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diff --git a/28264.txt b/28264.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c01914b --- /dev/null +++ b/28264.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11906 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Cleek, the Master Detective, by Thomas W. +Hanshew, Illustrated by Gordon Grant + + +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.org + + + + + +Title: Cleek, the Master Detective + + +Author: Thomas W. Hanshew + + + +Release Date: March 6, 2009 [eBook #28264] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEEK, THE MASTER DETECTIVE*** + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Linda Hamilton, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 28264-h.htm or 28264-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/2/6/28264/28264-h/28264-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/2/6/28264/28264-h.zip) + + + + + +CLEEK, THE MASTER DETECTIVE + +by + +T. W. HANSHEW + +Author of +"Cleek's Government Cases," "Cleek of Scotland Yard," +"Fate and the Man," "The Riddle of the Night" + +Illustrated by Gordon Grant + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "OF A TRUTH YOU ARE A CHARMING FELLOW, MONSIEUR.... WHAT +A PITY YOU SHOULD BE A POLICE SPY AND UPON SO HOPELESS A CASE"] + + + +Garden City New York +Doubleday, Page & Company 1918 + +Copyright, 1918, by +Doubleday, Page & Company +All rights reserved, including that of +translation into foreign languages, +including the Scandinavian + + + + + TO + + NEWMAN FLOWER + + WITH THAT SORT OF ESTEEM A MAN HAS FOR A FRIEND + HE RESPECTS, AND THAT SORT OF LOVE HE GIVES + TO A COMRADE HE ADMIRES + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER + + I. THE AFFAIR OF THE MAN WHO CALLED + HIMSELF HAMILTON CLEEK + + II. THE PROBLEM OF THE RED CRAWL + + III. THE RIDDLE OF THE SACRED SON + + IV. THE CALIPH'S DAUGHTER + + V. THE RIDDLE OF THE NINTH FINGER + + VI. THE WIZARD'S BELT + + VII. THE RIDDLE OF THE 5.28 + + VIII. THE LION'S SMILE + + IX. THE MYSTERY OF THE STEEL ROOM + + X. THE RIDDLE OF THE SIVA STONES + + XI. THE DIVIDED HOUSE + + XII. THE RIDDLE OF THE RAINBOW PEARL + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + "Of a truth you are a charming fellow, monsieur.... + What a pity you should be a police spy and upon so + hopeless a case." + + Pulling their hair--rubbing their faces with a clean + handkerchief in quest of any trace of "make-up" or + disguise of any sort + + Swinging the hammer, he struck at the nymph with a + force that shattered the monstrous thing to atoms + + With that he stripped down the counterpane, lifted + the water-jug from its washstand and emptied + its contents over the mattresses + + + + +CLEEK, THE MASTER DETECTIVE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE AFFAIR OF THE MAN WHO CALLED HIMSELF HAMILTON CLEEK + + +The thing wouldn't have happened if any other constable than Collins had +been put on point duty at Blackfriars Bridge that morning. For Collins +was young, good-looking, and knew it. Nature had gifted him with a +susceptible heart and a fond eye for the beauties of femininity. So when +he looked round and saw the woman threading her way through the maze of +vehicles at "Dead Man's Corner," with her skirt held up just enough to +show two twinkling little feet in French shoes, and over them a +graceful, willowy figure, and over that an enchanting, if rather too +highly tinted, face, with almond eyes and a fluff of shining hair under +the screen of a big Parisian hat--that did for him on the spot. + +He saw at a glance that she was French--exceedingly French--and he +preferred English beauty, as a rule. But, French or English, beauty is +beauty, and here undeniably was a perfect type, so he unhesitatingly +sprang to her assistance and piloted her safely to the kerb, revelling +in her voluble thanks and tingling as she clung timidly but rather +firmly to him. + +"Sair, I have to give you much gratitude," she said in a pretty, wistful +sort of way, as they stepped on to the pavement. Then she dropped her +hand from his sleeve, looked up at him, and shyly drooped her head, as +if overcome with confusion and surprise at the youth and good looks of +him. "Ah, it is nowhere in the world but Londres one finds these +delicate attentions, these splendid sergeants de ville," she added, with +a sort of sigh. "You are wonnerful, you are mos' wonnerful, you Anglais +poliss. Sair, I am a stranger; I know not ze ways of this city of +amazement, and if monsieur would so kindly direct me where to find the +Abbey of the Ves'minster----" + +Before P. C. Collins could tell her that if that were her destination, +she was a good deal out of her latitude, indeed, even before she +concluded what she was saying, over the rumble of the traffic there rose +a thin, shrill, piping sound, which to ears trained to its call +possessed a startling significance. + +It was the shrilling of a police whistle far off down the Embankment. + +"Hullo! That's a call to the man on point," exclaimed Collins, all alert +at once. "Excuse me, mum. See you presently. Something's up. One of my +mates is a-signalling me." + +"Mates, monsieur? Mates? Signalling? I shall not unnerstand the vords. +But yes, vat shall that mean--eh?" + +"Good Lord, don't bother me now! I--I mean, wait a bit. That's the call +to 'head off' some one, and---- By George! there he is now, coming head +on, the hound, and running like the wind!" + +For of a sudden, through a break in the traffic, a scudding figure had +sprung into sight. It was the figure of a man in a gray frock-coat and a +shining "topper," a well-groomed, well-set-up man, with a small, +turned-up moustache and hair of a peculiar reddish shade. As he swung +into sight, the distant whistle shrilled again; far off in the distance +voices sent up cries of "Head him off!" "Stop that man!" etcetera; then +those on the pavement near to the fugitive took up the cry, joined in +pursuit, and in a twinkling, what with cabmen, tram-men, draymen, and +pedestrians all shouting, there was hubbub enough for Hades. + +"A swell pickpocket, I'll lay my life," commented Collins, as he squared +himself for an encounter and made ready to leap on the man when he came +within gripping distance. "Here! get out of the way, madmazelly. +Business before pleasure. And, besides, you're like to get bowled over +in the rush. Here, chauffeur!"--this to the driver of a big, black +motor-car which swept round the angle of the bridge at that moment, and +made as though to scud down the Embankment into the thick of the +chase--"pull that thing up sharp! Stop where you are! Dead still! At +once, at once, do you hear? We don't want you getting in the way. Now, +then"--nodding his head in the direction of the running man--"come on, +you bounder; I'm ready for you!" + +And, as if he really heard that invitation, and really were eager to +accept it, the red-headed man did "come on" with a vengeance. And all +the time, "madmazelly," unheeding Collins's advice, stood calmly and +silently waiting. + +Onward came the runner, with the whole roaring pack in his wake, dodging +in and out among the vehicles, "flooring" people who got in his way, +scudding, dodging, leaping, like a fox hard pressed by the hounds, +until, all of a moment, he spied a break in the traffic, leapt through +it, and--then there was mischief. For Collins sprang at him like a cat, +gripped two big, strong-as-iron hands on his shoulders, and had him +tight and fast. + +"Got you, you ass!" snapped he, with a short, crisp, self-satisfied +laugh. "None of your blessed squirming now. Keep still. You'll get out +of your coffin, you bounder, as soon as out of my grip. Got you, got +you! Do you understand?" + +The response to this fairly took the wind out of him. + +"Of course I do," said the captive gaily; "it's part of the programme +that you should get me. Only, for Heaven's sake, don't spoil the film by +remaining inactive, you goat! Struggle with me, handle me roughly, throw +me about. Make it look real; make it look as though I actually did get +away from you, not as though you let me. You chaps behind there, don't +get in the way of the camera--it's in one of those cabs. Now, then, +Bobby, don't be wooden! Struggle, struggle, you goat, and save the +film!" + +"Save the what?" gasped Collins. "Here! Good Lord! Do you mean to +say----?" + +"Struggle--struggle--struggle!" cut in the man impatiently. "Can't you +grasp the situation? It's a put-up thing: the taking of a kinematograph +film, a living picture, for the Alhambra to-night! Heavens above, +Marguerite, didn't you tell him?" + +"Non, non! There was not ze time. You come so quick, I could not. And +he--ah, le bon Dieu!--he gif me no chance. Officair, I beg, I entreat of +you, make it real! Struggle, fight, keep on ze constant move. +Zere!"--something tinkled on the pavement with the unmistakable sound of +gold--"zere, monsieur, zere is de half-sovereign to pay you for ze +trouble, only, for ze lof of goodness, do not pick it up while the +instrument, ze camera, he is going. It is ze kinematograph, and you +would spoil everything!" + +The chop-fallen cry that Collins gave was lost in a roar of laughter +from the pursuing crowd. + +"Struggle, struggle! Don't you hear, you idiot?" broke in the red-headed +man irritably. "You are being devilishly well paid for it, so for +goodness' sake make it look real. That's it! Bully boy! Now, once more +to the right, then loosen your grip so that I can push you away and +make a feint of punching you off. All ready there, Marguerite? Keep a +clear space about her, gentlemen. Ready with the motor, chauffeur? All +right. Now, then, Bobby, fall back, and mind your eye when I hit out, +old chap. One, two, three--here goes!" + +With that he pushed the crest-fallen Collins from him, made a feint of +punching his head as he reeled back, then sprang toward the spot where +the Frenchwoman stood, and gave a finish to the adventure that was +highly dramatic and decidedly theatrical. For "mademoiselle," seeing him +approach her, struck a pose, threw out her arms, gathered him into them, +to the exceeding enjoyment of the laughing throng, then both looked back +and behaved as people do on the stage when "pursued," gesticulated +extravagantly, and rushing to the waiting motor, jumped into it. + +"Many thanks, Bobby; many thanks, everybody!" sang out the red-headed +man. "Let her go, chauffeur. The camera men will pick us up again at +Whitehall in a few minutes' time." + +"Right you are, sir," responded the chauffeur gaily. Then "toot-toot" +went the motor-horn as the gentleman in gray closed the door upon +himself and his companion, and the vehicle, darting forward, sped down +the Embankment in the exact direction whence the man himself had +originally come, and, passing directly through that belated portion of +the hurrying crowd to whom the end of the adventure was not yet known, +flew on and--vanished. + +And Collins, stooping to pick up the half-sovereign that had been thrown +him, felt that after all it was a poor price to receive for all the +jeers and gibes of the assembled onlookers. + +"Smart capture, Bobby, wasn't it?" sang out a deriding voice that set +the crowd jeering anew. "You'll git promoted, you will! See it in all +the evenin' papers--oh, yus! ''Orrible hand-to-hand struggle with a +desperado. Brave constable has 'arf a quid's worth out of an infuriated +ruffian!' My hat! won't your missis be proud when you take her to see +that bloomin' film?" + +"Move on, now, move on!" said Collins, recovering his dignity and +asserting it with a vim. "Look here, cabby, I don't take it kind of you +to laugh like that; they had you just as bad as they had me. Blow that +Frenchy! She might have tipped me off before I made such an ass of +myself. I don't say that I'd have done it so natural if I had known, +but---- Hullo! What's that? Blowed if it ain't that blessed whistle +again, and another crowd a-pelting this way; and--no!--yes, by Jupiter! +a couple of Scotland Yard chaps with 'em. My hat! what do you suppose +that means?" + +He knew in the next moment. Panting and puffing, a crowd at their heels, +and people from all sides stringing out from the pavement and trooping +after them, the two "plain-clothes" men came racing through the grinning +gathering and bore down on P. C. Collins. + +"Hullo, Smathers, you in this, too?" began he, his feelings softened by +the knowledge that other arms of the law would figure on that film with +him at the Alhambra to-night. "Now, what are you after, you goat? That +French lady, or the red-headed party in the gray suit?" + +"Yes, yes, of course I am. You heard me signal you to head him off, +didn't you?" replied Smathers, looking round and growing suddenly +excited when he realized that Collins was empty-handed and that the +red-headed man was not there. "Heavens! you never let him get away, did +you? You grabbed him, didn't you--eh?" + +"Of course I grabbed him. Come out of it. What are you giving me, you +josser?" said Collins, with a wink and a grin. "Ain't you found out even +yet, you silly? Why, it was only a faked-up thing, the taking of a +kinematograph picture for the Alhambra. You and Petrie ought to have +been here sooner and got your wages, you goats. I got half a quid for my +share when I let him go." + +Smathers and Petrie lifted up their voices in one despairing howl. + +"When you what?" fairly yelled Smathers. "You fool! You don't mean to +tell me that you let them take you in like that--those two? You don't +mean to tell me that you had him, had him in your hands, and then let +him go? You did? Oh, you seventy-seven kinds of a double-barrelled ass! +Had him--think of it!--had him, and let him go! Did yourself out of a +share in a reward of two hundred quid when you'd only to shut your hands +and hold on to it!" + +"Two hundred quid? Two hun---- W--what are you talking about? Wasn't it +true? Wasn't it a kinematograph picture, after all?" + +"No, you fool, no!" howled Smathers, fairly dancing with despair. "Oh, +you blithering idiot! You ninety-seven varieties of a fool! Do you know +who you had in your hands? Do you know who you let go? It was that devil +'Forty Faces,' the 'Vanishing Cracksman,' 'The Man Who Calls Himself +Hamilton Cleek'; and the woman was his pal, his confederate, his blessed +stool pigeon, 'Margot, the Queen of the Apaches'; and she came over from +Paris to help him in that clean scoop of Lady Dresmer's jewels last +week!" + +"Heavens!" gulped Collins, too far gone to say anything else, too deeply +dejected to think of anything but that he had had the man for whom +Scotland Yard had been groping for a year; the man over whom all +England, all France, all Germany wondered, close shut in the grip of his +hands and then had let him go. He was the biggest and the boldest +criminal the police had ever had to cope with, the almost supernatural +genius of crime, who defied all systems, laughed at all laws, mocked at +all the Vidocqs, and Lupins, and Sherlock Holmeses, whether amateur or +professional, French or English, German or American, that ever had or +ever could be pitted against him, and who, for sheer devilry, for +diabolical ingenuity, and for colossal impudence, as well as for a +nature-bestowed power that was simply amazing, had not his match in all +the universe. + +Who or what he really was, whence he came, whether he was English, +Irish, French, German, Yankee, Canadian, Italian, or Dutchman, no man +knew and no man might ever hope to know unless he himself chose to +reveal it. In his many encounters with the police he had assumed the +speech, the characteristics, and, indeed, the facial attributes of each +in turn, and assumed them with an ease and a perfection that were simply +marvellous and had gained for him the sobriquet of "Forty Faces" among +the police and of the "Vanishing Cracksman" among the scribes and +reporters of newspaperdom. That he came in time to possess another name +than these was due to his own whim and caprice, his own bald, unblushing +impudence; for, of a sudden, whilst London was in a fever of excitement +and all the newspapers up in arms over one of his most daring and +successful coups, he chose to write boldly to both editors and police +complaining that the title given him by each was both vulgar and cheap. + +"You would not think of calling a great violinist like Paganini a +'fiddler,'" he wrote; "why, then, should you degrade me with the coarse +term of 'cracksman'? I claim to be as much an artist in my profession as +Paganini was in his, and I claim also a like courtesy from you. So, +then, if in the future it becomes necessary to allude to me, and I fear +it often will, I shall be obliged if you do so as 'The Man Who Calls +Himself Hamilton Cleek.' In return for the courtesy, gentlemen, I +promise to alter my mode of procedure, to turn over a new leaf, as it +were, to give you at all times hereafter distinct information, in +advance, of such places as I select for the field of my operations, and +of the time when I shall pay my respects to them, and, on the morning +after each such visit, to bestow some small portion of the loot upon +Scotland Yard as a souvenir of the event." + +And to that remarkable programme he rigidly adhered from that time +forth, always giving the police twelve hours' notice, always evading +their traps and snares, always carrying out his plans in spite of them, +and always, on the morning after, sending some trinket or trifle to +Superintendent Narkom at Scotland Yard. This trifle would be in a little +pink cardboard box, tied up with rose-coloured ribbon, and marked, "With +the compliments of The Man Who Calls Himself Hamilton Cleek." + +The detectives of the United Kingdom, the detectives of the Continent, +the detectives of America--each and all had measured swords with him, +tried wits with him, spread snares and laid traps for him, and each and +all had retired from the field vanquished. + +And this was the man that he, Police Constable Samuel James Collins, had +actually had in his hands, nay, in his very arms, and then had given up +for half a sovereign and let go! + +"Oh, so help me! You make my head swim, Smathers, that you do!" he +managed to say at last. "I had him--I had the Vanishing Cracksman in my +blessed paws and then went and let that French hussy---- But look here; +I say, now, how do you know it was him? Nobody can go by his looks; so +how do you know?" + +"Know, you footler!" growled Smathers disgustedly. "Why shouldn't I know +when I've been after him ever since he left Scotland Yard half an hour +ago?" + +"Left what? My hat! You ain't a-going to tell me that he's been there? +When? Why? What for?" + +"To leave one of his blessed notices, the dare-devil. What a detective +he'd 'a' made, wouldn't he, if he'd only a-turned his attention that +way, and been on the side of the law instead of against it? He walked in +bold as brass, sat down and talked with the superintendent over some +cock-and-bull yarn about a 'Black Hand' letter that he said had been +sent to him, and asked if he couldn't have police protection whilst he +was in town. It wasn't until after he'd left that the superintendent he +sees a note on the chair where the blighter had been sitting, and when +he opened it, there it was in black and white, something like this: + + "The list of presents that have been sent for the wedding + to-morrow of Sir Horace Wyvern's eldest daughter make + interesting reading, particularly that part which describes + the jewels sent--no doubt as a tribute to her father's + position as the greatest brain specialist in the world--from + the Austrian Court and the Continental principalities. The + care of such gems is too great a responsibility for the bride. + I propose, therefore, to relieve her of it to-night, and to + send you the customary souvenir of the event to-morrow + morning. Yours faithfully, + + "THE MAN WHO CALLS HIMSELF HAMILTON CLEEK. + +"That's how I know, dash you! Superintendent sent me out after him, hot +foot; and after a bit I picked him up in the Strand, toddling along with +that French hussy as cool as you please. But, blow him! he must have +eyes all round his head, for he saw me just as soon as I saw him, and he +and Frenchy separated like a shot. She hopped into a taxi and flew off +in one direction; he dived into the crowd and bolted in another, and +before you could say Jack Robinson he was doubling and twisting, jumping +into cabs and jumping out again--all to gain time, of course, for the +woman to do what he'd put her up to doing--and leading me the devil's +own chase through the devil's own tangles till he was ready to bunk for +the Embankment. And you let him go, you blooming footler! Had him and +let him go, and chucked away a third of L200 for the price of half a +quid!" + +And long after Smathers and Petrie had left him, the wondering crowd had +dispersed, and point duty at "Dead Man's Corner" was just point duty +again and nothing more, P. C. Collins stood there, chewing the cud of +bitter reflection over those words and trying to reckon up just how many +pounds and how much glory had been lost to him. + + +II + +"But, damme, sir, the thing's an outrage! I don't mince my words, Mr. +Narkom. I say plump and plain the thing's an outrage, a disgrace to the +police, an indignity upon the community at large; and for Scotland Yard +to permit itself to be defied, bamboozled, mocked at in this appalling +fashion by a paltry burglar----" + +"Uncle, dear, pray don't excite yourself in this manner. I am quite sure +that if Mr. Narkom could prevent the things----" + +"Hold your tongue, Ailsa. I will not be interfered with! It's time that +somebody spoke out plainly and let this establishment know what the +public has a right to expect of it. What do I pay my rates and taxes +for--and devilish high ones they are, too, b'gad--if it's not to +maintain law and order and the proper protection of property? And to +have the whole blessed country terrorized, the police defied, and +people's houses invaded with impunity by a gutter-bred brute of a +cracksman is nothing short of a scandal and a shame! Call this sort of +tomfoolery being protected by the police? God bless my soul! one might +as well be in the charge of a parcel of doddering old women and be done +with it!" + +It was an hour and a half after that exciting affair at "Dead Man's +Corner." The scene was Superintendent Narkom's private room at +headquarters, the dramatis personae, Mr. Maverick Narkom himself, Sir +Horace Wyvern, and Miss Ailsa Lorne, his niece, a slight, fair-haired, +extremely attractive girl of twenty. She was the only and orphaned +daughter of a much-loved sister, who, up till a year ago, had known +nothing more exciting in the way of "life" than that which is to be +found in a small village in Suffolk and falls to the lot of an underpaid +vicar's only child. A railway accident had suddenly deprived her of both +parents, throwing her wholly upon her own resources without a penny in +the world. Sir Horace had gracefully come to the rescue and given her a +home and a refuge, being doubly repaid for it by the affection and care +she gave him and the manner in which she assumed control of a household +which, hitherto, had been left wholly to the attention of servants. Lady +Wyvern had long been dead, and her two daughters were of that type which +devotes itself entirely to the pleasures of society and the demands of +the world. A regular pepperbox of a man, testy, short-tempered, +exacting, Sir Horace had flown headlong to Superintendent Narkom's +office as soon as that gentleman's note, telling him of The Vanishing +Cracksman's latest threat, had been delivered, and, on Miss Lorne's +advice, had withheld all news of it from the members of his household, +and brought her with him. + +"I tell you that Scotland Yard must do something--must! must! must!" +stormed he as Narkom, resenting that stigma upon the institution, +puckered up his lips and looked savage. "That fellow has always kept his +word, always, in spite of your precious band of muffs, and if you let +him keep it this time, when there's upward of L40,000 worth of jewels +in the house, it will be nothing less than a national disgrace, and you +and your wretched collection of bunglers will be covered with deserved +ridicule." + +Narkom swung round, smarting under these continued taunts, these +"flings" at the efficiency of his prided department, his nostrils +dilated, his temper strained to the breaking-point. + +"Well, he won't keep it this time--I promise you that!" he rapped out +sharply. "Sooner or later every criminal, no matter how clever, meets +his Waterloo, and this shall be his! I'll take this affair in hand +myself, Sir Horace. I'll not only send the pick of my men to guard the +jewels, but I'll go with them; and if that fellow crosses the threshold +of Wyvern House to-night, by the Lord, I'll have him. He will have to be +the devil himself to get away from me! Miss Lorne," recollecting himself +and bowing apologetically, "I ask your pardon for this strong +language--my temper got the better of my manners." + +"It does not matter, Mr. Narkom, so that you preserve my cousin's +wedding gifts from that appalling man," she answered, with a gentle +inclination of the head and with a smile that made the superintendent +think she must certainly be the most beautiful creature in all the +world, it so irradiated her face and added to the magic of her glorious +eyes. "It does not matter what you say, what you do, so long as you +accomplish that." + +"And I will accomplish it, as I'm a living man, I will! You may go home +feeling assured of that. Look for my men some time before dusk, Sir +Horace. I will arrive later. They will come in one at a time. See that +they are admitted by the area door, and that, once in, not one of them +leaves the house again before I put in an appearance. I'll look them +over when I arrive to be sure that there's no wolf in sheep's clothing +amongst them. With a fellow like that, a diabolical rascal with a +diabolical gift for impersonation, one can't be too careful. Meantime, +it is just as well not to have confided this news to your daughters, +who, naturally, would be nervous and upset; but I assume that you have +taken some one of the servants into your confidence, in order that +nobody may pass them and enter the house under any pretext whatsoever?" + +"No, I have not. Miss Lorne advised against it, and, as I am always +guided by her, I said nothing of the matter to anybody." + +"Was that wrong, do you think, Mr. Narkom?" queried Ailsa anxiously. "I +feared that if they knew they might lose their heads, and that my +cousins, who are intensely nervous and highly emotional, might hear of +it, and add to our difficulties by becoming hysterical and demanding our +attention at a time when we ought to be giving every moment to watching +for the possible arrival of that man. And as he has always lived up to +the strict letter of his dreadful promises heretofore, I knew that he +was not to be expected before nightfall. Besides, the jewels are locked +up in the safe in Sir Horace's consulting-room, and his assistant, Mr. +Merfroy, has promised not to leave the room for one instant before we +return." + +"Oh, well, that's all right, then. I dare say there is very little +likelihood of our man getting in whilst you and Sir Horace are here, and +taking such a risk as stopping in the house until nightfall to begin his +operations. Still, it was hardly wise, and I should advise hurrying back +as fast as possible and taking at least one servant--the one you feel +least likely to lose his head--into your confidence, Sir Horace, and +putting him on the watch for my men. Otherwise, keep the matter as quiet +as you have done, and look for me about nine o'clock. And rely upon this +as a certainty: The Vanishing Cracksman will never get away with even +one of those jewels if he enters that house to-night, and never get out +of it unshackled!" + +[Illustration: PULLING THEIR HAIR--RUBBING THEIR FACES WITH A CLEAN +HANDKERCHIEF IN QUEST OF ANY TRACE OF "MAKE-UP" OR DISGUISE OF ANY +SORT] + +With that, he suavely bowed his visitors out and rang up the pick of his +men without an instant's delay. + +Promptly at nine o'clock he arrived, as he had promised, at Wyvern +House, and was shown into Sir Horace's consulting-room, where Sir Horace +himself and Miss Lorne were awaiting him and keeping close watch before +the locked door of a communicating apartment in which sat the six men +who had preceded him. He went in and put them all and severally through +a rigid examination in quest of any trace of "make-up" or disguise of +any sort, examining their badges and the marks on the handcuffs they +carried with them to make sure that they bore the sign which he himself +had scratched upon them in the privacy of his own room a couple of hours +ago. + +"No mistake about this lot," he announced, with a smile. "Has anybody +else entered or attempted to enter the house?" + +"Not a soul," replied Miss Lorne. "I didn't trust anybody to do the +watching, Mr. Narkom. I watched myself." + +"Good. Where are the jewels? In that safe?" + +"No," replied Sir Horace. "They are to be exhibited in the picture +gallery for the benefit of the guests at the wedding breakfast +to-morrow, and as Miss Wyvern wished to superintend the arrangement of +them herself, and there would be no time for that in the morning, she +and her sister are in there laying them out at this moment. As I could +not prevent that without telling them what we have to dread, I did not +protest against it; but if you think it will be safer to return them to +the safe after my daughters have gone to bed, Mr. Narkom----" + +"Not at all necessary. If our man gets in, their lying there in full +view like that will prove a tempting bait, and--well, he'll find there's +a hook behind it. I shall be there waiting for him. Now go and join the +ladies, you and Miss Lorne, and act as though nothing out of the common +was in the wind. My men and I will stop here, and you had better put out +the light and lock us in, so that there's no danger of anybody finding +out that we are here. No doubt Miss Wyvern and her sister will go to bed +earlier than usual on this particular occasion. Let them do so. Send the +servants to bed, too. You and Miss Lorne go to your beds at the same +time as the others--or, at least, let them think that you have done so; +then come down and let us out." + +To this Sir Horace assented, and, taking Miss Lorne with him, went at +once to the picture gallery and joined his daughters, with whom they +remained until eleven o'clock. Promptly at that hour, however, the house +was locked up, the bride-elect and her sister went to bed, the servants +having already gone to theirs, and stillness settled down over the +darkened house. At the end of a dozen minutes, however, it was faintly +disturbed by the sound of slippered feet coming along the passage +outside the consulting-room, then a key slipped into the lock, the door +was opened, the light switched on, and Sir Horace and Miss Lorne +appeared before the eager watchers. + +"Now, then, lively, my men, look sharp!" whispered Narkom. "A man to +each window and each staircase, so that nobody may go up or down or in +or out without dropping into the arms of one of you. Confine your +attention to this particular floor, and if you hear anybody coming, lay +low until he's within reach, and you can drop on him before he bolts. Is +this the door of the picture gallery, Sir Horace?" + +"Yes," answered Sir Horace, as he fitted a key to the lock. "But surely +you will need more men than you have brought, Mr. Narkom, if it is your +intention to guard every window individually, for there are four to this +room--see!" + +With that he swung open the door, switched on the electric light, and +Narkom fairly blinked at the dazzling sight that confronted him. Three +long tables, laden with crystal and silver, cut glass and jewels, and +running the full length of the room, flashed and scintillated under the +glare of the electric bulbs which encircled the cornice of the gallery +and clustered in luminous splendour in the crystal and frosted silver of +a huge central chandelier. Spread out on the middle one of these, a +dazzle of splintered rainbows, a very plain of living light, lay caskets +and cases, boxes and trays, containing those royal gifts of which the +newspapers had made so much and the Vanishing Cracksman had sworn to +make so few. + +Mr. Narkom went over and stood beside the glittering mass, resting his +hand against the table and feasting his eyes upon all that opulent +splendour. + +"God bless my soul! it's superb, it's amazing," he commented. "No wonder +the fellow is willing to take risks for a prize like this. You are a +splendid temptation, a gorgeous bait, you beauties; but the fish that +snaps at you will find that there's a nasty hook underneath in the shape +of Maverick Narkom. Never mind the many windows, Sir Horace. Let him +come in by them, if that's his plan. I'll never leave these things for +one instant between now and the morning. Good-night, Miss Lorne. Go to +bed and to sleep. You do the same, Sir Horace. My 'lay' is here!" + +With that he stooped and, lifting the long drapery which covered the +table and swept down in heavy folds to the floor, crept out of sight +under it, and let it drop back into place again. + +"Switch off the light and go," he called to them in a low-sunk voice. +"Don't worry yourselves, either of you. Go to bed, and to sleep if you +can." + +"As if we could," answered Miss Lorne agitatedly. "I shan't be able to +close an eyelid. I'll try, of course, but I know I shall not succeed. +Come, uncle, come! Oh, do be careful, Mr. Narkom; and if that horrible +man does come----" + +"I'll have him, so help me God!" he vowed. "Switch off the light, and +shut the door as you go out. This is 'Forty Faces'. Waterloo at last." + +And in another moment the light snicked out, the door closed, and he was +alone in the silent room. + +For ten or a dozen minutes not even the bare suggestion of a noise +disturbed the absolute stillness; then, of a sudden, his trained ear +caught a faint sound that made him suck in his breath and rise on his +elbow, the better to listen. The sound came, not from without the house, +but from within, from the dark hall where he had stationed his men. As +he listened he was conscious that some living creature had approached +the door, touched the handle, and by the swift, low rustle and the sound +of hard breathing, that it had been pounced upon and seized. He +scrambled out from beneath the table, snicked on the light, whirled open +the door, and was in time to hear the irritable voice of Sir Horace say, +testily, "Don't make an ass of yourself by your over-zealousness. I've +only come down to have a word with Mr. Narkom," and to see him standing +on the threshold, grotesque in a baggy suit of striped pyjamas, with one +wrist enclosed as in a steel band by the gripped fingers of Petrie. + +"Why didn't you say it was you, sir?" exclaimed that crestfallen +individual, as the flashing light made manifest his mistake. "When I +heard you first, and see you come up out of that back passage, I made +sure it was him; and if you'd a-struggled, I'd have bashed your head as +sure as eggs." + +"Thank you for nothing," he responded testily. "You might have +remembered, however, that the man's first got to get into the place +before he can come downstairs. Mr. Narkom," turning to the +superintendent, "I was just getting into bed when I thought of something +I'd neglected to tell you; and as my niece is sitting in her room with +the door open, and I wasn't anxious to parade myself before her in my +night clothes, I came down by the back staircase. I don't know how in +the world I came to overlook it, but I think you ought to know that +there's a way of getting into the picture gallery without using either +the windows or the stairs, and that way ought to be both searched and +guarded." + +"Where is it? What is it? Why in the world didn't you tell me in the +first place?" exclaimed Narkom irritably, as he glanced round the place +searchingly. "Is it a panel? a secret door? or what? This is an old +house, and old houses are sometimes a very nest of such things." + +"Happily, this one isn't. It's a modern innovation, not an ancient +relic, that offers the means of entrance in this case. A Yankee occupied +this house before I bought it from him, one of those blessed shivery +individuals his country breeds, who can't stand a breath of cold air +indoors after the passing of the autumn. The wretched man put one of +those wretched American inflictions, a hot-air furnace, in the cellar, +with huge pipes running to every room in the house, great tin +monstrosities bigger round than a man's body, ending in openings in the +wall, with what they call 'registers' to let the heat in or shut it out +as they please. I didn't have the wretched contrivance removed or those +blessed 'registers' plastered up. I simply had them papered over when +the rooms were done up (there's one over there near that settee), and if +a man got into this house, he could get into that furnace thing and hide +in one of those flues until he got ready to crawl up it as easily as +not. It struck me that perhaps it would be as well for you to examine +that furnace and those flues before matters go any further." + +"Of course it would. Great Scott! Sir Horace, why didn't you think to +tell me of this thing before?" said Narkom excitedly. "The fellow may be +in it at this minute. Come, show me the wretched thing." + +"It's in the cellar. We shall have to go down the kitchen stairs, and I +haven't a light." + +"Here's one," said Petrie, unhitching a bull's-eye from his belt and +putting it into Narkom's hand. "Better go with Sir Horace at once, sir. +Leave the door of the gallery open and the light on. Fish and me will +stand guard over the stuff till you come back, so in case the man is in +one of them flues and tries to bolt out at this end, we can nab him +before he can get to the windows." + +"A good idea," commented Narkom. "Come on, Sir Horace. Is this the way?" + +"Yes, but you'll have to tread carefully, and mind you don't fall over +anything. A good deal of my paraphernalia--bottles, retorts, and the +like--is stored in the little recess at the foot of the staircase, and +my assistant is careless and leaves things lying about." + +Evidently the caution was necessary, for a minute or so after they had +disappeared behind the door leading to the kitchen stairway, Petrie and +his colleagues heard a sound as of something being overturned and +smashed, and laughed softly to themselves. Evidently, too, the danger of +the furnace had been grossly exaggerated by Sir Horace, for when, a few +minutes later, the door opened and closed, and Narkom's men, glancing +toward it, saw the figure of their chief reappear, it was plain that he +was in no good temper. His features were knotted up into a scowl, and he +swore audibly as he snapped the shutter over the bull's-eye and handed +it back to Petrie. + +"Nothing worth looking into, superintendent?" + +"No, not a thing!" he replied. "The silly old josser! pulling me down +there amongst the coals and rubbish for an insane idea like that! Why, +the flues wouldn't admit the passage of a child; and, even then, there's +a bend, an abrupt 'elbow,' that nothing but a cat could crawl up. And +that's a man who's an authority on the human brain! I sent the old silly +back to bed by the way he came, and if----" + +There he stopped, stopped short, and sucked in his breath with a sharp, +wheezing sound. For, of a sudden, a swift pattering footfall and a +glimmer of moving light had sprung into being and drawn his eyes upward. +There, overhead, was Miss Lorne coming down the stairs from the upper +floor in a state of nervous excitement, with a bedroom candle in her +shaking hand, a loose gown flung on over her nightdress, and her hair +streaming over her shoulders in glorious disarray. + +He stood and looked at her, with ever-quickening breath, with +ever-widening eyes, as though the beauty of her had wakened some dormant +sense whose existence he had never suspected, as though, until now, he +had never known how fair it was possible for a woman to be, how much to +be desired. And whilst he was so looking she reached the foot of the +staircase and came pantingly toward him. + +"Oh, Mr. Narkom, what was it--that noise I heard?" she said in a tone of +deepest agitation. "It sounded like a struggle, like the noise of +something breaking, and I dressed as hastily as I could and came down. +Did he come? Has he been here? Have you caught him? Oh! why don't you +answer me, instead of staring at me like this? Can't you see how +nervous, how frightened I am? Dear Heaven! will no one tell me what has +happened?" + +"Nothing has happened, Miss," answered Petrie, catching her eye as she +flashed round on him. "You'd better go back to bed. Nobody's been here +but Sir Horace. The noise you heard was me a-grabbing of him, and he and +Mr. Narkom a-tumbling over something as they went down to look at the +furnace." + +"Furnace? What furnace? What are you talking about?" she cried +agitatedly. "What do you mean by saying that Sir Horace came down?" + +"Only what the superintendent himself will tell you, Miss, if you ask +him. Sir Horace came downstairs in his pyjamas a few minutes ago to say +as he'd recollected about the flues of the furnace in the cellar being +big enough to hold a man, and then him and Mr. Narkom went below to have +a look at it." + +She gave a sharp and sudden cry, and her face went as pale as a dead +face. + +"Sir Horace came down?" she repeated, moving back a step and leaning +heavily against the banister. "Sir Horace came down to look at the +furnace? We have no furnace!" + +"What?" + +"We have no furnace, I tell you, and Sir Horace did not come down. He is +up there still. I know, because I feared for his safety, and when he +went to his room I locked him in!" + +"Superintendent!" The word was voiced by every man present and six pairs +of eyes turned toward Narkom with a look of despairing comprehension. + +"Get to the cellar. Head the man off! It's he, the Cracksman!" he +shouted out. "Find him! Get him! Nab him, if you have to turn the house +upside down!" + +They needed no second bidding, for each man grasped the situation +instantly, and in a twinkling there was a veritable pandemonium. +Shouting and scrambling like a band of madmen, they lurched to the door, +whirled it open, and went flying down the staircase to the kitchen and +so to a discovery which none might have foreseen. For almost as they +entered they saw lying on the floor a suit of striped pyjamas, and close +to it, gagged, bound, helpless, trussed up like a goose that was ready +for the oven, gyves on his wrists, gyves on his ankles, their chief, +their superintendent, Mr. Maverick Narkom, in a state of collapse and +with all his outer clothing gone! + +"After him! After that devil, and a thousand pounds to the man that gets +him!" he managed to gasp as they rushed to him and ripped loose the gag. +"He was here when we came! He has been in the house for hours. Get him! +get him! get him!" + +They surged from the room and up the stairs like a pack of stampeded +animals; they raced through the hall and bore down on the picture +gallery in a body, and, whirling open the now closed door, went tumbling +headlong in. + +The light was still burning. At the far end of the room a window was +wide open, and the curtains of it fluttered in the wind. A collection of +empty cases and caskets lay on the middle table, but man and jewels were +alike gone! Once again the Vanishing Cracksman had lived up to his +promise, up to his reputation, up to the very letter of his name, and +for all Mr. Maverick Narkom's care and shrewdness, "Forty Faces" had +"turned the trick," and Scotland Yard was "done!" + + +III + +Through all the night its best men sought him, its dragnets fished for +him, its tentacles groped into every hole and corner of London in quest +of him, but sought and fished and groped in vain. They might as well +have hoped to find last summer's partridges or last winter's snow as any +trace of him. He had vanished as mysteriously as he had appeared, and no +royal jewels graced the display of Miss Wyvern's wedding gifts on the +morrow. + +But it was fruitful of other "gifts," fruitful of an even greater +surprise, that "morrow." For the first time since the day he had given +his promise, no "souvenir" from "The Man Who Called Himself Hamilton +Cleek," no part of last night's loot came to Scotland Yard; and it was +while the evening papers were making screaming "copy" and glaring +headlines out of this that the surprise in question came to pass. + +Miss Wyvern's wedding was over, the day and the bride had gone, and it +was half-past ten at night, when Sir Horace, answering a hurry call from +headquarters, drove post haste to Superintendent Narkom's private room, +and, passing in under a red-and-green lamp which burned over the +doorway, met that "surprise." + +Maverick Narkom was there alone, standing beside his desk. The curtains +of his window were drawn and pinned together, and at his elbow was an +unlighted lamp of violet-coloured glass. Narkom turned as his visitor +entered and made an open-handed gesture toward something which lay +before him. + +"Look here," he said laconically, "what do you think of this?" + +Sir Horace moved forward and looked; then stopped and gave a sort of +wondering cry. The electric bulbs overhead struck a glare of light on +the surface of the desk, and there, spread out on the shining oak, lay a +part of the royal jewels that had been stolen from Wyvern House last +night. + +"Narkom! You got him then, got him after all?" + +"No, I did not get him. I doubt if any man could, if he chose not to be +found," said Narkom bitterly. "I did not recover these jewels by any act +of my own. He sent them to me; gave them up voluntarily." + +"Gave them up? After he had risked so much to get them? God bless my +soul, what a man! Why, there must be quite half here of what he took." + +"There is half--an even half. He sent them to-night, and with them this +letter. Look at it, and you will understand why I sent for you and asked +you to come alone." + +Sir Horace read: + + There's some good in even the devil, I suppose, if one but + knows how to reach it and stir it up. + + I have lived a life of crime from my very boyhood because I + couldn't help it, because it appealed to me, because I glory + in risks and revel in dangers. I never knew, I never thought, + never cared, where it would lead me, but I looked into the + gateway of heaven last night, and I can't go down the path to + hell any longer. Here is an even half of Miss Wyvern's jewels. + If you and her father would have me hand over the other half + to you, and would have The Vanishing Cracksman disappear + forever, and a useless life converted into a useful one, you + have only to say so to make it an accomplished thing. All I + ask in return is your word of honour (to be given to me by + signal) that you will send for Sir Horace Wyvern to be at your + office at eleven o'clock to-night, and that you and he will + grant me a private interview unknown to any other living + being. A red-and-green lantern hung over the doorway leading + to your office will be the signal that you agree, and a violet + light in your window will be the pledge of Sir Horace Wyvern. + When these two signals, these two pledges, are given, I shall + come in and hand over the remainder of the jewels, and you + will have looked for the first time in your life upon the real + face of The Man Who Calls Himself Hamilton Cleek. + +"God bless my soul! what an amazing creature, what an astounding +request!" exclaimed Sir Horace, as he laid the letter down. "Willing to +give up L20,000 worth of jewels for the mere sake of a private +interview! What on earth can be his object? And why should he include +me?" + +"I don't know," said Narkom in reply. "It's worth something, at all +events, to be rid of 'The Vanishing Cracksman' for good and all; and he +says that it rests with us to do that. It's close to eleven now. Shall +we give him the pledge he asks, Sir Horace? My signal is already hung +out; shall we agree to the conditions and give him yours?" + +"Yes, yes, by all means," Sir Horace made answer. And, lighting the +violet lamp, Narkom flicked open the pinned curtains and set it in the +window. + +For ten minutes nothing came of it, and the two men, talking in whispers +while they waited, began to grow nervous. Then somewhere in the distance +a clock started striking eleven, and, without so much as a warning +sound, the door flashed open, flashed shut again, a voice that was +undeniably the voice of breeding and refinement said quietly, +"Gentlemen, my compliments. Here are the diamonds and here am I!" and +the figure of a man, faultlessly dressed, faultlessly mannered, and with +the clear-cut features of the born aristocrat, stood in the room. + +His age might lie anywhere between twenty-five and thirty-five, his eyes +were straight looking and clear, his fresh, clean-shaven face was +undeniably handsome, and, whatever his origin, whatever his history, +there was something about him, in look, in speech, in bearing, that +mutely stood sponsor for the thing called "birth." + +"God bless my soul!" exclaimed Sir Horace, amazed and appalled to find +the reality so widely different from the image he had drawn. "What +monstrous juggle is this? Why, man alive, you're a gentleman! Who are +you? What's driven you to a dog's life like this?" + +"A natural bent, perhaps; a supernatural gift, certainly, Sir Horace," +he made reply. "Look here. Could any man resist the temptation to use it +when he was endowed by Nature with the power to do this?" His features +seemed to writhe and knot and assume in as many moments a dozen +different aspects. "I've had the knack of doing that since the hour I +could breathe. Could any man 'go straight' with a fateful gift like that +if the laws of Nature said that he should not?" + +"And do they say that?" + +"That's what I want you to tell me. That's why I have requested this +interview. I want you to examine me, Sir Horace, to put me through +those tests you use to determine the state of mind of the mentally fit +and mentally unfit. I want to know if it is my fault that I am what I +am, and if it is myself I have to fight in future or the devil that +lives within me. I'm tired of wallowing in the mire. A woman's eyes have +lit the way to heaven for me. I want to climb up to her, to win her, be +worthy of her, and to stand beside her in the light." + +"Her? What 'her'?" + +"That's my business, Mr. Narkom, and I'll take no man into my confidence +regarding that." + +"Yes, my friend, but 'Margot'?" + +"I'm done with her! We broke last night, when I returned, and she +learned---- Never mind what she learned! I'm done with her, done with +the lot of them. My life is changed forever." + +"In the name of Heaven, man, who and what are you?" + +"Cleek--just Cleek: let it go at that," he made reply. "Whether it's my +name or not is no man's business; who I am, what I am, whence I came, is +no man's business, either. Cleek will do, Cleek of the Forty Faces. +Never mind the past; my fight is with the future, and so---- Examine me, +Sir Horace, and let me know if I or Fate's to blame for what I am." + +"Absolutely Fate," Sir Horace said, when, after a long examination, the +man put the question to him again. "It is the criminal brain fully +developed, horribly pronounced. God help you, my poor fellow; but a man +simply could not be other than a thief and a criminal with an organ like +that. There's no hope for you to escape your natural bent except by +death. You can't be honest. You can't rise. You never will rise: it's +useless to fight against it!" + +"I will fight against it! I will rise! I will! I will! I will!" he cried +out vehemently. "There is a way to put such craft and cunning to +account; a way to fight the devil with his own weapons and crush him +under the weight of his own gifts, and that way I'll take! + +"Mr. Narkom"--he whirled and walked toward the superintendent, his hand +outstretched, his eager face aglow--"Mr. Narkom, help me! Take me under +your wing. Give me a start, give me a chance, give me a lift on the way +up!" + +"Good heaven, man, you--you don't mean----?" + +"I do. I do. So help me Heaven, I do. All my life I've fought against +the law, now let me switch over and fight with it. I'm tired of being +Cleek, the thief; Cleek, the burglar. Make me Cleek, the detective, and +let us work together, hand in hand, for a common cause and for the +public good. Will you, Mr. Narkom? Will you?" + +"Will I? Won't I!" said Narkom, springing forward and gripping his hand. +"Jove! what a detective you will make. Bully boy! Bully boy!" + +"It's a compact, then?" + +"It's a compact--Cleek." + +"Thank you," he said in a choked voice. "You've given me my chance; now +watch me live up to it. The Vanishing Cracksman has vanished forever, +Mr. Narkom, and it's Cleek, the detective--Cleek of the Forty Faces from +this time on. Now, give me your riddles, I'll solve them one by one." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE PROBLEM OF THE RED CRAWL + + +It was half-past two o'clock in the morning of July 25, when the +constable on duty at the head of Clarges Street, Piccadilly, was +startled to see a red limousine swing into that quiet thoroughfare from +the Curzon Street end, come to an abrupt halt, and a man who had every +appearance of a sailor alight therefrom, fish a key from his pocket, and +admit himself to a certain house. This house for more than a year had +been known to be occupied only by one Captain Burbage, a retired seaman +of advanced years, his elderly housekeeper, a deaf and dumb +maid-of-all-work, and a snub-nosed, ginger-haired young chap of about +nineteen--as pure a specimen of the genus Cockney as you could pick up +anywhere from Bow Church to the Guildhall--who acted as a sort of body +servant to the aged captain, and was known by the expressive name of +"Dollops." + +"Don't like the goings-on at that house at all," commented the policeman +in a sort of growl. "All sorts of parties coming and going at all hours +of the night. Reported it more than once, I have; and yet Superintendent +Narkom says there's nothing in it and it needn't be watched. I wonder +why?" + +He wouldn't have wondered any longer could he have looked into the hall +of the house at that moment; for the man who had just entered had no +sooner closed the lower door than one above flashed open, a stream of +light gushed down the stairs, and a calm, well-modulated voice said +serenely: "Come right up, Mr. Narkom. I knew it would be you before your +motor turned the corner. I'd know the purr of your machine among a +thousand." + +"Fancy that!" said Narkom, as he removed the hot wig and beard he wore, +and went up the stairs two at a time. "My dear Cleek, what an abnormal +animal you are! Had you"--entering the room where his now famous ally +(divested of the disguise which served for the role of "Captain +Burbage") stood leaning against the mantelpiece and calmly smoking a +cigarette--"had you by any chance a fox among your forbears?" + +"Oh, no. The night is very still, the back window is open, and there's a +trifling irregularity in the operations of your detonator: that's all. +But tell me, you've got something else for me; something important +enough to bring you racing here at top speed in the middle of the night, +so to speak?" + +"Yes. An amazing something. It's a letter. It arrived at headquarters by +the nine o'clock post to-night--or, rather, it's last night now. Merton, +of course, forwarded it to my home; but I was away--did not return until +after one, or I should have been here sooner. It's not an affair for +'the Yard' this time, Cleek; and I tell you frankly I do not like it." + +"Why?" + +"Well, it's from Paris. If you were to accept it, you--well, you know +what dangers Paris would have for you above all men. There's that +she-devil you broke with, that woman Margot. You know what she swore, +what she wrote back when you sent her that letter telling her that you +were done with her and her lot, and warning her never to set foot on +English soil again? If you were to run foul of her; if she were ever to +get any hint to your real identity----" + +"She can't. She knows no more of my real history than you do; no more +than I actually know of hers. Our knowledge of each other began when we +started to 'pal' together; it ended when we split, eighteen months ago. +But about this letter? What is it? Why do you say that you don't like +it?" + +"Well, to begin with, I'm afraid it is some trap of hers to decoy you +over there, get you into some unknown place----" + +"There are no 'unknown places' in Paris so far as I am concerned. I know +every hole and corner of it, from the sewers on. I know it as well as I +know London, as well as I know Berlin--New York--Vienna--Edinburgh--Rome. +You couldn't lose me or trap me in any one of them. Is that the letter +in your hand? Good--then read it, please." + +Narkom, obeying the request, read: + + "TO THE SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE, SCOTLAND YARD, + + "DISTINGUISHED MONSIEUR: + + "Of your grace and pity, I implore you to listen to the prayer + of an unhappy man whose honour, whose reason, whose very life + are in deadly peril, not alone of 'The Red Crawl,' but of + things he may not even name, dare not commit to writing, lest + this letter should go astray. It shall happen, monsieur, that + the whole world shall hear with amazement of that most + marvellous 'Cleek'--that great reader of riddles and unmasker + of evildoers who, in the past year, has made the police + department of England the envy of all nations; and it shall + happen also that I who dare not appeal to the police of France + appeal to the mercy, the humanity, of this great man, as it is + my only hope. Monsieur, you have his ear, you have his + confidence, you have the means at your command. Ah! ask him, + pray him, implore him for the love of God, and the sake of a + fellow-man, to come alone to the top floor of the house number + 7 of the Rue Toison d'Or, Paris, at nine hours of the night of + Friday, the 26th inst., to enter into the darkness and say but + the one word 'Cleek' as a signal it is he, and I may come + forward and throw myself upon his mercy. Oh, save me, Monsieur + Cleek--save me! save me! + +"There, that's the lot, and there's no signature," said Narkom, laying +down the letter. "What do you make of it, Cleek?" + +"A very real, a very moving thing, Mr. Narkom. The cry of a human heart +in deep distress; the agonized appeal of a man so wrought up by the +horrors of his position that he forgets to offer a temptation in the way +of reward, and speaks of outlandish things as though they must be +understood of all. As witness his allusion to something which he calls +'The Red Crawl,' without attempting to explain the meaningless phrase. +Whatever it is, it is so real to him that it seems as if everybody must +understand." + +"You think, then, that the thing is genuine?" + +"So genuine that I shall answer its call, Mr. Narkom, and be alone in +the dark on the top floor of No. 7, Rue Toison d'Or to-morrow night as +surely as the clock strikes nine." + +And that was how the few persons who happened to be in the quiet upper +reaches of the Rue Bienfaisance at half-past eight o'clock the next +evening came to see a fat, fussy, red-faced Englishman in a gray +frock-coat, white spats, and a shining topper, followed by a liveried +servant with a hat-box in one hand and a portmanteau in the other, so +conspicuous, the pair of them, that they couldn't have any desire to +conceal themselves, cross over the square before the Church of St. +Augustine, fare forth into the darker side passages, and move in the +direction of the street of the Golden Fleece. + +They were, of course, Cleek and his devoted henchman Dollops--a youth he +had picked up out of the streets of London and given a home, and whose +especial virtues were a dog-like devotion to his employer, a facility +for eating without ever seeming to get filled, and fighting without ever +seeming to get tired. + +"Lumme, guv'ner," whispered he, as they turned at last into the utter +darkness and desertion of the narrow Rue Toison d'Or, "if this is wot +yer calls Gay Paree, this precious black slit between two rows of +houses, I'll take a slice of the Old Kent Road with thanks. Not even so +much as a winkle-stall in sight, and me that empty my shirt-bosom's +a-chafing my blessed shoulder-blades!" + +"You'll see plenty of life before the game's over, I warrant you, +Dollops. Now, then, my lad, here's a safe spot. Sit down on the hat-box +and wait. That's No. 7, that empty house with the open door, just across +the way. Keep your eye on it. I don't know how long I'll be, but if +anybody comes out before I do, mind you don't let him get away." + +"No fear!" said Dollops sententiously. "I'll be after him as if he was a +ham sandwich, sir. Look out for my patent 'Tickle Tootsies' when you +come out, guv'ner. I'll sneak over and put 'em round the door as soon as +you've gone in." For Dollops, who was of an inventive turn of mind, had +an especial "man-trap" of his own, which consisted of heavy brown paper, +cut into squares, and thickly smeared over with a viscid, varnish-like +substance that adhered to the feet of anybody incautiously stepping upon +it, and so interfered with flight that it was an absolute necessity to +stop and tear the papers away before running with any sort of ease and +swiftness was possible. More than once this novel method of hampering +for a brief period the movement of a fugitive had stood him and his +master in good stead, and Dollops, who was rather proud of his +achievement, never travelled without a full supply of ready-cut papers +and a big collapsible tube of the viscid, ropy, varnish-like glue. + +Meantime Cleek, having left the boy sitting on the hat-box in the +darkness, crossed the narrow street to the open doorway of No. 7, and, +without hesitation, stepped in. The place was as black as a pocket, and +had that peculiar smell which belongs to houses that have long stood +vacant. The house, nevertheless, was a respectable one, and, like all +the others, fronted on another street. The dark Toison d'Or was merely a +back passage used principally by the tradespeople for the delivery of +supplies. Feeling his way to the first of the three flights of stairs +which led upward into the stillness and gloom above, Cleek mounted +steadily until he found himself at length in a sort of attic--quite +windowless, and lit only by a skylight through which shone the +ineffectual light of the stars. It was the top at last. Bracing his back +against the wall, so that nobody could get behind him, and holding +himself ready for any emergency, he called out in a clear, calm voice: +"Cleek!" + +Almost simultaneously there was a sharp metallic "snick," an electric +bulb hanging from the ceiling flamed out luminously, a cupboard door +flashed open, a voice cried out in joyous, perfect English: "Thank God +for a man!" And, switching round with a cry of amazement, he found +himself looking into the face and eyes of a woman. + +And of all women in the world--Ailsa Lorne! + +He sucked in his breath and his heart began to hammer. + +"Miss Lorne!" he exclaimed, so carried out of himself that he scarcely +knew what he did. "Good heavens above!--Miss Lorne!" + +"Oh!" she ejaculated, with a little startled cry, looking up, but +finding no trace of features that she knew in the round, red face of the +fat gray man before her. "You know me, then? How can you? But I forget! +You are English; you are that great and mysterious man Cleek; and +he--ah, he must surely know everything!" + +"I know you, at least," he replied, shaking with mingled embarrassment +and delight at the knowledge that at last he was permitted to speak to +her, to have her speak to him. "I have seen you often in London; and to +find you here, like this? It fairly takes away my breath." + +"The explanation is very simple, Mr. Cleek. I suppose you know that my +uncle, Sir Horace Wyvern, married again last spring? The new Lady Wyvern +soon let me know that I was a superfluous person in the household. I +left it, of course. Sir Horace would have pensioned me off if I had let +him. I couldn't bring myself to eat the bread of charity, however, and +when a former schoolmate offered me a post as her companion, I +gratefully accepted it. So for the past three months I have been living +here in Paris with Athalie and her father, the Baron de Carjorac." + +"Baron de Carjorac? Do you mean the French Minister of the Interior, the +President of the Board of National Defences, Miss Lorne, that +enthusiastic old patriot, that rabid old spitfire whose one dream is the +wresting back of Alsace-Lorraine, the driving of the hated Germans into +the sea? Do you mean that ripping old firebrand?" + +"Yes. But you'd not call him that if you could see the wreck, the broken +and despairing wreck, that six weeks of the Chateau Larouge, six weeks +of that horrible 'Red Crawl' have made of him." + +"'The Red Crawl'? Good heavens! then that letter, that appeal for +help----" + +"Came from him!" she finished excitedly. "It was he who was to have met +you here to-night, Mr. Cleek. This house is one he owns; he thought he +might with safety risk coming here, but--he can't! he can't! He knows +now that there is danger for him everywhere; that his every step is +tracked; that the snare which is about him has been about him, +unsuspected, for almost a year; that he dare not, absolutely dare not, +appeal to the French police, and that if it were known he had appealed +to you, he would be a dead man inside of twenty-four hours, and not only +dead, but--disgraced. Oh, Mr. Cleek," she stretched out two shaking +hands and laid them on his arm, lifted a white, imploring face to his, +"save him! save that dear broken old man! Ah, think! think! They are our +friends, our dear country's friends, these French people. Their welfare +is our welfare, ours is theirs! Oh, help him, save him, Mr. Cleek--for +his own sake--for mine--for France! Save him, and win my gratitude +forever!" + +"That is a temptation that would carry me to the ends of the earth, Miss +Lorne. Tell me what the work is, and I will carry it through. What is +this incomprehensible thing of which both you and Baron de Carjorac have +spoken, this thing you allude to as 'The Red Crawl'?" + +She gave a little shuddering cry and fell back a step, covering her face +with both hands. + +"Oh!" she said, with a shiver of repulsion. "It is horrible--it is +necromancy beyond belief! Why, oh, why were we ever driven to that +horrible Chateau Larouge? Why could not fate have spared the Villa de +Carjorac? It could not have happened then!" + +"Villa de Carjorac? That was the name of the baron's residence, I +believe. I remember reading in the newspapers some five or six weeks ago +that it was destroyed by fire, which originated--nobody knew how--in the +apartments of the late baroness in the very dead of the night. I thought +at the time it read suspiciously like the work of an incendiary, +although nobody hinted at such a thing. The Chateau Larouge I also have +a distinct memory of, as an old historic property in the neighbourhood +of St. Cloud. Speaking from past experience, I know that, although it is +in such a state of decay, and supposed to be uninhabitable, it has, in +fact, often been occupied at a period when the police and the public +believed it to be quite empty. Gentlemen of the Apache persuasion have +frequently made it a place of retreat. There is also an underground +passage, executed by those same individuals, which connects with the +Paris sewers. That, too, the police are unaware of. What can the ruined +Chateau Larouge possibly have to do with the affairs of the Baron de +Carjorac, Miss Lorne, that you connect them like this?" + +"They have everything to do with them. The Chateau is no longer a ruin, +however. It was purchased, rebuilt, refitted by the Comtesse Susanne de +la Tour, Mr. Cleek, and she and her brother live there. So do we, +Athalie, Baron de Carjorac, and I. So, also, does the creature--the +thing--the abominable horror known as 'The Red Crawl.'" + +"My dear Miss Lorne, what are you saying?" + +"The truth, nothing but the truth!" she answered hysterically. "Oh, let +me begin at the beginning. You'll never understand unless I do. I'll +tell you in as few words as possible, as quickly as I can. It all began +last winter, when Athalie and her father were at Monte Carlo. There they +met Madame la Comtesse de la Tour and her