaimed. "What good fortune!" + +She held his fingers for a moment in a manner which betokened a +more than common intimacy. Then she threw herself into an +easy-chair and raised her thick veil. Bellamy looked at her for a +moment in sorrowful silence. There were violet lines underneath +her beautiful eyes, her cheeks were destitute of any color. There +was an abandonment of grief about her attitude which moved him. +She sat as one broken-spirited, in whom the power of resistance was +dead. + +"It is over, then," she said softly, "this meeting. The word has +been spoken." + +He came and stood by her side. + +"As yet," he reminded her, "we do not know what that word may be." + +She shook her head mournfully. + +"Who can doubt?" she exclaimed. "For myself, I feel it in the air! +I can see it in the faces of the people who throng the city! I can +hear it in the peals of those awful bells! You know nothing? You +have heard nothing?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"I did all that was humanly possible," he said, dropping his voice. +"An Englishman in Vienna to-day has very little opportunity. I +filled the Palace with spies, but they hadn't a dog's chance. There +wasn't even a secretary present. The Czar, the two Emperors and the +Chancellor, - not another soul was in the room." + +"If only Von Behrling had been taken!" she exclaimed. "He was there +in reserve, I know, as stenographer. I have but to lift my hand +and it is enough. I would have had the truth from him, whatever it +cost me." + +Bellamy looked at her thoughtfully. It was not for nothing that +the Press of every European nation had called her the most beautiful +woman in the world. He frowned slightly at her last words, for he +loved her. + +"Von Behrling was not even allowed to cross the threshold," he said +sharply. + +She moved her head and looked up at him. She was leaning a little +forward now, her chin resting upon her hands. Something about the +lines of her long, supple body suggested to him the savage animal +crouching for a spring. She was quiet, but her bosom was heaving, +and he could guess at the passion within. With purpose he spoke to +set it loose. + +"You sing to-night?" he asked. + +"Before God, no!" she answered, the anger blazing out of her eyes, +shaking in her voice. "I sing no more in this accursed city!" + +"There will be a revolution," Bellamy remarked. "I see that the +whole city is placarded with notices. It is to be a gala night at +the Opera. The royal party is to be present." + +Her body seemed to quiver like a tree shaken by the wind. + +"What do I care - I - I - for their gala night! If I were like +Samson, if I could pull down the pillars of their Opera House and +bury them all in its ruins, I would do it!" + +He took her hand and smoothed it in his. + +"Dear Louise, it is useless, this. You do everything that can be +done for your country." + +Her eyes were streaming and her fingers sought his. + +"My friend David," she said, "you do not understand. None of you +English yet can understand what it is to crouch in the shadow of +this black fear, to feel a tyrant's hand come creeping out, to know +that your life-blood and the life-blood of all your people must be +shed, and shed in vain. To rob a nation of their liberty, ah! it +is worse, this, than murder, - a worse crime than his who stains +the soul of a poor innocent girl! It is a sin against nature +herself!" + +She was sobbing now, and she clutched his hands passionately. + +"Forgive me," she murmured, "I am overwrought. I have borne up +against this thing so long. I can do no more good here. I come +to tell you that I go away till the time comes. I go to your +London. They want me to sing for them there. I shall do it." + +"You will break your engagement?" + +She laughed at him scornfully. + +"I am Idiale," she declared. "I keep no engagement if I do not +choose. I will sing no more to this people whom I hate. My friend +David, I have suffered enough. Their applause I loathe - their +covetous eyes as they watch me move about the stage - oh, I could +strike them all dead! They come to me, these young Austrian +noblemen, as though I were already one of a conquered race. I keep +their diamonds but I destroy their messages. Their jewels go to +my chorus girls or to arm my people. But no one of them has had a +kind word from me save where there has been something to be gained. +Even Von Behrling I have fooled with promises. No Austrian shall +ever touch my lips - I have sworn it!" + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Yes," he assented, "they call you cold here in the capital! Even +in the Palace - " + +She held out her hand. + +"It is finished!" she declared. "I sing no more. I have sent word +to the Opera House. I came here to be in hiding for a while. They +will search for me everywhere. To-night or to-morrow I leave for +England." + +Bellamy stood thoughtfully silent. + +"I am not sure that you are wise," he said. "You take it too much +for granted that the end has come." + +"And do you not yourself believe it?" she demanded. He hesitated. + +"As yet there is no proof," he reminded her. + +"Proof!" + +She sat upright in her chair. Her hands thrust him from her, her +bosom heaved, a spot of color flared in her cheeks. + +"Proof!" she cried. "What do you suppose, then, that these wolves +have plotted for? What else do you suppose could be Austria's share +of the feast? Couldn't you hear our fate in the thunder of their +voices when that miserable monarch rode back to his captivity? We +are doomed - betrayed! You remember the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, +a blood-stained page of history for all time. The world would tell +you that we have outlived the age of such barbarous doings. It is +not true. My friend David, it is not true. It is a more terrible +thing, this which is coming. Body and soul we are to perish." + +He came over to her side once more and laid his hand soothingly on +hers. It was heart-rending to witness the agony of the woman he +loved. + +"Dear Louise," he said, "after all, this is profitless. There may +yet be compromises." + +She suffered her hand to remain in his, but the bitterness did not +pass out of her face or tone. + +"Compromises!" she repeated. "Do you believe, then, that we are +like those ancient races who felt the presence of a conqueror +because their hosts were scattered in battle, and who suffered +themselves passively to be led into captivity? My country can be +conquered in one way, and one way only, - not until her sons, ay, +and her daughters too, have perished, can these people rule. They +will come to an empty and a stricken country - a country red with +blood, desolate, with blackened houses and empty cities. The +horror of it! Think, my friend David, the horror of it!" + +Bellamy threw his head back with a sudden gesture of impatience. + +"You take too much for granted," he declared. "England, at any +rate, is not yet a conquered race. And there is France - Italy, +too, if she is wise, will never suffer this thing from her ancient +enemy." + +"It is the might of the world which threatens," she murmured. +"Your country may defend herself, but here she is powerless. +Already it has been proved. Last year you declared yourself our +friend - you and even Russia. Of what avail was it? Word came +from Berlin and you were powerless." + +Then tragedy broke into the room, tragedy in the shape of a man +demented. For fifteen years Bellamy had known Arthur Dorward, but +this man was surely a stranger! He was hatless, dishevelled, wild. +A dull streak of color had mounted almost to his forehead, his eyes +were on fire. + +"Bellamy!" he cried. "Bellamy!" + +Words failed him suddenly. He leaned against the table, breathless, +panting heavily. + +"For God's sake, man," Bellamy began, - + +"Alone!" Dorward interrupted. "I must see you alone! I have news!" + +Mademoiselle Idiale rose. She touched Bellamy on the shoulder. + +"You will come to me, or telephone," she whispered. "So?" + +Bellamy opened the door and she passed out, with a farewell pressure +of his fingers. Then he closed it firmly and came back. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ARTHUR DORWARD'S "SCOOP" + + +"What's wrong, old man?" Bellamy asked quickly. + +Dorward from a side table had seized the bottle of whiskey and a +siphon, and was mixing himself a drink with trembling fingers. He +tossed it off before he spoke a word. Then he turned around and +faced his companion. "Bellamy," he ordered, "lock the door." + +Bellamy obeyed. He had no doubt now but that Dorward had lost his +head in the Chancellor's presence - had made some absurd attempt to +gain the knowledge which they both craved, and had failed. + +"Bellamy," Dorward exclaimed, speaking hoarsely and still a little +out of breath, "I guess I've had the biggest slice of luck that was +ever dealt out to a human being. If only I can get safe out of +this city, I tell you I've got the greatest scoop that living man +ever handled." + +"You don't mean that - " + +Dorward wiped his forehead and interrupted. + +"It's the most amazing thing that ever happened," he declared, "but +I've got it here in my pocket, got it in black and white, in the +Chancellor's own handwriting." + +"Got what?" + +"Why, what you and I, an hour ago, would have given a million for," +Dorward replied. + +Bellamy's expression was one of blank but wondering incredulity. + +"You can't mean this, Dorward!" he exclaimed. "You may have +something - just what the Chancellor wants you to print. You're +not supposing for an instant that you've got the whole truth?" + +Dorward's smile was the smile of certainty, his face that of a +conqueror. + +"Here in my pocket," he declared, striking his chest, "in the +Chancellor's own handwriting. I tell you I've got the original +verbatim copy of everything that passed and was resolved upon this +afternoon between the Czar of Russia, the Emperor of Austria and +the Emperor of Germany. I've got it word for word as the Chancellor +took it down. I've got their decision. I've got their several +undertakings." + +Bellamy for a moment was stricken dumb. He looked toward the door +and back into his friend's face aglow with triumph. Then his power +of speech returned. + +"Do you mean to say that you stole it?" + +Dorward struck the table with his fist. + +"Not I! I tell you that the Chancellor gave it to me, gave it to +me with his own hands, willingly, - pressed it upon me. No, don't +scoff!" he went on quickly. "Listen! This is a genuine thing. +The Chancellor's mad. He was lying in a fit when I left the Palace. +It will be in all the evening papers. You will hear the boys +shouting it in the streets within a few minutes. Don't interrupt +and I'll tell you the whole truth. You can believe me or not, as +you like. It makes no odds. I arrived punctually and was shown up +into the anteroom. Even from there I could hear loud voices in the +inner chamber and I knew that something was up. Presently a little +fellow came out to me - a dark-bearded chap with gold-rimmed glasses. +He was very polite, introduced himself as the Chancellor's physician, +regretted exceedingly that the Chancellor was unwell and could see +no one, - the excitement and hard work of the last few days had +knocked him out. Well, I stood there arguing as pleasantly as I +could about it, and then all of a sudden the door of the inner room +was thrown open. The Chancellor himself stood on the threshold. +There was no doubt about his being ill; his face was as pale as +parchment, his eyes were simply wild, and his hair was all ruffled +as though he had been standing upon his head. He began to talk to +the physician in German. I didn't understand him until he began to +swear, - then it was wonderful! In the end he brushed them all +away and, taking me by the arm, led me right into the inner room. +For a long time he went on jabbering away half to himself, and I +was wondering how on earth to bring the conversation round to the +things I wanted to know about. Then, all of a sudden, he turned to +me and seemed to remember who I was and what I wanted. 'Ah!' he +said, 'you are Dorward, the American journalist. I remember you now. +Lock the door.' I obeyed him pretty quick, for I had noticed they +were mighty uneasy outside, and I was afraid they'd be disturbing +us every moment. 'Come and sit down,' he ordered. I did so at +once. 'You're a sensible fellow,' he declared. 'To-day every one +is worrying me. They think that I am not well. It is foolish. I +am quite well. Who would not be well on such a day as this?' I +told him that I had never seen him looking better in my life, and +he nodded and seemed pleased. 'You have come to hear the truth +about the meeting of my master with the Czar and the Emperor of +Germany?' he asked. 'That's so,' I told him. 'America 's more +than a little interested in these things, and I want to know what +to tell her.' Then he leaned across the table. 'My young friend,' +he said, 'I like you. You are straightforward. You speak plainly +and you do not worry me. It is good. You shall tell your country +what it is that we have planned, what the things are that are +coming. Yours is a great and wise country. When they know the +truth, they will remember that Europe is a long way off and that +the things which happen there are really no concern of theirs.' +'You are right,' I assured him, - 'dead right. Treat us openly, +that's all we ask.' 'Shall I not do that, my young friend?' he +answered. 'Now look, I give you this.' He fumbled through all his +pockets and at last he drew out a long envelope, sealed at both ends +with black sealing wax on which was printed a coat of arms with two +tigers facing each other. He looked toward the door cautiously, and +there was just that gleam in his eyes which madmen always have. +'Here it is,' he whispered, 'written with my own hand. This will +tell you exactly what passed this afternoon. It will tell you our +plans. It will tell you of the share which my master and the other +two are taking. Button it up safely,' he said, 'and, whatever you +do, do not let them know outside that you have got it. Between +you and me,' he went on, leaning across the table, 'something seems +to have happened to them all to-day. There's my old doctor there. +He is worrying all the time, but he himself is not well. I can see +it whenever he comes near me.' I nodded as though I understood and +the Chancellor tapped his forehead and grinned. Then I got up as +casually as I could, for I was terribly afraid that he wouldn't let +me go. We shook hands, and I tell you his fingers were like pieces +of burning coal. Just as I was moving, some one knocked at the +door. Then he began to storm again, kicked his chair over, threw a +paperweight at the window, and talked such nonsense that I couldn't +follow him. I unlocked the door myself and found the doctor there. +I contrived to look as frightened as possible. 'His Highness is not +well enough to talk to me,' I whispered. 'You had better look after +him.' I heard a shout behind and a heavy fall. Then I closed the +door and slipped away as quietly as I could - and here I am." + +Bellamy drew a long breath. + +"My God, but this is wonderful!" he muttered. "How long is it +since you left the Palace?" + +"About ten minutes or a quarter of an hour," Dorward answered. + +"They'll find it out at once," declared the other. "They'll miss +the paper. Perhaps he'll tell them himself that he has given it to +you. Don't let us run any risks, Dorward. Tear it open. Let us +know the truth, at any rate. If you have to part with the document, +we can remember its contents. Out with it, man, quick!. They may +be here at any moment." + +Dorward drew a few steps back. Then he shook his head. + +"I guess not," he said firmly. + +Bellamy regarded his friend in blank and uncomprehending amazement. + +"What do you mean?" he exclaimed. "You're not going to keep it to +yourself? You know what it means to me - to England?" + +"Your old country can look after herself pretty well," Dorward +declared. "Anyhow, she'll have to take her chance. I am not here +as a philanthropist. I am an American journalist, and I'll part to +nobody with the biggest thing that's ever come into any man's bands." + +Bellamy, with a tremendous effort, maintained his self-control. + +"What are you going to do with it?" he asked quickly. "I tell you +I'm off out of the country to-night," Dorward declared. "I shall +head for England. Pearce is there himself, and I tell you it will +be just the greatest day of my life when I put this packet in his +hand. We'll make New York hum, I can promise you, and Europe too." + +Bellamy's manner was perfectly quiet - too quiet to be altogether +natural. His hand was straying towards his pocket. + +"Dorward," he said, speaking rapidly, and keeping his back to the +door, "you don't realize what you're up against. This sort of thing +is new to you. You haven't a dog's chance of leaving Vienna alive +with that in your pocket. If you trust yourself in the Orient +Express to-night, you'll never be allowed to cross the frontier. +By this time they know that the packet is missing; they know, too, +that you are the only man who could have it, whether the Chancellor +has told them the truth or not. Open it at once so that we get some +good out of it. Then we'll go round to the Embassy. We can slip +out by the back way, perhaps. Remember I have spent my life in the +service, and I tell you that there's no other place in the city +where your life is worth a snap of the fingers but at your Embassy +or mine. Open the packet, man." + +"I think not," Dorward answered firmly. "I am an American citizen. +I have broken no laws and done no one any harm. If there's any +slaughtering about, I guess they'll hesitate before they begin with +Arthur Dorward. . . . Don't be a fool, man!" + +He took a quick step backward, - he was looking into the muzzle of +Bellamy's revolver. + +"Dorward," the latter exclaimed, "I can't help it! Yours is only +a personal ambition - I stand for my country. Share the knowledge +of that packet with me or I shall shoot." + +"Then shoot and be d--d to you!" Dorward declared fiercely. "This +s my show, not yours. You and your country can go to - " + +He broke off without finishing his sentence. There was a thunderous +knocking at the door. The two men looked at one another for a +moment, speechless. Then Bellamy, with a smothered oath, replaced +the revolver in his pocket. + +"You've thrown away our chance," he said bitterly. + +The knocking was repeated. When Bellamy with a shrug of the +shoulders answered the summons, three men in plain clothes entered. +They saluted Bellamy, but their eyes were traveling around the room. + +"We are seeking Herr Dorward, the American journalist!" one exclaimed. +"He was here but a moment ago." + +Bellamy pointed to the inner door. He had had too much experience +in such matters to attempt any prevarication. The three men crossed +the room quickly and Bellamy followed in the rear. He heard a cry +of disappointment from the foremost as he opened the door. The inner +room was empty! + + + + +CHAPTER III + +"OURS IS A STRANGE COURTSHIP" + + +Louise looked up eagerly as he entered. + +"There is news!" she exclaimed. "I can see it in your face." + +"Yes," Bellamy answered, "there is news! That is why I have come. +Where can we talk?" + +She rose to her feet. Before them the open French windows led on +to a smooth green lawn. She took his arm. + +"Come outside with me," she said. "I am shut up here because I +will not see the doctors whom they send, or any one from the Opera +House. An envoy from the Palace has been and I have sent him away." + +"You mean to keep your word, then?" + +"Have I ever broken it? Never again will I sing in this City. It +is so." + +Bellamy looked around. The garden of the villa was enclosed by +high gray stone walls. They were secure here, at least, from +eavesdroppers. She rested her fingers lightly upon his arm, holding +up the skirts of her loose gown with her other hand. + +"I have spoken to you," he said, "of Dorward, the American journalist." + +She nodded. + +"Of course," she assented. "You told me that the Chancellor had +promised him an interview for to-day." + +"Well, he went to the Palace and the Chancellor saw him.". + +She looked at him with upraised eyebrows. + +"The newspapers are full of lies as usual, then, I suppose. The +latest telegrams say that the Chancellor is dangerously ill." + +"It is quite true," Bellamy declared. "What I am going to tell you +is surprising, but I had it from Dorward himself. When he reached +the Palace, the Chancellor was practically insane. His doctors were +trying to persuade him to go to his room and lie down, but he heard +Dorward's voice and insisted upon seeing him. The man was mad - on +the verge of a collapse - and he handed over to Dorward his notes, +and a verbatim report of all that passed at the Palace this morning." + +She looked at him incredulously. + +"My dear David!" she exclaimed. + +"It is amazing," he admitted, "but it is the truth. I know it for +a fact. The man was absolutely beside himself, he had no idea what +he was doing." + +"Where is it?" she asked quickly. "You have seen it?" + +"Dorward would not give it up," he said bitterly. "While we argued +in our sitting-room at the hotel the police arrived. Dorward escaped +through the bedroom and down the service stairs. He spoke of trying +to catch the Orient Express to-night, but I doubt if they will ever +let him leave the city." + +"It is wonderful, this," she murmured softly. "What are you going +to do?" + +"Louise, you and I have few secrets from each other. I would have +killed Dorward to obtain that sealed envelope, because I believe +that the knowledge of its contents in London to-day would save us +from disaster. To know how far each is pledged, and from which +direction the first blow is to come, would be our salvation." + +"I cannot understand," she said, "why he should have refused to +share his knowledge with you. He is an American - it is almost the +same thing as being an Englishman. And you are friends, - I am +sure that you have helped him often." + +"It was a matter of vanity - simply cursed vanity," Bellamy answered. +"It would have been the greatest journalistic success of modern +times for him to have printed that document, word for word, in his +paper. He fights for his own hand alone." + +"And you?" she whispered. + +"He will have to reckon with me," Bellamy declared. "I know that he +is going to try and leave Vienna to-night, and if he does I shall be +at his heels." + +She nodded her head thoughtfully. + +"I, too," she announced. "I come with you, my friend. I do no +more good here, and they worry my life out all the time. I come to +sing in London at Covent Garden. I have agreements there which only +await my signature. We will go together; is it not so?" + +"Very well," he answered, "only remember that my movements must +depend very largely upon Dorward's. The train leaves at eight +o'clock, station time. I have already a coupe reserved." + +"I come with you," she murmured. "I am very weary of this city." + +They walked on for a few paces in silence. Bellamy looked around +the gardens, brilliant with flowering shrubs and rose trees, with +here and there some delicate piece of statuary half-hidden amongst +the wealth of foliage. The villa had once belonged to a royal +favorite, and the grounds had been its chief glory. They reached +a sheltered seat and sat down. A few yards away a tiny waterfall +came tumbling over the rocks into a deep pool. They were hidden +from the windows of the villa by the boughs of a drooping chestnut +tree. Bellamy stooped and kissed her upon the lips. + +"Ours is a strange courtship, Louise," he whispered softly. + +She took his hand in hers and smoothed it. She had returned his +kiss, but she drew a little further away from him. + +"Ah! my dear friend," looking at him with sorrow in her eyes, +"courtship is scarcely the word, is it? For you and me there is +nothing to hope for, nothing beyond." + +He leaned towards her. + +"Never believe that," he begged. "These days are dark enough, +Heaven knows, yet the work of every one has its goal. Even our +turn may come." + +Something flickered for a moment in her face, something which seemed +to make a different woman of her. Bellamy saw it, and hardened +though he was he felt the slow stirring of his own pulses. He +kissed her hand passionately and she shivered. + +"We must not talk of these things," she said. "We must not think +of them. At least our friendship has been wonderful. Now I must +go in. I must tell my maid and arrange to steal away to-night." + +They stood up, and he held her in his arms for a moment. Though her +lips met his freely enough, he was very conscious of the reserve +with which she yielded herself to him, conscious of it and thankful, +too. They walked up the path together, and as they went she plucked +a red rose and thrust it through his buttonhole. + +"If we had no dreams," she said softly, "life would not be possible. +Perhaps some day even we may pluck roses together." + +He raised her fingers to his lips. It was not often that they +lapsed into sentiment. When she spoke again it was finished. + +"You had better leave," she told him, "by the garden gate. There +are the usual crowd in my anteroom, and it is well that you and I +are not seen too much together." + +"Till this evening," he whispered, as he turned away. "I shall be at +the station early. If Dorward is taken, I shall still leave Vienna. +If he goes, it may be an eventful journey." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE NIGHT TRAIN FROM VIENNA + + +Dorwood, whistling softly to himself, sat in a corner of his coupe +rolling innumerable cigarettes. He was a man of unbounded courage +and wonderful resource, but with a slightly exaggerated idea as +to the sanctity of an American citizen. He had served his +apprenticeship in his own country, and his name had become a +household word owing to his brilliant success as war correspondent +in the Russo-Japanese War. His experience of European countries, +however, was limited. After the more obvious dangers with which +he had grappled and which he had overcome during his adventurous +career, he was disposed to be a little contemptuous of the subtler +perils at which his friend Bellamy had plainly hinted. He had made +his escape from the hotel without any very serious difficulty, and +since that time, although he had taken no particular precautions, +he had remained unmolested. From his own point of view, therefore, +it was perhaps only reasonable that he should no longer have any +misgiving as to his personal safety. ARREST as a thief was the +worst which he had feared. Even that he seemed now to have evaded. + +The coupe was exceedingly comfortable and, after all, he had had a +somewhat exciting day. He lit a cigarette and stretched himself +out with a murmur of immense satisfaction. He was close upon the +great triumph of his life. He was perfectly content to lie there +and look out upon the flying landscape, upon which the shadows were +now fast descending. He was safe, absolutely safe, he assured +himself. Nevertheless, when the door of his coupe was opened, he +started almost like a guilty man. The relief in his face as he +recognized his visitor was obvious. It was Bellamy who entered +and dropped into a seat by his side. + +"Wasting your time, aren't you?" the latter remarked, pointing to +the growing heap of cigarettes. + +"Well, I guess not," Dorward answered. "I can smoke this lot before +we reach London." + +Bellamy smiled enigmatically. + +"I don't think that you will," he said. + +"Why not?" + +"You are such a sanguine person," Bellamy sighed. "Personally, I +do not think that there is the slightest chance of your reaching +London at all." + +Dorward laughed scornfully. + +"And why not?" he asked. + +Bellamy merely shrugged his shoulders. Dorward seemed to find the +gesture irritating. + +"You've got espionage on the brain, my dear friend," he declared +dryly. "I suppose it's the result of your profession. I may not +know so much about Europe as you do, but I am inclined to think +that an American citizen traveling with his passport on a train +like this is moderately safe, especially when he's not above a +scrap by way of taking care of himself." + +"You're a plucky fellow," remarked Bellamy. + +"I don't see any pluck about it. In Vienna, I must admit, I +shouldn't have been surprised if they'd tried to fake up some sort +of charge against me, but anyhow they didn't. Guess they'd find +it a pretty tall order trying to interfere with an American citizen." + +Bellamy looked at his friend curiously. + +"I suppose you're not bluffing, by any chance, Dorward?" he said. +"You really believe what you say?" + +"Why in thunder shouldn't I?" Dorward asked. + +Bellamy sighed. + +"My dear Dorward," he said, "it is amazing to me that a man of your +experience should talk and behave like a baby. You've taken some +notice of your fellow-passengers, I suppose?" + +"I've seen a few of them," Dorward answered carelessly. "What about +them?" + +"Nothing much," Bellamy declared, "except that there are, to my +certain knowledge, three high officials of the Secret Police of +Austria in the next coupe but one, and at least four or five of +their subordinates somewhere on board the train." + +Dorward withdrew his cigarette from his mouth and looked at his +friend keenly. + +"I guess you're trying to scare me, Bellamy," he remarked. + +But Bellamy was suddenly grave. There had come into his face an +utterly altered expression. His tone, when he spoke, was almost +solemn. + +"Dorward," he said, "upon my honor, I assure you that what I have +told you is the truth. I cannot seem to make you realize the +seriousness of your position. When you left the Palace with that +paper in your pocket, you were, to all intents and purposes, a +doomed man. Your passport and your American citizenship count for +absolutely nothing. I have come in to warn you that if you have +any last messages to leave, you had better give them to me now." + +"This is a pretty good bluff you're putting up!" Dorward exclaimed +contemptuously. "The long and short of it is, I suppose, that you +want me to break the seal of this document and let you read it." + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"It is too late for that, Dorward," he said. "If the seal were +broken, they'd very soon guess where I came in, and it wouldn't help +the work I have in hand for me to be picked up with a bullet in my +forehead on the railway track." + +Dorward frowned uneasily. + +"What are you here for, anyway, then?" he asked. + +"Well, frankly, not to argue with you," Bellamy answered. "As a +matter of fact, you are of no use to me any longer. I am sorry, +old man. You can't say that I didn't give you good advice. I am +bound to play for my own hand, though, in this matter, and if I +get any benefit at all out of my journey, it will be after some +regrettable accident has happened to you." + +"Say, ring the bell for drinks and chuck this!" Dorward exclaimed. +"I've had about enough of it. I am not denying anything you say, +but if these fellows really are on board, they'll think twice +before they meddle with me." + +"On the contrary," Bellamy assured him, "they will not take the +trouble to think at all. Their minds are perfectly made up as to +what they are going to do. However, that's finished. I have +nothing more to say. + +Dorward gazed for a minute or two fixedly out of the window. + +"Look here, Bellamy," he said, turning abruptly round, "supposing +I change my mind, supposing I open this precious document and let +you read it over with me?" + +Bellamy rose hastily to his feet. + +"You must not think of it!" he exclaimed. "You would simply +write my death-warrant. Don't allude to that matter again. I +have risked enough in coming in here to sit with you." + +"Then, for Heaven's sake, don't stop any longer!" Dorward said +irritably. "You get on my nerves with all this foolish talk. In +an hour's time I am going to bolt my door and go to sleep. We'll +breakfast together in the morning, if you like." + +Bellamy said nothing. The steward had brought them the whiskies +and sodas which Dorward had ordered. Bellamy raised his tumbler +to his lips and set it down again. + +"Forgive me," he said, "I do not think that I am thirsty." + +Dorward drank his off at a gulp. Almost immediately he closed his +eyes. Bellamy, with a little shrug of the shoulders, left him +alone. As he passed along to his own coupe, he met Louise in the +corridor. + +"You have seen Von Behrling?" he whispered. She nodded. + +"He is in that coupe, number 7, alone," she said. "I invited him +to come in with me but he seemed embarrassed. It is his companions +who watch him all the time. He has promised to talk with me later." + +In the middle of the night, Louise opened her eyes to find Bellamy +bending over her. + +"Louise," he whispered, "it is Von Behrling who will take possession +of the packet. They have been discussing whether it will not be +safer to go on to London instead of doubling back. See Von Behrling +again. Do all you can to persuade him to come to London, - all you +can, Louise, remember." + +"So!" she whispered. "I shall put on my dressing-gown and sit in +the corridor. It is hot here." + +Bellamy glided out, closing the door softly behind him. The train +was rushing on now through the blackness of an unusually dark night. +For some time he sat in his own compartment, listening. The voices +whose muttered conversation he had overheard were silent now, but +once he fancied that he heard shuffling footsteps and a little cry. +In his heart he knew well that before morning Dorward would have +disappeared. The man within him was hard to subdue. He longed to +make his way to Dorward's side, to interfere in this terribly +unequal struggle, yet he made no movement. Dorward was a man and a +friend, but what was a life more or less? It was to a greater cause +that he was pledged. Towards three o'clock he lay down on his bed +and slept. . . . + +The train attendant brought him his coffee soon after daylight. The +man's hands were trembling. + +"Where are we?" Bellamy asked sleepily. + +"Near Munich, Monsieur," the man answered. "Monsieur noticed, +perhaps, that we stopped for some time in the night?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"I sleep soundly," he said. "I heard nothing." + +"There has been an accident," the man declared. "An American +gentleman who got in at Vienna was drinking whiskey all night and +became very drunk. In a tunnel he threw himself out upon the line." + +Bellamy shuddered a little. He had been prepared, but none the +less it was an awful thing, this. + +"You are sure that he is dead?" he asked. + +The man was very sure indeed. + +"There is a doctor from Vienna upon the train, sir," he said. "He +examined him at once, but death must have been instantaneous." + +Bellamy drew a long breath and commenced to put on his clothes. +The next move was for him. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +"VON BEHRLING HAS THE PACKET" + + +Bellamy stole along the half-lit corridors of the train until he +came to the coup6 which had been reserved for Mademoiselle Idiale. +Assured that he was not watched, he softly turned the handle of +the door and entered. Louise was sitting up in her dressing-gown, +drinking her coffee. He held up his finger and she greeted him +only with a nod. + +"Forgive me, Louise," he whispered, "I dared not knock, and I was +obliged to see you at once." + +She smiled. + +"It is of no consequence," she said. "One is always prepared here. +The porter, the ticket-man, and at the customs - they all enter. +Is anything wrong?" + +"It has happened," he answered. + +She shivered a little and her face became grave. + +"Poor fellow!" she murmured. + +"He simply sat still and asked for it," Bellamy declared, still +speaking in a cautious undertone. "He would not be warned. I could +have saved him, if any one could, but he would not hear reason." + +"He was what you call pig-headed," she remarked. + +"He has paid the penalty," Bellamy continued. "Now listen to me, +Louise. I got into that small coupe next to Von Behrling's, and I +feel sure, from what I overheard, that they will go on to London, +all three of them." + +"Who is there on the train?" she demanded. + +"Baron Streuss, who is head of the Secret Police, Von Behrling and +Adolf Kahn," Bellamy answered. "Then there are four or five Secret +Service men of the rank and file, but they are all traveling +separately. Von Behrling has the packet. The others form a sort +of cordon around him." + +"But why," she asked, "does he go on to London? Why not return to +Vienna?" + +"For one thing, " Bellamy replied, with a grim smile, "they are +afraid of me. Then you must remember that this affair of Dorward +will be talked about. They do not want to seem in any way +implicated. To return from any one of these stations down the line +would create suspicion." + +She nodded. + +"Well?" + +"I am going to leave the train at the next stop," he continued. "I +find that I shall just catch the Northern Express to Berlin. From +there I shall come on to London as quickly as I can. You know the +address of my rooms?" + +She nodded. + +"15, Fitzroy Street." + +"When I get there, let me have a line waiting to tell me where I +can see you. While I am on the train you will find Von Behrling +almost inaccessible. Directly I have gone it will be different. +Play with him carefully. He should not be difficult. To tell you +the truth, I am rather surprised that he has been trusted upon a +mission like this. He was in disgrace with the Chancellor a short +while ago, and I know that he was hurt at not being allowed to +attend the conference. The others will watch him closely, but +they cannot overhear everything that passes between you two. Von +Behrling is a poor man. You will know how to make him wish he were +rich." + +Very slowly her eyebrows rose up. She looked at him doubtfully. + +"It is a slender chance, David," she remarked. "Von Behrling is a +little wild, I know, and he pretends to be very much in love with +me, but I do not think that he would sell his country. Then, too, +see how he will be watched. I do not suppose that they will leave +us alone for a moment." + +Bellamy took her hands in his, gripping them with almost unnatural +force. + +"Louise," he declared earnestly, "you don't quite realize Von +Behrling's special weakness and your extraordinary strength. You +know that you are beautiful, I suppose, but you do not quite know +what that means. I have heard men talk about you till one would +think that they were children. You have something of that art or +guile - call it what you will - which passes from you through a +man's blood to his brain, and carries him indeed to Heaven - but +carries him there mad. Louise, don't be angry with me for what I +say. Remember that I know my sex. I know you, too, and I trust +you, but you can turn Von Behrling from a sane, honorable man into +what you will, without suffering even his lips to touch your +fingers. Von Behrling has that packet in his possession. When I +come to see you in London, I will bring you twenty thousand pounds +in Bank of England notes. With that Von Behrling might fancy +himself on his way to America - with you." + +She closed her eyes for a moment. Perhaps she wished to keep hidden +from him the thoughts which chased one another through her brain. +He wished to make use of her - of her, the woman whom he loved. +Then she remembered that it was for her country and his, and the +anger passed. + +"But I am afraid," she said softly, "that the moment they reach +London this document will be taken to the Austrian Embassy." + +"Before then," Bellamy declared, "Von Behrling must not know whether +he is in heaven or upon earth. It will not be opened in London. +He can make up another packet to resemble precisely the one of which +he robbed Dorward. Oh! it is a difficult game, I know, but it is +worth playing. Remember, Louise, that we are not petty conspirators. +It is your country's very existence that is threatened. It is for +her sake as well as for England." + +"I shall do my best," she murmured, looking into his face. "Oh, +you may be sure that I shall do my best!" + +Bellamy raised her fingers to his lips and stole away. The electric +lamps had been turned out, but the morning was cloudy and the light +dim. Back in his own berth, he put his things together, ready to +leave at Munich. Then he rang for the porter. + +"I am getting out at the next stop," he announced. + +"Very good, Monsieur," the man answered. + +Bellamy looked at him closely. + +"You are a Frenchman?" + +"It is so, Monsieur!" + +"I may be wrong," Bellamy continued slowly, "but I believe that if +I asked you a question and it concerned some Germans and Austrians +you would tell me the truth." + +The man's gesture was inimitable. Englishmen to him were obviously +the salt of the earth. Germans and Austrians - why, they existed +as the cattle in the fields - nothing more. Bellamy gave him a +sovereign. + +"There were three Austrians who got in at Vienna," he said. "They +are in numbers ten and eleven." + +"But yes, Monsieur!" the man assented. "As yet I think they are +fast asleep. Not one of them has rung for his coffee." + +"Where are they booked for?" + +"For London, Monsieur." + +"You do not happen," Bellamy continued, "to have heard them say +anything about leaving the train before then?" + +"On the contrary, sir," the porter answered, "two of the gentlemen +have been inquiring about the boat across to Dover. They were very +anxious to travel by a turbine." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Thank you very much. You will be so discreet as to forget that I +have asked you any questions concerning them. As for me, if one +would know, I am on my way to Berlin." + +The bell rang. The man looked outside and put his head once more +in Bellamy's coupe. + +"It is one of the gentleman who has rung," he declared. "If +anything is said about leaving the train, I shall report it at once +to Monsieur." + +"You will do well," Bellamy answered. + +The porter returned in a few moments. + +"Two of the gentlemen, sir," he announced, "are undressed and in +their pyjamas. They have ordered their breakfast to be served after +we leave Munich." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Further, sir," the man continued, coming a little closer, "one of +them asked me whether the English gentleman - meaning you - was +going through to London or not. I told them that you were getting +out at the next station and that I thought you were going to Berlin." + +"Quite right," Bellamy said. "If they ask any more questions, let +me know." + +Mademoiselle Idiale, with the aid of one of the two maids who were +traveling with her, was able to make a sufficiently effective +toilette. At a few minutes before the time for luncheon, she walked +down the corridor and recognized Von Behrling, who was sitting with +his companions in one of the compartments. + +"Ah, it is indeed you, then!" she exclaimed, smiling at him. + +He rose to his feet and came out. Tall, with a fair moustache and +blue eyes, he was often taken for an Englishman and was inclined to +be proud of the fact. + +"You have rested well, I trust, Mademoiselle?" he asked, bowing low +over her fingers. + +"Excellently," replied Louise. "Will you not take me in to luncheon? +The car is full of men and I am not comfortable alone. It is not +pleasant, either, to eat with one's maids." + +"I am honored," he declared. "Will you permit me for one moment?" + +He turned and spoke to his companions. Louise saw at once that they +were protesting vigorously. She saw, too, that Von Behrling only +became more obstinate and that he was very nearly angry. She moved +a few steps on down the corridor, and stood looking out of the +window. He joined her almost immediately. + +"Come," he said, "they will be serving luncheon in five minutes. +We will go and take a good place." + +"Your friends, I am afraid," she remarked, "did not like your +leaving them. They are not very gallant." + +"To me it is indifferent," he answered, fiercely twirling his +moustache. "Streuss there is an old fool. He has always some +fancy in his brain." + +Louise raised her eyebrows slightly. + +"You are your own master, I suppose," she said. "The Baron is +used to command his policemen, and sometimes he forgets. There are +many people who find him too autocratic." + +"He means well," Von Behrling asserted. "It is his manner only +which is against him." + +They found a comfortable table, and she sat smiling at him across +the white cloth. + +"If this is not Sachers," she said, "it is at least more pleasant +than lunching alone." + +"I can assure you, Mademoiselle," he declared, with a vigorous +twirl of his moustache, "that I find it so." + +"Always gallant," she murmured. "Tell me, is it true of you - the +news which I heard just before I left Vienna? Have you really +resigned your post with the Chancellor?" + +"You heard that?" he asked slowly. + +She hesitated for a moment. + +"I heard something of the sort," she admitted. "To be quite candid +with you, I think it was reported that the Chancellor was making a +change on his own account." + +"So that is what they say, is it? What do they know about it - these +gossipers?" + +"You were not allowed at the conference yesterday," she remarked. + +"No one was allowed there, so that goes for nothing." + +"Ah! well," she said, looking meditatively out upon the landscape, +"a year ago the thought of that conference would have driven me +wild. I should not have been content until I had learned somehow +or other what had transpired. Lately, I am afraid, my interest in +my country seems to have grown a trifle cold. Perhaps because I +have lived in Vienna I have learned to look at things from your +point of view. Then, too, the world is a selfish place, and our own +little careers are, after all, the most important part of it." + +Von Behrling eyed her Curiously. + +"It seems strange to hear you talk like this," he remarked. + +She looked out of the window for a moment. + +"Oh! I still love my country, in a way," she answered, "and I still +hate all Austrians, in a way, but it is not as it used to be with +me, I must admit. If we had two lives, I would give one to my +country and keep one for myself. Since we have only one, I am +afraid, after all, that I am human, and I want to taste some of its +pleasures." + +"Some of its pleasures," Von Behrling repeated, a little gloomily. +"Ah, that is easy enough for you, Mademoiselle!" + +"Not so easy as it may appear," she answered. "One needs many +things to get the best out of life. One needs wealth and one needs +love, and one needs them while one is young, while one can enjoy." + +"It is true," Von Behrling admitted, - "quite true." + +"If one is not careful," she continued, "one lets the years slip by. +They can never come again. If one does not live while one is young, +there is no other chance." + +Von Behrling assented with renewed gloom. He was twenty-five years +old, and his income barely paid for his uniforms. Of late, this +fact had materially interfered with his enjoyments. + +"It is strange," he said, "that you should talk like this. You have +the world at your feet, Mademoiselle. You have only to throw the +handkerchief." + +Her lips parted in a dazzling smile. The bluest eyes in the world +grew softer as they looked into his. Von Behrling felt his cheeks +burn. + +"My friend, it is not so easy," she murmured. "Tell me," she +continued, "why it is that you have so little self-confidence. Is +it because you are poor?" + +"I am a beggar," - bitterly. + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Well," she said, glancing down the menu which the waiter had brought, +"if you are poor and content to remain so, one must presume that you +have compensations." + +"But I have none!" he declared. "You should know that - you, +Mademoiselle. Life for me means one thing and one thing only!" + +She looked at him, for a moment, and down upon the tablecloth. Von +Behrling shook like a man in the throes of some great passion. + +"We talk too intimately," she whispered, as the people began to file +in to take their places. "After luncheon we will take our coffee +in my coupe. Then, if you like, we will speak of these matters. I +have a headache. Will you order me some champagne? It is a terrible +thing, I know, to drink wine in the morning, but when one travels, +what can one do? Here come your bodyguard. They look at me as +though I had stolen you away. Remember we take our coffee together +afterwards. I am bored with so much traveling, and I look to you +to amuse me." + +Von Behrling's journey was, after all, marked with sharp contrasts. +The kindness of the woman whom he adored was sufficient in itself +to have transported him into a seventh heaven. On the other hand, +he had trouble with his friends. Streuss drew him on one side at +Ostend, and talked to him plainly. + +"Von Behrling," he said, "I speak to you on behalf of Kahn and +myself. Wine and women and pleasure are good things. We two, we +love them, perhaps, as you do, but there is a place and a time for +them, and it is not now. Our mission is too serious." + +"Well, well!" Von Behrling exclaimed impatiently, "what is all this? +What do I do wrong? What have you to say against me? If I talk +with Mademoiselle Idiale, it is because it is the natural thing for +me to do. Would you have us three - you and Kahn and myself - travel +arm in arm and speak never a word to our fellow passengers? Would +you have us proclaim to all the world that we are on a secret +mission, carrying a secret document, to obtain which we have already +committed a crime? These are old-fashioned methods, Streuss. It +is better that we behave like ordinary mortals. You talk foolishly, +Streuss!" + +"It is you," the older man declared, "who play the fool, and we will +not have it! Mademoiselle Idiale is a Servian and a patriot. She +is the friend, too, of Bellamy, the Englishman. She and he were +together last night." + +"Bellamy is not even on the train," Von Behrling protested. "He +went north to Berlin. That itself is the proof that they know +nothing. If he had had the merest suspicion, do you not think that +he would have stayed with us?" + +"Bellamy is very clever," Streuss answered. "There are too many of +us to deal with, - he knew that. Mademoiselle Idiale is clever, +too. Remember that half the trouble in life has come about through +false women. + +"What is it that you want?" Von Behrling demanded. + +"That you travel the rest of the way with us, and speak no more with +Mademoiselle." + +Von Behrling drew himself up. After all, it was he who was noble; +Streuss was little more than a policeman. + +"I refuse!" he exclaimed. "Let me remind you, Streuss, that I am +in charge of this expedition. It was I who planned it. It was I" + - he dropped his voice and touched his chest - "who struck the +first blow for its success. I think that we need talk no more," he +went on. "I welcome your companionship. It makes for strength +that we travel together. But for the rest, the enterprise has been +mine, the success so far has been mine, and the termination of it +shall be mine. Watch me, if you like. Stay with me and see that +I am not robbed, if you fear that I am not able to take care of +myself, but do not ask me to behave like an idiot." + +Von Behrling stepped away quickly. The siren was already blowing +from the steamer. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +VON BEHRLING IS TEMPTED + + +The night was dark but fine, and the crossing smooth. Louise, +wrapped in furs, abandoned her private cabin directly they had left +the harbor, and had a chair placed on the upper deck. Von Behrling +found her there, but not before they were nearly half-way across. +She beckoned him to her side. Her eyes glowed at him through the +darkness. + +"You are not looking after me, my friend," she declared. "By myself +I had to find this place." + +Von Behrling was ruffled. He was also humbly apologetic. + +"It is those idiots who are with me," he said. "All the time they +worry." + +She laughed and drew him down so that she could whisper in his ear. + +"I know what it is," she said. "You have secrets which you are +taking to London, and they are afraid of me because I am a Servian. +Tell me, is it not so? Perhaps, even, they think that I am a spy." + +Von Behrling hesitated. She drew him closer towards her. + +"Sit down on the deck," she continued, "and lean against the rail. +You are too big to talk to up there. So! Now you can come +underneath my rug. Tell me, are they afraid of me, your friends?" + +"Is it without reason?" he asked. "Would not any one be afraid of +you - if, indeed, they believed that you wished to know our secrets? +I wonder if there is a man alive whom you could not turn round your +little finger." + +She laughed at him softly. + +"Ah, no!" she said. "Men are not like that, nowadays. They talk +and they talk, but it is not much they would do for a woman's sake." + +"You believe that?" he asked, in a low tone. + +"I do, indeed. One reads love-stories - no, I do not mean romances, +but memoirs - memoirs of the French and Austrian Courts - memoirs, +even, written by Englishmen. Men were different a generation ago. +Honor was dear to them then, honor and position and wealth, and yet +there were many, very many then who were willing to give all these +things for the love of a woman. + +"And do you think there are none now?" he whispered hoarsely. + +"My friend," she answered, looking down at him, "I think that there +are very few." + +She heard his breath come fast between his teeth, and she realized +his state of excitement. + +"Mademoiselle Louise," he said, "my love for you has made me a +laughing-stock in the clubs of Vienna. I - the poverty-stricken, +who have nothing but a noble name, nothing to offer you - have dared +to show others what I think, have dared to place you in my heart +above all the women on earth." + +"It is very nice of you," she murmured. "Why do you tell me this +now?" + +"Why, indeed?" he answered. "What have I to hope for?" + +She looked along the deck. Not a dozen yards away, two cigar ends +burned red through the gloom. She knew very well that those cigar +ends belonged to Streuss and his friend. She laughed softly and +once more she bent her head. + +"How they watch you, those men!" she said. "Listen, my friend +Rudolph. Supposing their fears were true, supposing I were really +a spy, supposing I offered you wealth and with it whatever else +you might claim from me, for the secret which you carry to England!" + +"How do you know that I am carrying a secret?" he asked hoarsely. + +She laughed. + +"My friend," she said, "with your two absurd companions shadowing +you all the time and glowering at me, how could one possibly doubt +it? The Baron Streuss is, I believe, the Chief of your Secret +Service Department, is he not? To me he seems the most obvious +policeman I ever saw dressed as a gentleman." + +"You don't mean it!" he muttered. "You can't mean what you said +just now!" + +She was silent for a few moments. Some one passing struck a match, +and she caught a glimpse of the white face of the man who sat by +her side - strained now and curiously intense. + +"Supposing I did!" + +"You must be mad!" he declared. "You must not talk to me like this, +Mademoiselle. I have no secret. It is your humor, I know, but it +is dangerous." + +"There is no danger," she murmured, "for we are alone. I say again, +Rudolph, supposing this were true?" + +His hand passed across his forehead. She fancied that he made a +motion as though to rise to his feet, but she laid her hand upon his. + +"Stay here," she whispered. "No, I do not wish to drive you away. +Now you are here you shall listen to me." + +"But you are not in earnest!" he faltered. "Don't tell me that you +are in earnest. It is treason. I am Rudolph Von Behrling, +Secretary to the Chancellor." + +Again she leaned towards him so that he could see into her eyes. + +"Rudolph," she said, "you are indeed Rudolph Von Behrling, you are +indeed the Chancellor's secretary. What do you gain from it? A +pittance! Many hours work a day and a pittance. What have you to +look forward to? A little official life, a stupid official position. +Rudolph, here am I, and there is the world. Do I not represent +other things?" + +"God knows you do!" he muttered. + +"I, too, am weary of singing. I want a long rest - a long rest and +a better name than my own. Don't shrink away from me. It isn't so +wonderful, after all. Bellamy, the Englishman, came to me a few +hours ago. He was Dorward's friend. He knew well what Dorward +carried. It was not his affair, he told me, and interposition from +him was hopeless, but he knew that you and I were friends." + +"You must stop!" Von Behrling declared. "You must stop! I must +not listen to this!" + +"He offered me twenty thousand pounds," she went on, "for the packet +in your pocket. Think of that, my friend. It would be a start in +life, would it not? I am an extravagant woman. Even if I would, I +dared not think of a poor man. But twenty thousand pounds is +sufficient. When I reach London, I am going to a flat which has +been waiting for me for weeks - 15, Dover Street. If you bring that +packet to me instead of taking it to the Austrian Embassy, there +will be twenty thousand pounds and - " + +Her fingers suddenly held his. She could almost hear his heart +beating. Her eyes, by now accustomed to the gloom, could see the +tumult which was passing within the man, reflected in his face. +She whispered a warning under her breath. The two cigar ends had +moved nearer. The forms of the two men were now distinct. One was +leaning over the side of the ship by Von Behrling's side. The other +stood a few feet away, gazing at the lights of Dover. Von Behrling +staggered to his feet. He said something in an angry undertone to +Streuss. Louise rose and shook out her furs. + +"My friend," she said, turning to Von Behrling, "if your friends can +spare you so long, will you fetch one of my maids? You will find +them both in my cabin, number three. I wish to walk for a few +moments before we arrive." + +Von Behrling turned away like a man in a dream. Mademoiselle Idiale +followed him slowly, and behind her came Von Behrling's companions. + + +The details of the great singer's journey had been most carefully +planned by an excited manager who had received the telegram +announcing her journey to London. There was an engaged carriage at +Dover, into which she was duly escorted by a representative of the +Opera Syndicate, who had been sent down from London to receive her. +Von Behrling seemed to be missing. She had seen nothing of him +since he had descended to summon her maids. But just as the train +was starting, she heard the sound of angry voices, and a moment +later his white face was pressed through the open window of the +carriage. + +"Louise," he muttered, "I am on fire! I cannot talk to you! I fear +that they suspect something. They have told me that if I travel +with you they will force their way in. Even now, Streuss comes. +Listen for your telephone to-night or whenever I can. I must think + - I must think!" + +He passed on, and Louise, leaning back in her seat, closed her eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +"WE PLAY FOR GREAT STAKES " + + +Bellamy, travel-stained and weary, arrived at his rooms at two +o'clock on the following afternoon to find amongst a pile of +correspondence a penciled message awaiting him in a handwriting he +knew well. He tore open the envelope. + +DAVID DEAR, - I have just arrived and I am sending you these few +lines at once. As to what progress I have made, I cannot say for +certain, but there is a chance. You had better get the money ready +and come to me here. If R. could only escape from Streuss and +those who watch him all the time, I should be quite sure, but they +are suspicious. What may happen I cannot tell. I do my best and +I have hated it. Get the money ready and come to me. + LOUISE. + + +Bellamy drew a little breath and tore the note into pieces. Then +he rang for his servant. "A bath and some clean clothes quickly," +he ordered. "While I am changing, ring up Downing Street and see +if Sir James is there. If not, find out exactly where he is. I +must see him within half an hour. Afterwards, get me a taxicab." + +The man obeyed with the swift efficiency of the thoroughly trained +servant. In rather less than the time which he had stated, Bellamy +had left his rooms. Before four o'clock he had arrived at the +address which Louise had given him. A commissionaire telephoned his +name to the first floor, and in a very few moments a pale-faced +French man-servant, in sombre black livery, descended and bowed to +Bellamy. + +"Monsieur will be so good as to come this way," he directed. + +Bellamy followed him into the lift, which stopped at the first +floor. He was ushered into a small boudoir, already smothered with +roses. + +"Mademoiselle will be here immediately," the man announced. "She is +engaged with a gentleman from the Opera, but she will leave him to +receive Monsieur." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Pray let Mademoiselle understand," he said, "that I am entirely at +her service. My time is of no consequence." + +The man bowed and withdrew. Louise came to him almost directly from +an inner chamber. She was wearing a loose gown, but the fatigue of +her journey seemed already to have passed away. Her eyes were +bright, and a faint color glowed in her cheeks. + +"David," she exclaimed, "thank Heaven that you are here!" + +She took both his hands and held them for a moment. Then she walked +to the door, made sure that it was securely fastened, and stood +there listening for a moment. + +"I suppose I am foolish," she said, coming back to him, "and yet I +cannot help fancying that I am being watched on every side since we +landed in England. I detest my new manager, and I don't trust any +of the servants he has engaged for me. You got my note?" + +"Yes," he answered, "I had your note - and I am here." + +The restraint of his manner was obvious. He was standing a little +away from her. She came suddenly up to him, her hands fell upon +his shoulders, her face was upturned to his. Even then he made no +motion to embrace her. + +"David," she whispered softly, "what I am doing - what I have done + - was at your suggestion. I do it for you, I do it for my country, +I do it against every natural feeling I possess. I hate and loathe +the lies I tell. Are you remembering that? Is it in your heart at +this moment?" + +He stooped and kissed her. + +"Forgive me," he said, "it is I who am to blame, but I am only human. +We play for great stakes, Louise, but sometimes one forgets." + +"As I live," she murmured, "the kiss you gave me last is still upon +my lips. What I have promised goes for nothing. What he has +promised is this - the papers to-night." + +"Unopened?" + +"Unopened," she repeated, softly. + +"But how is it to be done?" Bellamy asked. "He must have arrived +in London when you did last night. How is it they are not already +at the Embassy?" + +"The Ambassador was commanded to Cowes," she explained. "He cannot +be back until late to-night. No one else has a key to the treaty +safe, and Von Behrling declined to give up the document to any one +save the Ambassador himself." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"What about Streuss?" + +"Streuss and the others are all furious," Louise said. "Yet, after +all, Behrling has a certain measure of right on his side. His +orders were to see with his own eyes this envelope deposited in the +safe by the Ambassador himself." + +"He returns to-night!" Bellamy exclaimed quickly. + +She nodded. + +"Before he comes," she declared, "I think that the document will be +in your hands." + +"How is it to be done?" + +"The report is written," she explained, "on five pages of foolscap. +They are contained in a long envelope, scaled with the Chancellor's +crest. Von Behrling, being one of the family, has the same crest. +He has prepared another envelope, the same size and weight, and +signed it with his seal. It is this which he will hand over to the +Ambassador if he should return unexpectedly. The real one he has +concealed." + +"Is he here?" Bellamy inquired. + +"Thank Heavens, no!" she answered. "My dear David, what are you +thinking of? He is not here and he dare not come here. You are to +go to your rooms," she added, glancing at the clock, "and between +five and six o'clock this evening you will be rung up on the +telephone. A rendezvous will be given you for later on to-night. +You must take the money there and receive the packet. Von Behrling +will be disguised and prepared for flight." + +Bellamy's eyes glowed. + +"You believe this?" he exclaimed. + +"I believe it," she replied. "He is going to do it. After he has +seen you, he will make his way to Plymouth. I have promised - don't +look at me, David - I have promised to join him there." + +Bellamy was grave. + +"There will be trouble," he said. "He will come back. He will want +to shoot you. He may be slow-witted in some things, but he is +passionate." + +"Am I a coward?" she asked, with a scornful laugh. "Have I ever +shown fear of my life? No, David! It is not that of which I am +afraid. It is the memory of the man's touch, it is the look which +was in your face when you came into the room. These are the things +I fear - not death." + +Bellamy drew her into his arms and kissed her. + +"Forgive me," he begged. "At such times a man is a weak thing - a +weak and selfish thing. I am ashamed of myself. I should have +known better than to have doubted you for a moment. I know you so +well, Louise. I know what you are." + +She smiled. + +"Dear," she said, "you have made me happy. And now you must go away. +Remember that these few minutes are only an interlude. Over here I +am Mademoiselle Idiale who sings to-night at Covent Garden. See my +roses. There are two rooms full of reporters and photographers in +the place now. The leader of the orchestra is in my bedroom, and +two of the directors are drinking whiskies and sodas with this new +manager of mine in the dining-room. Between five and six o'clock +this afternoon you will get the message. It is somewhere, I think, +in the city that you will have to go. There will be no trouble +about the money? Nothing but notes or gold will be of any use." + +"I have it in my pocket," he answered. "I have it in notes, but he +need never fear that they will be traced. The numbers of notes +given for Secret Service purposes are expunged from every one's +memory." + +She drew a little sigh. + +"It is a great sum," she said. "After all, he should be grateful +to me. If only he would be sensible and get away to the United +States or to South America! He could live there like a prince, +poor fellow. He would be far happier." + +"I only hope that he will go," Bellamy agreed. "There is one thing +to be remembered. If he does not go, if he stays for twenty-four +hours in this country, I do not believe that he will live to do you +harm. The men who are with him are not the sort to stop short at +trifles. Besides Streuss and Kahn, they have a regular army of +spies at their bidding here. If they find out that he has tricked +them, they will hunt him down, and before long." + +Louise shivered. + +"Oh, I hope," she exclaimed, "that he gets away! He is a traitor, +of course, but he is a traitor to a hateful cause, and, after all, +I think it is less for the money than for my sake that he does it. +That sounds very conceited, I suppose," she added, with a faint +smile. "Ah! well, you see, for five years so many have been trying +to turn my head. No wonder if I begin to believe some of their +stories. David, I must go. I must not keep Dr. Henschell waiting +any longer." + +"To-morrow," he said, "to-morrow early I shall come. I am afraid +I shall miss your first appearance in England, Louise." + +The sound of a violin came floating out from the inner room. + +"That is my signal," she declared smiling. "De. Henschell was +almost beside himself that I came away. I come, Doctor," she called +out. "David, good fortune!" she added, giving him her hands. "Now +go, dear." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE + + +Between the two men, seated opposite each other in the large but +somewhat barely furnished office, the radical differences, both in +appearance and mannerisms, perhaps, also, in disposition, had never +been more strongly evident. They were partners in business and face +to face with ruin. Stephen Laverick, senior member of the firm, +although an air of steadfast gloom had settled upon his clean-cut, +powerful countenance, retained even in despair something of that +dogged composure, temperamental and wholly British, which had served +him well along the road to fortune. Arthur Morrison, the man who +sat on the other side of the table, a Jew to his finger-tips +notwithstanding his altered name, sat like a broken thing, with +tears in his terrified eyes, disordered hair, and parchment-pale +face. Words had flown from his lips in a continual stream. He +floundered in his misery, sobbed about it like a child. The hand +of misfortune had stripped him naked, and one man, at least, saw +him as he really was. + +"I can't stand it, Laverick, - I couldn't face them all. It's too +cruel - too horrible! Eighteen thousand pounds gone in one week, +forty thousand in a month! Forty thousand pounds! Oh, my God!" + +He writhed in agony. The man on the other side of the table said +nothing. + +"If we could only have held on a little longer! 'Unions' must turn! +They will turn! Laverick, have you tried all your friends? Think! +Have you tried them all? Twenty thousand pounds would see us through +it. We should get our own money back - I am sure of it. There's +Rendell, Laverick. He'd do anything for you. You're always shooting +or playing cricket with him. Have you asked him, Laverick? He'd +never miss the money." + +"You and I see things differently, Morrison," Laverick answered. +"Nothing would induce me to borrow money from a friend." + +"But at a time like this," Morrison pleaded passionately. "Every +one does it sometimes. He'd be glad to help you. I know he would. +Have you ever thought what it will be like, Laverick, to be +hammered?" + +"I have," Laverick admitted wearily. "God knows it seems as +terrible a thing to me as it can to you! But if we go down, we +must go down with clean hands. I've no faith in your infernal +market, and not one penny will I borrow from a friend." + +The Jew's face was almost piteous. He stretched himself across the +table. There were genuine tears in his eyes. + +"Laverick," he said, "old man, you're wrong. I know you think I've +been led away. I've taken you out of our depth, but the only +trouble has been that we haven't had enough capital, and no backing. +Those who stand up will win. They will make money." + +"Unfortunately," Laverick remarked, "we cannot stand up. Please +understand that I will not discuss this matter with you in any way. +I will not borrow money from Rendell or any friend. I have asked +the bank and I have asked Pages, who will be our largest creditors. +To help us would simply be a business proposition, so far as they +are concerned. As you know, they have refused. If you see any hope +in that direction, why don't you try some of your own friends? For +every one man I know in the House, you have seemed to be bosom +friends with at least twenty." + +Morrison groaned. + +"Those I know are not that sort of friend," he answered. "They will +drink with you and spend a night out or a week-end at Brighton, but +they do not lend money. If they would, do you think I would mind +asking? Why, I would go on my knees to any man who would lend us +the money. I would even kiss his feet. I cannot bear it, Laverick! +I cannot! I cannot!" + +Laverick said nothing. Words were useless things, wasted upon such +a creature. He eyed his partner with a contempt which he took no +pains to conceal. This, then, was the smart young fellow recommended +to him on all sides, a few years ago, as one of the shrewdest young +men in his own particular department, a person bound to succeed, a +money-maker if ever there was one! Laverick thought of him as he +appeared at the office day by day, glossy and immaculately dressed, +with a flower in his buttonhole, boots that were a trifle too shiny, +hat and coat, gloves and manner, all imitation but all very near the +real thing. What a collapse! + +"You're going to stay and see it through?" he whined across the table. + +"Certainly," Laverick answered. + +The young man buried his face in his hands. + +"I can't! I can't!" he moaned. "I couldn't bear seeing all the +fellows, hearing them whisper things - oh, Lord! Oh, Lord! . . . +Laverick, we've a few hundreds left. Give me something and let me +out of it. You're a stronger sort of man than I am. You can face +it, - I can't! Give me enough to get abroad with, and if ever I +do any good I'll remember it, I will indeed." + +Laverick was silent for a moment. His companion watched his face +eagerly. After all, why not let him go? He was no help, no comfort. +The very sight of him was contemptible. + +"I have paid no money into the bank for several days," Laverick said +slowly. "When they refused to help us, it was, of course, obvious +that they guessed how things were." + +"Quite right, quite right!" the young man interrupted feverishly. +"They would have stuck to it against the overdraft. How much have +we got in the safe?" + +"This afternoon," Laverick continued, "I changed all our cheques. +You can count the proceeds for yourself. There are, I think, eleven +hundred pounds. You can take two hundred and fifty, and you can take +them with you - to any place you like." + +The young man was already at the safe. The notes were between them, +on the table. He counted quickly with the fingers of a born +manipulator of money. When he had gathered up two hundred and fifty +pounds, Laverick's hand fell upon his. + +"No more," he ordered sternly. + +"But, my dear fellow," Morrison protested, "half of eleven hundred +is five hundred and fifty. Why should we not go halves? That is +only fair, Laverick. It is little enough. We ought to have had a +great deal more." + +Laverick pushed him contemptuously away and locked up the remainder +of the notes. + +"I am letting you take two hundred and fifty pounds of this money," +he said, "for various reasons. For one, I can bear this thing +better alone. As for the rest of the money, it remains there for +the accountant who liquidates our affairs. I do not propose to +touch a penny of it." + +The young man buttoned up his coat with an hysterical little laugh. +Such ways were not his ways. They were not, indeed, within the +limit of his understanding. But of his partner he had learned one +thing, at least. The word of Stephen Laverick was the word of truth. +He shambled toward the door. On the whole, he was lucky to have +got the two hundred and fifty pounds. + +"So long, Laverick," he said from the door. "I'm - I'm sorry." + +It was characteristic of him that he did not venture to offer his +hand. Laverick nodded, not unkindly. After all, this young man was +as he had been made. + +"I wish you good luck, Morrison," he said. "Try South Africa." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ROBBING THE DEAD + + +The roar of the day was long since over. The rattle of vehicles, +the tinkling of hansom bells, the tooting of horns from motor-cars +and cabs, the ceaseless tramp of footsteps, all had died away. +Outside, the streets were almost deserted. An occasional wayfarer +passed along the flagged pavement with speedy footsteps. Here and +there a few lights glimmered at the windows of some of the larger +blocks of offices. The bustle of the day was finished. There is +no place in London so strangely quiet as the narrow thoroughfares +of the city proper when the hour approaches midnight. + +Laverick, who since his partner's departure had been studying with +infinite care his private ledger, closed it at last with a little +snap and leaned back in his chair. After all, save that he had got +rid of Morrison, it had been a wasted evening. Not even he, whose +financial astuteness no man had ever questioned, could raise from +those piles of figures any other answer save the one inevitable +one, the knowledge of which had been like a black nightmare stalking +by his side for the last thirty-six hours. One by one during the +evening his clerks had left him, and it was a proof not only of his +wonderful self-control but also of the confidence which he invariably +inspired, that not a single one of them had the slightest idea how +things were. Not a soul knew that the firm of Laverick & Morrison +was already practically derelict, that they had on the morrow +twenty-five thousand pounds to find, neither credit nor balance at +their bankers, and eight hundred and fifty pounds in the safe. + +Laverick, haggard from his long vigil, locked up his books at last, +turned out the lights, and locking the doors behind him walked into +the silent street. Instinctively he turned his steps westwards. +This might well be the last night on which he would care to show +himself in his accustomed haunts, the last night on which he could +mix with his fellows freely, and without that terrible sense of +consciousness which follows upon disaster. Already there was little +enough left of it. It was too late to change and go to his club. +The places of amusement were already closed. To-morrow night, both +club and theatres would lie outside his world. He walked slowly, +yet he had scarcely taken, in fact, a dozen steps when, with a +purely mechanical impulse, he paused by a stone-flagged entry to +light a cigarette. It was a passage, almost a tunnel for a few +yards, leading to an open space, on one side of which was an old +churchyard - strange survival in such a part - and on the other +the offices of several firms of stockbrokers, a Russian banker, +an actuary. It was the barest of impulses which led him to glance +up the entry before he blew out the match. Then he gave a quick +start and became for a moment paralyzed. Within a few feet of him +something was lying on the ground - a dark mass, black and soft - +the body of a man, perhaps. Just above it, a pair of eyes gleamed +at him through the, semi-darkness. + +Laverick at first had no thought of tragedy. It might be a tramp +or a drunkard, perhaps, - a fight, or a man taken ill. Then +something sinister about the light of those burning eyes set his +heart beating faster. He struck another match with firm fingers, +and bent forward. What he saw upon the ground made him feel a +little sick. What he saw racing away down the passage prompted him +to swift pursuit. Down the arched court into the open space he ran, +himself an athlete, but mocked by the swiftness of the shadowlike +form which he pursued. At the end was another street - empty. He +looked up and down, seeking in vain for any signs of life. There +was nothing to tell him which way to turn. Opposite was a very +labyrinth of courts and turnings. There was not even the sound of +a footfall to guide him. Slowly he retraced his steps, lit another +match, and leaned over the prostrate figure. Then he knew that it +was a tragedy indeed upon which he had stumbled. + +The man was dead, and he had met with his death by unusual means. +These were the first two things of which Laverick assured himself. +Without any doubt, a savage and a terrible crime had been committed. +A hornhandled knife of unusual length had been driven up to the hilt +through the heart of the murdered man. There had been other blows, +notably about the head. There was not much blood, but the position +of the knife alone told its ugly story. Laverick, though his nerves +were of the strongest, felt his head swim as he looked. He rose to +his feet and walked to the opening of the passage, gasping. The +street was no longer empty. + +About thirty yards away, looking westwards, a man was standing in +the middle of the road. The light from the lamp-post escaped his +face. Laverick could only see that he was slim, of medium height, +dressed in dark clothes, with his hands in the pockets of his +overcoat. To all appearance, he was watching the entry. Laverick +took a step towards him - the man as deliberately took a step further +away. Laverick held up his hand. + +"Hullo!" he called out, and beckoned. + +The person addressed took no notice. Laverick advanced another two +or three steps - the man retreated a similar distance. Laverick +changed his tactics and made a sudden spring forward. The man +hesitated no longer - he turned and ran as though for his life. In +a few minutes he was round the corner of the street and out of sight. +Laverick returned slowly to the entry. + +A distant clock struck midnight. A couple of clerks came along the +pavement on the other side, their hands and arms full of letters. +Laverick hesitated. He was never afterwards able to account for the +impulse which prevented his calling out to them. Instead he lurked +in the shadows and watched them go by. When he was sure that they +had disappeared, he bent once more over the body of the murdered +man. Already that huddled-up heap was beginning to exercise a +nameless and terrible fascination for him. His first feelings of +horror were mingled now with an insatiable curiosity. What manner +of man was he? He was tall and strongly built; fair - of almost +florid complexion. His clothes were very shabby and apparently +ready-made. His moustache was upturned, and his hair was trimmed +closer than is the custom amongst Englishmen. Laverick stooped +lower and lower until he found himself almost on his knees. There +was something projecting from the man's pocket as though it had been +half snatched out - a large portfolio of brown leather, almost the +size of a satchel. Laverick drew it out, holding it in one hand +whilst with firm fingers he struck another match. Then, for the +first time, a little cry broke from his lips. Both sides of the +pocket-book were filled with bank-notes. As his match flickered +out, he caught a glimpse of the figures in the left-hand corner - +500 pounds! - great rolls of them! Laverick rose gasping to his +feet. It was a new Arabian Nights, this! - a dream! - a +continuation of the nightmare which had threatened him all day! +Or was it, perhaps, the madness coming - the madness which he had +begun only an hour or so ago to fear! + +He walked into the gaslit streets and looked up and down. The +mysterious stranger had vanished. There was not a soul in sight. +He clutched the rough stone wall with his hands, he kicked the +pavement with his heels. There was no doubt about it - everything +around him was real. Most real of all was the fact that within a +few feet of him lay a murdered man, and that in his hands was that +brown leather pocket-book with its miraculous contents. For the +last time Laverick retraced his steps and bent over that huddled-up +shape. One by one he went through the other pockets. There was a +packet of Russian cigarettes; an empty card-case of chased silver, +and obviously of foreign workmanship; a cigarette holder stained +with much use, but of the finest amber, with rich gold mountings. +There was nothing else upon the dead man, no means of identification +of any sort. Laverick stood up, giddy, half terrified with the +thoughts that went tearing through his brain. The pocket-book began +to burn his hand; he felt the perspiration breaking out anew upon +his forehead. Yet he never hesitated. He walked like a man in a +dream, but his footsteps were steady and short. Deliberately, and +without any sign of hurry, he made his way towards his offices. If +a policeman had come in sight up or down the street, he had decided +to call him and to acquaint him with what had happened. It was the +one chance he held against himself, - the gambler's method of +decision, perhaps, unconsciously arrived at. As it turned out, there +was still not a soul in sight. Laverick opened the outer door with +his latchkey, let himself in and closed it. Then he groped his way +through the clerk's office into his own room, switched on the +electric light and once more sat down before his desk. + +He drew his shaded writing lamp towards him and looked around with +a nervousness wholly unfamiliar. Then he opened the pocket-book, +drew out the roll of bank-notes and counted them. It was curious +that he felt no surprise at their value. Bank-notes for five +hundred pounds are not exactly common, and yet he proceeded with +his task without the slightest instinct of surprise. Then he leaned +back in his chair. Twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes! +There they lay on the table before him. A man had died for their +sake, - another must go through all the days with the price of blood +upon his head - a murderer - a haunted creature for the rest of his +life. And there on the table were the spoils. Laverick tried to +think the matter out dispassionately. He was a man of average moral +fibre - that is to say, he was honest in his dealings with other +men because his father and his grandfather before him had been +honest, and because the penalty for dishonesty was shameful. Here, +however, he was face to face with an altogether unusual problem. +These notes belonged, without a doubt, to the dead man. Save for +his own interference, they would have been in the hands of his +murderer. The use of them for a few days could do no one any harm. +Such risk as there was he took himself. That it was a risk he knew +and fully realized. Laverick had sat in his place unmoved when his +partner had poured out his wail of fear and misery. Yet of the two +men it was probable that Laverick himself had felt their position +the more keenly. He was a man of some social standing, with a +large circle of friends; a sportsman, and with many interests +outside the daily routine of his city life. To him failure meant +more than the loss of money; it would rob him of everything in life +worth having. The days to come had been emptied of all promise. +He had held himself stubbornly because he was a man, because he had +strength enough to refuse to let his mind dwell upon the indignities +and humiliation to come. And here before him was possible salvation. +There was a price to be paid, of course, a risk to be run in making +use even for an hour of this money. Yet from the first he had known +that he meant to do it. + +Quite cool now, he opened his private safe, thrust the pocket-book +into one of the drawers, and locked it up. Then he lit a cigarette, +finally shut up the office and walked down the street. As he passed +the entry he turned his head slowly. Apparently no one had been +there, nothing had been disturbed. Straining his eyes through the +darkness, he could even see that dark shape still lying huddled up +on the ground. Then he walked on. He had burned his boats now and +was prepared for all emergencies. At the corner he met a policeman, +to whom he wished a cheery good-night. He told himself that the +thing which he had done was for the best. He owed it to himself. +He owed it to those who had trusted him. After all, it was the +chief part of his life - his city career. It was here that his +friends lived. It was here that his ambitions flourished. Disgrace +here was eternal disgrace. His father and his grandfather before +him had been men honored and respected in this same circle. Disgrace +to him, such disgrace as that with which he had stood face to face a +few hours ago, would have been, in a certain sense, a reflection +upon their memories. The names upon the brass plates to right and +to left of him were the names of men he knew, men with whom he +desired to stand well, whose friendship or contempt made life worth +living or the reverse. It was worth a great risk - this effort of +his to keep his place. His one mistake - this association with +Morrison - had been such an unparalleled stroke of bad luck. He +was rid of the fellow now. For the future there should be no more +partners. He had his life to live. It was not reasonable that he +should allow himself to be dragged down into the mire by such a +creature. He found an empty taxicab at the corner of Queen Victoria +Street, and hailed it. + +"Whitehall Court," he told the driver. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +BELLAMY IS OUTWITTED + + +Bellamy was a man used to all hazards, whose supreme effort of life +it was to meet success and disaster with unvarying mien. But this +was disaster too appalling even for his self-control. He felt his +knees shake so that he caught at the edge of the table before which +he was standing. There was no possible doubt about it, he had been +tricked. Von Behrling, after all, - Von Behrling, whom he had +looked upon merely as a stupid, infatuated Austrian, ready to sell +his country for the sake of a woman, had fooled him utterly! + +The man who sat at the head of the table - the only other occupant +of the room - was in Court dress, with many orders upon his coat. +He had just been attending a Court function, from which Bellamy's +message had summoned him. Before him on the table was an envelope, +hastily torn open, and several sheets of blank paper. It was upon +these that Bellamy's eyes were fixed with an expression of mingled +horror and amazement. The Cabinet Minister had already pushed them +away with a little gesture of contempt. + +"Bellamy," he said gravely, "it is not like you to make so serious +an error. + +"I hope not, sir," Bellamy answered. "I - yes, I have been deceived." + +The Minister glanced at the clock. + +"What is to be done?" he asked. + +Bellamy, with an effort, pulled himself together. He caught up the +envelope, looked once more inside, held up the blank sheets of paper +to the lamp and laid them down. Then with clenched fists he walked +to the other side of the room and returned. He was himself again. + +"Sir James, I will not waste your time by saying that I am sorry. +Only an hour ago I met Von Behrling in a little restaurant in the +city, and gave him twenty thousand pounds for that envelope." + +"You paid him the money," the Minister remarked slowly, "without +opening the envelope." + +Bellamy admitted it. + +"In such transactions as these," he declared, "great risks are +almost inevitable. I took what must seem to you now to be an absurd +risk. To tell you the honest truth, sir, and I have had experience +in these things, I thought it no risk at all when I handed over the +money. Von Behrling was there in disguise. The men with whom he +came to this country are furious with him. To all appearance, he +seemed to have broken with them absolutely. Even now - + +"Well?" + +"Even now," Bellamy said slowly, with his eyes fixed upon the wall +of the room, and a dawning light growing stronger every moment in +his face, "even now I believe that Von Behrling made a mistake. An +envelope such as this had been arranged for him to show the others +or leave at the Austrian Embassy in case of emergency. He had it +with him in his pocket-book. He even told me so. God in Heaven, +he gave me the wrong one!" + +The Minister glanced once more at the clock. + +"In that case," he said, "perhaps he would not go to the Embassy +to-night, especially if he was in disguise. You may still be able +to find him and repair the error. + +"I will try," answered Bellamy. "Thank Heaven!" he added, with a +sudden gleam of satisfaction, "my watchers are still dogging his +footsteps. I can find out before morning where he went when he +left our rendezvous. There is another way, too. Mademoiselle - +this man Von Behrling believed that she was leaving the country +with him. She was to have had a message within the next few hours. + +The Minister nodded thoughtfully. + +"Bellamy, I have been your friend and you have done us good service +often. The Secret Service estimates, as you know, are above +supervision, but twenty thousand pounds is a great deal of money to +have paid for this." + +He touched the sheets of blank paper with his forefinger. Bellamy's +teeth were clenched. + +"The money shall be returned, sir. + +"Do not misunderstand me," Sir James went on, speaking a little more +kindly. "The money, after all, in comparison with what it was +destined to purchase, is nothing. We might even count it a fair +risk if it was lost." + +"It shall not be lost," Bellamy promised. "If Von Behrling has +played the traitor to us, then he will go back to his country. In +that case, I will have the money from him without a doubt. If, on +the other hand, he was honest to us and a traitor to his country, +as I firmly believe, it may not yet be too late." + +"Let us hope not," Sir James declared. "Bellamy," he continued, a +note of agitation trembling in his tone, "I need not tell you, I +am sure, how important this matter is. You work like a mole in the +dark, yet you have brains, - you understand. Let me tell you how +things are with us. A certain amount of confidence is due to you, +if to any one. I may tell you that at the Cabinet Council to-day a +very serious tone prevailed. We do not understand in the least the +attitude of several of the European Powers. It can be understood +only under certain assumptions. A note of ours sent through the +Ambassador to Vienna has remained unanswered for two days. The +German Ambassador has left unexpectedly for Berlin on urgent +business. We have just heard, too, that a secret mission from +Russia left St. Petersburg last night for Paris. Side by side with +all this," Sir James continued, "the Czar is trying to evade his +promised visit here. The note we have received speaks of his +health. Well, we know all about that. We know, I may tell you, +that his health has never been better than at the present moment." + +"It all means one thing and one thing only," Bellamy affirmed. "In +Vienna and Berlin to-day they look at an Englishman and smile. Even +the man in the street seems to know what is coming." + +Sir James leaned a little back in his seat. His hands were tightly +clenched, and there was a fierce light in his hollow eyes. Those +who were intimate with him knew that he had aged many years during +the last few weeks. + +"The cruel part is," he said softly, "that it should have come in +my administration, when for ten years I have prayed from the +Opposition benches for the one thing which would have made us safe +to-day." + +"An army," murmured Bellamy. + +"The days are coming," Sir James continued, "when those who prated +of militarism and the security of our island walls will see with +their own eyes the ruin they have brought upon us. Secretly we are +mobilizing all that we have to mobilize," he added, with a little +sigh. "At the very best, however, our position is pitiful. Even +if we are prepared to defend, I am afraid that we shall see things +on the Continent in which we shall be driven to interfere, or else +suffer the greatest blow which our prestige has ever known. If we +could only tell what was coming!" he wound up, looking once more at +those empty sheets of paper. "It is this darkness which is so +alarming!" + +Bellamy turned toward the door. + +"You have the telephone in your bedroom, sir?" he asked. + +"Yes, ring me up at any time in the night or morning, if you have +news." + +Bellamy drove at once to Dover Street. It was half-past one, but +he had no fear of not being admitted. Louise's French maid answered +the bell. + +"Madame has not retired?" Bellamy inquired. + +"But no, sir," the woman assured him, with a welcoming smile. "It +is only a few minutes ago that she has returned." + +Bellamy was ushered at once into her room. She was gorgeous in blue +satin and pearls. Her other maid was taking off her jewels. She +dismissed both the women abruptly. + +"I absolutely couldn't avoid a supper-party," she said, holding out +her hands. "You expected that, of course. You were not at the +Opera House?" + +He shook his head, and walking to the door tried the handle. It +was securely closed. He came back slowly to her side. Her eyes +were questioning him fiercely. + +"Well?" she exclaimed. "Well?" + +"Have you heard from Von Behrling?" + +"No," she answered. "He knew that I must sing to-night. I have +been expecting him to telephone every moment since I got home. You +have seen him?" + +"I have seen him," Bellamy admitted. "Either he has deceived us +both, or the most unfortunate mistake in the world has happened. +Listen. I met him where he appointed. He was there, disguised, +almost unrecognizable. He was nervous and desperate; he had the air +of a man who has cut himself adrift from the world. I gave him the +money, - twenty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, Louise, + - and he gave me the papers, or what we thought were the papers. +He told me that he was keeping a false duplicate upon him for a +little time, in case he was seized, but that he was going to +Liverpool Street station to wait, and would telephone you from the +hotel there later on. You have not heard yet, then?" + +She shook her head. + +"There has been no message, but go on." + +"He gave me the wrong document - the wrong envelope," continued +Bellamy. "When I took it to - to Downing Street, it was full of +blank paper." + +The color slowly left her cheeks. She looked at him with horror in +her face. + +"Do you think that he meant to do it?" she exclaimed. + +"We cannot tell," Bellamy answered. "My own impression is that he +did not. We must find out at once what has become of him. He might +even, if he fancies himself safe, destroy the envelope he has, +believing it to be the duplicate. He is sure to telephone you. The +moment you hear you must let me know." + +"You had better stay here," she declared. "There are plenty of +rooms. You will be on the spot then." + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"The joke of it is that I, too, am being watched whereever I go. +That fellow Streuss has spies everywhere. That is one reason why +I believe that Von Behrling was serious. + +"Oh, he was serious!" Louise repeated. + +"You are sure?" Bellamy asked. "You have never had even any doubt +about him?" + +"Never," she answered firmly. "David, I had not meant to tell you +this. You know that I saw him for a moment this morning. He was +in deadly earnest. He gave me a ring - a trifle - but it had +belonged to his mother. He would not have done this if he had been +playing us false." + +Bellamy sprang to his feet. + +"You are right, Louise!" he exclaimed. "I shall go back to my rooms +at once. Fortunately, I had a man shadowing Von Behrling, and there +may be a report for me. If anything comes here, you will telephone +at once?" + +"Of course," she assented. + +"You do not think it possible," he asked slowly, "that he would +attempt to see you here?" + +Louise shuddered for a moment. + +"I absolutely forbade it, so I am sure there is no chance of that." + +"Very well, then," he decided, "we will wait. Dear," he added, in +an altered tone, "how splendid you look!" + +Her face suddenly softened. + +"Ah, David!" she murmured, "to hear you speak naturally even for a +moment - it makes everything seem so different!" + +He held out his arms and she came to him with a little sigh of +satisfaction. + +"Louise," he said, "some day the time may come when we shall be able +to give up this life of anxiety and terrors. But it cannot be yet + - not for your country's sake or mine. + +She kissed him fondly. + +"So long as there is hope!" she whispered. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +VON BEHRLING'S FATE + + +It seemed to Louise that she had scarcely been in bed an hour when +the more confidential of her maids - Annette, the Frenchwoman - woke +her with a light touch of the arm. She sat up in bed sleepily. + +"What is it, Annette?" she asked. "Surely it is not mid-day yet? +Why do you disturb me?" + +"It is barely nine o'clock, Mademoiselle, but Monsieur Bellamy - +Mademoiselle told me that she wished to receive him whenever he came. +He is in the boudoir now, and very impatient." + +"Did he send any message?" + +"Only that his business was of the most urgent," the maid replied. + +Louise sighed, - she was really very sleepy. Then, as the thoughts +began to crowd into her brain, she began also to remember. Some +part of the excitement of a few hours ago returned. + +"My bath, Annette, and a dressing-gown," she ordered. "Tell Monsieur +Bellamy that I hurry. I will be with him in twenty minutes." + +To Bellamy, the twenty minutes were minutes of purgatory. She came +at last, however, fresh and eager; her hair tied up with ribbon, she +herself clad in a pink dressing-gown and pink slippers. + +"David!" she cried, - "my dear David -!" + +Then she broke off. + +"What is it?" she asked, in a different tone. + +He showed her the headlines of the newspaper he was carrying. + +"Tragedy!" he answered hoarsely. "Von Behrling was true, after all, + - at least, it seems so." + +"What has happened?" she demanded. + +Bellamy pointed once more to the newspaper. + +"He was murdered last night, within fifty yards of the place of our +rendezvous." + +A little exclamation broke from Louise's lips. She sat down +suddenly. The color called into her cheeks by the exercise of her +bath was rapidly fading away. + +"David," she murmured, "is this true?" + +"It is indeed," Bellamy assured her. "Not only that, but there is +no mention of his pocket-book in the account of his murder. It must +have been engineered by Streuss and the others, and they have got +away with the pocket-book and the money." + +"What can we do?" she asked. + +"There is nothing to be done," Bellamy declared calmly. "We are +defeated. The thing is quite apparent. Von Behrling never +succeeded, after all, in shaking off the espionage of the men who +were watching him. They tracked him to our rendezvous, they waited +about while I met him. Afterwards, he had to pass along a narrow +passage. It was there that he was found murdered." + +"But, David, I don't understand! Why did they wait until after he +had seen you? How did they know that he had not parted with the +paper in the restaurant? To all intents and purposes he ought to +have done so." + +"I cannot understand that myself," Bellamy admitted. "In fact, it +is inexplicable." + +She took up the newspaper and glanced at the report. Then, "You +are sure, I suppose, that this does refer to Von Behrling? He is +quite unidentified, you see." + +"There is no doubt about it," Bellamy declared. "I have been to +the Mortuary. It is certainly he. All our work has been in vain + - just as I thought, too, that we had made a splendid success of +it." + +She looked at him compassionately. + +"It is hard lines, dear," she admitted. "You are tired, too. You +look as though you had been up all night." + +"Yes, I am tired," he answered, sinking into a chair. "I am worse +than tired. This has been the grossest failure of my career, and I +am afraid that it is the end of everything. I have lost twenty +thousand pounds of Secret Service money; I have lost the one chance +which might have saved England. They will never trust me again." + +"You did your best," she said, coming over and sitting on the arm +of his chair. "You did your best, David." + +She laid her hands upon his forehead, her cheek against his - smooth +and cold - exquisitely refreshing it seemed to his jaded nerves. + +"Ah, Louise!" he murmured, "life is getting a little too strenuous. +Perhaps we have given too much of it up to others. What do you +think?" + +She shook her head. + +"Dear, I have felt like that sometimes, yet what can we do? Could +we be happy, you and I, in exile, if the things which we dread were +coming to pass? Could I go away and hide while my countrymen were +being butchered out of existence? - And you - you are not the sort +of man to be content with an ignoble peace. No, it isn't possible. +Our work may not be over yet - " + +There was a knock at the door, and Annette entered with many +apologies. + +"Mademoiselle," she explained, "a thousand pardons, and to Monsieur +also, but there is a gentleman here who says that his business is +of the most urgent importance, and that he must see you at once. I +have done all that I can, but he will not go away. He knows that +Monsieur Bellamy is here, too," she added, turning to him, "and +he says his business has to do with Monsieur as well as Mademoiselle." + +Bellamy almost snatched the card from the girl's fingers. He read +out the name in blank amazement. + +"Baron de Streuss!" + +There was a moment's silence. Louise and he exchanged wondering +glances. + +"What can this mean?" she asked hoarsely. + +"Heaven knows!" he answered. "Let us see him together. After all + - after all - " + +"You can show the gentleman in, Annette," her mistress ordered. + +"If he has the papers," Bellamy continued slowly, "why does he come +to us? It is not like these men to be vindictive. Diplomacy to +them is nothing - a game of chess. I do not understand." + +The door opened. Annette announced their visitor. Streuss bowed +low to Louise - he bowed, also, to Bellamy. + +"I need not introduce myself," he said. "With Mr. Bellamy I have +the honor to be well acquainted. Madame is known to all the world." + +Louise nodded, somewhat coldly. + +"We can dispense with an introduction, I think, Monsieur le Baron," +she said. "At the same time, you will perhaps explain to what I +owe this somewhat unexpected pleasure?" + +"Mademoiselle, an explanation there must certainly be. I know that +it is an impossible hour. I know, too, that to have forced my +presence upon you in this manner may seem discourteous. Yet the +urgency of the matter, I am convinced, justifies me. + +Louise motioned him to a chair, but he declined with a little bow +of thanks. + +"Mademoiselle," he said, "and you, Mr. Bellamy, we need not waste +words. We have played a game of chess together. You, Mademoiselle, +and Mr. Bellamy on the one side - I and my friends upon the other. +The honor of Rudolph Von Behrling was the pawn for which we fought. +The victory remains with you." + +Bellamy never moved a muscle. Louise, on the contrary, could not +help a slight start. + +"Under the circumstances," the Baron continued smoothly, "the +struggle was uneven. I do myself the justice to remember that from +the first I realized that we played a losing game. Mademoiselle," +he added, "from the days of Cleopatra - ay, and throughout those +shadowy days which lie beyond - the diplomats of the world have been +powerless when matched against your sex. Rudolph Von Behrling was +an honest fellow enough until he looked into your eyes. Mademoiselle, +you have gifts which might, perhaps, have driven from his senses a +stronger man. + +Louise smiled, but there was no suggestion of mirth in the curl of +her lips. Her eyes all the time sought his questioningly. She did +not understand. + +"You flatter me, Baron," she murmured. + +"No, I do not flatter you, I speak the truth. This plain talking +is pleasant enough when the time comes that one may indulge in it. +That time, I think, is now. Rudolph Von Behrling, against my advice, +but because he was the Chancellor's nephew, was associated with me +in a certain enterprise, the nature of which is no secret to you, +Mademoiselle, or to Mr. Bellamy here. We followed a man who, by +some strange chance, was in possession of a few sheets of foolscap, +the contents of which were alike priceless to my country and +priceless to yours. The subsequent history of those papers should +have been automatic. The first step was fulfilled readily enough. +The man disappeared - the papers were ours. Von Behrling was the +man who secured them, and Von Behrling it was who retained them. +If my advice had been followed, I admit frankly that we should have +ignored all possible comment and returned with them at once to +Vienna. The others thought differently. They ruled that we should +come on to London and deposit the packet with our Ambassador here. +In a weak moment I consented. It was your opportunity, Mademoiselle, +an opportunity of which you have splendidly availed yourself." + +This time Louise held herself with composure. Bellamy's brain was +in a whirl but he remained silent. + +"I come to you both," the Baron continued, "with my hands open. I +come - I make no secret of it - I come to make terms. But first of +all I must know whether I am in time. There is one question which +I must ask. I address it, sir, to you," he added, turning to +Bellamy. "Have you yet placed in the hands of your Government the +papers which you obtained from Von Behrling?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +The Baron drew a long breath of relief. Though he had maintained +his savoir faire perfectly, the fingers which for a moment played +with his tie, as though to rearrange it, were trembling. + +"Well, then, I am in time. Will you see my hand?" + +"Mademoiselle and I," answered Bellamy, "are at least ready to +listen to anything you may have to say." + +"You know quite well," the Baron continued, "what it is that I have +come to say, yet I want you to remember this. I do not come to +bribe you in any ordinary manner. The things which are to come will +happen; they must happen, if not this year, next, - if not next year, +within half a decade of years. History is an absolute science. The +future as well as the past can be read by those who know the signs. +The thing which has been resolved upon is certain. The knowledge +of the contents of those papers by your Government might delay the +final catastrophe for a short while; it could do no more. In the +long run, it would be better for your country, Mr. Bellamy, in every +way, that the end come soon. Therefore, I ask you to perform no +traitorous deed. I ask you to do that which is simply reasonable +for all of us, which is, indeed, for the advantage of all of us. +restore those papers to me instead of handing them to your Government, +and I will pay you for them the sum of one hundred thousand pounds!" + +"One hundred thousand pounds " Bellamy repeated. + +"One hundred thousand pounds!" murmured Louise. + +There was a brief, intense pause. Louise waited, warned by the +expression in Bellamy's face. Silence, she felt, was safest, and it +was Bellamy who spoke. + +"Baron," said he, "your visit and your proposal are both a little +amazing. Forgive me if I speak alone with Mademoiselle for a moment." + +"Most certainly," the Baron agreed. "I go away and leave you - out +of the room, if you will." + +"It is not necessary," Bellamy replied. "Louise!" The Baron +withdrew to the window, and Bellamy led Louise into the furthest +corner of the room. + +"What can it mean?" he whispered. "What do you suppose has happened?" + +"I cannot imagine. My brain is in a whirl." + +"If they have not got the pocket-book," Bellamy muttered, "it must +have gone with Von Behrling to the Mortuary. If so, there is a +chance. Louise, say nothing; leave this to me." + +"As you will," she assented. "I have no wish to interfere. I only +hope that he does not ask me any questions." + +They came once more into the middle of the room, and the Baron +turned to meet them. + +"You must forgive Mademoiselle," said Bellamy, "if she is a little +upset this morning. She knows, of course, as I know and you know, +that Von Behrling was playing a desperate game, and that he carried +his life in his hands. Yet his death has been a shock - has been a +shock, I may say, to both of us. From your point of view," Bellamy +went on, "it was doubtless deserved, but - " + +"What, in God's name, is this that you say?" the Baron interrupted. +"I do not understand at all! You speak of Von Behrling's death! +What do you mean?" + +Bellamy looked at him as one who listens to strange words. + +"Baron," he said, "between us who know so much there is surely no +need for you to play a part. Von Behrling knew that you were +watching him. Your spies were shadowing him as they have done me. +He knew that he was running terrible risks. He was not unprepared +and he has paid. It is not for us - " + +"Now, in God's name, tell me the truth!" Baron de Streuss interrupted +once more. "What is it that you are saying about Von Behrling's +death?" + +Bellamy drew a little breath between his teeth. He leaned forward +with his hands resting upon the table. + +"Do you mean to say that you do not know?" + +"Upon my soul, no!" replied the Baron. + +Bellamy threw open the newspaper before him. + +"Von Behrling was murdered last night, ten minutes after our +interview." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +BARON DE STREUSS' PROPOSAL + + +The Baron adjusted his eyeglass with shaking fingers. His face now +was waxen-white as he spread out the newspaper upon the table and +read the paragraph word by word. + + TERRIBLE CRIME IN THE CITY + + Early this morning the body of a man was discovered + in a narrow passageway leading from Crooked Friars to + Royal Street, under circumstances which leave little + doubt but that the man's death was owing to foul play. + The deceased had apparently been stabbed, and had + received several severe blows about the head. He was + shabbily dressed but was well supplied with money, and + he was wearing a gold watch and chain when he was found. + + LATER + + There appears to be no further doubt but that the man + found in the entry leading from Crooked Friars had been + the victim of a particularly murderous assault. Neither + his clothes nor his linen bore any mark by means of which + he could be identified. The body has been removed to the + nearest mortuary, and an inquest will shortly be held. + +Streuss looked up from the newspaper and the reality of his surprise +was apparent. He had all the appearance of a man shaken with emotion. +While he looked at his two companions wonderingly, strange thoughts +were forming in his mind. + +"Von Behrling dead!" he muttered. "But who - who could have done +this?" + +"Until this moment," Bellamy answered dryly, "it was not a matter +concerning which we had any doubt. The only wonder to us was that +it should have been done too late." + +"You mean," Streuss said slowly, "that he was murdered after he had +completed his bargain with you?" + +"Naturally." + +"I suppose," the Baron continued, "there is no question but that it +was done afterwards? You smile," he exclaimed, "but what am I to +think? Neither I nor my people had any hand in this deed. How about +yours?