brother, Monsieur Gaston +Merode. The baron has position but he has not wealth, Mr. Cleek. Athalie +is ambitious. She loves luxury, riches, a life of fashion, all the +things that boundless money can give; and when Monsieur Merode--who is +young, handsome, and said to be fabulously wealthy--showed a distinct +preference for her over all the other marriageable girls he met, she was +flattered out of her silly wits. Before they left Monte Carlo for Paris +everybody could see that he had only to ask her hand, to have it +bestowed upon him. For although the baron never has cared for the man, +Athalie rules him, and her every caprice is humoured. + +"But, for all he was so ardent a lover, Monsieur Merode was slow in +coming to the important point. Perhaps his plans were not matured. At +any rate, he did not propose to Athalie at Monte Carlo; and, although he +and his sister returned to Paris at the same time as the baron and his +daughter, he still deferred the proposal." + +"Has he not made it yet?" + +"Yes, Mr. Cleek. He made it six weeks ago, to be exact, two nights +before the Villa de Carjorac was fired." + +"You think it was fired, then?" + +"I do now, although I had no suspicion of it at the time. Athalie +received her proposal on the Saturday, the baron gave his consent on the +Sunday, and on Monday night the villa was mysteriously burnt, leaving +all three of us without an immediate refuge. In the meantime, Madame la +Comtesse had purchased the ruin of the Chateau Larouge, and during the +period of her brother's deferred proposal was engaged in fitting it up +as an abode for herself and him. On the very day it was finished, +Monsieur Merode asked for Athalie's hand." + +"Oho!" said Cleek, with a strong rising inflection. "I think I begin to +smell the toasting of the cheese. Of course, when the villa was burnt +out, Madame la Comtesse insisted that, as the fiancee of her brother, +Mademoiselle de Carjorac must make her home at the Chateau until the +necessary repairs could be completed; and, of course, the baron had to +go with her?" + +"Yes," admitted Ailsa. "The baron accepted--Athalie would not have +allowed him to decline had he wished to--so we all three went there and +have been residing there ever since. On the night after our arrival an +alarming, a horrifying, thing occurred. It was while we were at dinner +that the conversation turned upon the supernatural, upon houses and +places that were reputed to be haunted, and then Madame la Comtesse made +a remarkable statement. She laughingly asserted that she had just +learned that, in purchasing the Chateau Larouge, she had also become the +possessor of a sort of family ghost. She said that she had only just +heard, from an outside source, that there was a horrible legend +connected with the place; in short, that for centuries it had been +reputed to be under a sort of spell of evil and to be cursed by a +dreadful visitant known as 'The Red Crawl'--a hideous and loathsome +creature. It was neither spider nor octopus, but horribly resembled both +and was supposed to 'appear' at intervals in the middle of the night +and, like the fabled giants of fairy tales, carry off 'lovely maidens +and devour them.'" + +"Who is responsible for that ridiculous assertion, I wonder? I think I +may say that I know as much about the Chateau Larouge and its history as +anybody, Miss Lorne, but I never heard of this supposed 'legend' before +in all my life." + +"So the baron, too, declared, laughing as derisively as any of us over +the story, although it is well known that he has a natural antipathy to +all crawling things, an abhorrence inherited from his mother, and has +been known to run like a frightened child from the appearance of a mere +garden spider." + +"Oho!" said Cleek again. "I see! I see! The toasted cheese smells +stronger, and there's a distinct suggestion of the Rhine about it this +time. There's something decidedly German about that fabulous 'monster' +and that haunted Chateau, Miss Lorne. They are clever and careful +schemers, those German Johnnies. Of course, this amazing 'Red Crawl' was +proved to have an absolute foundation in fact, and equally, of course, +it 'appeared' to the Baron de Carjorac?" + +"Yes--that very night. After we had all gone to bed, the house was +roused by his screams. Everybody rushed to his chamber, only to find him +lying on the floor in a state of collapse. The thing had been in his +room, he said. He had seen it, it had even touched him--a horrible, +hideous red reptile, with squirming tentacles, a huge, glowing body, and +eyes like flame. It had crept upon him out of the darkness, he knew not +from where. It had seized him, resisted all his wild efforts to tear +loose from it, and when he finally sank, overcome and fainting, upon the +floor, his last conscious recollection was of the loathsome thing +settling down upon his breast and running its squirming 'feelers' up and +down his body." + +"Of course! Of course! That was part of the game. It was after +something. Something of the utmost importance to German interests. +That's why the Chateau Larouge was refitted, why the Villa de Carjorac +was burnt down, and why this Monsieur Gaston Merode became engaged to +Mademoiselle Athalie." + +"Oh, how could you know that, Mr. Cleek? Nobody ever suspected. The +baron never confessed to any living soul until he did so to me, to-day, +and then only because he had to tell somebody, in order that the +appointment with you might be kept. How, then, could you guess?" + +"By putting two and two together, Miss Lorne, and discovering that they +do not make five. The inference is very clear: Baron de Carjorac is +President of the Board of National Defences; Germany, in spite of its +public assurances to the contrary, is known by those who are 'on the +inside' to harbour a very determined intention of making a secret +attack, an unwarned invasion, upon England. France is the key to the +situation. If, without the warning that must come through the delay of +picking a quarrel and entering into an open war with the Republic, the +German army can swoop down in the night, cross the frontier, and gain +immediate possession of the ports of France, in five hours' time it can +be across the English Channel, and its hordes pouring down upon a +sleeping people. To carry out this programme, the first step would, of +course, be to secure knowledge of the number, location, manner of the +secret defences of France, the plans of fortification, the maps of the +'danger zone,' the documentary evidence of her strongest and weakest +points. And who so likely to be the guardian of these as the Baron de +Carjorac? That is how I know that 'The Red Crawl' was after something of +vital importance to German interests, Miss Lorne. That he got it, I know +from the fact that the baron, while hinting at disgrace and speaking of +peril to his own life, dared not confide in the French authorities and +ask the assistance of the French police. Moreover, if 'The Red Crawl' +had failed to secure anything, the baron, with his congenital loathing +of all crawling things, would have left the Chateau Larouge +immediately." + +"Oh, to think that you guessed it so easily, and it was all such a +puzzle to me. I could not think, Mr. Cleek, why he did remain; why he +would not be persuaded to go, although every night was adding to the +horror of the thing and it seemed clear to me that he was going mad. Of +course, Madame la Comtesse and her brother tried to reason him out of +what he declared, tried to make him believe that it was all fancy, that +he did not really see the fearful thing; it was equally in vain that I +myself tried to persuade him to leave the place before his reason became +unsettled. Last night"--she paused, shuddered, put both hands over her +face, and drew in a deep breath--"last night, I, too, saw 'The Red +Crawl,' Mr. Cleek--I, too! I, too!" + +"You, Miss Lorne?" + +"Yes. I made up my mind that I would--that, if it existed, I would have +absolute proof of it. The countess and her brother had scoffed so +frequently, had promised the baron so often that they would set a +servant on guard in the corridor to watch, and then had said so often to +poor, foolish, easily persuaded Athalie that it was useless doing +anything so silly, as it was absolutely certain that her father only +imagined the thing, that I determined to take the step myself, unknown +to any of them. After everybody had gone to bed, I threw on a loose, +dark gown, crept into the corridor, and hid in a niche from which I +could see the door of the baron's room. I waited until after +midnight--long after--and then--and then----" + +"Calm yourself, Miss Lorne. Then the thing appeared, I suppose?" + +"Yes; but not before something equally terrible had happened. I saw the +door of the countess's room open; I saw the countess herself come out, +accompanied by the man who up till then I had believed, like everybody +else, was her brother." + +"And who is not her brother, after all?" + +"No, he is not. Theirs is a closer tie. I saw her kiss him. I saw her go +with him to an angle of the corridor, lift a rug, and raise a trap in +the floor." + +"Hullo! Hullo!" ejaculated Cleek. "Then she, too, knows of the passage +which leads to the sewers. Clearly, then, this Countess de la Tour is +not what she seems, when she knows secrets that are known only to the +followers of---- Well, never mind. Go on, Miss Lorne, go on. You saw her +lift that trap; and what then?" + +"Then there came up out of it the most loathsome-looking creature I have +ever seen: a huge, crawling, red shape that was like a blood-red spider, +with the eyes, the hooked beak, and the writhing tentacles of an +octopus. It made no sound, but it seemed to know her, to understand her, +for when she waved her hand toward the open door of her own room, +obeying that gesture, it dragged its huge bulk over the threshold, and +passed from sight. Then the man she called her brother kissed her again, +and as he descended into the darkness below the trap I heard her say +quite distinctly: 'Tell Marise that I will come as soon as I can; but +not to delay the revel. If I am compelled to forego it to-night, there +shall be a wilder one to-morrow, when Clodoche arrives.'" + +"Clodoche? By Jupiter!" Cleek almost jumped as he spoke. "Now I know the +'lay'! No; don't ask me anything yet. Go on with the story, please. What +then, Miss Lorne, what then?" + +"Then the man below said something which I could not hear and she +answered in these words: 'No, no; there is no danger. I will guard it +safely, and it shall go into no hands but Clodoche's. He and Count von +Hetzler will be there about midnight to-morrow to complete the deal and +pay over the money. Clodoche will want the fragment, of course, to show +to the count as a proof that it is the right one, as "an earnest" of +what the remainder is worth. And you must bring me that "remainder" +without fail, Gaston--you hear me?--without fail! I shall be there, at +the rendezvous, awaiting you, and the thing must be in our hands when +Von Hetzler comes. The work must be finished to-morrow night, even if +you and Serpice have to throw all caution to the winds and throttle the +old fool.' Then, as if answering a further question, she laughingly +added: 'Oh, get that fear out of your head. I'm not a bat, to be caught +napping. I'll give it to no one but Clodoche, and not even to him until +he gives the secret sign.' And then, Mr. Cleek, as she closed the trap I +heard the man call back to her 'Good-night' and give her a name I had +not heard before. We had always supposed that she had been christened +'Suzanne,' but as that man left he called her----" + +"I know before you tell me--'Margot'!" interjected Cleek. "I guessed the +identity of this 'Countess de la Tour' from the moment you spoke of +Clodoche and that secret trap. Her knowledge of those two betrayed her +to me. Clodoche is a renegade Alsatian, a spy in the pay of the German +Government, and an old habitue of 'The Inn of the Twisted Arm,' where +the Queen of the Apaches and her pals hold their frequent revels. I can +guess the remainder of your story now. You carried this news to the +Baron de Carjorac, and he, breaking down, confessed to you that he had +lost something." + +"Yes, yes--a dreadful 'something,' Mr. Cleek: the horrible thing that +has been making life an agony to him ever since. On the night when that +abominable 'Red Crawl' first overcame him there was upon his person a +most important document. It was a rough draft of the maps of +fortification and the plan of the secret defences of France, the +identical document from which was afterward transcribed the parchment +now deposited in the secret archives of the Republic. When Baron de +Carjorac recovered his senses after his horrifying experience----" + +"That document was gone?" + +"Part of it, Mr. Cleek, thank God, only a part! If it had been the +parchment itself, no such merciful thing could possibly have happened. +But the paper was old, much folding and handling had worn the creases +through, and when, in his haste, the secret robber grabbed it, whilst +that loathsome creature held the old man down, it parted directly down +the middle, and he got only a vertical section of each of its many +pages." + +"Victoria! 'And the fool hath said in his heart There is no God,'" +quoted Cleek. "So, then, the hirelings of the enemy have only got half +what they are after; and, as no single sentence can be complete upon a +paper torn like that, nothing can be made of it until the other half is +secured, and our German friends are still 'up a gum-tree.' I know now +why the baron stayed on at the Chateau Larouge and why 'The Red Crawl' +is preparing to pay him another visit to-night: He hoped, poor chap, to +find a clue to the whereabouts of the fragment he had lost; and that +thing is after the fragment he still retains. Well, it will be a long, +long day before either of those two fragments falls into German hands." + +"Oh, Mr. Cleek, you think you can get the stolen paper back? You believe +you can outwit those dreadful people and save the Baron de Carjorac's +honour and his life?" + +"Miss Lorne"--he took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips--"Miss +Lorne, I thank you for giving me the chance! If you will do what I ask +you, be where I ask you in two hours' time, so surely as we two stand +here this minute, I will put back the German calendar by ten years at +least. They drink 'To the day,' those German Johnnies, but by to-morrow +morning the English hand you are holding will have given them reason to +groan over the night!" + + +II + +It was half-past eleven o'clock. Madame la Comtesse, answering a reputed +call to the bedside of a dying friend, had departed early, and was not +to be expected back, she said, until to-morrow noon. The servants--given +permission by the gentleman known in the house as Monsieur Gaston +Merode, and who had graciously provided a huge char-a-banc for the +purpose--had gone in a body to a fair over in the neighbourhood of +Sevres, and darkness and stillness filled the long, broad corridor of +the Chateau Larouge. Of a sudden, however, a mere thread of sound +wavered through the silence, and from the direction of Miss Lorne's room +a figure in black, with feet muffled in thick woollen stockings, padded +to an angle of the passage, lifted a trap carefully hidden beneath a +huge tiger-skin rug, and almost immediately Cleek's head rose up out of +the gap. + +"Thank God you managed to do it. I was horribly afraid you would not," +said Ailsa in a palpitating whisper. + +"You need not have been," he answered. "I know a dozen places besides +'The Inn of the Twisted Arm' from which one can get into the sewers. +I've screwed a bolt and socket on the inner side of this trap in case +of an emergency, and I've carried a few things into the passage for +'afterward.' I suppose that fellow Merode, as he calls himself, is in +his room, waiting?" + +"Yes; and, although he pretends to be alone to-night, he has other men +with him, hideous, ruffianly looking creatures, whom I saw him admit +after the servants had gone. The countess has left the house and gone I +don't know where." + +"I do, then. Make certain that she's at 'The Twisted Arm,' waiting, +first, for the coming of Clodoche, and, second, for the arrival of this +precious 'Merode' with the remaining half of the document. I've sent +Dollops there to carry out his part of the programme, and when once I +get the password Margot requires before she will hand over the paper, +the game will be in my hands entirely. They are desperate to-night, Miss +Lorne, and will stop at nothing--not even murder. There! the rug's +replaced. Quick! lead me to the baron's room, there's not a minute to +waste." + +She took his hand and led him tiptoe through the darkness, and in +another moment he was in the Baron de Carjorac's presence. + +"Oh, monsieur, God forever bless you!" exclaimed the broken old man, +throwing himself on his knees before Cleek. + +"Out with the light--out with the light!" exclaimed he, ducking down +suddenly. "Were you mad to keep it burning till I came, with that," +pointing to a huge bay window opening upon a balcony, "uncurtained and +the grounds, no doubt, alive with spies?" + +Miss Lorne sprang to the table where the baron's reading-lamp stood, +jerked the cord of the extinguisher, and darkness enveloped the room, +darkness tempered only by the faint gleams of the moon streaming over +the balcony and through the panes of the uncurtained window. + +Cleek, on his knees beside the kneeling baron, whipped a tiny electric +torch from his pocket and, shielding its flare with his scooped hands, +flashed it upon the old man's face. + +"Simple as rolling off a log--exactly like your pictures," he commented. +"I'll 'do' you as easily as I 'do' Clodoche and I could 'do' him in the +dark from memory. Quick," snicking off the light of the electric torch +and rising to his feet, "into your dressing-room, baron. I want that +suit of clothes; I want that ribbon, that cross--and I want them at +once. You're a bit thicker set than me, but I've got my Clodoche rig on +underneath this, and it will fill out your coat admirably and make us as +like as two peas. Give me five minutes, Miss Lorne, and I promise you a +surprise." + +He flashed out of sight with the baron as he ceased speaking; and Ailsa, +creeping to the window and peering cautiously out, was startled +presently by a voice at her elbow saying, in a tone of extreme +agitation, "Oh, mademoiselle, I fear, even yet I fear, that this Anglais +monsieur attempts too moch, and that the papier he is gone forever." + +"Oh, no, baron, no!" she said soothingly, as she laid a solicitous hand +upon his arm. "Do believe in him; do have faith in him. Ah, if you only +knew----" + +"Thanks. I reckon I shall pass muster!" interposed Cleek's voice; and it +was only then she realized. "You'll find the baron in the other room, +Miss Lorne, looking a little grotesque in that gray suit of mine. In +with you, quickly; go with him through the other door, and get below +before those fellows begin to stir. Get out of the house as quietly and +as expeditiously as you can. With God's help, I'll meet you at the Hotel +Louvre in the morning, and put the missing fragment in the baron's +hands." + +"And may God give you that help!" she answered fervently, as she moved +toward the dressing-room door. "Ah, what a man! What a man!" + +Then in a twinkling she was gone, and Cleek stood alone in the silent +room. Giving her and the baron time to get clear of the other one, he +went in on tiptoe, locked the door through which they had passed, put +the key in his pocket, and returned. Going to the door which led from +the main room into the corridor, he took the key from the lock of that, +too, replacing it upon the outer side, and leaving the door itself +slightly ajar. + +"Now then for you, Mr. 'The Red Crawl,'" he said, as he walked to the +baron's table, and, sinking down into a deep chair beside it, leaned +back with his eyes closed as if in sleep, the faint light of the moon +half-revealing his face. "I want that password, and I'll get it, if I +have to choke it out of your devil's throat! And she said that she would +be grateful to me all the rest of her life! Only 'grateful,' I wonder? +Is nothing else possible? What a good, good thing a real woman is!" + + * * * * * + +How long was it that he had been reclining there waiting before his +strained ears caught the sound of something like the rustling of silk +shivering through the stillness, and he knew that at last it was coming? +It might have been ten minutes, it might have been twenty--he had no +means of determining--when he caught that first movement, and, peering +through the slit of a partly opened eye, saw the appalling thing drag +its huge bulk along the balcony and, with tentacles writhing, slide over +the low sill of the window, and settle down in a glowing red heap upon +the floor. Fake though he knew it to be, Cleek could not repress a swift +rush and prickle of "goose-flesh" at sight of it. + +For a few seconds it lay dormant; then one red feeler shot out, then +another, and another, and it began to edge its way across the carpet to +the chair. Cleek lay still and waited, his heavy breathing sounding +regularly, his head thrown back, his limp hands lying loosely, palms +upward. Nearer and nearer crept the loathsome, red, glowing thing. + +It crawled to his feet, and still he was quiet; it slid first one +tentacle and then another over his knees and up toward his breast, and +still he made no movement; then, as it rose until its hideous beaked +countenance was close to his own, his hands flashed upward and clamped +together like a vise--clamped on a palpitating human throat. In the +twinkling of an eye the tentacles were wrapped about him, and he and +"The Red Crawl" were rolling over and over on the floor and battling +together. + +"Serpice, you low-bred hound, I know you!" he whispered, as they +struggled. "You can't utter a cry. You shan't utter a cry to bring help. +I'll throttle you, you beastly renegade, that's willing to sell his own +country--throttle you, do you hear?--before you shall bring any of your +mates to the rescue. Oh, you've not got a weak old man to fight with +this time! Do you know me? It's the 'Cracksman,' the 'Cracksman' who +went over to the police. If you doubt it, now that we're in the +moonlight, look up and see my face. Oho! you recognize me, I see. Well, +you will die looking at me, you dog, if you deny me what I'm after. I'll +loosen my grip enough for you to whisper, and no more. Now what's the +password that Clodoche must give to Margot to-night at 'The Twisted +Arm'? Tell me what it is; if you want your life, tell me what it is?" + +"I'll see you dead first!" came in a whisper from beneath the hideous +mask. Then, as Cleek's fingers clamped tight again, and the battle began +anew, one long, thin arm shot out from amongst the writhing tentacles, +one clutching hand gripped the leg of the table and, with a wrench and a +twist, brought it crashing to the floor with a sound that a deaf man +might have heard. + +And in an instant there was pandemonium. + +A door flew open, and, clashing heavily against the wall, sent an echo +reeling along the corridor; then came a clatter of rustling feet, a +voice cried out excitedly: "Come on! come on! He's had to kill the old +fool to get it!" and Cleek had just time to tear loose from the shape +with which he was battling, and dodge out of the way when the man Merode +lurched into the room, with half a dozen Apaches tumbling in at his +heels. + +"Serpice!" he cried, rushing forward, as he saw the gasping red shape +upon the floor; "Serpice! Mon Dieu! what is it?" + +"The Cracksman!" he gulped. "Cleek!--the Cracksman who went against us! +Catch him! stop him!" + +"The Cracksman!" howled out Merode, twisting round in the darkness and +reaching blindly for the haft of his dirk. "Nom de Dieu! Where?" + +And almost before the last word was uttered a fist like a sledge-hammer +shot out, caught him full in the face, and he went down with a whole +smithy of sparks flashing and hissing before his eyes. + +"There!" answered Cleek, as he bowled him over. "Gentlemen of the +sewers, my compliments. You'll make no short cut to 'The Twisted Arm' +to-night!" + +Then, like something shot from a catapult, he sprang to the door, +whisked through it, banged it behind him, turned the key, and went +racing down the corridor like a hare. + +"It must be sheer luck now!" he panted, as he reached the angle and, +kicking aside the rug, pulled up the trap. "They'll have that door down +in a brace of shakes, and be after me like a pack of ravening wolves. +The race is to the swift this time, gentlemen, and you'll have to take a +long way round if you mean to head me off." + +Then he passed down into the darkness, closed the trap-door after him, +shot into its socket the bolt he had screwed there, flashed up the +light of his electric torch, and, _without_ the password, turned toward +the sewers, and ran, and ran, and ran! + + +III + +It lacked but a minute of the stroke of twelve, and the revels at "The +Twisted Arm"--wild at all times, but wilder to-night than ever--were at +their noisiest and most exciting pitch. And why not? It was not often +that Margot could spend a whole night with her rapscallion crew, and she +had been here since early evening and was to remain here until the dawn +broke gray over the housetops and the murmurs of the workaday world +awoke anew in the streets of the populous city. It was not often that +each man and each abandoned woman present knew to a certainty that he or +she would go home through the mists of the gray morning with a fistful +of gold that had been won without labour or the taking of any personal +risk; and to-night the half of four hundred thousand francs was to be +divided among them. + +No wonder they had made a carnival of it, and tricked themselves out in +gala attire; no wonder they had brought a paste tiara and crowned +Margot. Margot, was in flaming red to-night, and looked a devil's +daughter indeed, with her fire-like sequins and her red ankles twinkling +as she threw herself into the thick of the dance and kicked, and +whirled, and flung her bare arms about to the lilt of the music and the +fluting of her own happy laughter. + +"Per Baccho! The devil's in her to-night!" grinned old Marise, the +innkeeper, from her place behind the bar, where the lid of the +sewer-trap opened. "She has not been like it since the Cracksman broke +with her, Toinette. But that was before your time, ma fille. Mother of +the heavens! but there was a man for you! There was a king that was +worthy of such a queen. Name of disaster! that she could not hold him, +that the curse of virtue sapped such a splendid tree, and that she could +take up with another after him!" + +"Why not?" cried Toinette, as she tossed down the last half of her +absinthe and twitched her flower-crowned head. "A kingdom must have a +king, ma mere; and Dieu! but he is handsome, this Monsieur Gaston +Merode! And if he carries out his part of the work to-night he will be +worthy of the homage of all." + +"'If' he carries it out--'if'!" exclaimed Marise, with a lurch of the +shoulders and a flirt of her pudgy hand. "Soul of me! that's where the +difference lies. Had it been the Cracksman, there would have been no +'if'. It were done as surely as he attempted it. Name of misfortune! I +had gone into a nunnery had I lost such a man. But she----" + +The voice of Margot shrilled out and cut into her words. + +"Absinthe, Marise, absinthe for them all and set the score down to me!" +she cried. "Drink up, my bonny boys; drink up, my loyal maids. +Drink--drink till your skins will hold no more. No one pays to-night but +me!" + +They broke into a cheer, and bearing down in a body upon Marise, threw +her into a fever of haste to serve them. + +"To Margot!" they shouted, catching up the glasses and lifting them +high. "Vive la Reine des Apache! Vive la compagnie! To Margot! to +Margot!" + +She swept them a merry bow, threw them a laughing salute, and drank the +toast with them. + +"Messieurs, my love--mesdames et mademoiselles, my admiration," she +cried, with a ripple of joy-mad laughter. "To the success of the +Apaches, to the glory of four hundred thousand francs, and to the quick +arrival of Serpice and Gaston." Then, her upward glance catching sight +of the musicians sipping their absinthe in the little gallery above, +she flung her empty glass against the wall behind them, and shook with +laughter as they started in alarm and spilled the green poison when they +dodged aside. "Another dance, you dawdlers!" she cried. "Does Marise pay +you to sit there like mourners? Strike up, you mummies, or you pay +yourselves for what you drink to-night. Soul of desires!"--as the +musicians grabbed up their instruments, and a leaping, lilting, +quick-beating air went rollicking out over the hubbub--"a quadrille, you +angels of inspiration! Partners, gentlemen! Partners, ladies! A +quadrille! A quadrille!" + +They set up a many-throated cheer, flocked out with her upon the floor, +and in one instant feet were flying, skirts were whirling, laughter and +jest mingling with waving arms and kicking toes, and the whole place was +in one mad riot of delirious joy. + +And in the midst of this there rolled up suddenly a voice crying, as +from the bowels of the earth, "Hola! Hola! La! la! loi!" the cry of the +Apache to his kind. + +"Mother of delights! It is one of us, and it comes from the sewer +passage!" shrilled out Marise, as the dancers halted and Margot ran, +with fleet steps, toward the bar. "Listen! listen! They come to you, +Margot--Serpice and Gaston. The work is done." + +"And before even Clodoche or Von Hetzler have arrived!" she replied +excitedly. "Give them light, give them welcome. Be quick!" + +Marise ducked down, loosened the fastenings of the trap-door, flung it +back, and, leaning over the gap with a light in her hand, called down +into the darkness, "Hola! Hola! La! la! loi! Come on, comrades, come +on!" + +The caller obeyed instantly. A hand reached up and gripped the edge of +the flooring, and out of the darkness into the light emerged the figure +of a man in a leather cap and the blue blouse of a mechanic. He was a +pale, fox-faced, fox-eyed fellow, with lank, fair hair, a brush of +ragged yellow beard, and the look and air of the sneak and spy indelibly +branded upon him. + +It was Cleek. + +"Clodoche!" exclaimed Marise, falling back in surprise. + +"Clodoche!" echoed Margot. "Clodoche--and from the sewers?" + +"Yes--why not?" he answered, his tongue thick-burred with the accent of +Alsace, his shifting eyes flashing toward the huge window behind the +bar, where, in the moonlight, the narrow passage leading down to the +door of "The Twisted Arm" gaped evilly between double rows of scowling, +thief-sheltering houses. "Name of the fiend! Is this the welcome you +give the bringer of fortune, Margot?" + +"But from the sewer?" she repeated. "It is incomprehensible, cher ami. +You were to pilot Von Hetzler over from the Cafe Dupin to the square +beyond there"--pointing to the window--"to leave him waiting a moment +while you came on to see if it were safe for him to enter; and now you +come from the sewer, from the opposite direction entirely!" + +"Mother of misfortunes! You had done the same yourself--you, Lantier; +you, Clopin; you Cadarousse; any of you, had you been in my boots," he +made answer. "I stole a leaf from your own book, earlier in the evening. +Garrotted a fellow with jewels on him, in the Rue Noir, near the Market +Place, and nearly got into 'the stone bottle' for doing it. He was a +decoy, set there by the police for some of you fellows, and there was a +sergeant de ville after me like a whirlwind. I was not fool enough to +turn the chase in this direction, so I doubled and twisted until it was +safe to dive into the tavern of Fouchard, and lay in hiding there. +Fouchard let his son carry a message to the count for me, and will guide +him to the square. When it grew near the time to come, Fouchard let me +down into the sewer passage from there. Get on with your dance, silence +is always suspicious. An absinthe, Marise! Have Gaston and Serpice +arrived yet with the rest of the document, Margot la reine?" + +"Not yet," she answered. "But one may expect them at any minute." + +"Where is the fragment we already possess?" + +"Here," tapping her bodice and laughing, "tenderly shielded, mon ami; +and why not? Who would not mother a thing that is to bring one four +hundred thousand francs?" + +"Let me see it? It must be shown to the count, remember. He will take no +risks, come not one step beyond the square, until he is certain that it +is the paper his Government requires. Let me have it. Let me take it to +him--quick!" + +She waved aside airily the hand he stretched toward her, and danced into +the thick of the resumed quadrille. + +"Ah, non! non! non!" she laughed, as he came after her. "The conditions +were of your own making, cher ami; we break no rules even among +ourselves." + +"Soul of a fool! But if the count comes to the square--he is due there +now, mignonne--and I am not there to show him the thing---- Margot, for +the love of God, let me have the paper!" + +"Let me have the sign, the password!" + +Cleek snapped at a desperate chance because there was nothing else to +do, because he knew that at any moment now the end might come. + +"'When the purse will not open, slit it!'" he hazarded, +desperately--choosing, on the off-chance of its correctness, the +password of the Apache. + +"It is not the right one! It is by no means the right one!" she made +reply, backing away from him suddenly, her absinthe-brightened eyes +deriding him, her absinthe-sharpened laughter mocking him. "Your +thoughts are in the Bois, cher ami. What is the password of the +brotherhood to the cause of Germany, stupid? It is not right, non! non! +It is not right!" + +The cause of Germany! At the words the truth rushed like a flash of +inspiration across Cleek's mind. The cause of Germany! what a dolt he +was not to have thought of that before! There was but one phrase ever +used for that among the Kaiser's people, and that phrase---- + +"'To the day!'" he said, with a burst of sudden laughter. "My wits are +in the moon to-night, la reine. 'To the day,' of course--'To the day'!" +And even before she replied to him, he knew that he had guessed aright. + +"Bravo!" she said, with a little hiccough, for the absinthe, of which +she had imbibed so freely to-night, was beginning to take hold of her. +"A pretty conspirator to forget how to open the door he himself locked! +It is well I know thee; it is well it was our word in the beginning, or +I had been suspicious, silly! Wait but a moment"--putting her hand to +her breast and beginning to unfasten her bodice--"wait but a moment, +Monsieur Twitching-Fingers, and the thing shall be in your hand." + +The strain, the relief, were all too great for even such nerves as +Cleek's, and if he had not laughed aloud, he knew that he must have +cheered. + +"Oho! you grin because one's fingers blunder with eagerness," hiccoughed +Margot, thinking his laughter was for the trouble she had in getting the +fastenings of her bodice undone. "Peste, monsieur! may not a lady well +be modestly careful when---- Name of the devil! what's that?" + +It was the note of a whistle shrilling down the narrow passage +without--the passage where Dollops, in Apache garb, had been set on +watch; and, hearing it, Cleek clamped his jaws together and breathed +hard. A single whistle, short and sharp, such as this, was the signal +agreed upon that the real Clodoche was coming, and that he and Count +von Hetzler had already appeared in the square beyond. + +"Soul of a sloth! will not that hurry you, la reine?" he said excitedly, +in reply to Margot's startled question. "It is the signal Fouchard's son +was to give when he and Von Hetzler arrived at the place where I am to +meet them. Give me the paper quick! Tear the fastenings, if they will +not come undone else. One cannot keep a Von Hetzler waiting like a +lackey for a scrap of ribbon and a bit of lace." + +"Pardieu! they have kept better men than he waiting many an hour before +this," she made reply. "But you shall have the thing in a twinkling now. +There! but one more knot, and then it is in your hands." + +And, had the fates not decreed otherwise, so, indeed, it would have +been. But then, just then, when another second would have brought the +paper into view, another moment seen it shut tight in the grip of his +itching fingers, disaster came and blotted out his hopes! + +Without hint or warning, without sign or sound to lessen the shock of +it, the trap-door behind the bar flew up and backward with a crash that +sent Marise and her assistants darting away from it in shrieking alarm; +a babel of excited voices sounded, rushing feet scuffled and flashed +along the shaking floor, and Merode and his followers tumbled +helter-skelter into the room. + +Cleek, counting on the bolt which kept them from entering the passage +from the corridor of the Chateau Larouge and thus forcing them to take a +long, roundabout journey to "The Twisted Arm," had not counted on their +shortening that journey by entering the passage from Fouchard's tavern, +doing, in fact, the very thing which he had declared to Margot he +himself had done. And lo! here they were, howling and crowding about +him, dirks in their hands and devils in their eyes and hearts--and the +paper not his yet! + +A clamour rose as they poured in; the dancers ceased to dance; the music +ceased to play; and Margot, shutting a tight clutch on the loosened part +of her half-unfastened bodice, swung away from Cleek's side, and flew in +a panic to Merode. + +"Gaston!" she cried, knowing from his wild look and the string of oaths +and curses his followers were blurting out that something had gone +amiss. "Gaston, mon coeur! Name of disaster! what is wrong?" + +"Everything is wrong!" he flung back excitedly. "That devil, that +renegade, that fury, Cleek, the Cracksman, is here. He came to the +rescue out of the very skies and all but killed Serpice!" + +"Cleek!" Fifty shrill voices joined Margot's in that screaming cry; +fifty more dirks flashed into view. "Cleek in France? Cleek? Where is +he? Which way did he go? Where's the narker--where--where?" + +"Here, if anywhere!" + +"Here?" + +"Yes, unless you've been fooled, and let him get away! He knows about +the paper, and is after it, Margot; and if any one has come up from the +sewers within the past twenty minutes----" + +They knew instantly and a roar of excited voices yelled out: "Clodoche! +Clodoche! Clodoche!" as, snarling and howling like a pack of wolves, +they bore down with a rush on the blue-bloused figure that was creeping +toward the door. + +But as they sprang it sprang also! It was neck or nothing now. Cleek +realized it, and, throwing himself headlong over the bar, clutched +frantically at the lever which he knew controlled the flow of gas, +jammed it down with all his strength, shut off the light, and, grabbing +up a chair, sent it crashing through the window. + +The crowd surged on toward the wrecked bar with a yell, surged from all +directions, and then abruptly stopped. For the sudden darkness within +had made more prominent the moonlighted passage without; and there, +scuttling away in alarm from this sudden uproar and the outward flying +of that hurled chair, a figure which but a moment before had come +skulking to the window could now be seen. + +"There he goes--there! there!" shrilled out a chorus of excited voices, +as the yellow-bearded, blue-bloused figure came into view. "After him! +Catch him! Knife him!" + +In an instant they were at the door, tumbling out into the darkness, +pouring up the passage in hot pursuit. And it was at that moment the +balance changed again. Those who were in the front rank of the pursuers +were in time to see a lithe, thin figure, dressed as one of their own +kind, spring up in the path of that other figure, jump on it, grip it, +clap a huge square of sticky brown paper over the howling mouth of it, +and bear it, struggling and kicking, to the ground. + +In another second they, too, were upon it, swarming over it like rats, +digging and hacking at it with their dirks. And so they were still +hacking at it--although it had long since ceased to move or to make any +sound--when Merode came up and called them to a halt. + +"Drag it inside; let Margot have a thrust at it. It is her right. Pull +off the dog's disguise, and bring me the plucky one that captured him. +He shall have absinthe enough to swim in, the little king! Off with it +all, Lanchere. First, the plaster, that's right. Now, the wig and beard, +and after that---- What's that you say? The beard is real? The hair is +real? They will not come off? Name of the devil! what are you saying?" + +"The truth, mon roi--the truth! Mother of disasters! It is not the +Cracksman--it is the real Clodoche we have killed!" + +For one moment a sort of panic held them, swayed them, and befogged +their brains; then of a sudden Merode howled out "Get back! Get back! +The fellow's in there still!" and led a blind race down the passage to +the bar where they had seen Cleek last. It was still in darkness; but an +eager hand, gripping the lever, turned on the gas again and matches +everywhere were lifted to the jets. + +And when the light flamed out and the room was again ablaze they knew +that they might as well hope to call back yesterday as dream of finding +Cleek again. For there on the floor, her limp hands turned palms upward, +a chloroformed cloth folded over her mouth and nose, lay the figure of +Margot, her bodice torn wide open and the paper forever gone! + + * * * * * + +It was five minutes later when the Count von Hetzler, crouching back in +the shadow of the square and waiting for the return of Clodoche, heard a +dull, whirring sound that was unmistakably the purr of a motor throb +through the stillness, and, leaning forward, saw a limousine whirl up +out of the darkness, cut across the square, and like a flash dash off +westward. Yet in the brief instant it took to go past the place where he +waited there was time for him to catch the sharp click of a lowered +window, see the clear outlines of a man's face looking out, and to hear +a voice from within the vehicle speak. + +"Herr Count," it said in clear, incisive tones. "A positively infallible +recipe for the invasion of England: Wait until the Channel freezes and +then skate over. Good-night!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE RIDDLE OF THE SACRED SON + + +Had I followed my own inclination in the matter, I think I should have +elected to call this particular adventure "The Riddle of the Amazing +Demi-God," but as it is set down under the above title in the private +note-book of Superintendent Narkom--to which volume I am under +obligation for the details regarding the life and work of this most +marvellous man--it follows that I must adhere closely to the recorded +facts of each of his adventures, even to the most minute particular, if +I am to prove myself worthy of the favour Mr. Narkom has shown me. I may +freely confess, however, that I have not at all times adhered to the +chronological sequence of those adventures, but have picked and chosen +here and there from the record of his amazing career such cases as I +have fancied most likely to appeal to the public at large, without +regard to their natural order of succession or the many others that have +intervened. + +As Superintendent Narkom's records cover a number of years and embrace +upward of three hundred adventures, obviously some must, of necessity, +be omitted from these chronicles. Such omission sometimes--as in the +present instance--renders it compulsory to record a few after facts +connected with the adventure last detailed, in order that the reader may +not be confused by the reappearance of certain persons under +circumstances and in places widely separated from those in which they +were left. + +More than a year had passed since the affair of "The Red Crawl," when +the events now to be told occurred, and while that year was fruitful of +many stirring things so far as Cleek himself was concerned, but little +record is obtainable of the movements of Margot and the man Merode, the +two foremost figures in the Apache band with whom Cleek came to grips, +for they chose to vanish suddenly from their Parisian haunts immediately +after that tragical night at "The Inn of the Twisted Arm." It is +certain, however, that they proceeded in due time to the East, for they +were seen in both India and Ceylon several months after their +disappearance from Paris. Indeed, they were obliged to fly from the +latter place to escape arrest when the confession of a drunken native +exposed, before its fulfilment, a plan to loot the repository of the +Pearl Fisheries Company at a time when it contained several thousand +pounds' worth of gems. From that point there is no record of their +movements for many, many months. + +Of course, after such a terrifying experience in the French capital, and +not knowing when the Apache band might, knowing her part in the affair, +avenge themselves upon her for the failure of the snare of "The Red +Crawl," residence in France became a bugbear to Ailsa Lorne. Despite the +pleadings of Athalie and the baron, whom she had served so well in +giving help to Cleek, she was steadfast in her determination to leave it +and to return to her native land. She therefore packed up her +belongings, journeyed back to London, and set about finding some other +position whereby she could earn her living. + +Circumstances had so shaped themselves that Cleek had seen next to +nothing of her since her return to England, much and deeply as he longed +to do so. Beyond one delightful call at the modest little boarding-place +where she was stopping, whilst waiting for an answer to her +advertisement for a post as governess or companion, an answer which +speedily came and was as speedily accepted, he had not met her at all +since their parting in Paris, and, as their friendship was not +sufficiently close to warrant the interchange of letters, she seemed as +far away from him as ever. + +Imagine, then, his surprise and delight, on returning to the house in +Clarges Street late one afternoon, in company with the redoubtable +Dollops, to find lying upon his table a note containing these words: + + MY DEAR CLEEK: + + Kindly refrain from going out this evening. I shall call about + nine o'clock, bringing with me Miss Ailsa Lorne, whom you + doubtless remember, and her present patron, Angela, Countess + Chepstow, the young widow of that ripping old war-horse who, + as you may recall, quelled that dangerous and fanatical rising + of the Cingalese at Trincomalee. These ladies wish to see you + with reference to a most extraordinary case, an inexplicable + mystery, which both they and I believe no man but yourself can + satisfactorily probe. + + Yours in haste, + + MAVERICK NARKOM. + +So, then, he was to see her again, to touch her hand, hear her voice, +look into the eyes that had lighted him back from the path to +destruction! Cleek's heart began to hammer and his pulses to drum. +Needless to say, he took extraordinary care with his toilet that +evening, with the result that when the ladies arrived there was nothing +even vaguely suggestive of the detective about him. + +"Oh, Mr. Cleek, do help us!" implored Ailsa, after the first greetings +were over. "Lady Chepstow is almost beside herself with dread and +anxiety over the inexplicable thing, and I have persuaded her that if +anybody on earth can solve the mystery of it, avert the new and +appalling danger of it, it is you! Oh, say that you will take the case, +say that you will solve it, say that you will save little Lord Chepstow +and put an end to this maddening mystery!" + +"Little Lord Chepstow?" repeated Cleek, glancing over at the countess, +who stood, a very Niobe in her grief and despair, holding out two +imploring hands in silent supplication. "That is your ladyship's son, is +it not?" + +"Yes," she answered, with a sort of wail; "my only son--my only child. +All that I have to love, all that I have to live for in this world." + +"And you think the little fellow is in peril?" + +"Yes--in deadly peril." + +"From what source? From whose hand?" + +"I don't know! I don't know!" she answered distractedly. "Sometimes I am +wild enough to suspect even Captain Hawksley, unjust and unkind as it +seems." + +"Captain Hawksley? Who is he?" + +"My late husband's cousin; heir, after my little son, to the title and +estates. He is very poor, deeply in debt, and the inheritance would put +an end to all his difficulties. But he is fond of my son; they seem +almost to worship each other. I, too, am fond of him. But, for all that, +I have to remember that he and he alone would benefit by Cedric's death, +and--and--wicked as it seems---- Oh, Mr. Cleek, help me! Direct me! +Sometimes I doubt him. Sometimes I doubt everybody. Sometimes I think of +those other days, that other mystery, that land which reeks of them; and +then--and then---- Oh, that horrible Ceylon! I wish I had never set foot +in it in all my life!" + +Her agitation and distress were so great as to make her utterances only +half coherent; and Ailsa, realizing that this sort of thing must only +perplex Cleek, and leave him in the dark regarding the matter upon which +they had come to consult him, gently interposed. + +"Do try to calm yourself and to tell the story as briefly as possible, +dear Lady Chepstow," she advised. Then, taking the initiative, added +quietly, "it begins, Mr. Cleek, at a period when the little boy, whose +governess I am at present, was but two years old, and at Trincomalee, +where his late father was stationed with his regiment four years ago. +Somebody, for some absurd reason, had set afoot a ridiculous rumour that +the English had received orders from the Throne to stamp out every +religion but their own. It was said if British were not exterminated, +dreadful desecrations would occur, as they were determined----" + +"To loot all the temples erected to Buddha, destroy the images, and make +a bonfire of all the sacred relics," finished Cleek himself. "I rarely +forget history, Miss Lorne, especially when it is such recent history as +that memorable Buddhist rising at Trincomalee. It began upon an utterly +unfounded, ridiculous rumour; it terminated, if my memory serves me +correctly, in something akin to the very thing it was supposed to avert. +That is to say, during the outburst of fanaticism, that most sacred of +all relics--the holy tooth of Buddha--disappeared mysteriously from the +temple of Dambool, and in spite of the fact that many lacs of rupees +were offered for its recovery, it has never, I believe, been found, or +even traced, although a huge fortune awaits the restorer, and, with it, +overpowering honours from the native princes. Those must have been +trying times, Lady Chepstow, for the commandant's wife, the mother of +the commandant's only child?" + +"Horrible! horrible!" she answered, with a shudder, forgetting for an +instant the dangers of the present in the recollection of the tragical +past. "For a period our lives were not safe: murder hid behind every +bush, skulked in the shadow of every rock and tree, and we knew not at +what minute the little garrison might be rushed under cover of the +darkness and every soul slaughtered before the relief force could come +to our assistance. I died a hundred deaths a day in my anxiety for +husband and child. And once the very zealousness of our comrades almost +brought about the horror I feared. Oh!"--with a shudder of horrified +recollections she covered her eyes, as if to shut out the memory of +it--"Oh! that night--that horrible night! Unknown to any of us, my baby, +rising from the bed where I had left him sleeping, whilst I went outside +to stand by Lord Chepstow, wandered beyond the line of defence, and, +before anybody realized it, was out in the open, alone and unprotected. + +"Ferralt, the cook, saw him first; saw, too, the crouching figure of a +native, armed with a gun, in the shadow of the undergrowth. Without +hesitation the brave fellow rushed out, fell upon the native before he +could dart away, wrenched the gun from him, and brained him with the +butt. A cry of the utmost horror rang out upon the air, and, uttering +it, another native bounded out from a hiding-place close to where the +first had been killed, and flew zig-zagging across the open where Cedric +was. Evidently he had no intention of molesting the little fellow, for +he fled straight on past him, still shrieking after the accident +occurred; but to Ferralt it seemed as if his intention were to murder +the boy, and, clapping the gun to his shoulder, in a panic of +excitement, he fired. If it had been one of the soldiers, who understood +marksmanship and was not likely to be in a nervous quake over the +circumstances, the thing could not have happened, although the fugitive +was careering along in a direct line with my precious little one. But, +with Ferralt---- Oh, Mr. Cleek, can you imagine my horror when I saw the +flash of that shot, heard a shrill cry of pain, and saw my child drop to +the ground?" + +"Good heaven!" exclaimed Cleek, agitated in spite of himself. "Then the +blunderer shot the child instead of the native?" + +"Yes; and was so horrified by the mishap that, without waiting to learn +the result, he rushed blindly to the brink of a deep ravine, and threw +himself headlong to death. But the injury to Cedric was only a trifling +one, after all. The bullet seemed merely to have grazed him in passing, +and, beyond a ragged gash in the fleshy part of the thigh, he was not +harmed at all. This I myself dressed and bandaged, and in a couple of +weeks it was quite healed. But it taught me a lesson, that night of +horror, and I never let my baby out of my sight for one instant from +that time until the rising was entirely quelled. + +"As suddenly as it had started, the trouble subsided. Native priests +came under a flag of truce to Lord Chepstow, and confessed their error, +acknowledged that they had never any right to suspect the British of any +design upon their gods, for the loot of the temple had actually taken +place in the midst of the rising, and they knew that it could not have +come from the hands of the soldiers, for they had had them under +surveillance all the time, and not one person of the race had ventured +within a mile of the temple. + +"Yet the tooth of Buddha had been taken, the sacred tooth which is more +holy to Buddhists than the statue of Gautama Buddha itself. Their +remorse was very real, and after that, to the day of his death from +fever, eighteen months afterward, they could never show enough honour to +Lord Chepstow. And even then their favour continued. They transferred to +the little son the homage they had done the father, but in a far, far +greater degree. If he had been a king's son they could have shown him no +greater honour. Native princes showered him with rich gifts; if he +walked out, his path was strewn with flowers by bowing maidens; if he +went into the market-place, the people prostrated themselves before him. + +"When I questioned Buddhist women of this amazing homage to Cedric, +they gave me a full explanation. My son was sacred, they said. Buddha +had withdrawn his favour from his people because of the evil they had +done in suspecting the father and of the innocent life--Ferralt's--which +had been sacrificed, and they had been commanded of the priests to do +homage to the child and thereby appease the offended god, who, +doubtless, had himself spirited away the holy tooth, and would not +restore it until full recompense was made to the sacred son of the +sacred dead. + +"When it became known that I had decided to return to England with my +boy, native princes offered me fabulous sums to remain, and when they +found that I could not be tempted to stay, the populace turned out in +every town and village through which we passed on our way to the ship, +and bowing multitudes followed us to the very last. Nor did it cease +with that, for in all the years that have followed, even here in London, +the homage and worship have continued. My son can go nowhere but that he +is followed by Cingalese; can see no man or woman of the race but he or +she prostrates herself before him and murmurs, 'Holy, most holy!' And +daily, almost hourly, rich gifts are showered upon him from unknown +hands, and he is watched over and guarded constantly. I tell you all +this, Mr. Cleek, that you may the better understand how appalling is the +horror which now assails us, how frightful is the knowledge that some +one now seeks his life, and is using every means to take it." + +"In other words, my dear Cleek," put in Narkom, as Lady Chepstow, +overcome with emotion, broke down suddenly, "there appears to be a +sudden and inexplicable change of front on the part of these fanatics, +and they now seem as anxious to bring evil to the little lad as they +formerly were to protect and cherish him. At any rate, some one of their +order has, upon three separate occasions within the last month, +endeavoured to kidnap him, and, in one instance, even attempted to +murder him." + +"Is that a fact?" queried Cleek sharply, glancing over at Miss Lorne. +"You are certain it is not a fancy, but an absolute fact?" + +"Yes; oh, yes!" she made answer agitatedly. "Twice when I have gone into +the Park with him, attempts have been made to separate us, to get him +away from me; and once they did get him away, so swiftly, so adroitly, +that he had vanished before I could turn round. But, although a bag had +been thrown over his head to stifle his cries, he managed to make a very +little one. I plunged screaming into the undergrowth from which that cry +had come, and was just in time to save him. He was lying on the ground +all bundled up in the bag, and his assailant, who must have heard me +coming, had gone as if by magic. He, however, was able to tell me that +the man was a Cingalese, and that he had 'tried to cut him with a +knife.'" + +"Cut him with a knife?" repeated Cleek in a reflective tone, and blew +out a long, low whistle. + +"Oh, but that is not the worst, Mr. Cleek," went on Ailsa. "Three days +ago a woman, very beautiful and distinguished-looking, called to see +Lady Chepstow regarding the reference of a former servant, one Jane +Catherboys, who used to be her ladyship's maid. After the caller left, a +box of sugared violets was found lying temptingly open on a table in the +main hall. Little Cedric is passionately fond of sugared violets, and, +had he happened to pass that way before the box was discovered, he +surely would have yielded to the temptation and eaten some. In removing +the box the parlour maid accidentally upset it, and before she could +gather all the violets up her ladyship's little pomeranian dog snapped +up one and ate it. It was dead in six minutes' time! The sweets were +simply loaded with prussic acid. When we came to inquire into the +matter in the hope of tracing the mysterious caller, we found that Jane +Catherboys was no longer in need of a position; that she had been +married for eight months; that she knew nothing whatever of the woman, +and had sent no one to inquire into her references." + +"All of which shows, my dear Cleek," put in Narkom significantly, "that, +whatever hand is directing these attempts, it belongs to one who knows +more than a mere outsider possibly could. In short, to one who is aware +of the little boy's excessive fondness for sugared violets, and is aware +that Lady Chepstow once did have a maid named Jane Catherboys." + +"If," said Cleek, "you mean to suggest by that that this points +suspiciously in Captain Hawksley's direction, Mr. Narkom, permit me to +say that it does not necessarily follow. The clever people of the +under-world do nothing by halves nor without careful inquiry beforehand; +that is what makes the difference between the common pickpocket and the +brilliant swindler." He turned to Ailsa. "Is that all, Miss Lorne, or am +I right in supposing that there is even worse to come?" + +"Oh, much worse, Mr. Cleek! The knowledge that these would-be murderers, +whoever they are, whatever may be their mysterious motive, have grown +desperate enough to invade the house itself has driven Lady Chepstow +well-nigh frantic. Of course, orders were immediately given to the +servants that no stranger, no matter how well dressed, how well seeming, +nor what the plea, was, from that moment, to be allowed past the +threshold. We felt secure in that, knowing that no servant of the +household would betray his trust, and that all would be on the constant +watch for any further attempt. The unknown enemy must have found out +about these precautions, for no stranger came again to the door. But +last night a thing we had never counted upon happened. In the dead of +the night the unknown broke into the house, into the very nursery +itself, and but that Lady Chepstow, impelled she does not know by what, +rose and carried the sleeping child into her own bed, he would assuredly +have been murdered. The nurse, awakened by a horrible suffocating +sensation, opened her eyes to find a man bending over her with a +chloroform-soaked cloth, which he was about to lay over her face. She +shrieked and fainted, but not before she saw the man spring to the +little bed on the other side of her own, hack furiously at it with a +long, murderous knife, then dart to the window and vanish. In the +darkness he had not, of course, been able to see that the child's bed +was empty, for its position kept it in deep shadow, and hearing the +household stir at the sound of the nurse's shriek, he struck out blindly +and flew to save himself from detection. The nurse states that he was +undoubtedly a foreigner--a dark-skinned Asiatic--and her description of +him tallies with that Cedric gave of the man who attempted to kill him +that day in the Park. There, Mr. Cleek," she concluded, "that's the +whole story. Can't you do something to help us; something to lift this +constant state of dread and to remove this terrible danger from little +Lord Chepstow's life?" + +"I'll try, Miss Lorne; but it is a most extraordinary case. Where is the +boy now?" + +"At home, closely guarded. We appealed to Mr. Narkom, and he generously +appointed two detective officers to sit with him and keep constant watch +over him whilst we are away." + +"And in the meantime," added Mr. Narkom, "I've issued orders for a +general rounding-up of all the Cingalese who can be traced or are known +to be in town. Petrie and Hammond have that part of the job in hand, and +if they hit upon any Asiatic who answers to the description of this +murderous rascal----" + +"I don't believe they will," interposed Cleek; "or, if they do, I don't +for a moment believe he will turn out to be the guilty party. In other +words, I have an idea that the fellow will prove to be a European." + +"But, my dear fellow, both the boy and the nurse saw the man, and, as +you have heard, they both agree that he was dark-skinned and quite +Oriental in appearance." + +"One of the easiest possible disguises, Mr. Narkom. A wig, a stick of +grease-paint, a threepenny twist of crepe hair, and there you are! No, I +do not believe that the man is a Cingalese at all; and, far from his +having any connection with what you were pleased to term just now a +change of front on the part of the Buddhists who have so long held the +little chap as something sacred, I don't believe that they know anything +about him. I base that upon the fact that the child is still treated +with homage whenever he goes out, according to what Miss Lorne says, and +that, with the single exception of that one woman who tried to poison +him, nobody but one man--this particular one man--has ever made any +attempt to harm the boy. Fanatics, like those Cingalese, cleave to an +idea to the end, Mr. Narkom; they don't cast it aside and go off at +another tangent. You have heard what Lady Chepstow says the native women +told her: the boy was sacred; their priests had commanded them to +appease Buddha by doing homage to him until the tooth was found, and the +tooth has not been found up to the present day! That means that nothing +on earth could change their attitude toward him, that not one of the +Buddhist sect would harm a solitary hair of his head for a king's +ransom; so you may eliminate the Cingalese from the case entirely so far +as the attempts upon the child's life are concerned. Whoever is making +the attempts is doing so without their knowledge and for a purely +personal reason." + +"Then, in that case, this Captain Hawksley----" + +"I'll have a look at that gentleman before I tumble into bed to-night, +and you shall have my views upon that point to-morrow morning, Mr. +Narkom. Frankly, things point rather suspiciously in the captain's +direction, since he is apparently the only person likely to be benefited +by the boy's death, and if a motive cannot be traced to some other +person----" He stopped abruptly and held up his hand. Outside in the dim +halls of the house a sudden noise had sprung into being, the noise of +some one running upstairs in great haste, and, stepping quickly to the +door, Cleek drew it sharply open. As he did so, Dollops came puffing up +out of the lower gloom, a sheep's trotter in one hand and a letter in +the other. + +"Law, guv'ner!" groaned he, from midway on the staircase, "I don't +believe as I'm ever goin' to be let get a square tuck-in this side of +the buryin' ground! Jist finished wot was left of that there steak and +kidney puddin', sir, and started on my seckint trotter, when I sees a +pair o' legs nip parst the area railin's to the front door, and then nip +off again like greased lightnin', and when I ups and does a flyin' leap +up the kitchen stairs, there was this here envellup in the letter-box +and them there blessed legs nowheres in sight. I say, sir," agitatedly, +"look wot's wrote on the envellup, will yer? And us always keepin' of it +so dark." + +Cleek plucked the letter from his extended hand, glanced at it, and +puckered up his lips; then, with a gesture, he sent Dollops back below +stairs, and, returning to the room, closed the door behind him. + +"The enemy evidently knows all Lady Chepstow's movements, Mr. Narkom," +he said. "I expect she and Miss Lorne have been under surveillance all +day and have been followed here. Look at that!" He flung the letter down +on a table as he spoke, and Narkom, glancing at it, saw printed in rude, +illiterate letters upon the envelope the one word "Cleek." The identity +of "Captain Burbage" was known to some one, and the secret of the house +in Clarges Street was a secret no longer! + +"Purposely disguised, you see. No one, not even a little child, would +make such a botch of copying the alphabet as that," Cleek said, as he +took the letter up and opened it. The sheet it contained was lettered in +the same uncouth manner and bore these words: + +"Cleek, take a fool's advice and don't accept the Chepstow case. Be +warned. If you interfere, somebody you care about will pay the price. +You'll find it more satisfactory to buy a wedding bouquet than a funeral +wreath!" + +"Oh!" shuddered the two ladies in one breath. "How horrible! How +cowardly!" And then, feeling that her last hope had gone, Lady Chepstow +broke into a fit of violent weeping and laid her head on Ailsa's +shoulder. + +"Oh, my baby! My darling baby boy!" she sobbed. "And now they are +threatening somebody that you, too, love. Of course, Mr. Cleek, I can't +expect you to risk the sacrifice of your own dear ones for the sake of +me and mine, and so--and so---- Oh, take me away, Miss Lorne! Let me go +back to my baby and have him while I may." + +"Good-night, Mr. Cleek," said Ailsa, stretching out a shaking hand to +him. "Thank you so much for what you would have done but for this. And +you were our last hope, too!" + +"Why give it up then, Miss Lorne?" he said, holding her hand and looking +into her eyes. "Why not go on letting me be your last hope--your only +hope?" + +"Yes, but they--they spoke of a funeral wreath." + +"And they also spoke of a wedding bouquet! I am going to take the case, +Miss Lorne--take it, and solve it, as I'm a living man. Thank you!" as +her brimming eyes uplifted in deep thankfulness and her shaking hand +returned the pressure of his. "Now, just give me five minutes' time in +the next room--it's my laboratory, Lady Chepstow--and I'll tell you +whether I shall begin with Captain Hawksley or eliminate him from the +case entirely. You might go in ahead, Mr. Narkom, and get the acid bath +and the powder ready for me. We'll see what the finger-prints of our +gentle