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"We do not fight that way," he replied. "I had bought Von Behrling. +He was of no further interest to me. I did not care whether he +lived or died." + +"There is something very strange about this," the Baron said. "If +neither you nor I were responsible for his death, who was?" + +"That I can't tell you. Perhaps later in the day we shall hear from +the police. It is scarcely the sort of murder which would remain +long undetected, especially as he was robbed of a large sum in +bank-notes." + +"Supplied by His Majesty's Government, I presume?" Streuss remarked. + +"Precisely," Bellamy assented, "and paid to him by me." + +"At any rate," Streuss said grimly, "we have now no more secrets +from one another. I will ask you one last question. Where is that +packet at the present moment?" + +Bellamy raised his eyebrows. + +"It is a question," he declared, "which you could scarcely expect me +to answer." + +"I will put it another way," Streuss continued. "Supposing you +decide to accept my offer, how long will it be before the packet can +be placed in my hands?" + +"If we decide to accept," Bellamy answered, "there is no reason why +there should be any delay at all." + +Streuss was silent for several moments. His hands were thrust deep +down into the pockets of his overcoat. With eyes fixed upon the +tablecloth, he seemed to be thinking deeply, till presently he raised +his head and looked steadily at Bellamy. + +"You are sure that Von Behrling has not fooled you? You are sure +that you have that identical packet?" + +"I am absolutely certain that I have," Bellamy answered, without +flinching. + +"Then accept my price and have done with this matter," Streuss +begged. "I will sign a draft for you here, and I will undertake +to bring you the money, or honor it wherever you say, within +twenty-four hours." + +"I cannot decide so quickly," said Bellamy, shaking his head. +"Mademoiselle Idiale and I must talk together first. I am not sure," +he added, "whether I might not find a higher bidder." + +Streuss laughed mirthlessly. + +"There is little fear of that," he said. "The papers are of no +use except to us and to England. To England, I will admit that the +foreknowledge of what is to come would be worth much, although the +eventful result would be the same. It is for that reason that I am +here, for that reason that I have made you this offer." + +"Mademoiselle and I must discuss it," Bellamy declared. "It is not +a matter to be decided upon off-hand. Remember that it is not only +the packet which you are offering to buy, but also my career and my +honor." + +"One hundred thousand pounds," Streuss said slowly. "From your own +side you get nothing - nothing but your beggarly salary and an +occasional reprimand. One hundred thousand pounds is not immense +wealth, but it is something." + +"Your offer is a generous one," admitted Bellamy, "there is no doubt +about that. On the other hand, I cannot decide without further +consideration. It is a big thing for us, remember. I have worked +very hard for the contents of that packet." + +Once more Streuss felt an uneasy pang of incredulity. After all, +was this Englishman playing with him? So he asked: "You are quite +sure that you have it?" + +"There is no means of convincing you of which I care to make use. +You must be content with my word. I have the packet. I paid Von +Behrling for it and he gave it to me with his own hands." + +"I must accept your word," Streuss declared. "I give you three days +for reflection. Before I go, Mr. Bellamy, forgive me if I refer +once more to this," - touching the newspaper which still lay upon +the table. "Remember that Rudolph Von Behrling moved about a marked +man. Your spies and mine were most of the time upon his heels. Yet +in the end some third person seems to have intervened. Are you +quite sure that you know nothing of this?" + +"Upon my honor," Bellamy replied, "I have not the slightest +information concerning Von Behrling's death beyond what you can read +there. It was as great a surprise to me as to you." + +"It is incomprehensible," Streuss murmured. + +"One can only conclude," Bellamy remarked thoughtfully, "that someone +must have seen him with those notes. There were people moving about +in the little restaurant where we met. The rustle of bank-notes has +cost more than one man his life. + +"For the present," Streuss said, "we must believe that it was so. +Listen to me, both of you. You will be wiser if you do not delay. +You are young people, and the world is before you. With money one +can do everything. Without it, life is but a slavery. The world +is full of beautiful dwelling-places for those who have the means +to choose. Remember, too, that not a soul will ever know of this +transaction, if you should decide to accept my offer." + +"We shall remember all those things," Bellamy assured him. + +Streuss took up his hat and gloves. + +"With your permission, then, Mademoiselle," he concluded, turning to +Louise, "I go. I must try and understand for myself the meaning of +this thing which has happened to Von Behrling." + +"Do not forget," Bellamy said, "that if you discover anything, we +are equally interested." . . . + +They heard him go out. Bellamy purposely held the door open until +he saw the lift descend. Then he closed it firmly and came back +into the room. Louise and he looked at each other, their faces full +of anxious questioning. + +"What does it mean?" Louise cried. "What can it mean?" + +"Heaven alone knows!" Bellamy answered. "There is not a gleam of +daylight. My people are absolutely innocent of any attempt upon Von +Behrling. If Streuss tells the truth, and I believe he does, his +people are in the same position. Who, then, in the name of all that +is miraculous, can have murdered and robbed Von Behrling?" + +"In London, too," Louise murmured. "It is not Vienna, this, or +Belgrade." + +"You are right," Bellamy agreed. "London is one of the most +law-abiding cities in Europe. Besides, the quarter where the murder +occurred is entirely unfrequented by the criminal classes. It is +simply a region of great banks and the offices of merchant princes. + +"Is it possible that there is some one else who knew about that +document?" Louise asked, - "some one else who has been watching Von +Behrling?" + +Bellamy shook his head. + +"How can that be? Besides, if any one else were really on his track, +they must have believed that he had parted with it to me. I shall +go back now to Downing Street to ask for a letter to the Chief of +Scotland Yard. If anything comes out, I must have plenty of warning." + +"And I," she said, with an approving nod, "shall go back to bed +again. These days are too strenuous for me. Won't you stay and take +your coffee with me?" + +Bellamy held her hand for a moment in his. + +"Dear," he said, "I would stay, but you understand, don't you, what +a maze this is into which we have wandered. Von Behrling has been +murdered by some person who seems to have dropped from the skies. +Whoever they may be, they have in their possession my twenty +thousand pounds and the packet which should have been mine. I must +trace them if I can, Louise. It is a poor chance, but I must do +my best. I myself am of the opinion that Von Behrling was murdered +for the money, and for the money only. If so, that packet may be +in the hands of people who have no idea what use to make of it. +They may even destroy it. If Streuss returns and you are forced to +see him, be careful. Remember, we have the document - we are +hesitating. So long as he believes that it is in our possession, +he will not look elsewhere." + +"I will be careful," Louise promised, with her arms around his neck. +"And, dear, take care. When I think of poor Rudolph Von Behrling, +I tremble, also, for you. It seems to me that your danger is no +less than his." + +"I do not go about with twenty thousand pounds in my pocket-book," +with a smile. + +She shook her head. + +"No, but Streuss believes that you have the document which he is +pledged to recover. Be careful that they do not lead you into a +trap. They are not above anything, these men. I heard once of a +Bulgarian in Vienna who was tortured - tortured almost to death + - before he spoke. Then they thrust him into a lunatic asylum. +Remember, dear, they have no consciences and no pity." + +"We are in London," he reminded her. + +"So was Von Behrling," she answered quickly, - "not only in London +but in a safe part of London. Yet he is dead." + +"It was not their doing," he declared. "In their own country, they +have the whole machinery of their wonderful police system at their +backs, and no fear of the law in their hearts. Here they must needs +go cautiously. I don't think you need be afraid," he added, smiling, +as he opened the door. "I think I can promise you that if you will +do me the honor we will sup together to-night." + +"You must fetch me from the Opera House," Louise insisted. "It is +a bargain. I have suffered enough neglect at your hands. One thing, +David, - where do you go first from here?" + +"To find the man," Bellamy answered gravely, "who was watching Von +Behrling when he left me. If any man in England knows anything of +the murder, it must be he. He should be at my rooms by now." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +STEPHEN LAVERICK'S CONSCIENCE + + +Stephen Laverick was a bachelor - his friends called him an +incorrigible one. He had a small but pleasantly situated suite of +rooms in Whitehall Court, looking out upon the river. His habits +were almost monotonous in their regularity, and the morning +following his late night in the city was no exception to the +general rule. At eight o'clock, the valet attached to the suite +knocked at his door and informed him that his bath was ready. He +awoke at once from a sound sleep, sat up in bed, and remembered the +events of the preceding evening. + +At first he was inclined to doubt that slowly stirring effort of +memory. He was a man of unromantic temperament, unimaginative, and +by no means of an adventurous turn of mind. He sought naturally +for the most reasonable explanation of this strange picture, which +no effort of his will could dismiss from his memory. It was a dream, +of course. But the dream did not fade. Slowly it spread itself out +so that he could no longer doubt. He knew very well as he sat there +on the edge of his bed that the thing was truth. He, Stephen +Laverick, a man hitherto of upright character, with a reputation of +which unconsciously he was proud, had robbed a dead man, had looked +into the burning eyes of his murderer, had stolen away with twenty +thousand pounds of someone else's money. Morally, at any rate, - +probably legally as well, - he was a thief. A glimpse inside his +safe on the part of an astute detective might very easily bring him +under the grave suspicion of being a criminal of altogether deeper +dye. + +Stephen Laverick was, in his way, something of a philosopher. In +the cold daylight, with the sound of the water running into his bath, +this deed which he had done seemed to him foolish and reprehensible. +Nevertheless, he realized the absolute finality of his action. The +thing was done; he must make the best of it. Behaving in every way +like a sensible man, he did not send for the newspapers and search +hysterically for their account of last night's tragedy, but took his +bath as usual, dressed with more than ordinary care, and sat down +to his breakfast before he even unfolded the paper. The item for +which he searched occupied by no means so prominent a position as +he had expected. It appeared under one of the leading headlines, +but it consisted of only a few words. He read them with interest +but without emotion. Afterwards he turned to the Stock Exchange +quotations and made notes of a few prices in which he was interested. + +He completed in leisurely fashion an excellent breakfast and followed +his usual custom of walking along the Embankment as far as the Royal +Hotel, where he called a taxicab and drove to his offices. A little +crowd had gathered around the end of the passage which led from +Crooked Friars, and Laverick himself leaned forward and looked +curiously at the spot where the body of the murdered man had lain. +It seemed hard to him to reconstruct last night's scene in his mind +now that the narrow street was filled with hurrying men and a stream +of vehicles blocked every inch of the roadway. In his early morning +mood the thing was impossible. In a moment or two he paid his driver +and dismissed him. + +He fancied that a certain relief was visible among his clerks when +he opened the door at precisely his usual time and with a cheerful +"Good-morning!" made his way into the private office. He lit his +customary cigarette and dealt rapidly with the correspondence which +was brought in to him by his head-clerk. Afterwards, as soon as he +was alone, he opened the safe, thrust the contents of that inner +drawer into his breast-pocket, and took up once more his hat and +gloves. + +"I am going around to the bank," he told his clerk as he passed out. +"I shall be back in half-an-hour - perhaps less." + +"Very good, sir," the man answered. "Will Mr. Morrison be here this +morning?" + +Laverick hesitated. + +"No, Mr. Morrison will not be here to-day." + +It was only a few steps to his bankers, and his request for an +interview with the manager was immediately granted. The latter +received him kindly but with a certain restraint. There are not +many secrets in the city, and Morrison's big plunge on a particular +mining share, notwithstanding its steady drop, had been freely +commented upon. + +"What can I do for you, Mr. Laverick?" the banker asked. + +"I am not sure," answered Laverick. "To tell you the truth, I am +in a somewhat singular position." + +The banker nodded. He had not a doubt but that he understood +exactly what that position was. + +"You have perhaps heard," Laverick continued slowly, "that my late +partner, Mr. Morrison, - " + +"Late partner?" the manager interrupted. + +Laverick assented. + +"We had a few words last night," he explained "and Mr. Morrison +left the office with an understanding between us that he should not +return. You will receive a formal intimation of that during the +course of the next day or so. We will revert to the matter +presently, if you wish. My immediate business with you is to +discuss the fact that I have to provide something like twenty +thousand pounds to-day if I decide to take up the purchases of stock +which Morrison has made." + +"You understand the position, of course, Mr. Laverick, if you fail +to do so?" the manager remarked gravely. + +"Naturally," Laverick answered. "I am quite aware of the fact that +Morrison acted on behalf of the firm and that I am responsible for +his transactions. He has plunged pretty deeply, though, a great +deal more deeply than our capital warranted. I may add that I had +not the slightest idea as to the extent of his dealings." + +The bank manager adopted a sympathetic but serious attitude. + +"Twenty thousand pounds," he declared, "is a great deal of money, +Mr. Laverick." + +"It is a great deal of money," Laverick admitted. "I am here to +ask you to lend it to me. + +The bank manager raised his eyebrows. + +"My dear Mr. Laverick!" he exclaimed reproachfully. + +"Upon unimpeachable security," Laverick continued. The bank manager +was conscious that he had allowed a little start of surprise to +escape him, and bit his lip with annoyance. It was entirely contrary +to his tenets to display at any time during office hours any sort of +emotion. + +"Unimpeachable security," he repeated. "Of course, if you have that +to offer, Mr. Laverick, although the sum is a large one, it is our +business to see what we can do for you." + +"My security is of the best," Laverick declared grimly. "I have +bank-notes here, Mr. Fenwick, for twenty thousand pounds." + +The bank manager was again guilty of an unprofessional action. He +whistled softly under his breath. A very respectable client he +had always considered Mr. Stephen Laverick, but he had certainly +never suspected him of being able to produce at a pinch such evidence +of means. Laverick smoothed out the notes and laid them upon the +table. + +"Mr. Fenwick," he said, "I believe I am right in assuming that when +one comes to one's bankers, one enters, as it were, into a +confessional. I feel convinced that nothing which I say to you will +be repeated outside this office, or will be allowed to dwell in your +own mind except with reference to this particular transaction between +you and me. I have the right, have I not, to take that for granted?" + +"Most certainly," the banker agreed. + +"From a strictly ethical point of view," Laverick went on, "this +money is not mine. I hold it in trust for its owner, but I hold it +without any conditions . I have power to make what use I wish of +it, and I choose to-day to use it on my own behalf. Whether I am +justified or not is scarcely a matter, I presume, which concerns +this excellent banking establishment over which you preside so ably. +I do not pay these bank-notes in to my account and ask you to +credit me with twenty thousand pounds. I ask you to allow me to +deposit them here for seven days as security against an overdraft. +You can then advance me enough money to meet my engagements of +to-day." + +The banker took up the notes and looked them through, one by one. +They were very crisp, very new, and absolutely genuine. + +"This is somewhat an extraordinary proceeding, Mr. Laverick," he +said. + +"I have no doubt that it must seem so to you," Laverick admitted. +"At the same time, there the money is. You can run no risk. If I +am exceeding my moral right in making use of these notes, it is I +who will have to pay. Will you do as I ask?" + +The banker hesitated. The transaction was somewhat a peculiar one, +but on the face of it there could be no possible risk. At the same +time, there was something about it which he could not understand. + +"Your wish, Mr. Laverick," he remarked, looking at him thoughtfully, +"seems to be to keep these notes out of circulation." + +Laverick returned his gaze without flinching. + +"In a sense, that is so," he assented. + +"On the whole," the banker declared, "I should prefer to credit +them to your account in the usual way." + +"I am sorry," Laverick answered, "but I have a sentimental feeling +about it. I prefer to keep the notes intact. If you cannot follow +out my suggestion, I must remove my account at once. This isn't a +threat, Mr. Fenwick, - you will understand that, I am sure. It is +simply a matter of business, and owing to Morrison's speculations +I have no time for arguments. I am quite satisfied to remain in +your hands, but my feeling in the matter is exactly as I have stated, +and I cannot change. If you are to retain my account, my +engagements for to-day must be met precisely in the way I have +pointed out." + +The banker excused himself and left the room for a few moments. +When he returned, he shrugged his shoulders with the air of one who +is giving in to an unreasonable client. + +"It shall be as you say, Mr. Laverick," he announced. "The notes +are placed upon deposit. Your engagements to-day up to twenty +thousand pounds shall be duly honored." + +Laverick shook hands with him, talked for a moment or two about +indifferent matters, and strolled back towards his office. He had +rather the sense of a man who moves in a dream, who is living, +somehow, in a life which doesn't belong to him. He was doing the +impossible. He knew very well that his name was in every one's +mouth. People were looking at him sympathetically, wondering how +he could have been such a fool as to become the victim of an +irresponsible speculator. No one ever imagined that he would be +able to keep his engagements. And he had done it. The price +might be a great one, but he was prepared to pay. At any moment +the sensational news might be upon the placards, and the whole +world might know that the man who had been murdered in Crooked +Friars last night had first been robbed of twenty thousand pounds. +So far he had felt himself curiously free from anything in the +shape of direct apprehensions. Already, however, the shadow was +beginning to fall. Even as he entered his office, the sight of a +stranger offering office files for sale made him start. He half +expected to feel a hand upon his shoulder, a few words whispered in +his ear. He set his teeth tight. This was his risk and he must +take it. + +For several hours he remained in his office, engaged in a scheme +for the redirection of its policy. With the absence of Morrison, +too, there were other changes to be made, - changes in the nature +of the business they were prepared to handle, limits to be fixed. +It was not until nearly luncheon time that the telephone, the +simultaneous arrival of several clients, and the breathless entry +of his own head-clerk rushing in from the house, told him what was +going on. + +"'Unions' have taken their turn at last!" the clerk announced, in +an excited tone. "They sagged a little this morning, but since +eleven they have been going steadily up. Just now there seems to +be a boom. Listen." + +Laverick heard the roar of voices in the street, and nodded. He +was prepared to be surprised at nothing. + +"They were bound to go within a day or two," he remarked. "Morrison +wasn't an absolute idiot." + +The luncheon hour passed. The excitement in the city grew. By +three o'clock, ten thousand pounds would have covered all of +Laverick's engagements. Just before closing-time, it was even +doubtful whether he might not have borrowed every penny without +security at all. He took it all quite calmly and as a matter of +course. He left the office a little earlier than usual, and every +man whom he met stopped to slap him on the back and chaff him. He +escaped as soon as he could, bought the evening papers, found a +taxicab, and as soon as he had started spread them open. It was +a remarkable proof of the man's self-restraint that at no time +during the afternoon had he sent out for one of these early editions. +He turned them over now with firm fingers. There was absolutely no +fresh news. No one had come forward with any suggestion as to the +identity of the murdered man. All day long the body had lain in +the Mortuary, visited by a constant stream of the curious, but +presumably unrecognized. Laverick could scarcely believe the words +he read. The thing seemed ludicrously impossible. The twenty +thousand pounds must have come from some one. Why did they keep +silence? What was the mystery about it? Could it be that they were +not in a position to disclose the fact? Curiously enough, this +unnatural absence of news inspired him with something which was +almost fear. He had taken his risks boldly enough. Now that Fate +was playing him this unexpectedly good turn, he was conscious of a +growing nervousness. Who could he have been, this man? Whence +could he have derived this great sum? One person at least must +know that he had been robbed - the man who murdered him must know +it. A cold shiver passed through Laverick's veins at the thought. +Somewhere in London there must be a man thirsting for his blood, +a man who had committed a murder in vain and been robbed of his +spoil. + +Laverick had no engagements for that evening, but instead of going +to his club he drove straight to his rooms, meaning to change a +little early for dinner and go to a theatre, lie found there, +however, a small boy waiting for him with a note in his hand. It +was addressed in pencil only, and his name was printed upon it. + +Laverick tore it open with a haste which he only imperfectly +concealed. There was something ominous to him in those printed +characters. Its contents, however, were short enough. + +DEAR LAVERICK, +I must see you. Come the moment you get this. Come without fail, +for your own sake and mine. A. M. + +Laverick looked at the boy. His fingers were trembling, but it +was with relief. The note was from Morrison. + +"There is no address here," he remarked. + +"The gent said as I was to take you back with me," the boy answered. + +"Is it far?" Laverick asked. + +"Close to Red Lion Square," the boy declared. "Not more nor five +minutes in one of them taxicabs. The gent said we was to take +one. He is in a great hurry to see you." + +Laverick did not hesitate a moment." + +"Very well," he said, "we'll start at once. + +He put on his hat again and waited while the commissionaire called +them a taxicab. + +"What address?" he asked. + +"Number 7, Theobald Square," the boy said. Laverick nodded and +repeated the address to the driver. + +"What the dickens can Morrison be doing in a part like that!" he +thought, as they passed up Northumberland Avenue. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ARTHUR MORRISON'S COLLAPSE + + +The Square was a small one, and in a particularly unsavory +neighborhood. Laverick, who had once visited his partner's somewhat +extensive suite of rooms in Jermyn Street, rang the bell doubtfully. +The door was opened almost at once, not by a servant but by a young +lady who was obviously expecting him. Before he could open his lips +to frame an inquiry, she had closed the door behind him. + +"Will you please come this way?" she said timidly. + +Laverick found himself in a small sitting-room, unexpectedly neat, +and with the plainness of its furniture relieved by certain +undeniable traces of some cultured presence. The girl who had +followed him stood with her back to the door, a little out of breath. +Laverick contemplated her in surprise. She was under medium height, +with small pale face and wonderful dark eyes. Her brown hair was +parted in the middle and arranged low down, so that at first, taking +into account her obvious nervousness, he thought that she was a +child. When she spoke, however, he knew that for some reason she +was afraid. Her voice was soft and low, but it was the voice of a +woman. + +"It is Mr. Laverick, is it not?" she asked, looking at him eagerly. + +"My name is Stephen Laverick," he admitted. "I understood that I +should find Mr. Arthur Morrison here." + +"Yes," the girl answered, "he sent for you. The note was from him. +He is here." + +She made no movement to summon him. She still stood, in fact, with +her back to the door. Laverick was distinctly puzzled. He felt +himself unable to place this timid, childlike woman, with her +terrified face and beautiful eyes. He had never heard Morrison +speak of having any relations. His presence in such a locality, +indeed, was hard to understand unless he had met with an accident. +Morrison was one of those young men who would have chosen Hell with +a "W" rather than Heaven E. C. + +"I am afraid," Laverick said, "that for some reason or other you +are afraid of me. I can assure you that I am quite harmless," he +added smiling. "Won't you sit down and tell me what is the matter? +Is Mr. Morrison in any trouble?" + +"Yes," she answered, "he is. As for me, I am terrified." + +She came a little away from the door. Laverick was a man who +inspired trust. His tone, too, was unusually kind. He had the +protective instinct of a big man toward a small woman. + +"Come and tell me all about it," he suggested. "I expected to hear +that he had gone abroad." + +"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking up at him tremulously. "I was +hoping that you could have told me what it was that had come to him." + +"Well, that rather depends," Laverick answered. "We certainly had +a terribly anxious time yesterday. Our business has been most +unfortunate - " + +"Yes, yes!" the girl interrupted. "Please go on. There have been +business troubles, then." + +"Rather," Laverick continued. "Last night they reached such a +pitch that I gave Morrison some money and it was agreed that he +should leave the firm and try his luck somewhere else. I quite +understood that he was going abroad." + +The girl seemed, for some reason, relieved. + +"There was something, then," she said, half to herself. "There was +something. Oh, I am glad of that! You were angry with him, perhaps, +Mr. Laverick?" + +Laverick stood with his back to the little fireplace and with his +hands behind him - a commanding figure in the tiny room full of +feminine trifles. He looked a great deal more at his ease than +he really was. + +"Perhaps I was inclined to be short-tempered," he admitted. "You +see, to be frank with you, the department of our business that was +going wrong was the one over which Morrison has had sole control. +He had entered into certain speculations which I considered +unjustifiable. To-day, however, matters took an unexpected turn +for the better." + +Almost as he spoke his face clouded. Morrison, of course, would be +triumphant. Perhaps he would even expect to be reinstated. For +many reasons, this was a thing which Laverick did not desire. + +"Now tell me," he continued, "what is the matter with Morrison, and +why has he sent for me, and, if you will pardon my saying so, why +is he here instead of in his own rooms?" + +"I will explain," she began softly. + +"You will please explain sitting down," he said firmly. "And don't +look so terrified," he added, with a little laugh. "I can assure +you that I am not going to eat you, or anything of that sort. You +make me feel quite uncomfortable." + +She smiled for the first time, and Laverick thought that he had +never seen anything so wonderful as the change in her features. The +strained rigidity passed away. An altogether softer light gleamed +in her wonderful eyes. She was certainly by far the prettiest child +he had ever seen. As yet he could not take her altogether seriously. + +"Thank you," she said, sinking down upon the arm of an easy-chair. +"first of all, then, Arthur is here because he is my brother." + +"Your brother!" Laverick repeated wonderingly. + +Somehow or other, he had never associated Morrison with relations. +Besides, this meant that she must be of his race. There was nothing +in her face to denote it except the darkness of her eyes, and that +nameless charm of manner, a sort of ultra-sensitiveness, which +belongs sometimes to the highest type of Jews. It was not a quality, +Laverick thought, which he should have associated with Morrison's +sister. + +"My brother, in a way," she resumed. "Arthur's father was a widower +and my mother was a widow when they were married. You are surprised?" + +"There is no reason why I should be," he answered, curiously relieved +at her last statement. "Your brother and I have been connected in +business for some years. We have seen very little of one another +outside." + +"I dare say," she continued, still timidly, "that Arthur's friends +would not be your friends, and that he wouldn't care for the same +sort of things. You see, my mother is dead and also his father, and +as we aren't really related at all, I cannot expect that he would +come to see me very often. Last night, though, quite late - long +after I had gone to bed - he rang the bell here. I was frightened, +for just now I am all alone, and my servant only comes in the +morning. So I looked out of the window and I saw him on the +pavement, huddled up against the door. I hurried down and let him +in. Mr. Laverick," she went on, with an appealing glance at him, +"I have never seen any one look like it. He was terrified to death. +Something seemed to have happened which had taken away from him +even the power of speech. He pushed past me into this room, threw +himself into that chair," she added, pointing across the room, "and +he sobbed and beat his hands upon his knees as though he were a +woman in a fit of hysterics. His clothes were all untidy, he was +as pale as death, and his eyes looked as though they were ready +to start out of his head." + +"You must indeed have been frightened," Laverick said softly. + +"Frightened! I shall never forget it! I did not sleep all night. +He would tell me nothing - he has scarcely spoken a sensible word. +Early this morning I persuaded him to go upstairs, and made him +lie down. He has taken two draughts which I bought from the chemist, +but he has not slept. Every now and then he tries to get up, but +in a minute or two he throws himself down on the bed again and hides +his face. If any one rings at the bell, he shrieks. If he hears a +footfall in the street, even, he calls out for me. Mr. Laverick, I +have never been so frightened in my life. I didn't know whom to +send for or what to do. When he wrote that note to you I was so +relieved. You can't imagine how glad I am to think you have come!" + +Laverick's eyes were full of sympathy. One could see that the +scene of last night had risen up again before her eyes. She was +shrinking back, and the terror was upon her once more. He moved +over to her side, and with an impulse which, when he thought of it +afterwards, amazed him, laid his hand gently upon her shoulder. + +"Don't worry yourself thinking about it," he said. "I will talk to +your brother. We did have words, I'll admit, last night, but there +wasn't the slightest reason why it should have upset him in this +way. Things in the city were shocking yesterday, but they have +improved a great deal to-day. Let me go upstairs and I'll try and +pump some courage into him." + +"You are so kind," she murmured, suddenly dropping her hands from +before her face and looking up at him with shining eyes, "so very +kind. Will you come, then?" + +She rose and he followed her out of the room, up the stairs, and +into a tiny bedroom. Laverick had no time to look around, but it +seemed to him, notwithstanding the cheap white furniture and very +ordinary appointments, that the same note of dainty femininity +pervaded this little apartment as the one below. + +"It is my room," she said shyly. "There is no other properly +furnished, and I thought that he might sleep upon the bed." + +"Perhaps he is asleep now," Laverick whispered. + +Even as he spoke, the dark figure stretched upon the sheets sprang +into a sitting posture. Laverick was conscious of a distinct shock. +It was Morrison, still wearing the clothes in which he had left the +office, his collar crushed out of all shape, his tie vanished. His +black hair, usually so shiny and perfectly arranged, was all +disordered. Out of his staring eyes flashed an expression which one +sees seldom in life, - an expression of real and mortal terror. + +"Who is it?" he cried out, and even his voice was unrecognizable. +"Who is that? What do you want?" + +"It is I - Laverick," Laverick answered. "What on earth is the +matter with you, man?" + +Morrison drew a quick breath. Some part of the terror seemed to +leave his face, but he was still an alarming-looking object. +Laverick quietly opened the door and laid his hand upon the girl's +shoulder. + +"Will you leave us alone?" he asked. "I will come and talk to +you afterwards, if I may." + +She nodded understandingly, and passed out. Laverick closed the +door and came up to the bedside. + +"What in the name of thunder has come over you, Morrison?" he said. +"Are you ill, or what is it?" + +Morrison opened his lips - opened them twice - without any sort of +sound issuing. + +"This is absurd!" Laverick exclaimed protestingly. "I have been +feeling worried myself, but there's nothing so terrifying in losing +one's money, after all. As a matter of fact, things are altogether +better in the city to-day. You made a big mistake in taking us out +of our depth, but we are going to pull through, after all. 'Unions' +have been going up all day." + +Laverick's presence, and the sound of his even, matter-of-fact tone, +seemed to act like a tonic upon his late partner. He made no +reference, however, to Laverick's words. + +"You got my note?" he asked hoarsely. + +"Naturally I got it," Laverick answered impatiently, "and I came at +once. Try and pull yourself together. Sit up and tell me what you +are doing here, frightening your sister out of her life." + +Morrison groaned. + +"I came here," he muttered, "because I dared not go to my own rooms. +I was afraid!" + +Laverick struggled with the contempt he felt. + +"Man alive," he exclaimed, "what was there to be afraid of?" + +"You don't know!" Morrison faltered. "You don't know!" + +Then, for the first time, it occurred to Laverick that perhaps the +financial crisis in their affairs was not the only thing which had +reduced his late partner to this hopeless state. He looked at him +narrowly. + +"Where did you go last night," he asked, "when you left me?" + +"Nowhere," Morrison gasped. "I came here." + +Laverick made a space for himself at the end of the bed, and sat +down. + +"Look here," he said," it's no use sending for me unless you mean +to tell me everything. Have you been getting yourself into any +trouble apart from our affairs, or is there anything in connection +with them which I don't know?" + +Again Morrison opened his lips, and again, for some reason or other, +he remained speechless. Then a certain fear came also upon Laverick. +There was something in Morrison's state which was in itself +terrifying. + +"You had better tell me all about it," Laverick persisted, "whatever +it is. I will help you if I can." + +Morrison shook his head. There was a glass of water by his side. +He thrust his finger into it and passed it across his lips. They +were dry, almost cracking. + +"Look here," he said, "I've got a breakdown - that's what's the +matter with me. My nerves were never good. I'm afraid of going +mad. The anxiety of the last few weeks has been too much for me. +I want to get out of the country quickly, and I don't know how to +manage it. I can't think. Directly I try to think my head goes +round." + +"There is nothing in the world to prevent your going away," Laverick +answered. "It is the simplest matter possible. Even if we had gone +under to-day, no one could have stopped your going wherever you +chose to go. Ruin, even if it had been ruin,- and I told you just +now that business was better,- is not a crime. Pull yourself +together, for Heaven's sake, man! You should be ashamed to come +here and frighten that poor little girl downstairs almost to death." + +Morrison gripped his partner's arm. + +"You must do as I ask," he declared hoarsely. "It doesn't matter +about prices being better. I want to get away. You must help me." + +Laverick looked at him steadily. Morrison was an ordinary young +man of his type, something of a swaggerer, probably at heart a +coward. But this was no ordinary fear - not even the ordinary fear +of a coward. Laverick's face became graver. There was something +else, then! + +"I will get you out of the country if I can," said he. "There is +no difficulty about it at all unless you are concealing something +from me. You can catch a fast steamer to-morrow, either for South +Africa or New York, but before I make any definite plans, hadn't +you better tell me exactly what happened last night?" + +Once more Morrison's lips parted without the ability to frame words. +Then a feeble moan escaped him. He threw up his hands and his head +fell back. The ghastliness of his face spread almost to his lips, +and he sank back among the pillows. Laverick strode across the +room to the door. + +"Are you anywhere about?" he called out. + +The girl was by his side in a moment. + +"There is nothing to be alarmed at," he said, "but your brother has +fainted. Bring me some sal volatile if you have it, and I think +that you had better run out and get a doctor. I will stay with him. +I know exactly what to do." + +She pointed to the dressing-table, where a little bottle was +standing, and ran downstairs without a word. Laverick mixed some +of the spirit, and moved over to the side of the fainting man. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +LAVERICK's PARTNER FLEES + + +The doctor, a grave, incurious person, arrived within a few minutes +to find Morrison already conscious but absolutely exhausted. He +felt his patient's pulse, prescribed a draught, and followed +Laverick. down into the sitting room. + +"An ordinary case of nervous exhaustion," he pronounced. "The +patient appears to have had a very severe shock lately. He will be +all right with proper diet and treatment, and a complete rest. I +will call again to-morrow." + +He accepted the fee which Laverick slipped into his hand, and took +his departure. Once more Laverick was alone with the girl, who had +followed them downstairs. + + +"There is nothing to be alarmed at, you see," he remarked. + +"It is not his health which frightens me. I am sure - I am quite +sure that he has something upon his mind. Did he tell you nothing?" + +"Nothing at all," Laverick answered, with an inward sense of +thankfulness. "To tell you the truth, though, I am afraid you are +right and that he did get into some sort of trouble last night. He +was just about to tell me something when he fainted." + +Upstairs they could hear him moaning. The girl listened with +pitiful face. + +"What am I to do?" she asked. "I cannot leave him like this, and +if I am not at the theatre in twenty minutes, I shall be fined." + +"The theatre?" Laverick repeated. + +She nodded. + +"I am on the stage," she said, - "only a chorus girl at the +Universal, worse luck. Still, they don't allow us to stay away, +and I can't afford to lose my place." + +"Do you mean to say that you have been keeping yourself here, then?" +Laverick asked bluntly. + +"Of course," she answered. "I do not like to be a burden on any +one, and after all, you see, Arthur and I are really not related at +all. He has always told me, too, that times have been so bad lately." + +Laverick was on the point of telling her that bad though they had +been Arthur Morrison had never drawn less than fifteen hundred a +year, but he checked himself. It was not his business to interfere. + +"I think," he said, "that your brother ought to have provided for +you. He could have done so with very little effort." + +"But what am I to do now?" she asked him. "If I am absent, I shall +lose my place." + +Laverick thought for a moment. + +"If you went round there and told them," he suggested, "would that +make any difference? I could stay until you came back." + +"Do you mind?" she asked eagerly. "It would be so kind of you." + +"Not at all," he answered. "Perhaps you would be good enough to +bring a taxicab back, and I could take it on to my rooms. Take +one from here, if you can find it. There are always some at the +corner." + +"I'd love to," she answered. "I must run upstairs and get my hat +and coat." + +He watched her go up on tiptoe for fear of disturbing her brother. +Her feet seemed almost unearthly in the lightness of their pressure. +Not a board creaked. She seemed to float down to him in a most +becoming little hat but a shockingly shabby jacket, of whose +deficiencies she seemed wholly unaware. Her lips were parted once +more in a smile. + +"He is fast asleep and breathing quite regularly," she announced. +"It is nice of you to stay." + +He looked at her almost jealously. + +"Do you know," he said, "you ought not to go about alone?" + +She laughed, softly but heartily. + +"Have you any idea how old I am?" + +"I took you for fourteen when I came inside," he answered. +"Afterwards I thought you might be sixteen. Later on, it seemed +to me possible that you were eighteen. I am absolutely certain +that you are not more than nineteen." + +"That shows how little you know about it. I am twenty, and I am +quite used to going about alone. Will you sit upstairs or here? +I am so sorry that I have nothing to offer you." + +"Thanks, I need nothing. I think I will sit upstairs in case he +wakes." + +She nodded and stole out, closing the door behind her noiselessly. +Laverick watched her from the window until she was out of sight, +moving without any appearance of haste, yet with an incredible +swiftness. When she had turned the corner, he went slowly +upstairs and into the room where Morrison still lay asleep. He +drew a chair to the bedside and leaning forward opened out the +evening paper. The events of the last hour or so had completely +blotted out from his mind, for the time being, his own expedition +into the world of tragical happenings. He glanced at the sleeping +man, then opened his paper. There was very little fresh news +except that this time the fact was mentioned that upon the body +of the murdered man was discovered a sum larger than was at first +supposed. It seemed doubtful, therefore, whether robbery, after +all, was the motive of the crime, especially as it took place in +a neighborhood which was by no means infested with criminals. There +was a suggestion of political motive, a reference to the "Black +Hand," concerning whose doings the papers had been full since the +murder of a well-known detective a few weeks ago. But apart from +this there was nothing fresh. + +Laverick folded up the paper and leaned back in his chair. The +strain of the last twenty-four hours was beginning to tell even upon +his robust constitution. The atmosphere of the room, too, was close. +He leaned back in his chair and was suddenly weary. Perhaps he +dozed. At any rate, the whisper which called him back to realization +of where he was, came to him so unexpectedly that he sat up with a +sudden start. + +Morrison's eyes were open, he had raised himself on his elbow, his +lips were parted. His manner was quieter, but there were black +lines deep engraven under his eyes, in which there still shone +something of that haunting fear. + +"Laverick!" he repeated hoarsely. + +Laverick, fully awakened now, leaned towards him. + +"Hullo," he said, "are you feeling more like yourself?" + +Morrison nodded. + +"Yes," he admitted, "I am feeling - better. How did you come here? +I can't remember anything." + +"You sent for me," Laverick answered. "I arrived to find you +pretty well in a state of collapse. Your sister has gone round to +the theatre to ask them to excuse her this evening." + +"I remember now that I sent for you," Morrison continued. "Tell me, +has any one been around at the office asking after me?" + +"No one particular," Laverick answered, - "no one at all that I can +think of. There were one or two inquiries through the telephone, +but they were all ordinary business matters." + +The man on the bed drew a little breath which sounded like a sigh +of relief. + +"I have made a fool of myself, Laverick," he said hoarsely . + +"You are making a worse one of yourself by lying here and giving +way," Laverick declared, "besides frightening your sister half to +death. + +Morrison passed his hand across his forehead. + +"We talked - some time ago," he went on, "about my getting away. +You promised that you would help me. You said that I could get +off to Africa or America to-morrow." + +"Not the slightest difficulty about that," Laverick answered. "There +are half-a-dozen steamers sailing, at least. At the same time, I +suppose I ought to remind you that the firm is going to pull through. +Mind - don't take this unkindly but the truth is best - I will not +have you back again. There may have to be a more definite +readjustment of our affairs now, but the old business is finished +with." + +"I don't want to come back," Morrison murmured. "I have had enough +of the city for the rest of my life. I'd rather get away somewhere +and make a fresh start. You'll help me, Laverick, won't you?" + +"Yes, I will help you," Laverick promised. + +"You were always a good sort," Morrison continued, "much too good +for me. It was a rotten partnership for you. We could never have +pulled together." + +"Let that go," Laverick interrupted. "If you really mean getting +away, that simplifies matters, of course. Have you made any plans +at all? Where do you want to go?" + +"To New York," answered Morrison; "New York would suit me best. +There is money to be made there if one has something to make a +start with." + +"There will be some more money to come to you," Laverick answered, +"probably a great deal more. I shall place our affairs in the hands +of an accountant, and shall have an estimate drawn up to yesterday. +You shall have every penny that is due to you. You have quite +enough, however, to get there with. I will see to your ticket +to-night, if possible. When you've arrived you can cable me your +address, or you can decide where you will stay before you leave, +and I will send you a further remittance." + +"You're a good sort, Laverick," Morrison mumbled. + +"You'd better give me the key of your rooms," Laverick continued, +"and I will go back and put together some of your things. I suppose +you will not want much to go away with. The rest can be sent on +afterwards. And what about your letters?" + +Morrison, with a sudden movement, threw himself almost out of the +bed. He clutched at Laverick's shoulder frantically. + +"Don't go near my rooms, Laverick!" he begged. "Promise me that you +won't! I don't want any letters! I don't want any of my things!" + +Laverick was dumfounded. + +"You mean you want to go away without - " + +"I mean just what I have said," Morrison continued hysterically. +"If you go there they will watch you, they will follow you, they +will find out where I am. I should be there now but for that." + +Laverick was silent for a moment. The matter was becoming serious. + +"Very well," he said, "I will do as you say. I will not go near +your rooms. I will get you a few things somewhere to start with." + +Morrison sank back upon his pillow. + +"Thank you, Laverick," he said; "thank you. I wish - I wish - " + +His voice seemed to die away. Laverick glanced towards him, +wondering at the unfinished sentence. Once again the man's face +seemed to be convulsed with horror. He flung himself face downward +upon the bed and tore at the sheets with both his hands. + +"Don't be a fool," Laverick said sternly. "If you've anything on +your mind apart from business, tell me about it and I'll do what +I can to help you." + +Morrison made no reply. He was sobbing now like a child. Laverick +rose to his feet and went to the window. What was to be done with +such a creature! When he got back, Morrison had raised himself once +more into a sitting posture. His appearance was absolutely spectral. + +"Laverick," he said feebly, "there is something else, but I cannot +tell you - I cannot tell any one." + +"Just as you please, of course," Laverick answered. "I am simply +anxious to help you." + +"You can do that as it is!" Morrison exclaimed feverishly. "You +must promise me something - promise that if any one asks for me +to-morrow before I get away, you will not tell them where I am. +Say you suppose that I am at my rooms, or that I have gone into +the country for a few days. Say that you are expecting me back. +Don't let any one know that I have gone abroad, until I am safely +away. And then don't tell a soul where I have gone." + +"Have you been up to any tricks with your friends?" Laverick asked +sternly. + +"I haven't - I swear that I haven't," Morrison declared. "It's +something quite outside business - quite outside business altogether." + +"Very well," answered Laverick, "I will promise what you have asked, +then. Listen - here is your sister back again," he added, as he +heard the taxicab stop outside. "Pull yourself together and don't +frighten her so much. I am going down to meet her. I shall tell +her that you are better. Try and buck up when she comes in to see +you." + +"I'll do my best," Morrison said humbly. "If you knew! If you +only knew!" + +He began to sob again. Laverick left the room and, descending the +stairs, met the girl in the hall. Her white face questioned him +before her lips had time to frame the speech. + +"Your brother is very much better," Laverick said. "I am sure that +you need not be anxious about him." + +"I am so glad," she murmured. "They let me off but I had to pay a +fine. I had no idea before that I was so important. Shall I go to +him now?" + +"One moment," Laverick answered, holding open the door of the +sitting-room. "Miss Morrison," he went on, - + +"Miss Leneven is my name," she interrupted. + +"I beg your pardon. Your brother evidently has something on his +mind apart from business. I am afraid that he has been getting +into some sort of trouble. I don't think there is any object in +bothering him about it, but the great thing is to get him away." + +"You will help?" she begged. + +"I will help, certainly," Laverick answered. "I have promised to. +You must see that he is ready to leave here at seven o'clock +to-morrow morning. He wants to go to New York, and the special +to catch the German boat will leave Waterloo somewhere about eight +to eight-thirty." + +"But his clothes!" she cried. "How can he be ready by then?" + +"Your brother does not wish me or any one to go near his rooms or +to send him any of his belongings," Laverick continued quietly. + +"But how strange!" the girl exclaimed. "Do you mean to say, then, +that he is going without anything?" + +"I am afraid," Laverick said kindly, "that we must take it for +granted that your brother has got mixed up in some undesirable +business or other. He is nervously anxious to keep his whereabouts +an entire secret. He has been asking me whether any one has been +to the office to inquire for him. Under the circumstances, I think +the best thing we can do is to humor him. I shall buy him before +to-morrow morning a cheap dressing-case and a ready-made suit of +clothes, and a few things for the voyage. Then I shall send a cab +for you both at seven o'clock and meet you at the station. + +"You are very kind," she murmured. "What should I have done without +you? Oh, I cannot think!" + +The protective instinct in the man was suddenly strong. Naturally +unaffectionate, he was conscious of an almost overmastering desire +to take her hands in his, even to lift her up and kiss away the +tears which shone in her deep, childlike eyes. He reminded himself +that she was a stranger, that her appearance of youth was a delusion, +that she could only construe such an action as a liberty, an +impertinence, offered under circumstances for which there could be +no possible excuse. + +He moved away towards the door. + +"Naturally," he said, "I am glad to be of use to your brother. You +see," he explained, a little awkwardly, "after all, we have been +partners in business." + +He caught a look upon her face and smiled. + +"Naturally, too," he continued, "it has been a great pleasure for +me to do anything to relieve your anxiety." + +She gave him her hands then of her own accord. The gratitude which +shone out of her swimming eyes seemed mingled with something which +was almost invitation. Laverick was suddenly swept off his feet. +Something had come into his life - something absurd, uncounted upon, +incomprehensible. The atmosphere of the room seemed electrified. +In a moment, he had done what only a second or two before he had +told himself would be the action of a cad. He had taken her, +unresisting, up into his arms, kissed her eyes and lips. Afterwards, +he was never able to remember those few moments clearly, only it +seemed to him that she had accepted his caress almost without +hesitation, with the effortless serenity of a child receiving a +natural consolation in a time of trouble. But Laverick was conscious +of other feelings as he leaned hard back in the corner of his taxicab +and was driven swiftly away. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE WAITER AT THE "BLACK POST" + +Laverick, notwithstanding that the hour was becoming late, found an +outfitter's shop in the Strand still open, and made such purchases +as he could on Morrison's behalf. Then, with the bag ready packed, +he returned to his rooms. Time had passed quickly during the last +three hours. It was nearly nine o'clock when he stepped out of the +lift and opened the door of his small suite of rooms with the +latchkey which hung from his chain. He began to change his clothes +mechanically, and he had nearly finished when the telephone bell +upon his table rang. + +"Who's that?" he asked, taking up the receiver. + +"Hall-porter, sir," was the answer. "Person here wishes to see you +particularly." + +"A person!" Laverick repeated. "Man or woman?" + +"Man, sir. + +"Better send him up," Laverick ordered. + +"He's a seedy-looking lot, sir," the porter explained "I told him +that I scarcely thought you'd see him." + +"Never mind," Laverick answered. "I can soon get rid of the fellow +if he's cadging." + +He went back to his room and finished fastening his tie. His own +affairs had sunk a little into the background lately, but the +announcement of this unusual visitor brought them back into his +mind with a rush. Notwithstanding his iron nerves, his fingers +shook as he drew on his dinner-jacket and walked out to the +passageway to answer the bell which rang a few seconds later. A +man stood outside, dressed in shabby black clothes, whose face +somehow was familiar to him, although he could not, for the moment, +place it. + +"Do you want to see me?" Laverick asked. + +"If you please, Mr. Laverick," the man replied, "if you could spare +me just a moment." + +"You had better come inside, then," Laverick said, closing the door +and preceding the way into the sitting-room. At any rate, there +was nothing threatening about the appearance of this visitor - nor +anything official. + +"I have taken the liberty of coming, sir," the man announced, "to +ask you if you can tell me where I can find Mr. Arthur Morrison." + +Laverick's face showed no sign of his relief. What he felt he +succeeded in keeping to himself. + +"You mean Morrison - my partner, I suppose?" he answered. + +"If you please, sir," the man admitted. "I wanted a word or two +with him most particular. I found out his address from the +caretaker of your office, but he don't seem to have been home to +his rooms at all last night, and they know nothing about him there." + +"Your face seems familiar to me," Laverick remarked. "Where do you +come from?" + +The man hesitated. + +"I am the waiter, sir, at the 'Black Post,' - little bar and +restaurant, you know," he added, "just behind your offices, sir, +at the end of Crooked Friars' Alley. You've been in once or +twice, Mr. Laverick, I think. Mr. Morrison 's a regular customer. +He comes in for a drink most mornings." + +Laverick nodded. + + +"I knew I'd seen your face somewhere," he said. "What do you want +with Mr. Morrison?" + +The man was silent. He twirled his hat and looked embarrassed. + +"It's a matter I shouldn't like to mention to any one except Mr. +Morrison himself, sir," he declared finally. "If you could put me +in the way of seeing him, I'd be glad. I may say that it would be +to his advantage, too." + +Laverick was thoughtful for a moment. + +"As it happens, that's a little difficult," he explained. "Mr. +Morrison and I disagreed on a matter of business last night. I +undertook certain responsibilities which he should have shared, +and he arranged to leave the firm and the country at once. We +parted - well, not exactly the best of friends. I am afraid I +cannot give you any information." + +"You haven't seen him since then, sir?" the man asked. + +Laverick lied promptly but he lied badly. His visitor was not in +the least convinced. + +"I am afraid I haven't made myself quite plain, sir," he said. +"It's to do him a bit o' good that I'm here. I'm not wishing him +any harm at all. On the contrary, it's a great deal more to his +advantage to see me than it will be mine to find him." + +"I think," Laverick suggested, "that you had better be frank with +me. Supposing I knew where to catch Morrison before he left the +country, I could easily deal with you on his behalf." + +The man looked doubtful. + +"You see, sir," he replied awkwardly, "it's a matter I wouldn't +like to breathe a word about to any one but Mr. Morrison himself. +It's - it's a bit serious." + +The man's face gave weight to his words. Curiously enough, the +gleam of terror which Laverick caught in his white face reminded +him of a similar look which he had seen in Morrison's eyes barely +an hour ago. To gain time, Laverick moved across the room, took +a cigarette from a box and lit it. A conviction was forming +itself in his mind. There was something definite behind these +hysterical paroxysms of his late partner, something of which this +man had an inkling. + +"Look here," he said, throwing himself into an easychair, "I think +you had better be frank with me. I must know more than I know at +present before I help you to find Morrison, even if he is to be +found. We didn't part very good friends, but I'm his friend enough + - for the sake of others," he added, after a moment's hesitation, +"to do all that I could to help him out of any difficulty he may +have stumbled into. So you see that so far as anything you may have +to say to him is concerned, I think you might as well say it to me." + +"You couldn't see your way, then, sir," the man continued doggedly, +"to tell me where I could find Mr. Morrison himself?" + +"No, I couldn't," Laverick decided. "Even if I knew exactly where +he was - and I'm not admitting that - I couldn't put you in touch +with him unless I knew what your business was. + +The man's eyes gleamed. He was a typical waiter - pasty-faced, +unwholesome-looking - but he had small eyes of a greenish cast, and +they were expressive. + +"I think, sir," he said, "you've some idea yourself, then, that Mr. +Morrison has been getting into a bit of trouble." + +"We won't discuss that," Laverick answered. "You must either go +away - it's past nine o'clock and I haven't had my dinner yet - or +you must treat me as you would Mr. Morrison." + +The man looked upon the carpet for several moments. + +"Very well, sir," he said, "there's no great reason why I should put +myself out about this at all. The only thing is - " + +He hesitated. + +"Well, go on," Laverick said encouragingly. + +"I think," the man continued, "that Mr. Morrison - knowing, as I +well do, sir, the sort of gent he is - would be more likely to talk +common sense with me about this matter than you, sir." + +"I'll imagine I'm Morrison, for the moment," Laverick said smiling, +"especially as I'm acting for him." + +The man looked around the room. The door behind had been left ajar. +He stepped backward and closed it. + +"You'll pardon the liberty, sir," he said, "but this is a serious +matter I'm going to speak about. I'll just tell you a little thing +and you can form your own conclusions. Last night we was open late +at the 'Black Post.' We keep open, sir, as you know, when you +gentlemen at the Stock Exchange are busy. About nine o'clock there +was a strange customer came in. He had two drinks and he sat as +though he were waiting. In about 'arf-an-hour another gent came in, +and they went into a corner together and seemed to be doing some sort +of business. Anyways, there was papers passed between them. I was +fairly busy about then, as there were one or two more customers in +the place, but I noticed these two talking together, and I noticed +the dark gentleman leave. The others went out a few minutes +afterwards, and the gent who had come first was alone in the place. +He sat in the corner and he had a pocket-book on the table before +him. I had a sort of casual glance at it when I brought him a drink, +and it seemed to me that it was full of bank-notes. He sat there +just like a man extra deep in thought. Just after eleven, in came +Mr. Morrison. I could see he was rare and put out, for he was white, +and shaking all over. 