correspondent have to tell, and, if they are not in the records +of Scotland Yard or down in my own private little book, we'll get a +sample of Captain Hawksley's in the morning." + +Then, excusing himself to the ladies, he passed into the inner room in +company with Narkom, and carried the letter with him. When he returned +it was still in his hand, but there were grayish smudges all over it. + +"There's not a finger-print in the lot that is worth anything as a means +of identification, Miss Lorne," he said. "But you and Lady Chepstow may +accept my assurance that Captain Hawksley is not the man. The writer of +this letter belongs to the criminal classes; he is on his guard against +the danger of finger-prints, and he wore rubber gloves when he penned +this message. When I find him, rest assured I shall find a man who has +had dealings with the police before and whose finger-prints are on their +records. I don't know what his game is nor what he's after yet, but I +will inside of a week. I've an idea; but it's so wild a thing I'm almost +afraid to trust myself to believe it possible until I stumble over +something that points the same way. Now, go home with Lady Chepstow, and +begin the work of helping me." + +"Helping you? Oh, Mr. Cleek, can we? Is there anything we can do to +help?" + +"Yes. When you leave the house, act as though you are in the utmost +state of dejection, and keep that up indefinitely. Make it appear, for I +am certain you will be followed and spied upon, as if I had declined the +case. But don't have any fear about the boy. The two constables will +sleep in the room with him to-night and every night until the thing is +cleared up and the danger past. To-morrow about dusk, however, you, +personally, take him for a walk near the Park, and if, among the other +Cingalese you may meet, you should see one dressed as an Englishman, and +wearing a scarlet flower in his buttonhole, take no notice of how often +you see him nor of what he may do." + +"It will be you, Mr. Cleek?" + +"Yes. Now go, please; and don't forget to act as if you and her ladyship +were utterly broken-hearted. Also"--his voice dropped lower, his hand +met her hand, and in the darkness of the hall a little silver-plated +revolver was slipped into her palm--"also, take this. Keep it always +with you, never be without it night or day, and if any living creature +offers you violence, shoot him down as you would a mad dog. Good-night, +and--remember!" + +And long after she and Lady Chepstow had gone down and passed out into +the night he stood there, looking the situation straight in the face and +thinking his own troubled thoughts. + +"A wedding bouquet! A threat against her, and the mention of a wedding +bouquet!" he said, as he went back into the room and sat down to figure +the puzzle out. "Only one creature in the world knows of my feelings in +that direction, and only one creature in the world would be capable of +that threat--Margot! But what interest could she or any of her tribe +have in the death of Lady Chepstow's little son? Her game is always +money. If she were after a ransom she would try to abduct the child, not +to kill him, and if----" A sudden thought came and wrenched away his +voice. He sat a moment twisting his fingers one through the other and +frowning at the floor; then, of a sudden, he gave a cry and jumped to +his feet. "Five lacs of rupees--a fortune! By George, I've got it!" he +fairly shouted. "The wild guess was a correct one, I'll stake my life +upon it. Now, then, to put it to the test." + + +II + +The summer twilight was deepening into the summer dusk when Ailsa, +acting upon Cleek's advice, set forth with little Lord Chepstow the +following evening, and turned her steps in the direction of the Park. +Although, on her way there, she observed more than once that a +swarthy-skinned man in European dress, who wore a scarlet flower in his +coat, and was so perfect a type of the Asiatic that he would have passed +muster for one even among a gathering of Cingalese, kept appearing and +disappearing at irregular intervals, it spoke well for the powers of +imitation and self-effacement possessed by Dollops that she never once +thought of associating that young man with the dawdling messenger boy +who strolled leisurely along with a package under his arm and patronized +every bun-shop, winkle stall, and pork-pie purveyor on the line of +march. + +For upward of an hour this sort of thing went on without any +interruption and Ailsa strolled along leisurely, with the boy's hand in +hers, his innocent prattle running on ceaselessly; then, of a sudden, +whilst they were moving along close to the Park railings and in the +shadow of the overhanging trees, the figure of an undersized man in +semi-European costume, but wearing on his head the twisted turban of a +Cingalese, issued from one of the gates and well-nigh collided with +them. + +He drew back, murmuring an apology in pidgin-English, then, seeing the +child, he salaamed profoundly and murmured in a voice of deep reverence, +"Holy, most holy!" and prostrated himself, with his forehead touching +the ground, until Ailsa and the child had passed on. But barely had +they taken five steps before Cleek appeared upon the scene, and did +exactly the same thing as the Cingalese. + +"All right. You may go home now. I've got my man," he whispered, as +Ailsa and the boy passed by. "Look for me at Chepstow House some time +to-night." Then rose, as she walked on, and went after the man who first +had prostrated himself before the child. + +He had risen and gone on his way, but not before witnessing Cleek's +obeisance, and flashing upon him a sharp, searching look. Cleek +quickened his steps and shortened the distance between them. Now or +never was the time to put to the test that wild thought which last night +had hammered on his brain, for it was certain that this man was in very +truth a genuine Cingalese, and, as such, must know! He stretched forth +his hand and touched the man, who drew back sharply, half indignantly, +but changed his attitude entirely when Cleek, who knew Hindustani more +than well, spoke to him in the native tongue. + +"Unto thee, oh, brother!" Cleek said. "Thou, too, art of us, for thou, +too, dost acknowledge the sacred shrine. These eyes have beheld thee." + +All his hopes rested on the slim pillar of that one word, "shrine," and +his heart almost ceased to beat as he watched to see how it was +received. It broke, however, into a very tumult of disturbance in the +next instant, for the man positively beamed as he gave reply. + +"Sacred be the shrine!" he answered in Hindustani. "Clearly thou art of +us--not of those others." + +"Others? What others? I am but newly come to this country." + +"Walk with me, then, to my abode, sup with me, eat of my salt, and I +will tell thee then, oh, brother. But I forget: thou hast no knowledge +of me. Listen, then. I am Arjeeb Noosrut, father of the High Priest +Seydama, and it is among the people of my house that the gun is yet +preserved. Nor has the blood of Seydama been ever washed from the wood +of it! Come." + +All in a moment a light seemed to break over Cleek's brain. The missing +link had been supplied--the one thing that could make possible the wild +thought which had come to him last night had been given into his hands. +Here at last was the key to the amazing mystery! He turned without a +word and went with Arjeeb Noosrut. + +"What an ass!" he said to himself in the soundless words of thought. +"What an ass never to have suspected it when it is all so clear!" + +Meantime Ailsa and the boy, dismissed from any further need of service, +walked on through the deepening dusk and turned their faces homeward. +But they had not gone twenty yards from the spot where Cleek had seen +them last when the little boy set up a joyful cry and pointed excitedly +to a claret-coloured limousine which at that moment swung in from the +middle of the roadway and slowed down as it neared the kerb. + +"Oh, look, Miss Lorne; here's mummie's motor-car; and I do believe +that's Bimbi peeping out of it!" exclaimed the child--"Bimbi" being his +pet name for Captain Hawksley--then broke, in wild excitement, from +Ailsa's detaining hand and fled to a tall, military-looking man with a +fair beard and moustache who had just that moment alighted from the +vehicle. "It is Bimbi--it is!--it is!" he shouted as he ran. "Oh, Bimbi, +I _am_ glad!" + +"Ceddie, dear, you mustn't be so boisterous!" chided Ailsa, coming up +with him at the kerb. "How fond he is of you to be sure, Captain +Hawksley. You've come for us, I suppose? Ceddie recognized the car at +once." + +"Yes; jump in," he answered. "Lady Chepstow sent me after you. She's +nervous, poor soul, every moment the boy's away from her. Jump in, old +chap! Better take the back seat, Miss Lorne; it's more comfortable. +Quite settled, both of you? That's good. All right, chauffeur--Home!" + +Then he jumped in after them, closed the door, dropped into a seat, and +the motor, making a wide curve out into the road, pelted away into the +fast-gathering darkness. + +"Bimbi says maybe he's going to be my daddy one day--didn't you, Bimbi?" +said his little lordship, climbing up on to "Bimbi's" knee and snuggling +close to him. + +"I say, you know, you mustn't tell secrets, old chap!" was the laughing +response. "Miss Lorne will hand you over to Nursie with orders to put +you to bed if you do, I know. Won't you, Miss Lorne?" + +"He ought to be in bed, anyhow," responded Ailsa gaily; and then, this +giving the conversation a merry turn, they talked and laughed and kept +up such a chatter that three-quarters of an hour went like magic and +nobody seemed aware of it. But suddenly Ailsa thought, and then put her +thoughts into words. + +"What a long time we are in getting home," she said, and bent forward so +that the light from the window might fall upon the dial of her wrist +watch, then gave a little startled cry and half rose from her seat. For +the darkness was now tempered by moonlight and she could see that they +were no longer in the populous districts of the town, but were speeding +along past woodlands and open fields in the very depths of the country. +"Good gracious! Johnston must have lost his senses!" she exclaimed +agitatedly. "Look where we are, Captain Hawksley!--out in the country +with only a farmhouse or two in sight. Johnston! Johnston!" She bent +forward and rapped wildly on the glass panel. "Johnston, stop!--turn +round!--are you out of your head? Captain Hawksley, stop him--stop him, +for pity's sake!" + +"Sit down, Miss Lorne." He made reply in a low, level voice, a voice in +which there was something that made her pluck the child to her and hold +him tight to her breast. "You are not going home to-night. You are going +for a ride with me; and if---- Oh, that's your little game, is it?" +lurching forward as she made a frantic clutch at the handle of the door. +"Sit down, do you hear me?--or it will be worse for you! There!"--the +cold bore of a revolver barrel touched her temple and wrung a quaking +gasp of terror from her--"Do you feel that? Now you sit down and be +quiet! If you make a single move, utter a single cry, I'll blow your +brains out before you've half finished it! Look here, do you know who +you're dealing with now? See!" + +His hand reached up and twitched away the fair beard and moustache; he +bent forward so that the moonlight through the glass could fall on his +face. It had changed as his voice had now changed, and she saw that she +was looking at the man who in those other days of stress and trial had +posed as "Gaston Merode," brother to the fictitious "Countess de la +Tour." + +"You!" she said in a bleak voice of desolation and fright. "Dear heaven, +that horrible Margot's confederate, the King of the Apaches!" + +"Yes!" he rapped out. "You and that fellow Cleek came between us in one +promising game, but I'm hanged if you shall do it in this one! I want +this boy, and--I've got him. Now, you call off Cleek and tell him to +drop this case, to make no effort to follow us or to come between us and +the kid, or I'll slit your throat after I've done with his little +lordship here. Lanisterre!"--to the chauffeur--"Lanisterre, do you +hear?" + +"_Oui, monsieur._" + +"Give her her head and get to the mill as fast as you can. Margot will +be with us in another two hours' time." + + +III + +Through the ever-deepening dusk Cleek and Arjeeb Noosrut moved onward +together; and onward behind them moved, too, the same dilatory messenger +boy who had loitered about in the neighbourhood of the Park, squandering +his halfpence now as then, leaving a small trail of winkle shells and +trotter bones to mark the record of his passage, and never seeming to +lose one iota of his appetite, eat as much and as often as he would. + +The walk led down into the depths of Soho, that refuge of the foreign +element in London; but long before they halted at the narrow doorway of +a narrow house in a narrow side street that seemed to have gone to sleep +in an atmosphere of gloom and smells Cleek had adroitly "pumped" Arjeeb +Noosrut dry, and the riddle of the sacred son was a riddle to him no +longer. He was now only anxious to part from the man and return with the +news to Lady Chepstow, and was casting round in his mind for some excuse +to avoid going indoors with him to waste precious time in breaking bread +and eating salt. Suddenly there lurched out of an adjoining doorway an +ungainly figure in turban and sandals and the full flower of that +grotesque regalia which passes muster at cheap theatres and masquerade +balls for the costume of a Cingalese. The fellow had bent forward out of +the deeper darkness of the house-passage into the murk and gloom of the +ill-lit street, and was straining his eyes as if in search for some one +long expected. + +"Dog of an infidel!" exclaimed Arjeeb Noosrut, speaking in Hundustani +and spitting on the pavement as he caught sight of the man. "See, +well-beloved, he is of those 'others' of which I spoke when I first met +thee. There are many of them, but true believers none. They dwell in a +room huddled up as unclean things in the house there; they drink and +make merry far into the night, and a woman veiled and in European garb +comes to them and drinks with them. Sometimes a man of her kind is with +her, and they speak a tongue that is not the tongue of our people; yet +have I seen them go forth into the city and do homage as we to the +sacred son." + +Cleek sucked in his breath and, twitching round, stared at the dim +figure leaning forward in the dim light. + +"By George!" he said to himself; "if I know anything, I ought to know +the slouch and the low-sunk head of the Apache! And a woman comes! And a +man comes! And there are five lacs of rupees! I wonder! I wonder! But +no--she wouldn't come here, to a place like this, if she had ventured +back into England and had called some of the band over to help. She'd go +to the old spot where she and I used to lie low and laugh whilst the +police were hunting for me. She'd go there, I'm sure, to the old Burnt +Acre Mill, where, if you were 'stalked,' you could open the sluice gates +and let the Thames and the mill stream rush in and meet, and make a hell +of whirling waters that would drown a fish. She would go there if it +were she. And yet--it is an Apache: I swear it is an Apache!" + +He turned and looked back at Arjeeb Noosrut, then raised his hand and +brushed it down the back of his head, which was always the sign "Wait!" +to Dollops, and then spoke as calmly as he could. + +"Brother, I will go in and break bread and eat salt with thee," he said. +"But I may do no more, for to-night I am in haste." + +"Come, then," the man answered; and taking him by the hand, led him in +and up to a room at the back of the second storey, where, hot as the +night was, the windows were closed and a woman, squatted before a +lighted brasier, was dripping the contents of an oil cruse over the +roasting carcase of a young kid. + +"It is to shut out the sounds of the vile infidel orgies from the house +adjoining," explained Arjeeb Noosrut, as Cleek walked to the tightly +closed window and leant his forehead against it. "Yet, if the heat +oppresses thee----" + +"It does," interposed Cleek, and leant far out into the darkness as +though sucking in the air when the sash was raised and the thing which +had been only a dim babel of wordless sounds a moment before became now +the riotous laughter and the ribald comments of men upon the verses of a +comic song which one of their number was joyously singing. + +"French!" said Cleek under his breath, as he caught the notes of the +singer and the words of his audience, "French--I knew it!" + +Then he drew in his head, and having broken of the bread and eaten of +the salt which, at a word from Arjeeb Noosrut, the woman brought on a +wicker tray and laid before them, he moved hastily to the door. + +"Brother and son of the faithful, peace be with thee, I must go," he +said. "But I come again; and it is written that thou shalt be honoured +above all men when I return to thee, and that the true believers--the +true sons of Holy Buddha--shall have cause to set thy name at the head +of the records of those who are most blest of him!" + +Then he salaamed and passed out. Closing the door behind him, he ran +like a hare down the narrow stairs. At the door Dollops rose up like the +imp in a pantomime and jumped toward him. + +"Law, guv'ner, I'm nigh starved a-waitin' for yer!" he said in a +whisper. "Wot's the lay now? A double quick change? I've got the stuff +here, look!"--holding up the package he was carrying--"or a chance for +me to do some fly catchin' with me bloomin' tickle tootsies?" + +The man in the Cingalese costume had vanished from the doorway of the +adjoining house, and, catching the boy by the arm, Cleek hurried him to +it and drew him into the dark passage. + +"I'm going to the back; I'm going to climb up to the windows of the +second storey and see who's there and what's going on," he whispered. +"Lie low and watch. I think it's Margot's gang." + +"Oh, colour me blue! Them beauties? And in London? I'd give a tanner for +a strong cup o' tea!" + +"Shh-h! Be quiet--speak low. Don't be seen, but keep a close watch; and +if anybody comes downstairs----" + +"He's mine!" interjected Dollops, stripping up his sleeves. "Glue to the +eyebrows and warranted to stick! Nip away, guv'ner, and leave it to the +tickle tootsies and me!" Then, as Cleek moved swiftly and silently down +the passage and slipped out into the sort of yard at the back of the +house, he pulled out his roll of brown paper squares and his tube of +adhesive, and crawling upstairs on his hands and knees, began operations +at the top step. But he had barely got the first "plaster" fairly made +and ready to apply when there came a rush of footsteps behind him and he +was obliged to duck down and flatten himself against the floor of the +landing to escape being run down by a man who dashed in through the +lower door, flew at top speed up the stairs and, with a sort of blended +cheer and yell, whirled open a door on the landing above and vanished. +In a twinkling other cheers rang out, there was the sound of hastily +moving feet and the uproar of general excitement. + +"Oh, well, if you won't stop to be waited on, gents, help yourselves!" +said Dollops with a chuckle. Then he began backing hastily down the +stairs, squirting the contents of the tube all over the steps, and +concluded the operation by scattering all the loose sheets of paper on +the floor at the foot of them before slipping out into the street and +composedly waiting. + +Meantime Cleek, sneaking out through the rear door, found himself in a +small, brick-paved yard hemmed in by a high wall thickly fringed on the +top with a hedge of broken bottles. At one time in its history the house +had been occupied by a catgut maker, and the rickety shed in which he +had carried on his calling still clung, sagging and broken-roofed, to +the building itself, its rotten slates all but vanished, and its +interior piled high with mildewed bedding, mouldy old carpet, broken +furniture, and refuse of every sort. + +A foot or two above the roof-level of this glowed--two luminous +rectangles in the blackness of darkness--the windows of the back room on +the second storey; and out of these came floating still the song, the +laughter, and the jabbered French he had heard in the house next door. +It did not take him long to make up his mind. Gripping the swaying +supports of the sagging shed, he went up it with the agility of a +monkey, crawled to the nearer of the two windows, and, cautiously +raising himself, peeped in. What he saw made him suck in his breath +sharply and sent his heart hammering hard and fast. + +A dozen men were in the room, men whose faces, despite an inartistic +attempt to appear Oriental, he recognized at a glance and knew better +than he knew his own. About them lay discarded portions of Cingalese +attire, thrown off because of the heat, and waiting to be resumed at any +moment. The air was thick with tobacco smoke and rank with spirituous +odours. Sprawled figures were everywhere, and on a sort of couch against +the opposite wall, a cigarette between her fingers, a glass of absinthe +at her elbow, her laughter and badinage ringing out as loudly as any, +lay the lissom figure of Margot! + +But even as Cleek looked in upon it the picture changed. Swift, sharp, +and sudden came the rattle of flying feet on the outer stairs. Margot +flung aside her cigarette and jumped up, the song and the laughter came +to an abrupt end, the door flew open, and with a shout and a cheer a man +bounced into the room. + +"Serpice! Ah, _le bon Dieu!_ it is Serpice at last!" cried out Margot in +joyous excitement as she and the others crowded round him. "Soul of a +sluggard, don't waste time in laughing and capering like this! Speak up, +speak up, you hear? Are we to fly at once to the mill and join him? Has +he succeeded? Is it done?" + +"Yes, yes, yes!" shouted back Serpice, throwing up his cap and capering. +"It is done! It is done! Under the very nose of the Cracksman, too! +Merode's got them both! The little lordship and the Mademoiselle Lorne, +too! They took the bait like gudgeons; they stepped into the automobile +without a fear, and--whizz! it was off to the mill like that! La, la, +la! We win, we win, we win!" + +The shock of the thing was too much for Cleek. Carried out of himself by +the knowledge that the woman he loved was now in peril of her life, +discretion forsook him, blind rage mastered him, and he did one of the +few foolish things of his life. + +"You lie, you brute, you lie!" he shouted, jumping up into full view. +"God help the man who lays a hand on her! Let him keep his life from me +if he can!" + +"The Cracksman!" yelled out Serpice. "The Cracksman! The Cracksman!" +echoed Margot and the rest. Then a pistol barked and spat, the light was +swept out, a bullet sang past Cleek's ear, and he realized how foolish +he had been. For part of the crowd came surging to the window, part went +in one blind rush for the door to head him off and hem him in, and, +through the din and hubbub rang viciously the voice of Margot shrilling +out: "Kill him! Kill him!" as though nothing but the sight of his blood +would glut her malice. + +It was neck or nothing now, and the race was to the swift. He dropped +through a gap in the ragged roof, sheer down, like a shot, into the +rubble and refuse below; he lurched through the shed to the door, and +through that to the black passage leading to the street--the clatter on +the higher staircase giving warning of the crowd coming after him--and +flew like a hare hard pressed toward the outer door, and then, just +then, when every little moment counted, there was a scrambling sound, a +chorus of oaths, a slipping, a sliding, a bang on one step and a bump on +another; and, as he darted by and sprang out into the street the hall +was filled with a writhing, scuffling, swearing mass of glue-covered men +struggling in a whirling waste of loose brown paper. + +"This way! come quickly, for your life!" he shouted to Dollops as he +came plunging out into the street. "They've got them, got the little +boy! Got Miss Lorne--in spite of me. Come on! come on! come on!" He flew +like an arrow from crossing to crossing and street to street with +Dollops, like a shadow, at his heels. + +A sudden swerve to the right brought them into a lighted and populous +thoroughfare. Italian restaurants, German delicatessen shops, eating +places of a dozen other nationalities lined the pavement on both sides +of the street, and in front of one of these a high-power motor stood, +protected by the watchful eye of an accommodating policeman while the +chauffeur sampled Chianti in a wine-shop close by. With a rush and a +leap Cleek was upon it, and with another rush and a leap the constable +was upon him, only to be greeted with the swift flicking open of a coat +and the gleam of badge that every man in the force knew. + +"Cleek?" + +"Yes! In the name of the Yard; in the name of the king! get out of the +way! In with you, Dollops! We'll get the brutes yet!" + +Then he bent over, threw in the clutch, and discarding all speed laws, +sent the car humming and tearing away. + +"Hold tight!" he said through his teeth. "Whatever comes, we've got to +get to Burnt Acre Mill inside of an hour. If you know any prayers, +Dollops, say them." + +"The Lord fetch us home in time for supper!" gulped the boy obediently. +"S'help me, guv'ner, the wind's goin' through my teeth like I was a +mouth organ, and I'm hollow enough for a flute!" + + +IV + +It is strange how, in moments of stress and trial, even in times of +tragedy, the most commonplace thoughts will intrude themselves and the +mind separate itself from the immediate events. As Merode put the cold +muzzle of the revolver to Ailsa's temple and she ought, one would have +supposed, to have been deaf and blind to all things but the horror of +her position, one of these strange mental lapses occurred, and her mind, +travelling back over the years to her early schooldays, dwelt on a +punishment task set her by her preceptress--the task of copying three +hundred times the phrase "Discretion is the better part of valour." + +As the recollection of that time rose before her mental vision, the +value of the phase itself forced its worth upon her and, huddling back +in the corner of the limousine, she clutched the frightened child to her +and gave implicit obedience to Merode's command to make no effort to +attract attention either by word or deed. And he, fancying that he had +thoroughly cowed her, withdrew the touch of the weapon from her temple, +but held it ready for possible use in the grip of his thin, strong hand. + +For a time the limousine kept straight on in its headlong course, then, +of a sudden, it swerved to the left. The gleam of a river--all silver +with moonlight--struck up through a line of trees on one side of the +car, the blank, unbroken dreariness of a stretch of waste land spread +out upon the other, and presently, by the slowing down of the motor, +Ailsa guessed that they were nearing their destination. They reached it +a few moments later, and a peep from the window, as the vehicle stopped, +showed her the outlines of a ruined watermill, ghostly, crumbling, +owl-haunted, looming black against the silver sky. + +A crumbled wheel hung, rotten and moss-grown, over a dry water-course, +where straggling willows stretched out from the bank and trailed their +long, feathery ends a yard or so above the level of the weeds and +grasses that carpeted the sandy bed of it, and along its edge--once +built as a protection for the heedless or unwary, but now a ruin and a +wreck--a moss-grown wall with a narrow, gateless archway made an +irregular shadow on the moon-drenched earth. She saw that archway and +that dry water-course, and a new, strong hope arose within her. +Discretion had played its part; now it was time for Valour to take the +stage. + +"Come, get out--this is the end," said Merode, as he unlatched the door +of the limousine and alighted. "You may yell here until your throat +splits, for all the good it will do you. Lanisterre, show us a light; +the path to the door is uncertain, and the floor of the mill is unsafe. +This way, if you please, Miss Lorne. Let me have the boy, I'll look +after him!" + +"No, no!--not yet! Please, not yet!" said Ailsa, with a little catch in +her voice as she plucked him to her and smothered his frightened cries +against her breast. "Let me have him whilst I may; let me hold him to +the last, Monsieur Merode. His mother trusts me. She will want to know +that I--I stood by him until I could stand no longer. Please!--we are so +helpless--I am so fond of him, and--he is such a very little boy. +Listen! You want me to write to Mr. Cleek; you want me to ask something +of him. I won't do it for myself, not if you kill me for refusing. I'll +never do it for myself; but--but I will do it if you won't separate us +until he has had time to say his prayers." + +"Oh, all right, then," he agreed. "If it's any consolation doing a +fool's trick like that, why do it! Now come along, and let's get inside +the mill without any more nonsense. Lanisterre, bring that lantern here +so that mademoiselle can see the path to the door. This way, if you +please, Miss Lorne." + +"Thank you," she said as she alighted and moved slowly in the direction +of the door, soothing the child as they crept along almost within touch +of the crumbling wall. "Ceddie, darling, don't cry. You are a brave +little hero, I know, and heroes are never afraid to die." From the tail +of her eye she watched Merode. He seemed to realize from these words to +the child that she was reconciled to the inevitable, and with an air of +satisfaction he put the pistol back into his pocket and walked beside +her. She kept straight on with her soothing words; and, in the half +shadow, neither Merode nor Lanisterre could see that one hand was lost +in the folds of her skirt. + +"Ceddie, darling, let Miss Lorne be able to tell mummie that her little +man was a hero; that he died, as heroes always die, without a fear or a +weakening to the very last. I'll stand by you, precious; I'll hold your +hand; and, when the time comes----" + +It came then! The gateless archway was reached at last, and the thing +she had been planning all along now became possible. With one sudden +push she sent the boy reeling down the incline into the dry +water-course, flashed round sharply, and before Merode really knew how +the thing had happened, she was standing with her back to the arch and a +revolver in her levelled hand. + +"Throw up your arms--throw them up at once, or, as God hears me, I'll +shoot!" she cried. "Run, Ceddie, run, baby! He shan't follow you. I'll +kill him if he tries!" + +"You idiot!" began Merode, and made a lurch toward her. But the pistol +barked and something white-hot zig-zagged along his arm and bit like a +flame into his shoulder. + +"Up with your hands--up with them!" she said in a voice that shook with +excitement as he howled out and made a reeling backward step. "Next time +it will be the head I aim at, not the arm!" Then, lifting up her voice +in one loud shriek that made the echoes bound, she called with all her +strength: "Help, somebody--for God's sake help! Scream, Ceddie--scream! +Help! Help!" + +And lo! as she called, as if a miracle had been wrought, out of the +darkness an answering voice called back to her, and the wild, swift +notes of a motor horn bleated along the lonely road. + +"I'm coming--I--Cleek!" that voice rang out. "Hold your own--hold it to +the last, Miss Lorne, and God help the man who lays a finger on you!" + +"Mr. Cleek! Mr. Cleek, oh, thank God!" she flung back with all the +rapture a human voice could contain. "Come on, come on! I've got +him--got that man Merode, and the boy is safe, the boy is safe! Come on! +come on! come on!" + +"We're a-comin', miss, you gamble on that and the lightnin's a fool to +us!" shouted Dollops in reply. "Let her have it, guv'ner! Bust the +bloomin' tank. Give her her head; give her her feet; give her her +blessed merry-thought if she wants it! Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" + +And then, just then, when she most needed her strength and her courage, +Ailsa's evaporated. The reaction came, and, with the despairing cries of +Merode and Lanisterre ringing in her ears, she sank back, weak, white, +almost fainting and, leaning against the side of the archway, began to +laugh and to sob hysterically. Merode seized that one moment and sprang +to the breach. + +Realizing that the game was all but up, that there was nothing for him +now but to save his own skin if he could, he called out to Lanisterre to +rip out the sparking plug of the motor and follow him, then plunged into +the mill, swung over the lever which controlled the sluice gates, and, +darting out by the back way, fled across the waste. + +But behind him he left a scene of indescribable horror, and the shrill +screaming of a little child told him when that horror began. For as the +sluice gates opened a sullen roar sounded; on one side the diverted +millstream, and on the other the river, rose as two solid walls of +water, rushed forward and--met. In the twinkling of an eye the old +water-course was one wild, leaping, roaring, gyrating whirlpool of +up-flung froth and twisting waves that bore in their eddying clutch the +battling figure of a drowning child. + +Even before he came in sight of it the roaring waters and the fearful +splash of their impact told Cleek what had been done. He could hear +Ailsa's screams; he could hear the boy's feeble cries, and a moment +later, when the whizzing motor panted up through the moonlight and sped +by the broken wall, there was Ailsa, fairly palsied with fright, +clinging weakly to the crumbling arch and uttering little sobbing, +wordless, incoherent moans of fright as she stared down into the hell of +waters; and below, in the foam, a little yellow head was spinning round +and round and round, in dizzying circles of torn and leaping waves. + +"Heavens, guv'ner!" began Dollops in a voice of appalling despair; but +before he could get beyond that, Cleek's coat was off, Cleek's body had +described a sort of semi-circle, and the child was no longer alone in +the whirlpool! + +Battling, struggling, fairly leaping, as a fish leaps in a torrent, one +moment half out of the water, the next wholly submerged, Cleek struck +from eddy to eddy, from circle to circle, until that little yellow head +was within reach, then put forth his hand and gripped it, pulled it to +him, and in another moment he was whirling round and round the +whirlpool's course with the child clutched to him and its wet, white +face gleaming wax-like over the angle of his shoulder. + +They had not made the half of the first circle thus before Dollops had +leaped to the bending willows, had scrambled up the rough trunk of the +nearest of them, and, pushing his weight out upon a strong and supple +bough, bent it downward until the half of its strongest withes were deep +in the whirling waters. + +"Grab 'em, guv'ner--grab 'em when you come by!" he sang out over the +roar of the waters. "They'll hold you, sir--hold a dozen like you; and +if---- Well played! Got 'em the first grab! Hang on! Get a tight grip! +Now, then, sir, hand over hand till you're at the bank! Good biz! Good +biz! Blest if you won't be goin' in for the circus trade next! Steady +does it, sir--steady, steady! Goal, by Jupiter! Now, then, hand me up +the nipper--I should say the young gent--and in two minutes' +time----Right! Got him! 'Ere you are, Miss Lorne--lay hold of his little +lordship, will you? I've got me blessed hands full a-keepin' to me perch +whilst the guv'ner's a-wobbling of the branch like this. Good biz! Now, +then, sir, another 'arf a yard. That's the call! Hands on this bough and +foot on the bank there. One, two, three--knew you'd do it! Safe as +house, Gawd bless yer bully heart!" + +And then Cleek, wet, white, panting, dragged himself out of the clutch +of the whirlpool and lay breathing heavily on the ground. + +"By gums, guv'ner," Dollops added as he looked down on the whirling +waters, "what an egg-beater it would make, wouldn't it, sir? Ain't got +such a thing as a biscuit about yer, have you? Me spine's a-rasping +holes in me necktie, and I'm so flat you could slip me into a pillar box +and they'd take me home for a penny stamp." + +But Cleek made no reply. Wet and spent after his fierce struggle with +the whirling fury he had just escaped, he lay looking up into Ailsa's +eyes as she came to him with the sobbing child close pressed to her +bosom and all heaven in her beaming face. + +"It is not the 'funeral wreath' after all, you see, Miss Lorne," he +said. "It came near to being it; but--it is not, it is not. I wonder, +oh, I wonder!" + +Then he laughed the foolish, vacuous laugh of a man whose thoughts are +too happy for the banality of words. + + * * * * * + +It was midnight and after. In the close-curtained library of Chepstow +House, Cleek, with little Lord Chepstow sleeping in his arms, sat in +solemn conclave with Lady Chepstow, Captain Hawksley, and Maverick +Narkom. While they talked, Ailsa, like a restless spirit, wandered to +and fro, now lifting the curtains to peep out into the darkness, now +listening as if her whole life's hope lay in the coming of some expected +sound. And in her veins there burned a fever of suspense. + +"So you failed to get the rascals, did you, Mr. Narkom?" Cleek was +saying. "I feared as much; but I couldn't get word to you sooner. We +blew out a fuse, Dollops and I, in that mad race to the mill, and of +course we had to come home at a snail's pace afterward. I'm sorry we +didn't get Margot, sorrier still that that hound Merode got away. They +are bound to make more trouble before the race is run. Not for her +ladyship, however, and not for this dear little chap. Their troubles are +at an end, and the sacred son will be a sacred son no longer." + +"Oh, Mr. Cleek, do tell me what you mean," implored Lady Chepstow. "Do +tell me how----" + +"Doctor Fordyce at last!" struck in Ailsa excitedly, as the door-bell +and the knocker clashed and the butler's swift footsteps went along the +hall. "Now we shall know, Mr. Cleek, now we shall know for certain!" + +"And so shall all the world," he replied as the door opened and the +doctor was ushered into the room. "I don't think you were ever so +welcome anywhere or at any time before, doctor," he added with a smile. +"Come and look at this little chap. Bonny little specimen of a +Britisher, isn't he?" + +"Yes; but, my dear sir, I--I was under the impression that I was called +to a scene of excitement; and you seem as peaceful as Eden here. The +constable who came for me said it was something to do with Scotland +Yard!" + +"So it is, doctor. I had Mr. Narkom send for you to perform a very +trifling but most important operation upon this little boy here." + +"Upon Cedric!" exclaimed Lady Chepstow, rising in a panic of alarm. "An +operation to be performed upon my baby boy? Oh, Mr. Cleek, in the name +of Heaven----" + +"No, your ladyship, in the name of Buddha. Don't be alarmed. It is only +to be a trifling cut, a mere re-opening of that little wound in the +thigh which you dressed and healed so successfully at Trincomalee. You +made a mistake, all of you, that night when the boy was shot. The native +poor Ferralt saw skulking along with the gun was not a mere tribesman +and had not the very faintest thought of discharging that weapon at your +little son, or, indeed, at anybody else in the world. He was the High +Priest, Seydama, guardian of the holy tooth, the one living being who +dared by right to touch it or to lay hands upon the shrine that +contained it. Fearful, when the false rumour of that intended loot was +circulated, that infidel eyes should look upon it, infidel hands profane +the sacred relic, he determined to remove it from Dambool to the +rock-hewn temple of Galwihara and to enshrine it there. For the purpose +of giving no clue to his movements, he chose to abandon his priestly +robes, to disguise himself as a common tribesman, and, the better to +defeat the designs of those who might seek to tear it from him and hold +it for ransom, he hid the holy tooth in the barrel of a gun. That gun +was in his hands when Ferralt leaped out and brained him!" + +"Dear heaven!" cried Lady Chepstow with a sudden burst of realization. +"Then that holy relic, that fetish, the sacred tooth of Buddha----" + +"Is embedded in the fleshy part of the thigh of your little son!" he +finished. "Enclosed, doubtless, in a sac or cyst which protective Mother +Nature has wrapped round it, the tooth is there; and, for five whole +years, he has been the living shrine that held it!" + +And so, in truth, it proved to be. Ten minutes later the trifling +operation was over, and the long-lost relic lay in the palm of the +doctor's hand. + +"Take it, Captain Hawksley," said Cleek, lifting it and carrying it over +to him. "There is a man in Soho, one Arjeeb Noosrut, who will know it +when he sees it; and there is a vast reward. Five lacs of rupees will +pay off no end of debts, and a man with that balance at his banker's +can't be accused of being a fortune-hunter when he asks in marriage the +hand of the woman he loves. Mr. Narkom, is your motor ready? I'm a bit +fagged out, and Dollops, I know, is all but starving. Ladies and +gentlemen, my best respects. The riddle is solved. Good-night!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE CALIPH'S DAUGHTER + + +It was half-past ten on a wet September night when Superintendent +Narkom's limousine pulled up in front of Cleek's house in Clarges +Street, and the superintendent himself, disguised, as he always was when +paying visits to his famous ally, stepped out and with infinite care +assisted a companion to alight. + +The figure of this second person, however, was so hidden by the folds of +a long, thickly wadded cloak, the hem of which reached to within an inch +or so of the pavement, that it would have been impossible for a +passer-by to have decided whether it was that of a man or a woman; but +the manner in which it bent, added to a shuffling uncertainty of gait--a +sort of "feeling the way" movement of the feet--as Mr. Narkom guided it +across the pavement to the door, suggested either great age or a state +of total blindness: an affliction, by the way, of such recent date that +the sufferer had not yet acquired that air of confidence and that +freedom of step which is Time's kind gift to the sightless. + +In a very few moments, however, all doubt as to the sex and the +condition of the muffled figure was set at rest, for, upon the +superintendent and his companion being admitted by Dollops to the +dimly-lit hall of the house, the bent figure straightened, and it was +easy to see that it was not only that of a man but of a man heavily +blindfolded. + +"You may take off the bandage now, Major," said Narkom, as the door +closed behind them and Dollops busied himself with readjusting the +fastenings. "We shall find your master in his sitting-room, I suppose, +my embryo Vidocq?" + +"Speaking to me, sir? Lor! You ain't never went and forgot my name after +all these months, have you, Mr. Narkom?" said Dollops, not understanding +the allusion. "Yes, sir; you'll find him there, sir, and frisky as a +spring lamb without the peas, bless his heart! Been to the weddin' of +Lady Chepstow and that there Captain Hawksley this afternoon, sir, and +must have enjoyed hisself, the way he's been a-whistling and a-singing +ever since he come home. What a feed they must of had with all their +money! It seems almost a crime to 'a' missed it. Sent wot was left to +the 'orspittles, I hear, and me as flat as an autumn leaf after six +months' pressin' in the family Bible." + +"What! Hungry still, Dollops?" + +"Hungry, sir? Lor, Mr. Narkom, a flute's a fool to me for hollowness. +I'm that empty my blessed ribs is a-shaking hands with each other; and +ten minutes ago, when I et a pint of winkles, the noise as they made +a-gettin' by 'em, sir, you'd a thought it was somebody a-tumbling +downstairs. But they say as every dog has his day, so I'm always +a-livin' in hopes, sir." + +"Hopes? Hopes of what?" + +"That _some_ time you'll come for the guv'ner to investigate a crime +wot's been committed in a cookshop, sir--and _then_, wot ho! But," he +added lugubriously, "they never comes to no violent end, them +food-selling jossers; they always dies in their beds like a parcel of +heathen!" + +Narkom made no reply. By this time the man he had addressed as "major" +had removed the bandage from his eyes; and, beckoning him to follow, the +superintendent led the way upstairs, leaving Dollops to mourn alone. + +Cleek, who was sitting by a carefully shaded lamp jotting something +down in his diary, closed the book and rose as the two men entered. Late +as the hour was he had not yet changed the garments he had worn at Lady +Chepstow's wedding in the afternoon. + +"You are promptness itself, Mr. Narkom," he said gaily, as he glanced at +his watch. "I am afraid that I myself overlooked the passage of time in +attending to--well, other things. You will, perhaps, be interested to +learn, Mr. Narkom, that Miss Lorne has decided to remain in England." + +"Indeed, my dear fellow, I never heard that she contemplated going out +of it again. Did she?" + +"Oh, yes; I thought you knew. Captain Hawksley has been ordered to India +with his regiment. Of course, that means that, after their honeymoon, +his wife and little Lord Chepstow will accompany him. They wished Miss +Lorne to continue as the boy's governess and to go with them. At the +last moment, however, she decided to remain in England and to seek a new +post here. But, pardon me, we are neglecting your companion, Mr. Narkom. +The aftermath of previous cases cannot, I fear, be of interest to him." + +"Yes, my dear chap," agreed Narkom. "Let me introduce Major +Burnham-Seaforth, my dear Cleek. Major, you are at last in the presence +of the one man you desire to put upon the case; if there is anything in +it, be sure that he will get it out." + +For just half a moment after he spoke the major's name, Narkom fancied +that it seemed to have a disturbing influence upon Cleek; that there was +a shadow, just a shadow of agitation suggested. But before he could put +his finger upon the particular point which made this suspicion +colourable, it was gone and had left no trace behind. + +The major--who, by the way, was a decidedly military-looking man long +past middle life--had been studying Cleek's face with a curious sort of +intentness ever since he entered the room. Now he put forth his hand in +acknowledgment of the introduction. + +"I am delighted to have the opportunity of meeting you, Mr. Cleek," he +said. "At first I thought Mr. Narkom's insistence upon my making the +journey here blindfolded singularly melodramatic and absurd. I can now +realize, since you are so little similar to one's preconceived idea of a +police detective, that you may well wish to keep everything connected +with your residence and your official capacity an inviolable secret. One +does not have to be told that you are a man of birth and breeding, Mr. +Cleek. Pardon me if I ask an impertinent question. Have we by any chance +met before--in society or elsewhere? There is something oddly familiar +in your countenance. I can't quite seem to locate it, however." + +"Then I shouldn't waste my time in endeavouring to do so, Major, if I +were you," responded Cleek with the utmost _sang-froid_. "It is bound to +end in nothing. Points of resemblance between persons who are in no way +connected are of common occurrence. I have no position in society, no +position of any sort but _this_. I am simply Cleek, the detective. I +have a good memory, however, and if I had ever met you before I should +not have forgotten it." + +And with this non-committal response he dismissed the subject airily, +waved the major to a seat, and the business of the interview began. + +"My dear Cleek," Narkom began, opening fire without further parley, "the +major has come to ask your aid in a case of singular and mystifying +interest. You may or may not have heard of a music-hall artiste--a sort +of conjuror and impersonator--called 'Zyco the Magician,' who was +assisted in his illusions by a veiled but reputedly beautiful Turkish +lady who was billed on the programmes and posters as 'Zuilika, the +Caliph's Daughter.'" + +"I remember the pair very well indeed. They toured the music-halls for +years, and I saw their performance frequently. They were the first, I +believe, to produce that afterward universal trick known as 'The +Vanishing Lady.' As I have not heard anything of them nor seen their +names billed for the past couple of years, I fancy they have either +retired from the profession or gone to some other part of the world. The +man was not only a very clever magician, but a master of mimicry. I +always believed, however, that in spite of his name he was of English +birth. The woman's face I never saw, of course, as she was always veiled +to the eyes after the manner of Turkish ladies. But although a good many +persons suspected that her birthplace was no nearer Bagdad than Peckham, +I somehow felt that she was, after all, a genuine, native-born Turk." + +"You are quite right in both suspicions, Mr. Cleek," put in the major +agitatedly. "The man _was_ an Englishman; the lady _is_ a Turk." + +"May I ask, Major, why you speak of the lady in the present tense and of +the man in the past? Is he dead?" + +"I hope so," responded the major fervently. "God knows I do, Mr. Cleek. +My very hope in life depends upon that." + +"May I ask why?" + +"I am desirous of marrying his widow!" + +"My dear Major, you cannot possibly be serious! A woman of that class?" + +"Pardon me, sir, but you have, for all your cleverness, fallen a victim +to the prevailing error. The lady is in every way my social equal, in +her own country my superior. She _is_ a caliph's daughter. The title +which the playgoing public imagined was of the usual bombastic, +just-on-the-programme sort, is hers by right. Her late father, Caliph Al +Hamid Sulaiman, was one of the richest and most powerful Mohammedans in +existence. He died five months ago, leaving an immense fortune to be +conveyed to England to his exiled but forgiven child." + +"Ah, I see. Then, naturally, of course----" + +"The suggestion is unworthy of you, Mr. Narkom, and anything but +complimentary to me. The inheritance of this money has had nothing +whatever to do with my feeling for the lady. That began two years ago, +when, by accident, I was permitted to look upon her face for the first, +last, and only time. I should still wish to marry her if she were an +absolute pauper. I know what you are saying to yourself, sir: 'There is +no fool like an old fool.' Well, perhaps there isn't. But"--he turned to +Cleek--"I may as well begin at the beginning and confess that even if I +did not desire to marry the lady I should still have a deep interest in +her husband's death, Mr. Cleek. He is--or was, if dead--the only son of +my cousin, the Earl of Wynraven, who is now over ninety years of age. I +am in the direct line, and if this Lord Norman Ulchester, whom you and +the public know only as 'Zyco the Magician,' were in his grave there +would only be that one feeble old man between me and the title." + +"Ah, I see!" said Cleek in reply; then, seating himself at the table, he +arranged the shade of the lamp so that the light fell full upon the +major's face while leaving his own in the shadow. "Then your interest in +the affair, Major, may be said to be a double one." + +"More, sir, a triple one. I have a rival in the shape of my own son. He, +too, wishes to marry Zuilika, is madly enamoured of her; in fact, so +wildly that I have always hesitated to confess my own desires to him for +fear of the consequences. He is almost a madman in his outbursts of +temper; and where Zuilika is concerned---- Perhaps you will understand, +Mr. Cleek, when I tell you that once when he thought her husband had +ill-used her he came within an ace of killing the man. There was bad +blood between them always, even as boys, and, as men, it was bitterer +than ever because of _her_." + +"Suppose you begin at the beginning and tell me the whole story, Major," +suggested Cleek, studying the man's face narrowly. "How did the Earl of +Wynraven's son come to meet this singularly fascinating lady, and +where?" + +"In Turkey or Arabia, I forget which. He was doing his theatrical +nonsense in the East with some barn-storming show or other, having been +obliged to get out of England to escape arrest for some shady +transaction a year before. He was always a bad egg; always a disgrace to +his name and connections. That's why his father turned him off and never +would have any more to do with him. As a boy he was rather clever at +conjuring tricks and impersonations of all sorts; he could mimic +anything or anybody he ever saw, from the German Emperor down to a +Gaiety chorus girl, and do it to absolute perfection. When his father +kicked him out he turned these natural gifts to account, and, having +fallen in with some professional dancing woman, joined her for a time +and went on the stage with her. + +"It was after he had parted from this dancer and was knocking about +London and leading a disgraceful life generally that he did the thing +which caused him to hurry off to the East and throw in his lot with the +travelling company I have alluded to. He was always a handsome fellow +and had a way with him that was wonderfully taking with women, so I +suppose that that accounts as much as anything for Zuilika's infatuation +and her doing the mad thing she did. I don't know when nor where nor how +they first met; but the foolish girl simply went off her head over him, +and he appears to have been as completely infatuated by her. Of course, +in that land, the idea of a woman of her sect, of her standing, having +anything to do with a Frank was looked upon as something appalling, +something akin to sacrilege; and when they found that her father had got +wind of it and that the fellow's life would not be safe if he remained +within reach another day, they flew to the coast together, shipped for +England, and were married immediately after their arrival." + +"A highly satisfactory termination for the lady," commented Cleek. "One +could hardly have expected that from a man so hopelessly unprincipled as +you represent him to have always been. But there's a bit of good in even +the devil, we are told." + +"Oh, be sure that he didn't marry her from any principle of honour, my +dear sir," replied the major. "If it were merely a question of that, +he'd have cut loose from her as soon as the vessel touched port. +Consideration of self ruled him in that as in all other things. He knew +that the girl's father fairly idolized her; knew that, in time, his +wrath would give way to his love, and, sooner or later the old man--who +had been mad at the idea of any marriage--would be moved to settle a +large sum upon her so that she might never be in want. But let me get on +with my story. Having nothing when he returned to England, and being +obliged to cover up his identity by assuming another name, Ulchester, +after vainly appealing to his father for help on the plea that he was +now honourably married and settled down, turned again to the stage, and, +repugnant though such a thing was to the delicately nurtured woman he +had married, compelled Zuilika to become his assistant and to go on the +boards with him. That is how the afterward well-known music-hall 'team' +of 'Zyco and the Caliph's Daughter' came into existence. + +"The novelty of their 'turn' caught on like wildfire, and they were a +success from the first, not a little of that success being due to the +mystery surrounding the identity and appearance of Zuilika; for, true +to the traditions of her native land, she never appeared, either in +public or in private, without being closely veiled. Only her 'lord' was +ever permitted to look upon her uncovered face; all that the world at +large might ever hope to behold of it was the low, broad forehead and +the two brilliant eyes that appeared above the close-drawn line of her +yashmak. Of course she shrank from the life into which she was forced, +but it had its reward, for it kept her in close contact with her +husband, whom she almost worshipped. So, for a time, she was +proportionately happy; although, as the years passed by and her father +showed no inclination to bestow the coveted 'rich allowance' upon his +daughter, Ulchester's ardour began to cool. He no longer treated her +with the same affectionate deference; he neglected her, in fact, and, in +the end, even began to ill-use her. + +"About two years ago matters assumed a worse aspect. He again met Anita +Rosario, the Spanish dancer, under whose guidance he had first turned to +the halls for a livelihood, and once more took up with her. He seemed to +have lost all thought or care for the feelings of his wife, for, after +torturing her with jealousy over his attentions to the dancer, he took a +house adjoining my own--on the borders of the most unfrequented part of +the common at Wimbledon--established himself and Zuilika there, and +brought the woman Anita home to live with them. From that period matters +went from bad to worse. Evidently having tired of the stage, both +Ulchester and Anita abandoned it, and turned the house into a sort of +club where gambling was carried on to a disgraceful extent. Broken +hearted over the treatment she was receiving, Zuilika appealed to me and +to my son to help her in her distress, to devise some plan to break the +spell of Ulchester's madness and to get that woman out of the house. It +was then that I first beheld her face. In her excitement she managed, +somehow, to snap or loosen the fastening which held her yashmak. It +fell, and let my son realize, as I realized, how wondrously beautiful it +is possible for the human face to be!" + +"Steady, Major, steady! I can quite understand your feelings, can +realize better than most men!" said Cleek with a sort of sigh. "You +looked into heaven, and--well, what then? Let's have the rest of the +story." + +"I think my son must have put it into her head to give Ulchester a taste +of his own medicine, to attempt to excite his jealousy by pretending to +find interests elsewhere. At any rate, she began to show him a great +deal of attention, or, at least, so he says, although I never saw it. +All I know is that she--she--well, sir, she deliberately led _me_ on +until I was half insane over her, and--that's all!" + +"What do you mean by 'that's all'? The matter couldn't possibly have +ended there, or else why this appeal to me?" + +"It ended for me, so far as her affectionate treatment of me was +concerned; for in the midst of it the unexpected happened. Her father +died, forgiving her, as Ulchester had hoped, but doing more than his +wildest dreams could have given him cause to imagine possible. In a +word, sir, the caliph not only bestowed his entire earthly possessions +upon her, but had them conveyed to England by trusted allies and placed +in her hands. There were coffers of gold pieces, jewels of fabulous +value, sufficient, when converted into English money, as they were +within the week, and deposited to her credit in the Bank of England, to +make her the sole possessor of nearly three million pounds." + +"Phew!" whistled Cleek. "When these Orientals do it they certainly do it +properly. That's what you might call 'giving with both hands,' Major, +eh?" + +"The gift did not end with that, sir," the major replied with a gesture +of repulsion. "There was a gruesome, ghastly, appalling addition in the +shape of two mummy cases--one empty, the other filled. A parchment +accompanying these stated that the caliph could not sleep elsewhere but +in the land of his fathers, nor sleep _there_ until his beloved child +rested beside him. They had been parted in life, but they should not be +parted in death. An Egyptian had, therefore, been summoned to his +bedside, had been given orders to embalm him after death, to send the +mummy to Zuilika, and with it a case in which, when her own death should +occur, _her_ body should be deposited; and followers of the prophet had +taken oath to see that both were carried to their native land and +entombed side by side. Until death came to relieve her of the ghastly +duty, Zuilika was charged to be the guardian of the mummy and daily to +make the orisons of the faithful before it, keeping it always with its +face toward the East." + +"By George! it sounds like a page from the 'Arabian Nights,'" exclaimed +Cleek. "Well, what next? Did Ulchester take kindly to this housing of +the mummy of his father-in-law and the eventual coffin of his wife? Or +was he willing to stand for anything so long as he got possession of the +huge fortune the old man left?" + +"He never did get it, Mr. Cleek. He never touched so much as one +farthing of it. Zuilika took nobody into her confidence until everything +had been converted into English gold and deposited in the bank to her +credit. Then she went straight to him and to Anita, showed them proof of +the deposit, reviled them for their treatment of her, and swore that not +one farthing's benefit should accrue to Ulchester until Anita was turned +out of the house in the presence of their guests and the husband took +oath on his knees to join the wife in those daily prayers before the +caliph's mummy. Furthermore, Ulchester was to embrace the faith of the +Mohammedans that he might return with her at once to the land and the +gods she had offended by marriage with a Frankish infidel." + +"Which, of course, he declined to do?" + +"Yes. He declined utterly. But it was a case of the crushed worm, with +Zuilika. Now was _her_ turn; and she would not abate one jot or tittle. +There was a stormy scene, of course. It ended by Ulchester and the woman +Anita leaving the house together. From that hour Zuilika never again +heard his living voice, never again saw his living face! He seems to +have gone wild with wrath over what he had lost and to have plunged +headlong into the maddest sort of dissipation. It is known, positively +known, and can be sworn to by reputable witnesses, that for the next +three days he did not draw one sober breath. On the fourth, a note from +him--a note which he was _seen_ to write in a public house--was carried +to Zuilika. In that note he cursed her with every conceivable term; told +her that when she got it he would be at the bottom of the river, driven +there by her conduct, and that if it was possible for the dead to come +back and haunt people he'd do it. Two hours after he wrote that note he +was seen getting out of the train at Tilbury and going toward the docks; +but from that moment to this every trace of him is lost." + +"Ah, I see!" said Cleek reflectively. "And you want to find out if he +really carried out that threat and did put an end to himself, I suppose? +That's why you have come to me, eh? Frankly, I don't believe that he +did, Major. That sort of a man never commits suicide upon so slim a +pretext as that. If he commits it at all, it's because he is at the end +of his tether, and our friend 'Zyco' seems to have been a long way from +the end of his. How does the lady take it? Seriously?" + +"Oh, very, sir, very. Of course, to a woman of her temperament and with +her Oriental ideas regarding the supernatural, etcetera, that threat to +haunt her was the worst he could have done to her. At first she was +absolutely beside herself with grief and horror; swore that she had +killed him by her cruelty; that there was nothing left her but to die, +and all that sort of thing; and for three days she was little better +than a mad woman. At the end of that time, after the fashion of her +people, she retired to her own room, covered herself with sackcloth and +ashes, and remained hidden from all eyes for the space of a fortnight, +weeping and wailing constantly and touching nothing but bread and +water." + +"Poor wretch! She suffers like that, then, over a rascally fellow not +worth a single tear. It's marvellous, Major, what women do see in men +that they can go on loving them. Has she come out of her retirement +yet?" + +"Yes, Mr. Cleek. She came out of it five days ago, to all appearances a +thoroughly heartbroken woman. Of course, as she was all alone in the +world, my son and I considered it our duty, during the time of her +wildness and despair, to see that a thoroughly respectable female was +called in to take charge of the house and to show respect for the +proprieties, and for us to take up our abode there in order to prevent +her from doing herself an injury. We are still domiciled there, but it +will surprise you to learn that a most undesirable person is there also. +In short, sir, that the woman Anita Rosario, the cause of all the +trouble, is again an inmate of the house; and, what is more remarkable +still, this time by Zuilika's own request." + +"What's that? My dear Major, you amaze me! What can possibly have caused +the good lady to do a thing like that?" + +"She hopes, she says, to appease the dead and to avert the threatened +'haunting.' At all events, she sent for Anita some days ago. Indeed, I +believe it is her intention to take the Spaniard with her when she +returns to the East." + +"She intends doing that, then? She is so satisfied of her husband's +death that she deems no further question necessary? Intends to take no +further step toward proving it?" + +"It has been proved to her satisfaction. His body was recovered the day +before yesterday." + +"Oho! then he is dead, eh? Why didn't you say so in the beginning? When +did you learn of it?" + +"This very evening. That is what sent me to Superintendent Narkom with +this request to be led to you. I learned from Zuilika that a body +answering the description of his had been fished from the water at +Tilbury and carried to the mortuary. It was horribly disfigured by +contact with the piers and passing vessels, but she and Anita--and--and +my son----" + +"Your son, Major? Your son?" + +"Yes!" replied the major in a sort of half whisper. "They--they took him +with them when they went, unknown to me. He has become rather friendly +with the Spanish woman of late. All three saw the body; all three +identified it as being Ulchester's beyond a doubt." + +"And you? Surely when you see it you will be able to satisfy any +misgivings you may have?" + +"I shall never see it, Mr. Cleek. It was claimed when identified and +buried within twelve hours," said the major, glancing up sharply as +Cleek, receiving this piece of information, blew out a soft, low +whistle. "I was not told anything about it until this evening, and what +I have done--in coming to you, I mean--I have done with nobody's +knowledge. I--I am so horribly in the dark--I have such fearful thoughts +and--and I want to be sure. I must be sure or I shall go out of my mind. +That's the 'case,' Mr. Cleek. Tell me what you think of it." + +"I can do that in a very few words, Major," he replied. "It is either a +gigantic swindle or it is a clear case of murder. If a swindle, then +Ulchester himself is at the bottom of it and it will end in murder just +the same. Frankly, the swindle theory strikes me as being the more +probable; in other words, that the whole thing is a put-up game between +Ulchester and the woman Anita; that they played upon Zuilika's fear of +the supernatural for a purpose; that a body was procured and sunk in +that particular spot for the furtherance of that purpose; and if the +widow attempts to put into execution this plan--no doubt instilled into +her mind by Anita--of returning with her wealth to her native land, she +will simply be led into some safe place and then effectually put out of +the way forever. That is what I think of the case if it is to be +regarded in the light of a swindle; but if Ulchester is really dead, +murder, not suicide, is at the back of his taking off, and---- Oh, well, +we won't say anything more about it just yet awhile. I shall want to +look over the ground before I jump to any conclusions. You are still +stopping in the house, you and your son, I think you remarked? If you +could contrive to put up an old army friend's son there for a night, +Major, give me the address. I'll drop in on you there to-morrow and have +a little look round." + + +II + +When, next morning, Major Burnham-Seaforth announced the dilemma in +which, through his own house being temporarily closed, he found himself +owing to the proposed visit of Lieutenant Rupert St. Aubyn, son of an +old army friend, Zuilika was the first to suggest the very thing he was +fishing for. + +"Ah, let him come here, dear friend," she said in that sad, sweetly +modulated voice which so often wrung his susceptible old heart. "There +is plenty of room, plenty, alas! now, and any friend of yours can only +be a friend of mine. He will not annoy. Let him come here." + +"Yes, let him," supplemented young Burnham-Seaforth, speaking with his +eyes on Senorita Rosario, who seemed nervous and ill-pleased by the news +of the expected arrival. "He won't have to be entertained by us if he +only comes to see the pater; and we can easily crowd him aside if he +tries to thrust himself upon us. A fellow with a name like 'Rupert St. +Aubyn' is bound to be a silly ass." And when, in the late afternoon, +"Lieutenant Rupert St. Aubyn," in the person of Cleek, arrived with his +snub-nosed man-servant, a kitbag, several rugs, and a bundle of golf +sticks, young Burnham-Seaforth saw no reason to alter that assertion. +For, a "silly ass"--albeit an unusually handsome one with his fair, +curling hair and his big blonde moustache--he certainly was: a lisping, +"ha-ha-ing" "don't-cher-know-ing" silly ass, whom the presence of ladies +seemed to cover with confusion and drive into a very panic of shy +embarrassment. + +"_Dios!