'Give me a drink, Jim,' he said, - 'a big +brandy and soda, big as you make 'em."' + +The man paused for a moment as though to collect himself. Laverick +was suddenly conscious of a strange thrill creeping through his +pulses. + +"Go on," he said. "That was after he left me. Go on." + +"He was quite close to the other gent, Mr. Morrison was," the waiter +continued, "but they didn't say nowt to each other. All of a sudden +I see Mr. Morrison set down his glass and stare at the other chap +as though he'd seen something that had given him a turn. I leaned +over the counter and had a look, too. There he sat - this tall, +fair chap who had been in the place so long - with his big +pocket-book on the table in front of him, and even from where I was +I could see that there was a great pile of bank-notes sticking out +from it. All of a sudden he looks up and sees Mr. Morrison +a-watching him and me from behind the counter. Back he whisks the +pocket-book into his pocket, calls me for my bill, gives me two +mouldy pennies for a tip, buttons up his coat and walks out." + +"You know who he was?" Laverick inquired. + +Again the waiter paused for a moment before he answered - paused +and looked nervously around the room. His voice shook. + +"He was the man as was murdered about a hundred yards off the +'Black Post' last night, sir," he said. + +"How do you know?" Laverick asked. + +"I got an hour off to-day," the waiter continued, "and went down to +the Mortuary. There was no doubt about it. There he was - same +chap, same clothes. I could swear to him anywhere, and I reckon +I '11 have to at the inquest." + +Laverick's cigarette burned away between his fingers. It seemed to +him that he was no longer in the room. He was listening to Big +Ben striking the hour, he was back again in that tiny little bedroom +with its spotless sheets and lace curtains. The man on the bed was +looking at him. Laverick remembered the look and shivered. + +"What has this to do with Morrison?" he demanded. + +Once more the waiter looked around in that half mysterious, half +terrified way. + +"Mr. Morrison, sir," he said, dropping his voice to a hoarse whisper, +"he followed the other chap out within thirty seconds. A sort of +queer look he'd got in his face too, and he went out without paying +me. I've read the papers pretty careful, sir," the man went on, +"but I ain't seen no word of that pocket-book of bank-notes being +found on the man as was murdered." + +Laverick threw the end of his burning cigarette away. He walked to +the window, keeping his back deliberately turned on his visitor. +His eyes followed the glittering arc of lights which fringed the +Thames Embankment, were caught by the flaring sky-sign on the other +side of the river. He felt his heart beating with unaccustomed vigor. +Was this, then, the secret of Morrison's terror? He wondered no +longer at his collapse. The terror was upon him, too. He felt his +forehead, and his hand, when he drew it away, was wet. It was not +Morrison alone but he himself who might be implicated in this man's +knowledge. The thoughts flitted through his brain like parts of a +nightmare. He saw Morrison arrested, he saw the whole story of the +missing pocket-book in the papers, he imagined his bank manager +reading it and thinking of that parcel of mysterious bank-notes +deposited in his keeping on the morning after the tragedy. . . +Laverick was a strong man, and his moment of weakness, poignant +though it had been, passed. This was no new thing with which he +was confronted. All the time he had known that the probabilities +were in favor of such a discovery. He set his teeth and turned to +face his visitor. + +"This is a very serious thing which you have told me," he said. +"Have you spoken about it to any one else?" + +"Not a soul, sir," the man answered. "I thought it best to have a +word or two first with Mr. Morrison." + +"You were thinking of attending the inquest," Laverick said +thoughtfully. "The police would thank you for your evidence, and +there, I suppose, the matter would end." + +"You've hit it precisely, sir," the man admitted. "There the matter +would end." + +"On the other hand," Laverick continued, speaking as though he were +reasoning this matter out to himself, "supposing you decided not to +meddle in an affair which does not concern you, supposing you were +not sure as to the identity of your customer last night, and being +a little tired you could not rightly remember whether Mr. Morrison +called in for a drink or not, and so, to cut the matter short, you +dismissed the whole matter from your mind and let the inquest take +its own course, - Laverick paused. His visitor scratched the side +of his chin and nodded. + +"You've put this matter plainly, sir," he said, "in what I call an +understandable, straightforward way. I'm a poor man - I've been a +poor man all my life - and I've never seed a chance before of +getting away from it. I see one now." + +"You want to do the best you can for yourself?" + +"So 'elp me God, sir, I do!" the man agreed. + +Laverick nodded. + +"You have done a remarkably wise thing," he said, "in coming to me +and in telling me about this affair. The idea of connecting Mr. +Morrison with the murder would, of course, be ridiculous, but, on +the other hand, it would be very disagreeable to him to have his +name mentioned in connection with it. You have behaved discreetly, +and you have done Mr. Morrison a service in trying to find him out. +You will do him a further service by adopting the second course I +suggested with regard to the inquest. What do you consider that +service is worth?" + +"It depends, sir," the man answered quietly, "at what price Mr. +Morrison values his life!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE PRICE OF SILENCE + + +The man's manner was expressive. Laverick repeated his phrase, +frowning. + +"His life!" + +"Yes, sir!" + +Laverick shrugged his shoulders. + +"Come," he declared, "you must not go too far with this thing. I +have admitted, so as to clear the way for anything you have to say, +that Mr. Morrison would not care to have his name mentioned in +connection with this affair. But because he left your bar a few +minutes after the murdered man, it is sheer folly to assume that +therefore he is necessarily implicated in his death. I cannot +conceive anything more unlikely." + +The man smiled - a slow, uncomfortable smile which suggested mirth +less than anything in the world. + +"There are a few other things, sir," he remarked, - "one in especial." + +"Well?" Laverick inquired. "Let's have it. You had better tell me +everything that is in your mind." + +"The man was stabbed with a horn-handled knife." + +"I remember reading that," Laverick admitted. + +"Well?" + +"The knife was mine," his visitor affirmed, dropping his voice once +more to a whisper. "It lay on the edge of the counter, close to +where Mr. Morrison was leaning, and as soon as he'd gone I missed it." + +Laverick was silent. What was there to be said? + +"Horn-handled knives," he muttered, "are not rare not uncommon things." + +"One don't possess a knife for a matter of eight or nine years +without being able to swear to it," the other remarked dryly. + +"Is there anything more?" + +"There don't need to be," was the quiet reply. "You know that, sir. +So do I. There don't need to be any more evidence than mine to send +Mr. Morrison to the gallows." + +"We will waive that point," Laverick declared. "The jury sometimes +are very hard to convince by circumstantial evidence alone. However, +as I have said, let us waive that point. Your position is clear +enough. You go to the inquest, you tell all you know, and you get +nothing. You are a poor man, you have worked hard all your life. +The chance has come in your way to do yourself a little good. Now +take my advice. Don't spoil it all by asking for anything ridiculous. +It won't do for you to come into a fortune a few days after this +affair, especially if it ever comes out that the murdered man was in +your place. I am here to act for Mr. Morrison. What is it that you +want?" + +"You are talking like a gent, sir," the man said, - "like a sensible +gent, too. I'd have to keep it quiet, of course, that I'd come into +a bit of money, - just at present, at any rate. I could easy find +an excuse for changing my job - perhaps get away from London +altogether. I've got a few pounds saved and I've always wanted to +open a banking account. A gent like you, perhaps, could put me in +the way of doing it." + +"How much do you consider would be a satisfactory balance to +commence with?" Laverick asked. + +"I was thinking of a thousand pounds, sir." + +Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments. + +"By the way, what is your name?" he inquired at last. + +"James Shepherd, sir," the man answered, - "generally called Jim, +sir." + +"Well, you see, Shepherd," Laverick continued, "the difficulty is, +in your case, as in all similar ones, that one never knows where +the thing will end. A thousand pounds is a considerable sum, but +in four amounts, with three months interval between each, it could +be arranged. This would be better for you, in any case. Two +hundred and fifty pounds is not an unheard-of sum for you to have +saved or got together. After that your investments would be my +lookout, and they would produce, as I have said, another seven +hundred and fifty pounds. But what security have I - has Mr. +Morrison, let us say - that you will be content with this sum?" + +"He hasn't any, sir," the man admitted at once. "He couldn't have +any. I'm a modest-living man, and I've no desire to go shouting +around that I'm independent all of a sudden. That wouldn't do +nohow. A thousand pounds would bring me in near enough a pound a +week if I invested it, or two pounds a week for an annuity, my +health being none too good. I've no wife or children, sir. I was +thinking of an annuity. With two pounds a week I'd have no cause +to trouble any one again." + +Laverick considered. + +"It shall be done," he said. "To-morrow I shall buy shares for +you to the extent of two hundred and fifty pounds. They will be +deposited in a bank. Some day you can look in and see me, and I +will take you round there. You are my client who has speculated +under my instructions successfully, and you will sign your name +and become a customer. After that, you will speculate again. +When your thousand pounds has been made, I will show you how to +buy an annuity. Keep your mouth shut, and last night will be +the luckiest night of your life. Do you drink?" + +"A drop or two, sir," the man admitted. "If I didn't, I guess +I'd go off my chump." + +"Do you talk when you're drunk?" Laverick asked. + +"Never, sir," the man declared. "I've a way of getting a drop +too much when I'm by myself. Then I tumbles off to sleep and +that's the end of it. I've no fancy for company at such times." + +"It's a good thing," Laverick remarked, thrusting his hand into +his pocket. "Here's a five-pound note on account. I daresay you +can manage to keep sober to-night, at any rate. That's all, isn't +it?" + +"That's all, sir," the man answered, "unless I might make so bold as +to ask whether Mr. Morrison has really hooked it?" + +"Mr. Morrison had decided to hook it, as you graphically say, before +he came in for that drink to your bar, Shepherd," Laverick affirmed. +"Business had been none too good with us, and we had had a +disagreement." + +The man nodded. + +"I see, sir," he said, taking up his hat. "Good night, sir!" + +"Good night!" Laverick answered. "You can find your way down?" + +"Quite well, sir, and thank you," declared Mr. Shepherd, closing +the door softly behind him. + +Laverick sat down in his chair. He had forgotten that he was hungry. +He was faced now with a new tragedy. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE LONELY CHORUS GIRL + + +They stood together upon the platform watching the receding train. +The girl's eyes were filled with tears, but Laverick was conscious +of a sense of immense relief. Morrison had been at the station +some time before the train was due to leave, and, although a +physical wreck, he seemed only too anxious to depart. He had all +the appearance of a broken-spirited man. He looked about him on +the platform, and even from the carriage, in the furtive way of a +criminal expecting apprehension at any moment. The whistle of the +train had been a relief as great to him as to Laverick. + +We'11 write you to New York, care of Barclays," Laverick called out. +"Good luck, Morrison! Pull yourself tog-ether and make a fresh +start. + +"Morrison's only reply was a somewhat feeble nod. Laverick had not +attempted to shake hands. He felt himself at the last moment, +stirred almost to anger by the perfunctory farewell which was all +this man had offered to the girl he had treated so inconsiderately. +His thoughts were engrossed upon himself and his own danger. He +would not even have kissed her if she had not drawn his face down +to hers and whispered a reassuring little message. Laverick turned +away. For some reason or other he felt himself shuddering. +Conversation during those last few moments had been increasingly +difficult. The train was off at last, however, and they were alone. + +The girl drew a long breath, which might very well have been one of +relief. They turned silently toward the exit. + +"Are you going back home?" Laverick asked. + +"Yes," she answered listlessly. "There is nothing else to do." + +"Isn't it rather sad for you there by yourself?" + +She nodded. + +"It is the first time," she said. "Another girl and her mother +have lived with me always. They started off last week, touring. +They are paying a little toward the house or I should have to go +into rooms. As it is, I think that it would be more comfortable." + +Laverick looked at her wonderingly. + +"You seem such a child," he said, "to be left all alone in the +world like this." + +"But I am not a child actually, you see," she answered, with an +effort at lightness. "Somehow, though, I do miss Arthur's going. +His father was always very good to me, and made him promise that +he would do what he could. I didn't see much of him, but one felt +always that there was somebody. It's different now. It makes +one feel very lonely." + +"I, too," Laverick said, with commendable mendacity, "am rather a +lonely person. You must let me see something of you now and then." + +She looked up at him quickly. Her gaze was altogether disingenuous, +but her eyes - those wonderful eyes - spoke volumes. + +"If you really mean it," she said, "I should be so glad." + +"Supposing we start to-day," he suggested, smiling. "I cannot ask +you to lunch, as I have a busy day before me, but we might have +dinner together quite early. Then I would take you to the theatre +and meet you afterwards, if you liked." + +"If I liked!" she whispered. "Oh, how good you are." + +"I am not at all sure about that. Now I'll put you in this taxi +and send you home." + +She laughed. + +"You mustn't do anything so extravagant. I can get a 'bus just +outside. I never have taxicabs." + +"Just this morning," he insisted, "and I think he won't trouble you +for his fare. You must let me, please. Remember that there's a +large account open still between your half-brother and me, so you +needn't mind these trifles. Till this evening, then. Shall I +fetch you or will you come to me?" + +"Let me fetch you, if I may," she said. "It isn't nice for you to +come down to where I live. It's such a horrid part." + +"Just as you like," he answered. "I'd be very glad to fetch you +if you prefer it, but it would give me more time if you came. Shall +we say seven o'clock? I've written the address down on this card +so that you can make no mistake." + +She laughed gayly. + +"You know, all the time," she said, "I feel that you are treating +me as though I were a baby. I'll be there punctually, and I don't +think I need tie the card around my neck." + +The cab glided off. Laverick caught a glimpse of a wan little face +with a faint smile quivering at the corner of her lips as she +leaned out for a moment to say good-bye. Then he went back to his +rooms, breakfasted, and made his way to his office. + +The morning papers had nothing new to report concerning the murder +in Crooked Friars' Alley. Evidently what information the police +had obtained they were keeping for the inquest. Laverick, from the +moment when he entered the office, had little or no time to think +of the tragedy under whose shadow he had come. The long-predicted +boom had arrived at last. Without lunch, he and all his clerks +worked until after six o'clock. Even then Laverick found it hard +to leave. During the day, a dozen people or so had been in to ask +for Morrison. To all of them he had given the same reply, - Morrison +had gone abroad on private business for the firm. Very few were +deceived by Laverick's dry statement. He was quite aware that he +was looked upon either as one of the luckiest men on earth, or as +a financier of consummate skill. The failure of Laverick & Morrison +had been looked upon as a certainty. How they had tided over that +twenty-four hours had been known to no one - to no one but Laverick +himself and the manager of his bank. + +Just before four o'clock, the telephone rang at his elbow. + +"Mr. Fenwick from the bank, sir, is wishing to speak to you for a +moment," his head-clerk announced. + +Laverick took up the telephone. + +"Yes," he said, "I am Laverick. Good afternoon, Mr. Fenwick! +Absolutely impossible to spare any time to-day. What is it? The +account is all right, isn't it?" + +"Quite right, Mr. Laverick," was the answer. "At the same time, +if you could spare me a moment I should be glad to see you +concerning the deposit you made yesterday." + +"I will come in to-morrow," Laverick promised. "This afternoon it +is quite out of the question. I have a crowd of people waiting to +see me, and several important engagements for which I am late +already." + +The banker seemed scarcely satisfied. + +"I may rely upon seeing you to-morrow?" he pressed. + +"To-morrow," Laverick repeated, ringing off. + +For a time this last message troubled him. As soon as the day's +work was over, however, and he stepped into his cab, he dismissed +it entirely from his thoughts. It was curious how, notwithstanding +this new seriousness which had come into his life, notwithstanding +that sensation of walking all the time on the brink of a precipice, +he set his face homeward and looked forward to his evening, with a +pleasure which he had not felt for many months. The whirl of the +day faded easily from his mind. He lived no more in an atmosphere +of wild excitement, of changing prices, of feverish anxiety. How +empty his life must have unconsciously grown that he could find so +much pleasure in being kind to a pretty child! It was hard to think +of her otherwise - impossible. A strange heritage, this, to have +been left him by such a person as Arthur Morrison. How in the world, +he wondered, did he happen to have such a connection. + +She was a little shy when she arrived. Laverick had left special +orders downstairs, and she was brought up into his sitting-room +immediately. She was very quietly dressed except for her hat, +which was large and wavy. He found it becoming, but he knew enough +to understand that her clothes were very simple and very inexpensive, +and he was conscious of being curiously glad of the fact. + +"I am afraid," she said timidly, with a glance at his evening attire, +"that we must go somewhere very quiet. You see, I have only one +evening gown and I couldn't wear that. There wouldn't be time to +change afterwards. Besides, one's clothes do get so knocked about +in the dressing-rooms." + +"There are heaps of places we can go to," he assured her pleasantly. +"Of course you can't, dress for the evening when you have to go on +to work, but you must remember that there are a good many other +smart young ladies in the same position. I had to change because I +have taken a stall to see your performance. Tell me, how are you +feeling now?" + +"Rather lonely," she admitted, making a pathetic little grimace. +"That is to say I have been feeling lonely," she added softly. "I +don't now, of course. + +"You are a queer little person," he said kindly, as they went down +in the lift. "Haven't you any friends?" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"What sort of friends could I have?" she asked. "The girls in the +chorus with me are very nice, some of them, but they know so many +people whom I don't, and they are always out to supper, or something +of the sort." + +"And you?" + +She shook her head. + +"I went to one supper-party with the girl who is near me," she said. +"I liked it very much, but they didn't ask me again." + +"I wonder why?" he remarked. + +"Oh, I don't know!" she went on drearily. "You see, I think the +men who take out girls who are in the chorus, generally expect to +be allowed to make love to them. At any rate, they behaved like +that. Such a horrid man tried to say nice things to me and I didn't +like it a bit. So they left me alone afterwards. The girl I lived +with and her mother are quite nice, and they have a few friends we +go to see sometimes on Sunday or holidays. It's dull, though, very +dull, especially now they're away." + +"What on earth made you think of going on the stage at all?" he +asked. + +"What could one do?" she answered. "My mother's money died with +her - she had only an annuity - and my stepfather, who had promised +to look after me, lost all his money and died quite suddenly. Arthur +was in a stockbroker's office and he couldn't save anything. My only +friend was my old music-master, and he had given up teaching and was +director of the orchestra at the Universal. All he could do for me +was to get me a place in the chorus. I have been there ever since. +They keep on promising me a little part but I never get it. It's +always like that in theatres. You have to be a favorite of the +manager's, for some reason or other, or you never get your chance +unless you are unusually lucky." + +"I don't know much about theatres," he admitted. "I am afraid I am +rather a stupid person. When I can get away from work I go into +the country and play cricket or golf, or anything that's going. +When I am up in town, I am generally content with looking up a few +friends, or playing bridge at the club. I never have been a +theatre-goer. + +"I wonder," she asked, as they seated themselves at a small round +table in the restaurant which he had chosen, - "I wonder why every +now and then you look so serious." + +"I didn't know that I did," he answered. "We've had thundering +hard times lately in business, though. I suppose that makes a man +look thoughtful." + +"Poor Mr. Laverick," she murmured softly. "Are things any better +now?" + +"Much better." + +"Then you have nothing really to bother you?" she persisted. + +"I suppose we all have something," he replied, suddenly grave. +"Why do you ask that?" + +She leaned across the table. In the shaded light, her oval face +with its little halo of deep brown hair seemed to him as though +it might have belonged to some old miniature. She was delightful, +like Watteau-work upon a piece of priceless porcelain - delightful +when the lights played in her eyes and the smile quivered at the +corner of her lips. Just now, however, she became very much in +earnest. + +"I will tell you why I ask that question," she said. "I cannot +help worrying still about Arthur. You know you admitted last +night that he had done something. You saw how terribly frightened +he was this morning, and how he kept on looking around as though +he were afraid that he would see somebody whom he wished to avoid. +Oh! I don't want to worry you," she went on, "but I feel so +terrified sometimes. I feel that he must have done something - bad. +It was not an ordinary business trouble which took the life out of +him so completely." + +"It was not," Laverick admitted at once. "He has done something, I +believe, quite foolish; but the matter is in my hands to arrange, +and I think you can assure yourself that nothing will come of it." + +"Did you tell him so this morning?" she asked eagerly. + +"I did not," he answered. "I told him nothing. For many reasons +it was better to keep him ignorant. He and I might not have seen +things the same way, and I am sure that what I am doing is for the +best. If I were you, Miss Leneveu, I think I wouldn't worry any +more. Soon you will hear from your brother that he is safe in +New York, and I think I can promise you that the trouble will +never come to anything serious." + +"Why have you been so kind to him?" she asked timidly. "From what +he said, I do not think that he was very useful to you, and, indeed, +you and he are so different." + +Laverick was silent for a moment. + +"To be honest," he said, "I think that I should not have taken so +much trouble for his sake alone. You see," he continued, smiling, +"you are rather a delightful young person, and you were very +anxious, weren't you?" + +Her hand came across the table - an impulsive little gesture, +which he nevertheless found perfectly natural and delightful. He +took it into his, and would have raised the fingers to his lips +but for the waiters who were hovering around. + +"You are so kind," she said, "and I am so fortunate. I think that +I wanted a friend." + +"You poor child," he answered, "I should think you did. You are +not drinking your wine." + +She shook her head. + +"Do you mind?" she asked. "A very little gets into my head +because I take it so seldom, and the manager is cross if one makes +the least bit of a mistake. Besides, I do not think that I like +to drink wine. If one does not take it at all, there is an excuse +for never having anything when the girls ask you." + +He nodded sympathetically. + +"I believe you are quite right," he said; "in a general way, at any +rate. Well, I will drink by myself to your brother's safe arrival +in New York. Are you ready?" + +She glanced at the clock. + +"I must be there in a quarter of an hour," she told him. + +"I will drive you to the theatre," he said, "and then go round and +fetch my ticket." + +As he waited for her in the reception hall of the restaurant, he +took an evening paper from the stall. A brief paragraph at once +attracted his attention. + + Murder in the City. - We understand that very important + information has come into the hands of the police. An + ARREST is expected to-night or to-morrow at the latest. + +He crushed the paper in his hand and threw it on one side. It was +the usual sort of thing. There was nothing they could have found +out - nothing, he told himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MYSTERIOUS INQUIRIES + + +As soon as he had gone through his letters on the following morning, +Laverick, in response to a second and more urgent message, went +round to his bank. Mr. Fenwick greeted him gravely. He was feeling +keenly the responsibilities of his position. Just how much to say +and how much to leave unsaid was a question which called for a full +measure of diplomacy. + +"You understand, Mr. Laverick," he began, "that I wished to see you +with regard to the arrangement we came to the day before yesterday." + +Laverick nodded. It suited him to remain monosyllabic. + +"Well?" he asked. + +"The arrangement, of course, was most unusual," the manager continued. +"I agreed to it as you were an old customer and the matter was an +urgent one." + +"I do not quite follow you," Laverick remarked, frowning. "What is +it you wish me to do? Withdraw my account?" + +"Not in the least," the manager answered hastily. + +"You know the position of our market, of course," Laverick went on. +"Three days ago I was in a situation which might have been called +desperate. I could quite understand that you needed security to +go on making the necessary payments on my behalf. To-day, things +are entirely different. I am twenty thousand pounds better off, +and if necessary I could realize sufficient to pay off the whole of +my overdraft within half-an-hour. That I do not do so is simply a +matter of policy and prices." + +"I quite understand that, my dear Mr. Laverick," the bank manager +declared. "The position is simply this. We have had a most unusual +and a strictly private inquiry, of a nature which I cannot divulge +to you, asking whether any large sum in five hundred pound banknotes +has been passed through our account during the last few days." + +"You have actually had this inquiry?" Laverick asked calmly. + +"We have. I can tell you no more. The source of the inquiry was, +in a sense, amazing." + +"May I ask what your reply was?" + +"My reply was," Mr. Fenwick said slowly, "that no such notes had +passed through our account. We asked them, however, without giving +any reasons, to repeat their question in a few days' time. Our +reply was perfectly truthful. Owing to your peculiar stipulations, +we are simply holding a certain packet for you in our security +chamber. We know it to contain bank-notes, and there is very little +doubt but that it contains the notes which have been the subject of +this inquiry. I want to ask you, Mr. Laverick, to be so good as to +open that packet, let me credit the notes to your account in the +usual way, and leave me free to reply as I ought to have done in +the first instance to this inquiry." + +"The course which you suggest," replied the other, "is one which I +absolutely decline to take. It is not for me to tell you the nature +of the relations which should exist between a banker and his client. +All that I can say is that those notes are deposited with you and +must remain on deposit, and that the transaction is one which must +be treated entirely as a confidential one. If you decline to do +this, I must remove my account, in which case I shall, of course, +take the packet away with me. To be plain with you, Mr. Fenwick," +he wound up, "I do not intend to make use of those notes, I never +intended to do so. I simply deposited them as security until the +turn in price of 'Unions' came. + +"It is a very nice point, Mr. Laverick," the bank manager remarked. +"I should consider that you had already made use of them." + +"Every one to his own conscience," Laverick answered calmly. + +"You place me in a very embarrassing position, Mr. Laverick." + +"I cannot admit that at all," Laverick replied. "There is only one +inquiry which you could have had which could justify you in insisting +upon what you have suggested. It emanated, I presume, from Scotland +Yard?" + +"If it had," Mr. Fenwick answered, "no considerations of etiquette +would have intervened at all. I should have felt it my duty to +have revealed at once the fact of your deposit. At the same time, +the inquiry comes from an even more important source, - a source +which cannot be ignored." + +Laverick thought for a moment. + +"After all, the matter is a very simple one," he declared. "By +four o'clock this afternoon my account shall be within its limits. +You will then automatically restore to me the packet which you hold +on my behalf, and the possession of which seems to embarrass you." + +"If you do not mind," the banker answered, "I should be glad if you +would take it with you. It means, I think, a matter of six or +seven thousand pounds added to your overdraft, but as a temporary +thing we will pass that." + +"As you will," Laverick assented carelessly. "The charge of those +documents is a trust with me as well as with yourself. I have no +doubt that I can arrange for their being held in a secure place +elsewhere." + +The usual formalities were gone through, and Laverick left the bank +with the brown leather pocket-book in his breast-coat pocket. +Arrived at his office, he locked it up at once in his private safe +and proceeded with the usual business of the day. Even with an +added staff of clerks, the office was almost in an uproar. Laverick +threw himself into the struggle with a whole-hearted desire to +escape from these unpleasant memories. He succeeded perfectly. It +was two hours before he was able to sit down even for a moment. His +head-clerk, almost as exhausted, followed him into his room. + +"I forgot to tell you, sir," he announced, "that there s a man +outside - Mr. Shepherd was his name, I believe - said he had a small +investment to make which you promised to look after personally. He +would insist on seeing you - said he was a waiter at a restaurant +which you visited sometimes." + +"That's all right," Laverick declared. "You can show him in. We'll +probably give him American rails." + +"Can't we attend to it in the office for you, sir?" the clerk asked. +"I suppose it's only a matter of a few hundreds." + +"Less than that, probably, but I promised the fellow I'd look after +it myself. Send him in, Scropes." + +There was a brief delay and then Mr. Shepherd was announced. +Laverick, who was sitting with his coat off, smoking a well-earned +cigarette, looked up and nodded to his visitor as the door was closed. + +"Sorry to keep you waiting," he remarked. "We're having a bit of a +rush." + +The man laid down his hat and came up to Laverick's side. + +"I guess that, sir," he said, "from the number of people we've had +in the 'Black Post' to-day, and the way they've all been shouting +and talking. They don't seem to eat much these days, but there's +some of them can shift the drink." + +"I've got some sound stocks looked out for you," Laverick remarked, +"two hundred and fifty pounds' worth. If you'll just approve that +list as a matter of form," he added, pushing a piece of paper across, +"you can come in to-morrow and have the certificates. I shall tell +them to debit the purchase money to my private account, so that if +any one asks you anything, you can say that you paid me for them." + +"I'm sure I'm much obliged, sir," the man said. "To tell you the +truth," he went on, "I've had a bit of a scare to-day." + +Laverick looked up quickly. + +"What do you mean?" he demanded. + +"May I sit down, sir? I'm a bit worn out. I've been on the go +since half-past ten." + +Laverick nodded and pointed to a chair. Shepherd brought it up to +the side of the table and leaned forward. + +"There's been two men in to-day," he said, "asking questions. They +wanted to know how many customers I had there on Monday night, and +could I describe them. Was there any one I recognized, and so on." + +"What did you say?" + +"I declared I couldn't remember any one. To the best of my +recollection, I told them, there was no one served at all after ten +o'clock. I wouldn't say for certain - it looked as though I might +have had a reason." + +"And were they satisfied?" + +"I don't think they were," Shepherd admitted. "Not altogether, +that is to say." + +"Did they mention any names?" asked Laverick - "Morrison's, for +instance? Did they want to know whether he was a regular customer?" + +"They didn't mention no names at all, sir," the man answered, "but +they did begin to ask questions about my regular clients. Fortunate +like, the place was so crowded that I had every excuse for not +paying any too much attention to them. It was all I could do to +keep on getting orders attended to." + +"What sort of men were they?" Laverick asked. "Do you think that +they came from the police?" + +"I shouldn't have said so," Shepherd replied, "but one can't tell, +and these gentlemen from Scotland Yard do make themselves up so +sometimes on purpose to deceive. I should have said that these two +were foreigners, the same kidney as the poor chap as was murdered. +I heard a word or two pass, and I sort of gathered that they'd a +shrewd idea as to that meeting in the 'Black Post' between the man +who was murdered and the little dark fellow." + +Laverick nodded. + +"Jim Shepherd," he declared, "you appear to me to be a very +sagacious person." + +"I'm sure I'm much obliged, sir; I can tell you, though," he added, +"I don't half like these chaps coming round making inquiries. My +nerves ain't quite what they were, and it gives me the jumps." + +Laverick was thoughtful for a few moments. + +"After all, there was no one else in the bar that night," he +remarked, - "no one who could contradict you?" + +"Not a soul," Jim Shepherd agreed. + +"Then don't you bother," Laverick continued. "You see, you've been +wise. You haven't given yourself away altogether. You've simply +said that you don't recollect any one coming in. Why should you +recollect? At the end of a day's work you are not likely to notice +every stray customer. Stick to it, and, if you take my advice, +don't go throwing any money about, and don't give your notice in +for another week or so. Pave the way for it a bit. Ask the governor +for a rise - say you're not making a living out of it." + +"I'm on," Jim Shepherd remarked, nodding his head. "I'm on to it, +sir. I don't want to get into no trouble, I'm sure." + +"You can't," Laverick answered dryly, "unless you chuck yourself in. +You're not obliged to remember anything. No one can ever prove that +you remembered anything. Keep your eyes open, and let me hear if +these fellows turn up again." + +"I'm pretty certain they will, sir," the man declared. "They sat +about waiting for me to be disengaged, but when my time off came, I +hopped out the back way. They'll be there again to-night, sure +enough." + +Laverick nodded. + +"Well, you must let me know," he said, "what happens." + +Jim Shepherd leaned across the corner of the table and dropped his +voice. + +"It's an awful thing to think of, sir," he whispered, blinking +rapidly. "I wouldn't be that young Mr. Morrison for all that great +pocketful of notes. But my! there was a sight of money there, +sir! He'll be a rich man for all his days if nothing comes out." + +"We won't talk any more about it," Laverick insisted. "It isn't a +pleasant thing to think about or talk about. We won't know anything, +Shepherd. We shall be better off." + +The man took his departure and the whirl of business recommenced. +Laverick turned his back upon the city only a few minutes before +eight and, tired out, he dined at a restaurant on his homeward way. +When at last he reached his sitting-room he threw himself on the +sofa and lit a cigar. Once more the evening papers had no +particular news. This time, however, one of them had a leading +article upon the English police system. The fact that an undetected +murder should take place in a wealthy neighborhood, away from the +slums, a murder which must have been premeditated, was in itself +alarming. Until the inquest had been held, it was better to make +little comment upon the facts of the case so far as they were known. +At the same time, the circumstance could not fail to incite a +considerable amount of alarm among those who had offices in the +vicinity of the tragedy. It was rumored that some mysterious +inquiries were being circulated around London banks. It was +possible that robbery, after all, had been the real motive of the +crime, but robbery on a scale as yet unimagined. The whole interest +of the case now was centred upon the discovery of the man's identity. +As soon as this was solved, some very startling developments might +be expected. + +Laverick threw the paper away. He tried to rest upon the sofa, but +tried in vain. He found himself continually glancing at the clock. + +"To-night," he muttered to himself, - "no, I will not go to-night! +It is not fair to the child. It is absurd. Why, she would think +that I was - " + +He stopped short. + +"I'll change and go to the club," he decided. + +He rose to his feet. Just then there was a ring at his bell. He +opened the door and found a messenger boy standing in the vestibule. + +"Note, sir, for Mr. Stephen Laverick," the boy announced, opening +his wallet. + +Laverick held out his hand. The boy gave him a large square +envelope, and upon the back of it was "Universal Theatre." +Laverick tried to assure himself that he was not so ridiculously +pleased. He stepped back into the room, tore open the envelope, +and read the few lines traced in rather faint but delicate +handwriting. + +Are you coming to fetch me to-night? Don't let me be a nuisance, +but do come if you have nothing to do. I have something to tell +you. + ZOE. + +Laverick gave the boy a shilling for himself and suddenly forgot +that he was tired. He changed his clothes, whistling softly to +himself all the time. At eleven o'clock, he was at the stage-door +of the Universal Theatre, waiting in a taxicab. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +LAVERICK IS CROSS-EXAMINED + + +One by one the young ladies of the chorus came out from the +stage-door of the Universal, in most cases to be assisted into a +waiting hansom or taxicab by an attendant cavalier. Laverick stood +back in the shadows as much as possible, smiling now and then to +himself at this, to him, somewhat novel way of spending the evening. +Zoe was among the last to appear. She came up to him with a +delightful little gesture of pleasure, and took his arm as a matter +of course as he led her across to the waiting cab. + +"This sort of thing is making me feel absurdly young," he declared. +"Luigi's for supper, I suppose?" + +"Supper!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Delightful! Two +nights following, too! I did love last night." + +"We had better engage a table at Luigi's permanently," he remarked. + +"If only you meant it!" she sighed. + +He laughed at her, but he was thoughtful for a few minutes. +Afterwards, when they sat at a small round table in the somewhat +Bohemian restaurant which was the fashionable rendezvous of the +moment for ladies of the theatrical profession, he asked her a +question. + +"Tell me what you meant in your note," he begged. "You said that +you had some information for me. + +"I'm afraid it wasn't anything very much," she admitted. "I found +out to-day that some one had been inquiring at the stage-door about +me, and whether I was connected in any way with a Mr. Arthur +Morrison, the stockbroker." + +"Do you know who it was?" he asked. + +She shook her head. + +"The man left no name at all. I tried to get the doorkeeper to tell +me about him, but he's such a surly old fellow, and he's so used to +that sort of thing, that he pretended he didn't remember anything." + +"It seems odd," he remarked thoughtfully, "that any one should have +found you out. You were so seldom with Morrison. I dare say," he +added, "it was just some one to whom your brother owes some small +sum of money." + +"Very likely," she answered. "But I was going to tell you. He came +again to-night while the performance was on, and sent a note round. +I have brought it for you to see." + +The note - it was really little more than a message - was written +on the back of a programme and enclosed in an envelope evidently +borrowed from the box-office. It read as follows: + +DEAR MISS LENEVEU, + +I believe that Mr. Arthur Morrison is a connection of yours, and I +am venturing to introduce myself to you as a friend of his. Could +you spare me half-an-hour of your company after the performance of +this evening? If you could honor me so much, you might perhaps +allow me to give you some supper. + Sincerely, + PHILIP E. MILES. + + +Laverick felt an absurd pang of jealousy as he handed back the +programme. + +"I should say," he declared, "that this was simply some young man +who was trying to scrape an acquaintance with you because he was +or had been a friend of Morrison's." + +"In that case," answered Zoe, "he is very soon forgotten." + +She tore the programme into two pieces, and Laverick was conscious +of a ridiculous feeling of pleasure at her indifference. + +"If you hear anything more about him," he said, "you might let me +know. You are a brave young lady to dismiss your admirers so +summarily." + +"Perhaps I am quite satisfied with one," laughing softly. + +Laverick told himself that at his age he was behaving like an idiot, +nevertheless his eyes across the table expressed his appreciation +of her speech. + +"Tell me something about yourself, Mr. Laverick," she begged. + +"For instance?" + +"First of all, then, how old are you?" + +He made a grimace. + +"Thirty-eight - thirty-nine my next birthday. Doesn't that seem +grandfatherly to you?" + +"You must not be absurd!" she exclaimed. "It is not even +middle-aged. Now tell me - how do you spend your time generally? +Do you really mean that you go and play cards at your club most +evenings?" + +"I have a good many friends, and I dine out quite a great deal." + +"You have no sisters?" + +"I have no relatives at all in London," he explained. + +"It is to be a real cross-examination," she warned him. + +"I am quite content," he answered. "Go ahead, but remember, though, +that I am a very dull person." + +"You look so young for your years," she declared. "I wonder, have +you ever been in love?" + +He laughed heartily. + +"About a dozen times, I suppose. Why? Do I seem to you like a +misanthrope?" + +"I don't know," she admitted, hesitatingly. "You don't seem to me +as though you cared to make friends very easily. I just felt I +wanted to ask you. Have you ever been engaged?" + +"Never," he assured her. + +"And when was the last time," she asked, "that you felt you cared a +little for any one?" + +"It dates from the day before yesterday," he declared, filling her +glass. + +She laughed at him. + +"Of course, it is nonsense to talk to you like this!" she said. +"You are quite right to make fun of me." + +"On the contrary," he insisted. "I am very much in earnest." + +"Very well, then," she answered, "if you are in earnest you shall +be in love with me. You shall take me about, give me supper every +night, send me some sweets and cigarettes to the theatre - oh, and +there are heaps of things you ought to do if you really mean it!" +she wound up. + +"If those things mean being fond of you," he answered, "I'll prove +it with pleasure. Sweets, cigarettes, suppers, taxicabs at the +stage-door." + +"It all sounds very terrible," she sighed. "It's a horrid little +life." + +"Yet I suppose you enjoy it?" he remarked tentatively. + +"I hate it, but I must do something. I could not live on charity. +If I knew any other way I could make money, I would rather, but +there is no other way. I tried once to give music lessons. I had +a few pupils, but they never paid - they never do pay. + +"I wish I could think of something," Laverick said thoughtfully. +"Of course, it is occupation you want. So far as regards the +monetary part of it, I still owe your brother a great deal - " + +She shook her head, interrupting him with a quick little gesture. + +"No, no!" she declared. "I have never complained about Arthur. +Sometimes he made me suffer, because I know that he was ashamed of +having a relative in the chorus, but I am quite sure that I do not +wish to take any of his money - or of anybody else's," she added. +"I want always to earn my own living." + +"For such a child," he remarked, smiling, "you are wonderfully +independent." + +"Why not?" she answered softly. "It is years since I had any one +to do very much for me. Necessity teaches us a good many things. +Oh, I was helpless enough when it began!" she added, with a little +sigh. "I got over it. We all do. Tell me - who is that woman, +and why does she stare so at you?" + +Laverick looked across the room. Louise and Bellamy were sitting +at the opposite table. The former was strikingly handsome and very +wonderfully dressed. Her closely-clinging gown, cut slightly open +in front, displayed her marvelous figure. She wore long pearl +earrings, and a hat with white feathers which drooped over her fair +hair. Laverick recognized her at once. + +"It is Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "the most wonderful soprano +in the world." + +"Why does she look so at you?" Zoe asked. + +Laverick shook his head. + +"I do not know her," he said. "I know who she is, of course, - every +one does. She is a Servian, and they say that she is devoted to her +country. She left Vienna at a moment's notice, only a few days ago, +and they say that it was because she had sworn never to sing again +before the enemies of her country. She had been engaged a long time +to appear at Covent Garden, but no one believed that she would really +come. She breaks her engagements just when she chooses. In fact, +she is a very wonderful person altogether." + +"I never saw such pearls in my life," Zoe whispered. "And how +lovely she is! I do not understand, though, why she is so +interested in you." + +"She mistakes me for some one, perhaps." + +It certainly seemed probable. Even at that moment she touched +her escort upon the arm, and he distinctly looked across at +Laverick. It was obvious that he was the subject of her +conversation. + +"I know the man," Laverick said. "He was at Harrow with me, and I +have played cricket with him since. But I have certainly never met +Mademoiselle Idiale. One does not forget that sort of person. + +"Her figure is magnificent," Zoe murmured wistfully. "Do you like +tall women very much, Mr. Laverick?" + +"I adore them," he answered, smiling, "but I prefer small ones." + +"We are very foolish people, you and I," she laughed. "We came +together so strangely and yet we talk such frivolous nonsense. + + +"You are making me young again," he declared. + +"Oh, you are quite young enough!" she assured him. "To tell you +the truth, I am jealous. Mademoiselle Idiale looks at you all the +time. Look at her now. Is she not beautiful?" + +There was no doubt about her beauty, but those who were criticising +her - and she was by far the most interesting person in the room - +thought her a little sad. Though Bellamy was doing his utmost to +be entertaining, her eyes seemed to travel every now and then over +his head and out of the room. Wherever her thoughts were, one could +be very sure that they were not fixed upon the subject under +discussion. + +"She is like that when she sings," Laverick remarked. "She has none +of the vivacity of the Frenchwomen. Yet there was never anything +so graceful in the world as the way she moves about the stage." + +"If I were a man," Zoe sighed, "that is the sort of woman I would +die for." + +"If you were a man," he replied, "you would probably find some one +whom you preferred to live for. Do you know, you are rather a +morbid sort of person, Miss Zoe?" + +"Ah, I like that!" she declared. "I will not be called Miss Leneveu +any more by you. You must call me Miss Zoe, please, - Zoe, if you +like." + +"Zoe, by all means. Under the circumstances, I think it is only +fitting." + +His eyes wandered across the room again. + +"Ah!" she cried softly, "you, too, are coming under the spell, then. +I was reading about her only the other day. They say that so many +men fall in love with her - so many men to whom she gives no +encouragement at all." + +Laverick looked into his companion's face. + +"Come," he said, "my heart is not so easily won. I can assure you +that I never aspire to so mighty a personage as a Covent Garden star. +Don't you know that she gets a salary of five hundred pounds a week, +and wears ropes of pearls which would represent ten times my entire +income? Heaven alone knows what her gowns cost!" + +"After all, though," murmured Zoe, "she is a woman. See, your +friend is coming to speak to you." + +Bellamy was indeed crossing the room. He nodded to Laverick and +bowed to his companion. + +"Forgive my intruding, Laverick," he said. "You do remember me, I +hope? Bellamy, you know." + +"I remember you quite well. We used to play together at Lord's, +even after we left school." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"That is so," he answered. "I see by the papers that you have kept +up your cricket. Mine, alas! has had to go. I have been too much +of a rolling stone lately. Do you know that I have come to ask you +a favor?" + +"Go ahead," Laverick interposed. + +"Mademoiselle Idiale has a fancy to meet you," Bellamy explained. +"You know, or I dare say you have heard, what a creature of whims +she is. If you won't come across and be introduced like a good +fellow, she probably won't speak a word all through supper-time, +go off in a huff, and my evening will be spoiled." + +Laverick laughed heartily. A little smile played at the corner of +Zoe's lips - nevertheless, she was looking slightly anxious. + +"Under those circumstances," remarked Laverick, "perhaps I had +better go. You will understand," he added, with a glance at Zoe, +"that I cannot stay for more than a second." + +"Naturally," Bellamy answered. "If Mademoiselle really has anything +to say to you, I will, if I am permitted, return for a moment." + +Laverick introduced him to Zoe. + +"I am sure I have seen you at the Universal," he declared. "You're +in the front row, aren't you? I have seen you in that clever little +step-dance and song in the second act." + +She nodded, evidently pleased. + +"Does it seem clever to you?" she asked wistfully. "You see, we +are all so tired of it." + +"I think it is ripping," Bellamy declared. "I shall have the +pleasure again directly," he added, with a bow. + +The two men crossed the room. + +"What the dickens does Mademoiselle Idiale want with me?" Laverick +demanded. "Does she know that I am a poor stockbroker, struggling +against hard times?" + +Bellamy shrugged his shoulders. + +"She isn't the sort to care who or what you are," he answered. "And +as for the rest, I suppose she could buy any of us up if she wanted +to. Her interest in you is rather a curious one. No time to explain +it now. She'll tell you." + +Louise smiled as he paused before her. She was certainly exquisitely +beautiful. Her dress, her carriage, her delicate hands, even her +voice, were all perfection. She gave him the tips of her fingers as +Bellamy pronounced his name. + +"It is so kind of you," she said, "to come and speak to me. And +indeed you will laugh when I tell you why I thought that I would +like to say one word with you." + +Laverick bowed. + +"I am thankful, Mademoiselle," he replied, "for anything which +procures me such a pleasure." + +She smiled. + +"Ah! you, too, are gallant," she said. "But indeed, then, I fear +you will not be flattered when I tell you why I was so interested. +I read all your newspapers. I read of that terrible murder in +Crooked Friars' Alley only a few days ago, - is not that how you +call the place?" + +Laverick was suddenly grave. What was this that was coming? + +"One of the reports," she continued, "says that the man was a +foreigner. The maker's name upon his clothes was Austrian. I, +too, come from that part of Europe - if not from Austria, from a +country very near - and I am always interested in my country-people. +A few moments ago I asked my friend Mr. Bellamy, 'Where is this +Crooked Friars' Alley?' Just then he bowed to you, and he answered +me, 'It is in the city. It is within a yard or two of the offices +of the gentleman to whom I just have said good-evening.' So I +looked across at you and I thought that it was strange." + +Laverick scarcely knew what to say. + +"It was a terrible affair," he admitted, "and, as Mr. Bellamy has +told you, it occurred within a few steps of my office. So far, too, +the police seem completely at a loss." + +"Ah!" she went on, shaking her head, "your police, I am afraid they +are not very clever. It is too bad, but I am afraid that it is so. +Tell me, Mr. Laverick, is this, then, a very lonely spot where your +offices are?" + +"Not at all," Laverick replied. "On the contrary, in the daytime +it might be called the heart of the city - of the money-making part +of the city, at any rate. Only this thing, you see, seems to have +taken place very late at night." + +"When all the offices were closed," she remarked. + +"Most of them," Laverick answered. "Mine, as it happened, was open +late that night. I passed the spot within half-an-hour or so of +the time when the murder must have been committed." + +"But that is terrible!" she declared, shaking her head. "Tell me, +Mr. Laverick, if I drive to your office some morning you will show +me this place, - yes?" + +"If you are in earnest, Mademoiselle, I will certainly do so, but +there is nothing there. It is just a passage." + +"You give me your address," she insisted, "and I think that I will +come. You are a stockbroker, Mr. Bellamy tells me. Well, sometimes +I have a good deal of money to invest. I come to you and you will +give me your advice. So! You have a card!" + +Laverick found one and scribbled his city address upon it. She +thanked him and once more held out the tips of her fingers. + +"So I shall see you again some day, Mr. Laverick." + +He bowed and recrossed the room. Bellamy was standing talking to +Zoe. + +"Well," he asked,. as Laverick returned, "are you, too, going to +throw yourself beneath the car?" + +Laverick shook his head. + +"I do not think so," he answered. "Our acquaintance promises to be +a business one. Mademoiselle spoke of investing some money though +me." + +Bellamy laughed. + +"Then you have kept your heart," he remarked. "Ah, well, you have +every reason!" + +He bowed to Zoe, nodded to Laverick, and returned to his place. +Laverick looked after him a little compassionately. + +"Poor fellow," he said. + +"Who is he?" + +"He has some sort of a Government appointment," Laverick answered. +"They say he is hopelessly in love with Mademoiselle Idiale." + +"Why not?" Zoe exclaimed. "He is nice. She must care for some +one. Why do you pity him?" + +"They say, too, that she has no more heart than a stone," Laverick +continued, "and that never a man has had even a kind word from her. +She is very patriotic, and all the thoughts and love she has to +spare from herself are given to her country." + +Zoe shuddered. + +"Ah!" she murmured, "I do not like to think of heartless women. +Perhaps she is not so cruel, after all. To me she seems only very, +very sad. Tell me, Mr. Laverick, why did she send for you?" + +"I imagine," said he, "that it was a whim. It must have been a +whim." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +MADEMOISELLE IDIALE'S VISIT + + +Laverick, on the following morning, found many things to think +about. He was accustomed to lunch always at the same restaurant, +within a few yards of his office, and with the same little company +of friends. Just as he was leaving, an outside broker whom he +knew slightly came across the room to him. + +"Tell me, Laverick," he asked, "what's become of your partner?" + +"He has gone abroad for a few weeks. As a matter of fact, we shall +be announcing a change in the firm shortly." + +"Queer thing," the broker remarked. "I was in Liverpool yesterday, +and I could have sworn that I saw him hanging around the docks. I +should never have doubted it, but Morrison was always so careful +about his appearance, and this fellow was such a seedy-looking +individual. I called out to him and he vanished like a streak." + +"It could scarcely have been Morrison," Laverick said. "He sailed +several days ago for New York." + +"That settles it," the man declared, passing on. "All the same, +it was the most extraordinary likeness I ever saw." + +Laverick, on his way back, went into a cable office and wrote out +a marconigram to the Lusitania, + + Have you passenger Arthur Morrison on board? Reply. + +He signed his name and paid for an answer. Then he went back to +his office. + +"Any one to see me?" he inquired. + +"Mr. Shepherd is here waiting," his clerk told him, - "queer +looking fellow who paid you two hundred and fifty pounds in cash +for some railway stock." + +Laverick nodded. + +"I'll see him," he said. "Anything else?" + +"A lady rang up - name sounded like a French one, but we could none +of us catch what it was - to say that she was coming down to see you." + +"If it is Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick directed, "I must see her +directly she arrives. How are you, Shepherd?" he added, nodding to +the waiter as he passed towards his room. "Come in, will you? +You've got your certificates all right?" + +Mr. James Shepherd had the air of a man with whom prosperity had not +wholly agreed. He was paler and pastier-looking than ever, and his +little green eyes seemed even more restless. His attire - a long +rough overcoat over the livery of his profession - scarcely enhanced +the dignity of his appearance. + +"Well, what is it?" Laverick asked, as soon as the door was closed. + +"Our bar is being watched," the man declared. "I don't think it's +anything to do with the police. Seems to be a sort of foreign gang. +They're all round the place, morning, noon, and night. They've +pumped everybody." + +"There isn't very much," Laverick remarked slowly, "for them to find +out except from you." + +"They've found out something, anyway," Shepherd continued. "My +junior waiter, unfortunately, who was asleep in the sitting-room, +told them he was sure there were customers in the place between ten +and twelve on Monday night, because they woke him up twice, talking. +They're beginning to look at me a bit doubtful." + +"I shouldn't worry," Laverick advised. "The inquest's on now and +you haven't been called. I don't fancy you're running any sort of +risk. Any one may say they believe there were people in the, bar +between those hours, but there isn't any one who can contradict you +outright. Besides, you haven't sworn to anything. You've simply +said, as might be very possible, that you don't remember any one." + +"It makes me a bit nervous, though," Shepherd remarked apologetically. +"They're a regular keen-looking tribe, I can tell you. Their eyes +seem to follow you all over the place." + +"I shall come in for a drink presently myself," Laverick declared. +"I should like to see them. I might get an idea as to their +nationality, at any rate." + +"Very good, sir. I'm sure I'm doing just as you suggested. I've +said nothing about leaving, but I'm beginning to grumble a bit at +the work, so as to pave the way. It's a hard job, and no mistake. +I had thirty-nine chops between one and half-past, single-handed, +too, with only a boy to carry the bread and that, and no one to +serve the drinks unless they go to the counter for them. It's +more than one man's work, Mr. Laverick." + +Laverick assented. + +"So much the better," he declared. "All the more excuse for your +leaving. + +"You '11 be round sometime to-day, sir, then?" the man asked, taking +up his hat. + +"I shall look in for a few moments, for certain," Laverick answered. +"If you get a chance you must point out to me one of those fellows." + +Jim Shepherd departed. There was a shouting of newspaper boys in +the street outside. Laverick sent out for a paper. The account of +the inquest was brief enough, and there were no witnesses called +except the men who had found the dead body. The nature of the +wounds was explained to the jury, also the impossibility of their +having been self-inflicted. In the absence of any police evidence +or any identification, the discussion as to the manner of the death +was naturally limited. The jury contented themselves by bringing +in a verdict of "Wilful murder against some person or persons +unknown." Laverick laid down the paper. The completion of the +inquest was at least the first definite step toward safety. The +question now before him was what to do with that twenty thousand +pounds. He sat at his desk, looking into vacancy. After all, had +he paid too great a price? The millstone was gone from around his +neck, something new and incomprehensible had crept into his life. +Yet for a background there was always this secret knowledge. + +A clerk announcing Mademoiselle Idiale broke in upon his reflections. +Laverick rose from his seat to greet his visitor. She was +wonderfully dressed, as usual, yet with the utmost simplicity, - a +white serge gown with a large black hat, but a gown that seemed to +have been moulded on to her slim, faultless figure. She brought with +her a musical rustle, a slight suggestion of subtle perfumes - a +perfume so thin and ethereal that it was unrecognizable except in its +faint suggestion of hothouse flowers. She held out her hand to +Laverick, who placed for her at once an easy-chair. + +"This is indeed an honor, Mademoiselle." + +She inclined her head graciously. + +"You are very kind," said she. "I know that here in the city you +are very busy making money all the time, so I must not stay long. +Will you buy me some stocks, - some good safe stocks, which will +bring me in at least four per cent?" + +"I can promise to do that," Laverick answered. "Have you any +choice?" + +"No, I have no choice," Louise told him. "I bring with me a cheque, + - see, I give it to you, - it is for six thousand pounds. I would +like to buy some stocks with this, and to know the names so that I +may watch them in the paper. I like to see whether they go up or +down, but I do not wish to risk their going down too much. It is +something like gambling but it is no trouble." + +"Your money shall be spent in a few minutes, Mademoiselle," Laverick +assured her, "and I think I can promise you that for a week or two, +at any rate, your stocks will go up. With regard to selling - " + +"I leave everything to you," she interrupted, "only let me know what +you propose." + +"We will do our best," Laverick promised. + +"It is good," she said. "Money is a wonderful thing. Without it +one can do little. You have not forgotten, Mr. Laverick, that you +were going to show me this passage?" + +"Certainly not. Come with me now, if you will. It is only a yard +or two away." + +He took her out into the street. Every clerk in the office forgot +his manners and craned his neck. Outside, Mademoiselle let fall +her veil and passed unrecognized. Laverick showed her the entry. + +"It was just there," he explained, "about half a dozen yards up on +the left, that the body was found." + +She looked at the place steadily. Then she looked along the +passage. + +"Where does it lead to - that?" she asked. + +"Come and I will show you. On the left" - as they passed along the +flagged pavement - "is St. Nicholas Church and churchyard. On the +right here there are just offices. The street in front of us is +Henschell Street. All of those buildings are stockbrokers' offices." + +"And directly opposite," she asked, - "that is a caf‚, is it not, + - a restaurant, as you would call it?" + +Laverick nodded. + +"That is so," he agreed. "One goes in there sometimes for a drink." + +"And a meeting place, perhaps?" she inquired. "It would probably +be a meeting place. One might leave there and walk down this +passage naturally enough." + +Laverick inclined his head. + +"As a matter of fact," he declared, "I think that the evidence went +to prove that there were no visitors in the restaurant that night. +You see, all these offices round here close at six or seven o'clock, +and the whole neighborhood becomes deserted." + +She shrugged her shoulders impatiently. + +"Your English police, they do not know how to collect evidence. In +the hands of Frenchmen, this mystery would have been solved long +before now. The guilty person would be in the hands of the law. +As it is, I suppose that he will go free." + +"Well, we must give the police a chance, at any rate," answered +Laverick. "They haven't had much time so far." + +"No," she admitted, "they have not had much time. I wonder - " She +hesitated for a moment and did not conclude her sentence. "Come," +she exclaimed, with a little shiver, "let us go back to your office! +This place is not cheerful. All the time I think of that poor man. +It does make me frightened." + +Laverick escorted his visitor back to the electric brougham which +was waiting before his door. + +"A list of stocks purchased on your behalf will reach you by +to-night's post," he promised her. "We shall do our best in your +interests." + +He held out his hand, but she seemed in no hurry to let him go. + +"You are very kind, Mr. Laverick. I would like to see you again +very soon. You have heard me sing in Samson and Delilah?" + +"Not yet, but I am hoping to very shortly." + +"To-night," she declared, "you must come to the Opera House. I +leave a box for you at the door. Send me round a note that you +are there, and it is possible that I may see you. It is against +the rules, but for me there are no rules." + +Laverick hesitating, she leaned forward and looked into his face. + +"You are doing something else?" she protested. "You were, perhaps, +thinking of taking out again the little girl with whom you were +sitting last night?" + +"I had half promised - " + +"No, no!" she exclaimed, holding his hand tighter. "She is not for +you - that child. She is too young. She knows nothing. Better to +leave her alone. She is not for a man of the world like you. Soon +she would cease to amuse you. You would be dull and she would still +care. Oh, there is so much tragedy in these things, Mr. Laverick +- so much tragedy for the woman! It is she always who suffers. You +will take my advice. You will leave that little girl alone." + +Laverick smiled. + +"I am afraid," said he, "that I cannot promise that so quickly. You +see, I have not known her long, but she has very few friends and I +think that she would miss me. Perhaps," he added, after a second's +pause, "I care for her too much." + +"It is not for you," she answered scornfully, "to care too much. +An Englishman, he cares never enough. A woman to him is something +amusing, - his companion for a little of his spare time, something +to be pleased about, to show off to his friends, - to share, even, +the passion of the moment. But an Englishman he does not care too +much. He never cares enough. He does not know what it is to care +enough." + +"Mademoiselle, there may be truth in what you say, and again there +may not. We have the name, I know, of being cold lovers, but at +least we are faithful." + +She held up her hand with a little grimace. + +"Oh, how I do hate that word!" she exclaimed. "Who is there, indeed, +who wishes that you would be faithful? How much we poor women do +suffer from that! Why can you never understand that a woman would +be cared for very, very much, with all the strength and all the +passion you can conceive, but let it not last for too long. It gets +weary. It gets stale. It is as you say, - the Englishman he cares +very little, perhaps, but he cares always; and the woman, if she be +an artiste and a woman, she tires. But good afternoon, Mr. Laverick! +I must not keep you here on the pavement talking of these frivolous +matters. You come to-night?" + +"You are very kind," Laverick said. "If I may come until eleven +o'clock, it would give me the greatest pleasure." + +"As you will," she declared. "We shall see. I expect you, then. +You ask for your box." + +"If you wish it, certainly." + +She smiled and waved her hand. + +"You will tell him, please," she directed, "to drive to Bond Street." + +Laverick re-entered his office, pausing for a minute to give his +clerk instructions for the purchase of stocks for Mademoiselle +Idiale. He had scarcely reached his own room when he was told that +Mr. James Shepherd wished to speak to him for a moment upon the +telephone. He took up the receiver. + +"Who is it?" he asked. + +"It is Shepherd," was the answer. "Is that Mr. Laverick?" + +"Yes!" + +"You were outside the restaurant here a few minutes ago," Shepherd +continued. "You had with you a lady - a young, tall lady with a +veil." + +"That's right," Laverick admitted. "What about her?" + +"One of the two men who watch always here was reading the paper in +the window," Shepherd went on hoarsely. "He saw her with you and +I heard him mutter something as though he had received a shock. He +dropped his glass and his paper. He watched you every second of +the time you were there until you had disappeared. Then he, too, +put on his hat and went out." + +"Anything else?" + +"Nothing else," was the reply. "I thought you might like to know +this, sir. The man recognized the lady right enough." + +"It seems queer," Laverick admitted. "Thank you for ringing me up, +Shepherd. Good morning!" + +Laverick leaned back in his chair. There was no doubt whatever now +in his mind but that Mademoiselle Idiale, for some reason or other, +was interested in this crime. Her wish to see the place, her +introduction to him last night and her purchase of stocks, were all +part of a scheme. He was suddenly and absolutely convinced of it. +As friend or foe, she was very certainly about to take her place +amongst the few people over whom this tragedy loomed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +ACTIVITY OF AUSTRIAN SPIES + + +Louise left her brougham in Piccadilly and walked across the Green +Park. Bellamy, who was waiting, rose up from a seat, hat in hand. +She took his arm in foreign fashion. They walked together towards +Buckingham Palace - a strangely distinguished-looking couple. + +"My dear David," she said, "the man perplexes me. To look at him, +to hear him speak, one would swear that he was honest. He has just +those clear blue eyes and the stolid face, half stupid and half +splendid, of your athletic Englishman. One would imagine him doing +a foolishly honorable thing, but he is not my conception of a +criminal at all." + +Bellamy kicked a pebble from the path. His forehead wore a perplexed +frown. + +"He didn't give himself away, then?" + +"Not in the least." + +"He took you out and showed you the spot where it happened?" + +"Without an instant's hesitation." + +"As a matter of curiosity," asked Bellamy, "did he try to make +love to you?" + +She shook her head. + +"I even gave him an opening," she said. "Of flirtation he has no +more idea than the average stupid Englishman one meets." + +Bellamy was silent for several moments. + +"I can't believe," he said, "that there is the least doubt but that +he has the money and the portfolio. I have made one or two other +inquiries, and I find that his firm was in very low water indeed +only a week ago. They were spoken of, in fact, as being hopelessly +insolvent. No one can imagine how they tided over the crisis." + +"The man who was watching for you?" she inquired. + +"He makes no mistakes," Bellamy assured her. "He saw Laverick enter +that passage and come out. Afterwards he went back to his office, +although he had closed up there and had been on his homeward way. +The thing could not have been accidental." + +"Why do you not go to him openly?" she suggested. "He is, after +all, an Englishman, and when you tell him what you know he will be +very much in your power. Tell him of the value of that document. +Tell him that you must have it." + +"It could be done," Bellamy admitted. "I think that one of us must +talk plainly to him. Listen, Louise, - are you seeing him again?" + +"I have invited him to come to the Opera House to-night." + +"See what you can do," he begged. "I would rather keep away from +him myself, if I can. Have you heard anything of Streuss?" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Nothing directly," she replied, "but my rooms have been searched + - even my dressing-room at the Opera House. That man's spies are +simply wonderful. He seems able to plant them everywhere. And, +David! - " + +"Yes, dear?" + +"He has got hold of Lassen," she continued. "I am perfectly +certain of it." + +Then the sooner you get rid of Lassen, the better," Bellamy +declared. + +"It is so difficult," she murmured, in a perplexed tone. "The man +has all my affairs in his hands. Up till now, although he is +uncomely, and a brute in many ways, he has served me well." + +"If he is Streuss's creature he must go," Bellamy insisted. + +She nodded. + +"Let us sit down for a few minutes," she said. "I am tired." + +She sank on to a seat and Bellamy sat by her side. In full view +of them was Buckingham Palace with its flag flying. She looked +thoughtfully at it and across to Westminster. + +"Do they know, I wonder, your country-people?" she asked. + +"Half-a-dozen of them, perhaps," he answered gloomily, no more. + +"To-day," she declared, "I seem to have lost confidence. I seem to +feel the sense of impending calamity, to hear the guns as I walk, +to see the terror fall upon the faces of all these great crowds who +throng your streets. They are a stolid, unbelieving people - these. +The blow, when it comes, will be the harder." + +Bellamy sighed. + +"You are right," he said. "When one comes to think of it, it is +amazing. How long the prophets of woe have preached, and how +completely their teachings have been ignored! The invasion bogey +has been so long among us that it has become nothing but a jest. +Even I, in a way, am one of the unbelievers." + +"You are not serious, David!" she exclaimed. + +"I am," he affirmed. "I think that if we could read that document +we should see that there is no plan there for the immediate invasion +of England. I think you would find that the blow would be struck +simultaneously at our Colonies. We should either have to submit or +send a considerable fleet away from home waters. Then, I presume, +the question of invasion would come again. All the time, of course, +the gage would be flung down, treaties would be defied, we should be +scorned as though we were a nation of weaklings. Austria would +gather in what she wanted, and there would be no one to interfere." + +Louise was very pale but her eyes were flashing fire. + +"It is the most terrible thing which has happened in history," she +said, "this decadence of your country. Once England held the scales +of justice for the world. Now she is no longer strong enough, and +there is none to take her place. David, even if you know what that +document contains, even then will it help very much?" + +"Very much indeed. Don't you see that there is one hope left to +us - one hope - and that is Russia? The Czar must be made to +withdraw from that compact. We want to know his share in it. When +we know that, there will be a secret mission sent to Russia. Germany +and Austria are strong, but they are not all the world. With Russia +behind and France and England westward, the struggle is at least an +equal one. They have to face both directions, they have to face two +great armies working from the east and from the west." + +She nodded, and they sat there in silence for several moments. +Bellamy was thinking deeply. + +"You say, Louise," he asked, looking up quickly, "that your rooms +have been searched. When was this?" + +"Only last night," she replied. + +Bellamy drew a little sigh of relief. + +"At any rate," he said, "Streuss has no idea that the document is +not in our possession. He knows nothing about Laverick. How are +we going to deal with him, Louise, when he comes for his answer?" + +"You have a plan?" she asked. + +"There is only one thing to be done," Bellamy declared. "I shall +say that we have already handed over the document to the English +Government. It will be a bluff, pure and simple. He may believe +it or he may not." + +"You will break your compact then," she reminded him. + +"I shall call myself justified," he continued. "He has attempted +to rob us of the document. You are sure of what you say - that your +rooms and dressing-room have been searched?" + +"Absolutely certain," she declared. + +"That will be sufficient," Bellamy decided. "If Streuss comes to +me, I shall meet him frankly. I shall tell him that he has tried +to play the burglar and that it must be war. I shall tell him that +the compact is in the hands of the Prime Minister, and that he and +his spies had better clear out." + +She looked at him questioningly. + +"Of course, you understand," he added, "there is one thing we can +do, and one thing only. We must send a mission to Russia and another +to France, and before the German fleet can pass down the North Sea +we must declare war. It is the only thing left to us - a bold front. +Without that packet we have no casus belli. With it, we can strike, +and strike hard. I still believe that if we declare war within seven +days, we shall save ourselves." + +Streuss and Kahn looked, too, across the panorama of London, across +the dingy Adelphi Gardens, the turbid Thames, the smoke-hung world +beyond. They were together in Streuss's sitting-room on the seventh +floor of one of the great Strand hotels. + +"Our enterprise is a failure!" Kahn exclaimed gloomily. "We cannot +doubt it any longer. I think, Streuss, that the best course you +and I could adopt would be to realize it and to get back. We do no +good here. We only run needless risks." + +The face of the other man was dark with anger. His tone, when he +spoke, shook with passion. + +"You don't know what you say, Kahn!" he cried hoarsely. "I tell you +that we must succeed. If that document reaches the hands of any one +in authority here, it would be the worst disaster which has fallen +upon our country since you or I were born. You don't understand, +Kahn! You keep your eyes closed!" + +"What men can do we have done," the other answered. "Von Behrling +played us false. He has died a traitor's death, but it is very +certain that he parted with his document before he received that +twenty thousand pounds." + +"Once and for all, I do not believe it!" Streuss declared. "At +mid-day, I can swear to it that the contents of that envelope were +unknown to the Ministers of the King here. Now if Von Behrling +had parted with that document last Monday night, don't you suppose +that everything would be known by now? He did not part with it. +Bellamy and Mademoiselle lie when they say that they possess it. +That document remains in the possession of Von Behrling's murderer, +and it is for us to find him." + +Kahn sighed. + +"It is outside our sphere - that. What can we do against the police +of this country working in their own land?" + +Streuss struck the table before which they were standing. The veins +in his temples were like whipcord. + +"Adolf," he muttered, "you talk like a fool! Can't you see what it +means? If that document reaches its destination, what do you suppose +will happen?" + +"They will know our plans, of course," Kahn answered. "They will +have time to make preparation." + +Streuss laughed bitterly. + +"Worse than that!" he exclaimed. "They are not all fools, these +English statesmen, though one would think so to read their speeches. +Can't you see what the result would be if that document reaches +Downing Street? War at a moment's notice, war six months too soon! +Don't you know that every shipbuilding yard in Germany is working +night and day? Don't you know that every nerve is being strained, +that the muscles of the country are hammering the rivets into our +new battleships? There is but one chance for this country, and if +her statesmen read that document they will know what it is. It is +open to them to destroy the German navy utterly, to render themselves +secure against attack." + +"They would never have the courage," Kahn declared. "They might +make a show of defending themselves if they were attacked, but to +take the initiative - no! I do not believe it." + +"There is one man who has wit enough to do it," Streuss said. "He +may not be in the Cabinet, but he commands it. Kahn, wake up, man! +You and I together have never known what failure means. I tell you +that that document is still to be bought or fought for, and we must +find it. This morning Mademoiselle drove into the city and called +at the offices of a stockbroker within a dozen yards of Crooked +Friars' Alley. She was there a long time. The stockbroker himself +came out with her into the street, took her to see the entry, stood +with her there and returned. What was her interest in him, Kahn? +His name is Laverick. Four days ago he was on the brink of ruin. +To the amazement of every one, he met all his engagements. Why did +Mademoiselle go to the city to see him? He was at his office late +that Tuesday night. He had a partner who has disappeared." + +Kahn looked at his companion with admiration. + +"You have found all this out!" he exclaimed. + +"And more," Streuss declared. "For twenty-four hours, this man +Laverick has not moved without my spies at his heels." + +"Why not approach him boldly?" Kahn suggested. "If he has the +document, let us outbid Mademoiselle Louise, and do it quickly." + +Streuss shook his head. + +"You don't know the man. He is an Englishman, and if he had any +idea what that document contained, our chances of buying it would +be small indeed. This is what I think will happen. Mademoiselle +will try to obtain it, and try in vain. Then Bellamy will tell him +the truth, and he will part with it willingly. In the meantime, I +believe that it is in his possession. + +"The evidence is slender enough," objected Kahn. + +"What if it is!" Streuss exclaimed. "If it is only a hundred to one +chance, we have to take it. I have no fancy for disgrace, Adolf, +and I know very well what will happen if we go back empty-handed." + +The telephone bell rang. Streuss took off the receiver and held it +to his ear. The words which he spoke were few, but when he laid +the instrument down there was a certain amount of satisfaction in +his face. + +"At any rate," he announced, "this man Laverick did not part with +the document to-day. Mademoiselle Louise and Bellamy have been +sitting in the Park for an hour. When they separated, she drove +home and dropped him at his club. Up till now, then, they have not +the document. We shall see what Mr. Laverick does when he leaves +business this evening; if he goes straight home, either the document +has never been in his possession, or else it is in the safe in his +office; if he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale's - " + +"Well?" Kahn asked eagerly. + +"If he goes to Mademoiselle Idiale's," Streuss repeated slowly, +"there is still a chance for us!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +LAVERICK AT THE OPERA + + +Laverick, in presenting his card at the box office at Covent Garden +that evening, did so without the slightest misconception of the +reasons which had prompted Mademoiselle Idiale to beg him to become +her guest. It was sheer curiosity which prompted him to pursue this +adventure. He was perfectly convinced that personally he had no +interest for her. In some way or other he had become connected in +her mind with the murder which had taken place within a few yards of +his office, and in some other equally mysterious manner that murder +had become a subject of interest to her. Either that, or this was +one of the whims of a spoiled and pleasure-surfeited woman. + +He found an excellent box reserved for him, and a measure of +courtesy from the attendants not often vouchsafed to an ordinary +visitor. The opera was Samson and Delilah, and even before her +wonderful voice thrilled the house, it seemed to Laverick that no +person more lovely than the woman he had come to see had ever moved +upon any stage. It appeared impossible that movement so graceful +and passionate should remain so absolutely effortless. There +seemed to be some strange power inside the woman. Surely her will +guided her feet! The necessity for physical effort never once +appeared. Notwithstanding the slight prejudice which he had felt +against her, it was impossible to keep his admiration altogether +in check. The fascination of her wonderful presence, and then her +glorious voice, moved him with the rest of the audience. He +clapped as the others did at the end of the first act, and he +leaned forward just as eagerly to catch a glimpse of her when she +reappeared and stood there with that marvelous smile upon her lips, +accepting with faint, deprecating gratitude the homage of the +packed house. + +Just before the curtain rose upon the second act, there was a knock +at his box door. One of the attendants ushered in a short man of +somewhat remarkable personality. He was barely five feet in height, +and an extremely fat neck and a corpulent body gave him almost the +appearance of a hunchback. He had black, beady eyes, a black +moustache fiercely turned up, and sallow skin. His white gloves +had curious stitchings on the back not common in England, and his +silk hat, exceedingly glossy, had wider brims than are usually +associated with Bond Street. + +Laverick half rose, but the little man spread out one hand and +commenced to speak. His accent was foreign, but, if not an +Englishman, he at any rate spoke the language with confidence. + +"My dear sir," he began, "I owe you many apologies. It was +Mademoiselle Idiale's wish that I should make your acquaintance. +My name is Lassen. I have the fortune to be Mademoiselle's business +manager. + +"I am very glad to meet you, Mr. Lassen," said Laverick. "Will +you sit down?" + +Mr. Lassen thereupon hung his hat upon a peg, removed his overcoat, +straightened his white tie with the aid of a looking-glass, brushed +back his glossy black hair with the palms of his hands, and took +the seat opposite Laverick. His first question was inevitable. + +"What do you think of the opera, sir?" + +"It is like Mademoiselle Idiale herself," Laverick answered. "It +is above criticism." + +"She is," Mr. Lassen said firmly, "the loveliest woman in Europe +and her voice is the most wonderful. It is a great combination, +this. I myself have managed for many stars, I have brought to +England most of those whose names are known during the last ten +years; but there has never been another Louise Idiale, - never will +be." + +I can believe it," Laverick admitted. + +She has wonderful qualities, too," continued Mr. Lassen. "Your +acquaintance with her, I believe, sir, is of the shortest." + +"That is so," Laverick answered, a little coldly. He was not +particularly taken with his visitor. + +"Mademoiselle has spoken to me of you," the latter proceeded. +"She desired that I should pay my respects during the performance." + +"It is very kind of you," Laverick answered. "As a matter of fact, +it is exceedingly kind, also, of Mademoiselle Idiale to insist +upon my coming here to-night. She did me the honor, as you may +know, of paying me a visit in the city this morning." + +"So she did tell me," Mr. Lassen declared. "Mademoiselle is a +great woman of business. Most of her investments she controls +herself. She has whims, however, and it never does to contradict +her. She has also, curiously enough, a preference for the men of +affairs." + +Laverick had reached that stage when he felt indisposed to discuss +Mademoiselle any longer with a stranger, even though that stranger +should be her manager. He nodded and took up his programme. As +he did so, the curtain rang up upon the next act. Laverick turned +deliberately towards the stage. The little man had paid his respects, +as he put it. Laverick felt disinclined for further conversation +with him. Yet, though his head was turned, he knew very well that +his companion's eyes were fixed upon him. He had an uncomfortable +sense that he was an object of more than ordinary interest to this +visitor, that he had come for some specific object which as yet he +had not declared. + +"You will like to go round and see Mademoiselle," the latter +remarked, some time afterwards. + +Laverick shook his head. + +"I shall find another opportunity, I hope, to congratulate her." + +"But, my dear sir, she expects to see you," Mr. Lassen protested. +"You are here at her invitation. It is usual, I can assure you." + +"Mademoiselle Idiale will perhaps excuse me," Laverick said. "I +have an engagement immediately after the performance is over." + +His companion muttered something which Laverick could not catch, +and made some excuse to leave the box a few minutes later. When +he returned, he carried a little, note which he presented to +Laverick with an air of triumph. + +"It is as I said!" he exclaimed. "Mademoiselle expects you." + +Laverick read the few lines which she had written. + + I wish to see you after the performance. If you cannot come + round or escort me yourself, will you come later to the restaurant + of Luigi, where, as always, I shall sup. Do not fail. + Louise Idiale. + +Laverick placed the note in his waistcoat pocket without immediate +remark. Later on he turned to his companion. + +"Will you tell Mademoiselle Idiale," he said, "that I will do myself +the honor of coming to her at Luigi's restaurant. I have an +engagement after the performance which I must keep." + +"You will certainly come?" Lassen asked anxiously. + +"Without a doubt," Laverick promised. + +Mr. Lassen took up his hat... + +"I will go and tell Mademoiselle. For some reason or other she +seemed particularly desirous of seeing you this evening. She has +her whims, and those who have most to do with her, like myself, +find it well to keep them gratified. If I do not see you again, +sir, permit me to wish you good evening." + +He disappeared with several bows of his pudgy little person, and +Laverick was left with another puzzle to solve. He was not in the +least conceited, and he did not for a moment misinterpret this +woman's interest in him. Her invitation, he knew very well, was +one which half London would have coveted. Yet it meant nothing +personal, he was sure of that. It simply meant that for some +mysterious reason, the same reason which had prompted her to visit +him in the city he was of interest to her. + +At a few minutes before eleven Laverick left the place and drove +to the stage-door of the Universal Theatre. Zoe came out among the +first and paused upon the threshold, looking up and down the street +eagerly. When she recognized him, her smile was heavenly. + +"Oh, how nice of you!" she exclaimed, stepping at once into his +taxicab. "You don't know how different it feels to hope that there +is some one waiting for you and then to find your hope come true. +To-night I was not sure. You had said nothing about it, and yet I +could not help believing that you would be here." + +"I was hoping," he said, "that we might have another supper together. +Unfortunately, I have an engagement." + +"An engagement?" she repeated, her face falling. + +Laverick loved the truth and he seldom hesitated to tell it. + +"It is rather an odd thing," he declared. "You remember that woman +at Luigi's last night - Mademoiselle Idiale?" + +"Of course." + +"She came to my office to-day and gave me six thousand pounds to +invest for her. She made me take her out and show her where the +murder was committed, and asked a great many questions about it. +Then she insisted that I should go and hear her sing this evening, +and I find that I was expected to take her on to supper afterwards. +I excused myself for a little while, but I have promised to go to +Luigi's, where she will be." + +The girl was silent for a moment. + +"Where are we going now, then?" she asked. + +"Wherever you like. I can take you home first, or I can leave you +anywhere." + +She looked at him with a piteous little smile. + +"The last two nights you have spoiled me," she said. "I have so +many evil thoughts and I am afraid to go home." + +"I am sorry. If I could think of anything or anywhere - " + +"No, you must take me home, please," said she. "It was selfish of +me. Only Mademoiselle Idiale is such a wonderful person. Do you +think that she will want you every night?" + +"Of course not," he laughed. "Come, I will make an engagement with +you. We will have supper together to-morrow evening." + +She brightened up at once. + +"I wonder," she asked timidly, a few minutes afterwards, "have you +heard anything from Arthur? He promised to send a telegram from +Queenstown." + +Laverick shook his head. He said nothing about the marconigram he +had sent, or the answer which he had received informing him that +there was no such person on board. It seemed scarcely worth while +to worry her. + +"I have heard nothing," he replied. "Of course, he must be half-way +to America by now." + +"There have been no more inquiries about him?" she asked. + +"No more than the usual ones from his friends, and a few creditors. +The latter I am paying as they come. But there is one thing you +ought to do with me. I think we ought to go to his rooms and lock +up his papers and letters. He never even went back, you know, after +that night." + +She nodded thoughtfully. + +"When would you like to do this?" + +"I am so busy just now that I am afraid I can spare no time until +Monday afternoon. Would you go with me then?" + +"Of course... My time is my own. We have no matinee, and I have +nothing to do except in the evening." + +They had reached her home. It looked very dark and very uninviting. +She shivered as she took her latchkey from the bag which she was +carrying. + +"Come in with me, please, while I light the gas," she begged. "It +looks so dreary, doesn't it?" + +"You ought to have some one with you," he declared, "especially in +a part like this." + +"Oh, I am not really afraid," she answered. "I am only lonely." + +He stood in the passage while she felt for a box of matches and lit +the gas jet. In the parlor there was a bowl of milk standing waiting +for her, and some bread. + +"Thank you so much," she said. "Now I am going to make up the fire +and read for a short time. I hope that you will enjoy your supper + - well, moderately," she added, with a little laugh. + +"I can promise you," he answered, "that I shall enjoy it no more than +last night's or to-morrow night's." + +She sighed. + +"Poor little me!" she exclaimed. "It is not fair to have to compete +with Mademoiselle Idiale. Good night!" + +Something he saw in her eyes moved him strangely as he turned away. + +"Would you like me," he asked hesitatingly, "supposing I get away +early - would you like me to come in and say good night to you +later on?" + +Her face was suddenly flushed with joy. + +"Oh, do!" she begged. "Do!" + +He turned away with a smile. + +"Very well," he said. "Don't shut up just yet and I will try." + +"I shall stay here until three o'clock," she declared, - "until +four, even. You must come. Remember, you must come. See." + +She held out to him her key. + +"I can knock at the door," he protested. "You would hear me." + +"But I might fall asleep," she answered. "I am afraid. If you have +the key, I am sure that you will come." + +He put it in his waistcoat pocket with a laugh. + +"Very well," he said, "if it is only for five minutes, I will come." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A SUPPER PARTY AT LUIGI'S + + +Laverick walked into Luigi's Restaurant at about a quarter to +twelve, and found the place crowded with many little supper-parties +on their way to a fancy dress ball. The demand for tables was far +in excess of the supply, but he had scarcely shown himself before +the head maitre d'hotel came hurrying up. + +"Mademoiselle Idiale is waiting for you, sir," he announced at once. +"Will you be so good as to come this way?" + +Laverick followed him. She was sitting at the same table as last +night, but she was alone, and it was laid, he noticed with surprise, +only for two. + +"You have treated me," she said, as she held out her fingers, "to +a new sensation. I have waited for you alone here for a quarter of +an hour - I! Such a thing has never happened to me before." + +"You do me too much honor," Laverick declared, seating himself and +taking up the carte. + +"Then, too," she continued, "I sup alone with you. That is what I +seldom do with any man. Not that I care for the appearance," she +added, with a contemptuous wave of the hand. "Nothing troubles me +less. It is simply that one man alone wearies me. Almost always +he will make love, and that I do not like. You, Mr. Laverick, I am +not afraid of. I do not think that you will make love to me." + +"Any intentions I may have had," Laverick remarked, with a sigh, "I +forthwith banish. You ask a hard task of your cavaliers, though, +Mademoiselle." + +She smiled and looked at him from under her eyelids. + +"Not of you, I fancy, Mr. Laverick," she said. "I do not think that +you are one of those who make love to every woman because she is +good-looking or famous." + +"To tell you the truth," Laverick admitted, "I find it hard to make +love to any one. I often feel the most profound admiration for +individual members of your sex, but to express one's self is +difficult - sometimes it is even embarrassing. For supper?" + +"It is ordered," she declared. "You are my guest." + +"Impossible!" Laverick asserted firmly. "I have been your guest +at the Opera. You at least owe me the honor of being mine for +supper." + +She frowned a little. She was obviously unused to being contradicted. + +"I sup with you, then, another night," she insisted. "No," she +continued, "If you are going to look like that, I take it back. I +sup with you to-night. This is an ill omen for our future +acquaintance. I have given in to you already - I, who give in to +no man. Give me some champagne, please." + +Laverick took the bottle from the ice-pail by his side, but the +sommelier darted forward and served them. + +"I drink to our better understanding of one another, Mr. Laverick," +she said, raising her glass, "and, if you would like a double toast, +I drink also to the early gratification of the curiosity which is +consuming you." + +"The curiosity? " + +"Yes! You are wondering all the time why it is that I chose last +night to send and have you presented to me, why I came to your +office in the city to-day with the excuse of investing money with +you, why I invited you to the Opera to-night, why I commanded you +to supper here and am supping with you alone. Now confess the +truth; you are full of curiosity, is it not so?" + +"Frankly, I am." + +She smiled good-humoredly. + +"I knew it quite well. You are not conceited. You do not believe, +as so many men would, that I have fallen in love with you. You +think that there must be some object, and you ask yourself all the +time, 'What is it?' in your heart, Mr. Laverick, I wonder whether +you have any idea." + +Her voice had fallen almost to a whisper. She looked at him with a +suggestion of stealthiness from under her eyelids, a look which only +needed the slightest softening of her face to have made it something +almost irresistible. + +"I can assure you," Laverick said firmly, "that I have no idea." + +"Do you remember almost my first question to you?" she asked. + +"It was about the murder. You seemed interested in the fact that +my office was within a few yards of the passage where it occurred." + +"Quite right," she admitted. "I see that your memory is very good. +There, then, Mr. Laverick, you have the secret of my desire to meet +you." + +Laverick drank his wine slowly. The woman knew! Impossible! Her +eyes were watching his face, but he held himself bravely. What +could she know? How could she guess? + +"Frankly," he said, "I do not understand. Your interest in me +arises from the fact that my offices are near the scene of that +murder. Well, to begin with, what concern have you in that?" + +"The murdered man," she declared thoughtfully, "was an acquaintance +of mine." + +"An acquaintance of yours!" Laverick exclaimed. "Why, he has not +been identified. No one knows who he was." + +She raised her eyebrows very slightly. + +"Mr. Laverick," she murmured, "the newspapers do not tell you +everything. I repeat that the murdered man was an acquaintance of +mine. Only three days ago I traveled part of the way from Vienna +with him." + +Laverick was intensely interested. + +"You could, perhaps, throw some light, then, upon his death?" + +"Perhaps I could," she answered. "I can tell you one thing, at any +rate, Mr. Laverick, if it is news to you. At the time when he was +murdered, he was carrying a very large sum of money with him. This +is a fact which has not been spoken of in the Press." + +Once again Laverick was thankful for those nerves of his. He sat +quite still. His face exhibited nothing more than the blank +amazement which he certainly felt. + +"This is marvelous," he said. "Have you told the police?" + +"I have not," she answered. "I wish, if I can, to avoid telling +the police." + +"But the money? To whom did it belong?" + +"Not to the murdered man." + +"To any one whom you know of?" he inquired. + +"I wonder," she said, after a moment of hesitation, "whether I am +telling you too much." + +"You are telling me a good deal," he admitted frankly. + +"I wonder how far," she asked, "you will be inclined to reciprocate?" + +"I reciprocate!" he exclaimed. "But what can I do? What do I know +of these things?" + +She stretched out her hand lazily, and drew towards her a wonderful +gold purse set with emeralds. Carefully opening it, she drew from +the interior a small flat pocketbook, also of gold, with a great +uncut emerald set into its centre. This, too, she opened, and drew +out several sheets of foreign note-paper pinned together at the top. +These she glanced through until she came to the third or fourth. +Then she bent it down and passed it across the table to Laverick. + +"You may read that," she said. "It is part of a report which I have +had in my pos session since Wednesday morning." + +Laverick drew the sheet towards him and read, in thin, angular +characters, very distinct and plain: + + Some ten minutes after the assault, a policeman passed down + the street but did not glance toward the passage. The next + person to appear was a gentleman who left some offices on the + same side as the passage, and walked down evidently on his + homeward way. He glanced up the passage and saw the body + lying there. He disappeared for a moment and struck a match. + A minute afterwards he emerged from the passage, looked up and + down the street, and finding it empty returned to the office + from which he had issued, let himself in with his latchkey, + and closed the door behind him. He was there for about ten + minutes. When he reappeared, he walked quickly down the street + and for obvious reasons I was unable to follow him. + + The address of the offices which he left and re-entered was + Messrs. Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers. + +"That interests you, Mr. Laverick?" she asked softly. + +He handed it back to her. + +"It interests me very much," he answered. "Who was this unseen +person who wrote from the clouds?" + +"I may not tell you all my secrets, Mr. Laverick," she declared. +"What have you done with that twenty thousand pounds?" + +Laverick helped himself to champagne. He listened for a moment to +the music, and looked into the wonderful eyes which shone from that +beautiful face a few feet away. Her lips were slightly parted, her +forehead wrinkled. There was nothing of the accuser in her +countenance; a gentle irony was its most poignant expression. + +"Is this a fairy tale, Mademoiselle Idiale?" + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"It might seem so," she answered. "Sometimes I think that all the +time we live two lives, - the life of which the world sees the +outside, and the life inside of which no one save ourselves knows +anything at all. Look, for instance, at all these people - these +chorus girls and young men about town - the older ones, too - all +hungry for pleasure, all drinking at the cup of life as though they +had indeed but to-day and to-morrow in which to live and enjoy. +Have they no shadows, too, no secrets? They seem so harmless, yet +if the great white truth shone down, might one not find a murderer +there, a dying man who knew his terrible secret, yonder a Croesus +on the verge of bankruptcy, a strong man playing with dishonor? But +those are the things of the other world which we do not see. The +men look at us to-night and they envy you because you are with me. +The women envy me more because I have emeralds upon my neck and +shoulders for which they would give their souls, and a fame +throughout Europe which would turn their foolish heads in a very +few minutes. But they do not know. There are the shadows across +my path, and I think that there are the shadows across yours. What +do you say, Mr. Laverick?" + +He looked at her, curiously moved. Now at last he began to believe +that it was true what they said of her, that she was indeed a +marvelous woman. She had a fame which would have contented nine +hundred and ninety-nine women out of a thousand. She had beauty, +and, more wonderful still, the grace, the fascination which are +irresistible. She had but to lift a finger and there were few +who would not kneel to do her bidding. And yet, behind it all there +were other things in her life. Had she sought them, or had they +come to her? + +"You are one of those wise people, Mr. Laverick," she said, "who +realize the danger of words. You believe in silence. Well, silence +is often good. You do not choose to admit anything." + +"What is there for me to admit? Do you want to know whether I am +the man who left those offices, who disappeared into the passage, +who reappeared again - " + +"With a pocket-book containing twenty thousand pounds," she murmured +across the flowers. + +"At least tell me this?" he demanded. "Was the money yours?" + +"I am not like you," she replied. "I have talked a great deal and +I have reached the limit of the things which I may tell you." + +"But where are we?" he asked. "Are you seriously accusing me of +having robbed this murdered man?" + +"Be thankful," she declared, "that I am not accusing you of having +murdered him." + +"But seriously," he insisted, "am I on my defence have I to account +for my movements that night as against the written word of your +mysterious informant? Is it you who are charging me with being a +thief? Is it to you I am to account for my actions, to defend myself +or to plead guilty?" + +She shook her head. + +"No," she answered. "I have said almost my last word to you upon +this subject. All that I have to ask of you is this. If that +pocket-book is in your possession, empty it first of its contents, +then go over it carefully with your fingers and see if there is not +a secret pocket. If you discover that, I think that you will find +in it a sealed document. If you find that document, you must bring +it to me." + +The lights went down. The voice of the waiter murmured something +in his ears. + +"It is after hours," Mademoiselle Idiale said, "but Luigi does not +wish to disturb us. Still, perhaps we had better go." + +They passed down the room. To Laverick it was all - like a dream - +the laughing crowd, the flushed men and bright-eyed women, the +lowered lights, the air of voluptuousness which somehow seemed to +have enfolded the place. In the hall her maid came up. A small +motor-brougham, with two servants on the box, was standing at the +doorway. Mademoiselle turned suddenly and gave him her hand. + +"Our supper-party, I think, Mr. Laverick," she said, "has been quite +a success. We shall before long, I hope, meet again." + +He handed her into the carriage. Her maid walked with them. The +footman stood erect by his side. There were no further words to be +spoken. A little crowd in the doorway envied him as he stood +bareheaded upon the pavement. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +JIM SHEPHERD'S SCARE + +It was, in its way, a pathetic sight upon which Laverick gazed when +he stole into that shabby little sitting-room. Zoe had fallen +asleep in a small, uncomfortable easy-chair with its back to the +window. Her supper of bread and milk was half finished, her hat +lay upon the table. A book was upon her lap as though she had +started to read only to find it slip through her fingers. He stood +with his elbow upon the mantelpiece, looking down at her. Her +eyelashes, long and silky, were more beautiful than ever now that +her eyes were closed. Her complexion, pale though she was, seemed +more the creamy pallor of some southern race than the whiteness of +ill-health. The bodice of her dress was open a few inches at the +neck, showing the faint white smoothness of her flawless skin. +Not even her shabby shoes could conceal the perfect shape of her +feet and ankles. Once more he remembered his first simile, his +first thought of her. She seemed, indeed, like some dainty +statuette, uncouthly clad, who had strayed from a world of her +own upon rough days and found herself ill-equipped indeed for the +struggle. His heart grew hot with anger against Morrison as he +stood and watched her. Supposing she had been different! It +would have been his fault, leaving her alone to battle her way +through the most difficult of all lives. Brute! + +He had muttered the word half aloud and she suddenly opened her +eyes. At first she seemed bewildered. Then she smiled and sat up. + +"I have been asleep!" she exclaimed. + +"A most unnecessary statement," he answered, smiling. "I have +been standing looking at you for five minutes at least." + +"How fortunate that I gave you the key!" she declared. "I don't +suppose I should ever have heard you. Now please stand there in +the light and let me look at you." + +"Why?" + +"I want to look at a man who has had supper with Mademoiselle +Idiale." + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"Am I supposed to be a wanderer out of Paradise, then?" + +She looked at him doubtfully. + +"They tell strange stories about her," she said; "but oh, she is so +beautiful! If I were a man, I should fall in love with her if she +even looked my way." + +"Then I am glad," he answered, "that I am less impressionable." + +"And you are not in love with her?" she asked eagerly. + +"Why should I be?" he laughed. "She is like a wonderful picture, a +marvelous statue, if you will. Everything about her is faultless. +But one looks at these things calmly enough, you know. It is life +which stirs life." + +"Do you think that there is no life in her veins, then?" Zoe asked. + +"If there is," he answered, "I do not think that I am the man to stir +it." + +She drew a little sigh of content. + +"You see," she said, "you are my first admirer, and I haven't the +least desire to let you go." + +"Incredible!" he declared. + +"But it is true," she answered earnestly. "You would not have me +talk to these boys who come and hang on at the stage-door. The men +to whom I have been introduced by the other girls have been very +few, and they have not been very nice, and they have not cared for +me and I have not cared for them. I think," she said, disconsolately, +"I am too small. Every one to-day seems to like big women. Cora +Sinclair, who is just behind me in the chorus, gets bouquets every +night, and simply chooses with whom she should go out to supper." + +Laverick looked grave. + +"You are not envying her?" he asked. + +"Not in the least, as long as I too am taken out sometimes." + +Laverick smiled and sat on the arm of her chair. + +"Miss Zoe," he said, "I have come because you told me to, just to +prove, you see, that I am not in the toils of Mademoiselle Idiale. +But do you know that it is half past one? I must not stay here any +longer." + +She sighed once more. + +"You are right," she admitted, "but it is so lonely. I have never +been here without May and her mother. I have never slept alone in +the house before the other night. If I had known that they were +going away, I should never have dared to come here." + +"It is too bad," he declared. "Couldn't you get one of the other +girls to stay with you?" + +She shook her head. + +"There are one or two whom I would like to have," she said, "but +they are all living either at home or with relatives. The others I +am afraid about. They seem to like to sit up so late and - " + +"You are quite right," he interrupted hastily, - "quite right. You +are better alone. But you ought to have a servant." + +She laughed. + +"On two pounds fifteen a week?" she asked. "You must remember that +I could not even live here, only I have practically no rent to pay." + +He fidgeted for a moment. + +"Miss Zoe," he said, "I am perfectly serious when I tell you that I +have money which should go to your brother. Why will you not let me +alter your arrangements just a little ? I cannot bear to think of +you here all alone." + +"It is very kind of you," she answered doubtfully; "but please, no. +Somehow, I think that it would spoil everything if I accepted that +sort of help from you. If you have any money of Arthur's, keep it +for a time and I think when you write him - I do not want to seem +grasping - but I think if he has any to spare you might suggest that +he does give me just a little. I have never had anything from him +at all. Perhaps he does not quite understand how hard it is for me. + +"I will do that, of course," Laverick answered, "but I wish you +would let me at least pay over a little of what I consider due to +you. I will take the responsibility for it. It will come from him +and not from me." + +She remained unconvinced. + +"I would rather wait," she said. "If you really want to give me +something, I will let you - out of my brother's money, of course, +I mean," she added. "I haven't anything saved at all, or I wouldn't +have that. But one day you shall take me out and buy me a dress and +hat. You can tell Arthur directly you write to him. I don't mind +that, for sometimes I do feel ashamed - I did the other night to +have you sit with me there, and to feel that I was dressed so very +differently from all of them." + +He laughed reassuringly. + +"I don't think men notice those things. To me you seemed just as +you should seem. I only know that I was glad enough to be there +with you." + +"Were you?" - rather wistfully. + +"Of course I was. Now I am going, but before I go, don't forget +Monday afternoon. We'll have lunch and then go to your brother's +rooms." + +She glanced at the clock. + +"Is it really so late?" she asked. + +"It is. Don't you notice how quiet it is outside?" + +They stood hand in hand for a moment. A strange silence seemed to +have fallen upon the streets. Laverick was suddenly conscious of +something which he had never felt when Mademoiselle Idiale had +smiled upon him - a quickening of the pulses, a sense of gathering +excitement which almost took his breath away. His eyes were fixed +upon hers, and he seemed to see the reflection of that same wave +of feeling in her own expressive face. Her lips trembled, her eyes +were deeper and softer than ever. They seemed to be asking him a +question, asking and asking till every fibre of his body was +concentrated in the desperate effort with, which he kept her at +arm's length. + +"Is it so very late?" she whispered, coming just a little closer, +so that she was indeed almost within the shelter of his arms. + +He clutched her hands almost roughly and raised them to his lips. + +"Much too late for me to stay here, child," he said, and his voice +even to himself sounded hard and unnatural. + +"Run along to bed. To-morrow night - to-morrow night, then, I will +fetch you. Good-bye!" + +He let himself out. He did not even look behind to the spot where +he had left her. He closed the front door and walked with swift, +almost savage footsteps down the quiet Street, across the Square, +and into New Oxford Street. Here he seemed to breathe more freely. +He called a hansom and drove to his rooms. + +The hall-porter had left his post in the front hall, and there was +no one to inform Laverick that a visitor was awaiting him. When he +entered his sitting-room, however, he gave a little start of surprise. +Mr. James Shepherd was reclining in his easy-chair with his hands +upon his knees - Mr. James Shepherd with his face more pasty even +than usual, his eyes a trifle greener, his whole demeanor one of +unconcealed and unaffected terror. + +"Hullo!" Laverick exclaimed. "What the dickens - what do you want +here, Shepherd?" + +"Upon my word, sir, I'm not sure that I know," the man replied, +"but I'm scared. I've brought you back the certificates of them +shares. I want you to keep them for me. I'm terrified lest they +come and search my room. I am, I tell you fair. I'm terrified to +order a pint of beer for myself. They're watching me all the time." + +"Who are?" Laverick demanded. + +"Lord knows who;" Shepherd answered, "but there's two of them at it. +I told you about them as asked questions, and I thought there we'd +done and finished with it. Not a bit of it ! There was another one +there this afternoon, said he was a journalist, making sketches of +the passage and asking me no end of questions. He wasn't no +journalist, I'll swear to that. I asked him about his paper. +'Half-a-dozen,' he declared. 'They're all glad to have what I send +them.' Journalist! Lord knows who the other chap was and what he +was asking questions for, but this one was a 'tec, straight. Joe +Forman, he was in to-day looking after my place, for I'd given a +month's notice, and he says to me, "You see that big chap?' - meaning +him as had been asking me the questions - and I says "Yes!' and he +says, 'That's a 'tee. I've seed him in a police court, giving +evidence.' I went all of a shiver so that you could have knocked me +down." + +"Come, come!" said Laverick. "There's no need for you to be feeling +like this about it. All that you've done is not to have remembered +those two customers who were in your restaurant late one night. +There's nothing criminal in that." + +"There's something criminal in having two hundred and fifty pounds' +worth of shares in one's pocket - something suspicious, anyway," +Shepherd declared, plumping them down on the table. "I ain't giving +you these back, mind, but you must keep 'em for me. I wish I'd never +given notice. I think I'll ask the boss to keep me on." + +"Why do you suppose that this man is particularly interested in you?" +Laverick inquired. + +"Ain't I told you?" Shepherd exclaimed, sitting up. "Why, he's +been to my place down in 'Ammersmith, asking questions about me. +My landlady swears he didn't go into my room, but who can tell +whether he did or not? Those sort of chaps can get in anywhere. +Then I went out for a bit of an airing after the one o'clock rush +was over to-day, and I'm danged if he wasn't at my 'eels. I seed +him coming round by Liverpool Street just as I went in a bar to get +a drop of something." + +Laverick frowned. + +"If there is anything in this Story, Shepherd," he said, "if you +are really being followed, what a thundering fool you were to come +here! All the world knows that Arthur Morrison was my partner." + +"I couldn't help it, sir," the man declared. "I couldn't, indeed. +I was so scared, I felt I must speak about it to some one. And then +there were these shares. There was nowhere I could keep 'em safe." + +"Look here," Laverick went on, "you're alarming yourself about +nothing. In any case, there is only one thing for you to do. Pull +yourself together and put a bold face upon it. I'll keep these +certificates for you, and when you want some money you can come +to me for it. Go back to your place, and if your master is willing +to keep you on perhaps it would be a good thing to stay there for +another month or so. But don't let any one see that you're +frightened. Remember, there's nothing that you can get into trouble +for. No one's obliged to answer such questions as you've been asked, +except in a court and under oath. Stick to your story, and if you +take my advice," Laverick added, glancing at his visitor's shaking +fingers, "you will keep away from the drink." + +"It's little enough I've had, sir," Shepherd assured him. "A drop +now and then just to keep up one's spirits - nothing that amounts +to anything." + +"Make it as little as possible," Laverick said. "Remember, I'm back +of you, I'll see that you get into no trouble. And don't come here +again. Come to my office, if you like - there's nothing in that - +but don't come here, you understand?" + +Shepherd took up his hat. + +"I understand, sir. I'm sorry to have troubled you, but the sight +of that man following me about fairly gave me the shivers." + +"Come into the office as often as you like, in reason, Laverick said, +showing him out, "but not here again. Keep your eyes open, and let +me know if you think you've been followed here." + +"There's no more news in the papers, sir? Nothing turned up?" + +"Nothing," replied Laverick. "If the police have found out anything +at all, they will keep it until after the inquest." + +"And you've heard. nothing, sir," Shepherd asked, speaking in a +hoarse whisper, "of Mr. Morrison?" + +"Nothing," Laverick answered. "Mr. Morrison is abroad." + +The man wiped his forehead with his hand. + +"Of course!" he muttered. "A good job, too, for him!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE DOCUMENT DISCOVERED + + +On the following morning, Laverick surprised his office cleaner and +one errand-boy by appearing at about a quarter to nine. He found +a woman busy brushing out his room and a man Cleaning the windows. +They stared at him in amazement. His arrival at such an hour was +absolutely unprecedented. + +"You can leave the office just as it is, if you please," he told +them. "I have a few things to attend to at once." + +He was accordingly left alone. He had reckoned upon this as being +the one period during the day when he could rely upon not being +disturbed. Nevertheless, he locked the door so as to be secure +against any possible intruder. Then he went to his safe, unlocked +it, and drew from its secret drawer the worn brown-leather +pocket-book. + +First of all he took out the notes and laid them upon the table. +Then he felt the pocket-book all over and his heart gave a little +leap. It was true what Mademoiselle Idiale had told him. On one +side there was distinctly a rustling as of paper. He opened the +case quite flat and passed his fingers carefully over the lining. +Very soon he found the opening - it was simply a matter of drawing +down the stiff silk lining from underneath the overlapping edge. +Thrusting in his fingers, he drew out a long foreign envelope, +securely sealed. Scarcely stopping to glance at it, he rearranged +the pocket-book, replaced the notes, and locked it up again. Then +he unbolted his door and sat down at his desk, with the document +which he had discovered, on the pad in front of him. + +There was not much to be made of it. There was no address, but the +black seal at the end bore the impression of a foreign coat of arms, +and a motto which to him was indecipherable. He held it up to the +light, but the outside sheet had not been written on, and he gained +no idea as to its contents. He leaned back in his chair for a +moment, and looked at it. So this was the document which would +probably reveal the secret of the murder in Crooked Friars' Alley! +This was the document which Mademoiselle Idiale considered of so +much more importance than the fortune represented by that packet of +bank-notes! What did it all mean? Was this man, who had either +expiated a crime or been the victim of a terrible vengeance, - was +he a politician, a dealer in trade secrets, a member of a secret +society, an informer? Or was he one of the underground criminals +of the world, one of those who crawl beneath the surface of known +things - a creature of the dark places? Perhaps during those few +minutes, when his brain was cool and active, with the great city +awakening all around him, Laverick realized more completely than +ever before exactly how he stood. Without doubt he was walking on +the brink of a precipice. Four days ago there had been nothing for +him but ruin. The means of salvation had suddenly presented +themselves in this startling and dramatic manner, and without +hesitation he had embraced them. What did it all amount to? How +far was he guilty, and of what? Was he a thief? The law would +probably call him so. The law might have even more to say. It +would say that by keeping his mouth closed as to his adventure on +that night he had ranged himself on the side of the criminals, - he +was guilty not only of technical theft, but of a criminal knowledge +of this terrible crime. Events had followed upon one another so +rapidly during these last few days that he had little enough time +for reflection, little time to realize exactly how he stood. The +long-expected boom in" Unions," the coming of Zoe, the strange +advances made to him by Mademoiselle Idiale, her incomprehensible +connection with this tragedy across which he had stumbled, and her +apparent knowledge of his share in it, - these things were sufficient, +indeed, to give him food for thought. Laverick was not by nature a +pessimist. Other things being equal, he would have made, without +doubt, a magnificent soldier, for he had courage of a rare and high +order. It never occurred to him to sit and brood upon his own danger. +He rather welcomed the opportunity of occupying his mind with other +thoughts. Yet in those few minutes, while he waited for the business +of the: day to commence, he looked his exact position in the face +and he realized more thoroughly how grave it really was. How was he +to find a way out - to set himself right with the law? What could +he do with those notes? They were there untouched. He had only +made use of them in an indirect way. They were there intact, as +he had picked them up upon that fateful night. Was there any +possible chance by means of which he might discover the owner and +restore them in such a way that his name might never be mentioned? +His eyes repeatedly sought that envelope which lay before him. +Inside it must lie the secret of the whole tragedy. Should he risk +everything and break the seal, or should he risk perhaps as much +and tell the whole truth to Mademoiselle Idiale? It was a strange +dilemma for a man to find himself in. + +Then, as he sat there, the business of the day commenced. A pile +of letters was brought in, the telephones in the outer office began +to ring. He thrust the sealed envelope into the breast-pocket of +his coat and buttoned it up. There, for the present, it must remain. +He owed it to himself to devote every energy he possessed to make +the most of this great tide of business. With set face he closed +the doors upon the unreal world, and took hold of the levers which +were to guide his passage through the one in which he was an actual +figure. + +Her visit was not altogether unexpected, and yet, when they told him +that Mademoiselle Idiale was outside, he hesitated. + +"It is the lady who was here the other day," his head clerk reminded +him. "We made a remarkably good choice of stocks for her. They +must be showing nearly sixteen hundred pounds profit. Perhaps she +wants to realize." + +"In any case, you had better show her in," said Laverick. + +She came, bringing with her, notwithstanding her black clothes and +heavy veil, the atmosphere of a strange world into his somewhat +severely furnished office. Her skirts swept his carpet with a +musical swirl. She carried with her a faint, indefinable perfume +of violets, - a perfume altogether peculiar, dedicated to her by a +famous chemist in the Rue Royale, and supplied to no other person +upon earth. Who else was there, indeed, who could have walked those +few yards as she walked? + +He rose to his feet and pointed to a chair. + +"You have come to ask about your shares?" he asked politely. "So +far, we have nothing but good news for you." + +She recognized that he spoke to her in the presence of his clerk, +and she waved her hand. + +"Women who will come themselves to look after their poor investments +are a nuisance, I suppose," she said. "But indeed I will not keep +you long. A few minutes are all that I shall ask of you. I am +beginning to find city affairs so interesting." + +They were alone by now and Louise raised her veil, raised it so +high that he could see her eyes. She leaned back in her chair, +supporting her chin with the long, exquisite fingers of her right +hand. She looked at him thoughtfully. + +"You have examined the pocket-book?" she asked. + +"I have." + +"And the document was there?" + +"The document was there," he admitted. "Perhaps you can tell me how +it would be addressed?" + +Looking at her closely, it came to him that her indifference was +assumed. She was shivering slightly, as though with cold. + +"I imagine that there would be no address," she said. + +"You are right. That document is in my pocket." + +"What are you going to do with it?" she asked. + +"What do you advise me to do with it?" + +"Give it to me." + +"Have you any claim?" + +She leaned a little nearer to him. + +"At least I have more claim to it," she whispered, "than you to that +twenty thousand pounds." + +"I do not claim them," he replied. "They are in my safe at this +moment, untouched. They are there ready to be returned to their +proper owner." + +"Why do you not find him?" - with a note of incredulity in her tone. + +"How am I to do that?" Laverick demanded. + +"We waste words," she continued coldly. "I think that if I leave +you with the contents of your safe, it will be wise for you to hand +me that document." + +"I am inclined to do so," Laverick admitted. "The very fact that +you knew of its existence would seem to give you a sort of claim to +it. But, Mademoiselle Idiale, will you answer me a few questions?" + +"I think," she said, "that it would be better if you asked me none." + +"But listen," he begged. "You are the only person with whom I have +come into touch who seems to know anything about this affair. I +should rather like to tell you exactly how I stumbled in upon it. +Why can we not exchange confidence for confidence? I want neither +the twenty thousand pounds nor the document. I want, to be frank +with you, nothing but to escape from the position I am now in of +being half a thief and half a criminal. Show me some claim to that +document and you shall have it. Tell me to whom that money belongs, +and it shall be restored." + +"You are incomprehensible," she declared. "Are you, by any chance, +playing a part with me? Do you think that it is worth while?" + +"Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick protested earnestly, "nothing in the +world is further from my thoughts. There is very little of the +conspirator about me. I am a plain man of business who stumbled in +upon this affair at a critical moment and dared to make temporary +use of his discovery. You can put it, if you like, that I am afraid. +I want to get out. Nothing would give me greater pleasure, if such +a thing were possible, than to send this pocket-book and its contents +anonymously to Scotland Yard, and never hear about them again. + +She listened to him with unchanged face. Yet for some moments after +he had finished speaking she was thoughtful. + +"You may be speaking the truth," she said. "If so, I have been +deceived. You are not quite the sort of man I did believe you were. +What you tell me is amazing, but it may be true." + +"It is the truth," Laverick repeated calmly. + +"Listen," she said, after a brief pause. "You were at school, were +you not, with Mr. David Bellamy? You know well who he is?" + +"Perfectly well," Laverick admitted. + +"You would consider him a person to be trusted?" + +"Absolutely." + +"Very well, then," she declared. "You shall come to my fiat at five +o'clock this afternoon and bring that document. If it is possible, +David Bellamy shall be there himself. We will try then and prove +to you that you do no harm in parting with that document to us." + +"I will come," Laverick promised, "at five o'clock; but you must +tell me where." + +"You will put it down, please," she said. "There must not be any +mistake. You must come, and you must come to-day. I am staying at +number 15, Dover Street. I will leave orders that you are shown +in at once." + +She rose to her feet and he walked to the door with her. On the way +she hesitated. + +"Take care of yourself to-day, Mr. Laverick," she begged. "There +are others beside myself who are interested in that packet you carry +with you. You represent to them things beside which life and death +are trivial happenings." + +Laverick laughed shortly. He was a matter-of-fact man, and there +seemed something a little absurd in such a warning. + +"I do not think," he declared, "that you need have any fear. London +is, as you doubtless find it, a dull old city, but it is a remarkably +safe one to live in." + +"Nevertheless, Mr. Laverick," she repeated earnestly, "be on your +guard to-day, for all our sakes." + +He bowed and changed the subject. + +"Your investments," he remarked, "you will be content, perhaps, to +leave as they are. It is, no doubt, of some interest to you to +know that they are showing already a profit of considerably over a +thousand pounds." + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"It was an excuse - that investment," she declared. "Yet money is +always good. Keep it for me, Mr. Laverick, and do what you will. I +will trust your judgment. Buy or sell as you please. You will let +nothing prevent your coming this afternoon?" + +"Nothing," he promised her. + +>From the window of her beautifully appointed little electric brougham +she held out her hand in farewell. + +"You think me foolish, I know, that I persist," she said, "but I do +beg that you will remember what I say. Do not be alone to-day more +than you can help. Suspect every one who comes near to you. There +may be a trap before your feet at any moment. Be wary always and do +not forget - at five o'clock I expect you." + +Laverick smiled as he bowed his adieux. + +"It is a promise, Mademoiselle," he assured her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +PENETRATING A MYSTERY + + +About an hour after Mademoiselle Idiale's departure a note marked +"Urgent" was brought in and handed to Laverick. He tore it open. +It was dated from the address of a firm of stockbrokers, with two +of the partners of which he was on friendly terms. It ran thus: + + MY DEAR LAVERICK, - I want a chat with you, if you can spare + five minutes at lunch time. Come to Lyons' a little earlier + than usual, if you don't mind, - say at a quarter to one. + J.HENSHAW. + + +Laverick read the typewritten note carelessly enough at first. He +had even laid it down and glanced at the clock, with the intention +of starting out, when a thought struck him. He took it up and read +it though again. Then he turned to the telephone. + +"Put me on to the office of Henshaw & Allen. I want to speak to Mr. +Henshaw particularly." + +Two minutes passed. Laverick, meanwhile, had been washing his hands +ready to go out. Then the telephone bell rang. He took up the +receiver. + +"Hullo! Is that Henshaw?" + +"I'm Henshaw," was the answer. "That's Laverick, isn't it? How +are you, old fellow?" + +"I'm all right," Laverick replied. "What is it that you want to +see me about?" + +"Nothing particular that I know of. Who told you that I wanted to?" + +Laverick, who had been standing with the instrument in his hand, sat +down in his chair. + +"Look here," he said, "Didn't you send me a note a few minutes ago, +asking me to come out to lunch at a quarter to one and meet you at +Lyons'?" + +Henshaw's laugh was sufficient response. + +"Delighted to lunch with you there or anywhere, old chap, - you know +that," was the answer, "but some one 's been putting up a practical +joke on you." + +"You did not send me a note round this morning, then?" Laverick +insisted. + +"I'll swear I didn't," came the reply. "Do you seriously mean that +you've had one purporting to come from me?" + +Laverick pulled himself together. + +"Well, the signature's such a scrawl," he said, "that no one could +tell what the name really was. I guessed at you but I seem to have +guessed wrong. Good-bye!" + +He set down the receiver and rang off to escape further questioning. +Now indeed the plot was commencing to thicken. This was a deliberate +effort on the part of some one to secure his absence from his offices +at a quarter to one. + +With the document in his pocket and the safe securely locked, +Laverick felt at ease as to the result of any attempted burglary of +his premises. At the same time his curiosity was excited. Here, +perhaps, was a chance of finding some clue to this impenetrable +mystery. + +There were thee clerks in the outer office. He put on his hat and +despatched two of them on errands in different directions. The last +he was obliged to take into his confidence. + +"Halsey," he said, "I am going out to lunch. At least, I wish it +to be thought that I am going out to lunch. As a matter of fact, I +shall return in about ten minutes by the back way. I do not wish +you, however, to know this. I want you to have it in your mind +that I have gone to lunch and shall not be back until a quarter past +two. If there are visitors for me - Inquirers of any sort - act +exactly as you would have done if you really believed that I was +not in the building." + +Halsey appeared a good deal mystified. Laverick took him even +further into his confidence. + +"To tell you the truth, Halsey," he said, "I have just received a +bogus letter from Mr. Henshaw, asking me to lunch with him. Some +one was evidently anxious to get me out of my office for an hour +or so. I want to find out for myself what this means, if possible. +You understand?" + +"I think so, sir," the man replied doubtfully. "I am not to be +aware that you have returned, then?" + +"Certainly not," Laverick answered. "Please be quite clear about +that. If you hear any commotion in the office, you can come in, +but do not send for the police unless I tell you to. I wish to +look into this affair for myself." + +Halsey, who had started life as a lawyer's clerk, and was distinctly +formal in his ideas, was a little shocked. + +"Would it not be better, sir," he suggested, "for me to communicate +with the police in the first case? If this should really turn out +to be an attempt at burglary, it would surely be best to leave the +matter to them." + +Laverick frowned. + +"For certain reasons, Halsey, which I do not think it necessary to +tell you, I have a strong desire to investigate this matter +personally. Please do exactly as I say." + +He left the office and strolled up the street in the direction of +the restaurant which he chiefly frequented. He reached it in a +moment or two, but left it at once by another entrance. Within ten +minutes he was back at his office. + +"Has any one been, Halsey?" + +"No one, sir," the clerk answered. + +"You will be so good," Laverick continued, "as to forget that I +have returned." + +He passed on quickly into his own room and made his way into the +small closet where he kept his coat and washed his hands. He had +scarcely been there a minute when he heard voices in the outside +hall. The door of his office was opened. + +"Mr. Laverick said nothing about an appointment at this hour," he +heard Halsey protest in a somewhat deprecating tone. + +"He had, perhaps, forgotten," was the answer, in a totally unfamiliar +voice. "At any rate, I am not in a great hurry. The matter is of +some importance, however, and I will wait for Mr. Laverick." + +The visitor was shown in. Laverick investigated his appearance +through a crack in the door. He was a man of medium height, +well-dressed, clean-shaven, and wore gold-rimmed spectacles. He +made himself comfortable in Laverick's easy-chair, and accepted +the paper which Halsey offered him. + +"I shall be quite glad of a rest," he remarked genially. "I have +been running about all the morning." + +"Mr. Laverick is never very long out for lunch, sir," Halsey said. +"I daresay he will not keep you more than a quarter of an hour or +twenty minutes." + +The clerk withdrew and closed the door. The man in the chair waited +for a moment. Then he laid down his newspaper and looked cautiously +around the room. Satisfied apparently that he was alone, he rose to +his feet and walked swiftly to Laverick's writing-table. With fingers +which seemed gifted with a lightning-like capacity for movement, he +swung open the drawers, one by one, and turned over the papers. His +eyes were everywhere. Every document seemed to be scanned and as +rapidly discarded. At last he found something which interested him. +He held it up and paused in his search. Laverick heard a little +breath come though his teeth, and with a thrill he recognized the +paper as one which he had torn from a memorandum tablet and upon +which he had written down the address which Mademoiselle Idiale had +given him. The man with the gold-rimmed glasses replaced the paper +where he had found it. Evidently he had done with the writing-table. +He moved swiftly over to the safe and stood there listening for a +few seconds. Then from his pocket he drew a bunch of keys. To +Laverick's surprise, at the stranger's first effort the great door +of the safe swung open. He saw the man lean forward, saw his hand +reappear almost directly with the pocket-book clenched in his fingers. +Then he stood once more quite still, listening. Satisfied that no +one was disturbed, he closed the door of the safe softly and moved +once more to the writing-table. With marvelous swiftness the notes +were laid upon the table, the pocket-book was turned upside down, +the secret place disclosed - the secret place which was empty. It +seemed to Laverick that from his hiding-place he could hear the little +oath of disappointment which broke from the thin red lips. The man +replaced the notes and, with the pocket-book in his hand, hesitated. +Laverick, who thought that things had gone far enough, stepped lightly +out from his hiding-place and stood between his unbidden visitor and +the door. + +"You had better put down that pocket-book," he ordered quietly. + +The man was upon him with a single spring, but Laverick, without +the slightest hesitation, knocked him prone upon the floor, where +he lay, for a moment, motionless. Then he slowly picked himself up. +His spectacles were broken - he blinked as he stood there. + +"Sorry to be so rough," Laverick said. "Perhaps if you will kindly +realize that of the two I am much the stronger man, you will be so +good as to sit in that chair and tell me the meaning of your +intrusion." + +The man obeyed. He covered his eyes with his hand, for a moment, +as though in pain. + +"I imagine," he said - and it seemed to Laverick that his voice had +a slight foreign accent - "I imagine that the motive for my paying +you this visit is fairly clear to you. People who have compromising +possessions may always expect visits of this sort. You see, one +runs so little risk." + +"So little risk!" Laverick repeated. + +"Exactly," the other answered. "Confess that you are not in the +least inclined to ring your bell and send for a constable to give +me in charge for being in possession of a pocket-book abstracted +from your safe, containing twenty thousand pounds in Bank of +England notes." + +"It wouldn't do at all," Laverick admitted. + +"You are a man of common sense," declared the other. "It would not +do. Now comes the time when I have a question to ask you. There +was a sealed document in this pocket-book. Where is it ? What +have you done with it?" + +"Can you tell me," Laverick asked, "why I should answer questions +from a person whom I discover apparently engaged in a nefarious +attempt at burglary?" + +The man's hand shot out from his trouser-pocket, and Laverick looked +into the gleaming muzzle of a revolver. + +"Because if you don't, you die," was the quick reply. "Whether +you've read that document or not, I want it. If you've read it, you +know the sort of men you've got to deal with. If you haven't, take +my word for it that we waste no time. The document! Will you give +it me?" + +"Do I understand that you are threatening me?" Laverick asked, +retreating a few steps. + +"You may understand that this is a repeating revolver, and that I +seldom miss a half-crown at twenty paces," his visitor answered. +"If you put out your hand toward that bell, it will be the last +movement you'll ever make on earth." + +"London isn't really the place for this sort of thing," Laverick +said. "If you discharge that revolver, you haven't a dog's chance +of getting clear of the building. My clerks would rush out after +you into the street. You'd find yourself surrounded by a crowd of +business men. You couldn't make your way through anywhere. You'd +be held up before you'd gone a dozen yards. Put down your revolver. +We can perhaps settle this little matter without it." + +"The document!" the man ordered. "You've got it! You must have it! +You took that pocket-book from a dead man, and in that pocket-book +was the document. We must have it. We intend to have it." + +"And who, may I ask, are we?" Laverick inquired. + +"If you do not know, what does it matter? Will you give it to me?" + +Laverick shook his head. + +"I have no document." + +The man in the chair leaned forward. The muzzle of his revolver was +very bright, and he held it in fingers which were firm as a rock. + +"Give it to me!" he repeated. "You ought to know that you are not +dealing with men who are unaccustomed to death. You have it about +you. Produce it, and I've done with you. Deny me, and you have not +time to say your prayers!" + +Laverick was leaning against a small table which stood near the door. +His fingers suddenly gripped the ledger which lay upon it. He held +it in front of his face for a single moment, and then dashed it at +his visitor. He followed behind with one desperate spring. Once, +twice, the revolver barked out. Laverick felt the skin of his temple +burn and a flick on the ear which reminded him of his school-days. +Then his hand was upon the other man's throat and the revolver lay +upon the carpet. + +"We 'll see about that. By the Lord, I've a good mind to wring the +life out of you. That bullet of yours might have been in my temple." + +"It was meant to be there," the man gasped. "Hand over the document, +you pig-headed fool! It'll cost you your life - if not to-day, +to-morrow." + +"I'll be hanged if you get it, anyway!" Laverick answered fiercely. +"You assassin! Scoundrel! To come here and make a cold-blooded +effort at murder! You shall see what you think of the inside of an +English prison." + +The man laughed contemptuously. + +"And what about the pocket-book?" he asked. + +Laverick was silent. His assailant smiled and shrugged his shoulders. + +"Come," he said, "I have made my effort and failed. You have twenty +thousand pounds. That's a fair price, but I'll add another twenty +thousand for that document unopened." + +"It is possible that we might deal," Laverick remarked, kicking the +revolver a little further away. "Unfortunately, I am too much in the +dark. Tell me the real position of the murdered man? Tell me why he +was murdered? Tell me the contents of this document and why it was in +his possession? Perhaps I may then be inclined to treat with you." + +"You are either an astonishingly ingenuous person, Mr. Laverick," +his visitor declared, "or you're too subtle for me. You do not +expect me to believe that you are in this with your eyes blindfolded? +You do not expect me to believe that you do not know what is in that +sealed envelope? Bah! It is a child's game, that, and we play as +men with men." + +Laverick shook his head. + +"Your offer," he asked, "what is it exactly?" + +"Twenty thousand pounds," the man answered. "The document is worth +no more than that to you. How you came into this thing is a mystery, +but you are in and, what is more, you have possession. Twenty +thousand pounds, Mr. Laverick. It is a large sum of money. You +find it interesting?" + +"I find it interesting," Laverick answered dryly, "but I am not a +seller." + +The intruder moved his hand away from his eyes. His expression was +full of wonder. + +"Consider for a moment," he said. "While that document remains in +your possession, you walk the narrow way, your life hangs upon a +thread. Better surrender it and attend to your stocks and shares. +Heaven knows how you first came into our affairs, but the sooner +you are out of them the better. What do you say now to my offer?" + +"It is refused," Laverick declared. "I regret; to add," he +continued, "that I have already spared you all the time I have at +my disposal. Forgive me." + +He pressed a button with his finger. His visitor rose up in anger. + +"You are not such a fool!" he exclaimed. "You are not going to +send me away without it? Why, I tell you that there won't be a +safe corner in the World for you!" + +Halsey opened the door. Laverick nodded toward his visitor. + +"Show this gentleman out, Halsey," he ordered. + +Halsey started. The noise of the revolver shot had evidently been +muffled by the heavy connecting doors, but there was a smell of +gunpowder in the room, and a little wreath of smoke. The man rose +slowly to his feet, still blinking. + +"It must be as you will, of course. I wonder if you would be so +good as to let your clerk direct me to an oculist? I am, +unfortunately, a helpless man in this condition." + +"There is one a few yards off," Laverick answered. "Put on your +hat, Halsey, and show this gentleman where he can get some glasses." + +His visitor leaned towards Laverick. + +"It is your life which is in question, not my eyesight," he muttered. +"Do you accept my offer? Will you give me the document?" + +"I do not and I will not," Laverick replied. "I shall not part with +anything until I know more than I know at present." + +The man stood motionless for a moment. His fingers seemed to be +twitching. Laverick had a fancy that he was about to spring, but +if ever he had had any thoughts of the kind, Halsey's reappearance +checked them. + +"I am much obliged to you, Mr. Laverick," he said quietly. "We +shall, perhaps, resume this discussion at some future date." + +With that he turned and followed Halsey out of the room. Laverick +went to the window and threw it wide open. The smoke floated out, +the smell of gunpowder was gradually dispersed. Then he walked +back to his seat. Once more he locked up the notes. The document +was safe in his pocket. There was a slight mark by the side of his +temple, and his ear, he discovered, was bleeding. He rang the bell +and Halsey entered. + +"Has our friend gone, Halsey?" + +"I left him in the optician's, sir," the clerk answered. "He was +buying some spectacles." + +Laverick glanced at the floor, where the remains of those +gold-rimmed glasses were scattered. + +"You had better send for a locksmith at once," he said. "The +gentleman who has been here had a skeleton key to my safe. We'll +have a combination put on." + +"Very good, sir," Halsey answered. + +"And, Halsey," his master continued, "be careful about one thing, +for your own sake as well as mine. If that man presents himself +again, don't let him come into my room unannounced. If you can +help it, don't let him come in at all. I have an idea that he +might be dangerous." + +The clerk's face was a study. + +"If he presents himself here, sir," he announced stiffly, "I shall +take the liberty of sending for the police." + +Laverick made no reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +LAVERICK'S NARROW ESCAPE + + +At precisely a quarter past four, nothing having happened in the +meantime but a steady rush of business, Laverick ordered a taxicab +to be summoned. He then unlocked his safe, placed the pocket-book +securely in his breast pocket, walked through the office, and +directed the man to drive to Chancery Lane. Here at the headquarters +of the Safe Deposit Company he engaged a compartment, and down in +the strong-room locked up the pocket-book. There was only now the +document left. Stepping once more into the street, he found that +his taxicab had vanished. He looked up and down in vain. The man +had not been paid and there seemed to be no reason for his +departure. A policeman who was standing by touched his hat and +addressed him. + +"Were you looking for that taxi you stepped out of a few minutes ago, +sir?" he asked. + +"I was," Laverick answered. "I hadn't paid him and I told him to +wait." + +"I thought there was something queer about it," the policeman +remarked. "Soon after you had gone inside, two gentlemen drove up +in a hansom. They got out here and one of them spoke to your driver, +who shook his head and pointed to his flag. The gent then said +something else to him - can't say as I heard what it was, but it +was probably offering him double fare. Anyway, they both got in +and off went your taxi, sir." + +"Thank you," Laverick said thoughtfully. "It sounds a little +perplexing." + +He hesitated for a moment. + +"Constable," he continued, "I have just made a very valuable deposit +in there, and I had an idea that I might be followed. I have still +in my pocket a document of great importance. I have no doubt +whatever but that the object of the men who have taken my taxicab is +to leave me in the street here alone under circumstances which will +render a quick attack upon me likely to be successful." + +The policeman turned his head and looked at Laverick incredulously. +He was more than half inclined to believe that this was a practical +joke. Were they not standing on the pavement in Chancery Lane, and +was not he an able-bodied policeman of great bulk and immense muscle! +Yet his companion did not look by any means a man of the nervous +order. Laverick was broad-shouldered, his skin was tanned a +wholesome color, his bearing was the bearing of a man prepared to +defend himself at any time. The constable smiled in a non-committal +manner. + +"If you'll excuse my saying so, sir," he remarked, "I don't think +this is exactly the spot any one would choose for an assault." + +"I agree with you," Laverick answered, "but, on the other hand, you +must remember that these gentlemen have had no choice. I stepped +from my office direct into the taxi, and I proposed to drive straight +from here to the place where I shall probably leave the other +document I am carrying with me. Why I have taken you into my +confidence is to ask you this. Can you walk with me to the corner +of the street, or until we meet a taxicab? it sounds cowardly, but, +as a matter of fact, I am not afraid. I simply want to make sure +of delivering this document to the person to whom it belongs." + +The constable stood still, a little perplexed. + +"My beat, sir," he said, "only goes about twenty-five yards further +on. I will walk to the corner of Holborn with you, if you desire +it. At the same time, I may say that I am breaking regulations. +How do I know that it is not your scheme to get me away from this +neighborhood for some purpose of your own?" + +"You don't believe anything of the sort," Laverick declared, with +a smile. + +"I do not, sir," the policeman admitted. "Keep by my side, and I +think that nothing will happen to you before we reach Holborn." + +Laverick was a man of more than medium height, but by the side of +the policeman he seemed short. Both scanned the faces of the +passers-by closely - the police-man with mild interest, Laverick +with almost feverish anxiety. It was a gray afternoon, pleasant +but close. There seemed to be nothing whatever to account for the +feeling of nervousness which had suddenly come over Laverick. He +felt himself in danger - he had no idea how, or in what way - but +the conviction was there. He took every step fully alert, +absolutely on his guard. + +They were almost within sight of Holborn when a cry from the +bystanders caused them to look away into the middle of the road. +Laverick only cast one glance there and abandoned every instinct +of curiosity, thinking once more only of himself and his own +position. With the constable, however, it was naturally different. +He saw something which called at once for his intervention, and +he immediately forgot the somewhat singular task upon which he +was engaged. A man had fallen in the middle of the street, either +knocked down by the shaft of a passing vehicle or in some sort of +fit. There was a tangle of rearing horses, an omnibus was making +desperate efforts to avoid the prostrate body. The constable +sprang to the rescue. Laverick, instantly suspicious and realizing +that there was no one in front of him, turned swiftly around. He +was just in time to receive upon his left arm the blow which had +been meant for the back of his head. He was confronted by a man +dressed exactly as he himself was, in morning coat and silk hat, +a man with long, lean face and legal appearance, such a person as +would have passed anywhere without attracting a moment's suspicion. +Yet, in the space of a few seconds he had whipped out from one +pocket, with the skill almost of a juggler, a vicious-looking +life-preserver, and from the other a pocket-handkerchief soaked +with chloroform. Laverick, quick and resourceful, feeling his +left arm sink helpless, struck at the man with his right and sent +him staggering against the wall. The handkerchief, with its load +of sickening odor, fell to the pavement. The man was obviously +worsted. Laverick sprang at him. They were almost unobserved, +for the crowd was all intent upon the accident in the roadway. +With wonderful skill, his assailant eluded his attempt to close, +and tore at his coat. Laverick struck at him again but met only +the air. The man's fingers now were upon his pocket, but this +time Laverick made no mistake. He struck downward so hard that +with a fierce cry of pain the man relaxed his hold. Before he +could recover, Laverick had struck him again. He reeled into the +crowd that was fast gathering around them, attracted by what +seemed to be a fight between two men of unexceptionable appearance. +But there was to be no more fight. Through the people, +swift-footed, cunning, resourceful, his assailant seemed to +find some hidden way. Laverick glared fiercely around him, but +the man had gone. His left hand crept to his chest. The victory +was with him; the document was still there. + +At the outside of the double crowd he perceived a taxi. Ignoring +the storm of questions with which he was assailed, and the advancing +helmet of his friend the policeman at the back of the crowd, +Laverick hailed it and stepped quickly inside. + +"Back out of this and drive to Dover Street," he directed. The +man obeyed him. People raced to look through the window at him. +The other commotion had died away, - the man in the road had got up +and walked off. A policeman came hurrying along but he was just +too late. Very soon they were on their way down Holborn. Once +more Laverick had escaped. + +A French man-servant, with the sad face and immaculate dress of a +High-Church cleric, took possession of him as soon as he had asked +for Mademoiselle Idiale. He was shown into one of the most +delightful little rooms he had ever even dreamed of. The walls +were hung with that peculiar shade of blue satin which Mademoiselle +so often affected in her clothes. Laverick, who was something of +a connoisseur, saw nowhere any object which was not, of its sort, +priceless, - French furniture of the best and choicest period, a +statuette which made him, for a moment, almost forget the scene +from which he had just arrived. The air in the room seemed as +though it had passed through a grove of lemon trees, - it was fresh +and sweet yet curiously fragrant. Laverick sank down into one of +the luxurious blue-brocaded chairs, conscious for the first time +that he was out of breath. Then the door opened silently and +there entered not the woman whom he had been expecting, but Mr. +Lassen. Laverick rose to his feet half doubtfully. Lassen's +small, queerly-shaped face seemed to have become one huge +ingratiating smile. + +"I am very glad to see you, Mr. Laverick," he said, - "very glad +indeed." + +"I have come to call upon Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick answered, +somewhat curtly. He had disliked this man from the first moment +he had seen him, and he saw no particular reason why he should +conceal his feelings. + +"I am here to explain," Mr. Lassen continued, seating himself +opposite to Laverick. "Mademoiselle Idiale is unfortunately +prevented from seeing you. She has a severe nervous headache, +and her only chance of appearing tonight is to remain perfectly +undisturbed. Women of her position, as you may understand, have +to be exceptionally careful. It would be a very serious matter +indeed if she were unable to sing to-night." + +"I am exceedingly sorry to hear it," Laverick answered. "In that +case, I will call again when Mademoiselle Idiale has recovered." + +"By all means, my dear sir!" Mr. Lassen exclaimed. "Many times, +let us hope. But in the meantime, there is a little affair of a +document which you were going to deliver to Mademoiselle. She is +most anxious that you should hand it to me - most anxious. She +will tender you her thanks personally, tomorrow or the next day, +if she is well enough to receive." + +Laverick shook his head firmly. + +"Under no circumstances," he declared, "should I think of delivering +the document into any other hands save those of Mademoiselle Idiale. +To tell you the truth, I had not fully decided whether to part with +it even to her. I was simply prepared to hear what she had to say. +But it may save time if I assure you, Mr. Lassen, that nothing would +induce me to part with it to any one else." + +There was no trace left of that ingratiating smile upon Mr. Lassen's +face. He had the appearance now of an ugly animal about to show +its teeth. Laverick was suddenly on his guard. More adventures, +he thought, casting a somewhat contemptuous glance at the physique +of the other man. He laid his fingers as though carelessly upon a +small bronze ornament which reposed amongst others on a table by +his side. If Mr. Lassen's fat and ugly hand should steal toward +his pocket, Laverick was prepared to hurl the ornament at his head. + +"I am very sorry to hear you say that, Mr. Laverick," Lassen said +slowly. "I hope very much that you will see your way clear to +change your mind. I can assure you that I have as much right to +the document as Mademoiselle Idiale, and that it is her earnest +wish that you should hand it over to me. Further, I may inform you +that the document itself is a most incriminating one. Its possession +upon your person, or upon the person of any one who was not upon his +guard, might be a very serious matter indeed." + +Laverick shrugged his shoulders. + +"As a matter of fact," he declared, "I certainly have no idea of +carrying it about with me. On the other hand, I shall part with it +to no one. I might discuss the matter with Mademoiselle Idiale +as soon as she is recovered. I am not disposed - I mean no offence, +sir - but I may say frankly that I am not disposed even to do as +much with you." + +Laverick rose to his feet with the obvious intention of leaving. +Lassen followed his example and confronted him. + +"Mr. Laverick," he said, "in your own interests you must not talk +like that, - in your own interests, I say." + +"At any rate," Laverick remarked, "my interests are better looked +after by myself than by strangers. You must forgive my adding, +Mr. Lassen, that you are a stranger to me." + +"No more so than Mademoiselle Idiale!" the little man exclaimed. + +"Mademoiselle Idiale has given me certain proof that she knew at +least of the existence of this document," Laverick answered. "She +has established, therefore, a certain claim to my consideration. +You announce yourself as Mademoiselle Idiale's deputy, but you +bring me no proof of the fact, nor, in any case, am I disposed to +treat with you. You must allow me to wish you good afternoon." + +Lassen shook his head. + +"Mr. Laverick," he declared, "you are too impetuous. You force me +to remind you that your own position as holder of that document is +not a very secure one. All the police in this capital are searching +to-day for the man who killed that unfortunate creature who was +found murdered in Crooked Friars' Alley. If they could find the +man who was in possession of his pocket-book, who was in possession +of twenty thousand pounds taken from the dead man's body and with +it had saved his business and his credit, how then, do you think? +I say nothing of the document." + +Laverick was silent for a moment. He realized, however, that to +make terms with this man was impossible. Besides, he did not trust +him. He did not even trust him so far as to believe him the +accredited envoy of Mademoiselle. + +"My unfortunate position," Laverick said, "has nothing whatever to +do with the matter. Where you got your information from I cannot +say. I neither accept nor deny it. But I can assure you that I +am not to be intimidated. This document will remain in my possession +until some one can show me a very good reason for parting with it." + +Lassen beat the back of the chair against which he was standing with +his clenched fist. + +"A reason why you should part with it!" he exclaimed fiercely. "Man, +it stares you there in the face! If you do not part with it, you will +be arrested within twenty-four hours for the murder or complicity in +the murder of Rudolph Von Behrling! That I swear! That I shall +see to myself!" + +"In which case," Laverick remarked, "the document will fall into the +hands of the English police." + +The shot told. Laverick could have laughed as he watched its effect +upon his listener. Mr. Lassen's face was black with unuttered +curses. He looked as though he would have fallen upon Laverick +bodily. + +"What do you know about its contents?" he hissed. "Why do you +suppose it would not suit my purpose to have it fall into the hands +of the English police?" + +"I can see no reason whatever," Laverick answered, "why I should +take you into my confidence as to how much I know and how much I do +not know. I wish you good afternoon, Mr. Lassen! I shall be ready +to wait upon Mademoiselle Idiale at any time she sends for me. But +in case it should interest you to be made aware of the fact," he +added, with a little bow, "I am not going round with this terrible +document in my possession." + +He moved to the door. Already his hand was upon the knob when he +saw the movement for which he had watched. Laverick, with a single +bound, was upon his would-be assailant. The hand which had already +closed upon the butt of the small revolver was gripped as though +in a vice. With a scream of pain Lassen dropped the weapon upon +the floor. Laverick picked it up, thrust it into his coat pocket +and, taking the man's collar with both hands, he shook him till +the eyes seemed starting from his head and his shrieks of fear were +changed into moans. Then he flung him into a corner of the room. + +"You cowardly brute!" he exclaimed. "You come of the breed of men +who shoot from behind. If ever I lay my hands upon you again, +you'll be lucky if you live to whimper about it." + +He left the room and rang for the lift. He saw no trace of any +servants in the hall, nor heard any sound of any one moving. From +Dover Street he drove straight to Zoe's house. Keeping the cab +waiting, he knocked at the door. She opened it herself at once, +and her eyes glowed with pleasure. + +"How delightful!" she cried. "Please come in. Have you come to +take me to the theatre?" + +He followed her into the parlor and closed the door behind them. + +"Zoe," he said, "I am going to ask you a favor." + +"Me a favor?" she repeated. "I think you know how happy it will +make me if there is anything - anything at all in the world that I +could do." + +"A week ago," Laverick continued, "I was an honest but not very +successful stockbroker, with a natural longing for adventures which +never came my way. Since then things have altered. I have stumbled +in upon the most curious little chain of happenings which ever +became entwined with the life of a commonplace being like myself. +The net result, for the moment, is this. Every one is trying to +steal from me a certain document which I have in my pocket. I want +to hide it for the night. I cannot go to the police, it is too +late to go back to Chancery Lane, and I have an instinctive feeling +that my flat is absolutely at the mercy of my enemies. May I hide +my document in your room ? I do not believe for a moment that any +one would think of searching here." + +"Of course you may," she answered. "But listen. Can you see out +into the street without moving very much?" + +He turned his head. He had been standing with his back to the +window, and Zoe had been facing it. + +"Yes, I can see into the street," he assented. + +"Tell me - you see that taxi on the other side of the way?" she +asked. + +He nodded. + +"It wasn't there when I drove up," he remarked. + +"I was at the window, looking out, when you came, she said. "It +followed you out from the Square into this street. Directly you +stopped, I saw the man put on the brake and pull up his cab. It +seemed to me so strange, just as though some one were watching you +all the time." + +Laverick stood still, looking out of the window. + +"Who lives in the house opposite?" he asked. + +"I am afraid," she answered, "that there are no very nice people +who live round here. The people whom I see coming in and out of +that house are not nice people at all." + +"I understand," he said. "Thank you, Zoe. You are right. Whatever +I do with my precious document, I will not leave it here. To tell +you the truth, I thought, for certain reasons, that after I had paid +my last call this afternoon I should not be followed any more. Come +back with me and I will give you some dinner before you go to the +theatre." + +She clapped her hands. + +"I shall love it," she declared. "But what shall you do with the +document?" + +"I shall take a room at the Milan Hotel," he said, "and give it to +the cashier. They have a wonderful safe there. It is the best +thing I can think of. Can you suggest anything?" + +She considered for a moment. + +"Do you know what is inside?" she asked. + +He shook his head. + +"I have no idea. It is the most mysterious document in the world, +so far as I am concerned." + +"Why not open it and read it?" she suggested; "then you will know +exactly what it is all about. You can learn it by heart and tear +it up." + +"I must think that over," he said. "One second before we go out." + +He took from his pocket the revolver which Lassen had dropped. It +was a perfect little weapon, and fully charged. He replaced it in +his pocket, keeping his finger upon the trigger. + +"Now, Zoe, if you are ready," he said, "come along." + +They stepped out and entered the taxi, unmolested, and Laverick +ordered: + +"To the Milan Hotel." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +LASSEN'S TREACHERY DISCOVERED + + +About twenty minutes past six on the same evening, Bellamy, his +clothes thick with dust, his face dark with anger, jumped lightly +from a sixty horse-power car and rang the bell of the lift at number +15, Dover Street. Arrived on the first floor, he was confronted +almost immediately by the sad-faced man-servant of Mademoiselle +Idiale. + +"Mademoiselle is in?" Bellamy asked quickly. + +The man's expression was one of sombre regret. + +"Mademoiselle is spending the day in the country, sir. Bellamy +took him by the shoulders and flung him against the wall. + +"Thank you," he said, "I've heard that before." + +He walked down the passage and knocked softly at the door of Louise's +sleeping apartment. There was no answer. He knocked again and +listened at the key-hole. There was some movement inside but no +one spoke. + +"Louise," he cried softly, "let me in. It is I - David." + +Again the only reply was the strangest of sounds. Almost it seemed +as though a woman were trying to speak with a hand over her mouth. +Then Bellamy suddenly stiffened into rigid attention. There were +voices in the small reception room, - the voice of Henri, the butler, +and another. Reluctantly he turned away from the closed door and +walked swiftly down the passage. He entered the reception room and +looked around him in amazement. It was still in disorder. Lassen +sat in an easy-chair with a tumbler of brandy by his side. Henri +was tying a bandage around his head, his collar was torn, there +were marks of blood about his shirt. Bellamy's eyes sparkled. He +closed the door behind him. + +"Come," he exclaimed, "after all, I fancy that my arrival is +somewhat opportune!" + +Henri turned towards him with a reproachful gesture. + +"Monsieur Lassen has been unwell, Monsieur," he said. "He has had +a fit and fallen down." + +Bellamy laughed contemptuously. + +"I think I can reconstruct the scene a little better than that," he +declared. "What do you say, Mr. Lassen?" + +The man glared at him viciously. + +"I do not know what you are talking about," he said. "I do not +wish to speak to you. I am ill. You had better go and persuade +Mademoiselle to return. She is at Dover, waiting." + +"You are a liar!" Bellamy answered. "She is in her room now, +locked up - guarded, perhaps, by one of your creatures. I have been +half-way to Dover, but I tumbled to your scheme in time, Mr. Lassen. +You found our friend Laverick a trifle awkward, I fancy." + +Lassen swore through his teeth but said nothing. + +"From your somewhat dishevelled appearance," Bellamy continued, "I +think I may conclude that you were not able to come to any amicable +arrangement with Mademoiselle's visitor. He declined to accept you +as her proxy, I imagine. Still, one must make sure." + +He advanced quickly. Lassen shrank back in his chair. + +"What do you mean?" he asked gruffly. "Keep him away from me, +Henri. Ring the bell for your other man. This fellow will do me +a mischief." + +"Not I," Bellamy answered scornfully. "Stay where you are, Henri. +To your other accomplishments I have no doubt you include that of +valeting. Take off his coat." + +"But, Monsieur!" Henri protested. + +"I'm d-d if he shall!" the man in the chair snarled. + +Bellamy turned to the door, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. + +"Look here," he said, "I do not for one moment believe that Laverick +handed over to you the document you were so anxious to obtain. On +the other hand, I imagine that your somewhat battered appearance is +the result of fruitless argument on your part with a view to inducing +him to do so. Nevertheless, I can afford to run no risks. The coat +first, please, Henri. It is necessary that I search it thoroughly." + +There was a brief hesitation. Bellamy's hand went reluctantly into +his pocket. + +"I hate to seem melodramatic," he declared, "and I never carry +firearms, but I have a little life-preserver here which I have +learned how to use pretty effectively. Come, you know, it isn't a +fair fight. You've had all you want, Lassen, and Henri there hasn't +the muscle of a chicken." + +Lassen rose, groaning, to his feet and allowed his coat to be +removed. Bellamy glanced through the pockets, holding one letter +for a moment in his hands as he glanced at the address. + +"The writing of our friend Streuss," he remarked, with a smile. +"No, you need not fear, Lassen! I am not going to read it. There +is plenty of proof of your treachery without this." + +Lassen's face was livid and his eyes seemed like beads. Bellamy +handed back the coat. + +"That's all right," he said. "Nothing there, I am glad to see - or +in the waistcoat," he added, passing his hands over it. "I'll +trouble you to stand up for a moment, Mr. Lassen." + +The man did as he was bid and Bellamy felt him all over. When he +had finished, he held in his hand a key. + +"The key of Mademoiselle's chamber, I have no doubt," he announced, +"I will leave you, then, while I see what deviltry you have been +up to." + +He walked calmly to the table which stood by the window and +deliberately cut the telephone wire. With the instrument under his +arm, he left the room. Lassen blundered to his feet as though to +intercept him, but Bellamy's eyes suddenly flashed red fury, and +the life-preserver of which he had spoken glittered above his head. +Lassen staggered away. + +"I'm a long-suffering man," Bellamy said, "and if you don't remember +now that you're the beaten dog, I may lose my temper." + +He locked them in, walked down the passage and opened the door of +Louise's bedchamber with fingers that trembled a little. With a +smothered oath he cut the cord from the arms of the maid and the +gag from her mouth. Louise, clad in a loose afternoon gown, was +lying upon the bed, as though asleep. Bellamy saw with an impulse +of relief that she was breathing regularly. + +"This is Lassen's work, of course!" he exclaimed. "What have they +done to her?" + +The maid spoke thickly. She was very pale, and unsteady upon her +feet. + +"It was something they put in her wine," she faltered. "I heard Mr. +Lassen say that it would keep her quiet for three or four hours. I +think - I think that she is waking now." + +Louise opened her eyes and looked at them with amazement. Bellamy +sat by the side of the bed and supported her with his arm. + +"It is only a skirmish, dear," he whispered, "and it is a drawn +battle, although you got the worst of it." + +She put her hand to her head, struggling to remember. + +"Mr. Laverick has been here?" she asked. + +"He has. Your friend Lassen has been taking a hand in the game. I +came here to find you like this and Annette tied up. Henri is in +with him. What has become of your other servants I don't know." + +"Henri asked for a holiday for them," she said, the color slowly +returning to her cheeks. "I begin to understand. But tell me, what +happened when Mr. Laverick came?" + +"I can only guess," Bellamy answered, "but it seems that Lassen must +have received him as though with your authority." + +"And what then?" she asked quickly. + +"I am almost certain," Bellamy declared, "that Laverick refused to +have anything to do with him. I received a wire from Dover to say +that you were on your way home, and asking me to meet you at the +Lord Warden Hotel. I borrowed Montresor's racing-car, but I sent +telegrams, and I was pretty soon on my way back. When I arrived +here, I found Lassen in your little room with a broken head. +Evidently Laverick and he had a scrimmage and he got the worst of +it. I have searched him to his bones and he has no paper. Laverick +brought it here, without a doubt, and has taken it away again." + +She rose to her feet. + +"Go and let Lassen out," she said. "Tell him he must never come +here again. I will see him at the Opera House to-night or to-morrow +night - that is, if I can get there. I do not know whether I shall +feel fit to sing." + +"I shall take the liberty, also," remarked Bellamy, "of kicking +Henri out." + +Louise sighed. + +"He was such a good servant. I think it must have cost our friend +Streuss a good deal to buy Henri. You will come back to me when +you have finished with them?" + +Bellamy made short work of his discomfited prisoners. Lassen was +surly but only eager to depart Henri was resigned but tearful. +Almost as they went the other servants began to return from their +various missions. Bellamy went back to Louise, who was lying down +again and drinking some tea. She motioned Bellamy to come over to +her side. + +"Tell me," she asked, "what are you going to do now?" + +"I am going to do what I ought to have done before," Bellamy answered. +"Laverick's connection with this affair is suspicious enough, but +after all he is a sportsman and an Englishman. I am going to tell +him what that envelope contains - tell him the truth." + +"You are right!" she exclaimed. "Whatever he may have done, if you +tell him the truth he will give you that document. I am sure of it. +Do you know where to find him?" + +"I shall go to his rooms," Bellamy declared. "I must be quick, too, +for Lassen is free - they will know that he has failed." + +"Come back to me, David," she begged, and he kissed her fingers and +hurried out. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE CONTEST FOR THE PAPERS + +Laverick, sitting with Zoe at dinner, caught his companion looking +around the restaurant with an expression in her face which he did +not wholly understand. + +"Something is the matter with you this evening, Zoe," he said +anxiously. "Tell me what it is. You don't like this place, perhaps?" + +"Of course I do." + +"It is your dinner, then, or me?" he persisted. "Come, out with it. +Haven't we promised to tell each other the truth always?" + +The pink color came slowly into her cheeks. Her eyes, raised for a +moment to his, were almost reproachful. + +"You know very well that it is not anything to do with you," she +whispered. "You are too kind to me all the time. Only," she went +on, a little hesitatingly, "don't you realize - can't you see how +differently most of the girls here are dressed? I don't mind so +much for myself - but you - you have so many friends. You keep on +seeing people whom you know. I am afraid they will think that I +ought not to be here." + +He looked at her in surprise, mingled, perhaps, with compunction. +For the first time he appreciated the actual shabbiness of her +clothes. Everything about her was so neat - pathetically neat, as +it seemed to him in one illuminating moment of realization. The +white linen collar, notwithstanding its frayed edges, was spotlessly +clean. The black bow was carefully tied to conceal its worn parts. +Her gloves had been stitched a good many times. Her gown, although +it was tidy, was old-fashioned and had distinctly seen its best days. +He suddenly recognized the effort - the almost despairing effort - +which her toilette had cost her. + +"I don't think that men notice these things," he said simply. "To +me you look just as you should look - and I wouldn't change places +with any other man in the room for a great deal." + +Her eyes were soft - perilously soft - as she looked at him with +uplifted eyebrows and a faint smile struggling at the corners of her +lips. A wave of tenderness crept into his heart. What a brave +little child she was! + +"You will quite spoil me if you make such nice speeches," she +murmured. + +"Anyhow," he went on, speaking with decision, "so long as you feel +like that, you are going to have a new gown - or two - and a new +hat, and you are going to have them at once. They are going to be +bought with your brother's money, mind. Shall I come shopping with +you?" + +She shook her head. + +"Mind, it is partly for your sake that I give in," she said. "It +would be lovely to have you come, but you would spend far too much +money. You really mean it all?" + +"Absolutely," he answered. "I insist upon it." + +She leaned towards him with dancing eyes. After all, she was very +much of a child. The prospect of a new gown, now that she permitted +herself to think of it, was enthralling. + +"I might get a coat and skirt," she remarked thoughtfully, "and a +simple white dress. A black hat would do for both of them, then." + +"Don't you study your brother too much," Laverick declared. "His +stock is going up all the time." + +"Tell me your favorite color," she begged confidentially. + +"I can't conceive your looking nicer than you do in black," he +replied. + +She made a wry face. + +"I suppose it must be black," she murmured doubtfully. "It is much +more economical than anything - " + +She broke off to bow to a stout, red-faced man who, after a rude +stare, had greeted her with a patronizing nod. Laverick frowned. + +"Who is that fellow?" he asked. + +"Mr. Heepman, our stage-manager," Zoe answered, a little timidly. + +"Is there any particular reason why he should behave like a boor?" +Laverick continued, raising his voice a little. + +She caught at his arm in terror. The man was sitting at the next +table. + +"Don't, please!" she implored. "He might hear you. He is just +behind there." + +Laverick half turned in his chair. She guessed what he was about +to say, and went on rapidly. + +"He has been so foolish," she whispered. "He has asked me so often +to go out with him. And he could get me sent away, if he wanted, +any time. He almost threatened it, the last time I refused. Now +that he has seen me with you, he will be worse than ever." + +Laverick's face darkened, and there was a peculiar flash in his eyes. +The man was certainly looking at them in a rude manner. + +"There are so many of the girls who would only be too pleased to go +with him," Zoe continued, in a terrified undertone. "I can't think +why he bothers me." + +"I can," Laverick muttered. "Let's forget about the brute." + +But the dinner was already spoiled for Zoe, so Laverick paid the +bill a few minutes later, and walked across to the stage-door of the +theatre with her. Her little hand, when she gave it to him at +parting, was quite cold. + +"I'm as nervous as I can be," she confessed. "Mr. Heepman will be +watching all the night for something to find fault with me about." + +"Don't you let him bully you," Laverick begged. + +"I won't," she promised. "Good-bye! Thanks so much for my dinner." + +She turned away with a brave attempt at a smile, but it was only an +attempt. Laverick walked on to his club. There was no one in the +dining-room whom he knew, and the card-room was empty. He played +one game of billiards, but he played badly. He was upset. His +nerves were wrong he told himself, and little wonder. There seemed +to be no chance of a rubber at bridge, so he sallied out again and +walked aimlessly towards Covent Garden. Outside the Opera House he +hesitated and finally entered, yielding to an impulse the nature of +which he scarcely recognized. While he was inquiring about a stall, +a small printed notice was thrust into his hand. He read it with +a slight start. + +We regret to announce that owing to indisposition Mademoiselle +Idiale will not be able to appear this evening. The part of Delilah +will be taken by Mademoiselle Blanche Temoigne, late of the Royal +Opera House, St. Petersburg. + +Ten minutes later, Laverick rang the bell of her flat in Dover Street. +A strange man-servant answered him. + +"I came to inquire after Mademoiselle Idiale," Laverick said. + +The man held out a tray on which was already a small heap of cards. +Laverick, however, retained his. + +"I should be glad if you would take mine in to her," he said. "I +think it is just likely that she may see me for a moment." + +The servant's attitude was one of civil but unconcealed hostility. +He would have closed the door had not Laverick already passed over +the threshold. + +"Madame is not well enough to receive visitors, sir," the man +declared. "She shall have your card as soon as possible." + +"I should like her to have it now," Laverick persisted, drawing a +five-pound note from his pocket. + +The man looked at the note longingly. + +"It would be only waste of time, sir," he declared. "Mademoiselle +is confined to her bedroom and my orders are absolute." + +"You are not the man who was here earlier in the day," Laverick +remarked. "I wonder," he continued, with a sudden inspiration, +"whether you are not Mr. Bellamy's servant?" + +"That is so, sir. Mr. Bellamy has sent me here to see that no one +has access to Mademoiselle Idiale." + +"Then there is no harm whatever in taking in my card," Laverick +declared convincingly. "You can put that note in your pocket. I +am perfectly certain that Mademoiselle Idiale will see me, and +that your master would wish her to do so." + +"I will take the risk, sir," the man decided, "but the orders I have +received were stringent." + +He disappeared and was gone for several moments. When he came back +he was accompanied by a pale-faced woman dressed in black, obviously +a maid. + +"Monsieur Laverick," she said, "Mademoiselle Idiale will receive +you. If you will come this way?" + +She opened the door of the little reception-room, and Laverick +followed her. The man returned to his place in the hall. + +"Madame will be here in a moment," the maid said. "She will be glad +to see you, but she has been very badly frightened." + +Laverick bowed sympathetically. The woman herself was gray-faced, +terror-stricken. + +"It is Monsieur Lassen, the manager of Madame, who has caused a +great deal of trouble here," she said. "Madame never trusted him +and now we have discovered that he is a spy." + +The woman seemed to fade away. The door of the inner room was +opened and Louise came out. She was still exceedingly pale, and +there were dark rims under her eyes. She came across the room with +outstretched hands. There was no doubt whatever as to her pleasure. + +"You have seen Mr. Bellamy?" she asked. + +Laverick shook his head. + +"No, I have seen nothing of Bellamy to-day. I came to call upon +you this afternoon." + +She wrung her hands. + +"You understand, of course!" she exclaimed. "I did not trust +Lassen, but I never imagined anything like this. He is an Austrian. +Only a few hours ago I learned that he is one of their most heavily +paid spies. Streuss got hold of him. But there, I forgot - you do +not understand this. It is enough that he laid a plot to get that +document from you. Where is it, Mr. Laverick? You have brought it +now?" + +"Why, no," Laverick answered, "I have not." + +Her eyes were round with terror. She held out her hands as though +to keep away some tormenting thought. + +"Where is it?" she cried. "You have not parted with it? + +"I have not," Laverick replied gravely. "It is in the safe deposit +of a hotel to which I have moved." + +She closed her eyes and drew a long breath of relief. + +"You are not well," Laverick said. "Let me help you to a chair." + +She sat down wearily. + +"Why have you moved to a hotel?" she asked. + +"To tell you the truth," Laverick answered, "I seem to have +wandered into a sort of modern Arabian Nights. Three times to-day +attempts have been made to get that document from me by force. I +have been followed whereever I went. I felt that it was not safe +in my chambers, so I moved to a hotel and deposited it in their +strong-room. I have come to the conclusion that the best thing I +can do is to open it to-morrow morning, and decide for myself +as to its destination." + +Louise sat quite still for several moments. Then she opened her +eyes. + +"What you say is an immense relief to me, Mr. Laverick," she +declared. "I perceive now that we have made a mistake. We should +have told you the whole truth from the first. This afternoon when +Mr. Bellamy left me, it was to come to you and tell you everything." + +Laverick listened gravely. + +"Really," he said, "it seems to me the wisest course. I haven't +the least desire to keep the document. I cannot think why Bellamy +did not treat me with confidence from the first - " + +He stopped short. Suddenly he understood. Something in Louise's +face gave him the hint. + +"Of course!" he murmured to himself. + +"Mr. Laverick," Louise said quietly, "in this matter I am no man's +judge, yet, as you and I know well, that paper could have come into +your hands in one way, and one way only. There may be some +explanation. If so, it is for you to offer it or not, as you think +best. Mr. Bellamy and I are allies in this matter. It is not our +business to interfere with the course of justice. You will run no +risk in parting with that paper. + +"Where can I see Bellamy?" Laverick Inquired, rising and taking up +his hat. + +"He would go straight to your rooms," she answered. "Did you leave +word there where you had gone?" + +"Purposely I did not," Laverick replied. "I had better try and find +him, perhaps." + +"It is not necessary," she announced. "No wonder that you feel +yourself to have wandered into the Arabian Nights, Mr. Laverick. +There are two sets of spies who follow you everywhere - two sets that +I know of. There may be another." + +"You think that Bellamy will find me?" he asked. + +"I am sure of it." + +"Then I'll go back to the hotel and wait." + +She hurried him away, but at the door she detained him for a moment. + +"Mr. Laverick," she said, looking at him earnestly, "somehow or +other I cannot help believing that you are an honest man. + +Laverick sighed. He opened his lips but closed them again. + +"You are very kind, Mademoiselle," he declared simply. + +Laverick, as he entered the reception hall at the Milan Hotel, +noticed a man leaning over the cashier's desk talking confidentially +to the clerk in charge. The latter recognized Laverick with obvious +relief, and at once directed his questioner's attention to him. Kahn +turned swiftly around and without a moment's hesitation came smiling +towards Laverick with the apparent intention of accosting him. He +was correctly garbed, tall and fair, with every appearance of being +a man of breeding. He glanced at Laverick carelessly as he passed, +but, as though changing his original purpose, made no attempt to +address him. The cashier, who had been watching, gave vent to a +little exclamation of surprise and sprang over the counter. He +approached Laverick hastily. + +"Do you know that gentleman just going out, sir?" he asked. + +"I never saw him before in my life," Laverick answered. "Why?" + +"Is this your handwriting, sir?" the man inquired, touching with +his forefinger the half sheet of note-paper which he had been +carrying. + +Laverick read quickly, - + + To the Cashier at the Milan Hotel, - Deliver to bearer document + deposited with you. STEPHEN LAVERICK. + +"It is not," he declared promptly. "It is an impudent forgery. +Good God! You don't mean to say that you parted with my property +to - " + +The cashier stopped his breathless question. + +"I haven't parted with anything, sir," he said. "I was just +wondering what to do when you came in. I'd no reason to believe +that the signature was a forgery, but I didn't like the look of it, +somehow. We'd better be after him. Come along, sir." + +They hurried outside. The man was nowhere in sight. The cashier +summoned the head porter. + +"A gentleman has just come out," he exclaimed, - "tall and fair, very +carefully dressed, with a single eyeglass! Which way did he go?" + +"He's just driven off in a big Daimler car, sir," the porter +answered. "I noticed him particularly. He spoke to the chauffeur +in Austrian." + +Laverick looked out into the Strand. + +"Can't we stop him?" he asked rapidly. + +The porter smiled as he shook his head. + +"Not the ghost of a chance, sir. He shot round the corner there as +though he were in a desperate hurry, and went the wrong side of the +island. I heard the police calling to him. I hope there's nothing +wrong, Mr. Dean?" + +The cashier hesitated and glanced at Laverick. + +"Nothing much," Laverick answered. "We should have liked to have +asked him a question - that is all." + +Bellamy came out from the hotel and paused to light a cigarette. + +"How are you, Laverick?" he said quietly. "Nothing the matter, I +hope?" + +"Nothing worth mentioning," Laverick replied. + +The cashier returned to his duties. The two men were alone. +Bellamy, most carefully dressed, with his silver-headed cane under +his arm, and his silk hat at precisely the correct angle, seemed +very far removed from the work of intrigue into which Laverick +felt himself to have blundered. He looked down for a moment at the +tips of his patent shoes and up again at the sky, as though anxious +about the weather. + +"What about a drink, Laverick?" he asked nonchalantly. + + "Delighted!" Laverick assented. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +MISS LENEVEU 'S MESSAGE + + +The two men stepped back into the hotel. The cashier had returned +to his desk, and the incident which had just transpired seemed to +have passed unnoticed. Nevertheless, Laverick felt that the studied +indifference of his companion's manner had its significance, and he +endeavored to imitate it. + +"Shall we go through into the bar?" he asked. "There's very seldom +any one there at this time." + +"Anywhere you say, Bellamy answered. "It's years since we had a +drink together." + +They passed into the inner room and, finding it empty, drew two +chairs into the further corner. Bellamy summoned the waiter. + +"Two whiskies and sodas quick, Tim," he ordered. "Now, Laverick, +listen to me," he added, as the waiter turned away. "We are alone +for the moment but it won't be for long. You know very well that +it wasn't to renew our schoolboy acquaintance that I've asked you +to come in here with me." + +Laverick drew a little breath. + +"Please go on," he said. "I am as anxious as you can be to grasp +this affair properly." + +"When we left school," Bellamy remarked, "you were destined for +the Stock Exchange. I went first to Magdalen. Did you ever hear +what became of me afterwards?" + +"I always understood," Laverick answered, "that you went into one +of the Government offices." + +"Quite right," Bellamy assented. "I did. At this moment I have +the honor to serve His Majesty." + +"Two thousand a year and two hours work a day," Laverick laughed. +"I know the sort of thing." + +"You evidently don't," Bellamy answered. "I often work twenty +hours a day, I don't get half two thousand a year, and most of +the time I carry my life in my hands. When I am working - and I +am working now - I am never sure of the morrow." + +Laverick looked at him incredulously. + +"You're not joking, Bellamy?" he asked. + +"Not by any manner of means. I have the honor to be a humble member +of His Majesty's Secret Service." + +Laverick glanced at his companion wonderingly. + +"I really didn't know," he said, "that such a service had any actual +existence except in novels." + +"I am a proof to the contrary," Bellamy declared grimly. "Abroad, +I run always the risk of being dubbed a spy and treated like one. +At home, I am simply the head of the A2 Branch of the Secret Service. +Here come our drinks." + +Laverick raised his whiskey and soda to his lips mechanically. + +"Here's luck!" he exclaimed. "Now go on, Bellamy," he continued. +"The waiter can't overhear." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"Tim is one of the few persons in the place," he said, "whom one can +trust. As a matter of fact, he has been very useful to me more than +once. Now listen to me attentively, Laverick. I am going to speak +to you as one man to another." + +Laverick nodded. + +"I am ready," he said. + +"Last Monday," Bellamy went on, leaning forward and speaking in a +soft but very distinct undertone, "a man was murdered late at night +in the heart of the city - within one hundred yards of the Stock +Exchange. The papers called it a mysterious murder. No one knows +who the man was, or who committed the crime, or why. You and I, +Laverick, both know a little more than the rest of the world." + +"Well?" + +"The murder," Bellamy continued, with a strange light in his eyes, +"was accomplished only a stone's throw from your office." + +Laverick lit a cigarette and threw the match away. + +"Horrible affair it was," he remarked. + +Bellamy glanced toward the door, - a man had looked in and departed. + +"Enough of this fencing, Laverick," he said. "A theft was committed +from the person of that murdered man, of which the general public +knows nothing. A pocketbook was stolen from him containing twenty +thousand pounds and a sealed document. As to who murdered the man, +I want you to understand that that is not my affair. As to what has +become of that twenty thousand pounds, I have not the slightest +curiosity. I want the document." + +"What claim have you to it?" Laverick asked quickly. + +"I might retort, but I will not," Bellamy replied. "Time is too +short. I will answer you by explaining who the man was and what +that document consists of. The man's name was Von Behrling, and he +was a trusted agent of the Austrian Secret Service. The document +of which he was robbed contains a verbatim report of the conference +which recently took place at Vienna between the Emperor of Germany, +the Emperor of Austria, and the Czar of Russia. It contains the +details of a plot against this country and the undertakings entered +into by those several Powers. I want that document, Laverick. Have +I established my claim?" + +"You have," Laverick answered. "Why on earth Didn't you come to me +before? Don't you believe that I should have listened to you as +readily as to Mademoiselle Idiale?" + +"I wish that I had come," Bellamy admitted, "and yet, here is the +truth, Laverick, because the truth is best. Twenty-two years lie +between us and the time when we knew anything of one another. To +me, therefore, you are a stranger. I had my spies following Von +Behrling that night. I know that you took the pocket-book from his +dead body. If you did not murder him yourself, the deed was done +by an accomplice of yours. How was I to trust you? We are speaking +naked words, my friend. We are dealing with naked truths. To me +you were a murderer and a thief. A word from me and you would have +realized the value of that document. I tell you frankly that +Austria would give you almost any sum for it to-day." + +Laverick, strong man though he was, was conscious of a sudden +weakness. He raised his hand to his forehead and drew it away - wet. +He struggled desperately for self-control. + +"Bellamy," he said, "here's truth for truth. I am not on my trial +before you. Believe me, man, for God's sake!" + +"I'll try," Bellamy promised. "Go on." + +"That night I stayed at my office late because I saw ruin before me +on the morrow. I left it meaning to go straight home. I lit a +cigarette near that entry, and by the light of a match, as I was +throwing it away, I saw the murdered man. I think for a time I was +paralyzed. The pocket-book was half dragged out from his pocket. +Why I looked inside it I don't know. I had some sort of wild idea +that I must find out who he was. Mind you, though, I should have +given the alarm at once, but there wasn't a soul in the street. +There was a man lurking in the entry and I chased him, unsuccessfully. +When I came back, the body was still there and the street empty. I +looked inside that pocket-book, which would have been in the +possession of his murderer but for my unexpected appearance. I saw +the notes there. Once more I went out into the street. I gave no +alarm, - I am not attempting to explain why. I was like a man made +suddenly mad. I went back to my office and shut myself in." + +Bellamy pointed to the glasses silently. The waiter came forward +and refilled them. + +"Bellamy," Laverick continued, "your career and mine lie far apart, +and yet, at their backbone, as there is at the backbone of every +man's life, there must be something of the same sort of ambition. +My grandfather lived and died a member of the Stock Exchange, honored +and well thought of. My father followed in his footsteps. I, too, +was there. Without becoming wealthy, the name I bear has become +known and respected. Failure, whatever one may say, means a broken +life and a broken honor. I sat in my office and I knew that the use +of those notes for a few days might save me from disgrace, might +keep the name, which my father and grandfather had guarded so +jealously, free from shame. I would have paid any price for the use +of them. I would have paid with my life, if that had been possible. +Think of the risk I ran - the danger I am now in. I deposited those +notes on the morrow as security at my bank, and I met all my +engagements. The crisis is over! Those notes are in a safe deposit +vault in Chancery Lane! I only wish to Heaven that I could find +the owner!" + +"And the document?" Bellamy asked. "The document?" + +"It is in the hotel safe," Laverick answered. + +Bellamy drew a long sigh of relief. Then he emptied his tumbler +and lit a cigarette. + +"Laverick," he declared, "I believe you." + +"Thank God!" Laverick muttered. + +"I am no crime investigator," Bellamy went on thoughtfully. "As to +who killed Von Behrling, or why, I cannot now form the slightest +idea. That twenty thousand pounds, Laverick, is Secret Service +money, paid by me to Von Behrling only half-an-hour before he was +murdered, in a small restaurant there, for what I supposed to be +the document. He deceived me by making up a false packet. The real +one he kept. He deserved to die, and I am glad he is dead." + +Laverick's face was suddenly hopeful. + +"Then you can take these notes!" he exclaimed. + +Bellamy nodded. + +"In a few days," he said, "I shall take you with me to a friend of +mine - a Cabinet Minister. You shall tell him the story exactly as +you've told it to me, and restore the money." + +Laverick laughed like a child. + +"Don't think I'm mad," he apologized, "but I am not a person like +you, Bellamy, - used to adventures and this sort of wild happenings. +I'm a steady-going, matter-of-fact Englishman, and this thing has +been like a hateful nightmare to me. I can't believe that I'm going +to get rid of it." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"It's a great adventure," he declared, "to come to any one like you. +To tell you the truth, I can't imagine how you had the pluck - don't +misunderstand me, I mean the moral pluck - to run such a risk. Why, +at the moment you used those notes," Bellamy continued, "the odds +must have been about twenty to one against your not being found out." + +"One doesn't stop to count the odds," Laverick said grimly. "I saw +a chance of salvation and I went for it. And now about this letter." + +Bellamy rose to his feet. + +"On the King's service!" he whispered softly. + +They walked once more to the cashier's desk. A stranger greeted them. +Laverick produced his receipt. + +"I should like the packet I deposited here this evening," he said. +"I am sorry to trouble you, but I find that I require it unexpectedly." + +The clerk glanced at the receipt and up at the clock. "I am afraid, +sir," he answered, "that we cannot get at it before the morning." + +"Why not?" Laverick demanded, frowning. + +"Mr. Dean has just gone home," the man declared, "and he is the only +one who knows the combination on the 'L' safe. You see, sir," he +continued, "we keep this particular safe for documents, and we did +not expect that anything would be required from it to-night." + +Bellamy drew Laverick away. + +"After all," he said, "perhaps to-morrow morning would be better. +There's no need to get shirty with these fellows. As a matter of +fact, I don't think that I should have dared to receive it without +making some special preparations. I can get some plain clothes +men here upon whom I can rely, at nine o'clock." + +They strolled back into the hall. + +"Tell me," Laverick asked, "do you know who the man was who forged +my name to the order a few hours ago?" + +Bellamy nodded. + +"It was Adolf Kahn, an Austrian spy. I have been watching him for +days. If they'd given him the paper I had four men at the door, but +it would have been touch and go. He is a very prince of conspirators, +that fellow. To tell you the truth, I think I might as well go home." + +Bellamy was drawing on his gloves when the hall-porter brought a note +to Laverick. + +"A messenger has just left this for you, sir," he explained. + +Laverick tore open the envelope. The contents consisted of a few +words only, written on plain note-paper and in a handwriting which +was strange to him. + + "Ring up 1232 Gerrard." + +Laverick frowned, turned over the half sheet of paper and looked +once more at the envelope. Then he passed it on to his companion. + +"What do you make of that, Bellamy?" he asked. + +Bellamy smiled as he perused and returned it. + +"What could any one make of it?" he remarked, laconically. "Do you +know the handwriting?" + +"Never saw it before, to my knowledge," Laverick answered. "What +should you do about it?" + +"I think," Bellamy suggested, "that I should ring up number 1232 +Gerrard." + +They crossed the hall and Laverick entered one of the telephone booths. + +"1232 Gerrard," he said. + +The connection was made almost at once. + +"Who are you?" Laverick asked. + +"I am speaking for Miss Zoe Leneven," was the reply. "Are you Mr. +Laverick?" + +"I am," Laverick answered. "Is Miss Leneveu there? Can she speak +to me herself?" + +"She is not here," the voice continued. "She was fetched away in +a hurry from the theatre - we understood by her brother. She left +two and sixpence with the doorkeeper here to ring you up and explain +that she had been summoned to her brother's rooms, 25, Jermyn Street, +and would you kindly go on there." + +"Who are you?" Laverick demanded. + +There was no reply. Laverick remained speechless, listening +intently. He stood still with the receiver pressed to his ear. Was +it his fancy, or was that really Zoe's protesting voice which he +heard in the background? It was a woman or a child who was speaking + - he was almost sure that it was Zoe. + +"Who are you?" he asked fiercely. "Miss Leneveu is there with you. +Why does she not speak for herself?" + +"Miss Leneveu is not here," was the answer. "I have done what she +desired. You can please yourself whether you go or not. The address +is 25, Jermyn Street. Ring off." + +The connection was gone. Laverick laid down the receiver and +stepped out of the booth. + +"I must be off at once," he said to Bellamy. "You'll be round in +the morning?" + +Bellamy smiled. + +"After all," he remarked, "I have changed my plans. I shall not +leave the hotel. I am going to telephone round to my man to bring +me some clothes. By the bye, do you mind telling me whether this +message which you have just received had anything to do with the +little affair in which we are interested?" + +"Not directly," Laverick answered, after a moment's hesitation. +"The message was from a young lady. I have to go and meet her." + +"A young lady whom you can trust?" Bellamy inquired quietly. + +"Implicitly," Laverick assured him. + +"She spoke herself?" + +"No, she sent a message. Excuse me, Bellamy, won't you, but I +must really go." + +"By all means," Bellamy answered. + +They stood at the entrance to the hotel together while a taxicab +was summoned. Laverick stepped quickly in. + +"25, Jermyn Street," he ordered. + +Bellamy watched him drive off. Then he sighed. + +"I think, my friend Laverick," he said softly, "that you will need +some one to look after you to-night." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +MORRISON IS DESPERATE + + +Certainly it was a strange little gathering that waited in Morrison's +room for the coming of Laverick. There was Lassen -flushed, ugly, +breathing heavily, and watching the door with fixed, beady eyes. +There was Adolf Kahn, the man who had strolled out from the Milan +Hotel as Laverick had entered it, leaving the forged order behind +him. There was Streuss - stern, and desperate with anxiety. There +was Morrison himself, in the clothes of a workman, worn to a shadow, +with the furtive gleam of terrified guilt shining in his sunken +eyes, and the slouched shoulders and broken mien of the habitual +criminal. There was Zoe, around whom they were all standing, with +anger burning in her cheeks and gleaming out of her passion-filled +eyes. She, too, like the others, watched the door. So they waited. + +Streuss, not for the first time, moved to the window and drawing +aside the curtains looked down into the street. + +"Will he come - this Englishman?" he muttered. "Has he courage?" + +"More courage than you who keep a girl here against her will!" Zoe +panted, looking at him defiantly. "More courage than my poor +brother, who stands there like a coward!" + +"Shut up, Zoe!" Morrison exclaimed harshly. "There is nothing for +you to be furious about or frightened. No one wants to ill-treat +you. These gentlemen all want to behave kindly to us. It is +Laverick they want." + +"And you," she cried, "are content to stand by and let him walk +into a trap - you let them even use my name to bring him here! +Arthur, be a man! Have nothing more to do with them. Help me to +get away from this place. Call out. Do something instead of +standing there and wasting the precious minutes." + +He came towards her - ugly and threatening. + +"I'll do something in a minute," he declared savagely, - "something +you won't like, either. Keep your mouth shut, I tell you. It's me +or him, and, by Heavens, he deserves what he'll get!" + +Streuss turned away from the window and looked towards Zoe. + +"Young lady," he said quietly, "let me beg you not to distress +yourself so. I sincerely trust that nothing unpleasant will happen. +If it does, I promise you that we will arrange for your temporary +absence. You shall not be disturbed in any way." + +"And as regards your brother, have a care, young lady," Lassen +growled. "If any one's in danger, it's he. He'll be lucky if he +saves his own skin." + +The young man glowered at her. + +"You hear that, you little fool!" he muttered. Keep still, can't +you?" + +Her face was full of defiance. He came nearer to her and changed +his tone. + +"Zoe," he whispered hoarsely, "don't you understand ? If they can't +get what they want from Laverick, they'll visit it upon me. They're +desperate, I tell you. They mean mischief all the time." + +"Yet you let him be brought here, your partner who looked after you +when you were ill, and who helped you to get away!" she cried +indignantly. + +He laughed unpleasantly. + +"When it comes to a matter of life or death, it's every man for +himself. Besides, if I'd known as much about Laverick as I know +now, I'm not sure that I should have been so ready to go - not +empty-handed, by any manner of means." + +"What have you done that you should be so much in the power of +these people?" she demanded, fixing her dark eyes upon him +searchingly. + +The terror whitened his face once more. The perspiration stood out +in beads upon his forehead. + +"Don't dare to ask me questions!" he exclaimed nervously. "I should +like to know what Laverick is to you, eh, that you take so much +interest in him? Listen here, my fine young lady. If I've been mug +enough to do the dirty work, he hasn't made any bones about taking +advantage of it. He's a nice sort of sportsman, I can tell you." + +The man at the window suddenly dropped the curtain and spoke across +the room to them all. + +"He is here," he announced. + +"Alone?" Lassen asked thickly. + +"Alone," Streuss echoed. + +A little thrill seemed to pass through the room. Zoe made no attempt +to cry out. Instead she leaned forward towards the door, as though +listening. Her attitude seemed harmless enough. No one took any +more notice of her. They all watched the entrance to the apartment. +Zoe remembered the two flights of stairs. She was absorbed in a +breathless calculation. Now - now he should be coming quite close. +Her whole being was concentrated upon one effort of listening. At +last she raised her head. The room resounded with her cries. + +"Don't come in! Don't come in here!" she shrieked. "Mr. Laverick, +do you hear? Go away! Don't come in here alone!" + +Her brother was the first to reach her, his hand fell upon her mouth +brutally. Her little effort was naturally a failure - defeating, +in fact, its own object. Laverick, hearing her cries, simply +hastened his coming, threw open the door without waiting to knock, +and stepped quickly across the threshold. He saw a man dressed in +shabby workman's clothes, unshaven, dishevelled, holding Zoe in a +rough grasp, and with a single well-directed blow he sent him reeling +across the room. Then something in the man's cry, a momentary +glimpse of his white face, revealed his identity. + +"Morrison!" he cried. "Good God, it's Morrison!" + +Arthur Morrison was crouching in a corner of the room, his evil face +turned upon his aggressor. Laverick took quick stock of his +surroundings. There was the tall, fair young man -Adolf Kahn - whom +he had seen at the Milan a few hours ago - the man who had +unsuccessfully forged his name. There was Lassen, the man who, under +pretence of being her manager, had been a spy upon Louise. There was +Streuss, with blanched face and hard features, standing with his back +to the door. There was Zoe, and, behind, her brother. She held out +her hands timidly towards him, and her eyes were soft with pleading. + +"I did not want you to come here, Mr. Laverick," she cried softly. +"I tried so hard to stop you. It was not I who sent that message." + +He took her cold little fingers and raised them to his lips. + +"I know it, dear," he murmured. + +Then a movement in the room warned him, and he was suddenly on guard. +Lassen was close to his side, some evil purpose plainly enough +written in his pasty face and unwholesome eyes. Laverick gave him +his left shoulder and sent him staggering across the floor. He was +angry at having been outwitted and his eyes gleamed ominously. + +"Well, gentlemen," he exclaimed, "you seem to have taken unusual +pains to secure my presence here! Tell me now, what can I do for +you?" + +It was Streuss who became spokesman. He addressed Laverick with +the consideration of one gentleman addressing another. His voice +had many agreeable qualities. His demeanor was entirely amicable. + +"Mr. Laverick," he answered, "let us first apologize if we used a +little subterfuge to procure for us the pleasure of your visit. We +are men who are in earnest, and across whose path you have either +wilfully or accidentally strayed. An understanding between us has +become a necessity." + +"Go on," Laverick interrupted. "Tell me exactly who you are and +what you want." + +"As to who we are," Streuss answered, "does that really matter? I +repeat that we are men who are in earnest - let that be enough. As +to what we want, it is a certain document to which we have every +claim, and which has come into your possession - I flatter you +somewhat, Mr. Laverick, if I say by chance." + +Laverick shrugged his shoulders. + +"Let that go," he said. "I know all about the document you refer to, +and the notes. They were contained in a pocket-book which it is +perfectly true has come into my possession. Prove your claim to +both and you shall have them." + +Streuss smiled. + +"You will admit that our claim, since we know of its existence," he +asked suavely, "is equal to yours?" + +"Certainly," Laverick answered, "but then I never had any idea of +keeping either the document or the money. That your claim is better +than mine is no guarantee that there is not some one else whose title +is better still." + +Streuss frowned. + +"Be reasonable, Mr. Laverick," he begged. "We are men of peace - +when peace is possible. The money of which you spoke you can +consider as treasure trove, if you will, but it is our intention +to possess ourselves of the document. It is for that reason that +we are here in London. I, personally, am committed to the extent +of my life and my honor to its recovery." + +A declaration of war, courteously veiled but decisive. Laverick +looked around him a little defiantly, and shrugged his shoulders. + +"You know very well that I do not carry it about with me," he said. +"The gentleman on my left," he added, pointing to Kahn, "can tell +you where it is kept." + +"Quite so," Streuss admitted. "We are not doing you the injustice +to suppose that you would be so foolhardy as to trust yourself +anywhere with that document upon your person. It is in the safe +at the Milan Hotel. I may add that probably, if it had not +occurred to you to change your quarters, it would have been in +our possession before now. We are hoping to persuade you to return +to the hotel with one of our friends here, and procure it." + +"As it happens," Laverick remarked, "that is impossible. The man +who set the combination for that particular safe has gone off duty, +and will not be back again at the hotel till to-morrow morning." + +"But he is to be found," Streuss answered easily. "His present +whereabouts and his address are known to us. He lives with his +family at Harvard Court, Hampstead. We shall assist you in making +it worth his while to return to the hotel or to give you the +combination word for the safe." + +"You are rather great on detail!" Laverick exclaimed. + +"It is our business. The question for you to decide, and to decide +immediately, is whether you are ready to end this, in some respects, +constrained situation, and give your word to place that document in +our hands." + +"You are ready to accept my word, then?" Laverick asked. + +"We have a certain hold upon you," Streuss continued slowly. "Your +partner Mr. Morrison's position in connection with the murder in +Crooked Friars' Alley is, as you may have surmised, a somewhat +unfortunate one. Your own I will not allude to. I will simply +suggest that for both your sakes publicity - any measure of +publicity, in fact, as regards this little affair - would not be +desirable." + +Laverick hesitated. He understood all that was implied. Morrison's +eyes were fixed upon him - the eyes of a craven coward. He felt the +intensity of the moment. Then Zoe turned suddenly towards him. + +"You are not to give it up!" she cried, with trembling lips. "They +cannot hurt you, and it is not true - about Arthur." + +Kahn, who was nearest, clapped his hand over her mouth and Laverick +knocked him down. Instantly the pacific atmosphere of the room was +changed. Lassen and Morrison closed swiftly upon Laverick from +different sides. Streuss covered him with the shining barrel of a +revolver. + +"Mr. Laverick," he said, "we are not here to be trifled with. Keep +your sister quiet, Morrison, or, by God, you'll swing!" + +Laverick looked at the revolver - fascinated, for an instant, by +its unexpected appearance. The face of the man who held it had +changed. There was lightning playing about the room. + +"It's the dock for you both!" Streuss exclaimed fiercely, - "for +you, Laverick, and you, Morrison, too, if you play with us any +longer! One of you's a murderer and the other receives the booty. +Who are you to have scruples - criminals, both of you? Your place +is in the dock, and you shall be there within twenty-four hours if +there are any more evasions. Now, Laverick, will you fetch that +document? It is your last chance." + +Upon the breathless silence that followed a quiet voice intervened + - a voice calm and emotionless, tinged with a measure of polite +inquiry. Yet its level utterance fell like a bomb among the little +company. The curtain separating this from the inner room had been +drawn a few feet back, and Bellamy was standing there, in black +overcoat and white muffler, his silk hat on the back of his head, +his left hand, carefully gloved, resting still upon the curtain +which he had drawn aside. + +"I hope I am not disturbing you at all?" he murmured softly. + +For a moment the development of the situation remained uncertain. +The gleaming barrel of Streuss's revolver changed its destination. +Bellamy glanced at it with the pleased curiosity of a child. + +"I really ought not to have intruded," he continued amiably. "I +happened to hear the address my friend Laverick gave to the taxicab +driver, and I was particularly anxious to have a word or two with +him before I left for the Continent." + +Streuss was surely something of a charlatan! His revolver had +disappeared. The smile upon his lips was both gracious and +unembarrassed. + +"One is always only too pleased to welcome Mr. Bellamy anywhere - +anyhow," he declared. "If apologies are needed at all," he +continued, "it is to our friend and host - Mr. Morrison here. +Permit me - Mr. Arthur Morrison - the Honorable David Bellamy! +These are Mr. Morrison's rooms." + +Morrison could do no more than stare. Bellamy, on the contrary, +with a little bow came further into the apartment, removing his hat +from his head. Lassen glided round behind him, remaining between +Bellamy and the heavy curtains. Adolf Kahn moved as though +unconsciously in front of the door of the room in which they were. + +Bellamy smiled courteously. + +"I am afraid," he said, "that I must not stay for more than a moment. +I have a car full of friends below - we are on our way, in fact, to +the Covent Garden Ball - and one or two of them, I fear," he added +indulgently, "have already reached that stage of exhilaration which +such an entertainment in England seems to demand. They will +certainly come and rout me out if I am here much longer. There!" he + exclaimed, "you hear that?" + +There was the sound of a motor horn from the street below. Streuss, +with an oath trembling upon his lips, lifted the blind. There were +two motor-cars waiting there - large cars with Limousine bodies, +and apparently full of men. After all, it was to be expected. +Bellamy was no fool! + +"Since we are to lose you, then Mr. Laverick," Streuss remarked with +a gesture of farewell, "let us say good night. The little matter +of business which we were discussing can be concluded with your +partner." + +Laverick turned toward Zoe. Their eyes met and he read their message +of terror. + +"You are coming back to your own rooms, Miss Leneveu," he said. +"You must let me offer you my escort." + +She half rose, but in obedience to a gesture from Streuss Morrison +moved near to them. + +"If you leave me here, Laverick," he muttered beneath his breath, - +"if you leave me to these hounds, do you know what they will do? +They will hand me over to the police - they have sworn it!" + +"Why did you come back?" Laverick asked quickly. + +"They stopped me as I was boarding the steamer," Morrison declared. +"I tell you they have eyes everywhere. You cannot move without their +knowledge. I had to come. Now that I am here they have told me +plainly the price of my freedom. It is that document. Laverick, it +is my life! You must give in - you must, indeed! Remember you're +in it, too." + +"Am I?" Laverick asked quietly. + +"You fool, of course you are!" Morrison whispered hoarsely. "Didn't +you come into the entry and take the pocket-book? Heaven knows what +possessed you to do it! Heaven knows how you found the pluck to use +the money! But you did it, and you are a criminal - a criminal as I +am. Don't be a fool, Laverick. Make terms with these people. They +want the document - the document - nothing but the document! They +will let us keep the money." + +"And you?" Laverick asked, turning suddenly to Zoe. "What do you +say about all this?" + +She looked at him fearlessly. + +"I trust you," she said. "I trust you to do what is right. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +LAVERICK S ARREST + + +"At last, David!" + +Louise welcomed her visitor eagerly with outstretched hands, which +Bellamy raised for a moment to his lips. Then she turned toward the +third person, who had also risen at the opening of the door - a +short, somewhat thick-set man, with swarthy complexion, close-cropped +black hair, and upturned black moustache. + +"You remember Prince Rosmaran ?" she said to Bellamy. "He left +Servia only the day before yesterday. He has come to England on a +special mission to the King." + +Bellamy shook hands. + +"I think," he remarked, "I had the honor of meeting you once before, +Prince, at the opening of the Servian Parliament two years ago. It +was just then, I believe, that you were elected to lead the patriotic +party." + +Th e Prince bowed sadly. + +"My leadership, I fear," he declared, "has brought little good to +my unhappy country." + +"It is a terrible crisis through which your nation is passing," +Bellamy reminded him sympathetically. "At the same time, we must +not despair. Austria holds out her clenched hands, but as yet she +has not dared to strike." + +The face of the Prince was dark with passion. + +"As yet, no!" he answered. "But how long - how long, I wonder - +before the blow falls? We in Servia have been blamed for arming +ourselves, but I tell you that to-day the Austrian troops are being +secretly concentrated on the frontier. Their arsenals are working +night and day. Her soldiers are manoeuvering almost within sight +of Belgrade. We have hoped against hope, yet in our hearts we know +that our fate was sealed when the Czar of Russia left Vienna last +week." + +"Nothing is certain," Bellamy declared restlessly. "England has +been ill-governed for a great many years, but we are not yet a +negligible Power." + +Louise leaned a little towards him. + +"David," she whispered, "the compact!" + +He answered her unspoken question. + +"It is arranged," he said, - "finished. To-morrow morning at nine +o'clock I receive it." + +"You are sure?" she begged. "Why need there be any delay?" + +"It is locked up in a powerful safe," he explained, "and the clerk +who has the combination will not be on duty again till nine. +Laverick is there simply waiting for the hour. You were right, +Louise, as usual. I should have trusted him from the first." + +The Prince had been listening to their conversation with undisguised +interest. + +"There is a rumor," he said, "that some secret information concerning +the compact of Vienna has found its way to this country." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"Hence, I presume, your mission, Prince." + +"We three have no secrets from one another," the Prince declared. +"Our interests in this matter are absolutely identical. What you +suggest, Mr. Bellamy, is the truth. There is a rumor that the +Chancellor, in the first few moments of his illness, gave valuable +information to some one who is likely to have communicated it to the +Government here. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. That, I +know, is one of your own mottoes. So I am here to know if there is +anything to be learned." + +Bellamy nodded. + +"Your arrival is not inopportune, Prince. When did you come?" + +"I reached Charing Cross at midnight," the Prince answered. "Our +train was an hour late. I am presenting my credentials early this +morning, and I am hoping for an interview during the afternoon." + +Bellamy considered for a moment. + +"It is true!" he said. "Between us three there is indeed no need +for secrecy. The information you speak of will be in our hands +within a few hours. I have no doubt whatever but that your Minister +will share in it." + +"You know of what it Consists?" the Prince inquired curiously. + +"I think so," Bellamy answered, glancing at the clock. "For my own +part, although the information itself is invaluable, I see another +and a profounder source of interest in that document. If, indeed, +it is what we believe it to be, it amounts to a casus belli." + +"You mean that you would provoke war?" Prince Rosmaran asked. + +Bellamy shrugged his shoulders. + +"I," said he, - "I am not even a politician. But, you know, the +lookers-on see a good deal of the game, and in my opinion there is +only one course open for this country, - to work upon Russia so +that she withdraws from any compact she may have entered into with +Austria and Germany, to accept Germany's cooperation with Austria +in the despoilment of your country as a casus belli, and to declare +war at once while our fleet is invincible and our Colonies free +from danger." + +The Prince nodded. + +"It is good," he admitted, "to hear man's talk once more. Wherever +one moves, people bow the head before the might of Germany and +Austria. Let them alone but a little longer, and they will indeed +rule Europe." + +Three o'clock struck. The Prince rose. + +"I go," he announced. + +"And I," Bellamy declared. "Come to my rooms at ten o'clock +tomorrow morning, Prince, and you shall hear the news. + +Bellamy lingered behind. For a moment he held Louise in his arms +and gazed sorrowfully into her weary face. + +"Is it worth while, I wonder?" he asked bitterly. + +"Worth while," she answered, opening her eyes and looking at him, +"to feel the mother love? Who can help it who would not be ignoble?" + +"But yours, dear," he murmured, "is all grief. Even now I am afraid." + +"We can do no more than toil to the end," she said. "David, you are +sure this time?" + +"I am sure," he replied. "I am going back now to the hotel where +Laverick is staying. We are going to sit together and smoke until +the morning. Nothing short of an army could storm the hotel. I +was with them all only an hour ago, - Streuss, that blackguard +Lassen, and Adolf Kahn, the police spy. They are beaten men and +they know it. They had Laverick, had him by a trick, but I made a +dramatic entrance and the game was up." + +"Telephone me directly you have taken it safely to Downing Street," +she begged. + +"I will," he promised. + +Bellamy walked from Dover Street to the Strand. The streets were +almost brilliant with the cold, hard moonlight. The air seemed +curiously keen. Once or twice the fall of his feet upon the pavement +was so clear and distinct that he fancied he was being followed and +glanced sharply around. He reached the Milan Hotel, however, +without adventure, and looked towards the little open space in the +hall where he had expected to find Laverick. There was no one +there! He stood still for a moment, troubled with a sudden sense +of apprehension. The place was deserted except for a couple of +sleepy-looking clerks and a small army of cleaners busy with their +machines down in the restaurant, moving about like mysterious +figures in the dim light. + +Bellamy turned back to the hall-porter who had admitted him. + +"Do you happen to know what has become of the gentleman whom I was +with about an hour ago?" he asked, - "a tall, fair gentleman - Mr. +Laverick his name was?" + +The hall-porter recognized Bellamy and touched his hat. + +"Why, yes, sir!" he answered with a somewhat mysterious air. "Mr. +Laverick was sitting over there in an easy-chair until about +half-an-hour ago. Then two gentle-men arrived in a taxicab and +inquired for him. They talked for a little time, and finally Mr. +Laverick went away with them." + +Bellamy was puzzled. + +"Went away with them?" he repeated. "I don't understand that, +Reynolds. He was to have waited here till I returned." + +The man hesitated. + +"It didn't strike me, sir," he said, "that Mr. Laverick was very +wishful to go. It seemed as though he hadn't much choice about the +matter." + +Bellamy looked at him keenly. + +"Tell me what is in your mind?" he asked. + +"Mr. Bellamy, sir," the hall-porter replied, "I knew one of those +gentlemen by sight. He was a detective from Scotland Yard, and the +one who was with him was a policeman in plain clothes." + +"Good God!" Bellamy exclaimed. "You think, then, - " + +"I am afraid there was no doubt about it, sir," the man answered. +"Mr. Laverick was arrested on some charge." + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +MORRISON'S DISCLOSURE + + +Into New Oxford Street, one of the ceaseless streams of polyglot +humanity, came Zoe from her cheerless day bound for the theatre. +She was a little whiter, a little more tired than usual. All day +long she had heard nothing of Laverick. All day long she had sat +in her tiny room with the memory of that horrible night before her. +She had tried in vain to sleep, - she had made no effort whatever +to eat. She knew now why Arthur Morrison had fled away. She knew +the cause of that paroxysm of fear in which he had sought her out. +The horror of the whole thing had crept into her blood like poison. +Life was once more a dreary, profitless struggle. All the wonderful +dreams, which had made existence seem almost like a fairy-tale for +this last week, had faded away. She was once more a mournful +little waif among the pitiless crowds. + +She turned to the left and past the Holborn Tube. Boys were +shouting everywhere the contents of the evening papers. Nearly +every one seemed to be carrying one of the pink sheets. She herself +passed on with unseeing eyes. News was nothing to her. Governments +might rise and fall, war might come and go, - she had still life to +support, a friendless little life, too, on two pounds fifteen +shillings a week. The news they shouted fell upon deaf ears, but +one boy unfurled almost before her eyes the headlines of his sheet. + + SENSATIONAL ARREST OF A WELL-KNOWN + STOCKBROKER. CHARGE OF MURDER. + +She came to a sudden stop and pulled out her purse. Her fingers +trembled so that the penny fell on to the pavement. The boy picked +it up willingly enough, however, and she passed on with the paper in +her hand. There it was on the front page - staring her in the face: + + Early yesterday morning Mr. Stephen Laverick, of the firm of + Laverick & Morrison, Stockbrokers, Old Broad Street, was + arrested at the Milan Hotel on the charge of being concerned + in the murder of a person unknown, in Crooked Friars' Alley, + on Monday last. The accused, who made no reply to the charge, + was removed to Bow Street Police-Station. Particulars of his + examination before the magistrates will be found on page 4. + +There was a dull singing in her ears. An electric tram, coming up +from the underground passage, seemed to bring with it some sort of +thunder from an unknown world. She staggered on, unseeing, gasping +for breath. If she could find somewhere to sit down! If she could +only rest for a moment! Then a sudden wave of strength came to her, +the blood flowed once more in her veins - blood that was hot with +anger, that stained her cheeks with a spot of red. It was the man +she loved, this, being made to suffer falsely. It was the fulfilment +of their threat - a deliberate plot against him. The murderer of +Crooked Friars' Alley - she knew who that was! - she knew! Perhaps +she might help! + +She had not the slightest recollection of the remainder of that +walk, but she found herself presently sitting in a quiet corner of +the theatre with the paper spread out before her. She read that +Stephen Laverick had been brought before Mr. Rawson, the magistrate +of Bow Street Police Court, on a warrant charging him with having +been concerned with the murder of a person unknown, and that he had +pleaded "Not Guilty!" Her eyes glittered as she read that the +first witness called was Mr. Arthur Morrison, late partner of the +accused. She read his deposition - that he had left Laverick at +their offices at eleven o'clock on the night in question, that they +were at that time absolutely without means, and had no prospect +of meeting their engagements on the morrow. She read the evidence +of Mr. Fenwick, bank manager, to the effect that Mr. Laverick had, +on the following morning, deposited with him the sum of twenty +thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, by means of which the +engagements of the firm were duly met, that those notes had since +been redeemed, and that he had no idea of their present whereabouts. +She read, too, the evidence of Adolf Kahn, an Austrian visiting +this country upon private business, who deposed that he was in the +vicinity just before midnight, that he saw a person, whom he +identified as the accused, walking down the street and, after +disappearing for a few minutes down the entry, return and re-enter +the offices from which he had issued. He explained his presence +there by the fact that he was waiting for a clerk employed by the +Goldfields' Corporation, Limited, whose offices were close by. +Further formal evidence was given, and a remand asked for. The +accused's solicitor was on the point of addressing the court when +Mr. Rawson was unfortunately taken ill. After waiting for some +time, the case was adjourned until the next day, and the accused +man was removed in custody. + +Zoe laid down the paper and rose to her feet. She made her way to +where the stage-manager was superintending the erection of some new +scenery. + +"Mr. Heepman," she exclaimed, "I cannot stay to rehearsal! I have +to go out." + +He turned heavily round and looked at her. + +"Rehearsal postponed," he declared solemnly. "Shall you be back +for the evening performance, or shall we close the theatre?" + +His clumsy irony missed its mark. Her thoughts were too intensely +focussed upon one thing. + +"I am sorry," she replied, turning away. "I will come back as soon +as I can." + +He called out after her and she paused. + +"Look here," he said, "you were absent from the performance the +other evening, and now you are skipping rehearsal without even +waiting for permission. It can't be done, young lady. You must +do your playing around some other time. If you're not here when +you're called, you needn't trouble to turn up again. Do you +understand?" + +Her lips quivered and the sense of impending disaster which seemed +to be brooding over her life became almost overwhelming. + +"I'll come back as soon as I can," she promised, with a little break +in her voice, - "as soon as ever I can, Mr. Heepman." + +She hurried out of the theatre and took her place once more among +the hurrying throng of pedestrians. Several people turned round to +look at her. Her white face, tight-drawn mouth, and eyes almost +unnaturally large, seemed to have become the abiding-place for +tragedy. She herself saw no one. She would have taken a cab, but +a glimpse at the contents of her purse dissuaded her. She walked +steadily on to Jermyn Street, walked up the stairs to the third +floor, and knocked at her brother's door. No one answered her at +first. She turned the handle and entered to find the room empty. +There were sounds, however, in the further apartment, and she +called out to him. + +"Arthur," she cried, "are you there?" + +"Who is it?" he demanded. + +"It is I - Zoe!" she exclaimed. + +"What do you want?" + +"I want to speak to you, Arthur. I must speak to you. Please +come as quickly as you can." + +He growled something and in a few moments he appeared. He was +wearing the morning clothes in which he had attended court earlier +in the day, but the change in him was perhaps all the more marked +by reason of this resumption of his old attire. His cheeks were +hollow, his eyes scarcely for an instant seemed to lose that +feverish gleam of terror with which he had returned from Liverpool. +He knew very well what she had come about, and he began nervously +to try and bully her. + +"I wish you wouldn't come to these rooms, Zoe," he said. "I've +told you before they're bachelors' apartments, and they don't like +women about the place. What is it? What do you want?" + +"I was brought here last time without any particular desire on my +part," she answered, looking him in the face. "I've come now to +ask you what accursed plot this is against Stephen Laverick? What +were you doing in the court this morning, lying? What is the +meaning of it, Arthur?" + +"If you've come to talk rubbish like that," he declared roughly, +"you'd better be off." + +"No, it is not rubbish!" she went on fearlessly. "I think I can +understand what it is that has happened. They have terrified you +and bribed you until you are willing to do any despicable thing + - even this. Your father was good to my mother, Arthur, and I +have tried to feel towards you as though you were indeed a relation. +But nothing of that counts. I want you to realize that I know the +truth, and that I will not see an innocent man convicted while the +guilty go free." + +He moved a step towards her. They were on opposite sides of the +small round table which stood in the centre of the apartment. + +"What do you mean?" he demanded hoarsely. + +"Isn't it plain enough?" she exclaimed. "You came to my rooms a +week or so ago, a terrified, broken-down man. If ever there was +guilt in a man's face, it was in yours. You sent for Laverick. He +pitied you and helped you away. At Liverpool they would not let +you embark - these men. They have brought you back here. You are +their tool. But you know very well, Arthur, that it was not Stephen +Laverick who killed the man in Crooked Friars' Alley! You know very +well that it was not Stephen Laverick!" + +"Why the devil should I know anything about it?" he asked fiercely. + +A note of passion suddenly crept into her voice. Her little white +hand, with its accusing forefinger, shot out towards him. + +"Because it was you, Arthur Morrison, who committed that crime," she +cried, "and sooner than another man should suffer for it, I shall +go to court myself and tell the truth." + +He was, for the moment, absolutely speechless, pale as death, with +nervously twitching lips and fingers. But there was murder in his eyes. + +"What do you know about this?" he muttered. + +"Never mind," she answered. "I know and I guess quite enough to +convince me - and I think anybody else - that you are the guilty man. +I would have helped you and shielded you, whatever it cost me, but +I will not do so at Stephen Laverick's expense." + +"What is Laverick to you?" he growled. + +"He is nothing to me," she replied, "but the best of friends. Even +were he less than that, do you suppose that I would let an innocent +man suffer?" + +He moistened his dry lips rapidly. + +"You are talking nonsense, Zoe," he said, - "nonsense! Even if +there has been some little mistake, what could I do now? I have +given my evidence. So far as I am concerned, the case is finished. +I shall not be called again until the trial." + +"Then you had better go to the magistrates tomorrow morning and +take back your evidence," she declared boldly, "for if you do not, +I shall be there and I shall tell the truth." + +"Zoe," he gasped, "don't try me too high. This thing has upset me. +I'm ill. Can't you see it, Zoe? Look at me. I haven't slept for +weeks. Night and day I've had the fear - the fear always with me. +You don't know what it is - you can't imagine. It's like a terrible +ghost, keeping pace with you wherever you go, laying his icy finger +upon you whenever you would rest, mocking at you when you try to +drown thought even for a moment. Don't you try me too far, Zoe. +I'm not responsible. Laverick isn't the man you think him to be. +He isn't the man I believed. He did have that money - he did, +indeed." + +"That," she said, "is to be explained. But he is not a murderer." + +"Listen to me, Zoe," Morrison continued, leaning across the table. +"Come and stay with me for a time and we will go away for a week + - somewhere to the seaside. e will talk about this and think it +over. I want to get away from London. We will go to Brighton, if +you like. must do something for you, Zoe. I'm afraid I've +neglected you a good deal. Perhaps I could get you a better part +at one of the theatres. I must make you an allowance. You ought +to be wearing better clothes." + +She drew a little away. + +"I want nothing from you, Arthur," she said, "except this - that +you speak the truth." + +He wiped his forehead and struck the table before her. + +"But, good God, Zoe!" he exclaimed, "do you know what it is that +you are asking me? Do you want me to go into court and say - 'That +isn't the man... It is I who am the murderer'? Do you want me to +feel their hands upon my shoulder, to be put there in the dock and +have all the people staring at me curiously because they know that +before very long I am to stand upon the scaffold and have that rope +around my neck and - " + +He broke off with a low cry, wringing his hands like a child in a +fit of impotent terror. But the girl in front of him never flinched. + +"Arthur," she said, "crime is a terrible thing, but nothing in the +world can alter its punishment. If it is frightful for you to +think of this, what must it be for him? And you are guilty and he +is not." + +"I was mad!" Morrison went on, now almost beside himself. "Zoe, I +was mad! I called there to have a drink. We were broke, - the firm +was broke. I'd a hundred or so in my pocket and I was going to bolt +the next day. And there, within a few yards of me, was that man, +with such a roll of notes as I had never seen in my life. Five +hundred pounds, every one of them, and a wad as thick as my fists. +Zoe, they fascinated me. I had two drinks quickly and I followed +him out. Somehow or other, I found that I'd caught up a knife that +was on the counter. I never meant to hurt him seriously, but I +wanted some of those notes! I was leaving the next day for Africa +and I hadn't enough money to make a fair start. I wanted it - my +God, how I wanted money!" + +"It couldn't have been worth - that!" she cried, looking at him +wonderingly. + +"I was mad," he continued. "I saw the notes and they went to my +head. Men do wild things sometimes when they are drunk, or for +love. I don't drink much, and I'm not over fond of women, but, my +God, money is like the blood of my body to me! I saw it, and I +wanted it and I wanted it, and I went mad! Zoe, you won't give me +away? Say you won't!" + +"But what am I to do?" she protested. "He must not suffer." + +"He'll get off," Morrison assured her thickly. "I tell you he'll +get off. He's only to part with the document, which never belonged +to him, and the charge will be withdrawn. They know who the +murdered man was. They know where the money came from which he was +carrying. I tell you he can save himself. You wouldn't dream of +sending me to the gallows, Zoe!" + +"Stephen Laverick will never give up that document to those people," +she declared. "I am sure of that." + +"It's his own lookout," Morrison muttered. "He has the chance, +anyway." + +She turned toward the door. + +"I must go away," she said. "I must go away and think. It is all +too horrible." + +He came round the table swiftly and caught at her wrists. + +"Listen," he said, "I can't let you go like this. You must tell me +that you are not going to give me up. Do you hear?" + +"I can make no promises, Arthur," she answered sadly, "only this - +I shall not let Stephen Laverick suffer in your stead." + +He opened his hand and she shrank back, terrified, when she saw what +it was that he was holding. Then he struck her down and without a +backward glance fled out of the place. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +BELLAMY'S SUCCESS + + +Late that afternoon the hall-porter at the Milan Hotel, the +commissionaire, and the chief maitre d'hotel from the Caf‚, who +happened to be in the hall, together with several others around the +place who knew Stephen Laverick by sight, were treated to an +unexpected surprise. A large closed motor-car drove up to the +front entrance and several men descended, among whom was Laverick +himself. He nodded to the hall-porter, whose salute was purely +mechanical, and making his way without hesitation to the interior +of the hotel, presented his receipt at the cashier's desk and asked +for his packet. The clerk looked up at him in amazement. He did +not, for the moment, notice that the two men standing immediately +behind bore the stamp of plain-clothes policemen. He had only a +few minutes ago finished reading the report of Laverick's +examination before the magistrates and his remand until the morrow, +upon the charge of murder. His knowledge of English law was by no +means perfect, but he was at least aware that Laverick's appearance +outside the purlieus of the prison was an unusual happening. + +"Your packet, sir!" he repeated, in amazement. "Why, this is Mr. +Laverick himself, is it not?" + +"Certainly," was the quiet reply. "I am Stephen Laverick." + +The clerk called the head cashier, who also stared at Laverick as +though he were a ghost. They whispered together in the background +for a moment, and their faces were a study in perplexity. Of +Laverick's identity, however, there was no manner of doubt. Besides, +the presence of what was obviously a very ample escort somewhat +reassured them. The cashier himself came forward. + +"We shall be exceedingly glad, Mr. Laverick," he said dryly, "to +get rid of your packet. Your instructions were that we should +disregard all orders to hand it over to any person whatsoever, and +I may say that they have been strictly adhered to. We have, +however, had two applications in your name this morning." + +"They were both forgeries," Laverick declared. + +The cashier hesitated. Then he leaned across the broad mahogany +counter towards Laverick. One of the men who appeared to form part +of the escort detached himself from them and approached a few +steps nearer. + +"This gentleman is your friend, sir?" the cashier asked, glancing +towards him. + +"He is my solicitor," Laverick answered, "and is entirely in my +confidence. If you have anything to tell me, I should like Mr. +Bellamy also to hear." + +Bellamy, who was standing a little in the background, took his place +by Laverick's side. The cashier, who knew him by sight, bowed. + +"Beside these two forged orders, sir," he said, turning again to +Laverick, "we have had a man who took a room in the hotel leave a +small black bag here, which he insisted upon having deposited in +our document safe. My assistant had accepted it and was actually +locking it up when he noticed a faint sound inside which he could +not understand. The bag was opened and found to contain an +infernal machine which would have exploded in a quarter of an hour." + +Bellamy drew his breath sharply between his teeth. + +"We should have thought of that!" he exclaimed softly. "That's +Kahn's work!" + +"I seem to have given you a great deal of trouble," Laverick +remarked quietly. "I gather, however, from what you say, that my +packet is still in your possession?" + +"It is, sir," the man assented. "We have two detectives from +Scotland Yard here at the present moment, though, and we had +almost decided to place it in their charge for greater security." + +"It will be well taken care of from now, I promise you," Laverick +declared. + +The cashier and his clerk led the way into the inner office. At +their invitation Laverick and his solicitor followed, and a few +yards behind came the two plain-clothes policemen, Bellamy, and +the superintendent. The safe was opened and the packet placed in +Laverick's hands. He passed it on at once to Bellamy, and +immediately afterwards the doorway behind was thronged with men, +apparently ordinary loiterers around the hotel. They made a slow +and exceedingly cautious exit. Once outside, Bellamy turned to +Laverick with outstretched hand. + +"Au revoir and good luck, old chap!" he said heartily. "I think +you'll find things go your way all right to-morrow morning." + +He departed, forming one of a somewhat singular cavalcade - two +of his friends on either side, two in front, and two behind. It +had almost the appearance of a procession. The whole party stepped +into a closed motor-car. Three or four men were lounging on the +pavement and there was some excited whispering, but no one actually +interfered. As soon as they had left the courtyard, Laverick and +his solicitor, with his own guard, re-entered the motor-car in +which they had arrived, and drove back to Bow Street. Very few +words were exchanged during the short journey. His solicitor, +however, bade him good-night cheerfully, and Laverick's bearing +was by no means the bearing of a man in despair. + +In Downing Street, within the next half-an-hour, a somewhat +remarkable little gathering took place. The two men chiefly +responsible for the destinies of the nation - the Prime Minister +and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs - sat side by side +before a small table. Facing them was Bellamy, and spread out in +front were those few pages of foolscap, released from their +envelope a few minutes ago for the first time since the hand of +the great Chancellor himself had pressed down the seal. The +Foreign Minister had just finished a translation for the benefit +of his colleague, and the two men were silent, as men are in the +presence of big events. + +"Bellamy," the Prime Minister said slowly, "you are willing to +stake, I presume, your reputation upon the authenticity of this +document?" + +"My honor and my life, if you will," Bellamy answered earnestly. +"That is no copy which you have there. On the contrary, the +handwriting is the handwriting of the Chancellor himself." + +The Prime Minister turned silently towards his colleague. The +latter, whose eyes still seemed glued to those fateful words, +looked up. + +"All I can say is this," he remarked impressively, "that never in +my time have I seen written words possessed of so much significance. +One moment, if you please." + +He touched the bell, and his private secretary entered at once from +an adjoining room. + +"Anthony," he said, "telephone to the Great Western Railway Company +at Paddington. Ask for the station master in my name, and see that +a special train is held ready to depart for Windsor in half-an-hour. +Tell the station-master that all ordinary traffic must be held up, +but that the destination of the special is not to be divulged." + +The young man bowed and withdrew. + +"The more I consider this matter," the Foreign Minister went on, +"the more miraculous does the appearance of this document seem. +We know now why the Czar is struggling so frantically to curtail +his visit - why he came, as it were, under protest, and seeks +everywhere for an opportunity to leave before the appointed time. +His health is all right. He has had a hint from Vienna that there +has been a leakage. His special mission only reached Paris this +morning. The President is in the country and their audience is not +fixed until to-morrow. Rawson will go over with a copy of these +papers and a dispatch from His Majesty by the nine o'clock train. +It is not often that we have had the chance of such a 'coup' as +this." + +He drew his chief a few steps away. They whispered together for +several moments. When they returned, the Foreign Minister rang +the bell again for his secretary. + +"Anthony," he said, "Sir James and I will be leaving in a few +minutes for Windsor. Go round yourself to General Hamilton, +telephone to Aldershot for Lord Neville, and call round at the +Admiralty Board for Sir John Harrison. Tell them all to be here +at ten o'clock tonight. If I am not back, they must wait. If +either of them have royal commands, you need only repeat the +word 'Finisterre.' They will understand." + +The young man once more withdrew. The Prime Minister turned +back to the papers. + +"It will be worth a great deal," he remarked, with a grim smile, +"to see His Majesty's face when he reads this." + +"It would be worth a great deal more," his fellow statesman +answered dryly, "to be with his August cousin at the interview +which will follow. A month ago, the thought that war might come +under our administration was a continual terror to me. To-day +things are entirely different. To-day it really seems that if +war does come, it may be the most glorious happening for England +of this century. You saw the last report from Kiel?" + +Sir James nodded. + +"There isn't a battleship or a cruiser worth a snap of the fingers +south of the German Ocean," his colleague continued earnestly. +"They are cooped up - safe enough, they think - under the shelter +of their fortifications. Hamilton has another idea. Between you +and me, Sir James, so have I. I tell you," he went on, in a +deeper and more passionate tone, "it's like the passing of a +terrible nightmare - this. We have had ten years of panic, of +nervous fears of a German invasion, and no one knows more than you +and I, Sir James, how much cause we have had for those fears. It +will seem strange if, after all, history has to write that chapter +differently." + +The secretary re-entered and announced the result of his telephone +interview with the superintendent at Paddington. The two great +men rose. The Prime Minister held out his hand to Bellamy. + +"Bellamy," he declared, "you've done us one more important service. +There may be work for you within the next few weeks, but you've +earned a rest for a day or two, at any rate. There is nothing more +we can do?" + +"Nothing except a letter to the Home Secretary, Sir James," Bellamy +answered. "Remember, sir, that although I have worked hard, the +man to whom we really owe those papers is Stephen Laverick." + +The Prime Minister frowned thoughtfully. + +"It's a difficult situation, Bellamy," he said. "You are asking a +great deal when you suggest that we should interfere in the +slightest manner with the course of justice. You are absolutely +convinced, I suppose, that this man Laverick had nothing to do +with the murder?" + +"Absolutely and entirely, sir," Bellamy replied. + +"The murdered man has never been identified by the police," Sir +James remarked. "Who was he?" + +"His name was Rudolph Von Behrling," Bellamy announced, "and he was +actually the Chancellor's nephew, also his private secretary. I +have told you the history, sir, of those papers. It was Von +Behrling who, without a doubt, murdered the American journalist +and secured them. It was he who insisted upon coming to London +instead of returning with them to Vienna, which would have been the +most obvious course for him to have adopted. He was a pauper, and +desperately in love with a certain lady who has helped me throughout +this matter. He agreed to part with the papers for twenty thousand +pounds, and the lady incidentally promised to elope with him the +same night. I met him by appointment at that little restaurant in +the city, paid him the twenty thousand pounds, and received the +false packet which you remember I brought to you, sir. As a matter +of fact, Von Behrling, either by accident or design, and no man now +will ever know which, left me with those papers which I was supposed +to have bought in his possession, and also the money. Within five +minutes he was murdered. Doubtless we shall know sometime by whom, +but it was not by Stephen Laverick. Laverick's share in the whole +thing was nothing but this - that he found the pocket-book, and that +he made use of the notes in his business for twenty-four hours to +save himself from ruin. That was unjustifiable, of course. He has +made atonement. The notes at this minute are in a safe deposit +vault and will be returned intact to the fund from which they came. +I want, also, to impress upon you, Sir James, the fact that Baron +de Streuss offered one hundred thousand pounds for that letter." + +Sir James nodded thoughtfully. He stooped down and scrawled a few +lines on half a sheet of note-paper. + +"You must take this to Lord Estcourt at once," he said, "and tell +him the whole affair, omitting all specific information as to the +nature of the papers. The thing must be arranged, of course." + +Half-a-dozen reporters, who had somehow got hold of the fact that +the Prime Minister and his colleague from the Foreign Office were +going down to Windsor on a special mission, followed them, but even +they remained altogether in the dark as to the events which were +really transpiring. They knew nothing of the interview between the +Czar and his August host - an interview which in itself was a +chapter in the history of these times. They knew nothing of the +reason of their royal visitor's decision to prolong his visit +instead of shortening it, or of his autograph letter to the +President of the French Republic, which reached Paris even before +the special mission from St. Petersburg had presented themselves. +The one thing which they did know, and that alone was significant +enough, was that the Czar's Foreign Minister was cabled for that +night to come to his master by special train from St. Petersburg. +At the Austrian and German Embassies, forewarned by a report from +Baron de Streuss, something like consternation reigned. The +Russian Ambassador, heckled to death, took refuge at Windsor under +pretence of a command from his royal master. The happiest man in +London was Prince Rosmaran. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +LAVERICK ACQUITTED + + +At mid-day on the following morning Laverick stepped down from the +dock at Bow Street and, as the evening papers put it, "in company +with his friends left the court." The proceedings altogether took +scarcely more than half-an-hour. Laverick's solicitor first put +Shepherd in the box, who gave his account of Morrison's visit to +the restaurant, spoke of his hurried exit, and identified the knife +which he had seen him snatch up. Cross-examined as to why he had +kept silent, he explained that Mr. Morrison had been a good customer +and he saw no reason why he should give unsolicited evidence which +would cost a man his life. Directly, however, another man had been +accused, the matter appeared to him to be altogether different. He +had come forward the moment he had heard of Laverick's ARREST, to +offer his evidence. + +While the opinion of the court was still undecided, Laverick's +solicitor called Miss Zoe Leneveu. A little murmur of interest ran +though the court. Laverick himself started. Zoe stepped into the +witness-box, looking exceedingly pale, and with a bandage over the +upper part of her head. She admitted that she was the half-sister +of Arthur Morrison, although there was no blood relationship. She +described his sudden visit to her rooms on the night of the murder, +and his state of great alarm. She declared that he had confessed +to her on the previous afternoon that he had been guilty of the +murder in question. + +Her place in the witness-box was taken by the Honorable David +Bellamy. He declared that the prisoner was an old friend of his, +and that the twenty thousand pounds of which he had been recently +possessed, had come from him for investment in Laverick's business. +The circumstances, he admitted, were somewhat peculiar, and until +negotiations had been concluded Mr. Laverick had doubtless felt +uncertain how to make use of the money. But he assured the court +that there was no person who had any claim to the sum of money in +question save himself, and that he was perfectly aware of the use +to which Laverick had put it. + +Laverick was discharged within a very few minutes, and a warrant +was issued for the apprehension of Morrison. Laverick found +Bellamy waiting for him, and was hurried into his motor. + +"Well, you see," the latter exclaimed, "we kept our word! That +dear plucky little friend of yours turned the scale, but in any +case I think that there would not have been much trouble about the +matter. The magistrate had received a communication direct from +the Home Secretary concerning your case." + +"I am very grateful indeed," Laverick declared. "I tell you I +think I am very lucky. I wish I knew what had become of Miss +Leneveu. The usher told me she left the court before we came out." + +"I asked her to go straight back to her rooms," Bellamy said. "You +must excuse me for interfering, Laverick, but I found her almost in +a state of collapse last night in Jermyn Street. I was having +Morrison watched, and my man reported to me that he had left his +rooms in a state of great excitement, and that a young lady was +there who appeared to be seriously injured." + +"D-d scamp!" Laverick muttered. + +"I did everything I could," Bellamy continued. "I fetched her at +once and sent her back to her house with a hospital nurse and some +one to look after her. The wound wasn't serious, but the fellow +must have been a brute indeed to have lifted his hand against such +a child. I wonder whether he'll get away." + +"I should doubt it," Laverick remarked. "He hasn't the nerve. +He'll probably get drunk and blow his brains out. He's a +broken-spirited cur, after all." + +"You'll have some lunch?" Bellamy asked. + +Laverick shook his head. + +"If you don't mind, I'd like to go on and see Miss Leneveu." + +"Put me down at the club, then, and take my car on, if you will." + + +Laverick walked up and down the pavement outside Zoe's little +house for nearly half-an-hour. He had found the door closed and +locked, and a neighbor had informed him that Miss Leneveu had +gone out in a cab with the nurse, some time ago, and had not +returned. Laverick sent Bellamy's car back and waited. Presently +a four-wheel cab came round the corner and stopped in front of +her house. Laverick opened the door and helped Zoe out. She was +as white as death, and the nurse who was with her was looking +anxious. + +"You are safe, then?" she murmured, holding out her hands. + +"Quite," he answered. "You dear little girl!" + +Zoe had fainted, however, and Laverick hurried out for the doctor. +Curiously enough, it was the same man who only a week or so ago +had come to see Arthur Morrison. + +"She has had a bad scalp wound," he declared, "and her nervous +system is very much run down. There is nothing serious. She +seems to have just escaped concussion. The nurse had better stay +with her for another day, at any rate." + +"You are sure that it isn't serious?" Laverick asked eagerly. + +"Not in the least," the doctor answered dryly. "I see worse +wounds every day of my life. I'll come again to-morrow, if you like, +but it really isn't necessary with the nurse on the spot." + +His natural pessimism was for a moment lightened by the fee which +Laverick pressed upon him, and he departed with a few more +encouraging words. Laverick stayed and talked for a short time +with the nurse. + +"She has gone off to sleep now, sir," the latter announced. "There +isn't anything to worry about. She seems as though she had been +having a hard time, though. There was scarcely a thing in the house +but half a packet of tea - and these." + +She held up a packet of pawn tickets. + +"I found these in a drawer when I came," she said. "I had to look +round, because there was no money and nothing whatever in the house." + +Laverick was suddenly conscious of an absurd mistiness before his +eyes. + +"Poor little woman!" he murmured. "I think she'd sooner have starved +than ask for help." + +The nurse smiled. + +"I thought at first that she was rather a vain young lady," she +remarked. "An empty larder and a pile of pawn tickets, and a new +hat with a receipted bill for thirty shillings," she added, pointing +to the sofa. + +Laverick placed some notes in her hands. + +"Please keep these," he begged, "and see that she has everything she +wants. I shall be here again later in the day. There is not the +slightest need for all this. She will be quite well off for the rest +of her life. Will you try and engage some one for a day or two to +come in until she is able to be moved?" + +"I'll look after her," the nurse promised. + +Laverick went reluctantly away. The events of the last few days were +becoming more and more like a dream to him. He went to his club +almost from habit. Presently the excitement which all London seemed +to be sharing drove his own personal feelings a little into the +background. The air was full of rumors. The Prime Minister and the +Foreign Secretary were spoken of as one speaks of heroes. Nothing +was definitely known, but there was a splendid feeling of confidence +that for once in her history England was preparing to justify her +existence as a great Power. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THE PLOT THAT FAILED + + +The progress of the Czar from Buckingham Palace to the Mansion +House, where he had, after all, consented to lunch with the Lord +Mayor, witnessed a popular outburst of enthusiasm absolutely +inexplicable to the general public. It was known that affairs in +Central Europe were in a dangerously precarious state, and it was +felt that the Czar's visit here, and the urgent summons which had +brought from St. Petersburg his Foreign Minister, were indications +that the long wished-for entente between Russia and this country +was now actually at hand. There was in the Press a curious +reticence with regard to the development of the political situation. +One felt everywhere that it was the calm before the storm - that at +any moment the great black headlines might tell of some startling +stroke of diplomacy, some dangerous peril averted or defied. The +circumstances themselves of the Czar's visit had been a little +peculiar. On his arrival it was announced that, for reasons of +health, the original period of his stay, namely a week, was to be +cut down to two days. No sooner had he arrived at Windsor, however, +than a change was announced. The Czar had so far recovered as to +be able even to extend the period at first fixed for his visit. +Simultaneously with this, the German and Austrian Press were full +of bitter and barely veiled articles, whose meaning was unmistakable. +The Czar had thrown in his lot at first with Austria and Germany. +That he was going deliberately to break away from that arrangement +there seemed now scarcely any manner of doubt. + +Bellamy and Louise, from a window in Fleet Street, watched him go +by. Prince Rosmaran had been specially bidden to the luncheon, but +he, too, had been with them earlier in the morning. Afterwards +they turned their backs upon the city, and as soon as the crowd had +thinned made their way to one of the west-end restaurants. + +"It seems too good to be true," declared Louise. Bellamy nodded. + +"Nevertheless I am convinced that it is true. The humor of the +whole thing is that it was our friends in Germany themselves who +pressed the Czar not to altogether cancel his visit for fear of +exciting suspicion. That, of course, was when there seemed to be +no question of the news of the Vienna compact leaking out. They +would never have dared to expose a man to such a trial as the +Czar must have faced when the resume of the Vienna proceedings, in +the Chancellor's own handwriting, was read to him at Windsor." + +"You saw the telegram from Paris?" Louise interposed. "The +special mission from St. Petersburg has been recalled." + +Bellamy smiled. + +"It all goes to prove what I say," he went on. "Any morning you +may expect to hear that Austria and Germany have received an +ultimatum." + +"I wonder," she remarked, "what became of Streuss." + +"He is hiding somewhere in London, without a doubt," Bellamy +answered. "There's always plenty of work for spies." + +"Don't use that word," she begged. + +He made a little grimace. + +"You are thinking of my own connection with the profession, are you +not?" he asked. "Well, that counts for nothing now. I hope I may +still serve my country for many years, but it must be in a different +way." + +"What do you mean?" she demanded. + +"I heard from my uncle's solicitors this morning," Bellamy continued, +"that he is very feeble and cannot live more than a few months. +When he dies, of course, I must take my place in the House of Lords. +It is his wish that I should not leave England again now, so I +suppose there is nothing left for me but to give it up. I have done +my share of traveling and work, after all," he concluded, +thoughtfully. + +"Your share, indeed," she murmured. "Remember that but for that +document which was read to the Czar at Windsor, Servia must have +gone down, and England would have had to take a place among the +second-class Powers. There may be war now, it is true, but it +will be a glorious war." + +"Louise, very soon we shall know. Until then I will say nothing. +But I do not want you altogether to forget that there has been +something in my life dearer to me even than my career for these +last few years." + +Her blue eyes were suddenly soft. She looked across towards him +wistfully. + +"Dear," she whispered, "things will be altered with you now. I am +not fit to be the wife of an English peer - I am not noble." + +He laughed. + +"I am afraid," he assured her, "that I am democrat enough to think +you one of the noblest women on earth. Why should I not? Your +life itself has been a study in devotion. The modern virtues seem +almost to ignore patriotism, yet the love of one's country is a +splendid thing. But don't you think, Louise, that we have done +our work that it is time to think of ourselves?" + +She gave him her hand. + +"Let us see," she said. "Let us wait for a little time and see what +comes." + +That night another proof of the popular feeling, absolutely +spontaneous, broke out in one of the least expected places. Louise +was encored for her wonderful solo in a modern opera of bellicose +trend, and instead of repeating it she came alone on the stage after +a few minutes' absence, dressed in Servian national dress. For a +short time the costume was not recognized. Then the music - the +national hymn of Servia, and the recollection of her parentage, +brought the thing home to the audience. They did not even wait for +her to finish. In the middle of her song the applause broke like a +crash of thunder. From the packed gallery to the stalls they cheered +her wildly, madly. A dozen times she came before the curtain. It +seemed impossible that they would ever let her go. Directly she +turned to leave the stage, the uproar broke out again. The manager +at last insisted upon it that she should speak a few words. She +stood in the centre of the stage amid a silence as complete as the +previous applause had been unanimous. Her voice reached easily to +every place in the House. + +"I thank you all very much," she said. "I am very happy indeed to +be in London, because it is the capital city of the most generous +country in the world - the country that is always ready to protect +and help her weaker neighbors. I am a Servian, and I love my +country, and therefore," she added, with a little break in her +voice, - "therefore I love you all." + +It was nearly midnight before the audience was got rid of, and the +streets of London had not been so impassable for years. Crowds +made their way to the front of Buckingham Palace and on to the War +Office, where men were working late. Everything seemed to denote +that the spirit of the country was roused: The papers next morning +made immense capital of the incident, and for the following +twenty-four hours suspense throughout the country was almost at +fever height. It was known that the Cabinet Council had been +sitting for six hours. It was known, too, that without the least +commotion, with scarcely any movements of ships that could be +called directly threatening, the greatest naval force which the +world had ever known was assembling off Dover. The stock markets +were wildly excited. Laverick, back again in his office, found +that his return to his accustomed haunts occasioned scarcely any +comment. More startling events were shaping themselves. His own +remarkable adventure remained, curiously enough, almost undiscussed. + +He left the office shortly before his usual time, notwithstanding +the rush of business, and drove at once to the little house in +Theobald Square. Zoe was lying on the sofa, still white, but +eager to declare that the pain had gone and that she was no longer +suffering. + +"It is too absurd," she declared, smiling, "my having this nurse +here. Really, there is nothing whatever the matter with me. I +should have gone to the theatre, but you see it is no use." + +She passed him the letter which she had been reading, and which +contained her somewhat curt dismissal. He laughed as he tore it +into pieces. + +"Are you so sorry, Zoe? Is the stage so wonderful a place that +you could not bear to think of leaving it?" +She shook her head. + +"It is not that," she whispered. "You know that it is not that." + +He smiled as he took her confidently into his arms. + +"There is a much more arduous life in front of you, dear," he said. +"You have to come and look after me for the rest of your days. A +bachelor who marries as late in life as I do, you know, is a trying +sort of person." + +She shrank away a little. + +"You don't mean it," she murmured. + +"You know very well that I mean it," he answered, kissing her. "I +think you knew from the very first that sooner or later you were +doomed to become my wife." + +She sighed faintly and half-closed her eyes. For the moment she +had forgotten everything. She was absolutely and completely happy. + +Later on he made her dress and come out to dinner, and afterwards, +as they sat talking, he laid an evening paper before her. + +"Zoe," he declared, "the best thing that could has happened. You +will not be foolish, dear, about it, I know. Remember the +alternative - and read that." + +She glanced at the few lines which announced the finding of Arthur +Morrison in a house in Bloomsbury Square. The police had apparently +tracked him down, and he had shot himself at the final moment. The +details of his last few hours were indescribable. Zoe shuddered, +and her eyes filled with tears. She smiled bravely in his face, +however. + +"It is terrible," she whispered simply, "but, after all, he was no +relation of mine, and he tried to do you a frightful injury. When +I think of that, I find it hard even to be sorry. + +There was indeed almost a pitiless look in her face as she folded +up the paper, as though she felt something of that common instinct +of her sex which transforms a gentle woman so quickly into a hard, +merciless creature when the being whom she loves is threatened. + +Laverick smiled. + +"Let us go out into the streets," he said, "and hear what all this +excitement is about." + +They bought a late edition, and there it was at last in black and +white. An ultimatum had been presented at Berlin and Vienna. +Certain treaty rights which had been broken with regard to Austria's +action in the East were insisted upon by Great Britain. It was +demanded that Austria should cease the mobilization of her troops +upon the Servian frontier, and renounce all rights to a protectorate +over that country, whose independence Great Britain felt called upon, +from that time forward, to guarantee. It was further announced that +England, France, and Russia were acting in this matter in complete +concert, and that the neutrality of Italy was assured. Further, it +was known that the great English fleet had left for the North Sea +with sealed orders. + +Laverick took Zoe home early and called later at Bellamy's rooms. +Bellamy greeted him heartily. He was on the point of going out, +and the two men drove off together in the latter's car. + +"See, my dear friend," Bellamy exclaimed, "what great things come +from small means! The document which you preserved for us, and +for which we had to fight so hard, has done all this." + +"It is marvelous!" Laverick murmured. + +"It is very simple," Bellamy declared. "That meeting in Vienna was +meant to force our hands. It is all a question of the balance of +strength. Germany and Austria together, with Russia friendly, - +even with Russia neutral, - could have defied Europe. Germany could +have spread out her army westwards while Austria seized upon her +prey. It was a splendid plot, and it was going very well until the +Czar himself was suddenly confronted by our King and his Ministers +with a revelation of the whole affair. At Windsor the thing seemed +different to him. The French Government behaved splendidly, and the +Czar behaved like a man. Germany and Austria are left plante la. +If they fight, well, it will be no one-sided affair. They have no +fleet, or rather they will have none in a fortnight's time. They +have no means of landing an army here. Austria, perhaps, can hold +Russia, but with a French army in better shape than it has been for +years, and the English landing as many men as they care to do, with +ease, anywhere on the north coast of Germany, the entire scheme +proved abortive. Come into the club and have a drink, Laverick. +To-day great things have happened to me." + +"And to me," Laverick interposed. + +"You can guess my news, perhaps," Bellamy said, as they seated +themselves in easy-chairs. "Mademoiselle Idiale has promised to +be my wife." + +Laverick held out his hand. + +"I congratulate you heartily!" he exclaimed. "I have been an +engaged man myself for something like half-an-hour." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +A FAREWELL APPEARANCE + + +"One thing, at least, these recent adventures should teach whoever +may be responsible for the government of this country," Bellamy +remarked to his wife, as he laid down the morning paper. "For the +first time in many years we have taken the aggressive against Powers +of equal standing. We were always rather good at bullying smaller +countries, but the bare idea of an ultimatum to Germany would have +made our late Premier go lightheaded." + +"And yet it succeeded," Louise reminded him. + +"Absolutely," he affirmed. "To-day's news makes peace a certainty. +If your country knew everything, Louise, they'd give us a royal +welcome next month." + +"You really mean that we are to go there, then?" she asked. + +"It isn't exactly one of my privileges," he declared, "to fix upon +the spot where we shall take our belated honeymoon, but I haven't +been in Belgrade for years, and I know you'd like to see your +people." + +"It will be more happiness than I ever dreamed of," she murmured. +"Do you think we shall be safe in passing through Vienna?" + +Bellamy laughed. + +"Remember," he said, "that I am no longer David Bellamy, with a +silver greyhound attached to my watch-chain and an obnoxious +reputation in foreign countries. I am Lord Denchester of +Denchester, a harmless English peer traveling on his honeymoon. +By the way, I hope you like the title." + +"I shall love it when I get used to it," she declared. "To be an +English Countess is dazzling, but I do think that I ought not to +go on singing at Covent Garden." + +"To-morrow will be your last night," he reminded her. "I have asked +Laverick and the dear little girl he is going to marry to come with +me. Afterwards we must all have supper together." + +"How nice of you!" she exclaimed. + +"I don't know about that," Bellamy said, smiling. "I really like +Laverick. He is a decent fellow and a good sort. Incidentally, he +was thundering useful to us, and pretty plucky about it. He +interests me, too, in another way. He is a man who, face to face +with a moral problem, acted exactly as I should have done myself!" + +"You mean about the twenty thousand pounds?" she asked. + +Bellamy assented. + +"He was practically dishonest," he pointed out. "He had no right +to use that money and he ought to have taken the pocket-book to the +police-station. If he had done so - that is to say, if he had +waited there for the police, if he had been seen to hold out that +pocket-book, to have discussed it with any one, it is ten to one +that there would have been another tragedy that night. At any +rate, the document would never have come to us." + +She smiled. + +"My moral judgment is warped," she asserted, "from the fact that +Laverick's decision brought us the document." + +He nodded. + +"Perhaps so," he agreed, "and yet, there was the man face to face +with ruin. The use of that money for a few hours did no one any +harm, and saved him. I say that such a deed is always a matter of +calculation, and in this case that he was justified." + +"I wonder what he really thinks about it himself," she remarked. + +"Perhaps I'll ask him." + +But when the time came, and he sat in the box with Laverick and Zoe, +he forgot everything else in the joy of watching the woman whom he +had loved so long. She moved about the stage that night as though +her feet indeed fell upon the air. She appeared to be singing +always with restraint, yet with some new power in her voice, a +quality which even in her simpler notes left the great audience +thrilled. Already there was a rumor that it was her last appearance. +Her marriage to Bellamy had been that day announced in the Morning +Post. When, in the last act, she sang alone on the stage the famous +love song, it seemed to them all that although her voice trembled +more than once, it was a new thing to which they listened. Zoe +found herself clasping Laverick's hand in tremulous excitement. +Bellamy sat like a statue, a little back in the box, his clean-cut +face thrown into powerful relief by the shadows beyond. Yet, as +he listened, his eyes, too, were marvelously soft. The song grew +and grew till, with the last notes, the whole story of an exquisite +and expectant passion seemed trembling in her voice. The last note +came from her lips almost as though unwillingly, and was prolonged +for an extraordinary period. When it died away, its passing seemed +something almost unrealizable. It quivered away into a silence +which lasted for many seconds before the gathering roar of applause +swept the house. And in those last few seconds she had turned and +faced Bellamy. Their eyes met, and the light which flashed from +his seemed answered by the quivering of her throat. It was her +good-bye. She was singing a new love-song, singing her way into +the life of the man whom she loved, singing her way into love +itself. Once more the great house, packed to the ceiling, was worked +up to a state of frenzied excitement. Bellamy was recognized, and +the significance of her song sent a wave of sentiment through the +house whose only possible form of expression took to itself shape in +the frantic greetings which called her to the front again and again. +But the three in the box were silent. Bellamy stood back in the +shadows. Laverick and Zoe seemed suddenly to become immersed in +themselves. Bellamy threw open the door of the box and pointed +outside. + +"At Luigi's in half-an-hour," said he softly. "You will excuse me +for a few minutes? I am going to Louise." + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Havoc, by E. Philips Oppenheim + diff --git a/old/havoc10.zip b/old/havoc10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..451e6a5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/havoc10.zip |