_ but he is handsome, this big, fair lieutenant!" whispered the +Spaniard to young Burnham-Seaforth. "A great, handsome fool--all beauty +and no brains, like a doll of wax!" Then she bent over and murmured +smilingly to Zuilika: "I shall make a bigger nincompoop of this big, +fair sap-head than Heaven already has done before he leaves here, just +for the sake of seeing him stammer and blush!" + +Only the sad expression of Zuilika's eyes told that she so much as +heard, as she rose to greet the visitor. Garbed from head to foot in the +deep, violet-coloured stuff which is the mourning of Turkish women, her +little pointed slippers showing beneath the hem of her frock, and only +her dark, mournful eyes visible between the top of the shrouding yashmak +and the edge of her sequined snood, she made a pathetic picture as she +stood there waiting to greet the unknown visitor. + +"Sir, you are welcome," she said in a voice whose modulations were not +lost upon Cleek's ears as he put forth his hand and received the tips of +her little, henna-stained fingers upon his palm. "Peace be with you, who +are of his people--he that I loved and mourn!" Then, as if overcome with +grief at the recollection of her widowhood, she plucked away her hand, +covered her eyes, and moved staggeringly out of the room. And Cleek saw +no more of her that day; but he knew when she performed her orisons +before the mummy case--as she did each morning and evening--by the +strong, pungent odour of incense drifting through the house and filling +it with a sickly scent. + +Her absence seemed to make but little impression upon him, however, for, +following up a well-defined plan of action, he devoted himself wholly to +the Spanish woman, and both amazed her and gratified her vanity by +allowing her to learn that a man may be the silliest ass imaginable and +yet quite understand how to flirt and to make love to a woman. And so it +fell out that instead of "Lieutenant Rupert St. Aubyn" being elbowed out +by young Burnham-Seaforth, it was "Lieutenant St. Aubyn" who elbowed +_him_ out. Without being in the least aware of it, the flattered Anita, +like an adroitly hooked trout, was being "played" in and out and round +about the eddies and the deeps until the angler had her quite ready for +the final dip of the net at the landing point. + +All this was to accomplish exactly what it _did_ accomplish, namely, the +ill temper, the wrath, the angry resentment of young Burnham-Seaforth. +And when the evening had passed and bedtime arrived, Cleek took his +candle and retired in the direction of the rooms set apart for him, with +the certainty of knowing that he had done that which would this very +night prove beyond all question the guilt or innocence of one person at +least who was enmeshed in this mysterious tangle. He was not surprised, +therefore, at what followed his next step. + +Reaching the upper landing he blew out the light of his candle, slammed +the door to his own room, noisily turned the key, and shot the bolt of +another, then tiptoed his way back to the staircase and looked down the +well-hole into the lower hall. + +Zuilika had retired to her room, the major had retired to his, and now +Anita was taking up her candle to retire to hers. She had barely touched +it, however, when there came a sound of swift footsteps and young +Burnham-Seaforth lurched out of the drawing-room door and joined her. He +was in a state of great excitement and was breathing hard. + +"Anita, Miss Rosario!" he began, plucking her by the sleeve and +uplifting a pale, boyish face--he was not yet twenty-two--to hers with a +look of abject misery. "I want to speak to you. I simply must speak to +you. I've been waiting for the chance, and now that it's come--Look +here! You're not going back on me, are you?" + +"Going back on you?" repeated Anita, showing her pretty white teeth in +an amused smile. "What shall you mean by that 'going back on you', eh? +You are a stupid little donkey, to be sure. But then I do not care to +get on the back of one, so why?" + +"Oh, you know very well what I mean," he rapped out angrily. "It is not +fair the way you have been treating me ever since that yellow-headed +bounder came. I've had a night of misery, Zuilika never showing herself; +you doing nothing, absolutely nothing, although you promised--you _know_ +you did!--and I heard you, I absolutely heard you persuade that St. +Aubyn fool to stop at least another night." + +"Yes, of course you did. But what of it? He is good company. He talks +well, he sings well, he is very handsome and--well, what difference can +it make to you? You are not interested in _me_, _amigo_." + +"No, no; of course I'm not. You are nothing to me at all--you--oh, I beg +your pardon; I didn't quite mean that. I--I mean you are nothing to me +in that way. But you--you're not keeping to your word. You promised, you +know, that you'd use your influence with Zuilika; that you'd get her to +be more kind to me--to see me alone and--and all that sort of thing. And +you've not made a single attempt. You've just sat round and flirted with +that tow-headed brute and done nothing at all to help me on; and--and +it's jolly unkind of you, that's what!" + +Cleek heard Anita's soft rippling laughter; but he waited to hear no +more. Moving swiftly away from the well-hole of the staircase he passed +on tiptoe down the hall to the major's rooms, and opening the door, went +in. The old soldier was standing, with arms folded, at the window +looking silently out into the darkness of the night. He turned at the +sound of the door's opening and moved toward Cleek with a white, +agonized face and a pair of shaking, outstretched hands. + +"Well?" he said with a sort of gasp. + +"My dear Major," said Cleek quietly. "The wisest of men are sometimes +mistaken. That is my excuse for my own shortsightedness. I said in the +beginning that this was either a case of swindling or a case of murder, +did I not? Well, I now amend my verdict. It is a case of swindling _and_ +murder; and your son has had nothing to do with either!" + +"Oh, thank God! thank God!" the old man said; then sat down suddenly and +dropped his face between his hands and was still for a long time. When +he looked up again his eyes were red, but his lips were smiling. + +"If you only knew what a relief it is," he said. "If you only knew how +much I have suffered, Mr. Cleek. His friendship with that Spanish woman; +his going with her to identify the body--even assisting in its hurried +burial! These things all seemed so frightfully black, so utterly without +any explanation other than personal guilt." + +"Yet they all are easily explained, Major. His friendship for the +Spanish woman is merely due to a promise to intercede for him with +Zuilika. She is his one aim and object, poor little donkey! As for his +identification of the body--well, if the widow herself could find points +of undisputed resemblance, why not he? A nervous, excitable, impetuous +boy like that and anxious, too, that the lady of his heart should be +freed from the one thing, the one man, whose existence made her +everlastingly unattainable, in the hands of a clever woman like Anita +Rosario such a chap could be made to identify anything and to believe it +as religiously as he believes. Now, go to bed and rest easy, Major. I'm +going to call up Dollops and do a little night prowling. If it turns out +as I hope, this little riddle will be solved to-morrow." + +"But how, Mr. Cleek? It seems to me that it is as dark as ever. You put +my poor old head in a whirl. You say there is swindling; you hint one +moment that the body was not that of Ulchester, and in the next that +murder has been done. Do, pray, tell me what it all means, what you make +of this amazing case?" + +"I'll do that to-morrow, Major; not to-night. The answer to the +riddle--the answer that's in my mind, I mean--is at once so simple and +yet so appallingly awful that I'll hazard no guess until I'm sure. Look +here"--he put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a gold piece--"do +you know what that is, Major?" + +"It looks like a spade guinea, Mr. Cleek." + +"Right; it is a spade guinea, a pocket piece I've carried for years. +You've heard, no doubt, of vital things turning upon the tossing of a +coin. Well, if you see me toss this coin to-morrow, something of that +sort will occur. It will be tossed up in the midst of a riddle, Major; +when it comes down it will be a riddle no longer." + +Then he opened the door, closed it after him, and, before the Major +could utter a word, was gone. + + +III + +The promise was so vague, so mystifying, indeed, so seemingly absurd, +that the Major did not allow himself to dwell upon it. As a matter of +fact, it passed completely out of his mind; nor did it again find +lodgment there until it was forced back upon his memory in a most +unusual manner. + +Whatsoever had been the result of what Cleek had called his "night +prowling," he took nobody into his confidence when he and the major and +the major's son and Senorita Rosario met at breakfast the next day +(Zuilika, true to her training and the traditions of her people, never +broke morning bread save in the seclusion of her own bedchamber, and +then on her knees with her face toward the East) nor did he allude to it +at any period throughout the day. + +He seemed, indeed, purposely to avoid the major, and to devote himself +to the Spanish woman with an ardour that was positively heartless, +considering that as they two sang and flirted and went in for several +sets of singles on the tennis courts, Zuilika, like a spirit of misery, +kept walking, walking, walking through the halls and the rooms of the +house, her woeful eyes fixed on the carpet, her henna-stained fingers +constantly locking and unlocking, and moans of desolation coming now and +again from behind her yashmak as her swaying body moved restlessly to +and fro. For to-day was memorable. Five weeks ago this coming nightfall +Ulchester had flung himself out of this house in a fury of wrath, and +this time of bitter regret and ceaseless mourning had begun. + +"She will go out of her mind, poor creature, if something cannot be done +to keep her from dwelling on her misery like this," commented the +housekeeper, coming upon that restless figure pacing the darkened hall, +moaning, moaning, seeing nothing, hearing nothing, doing nothing but +walk and sorrow, sorrow and walk, hour in and hour out. "It's enough to +tear a body's heart to hear her, poor dear. And that good-for-nothing +Spanish piece racing and shrieking round the tennis court like a she +tom-cat, the heartless hussy. Her and that simpering silly that's +trotting round after her had ought to be put in a bag and shaken up, +that they ought. It's downright scandalous to be carrying on like that +at such a time." + +And so both the major and his son thought, too, and tried their best to +solace the lonely mourner and to persuade her to sit down and rest. + +"Zuilika, you will wear yourself out, child, if you go on walking like +this," said the major solicitously. "Do rest and be at peace for a +little time at least." + +"I can never have peace in this land. I can never forget the day!" she +answered drearily. "Oh, my beloved! Oh, my lord, it was I who sent thee +to it--it was I, it was I! Give me my own country--give me the gods of +my people; here there is only memory, and pain, and no rest, no rest +ever!" + +She could not be persuaded to sit down and rest until Anita herself took +the matter into her own hands and insisted that she should. That was at +tea-time. Anita, showing some little trace of feeling now that Cleek had +gone to wash his hands and was no longer there to occupy her thoughts, +placed a deep, soft chair near the window, and would not yield until the +violet-clad figure of the mourner sank down into the depths of it and +leaned back with its shrouded face drooping in silent melancholy. + +And it was while she was so sitting that Cleek came into the room and +did a most unusual, a most ungentlemanly thing, in the eyes of the major +and his son. + +Without hesitating, he walked to within a yard or two of where she was +sitting, and then, in the silliest of his silly tones, blurted out +suddenly: "I say, don't you know, I've had a jolly rum experience. You +know that blessed room at the angle just opposite the library, the one +with the locked door?" + +The drooping violet figure straightened abruptly, and the major felt for +the moment as if he could have kicked Cleek with pleasure. Of course +they knew the room. It was there that the two mummy cases were kept, +sacred from the profaning presence of any but this stricken woman. No +wonder that she bent forward, full of eagerness, full of the dreadful +fear that Frankish feet had crossed the threshold, Frankish eyes looked +within the sacred shrine. + +"Well, don't you know," went on Cleek, without taking the slightest +notice of anything, "just as I was going past that door I picked up a +most remarkable thing. Wonder if it's yours, madam?" glancing at +Zuilika. "Just have a look at it, will you? Here, catch!" And not until +he saw a piece of gold spin through the air and fall into Zuilika's lap +did the major remember that promise of last night. + +"Oh, come, I say, St. Aubyn, that's rather thick!" sang out young +Burnham-Seaforth indignantly, as Zuilika caught the coin in her lap. +"Blest if I know what you call manners, but to throw things at a lady is +a new way of passing them in this part of the world, I can assure you." + +"Awfully sorry, old chap, no offence, I assure you," said Cleek, more +asinine than ever, as Zuilika, having picked up the piece and looked at +it, disclaimed all knowledge of it, and laid it on the edge of the table +without any further interest in it or him. "Just to show, you know, +that I--er--couldn't have meant anything disrespectful, why--er--you all +know, don't you know, how jolly much I respect Senorita Rosario, by +Jove! and so---- Here, senorita, you catch, too, and see if the blessed +thing's yours." And, picking up the coin, tossed it into her lap just as +he had done with Zuilika. + +She, too, caught it and examined it, and laughingly shook her head. + +"No, not mine!" she said. "I have not seen him before. To the finder +shall be the keep. Come, sit here. Will you have the tea?" + +"Yes, thanks," said Cleek; then dropped down on the sofa beside her, and +took tea as serenely as though there were no such things in the world as +murder and swindling and puzzling police riddles to solve. + +And the major, staring at him, was as amazed as ever. He had said, last +night, that when the coin fell the answer would be given, and yet it had +fallen, and nothing had happened, and he was laughing and flirting with +Senorita Rosario as composedly and as persistently as ever. More than +that; after he had finished his second cup of tea, and immediately +following the sound of some one just beyond the veranda rail whistling +the lively, lilting measures of "There's a Girl Wanted There," "the +silly ass" seemed to become a thousand times sillier than ever. He set +down his cup, and, turning to Anita, said with an inane sort of giggle, +"I say, you know, here's a lark. Let's have a game of 'Slap Hand,' you +and I--what? Know it, don't you? You try to slap my hands, and I try to +slap yours, and whichever succeeds in doing it first gets a prize. Awful +fun, don't you know. Come on--start her up." + +And, Anita agreeing, they fell forthwith to slapping away at the backs +of each other's hands with great gusto, until, all of a sudden, the +whistler outside gave one loud, shrill note, and--there was a great and +mighty change. + +Those who were watching saw Anita's two hands suddenly caught, heard a +sharp, metallic "click," and saw them as suddenly dropped again to the +accompaniment of a shrill little scream from her ashen lips, and the +next moment Cleek had risen and jumped away from her side clear across +to where Zuilika was; and those who were watching saw Anita jump up with +a pair of steel handcuffs on her wrists, just as Dollops vaulted up over +the veranda rail and appeared at one window, whilst Petrie appeared at +another, Hammond poked his body through a third, and the opening door +gave entrance to Superintendent Narkom. + +"The police!" shrilled out Anita in a panic of fright. "_Madre de Dios_, +the police!" + +The major and his son were on their feet like a shot. Zuilika, with a +faint, startled cry, bounded bolt upright, like an imp shot through a +trap-door; but before the little henna-stained hands could do more than +simply move, Cleek's arms went round her from behind, tight and fast as +a steel clamp, there was another metallic "click," another shrill cry, +and another pair of wrists were in gyves. + +"Come in, Mr. Narkom; come in, constables," said Cleek, with the utmost +composure. "Here are your promised prisoners--nicely trussed, you see, +so that they can't get at the little popguns they carry--and a worse +pair of rogues never went into the hands of Jack Ketch!" + +"And Jack Ketch will get them, Cleek, if I know anything about it. Your +hazard was right, your guess correct. I've examined the caliph's +mummy-case; the mummy itself has been removed--destroyed---- done away +with utterly--and the poor creature's body is there!" + +And here the poor, dumbfounded, utterly bewildered major found voice to +speak at last. + +"Mummy-case! Body! Dear God in heaven, Mr. Cleek, what are you hinting +at?" he gasped. "You--you don't mean that she--that Zuilika--killed +him?" + +"No, Major, I don't," he made reply. "I simply mean that he killed her! +The body in the mummy-case is the body of Zuilika, the caliph's +daughter! This is the creature you have been wasting your pity on--see!" + +With that he laid an intense grip on the concealing yashmak, tore it +away, and so revealed the closely shaven, ghastly hued countenance of +the cornered criminal. + +"My God! Ulchester himself!" said the major in a voice of fright and +surprise. + +"Yes, Ulchester himself, Major. In a few more days he'd have withdrawn +the money, and got out of the country, body and all, if he hadn't been +nabbed, the rascal. There'd have been no tracing the crime then, and he +and the Senorita here would have been in clover for the rest of their +natural lives. But there's always that bright little bit of Bobby +Burns's to be reckoned with. You know: 'The best laid schemes of mice +and men,' etcetera--that bit. But the Yard's got them, and they'll never +leave the country now. Take them, Mr. Narkom, they're yours!" + + * * * * * + +"How did I guess it?" said Cleek, replying to the major's query, as they +sat late that night discussing the affair. "Well, I think the first +faint inkling of it came when I arrived here yesterday, and smelt the +overpowering odour of the incenses. There was so much of it, and it was +used so frequently--twice a day--that it seemed to suggest an attempt to +hide other odours of a less pleasant kind. When I left you last night, +Dollops and I went down to the mummy chamber, and a skeleton key soon +let us in. The unpleasant odour was rather pronounced in there. But even +that didn't give me the cue, until I happened to find in the fireplace a +considerable heap of fine ashes, and in the midst of them small lumps of +a gummy substance, which I knew to result from the burning of myrrh. I +suspected from that and from the nature of the ashes that a mummy had +been burnt, and as there was only one mummy in the affair, the inference +was obvious. I laid hands on the two cases and tilted them. One was +quite empty. The weight of the other told me that it contained something +a little heavier than any mummy ought to be. I came to the conclusion +that there was a body in it, injected full of arsenic, no doubt, to +prevent as much as possible the processes of decay, the odour of which +the incense was concealing. I didn't attempt to open the thing; I left +that until the arrival of the men from the Yard, for whom I sent Dollops +this afternoon. I had a vague notion that it would not turn out to be +Ulchester's body, and I had also a distinct recollection of what you +said about his being able to mimic a Gaiety chorus-girl and all that +sort of thing. The more I thought over it the more I realized what an +excellent thing to cover a bearded face a yashmak is. Still, it was all +hazard. I wasn't sure--indeed, I never was sure--until tea-time, when I +caught this supposed 'Zuilika' sitting at last, and gave the spade +guinea its chance to decide it." + +"My dear Mr. Cleek, how could it have decided it? That's the thing that +amazes me the most of all. How could the tossing of that coin have +settled the sex of the wearer of those garments?" + +"My dear Major, it is an infallible test. Did you never notice that if +you throw anything for a man to catch in his lap, he pulls his knees +together to _make_ a lap, in order to catch it; whereas a woman--used to +wearing skirts, and thereby having a lap already prepared--simply +broadens that lap by the exactly opposite movement, knowing that +whatever is thrown has no chance of slipping to the floor. That solved +it at once. And now it's bed-time, Major. Good-night." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE RIDDLE OF THE NINTH FINGER + + +The inn of "The Three Jolly Fishermen," which, as you may know, lies on +the left bank of the Thames, within a gunshot of Richmond, was all but +empty when Cleek, answering the superintendent's note, strolled into it, +and discovered Narkom enjoying his tea in solitary state at a little +round table in the embrasure of a bay window at the far end of the +little private parlour which lies immediately behind the bar-room. + +"My dear fellow, do pardon me for not waiting," said the superintendent, +as his famous ally entered, looking like a college-bred athlete in his +boating flannels and his brim-tilted panama, "but the fact is, you're a +little behind time for once, and besides, I was absolutely famishing." + +"Share the blame of my lateness with me, Mr. Narkom," said Cleek, as he +tossed aside his hat and threw the fag-end of the cigarette he was +smoking out through the open window. "You said in your note that there +was no immediate necessity for haste, so I improved the shining hour by +another spin down the river. It isn't often that duty-calls bring me to +a little Eden like this. The air is like balm to-day, and as for the +river--oh, the river is a sheer delight!" + +Narkom rang for a fresh pot of tea and a further supply of buttered +toast, and, when these were served, Cleek sat down and joined him. + +"I dare say," said the superintendent, opening fire at once, "that you +wonder what in the world induced me to bring you out here to meet me, +my dear fellow, instead of following the usual course and calling at +Clarges Street? Well, the fact is, Cleek, that the gentleman with whom I +am now about to put you in touch lives in this vicinity, and is so +placed that he cannot get away without running the risk of having the +step he is taking discovered." + +"Humph! He is closely spied upon, then?" commented Cleek. "The trouble +arises from some one or something in his own household?" + +"No, in his father's. The 'trouble,' so far as I can gather, seems to +emanate from his stepmother, a young and very beautiful woman, who was +born on the island of Java, where the father of our client met and +married her some two years ago. He had gone there to probe into the +truth of the amazing statement that a runic stone had been unearthed in +that part of the globe." + +"Ah, then you need not tell me the gentleman's name, Mr. Narkom," +interposed Cleek. "I remember perfectly well the stir which that +ridiculous and unfounded statement created at the time. Despite the fact +that scholars of all nations scoffed at the thing and pointed out that +the very term 'rune' is of Teutonic origin, one enthusiastic old +gentleman--Mr. Michael Bawdrey, a retired brewer, thirsting for +something more enduring than malt to carry his name down the +ages--became fired with enthusiasm upon the subject, and set forth for +Java 'hot foot,' as one might say. I remember that the papers made great +game of him; but I heard, I fancy, that, in spite of all, he was a dear, +lovable old chap, and not at all like the creature the cartoonists +portrayed him." + +"What a memory you have, my dear Cleek. Yes, that is the party; and he +is a dear, lovable old chap at bottom. Collects old china, old weapons, +old armour, curiosities of all sorts--lots of 'em bogus, no doubt, catch +the charlatans among the dealers letting a chance like that slip +them--and is never so happy as when showing his 'collection' to his +friends and being mistaken by the ignorant for a man of deep learning." + +"A very human trait, Mr. Narkom. We all are anxious that the world +should set the highest possible valuation upon us. It is only when we +are underrated that we object. So this dear, deluded old gentleman, +having failed to secure a 'rune' in Java brought back something equally +cryptic--a woman? Was the lady of his choice a native or merely an +inhabitant of the island?" + +"Merely an inhabitant, my dear fellow. As a matter of fact, she is +English. Her father, a doctor, long since deceased, took her out there +in her childhood. She was none too well off, I believe: but that did not +prevent her having many suitors, among whom was Mr. Bawdrey's own son, +the gentleman who is anxious to have you take up this case." + +"Oho!" said Cleek, with a strong rising inflection. "So the lady was of +the careful and calculating kind? She didn't care for youth and all the +rest of it when she could have papa and the money-chest without waiting. +A common enough occurrence. Still, this does not make up an 'affair,' +and especially an 'affair' which requires the assistance of a detective, +and you spoke of 'a case.' What is the case, Mr. Narkom?" + +"I will leave Mr. Philip Bawdrey himself to tell you that," said Narkom, +as the door opened to admit a young man of about eight and twenty, +clothed in tennis flannels, and looking very much perturbed. He was a +handsome, fair-haired, fair-moustached young fellow, with frank, boyish +eyes and that unmistakable something which stamps the products of the +'Varsities. "Come in, Mr. Bawdrey. You said we were not to wait tea, and +you see that we haven't. Let me have the pleasure of introducing +Mr.----" + +"Headland," put in Cleek adroitly, and with a look at Narkom as much as +to say, "Don't give me away. I may not care to take the case when I hear +it, so what's the use of letting everybody know who I am?" Then he +switched round in his chair, rose, and held out his hand. "Mr. George +Headland, of the Yard, Mr. Bawdrey. I don't trust Mr. Narkom's +proverbially tricky memory for names. He introduced me as Jones once, +and I lost the opportunity of handling the case because the party in +question couldn't believe that anybody named Jones would be likely to +ferret it out." + +"Funny idea that!" commented young Bawdrey, smiling and accepting the +proffered hand. "Rum lot of people you must run across in your line, Mr. +Headland. Shouldn't take you for a detective myself, shouldn't even in a +room full of them. College man, aren't you? Thought so. Oxon or Cantab?" + +"Cantab--Emmanuel." + +"Oh, Lord! Never thought I'd ever live to appeal to an Emmanuel man to +do anything brilliant. I'm an Oxon chap; Brasenose is my alma mater. I +say, Mr. Narkom, do give me a cup of tea, will you? I had to slip off +while the others were at theirs, and I've run all the way. Thanks very +much. Don't mind if I sit in that corner and draw the curtain a little, +do you?" his frank, boyish face suddenly clouding. "I don't want to be +seen by anybody passing. It's a horrible thing to feel that you are +being spied upon at every turn, Mr. Headland, and that want of caution +may mean the death of the person you love best in all the world." + +"Oh, it's that kind of case, is it?" queried Cleek, making room for him +to pass round the table and sit in the corner, with his back to the +window and the loosened folds of the chintz curtain keeping him in the +shadow. + +"Yes," answered young Bawdrey, with a half-repressed shudder and a +deeper clouding of his rather pale face. "Sometimes I try to make myself +believe that it isn't, that it's all fancy, that she never could be so +inhuman, and yet how else is it to be explained? You can't go behind the +evidence; you can't make things different simply by saying that you will +not believe." He stirred his tea nervously, gulped down a couple of +mouthfuls of it, and then set the cup aside. "I can't enjoy anything; it +takes the savour out of everything when I think of it," he added, with a +note of pathos in his voice. "My dad, my dear, bully old dad, the best +and dearest old boy in all the world! I suppose, Mr. Headland, that Mr. +Narkom has told you something about the case?" + +"A little--a very little indeed. I know that your father went to Java, +and married a second wife there; and I know, too, that you yourself were +rather taken with the lady at one time, and that she threw you over as +soon as Mr. Bawdrey senior became a possibility." + +"That's a mistake," he replied. "She never threw me over, Mr. Headland; +she never had the chance. I found her out long before my father became +anything like what you might call a rival, found her out as a mercenary, +designing woman, and broke from her voluntarily. I only wish that I had +known that he had one serious thought regarding her. I could have warned +him; I could have spoken then. But I never did find out until it was too +late. Trust her for that. She waited until I had gone up-country to look +after some fine old porcelains and enamels that the governor had heard +about; then she hurried him off and tricked him into a hasty marriage. +Of course, after that I couldn't speak, I wouldn't speak. She was my +father's wife, and he was so proud of her, so happy, dear old boy, that +I'd have been little better than a brute to say anything against her." + +"What could you have said if you had spoken?" + +"Oh, lots of things; the things that made me break away from her in the +beginning. She'd had other love affairs for one thing; her late father's +masquerading as a doctor for another. They had only used that as a +cloak. They had run a gambling-house on the sly--he as the card-sharper, +she as the decoy. They had drained one poor fellow dry, and she had +thrown him over after leading him on to think that she cared for him and +was going to marry him. He blew out his brains in front of her, poor +wretch. They say she never turned a hair. You wouldn't believe it +possible, if you saw her; she is so sweet and caressing, and so young +and beautiful, you'd almost believe her an angel. But there's Travers in +the background--always Travers!" + +"Travers! Who is he?" + +"Oh, one of her old flames, the only one she ever really cared for, they +say. She was supposed to have broken with him out there in Java, because +they were too poor to marry; and now he's come over to England, and he's +there, in the house with the dear old dad and me, and they are as thick +as thieves together. I've caught them whispering and prowling about +together, in the grounds and along the lanes, after she has said +'Good-night' and gone to her room and is supposed to be in bed. There's +a houseful of her old friends three parts of the time. They come and +they go, but Travers never goes. I know why"--waxing suddenly excited, +suddenly vehement--"Yes! I know why. He's in the game with her!" + +"Game! What game, Mr. Bawdrey? What is it that she is doing?" + +"She's killing my old dad!" he answered, with a sort of sob in his +excited voice. "She's murdering him by inches, that's what she's doing, +and I want you to help me bring it home to her. God knows what it is +she's using or how she uses it; but you know what demons they are for +secret poisons, those Javanese, what means they have of killing people +without a trace. And she was out there for years and years. So, too, was +Travers, the brute! They know all the secrets of those beastly +barbarians, and between them they're doing something to my old dad." + +"How do you know that?" + +"I don't know it, that's the worst of it. But I couldn't be surer of it +if they took me into their secrets. But there's the evidence of his +condition; there's the fact that it didn't begin until after Travers +came. Look here, Mr. Headland, you don't know my dad. He's got the +queerest notions sometimes. One of his fads is that it's unlucky to make +a will. Well, if he dies without one, who will inherit his money, as I +am an only child?" + +"Undoubtedly you and his widow." + +"Exactly. And if I die at pretty nearly the same time--and they'll see +to that, never fear; it will be my turn the moment they are sure of +him--she will inherit everything. Now, let me tell you what's happening. +From being a strong, healthy man, my father has, since Travers's +arrival, begun to be attacked by a mysterious malady. He has periodical +fainting fits, sometimes convulsions. He'll be feeling better for a day +or so; then, without a word of warning, whilst you're talking to him, +he'll drop like a shot bird and go into the most horrible convulsions. +The doctors can't stop it; they don't even know what it is. They only +know that he's fading away--turning from a strong, virile old man into a +thin, nervous, shivering wreck. But I know! I know! They're dosing him +somehow with some diabolical Javanese thing, those two. And +yesterday--God help me!--yesterday I, too, dropped like a shot bird; I, +too, had the convulsions and the weakness and the fainting fit. My time +has begun also!" + +"Bless my soul! what a diabolical thing!" put in Narkom agitatedly. "No +wonder you appealed to me!" + +"No wonder!" Bawdrey replied. "I felt that it had gone as far as I dared +let it; that it was time to call in the police and to have help before +it was too late. That's the case, Mr. Headland. I want you to find some +way of getting at the truth, of looking into Travers's luggage, into my +stepmother's effects, and unearthing the horrible stuff with which they +are doing this thing; and perhaps, when that is known, some antidote may +be found to save the dear old dad and restore him to what he was. Can't +you do this? For God's sake, say that you can." + +"At all events, I can try, Mr. Bawdrey," responded Cleek. + +"Oh, thank you, thank you!" said Bawdrey gratefully. "I don't care a +hang what it costs, what your fees are, Mr. Headland. So long as you run +those two to earth, and get hold of the horrible stuff, whatever it is, +that they are using, I'll pay any price in the world, and count it cheap +as compared with the life of my dear old dad. When can you take hold of +the case? Now?" + +"I'm afraid not. Mysterious things like this require a little thinking +over. Suppose we say to-morrow noon? Will that do?" + +"I suppose it must, although I should have liked to take you back with +me. Every moment's precious at a time like this. But if it must be +delayed until to-morrow--well, it must, I suppose. But I'll take jolly +good care that nobody gets a chance to come within touching distance of +the pater, bless him! until you do come, if I have to sit on the mat +before his door until morning. Here's the address on this card, Mr. +Headland. When and how shall I expect to see you again? You'll use an +alias, of course?" + +"Oh, certainly! Had you any old friend in your college days whom your +father knew only by name and who is now too far off for the imposture to +be discovered?" + +"Yes. Jim Rickaby. We were as inseparable as the Siamese twins in our +undergrad. days. He's in Borneo now. Haven't heard from him in a dog's +age." + +"Couldn't be better," said Cleek. "Then 'Jim Rickaby' let it be. +You'll get a letter from him first thing in the morning saying that +he's back in England, and about to run down and spend the week-end +with you. At noon he will arrive, accompanied by his Borneo servant +named--er--Dollops. You can put the 'blackie' up in some quarter of the +house where he can move about at will without disturbing any of your own +servants and can get in and out at all hours; he will be useful, you +know, in prowling about the grounds at night and ascertaining if the +lady really does go to bed when she retires to her room. As for 'Jim +Rickaby' himself--well, you can pave the way for his operations by +informing your father, when you get the letter, that he has gone daft on +the subject of old china and curios and things of that sort, don't you +know." + +"What a ripping idea!" commented young Bawdrey. "I twig. He'll get +chummy with you of course, and you can lead him on and adroitly 'pump' +him regarding her, and where she keeps her keys and things like that. +That's the idea, isn't it?" + +"Something of that sort. I'll find out all about her, never fear," said +Cleek in reply. Then they shook hands and parted, and it was not until +after young Bawdrey had gone that either he or Narkom recollected that +Cleek had overlooked telling the young man that Headland was not his +name. + +"Oh, well, it doesn't matter. Time enough to tell him that when it comes +to making out the cheque," said Cleek, as the superintendent remarked +upon the circumstance. Then he pushed back his chair and walked over to +the window, and stood looking silently out upon the flowing river. +Narkom did not disturb his reflections. He knew from past experience, as +well as from the manner in which he took his lower lip between his teeth +and drummed with his finger-tips upon the window ledge, that some idea +relative to the working out of the case had taken shape within his mind, +and so, with the utmost discretion, went on with his tea and refrained +from speaking. Suddenly Cleek turned. "Mr. Narkom, do me a favour, will +you? Look me up a copy of Holman's 'Diseases of the Kidneys' when you go +back to town. I'll send Dollops round to the Yard to-night to get it." + +"Right you are," said Narkom, taking out his pocket-book and making a +note of it. "But I say, look here, my dear fellow, you can't possibly +believe that it's anything of that sort, anything natural, I mean, in +the face of what we've heard?" + +"No, I don't. I think it's something confoundedly unnatural, and that +that poor old chap is being secretly and barbarously murdered. I think +that--and--I think, too----" His voice trailed off. He stood silent and +preoccupied for a moment, and then, putting his thoughts into words, +without addressing them to anybody: "Ayupee!" he said reflectively; +"Pohon-Upas, Antjar, Galanga root, Ginger and Black Pepper--that's the +Javanese method of procedure, I believe. Ayupee!--yes, assuredly, +Ayupee!" + +"What the dickens are you talking about, Cleek? And what does all that +gibberish and that word 'Ayupee' mean?" + +"Nothing--nothing. At least, just yet. I say, put on your hat and let's +go for a pull on the river, Mr. Narkom. I've had enough of mysteries for +to-day and am spoiling for another hour in a boat." + +Then he screwed round on his heel and walked out into the brilliant +summer sunshine. + + +II + +Promptly at the hour appointed "Mr. Jim Rickaby" and his black servant +arrived at Laburnam Villa and certainly the former had no cause to +complain of the welcome he received at the hands of his beautiful young +hostess. + +He found her not only an extremely lovely woman to the eye, but one +whose gentle, caressing ways, whose soft voice and simple girlish charm +were altogether fascinating, and, judging from outward appearances, from +the tender solicitude for her elderly husband's comfort and well-being, +from the look in her eyes when she spoke to him, the gentleness of her +hand when she touched him, one would have said that she really and truly +loved him, and that it needed no lure of gold to draw this particular +May to the arms of this one December. + +He found Captain Travers a laughing, rollicking, fun-loving type of +man--at least, to all outward appearances--who seemed to delight in +sports and games and to have an almost childish love of card tricks and +that species of entertainment which is known as parlour magic. He found +the three other members of the little house-party--to wit: Mrs. +Somerby-Miles, Lieutenant Forshay, and Mr. Robert Murdock--respectively, +a silly, flirtatious, little gadfly of a widow; a callow, love-struck, +lap-dog, young naval officer, with a budding moustache and a full-blown +idea of his own importance; a dour Scotchman of middle age, with a +passion for chess, a glowering scorn of frivolities, a deep abiding +conviction that Scotland was the only country in the world for a +self-respecting human being to dwell in, and that everything outside of +the Established Church was foredoomed to flames and sulphur and the +perpetual prodding of red-hot pitchforks. And last, but not least by any +means, he found Mr. Michael Bawdrey just what he had been told he would +find him, namely, a dear, lovable, sunny-tempered old man, who fairly +idolized his young wife and absolutely adored his frank-faced, +affectionate, big boy of a son, and who ought not, in the common course +of things, to have an enemy or an evil wisher in all the world. + +The news, which, of course, had preceded Cleek's arrival, that this +whilom college chum of his son's was as great an enthusiast as he +himself on the subject of old china, old porcelain, bric-a-brac, and +curios of every sort, filled him with the utmost delight, and he could +scarcely refrain from rushing him off at once to view his famous +collection. + +"Michael, dear, you mustn't overdo yourself just because you happen to +have been a little stronger these past two days," said his wife, laying +a gentle hand upon his arm. "Besides, we must give Mr. Rickaby time to +breathe. He has had a long journey, and I am sure he will want to rest. +You can take him in to see that wonderful collection after dinner, +dear." + +"Humph! Full of fakes, as I supposed--and she knows it," was Cleek's +mental comment upon this. And he was not surprised when, finding herself +alone with him a few minutes later, she said, in her pretty, pleading +way: + +"Mr. Rickaby, if you are an expert, don't undeceive him. I could not let +you go to see the collection without first telling you. It is full of +bogus things, full of frauds and shams that unscrupulous dealers have +palmed off on him. But don't let him know. He takes such pride in them, +and--and he's breaking down. God pity me, his health is breaking down +every day, Mr. Rickaby, and I want to spare him every pang, if I can, +even so little a pang as the discovery that the things he prizes are not +real." + +"Set your mind at rest, Mrs. Bawdrey," promised Cleek. "He will not +find it out from me. He will not find anything out from me. He is just +the kind of man to break his heart, to crumple up like a burnt glove, +and come to the end of all things, even life, if he were to discover +that any of his treasures, anything that he loved and trusted in, is a +sham and a fraud." + +His eyes looked straight into hers as he spoke, his hand rested lightly +on her sleeve. She sucked in her breath suddenly, a brief pallor chased +the roses from her cheeks, a brief confusion sat momentarily upon her. +She appeared to hesitate, then looked away and laughed uneasily. + +"I don't think I quite grasp what you mean, Mr. Rickaby," she said. + +"Don't you?" he made answer. "Then I will tell you some time--tomorrow, +perhaps. But if I were you, Mrs. Bawdrey--well, no matter. This I +promise you: that dear old man shall have no ideal shattered by me." + +And, living up to that promise, he enthused over everything the old man +had in his collection when, after dinner that night, they went, in +company with Philip, to view it. But bogus things were on every hand. +Spurious porcelains, fraudulent armour, faked china were everywhere. The +loaded cabinets and the glazed cases were one long procession of faked +Dresden and bogus faience, of Egyptian enamels that had been +manufactured in Birmingham, and of sixth-century "treasures" whose +makers were still plying the trade and battening upon the ignorance of +collectors. + +"Now, here's a thing I am particularly proud of," said the gulled old +man, reaching into one of the cases and holding out for Cleek's +admiration an irregular disc of dull, hammered gold that had an +iridescent beetle embedded in the flat face of it. "This scarab, Mr. +Rickaby, has helped to make history, as one might say. It was once the +property of Cleopatra. I was obliged to make two trips to Egypt before I +could persuade the owner to part with it. I am always conscious of a +certain sense of awe, Mr. Rickaby, when I touch this wonderful thing. To +think, sir, to think! that this bauble once rested on the bosom of that +marvellous woman; that Mark Antony must have seen it, may have touched +it; that Ptolemy Auletse knew all about it, and that it is older, sir, +than the Christian religion itself!" + +He held it out upon the flat of his palm, the better for Cleek to see +and to admire it, and signed to his son to hand the visitor a magnifying +glass. + +"Wonderful, most wonderful!" observed Cleek, bending over the spurious +gem and focussing the glass upon it; not, however, for the purpose of +studying the fraud, but to examine something he had just +noticed--something round and red and angry-looking--which marked the +palm itself, at the base of the middle finger. "No wonder you are proud +of such a prize. I think I should go off my head with rapture if I owned +an antique like that. But, pardon me, have you met with an accident, Mr. +Bawdrey? That's an ugly place you have on your palm." + +"That? Oh, that's nothing," he answered gaily. "It itches a great deal +at times, but otherwise it isn't troublesome. I can't think how in the +world I got it, to tell the truth. It came out as a sort of red blister +in the beginning, and since it broke it has been spreading a great deal. +But, really, it doesn't amount to anything at all." + +"Oh, that's just like you, dad," put in Philip, "always making light of +the wretched thing. I notice one thing, however, Rickaby, it seems to +grow worse instead of better. And dad knows as well as I do when it +began. It came out suddenly about a fortnight ago, after he had been +holding some green worsted for my stepmother to wind into balls. Just +look at it, will you, old chap?" + +"Nonsense, nonsense!" chimed in the old man laughingly. "Don't mind the +silly boy, Mr. Rickaby. He will have it that that green worsted is to +blame, just because he happened to spy the thing the morning after." + +"Let's have a look at it," said Cleek, moving nearer the light. Then, +after a close examination, "I don't think it amounts to anything, after +all," he added, as he laid aside the glass. "I shouldn't worry myself +about it if I were you, Phil. It's just an ordinary blister, nothing +more. Let's go on with the collection, Mr. Bawdrey; I'm deeply +interested in it, I assure you. Never saw such a marvellous lot. Got any +more amazing things, gems, I mean, like that wonderful scarab? I +say!"--halting suddenly before a long, narrow case with a glass front, +which stood on end in a far corner, and, being lined with black velvet, +brought into ghastly prominence the suspended shape of a human skeleton +contained within--"I say! What the dickens is this? Looks like a +doctor's specimen, b'gad. You haven't let anybody--I mean, you haven't +been buying any prehistoric bones, have you, Mr. Bawdrey?" + +"Oh, that?" laughed the old man, turning round and seeing to what he was +alluding. "Oh, that's a curiosity of quite a different sort, Mr. +Rickaby. You are saying it looks like a doctor's specimen. It is--or, +rather, it was. Mrs. Bawdrey's father was a doctor, and it once belonged +to him. Properly, it ought to have no place in a collection of this +sort, but--well, it's such an amazing thing I couldn't quite refuse it a +place, sir. It's a freak of nature. The skeleton of a nine-fingered +man." + +"Of a what?" + +"A nine-fingered man." + +"Well, I can't say that I see anything remarkable in that. I've got nine +fingers myself, nine and one over, when it comes to that." + +"No, you haven't, you duffer!" put in young Bawdrey, with a laugh. +"You've got eight fingers--eight fingers and two thumbs. This bony +Johnny has nine fingers and two thumbs. That's what makes him a freak. I +say, dad, open the beggar's box, and let Rickaby see." + +His father obeyed the request. Lifting the tiny brass latch which alone +secured it, he swung open the glazed door of the case, and, reaching in, +drew forward the flexible left arm of the skeleton. + +"There you are," he said, supporting the bony hand upon his palm, so +that all its fingers were spread out and Cleek might get a clear view of +the monstrosity. "What a trial he must have been to the glove trade, +mustn't he?" laughing gaily. "Fancy the confusion and dismay, Mr. +Rickaby, if a fellow like this walked into a Bond Street shop and asked +for a pair of gloves in a hurry." + +Cleek bent over and examined the thing with interest. At first glance +the hand was no different from any other skeleton hand one might see any +day in any place where they sold anatomical specimens for the use of +members of the medical profession; but as Mr. Bawdrey, holding it on the +palm of his right hand, flattened it out with the fingers of his left, +the abnormality at once became apparent. Springing from the base of the +fourth finger, a perfectly developed fifth appeared, curling inward +toward what had once been the palm of the hand, as though, in life, it +had been the owner's habit of screening it from observation by holding +it in that position. It was, however, perfectly flexible, and Mr. +Bawdrey had no difficulty in making it lie out flat after the manner of +its mates. + +The sight was not inspiring--the freaks of Mother Nature rarely are. No +one but a doctor would have cared to accept the thing as a gift, and no +one but a man as mad on the subject of curiosities and with as little +sense of discrimination as Mr. Bawdrey would have dreamt for a moment of +adding it to a collection. + +"It's rather uncanny," said Cleek, who had no palate for the abnormal +in Nature. "For myself, I may frankly admit that I don't like things of +that sort about me." + +"You are very much like my wife in that," responded the old man. "She +was of the opinion that the skeleton ought to have been destroyed or +else handed over to some anatomical museum. But--well, it is a +curiosity, you know, Mr. Rickaby. Besides, as I have said, it was once +the property of her late father, a most learned man, sir, most learned, +and as it was of sufficient interest for him to retain it--oh, well, we +collectors are faddists, you know, so I easily persuaded Mrs. Bawdrey to +allow me to bring it over to England with me when we took our leave of +Java. And now that you have seen it, suppose we have a look at more +artistic things. I have some very fine specimens of neolithic implements +and weapons which I am most anxious to show you. Just step this way, +please." + +He let the skeleton's hand slip from his own, swing back into the case, +and forthwith closed the glass door upon it; then, leading the way to +the cabinet containing the specimens referred to, he unlocked it, and +invited Cleek's opinion of the flint arrow-heads, stone hatchets, and +granite utensils within. + +For a minute they lingered thus, the old man talking, laughing, exulting +in his possessions, the detective examining and pretending to be deeply +impressed. Then, of a sudden, without hint or warning to lessen the +shock of it, the uplifted lid of the cabinet fell with a crash from the +hand that upheld it, shivering the glass into fifty pieces, and Cleek, +screwing round on his heel with a "jump" of all his nerves, was in time +to see the figure of his host crumple up, collapse, drop like a thing +shot dead, and lie writhing on the polished floor. + +"Dad! Oh, heavens! Dad!" The cry was young Bawdrey's. He seemed fairly +to throw himself across the intervening space and to reach his father in +the instant he fell. "Now you know! Now you know!" he went on wildly, +as Cleek dropped down beside him and began to loosen the old man's +collar. "It's like this always; not a hint, not a sign, but just this +utter collapse. My God, what are they doing it with? How are they +managing it, those two? They're coming, Headland. Listen! Don't you hear +them?" + +The crash of the broken glass and the jar of the old man's fall had +swept through all the house, and a moment later, headed by Mrs. Bawdrey +herself, all the members of the little house-party came piling excitedly +into the room. + +The fright and suffering of the young wife seemed very real as she threw +herself down beside her husband and caught him to her with a little +shuddering cry. Then her voice, uplifting in a panic, shrilled out a +wild appeal for doctor, servants--help of any kind. And, almost as she +spoke, Travers was beside her, Travers and Forshay and Robert +Murdock--yes, and silly little Mrs. Somerby-Miles, too, forgetting in +the face of such a time as this to be anything but helpful and +womanly--and all of these gave such assistance as was in their power. + +"Help me get him up to his own room, somebody, and send a servant +post-haste for the doctor," said Captain Travers, taking the lead after +the fashion of a man who is used to command. "Calm yourself as much as +possible, Mrs. Bawdrey. Here, Murdock, lend a hand and help him." + +"Eh, mon, there is nae help but Heaven's in sic a case as this," +dolefully responded Murdock, as he came forward and solemnly stooped to +obey. "The puir auld laddie! The Laird giveth and the Laird taketh awa', +and the weel o' mon is as naething." + +"Oh, stow your croaking, you blundering old fool!" snapped Travers, as +Mrs. Bawdrey gave a heart-wrung cry and hid her face in her hands. "You +and your eternal doldrums! Here, Bawdrey, lend a hand, old chap. We can +get him upstairs without the assistance of this human trombone, I know." + +But "this human trombone" was not minded that they should; and so it +fell out that, when Lieutenant Forshay led Mrs. Somerby-Miles from the +room, and young Bawdrey and Captain Travers carried the stricken man up +the stairs to his own bedchamber, his wife flying in advance to see that +everything was prepared for him, Cleek, standing all alone beside the +shattered cabinet, could hear Mr. Robert Murdock's dismal croakings +rumbling steadily out as he mounted the staircase with the others. + +For a moment after the closing door of a room overhead had shut them +from his ears, he stood there, with puckered brows and pursed-up lips, +drumming with his finger-tips a faint tattoo upon the framework of the +shattered lid; then he walked over to the skeleton case, and silently +regarded the gruesome thing within. + +"Nine fingers," he muttered sententiously, "and the ninth curves inward +to the palm!" He stepped round and viewed the case from all points; both +sides, the front, and even the narrow space made at the back by the +angle of the corner where it stood. And after this he walked to the +other end of the room, took the key from the lock, slipped it in his +pocket, and went out, closing the door behind him, that none might +remember it had not been locked when the master of the place was carried +above. + +It was, perhaps, twenty minutes later that young Bawdrey came down and +found him all alone in the smoking-room, bending over the table whereon +the butler had set the salver containing the whisky decanter, the soda +siphon, and the glasses that were always laid out there that the +gentlemen might help themselves to the regulation "night-cap" before +going to bed. + +"I've slipped away to have a word in private with you, Headland," he +said in an agitated voice, as he came in. "Oh, what consummate actors +they are, those two. You'd think her heart was breaking, wouldn't you? +You'd think---- Hallo! I say! What on earth are you doing?" For as he +came nearer he could see that Cleek had removed the glass stopper of the +decanter, and was tapping with his finger-tips a little funnel of white +paper, the narrow end of which he had thrust into the neck of the +bottle. + +"Just adding a harmless little sleeping-draught to the nightly +beverage," said Cleek, in reply, as he screwed up the paper funnel and +put it in his pocket. "A good sound sleep is an excellent thing, my dear +fellow, and I mean to make sure that the gentlemen of this house-party +have it--one gentleman in particular: Captain Travers." + +"Yes; but--I say! What about me, old chap? I don't want to be drugged, +and you know I have to show them the courtesy of taking a 'night-cap' +with them." + +"Precisely. That's where you can help me out. If any of them remark +anything about the whisky having a peculiar taste, you must stoutly +assert that you don't notice; and, as they've seen you drinking from the +same decanter--why, there you are. Don't worry over it. It's a very, +very harmless draught; you won't even have a headache from it. Listen +here, Bawdrey. Somebody is poisoning your father." + +"I know it. I told you so from the beginning, Headland," he answered, +with a sort of wail. "But what's that got to do with drugging the +whisky?" + +"Everything. I'm going to find out to-night whether Captain Travers is +that somebody or not. Sh-h-h! Don't get excited. Yes, that's my game. I +want to get into his room whilst he is sleeping, and be free to search +his effects. I want to get into every man's room here, and wherever I +find poison--well, you understand?" + +"Yes," he replied, brightening as he grasped the import of the matter. +"What a ripping idea! And so simple." + +"I think so. Once let me find the poison, and I'll know my man. Now, one +other thing: the housekeeper must have a master-key that opens all the +bedrooms in the place. Get it for me. It will be easier and swifter than +picking the locks." + +"Right you are, old chap. I'll slip up to Mrs. Jarret's room and fetch +it to you at once." + +"No; tuck it under the mat just outside my door. As it won't do for me +to be drugged as well as the rest of you, I shan't put in an appearance +when the rest come down. Say I've got a headache, and have gone to bed. +As for my own 'night-cap'--well, I can send Dollops down to get the +butler to pour me one out of another decanter, so that will be all +right. Now, toddle off and get the key, there's a good chap. And, I say, +Bawdrey, as I shan't see you again until morning--good-night." + +"Good-night, old chap!" he answered in his impulsive, boyish way. "You +are a friend, Headland. And you'll save my dad, God bless you! A true, +true friend that's what you are. Thank God I ran across you." + +Cleek smiled and nodded to him as he passed out and hurried away; then, +hearing the other gentlemen coming down the stairs, he, too, made haste +to get out of the room and to creep up to his own after they had +assembled, and the cigar cabinet and the whisky were being passed round, +and the doctor was busy above with the man who was somebody's victim. + + * * * * * + +The big old grandfather clock at the top of the stairs pointed ten +minutes past two, and the house was hushed of every sound save that +which is the evidence of deep sleep, when the door of Cleek's room swung +quietly open, and Cleek himself, in dressing-gown and wadded bedroom +slippers, stepped out into the dark hall, and, leaving Dollops on guard, +passed like a shadow over the thick, unsounding carpet. + +The rooms of all the male occupants of the house, including that of +Philip Bawdrey himself, opened upon this passage. He went to each in +turn, unlocked it, stepped in, closed it after him, and lit the bedroom +candle. + +The sleeping-draught had accomplished all that was required of it; and +in each and every room he entered--Captain Travers's, Lieutenant +Forshay's, Mr. Robert Murdock's--there lay the occupant thereof +stretched out at full length in the grip of that deep and heavy sleep +which comes of drugs. + +Cleek made the round of the rooms as quietly as any shadow, even +stopping as he passed young Bawdrey's on his way back to his own to peep +in there. Yes; he, too, had got his share of the effective draught, for +there he lay snarled up in the bedclothes, with his arms over his head +and his knees drawn up until they were on a level with his waist, and +his handsome boyish face a little paler than usual. + +Cleek didn't go into the room, simply looked at him from the threshold, +then shut the door, and went back to Dollops. + +"All serene, guv'ner?" questioned that young man in an eager whisper. + +"Yes, quite," his master replied, as he turned to a writing-table +whereon there lay a sealed note, and, pulling out the chair, sat down +before it and took up a pen. "Wait a bit, and then you can go to bed. +I'll give you still another note to deliver. While I'm writing it you +may lay out my clothes." + +"Slipping off, sir?" + +"Yes. You will stop here, however. Now, then, hold your tongue; I'm +busy." + +Then he pulled a sheet of paper to him and wrote rapidly: + + DEAR MR. BAWDREY--I've got my man, and am off to consult with + Mr. Narkom and to have what I've found analysed. I don't know + when I shall be back--probably not until the day after + to-morrow. You are right. It is murder, and Java is at the + bottom of it. Dollops will hand you this. Say nothing--just + wait till I get back. + +This he slipped, unsigned in his haste, into an envelope, handed it to +Dollops, and then fairly jumped into his clothes. Ten minutes later he +was out of the house, and--the end of the riddle was in sight. + + +III + +On the morrow Mrs. Bawdrey made known the rather surprising piece of +news that Mr. Rickaby had written her a note to say that he had received +a communication of such vital importance that he had been obliged to +leave the house that morning before anybody was up, and might not be +able to return to it for several days. + +"No very great hardship in that, my dear," commented Mrs. Somerby-Miles, +"for a more stupid and uninteresting person I never encountered. Fancy! +he never even offered to assist the gentlemen to get poor Mr. Bawdrey +upstairs last night. How is the poor old dear this morning, darling? +Better?" + +"Yes--much," said Mrs. Bawdrey in reply. "Doctor Phillipson came to the +house before four o'clock, and brought some wonderful new medicine that +has simply worked wonders. Of course, he will have to stop in bed and be +perfectly quiet for three or four days; but, although the attack was by +far the worst he has ever had, the doctor feels quite confident that he +will pull him safely through." + +Now although, in the light of her apparent affection for her aged +husband, she ought, one would have thought, to be exceedingly happy +over this, it was distinctly noticeable that she was nervous and ill at +ease, that there was a hunted look in her eyes, and that, as the day +wore on, these things seemed to be accentuated. More than that, there +seemed added proof of the truth of young Bawdrey's assertion that she +and Captain Travers were in league with each other, for that day they +were constantly together, constantly getting off into out-of-the-way +places, and constantly talking in an undertone of something that seemed +to worry them. + +Even when dinner was over, and the whole party adjourned to the +drawing-room for coffee, and the lady ought, in all conscience, to have +given herself wholly up to the entertainment of her guests, it was +observable that she devoted most of her time to whispered conferences +with Captain Travers. They kept going to the window and looking up at +the sky, as if worried and annoyed that the twilight should be so long +in fading and the night in coming on. But worse than this, at ten +o'clock Captain Travers made an excuse of having letters to write, and +left the room, and it was scarcely six minutes later that she followed +suit. + +But the captain had not gone to write letters, as it had happened. +Instead, he had gone straight to the morning-room, an apartment +immediately behind that in which the elder Mr. Bawdrey's collection was +housed, and from which a broad French window opened out upon the +grounds, and it might have caused a scandal had it been known that Mrs. +Bawdrey joined him there one minute after leaving the drawing-room. + +"It is the time, Walter, it is the time!" she said in a breathless sort +of way, as she closed the door and moved across the room to where he +stood, a dimly-seen figure in the dim light. "God help and pity me! but +I am so nervous I hardly know how to contain myself. The note said at +ten to-night in the morning-room, and it is ten now. The hour is here, +Walter, the hour is here!" + +"So is the man, Mrs. Bawdrey," answered a low voice from the outer +darkness; then a figure lifted itself above the screening shrubs just +beyond the ledge of the open window, and Cleek stepped into the room. + +She gave a little hysterical cry and reached out her hands to him. + +"Oh, I am so glad to see you, even though you hint at such awful things, +I am so glad, so glad!" she said. "I almost died when I read your note. +To think that it is murder--murder! And but for you he might be dead +even now. You will like to know that the doctor brought the stuff you +sent by him and my darling is better--better." + +Before Cleek could venture any reply to this, Captain Travers stalked +across the room and gripped his hand. + +"And so you are that great man Cleek, are you?" he said. "Bully boy! +Bully boy! And to think that all the time it wasn't some mysterious +natural affliction; to think that it was crime, murder, poison. What +poison, man, what poison?" + +"Ayupee, or, as it is variously called in the several islands of the +Eastern Archipelago, Pohon-Upas, Antjar, and Ipo," said Cleek in reply. +"The deadly venom which the Malays use in poisoning the heads of their +arrows." + +"What! that awful stuff!" said Mrs. Bawdrey, with a little shuddering +cry. "And some one in this house----" Her voice broke. She plucked at +Cleek's sleeve and looked up at him in an agony of entreaty. "Who?" she +implored. "Who in this house could? You said you would tell +to-night--you said you would. Oh, who could have the heart? Ah! who? It +is true, if you have not heard it, that once upon a time there was bad +blood between Mr. Murdock and him; that Mr. Murdock is a family +connection; but even he, oh, even he---- Tell me--tell me, Mr. Cleek?" + +"Mrs. Bawdrey, I can't just yet," he made reply. "In my heart I am as +certain of it as though the criminal had confessed; but I am waiting for +a sign, and, until that comes, absolute proof is not possible. That it +will come, and may, indeed, come at any moment now that it is quite +dark, I am very certain. When it does----" + +He stopped and threw up a warning hand. As he spoke a queer thudding +sound struck one dull note through the stillness of the house. He stood, +bent forward, listening, absolutely breathless; then, on the other side +of the wall, there rippled and rolled a something that was like the +sound of a struggle between two voiceless animals, and--the sign that he +awaited had come! + +"Follow me quickly, as noiselessly as you can. Let no one hear, let no +one see!" he said in a breath of excitement. Then he sprang cat-like to +the door, whirled it open, scudded round the angle of the passage to the +entrance of the room where the fraudulent collection was kept, and went +in with the silent fleetness of a panther. And a moment later, when +Captain Travers and Mrs. Bawdrey swung in through the door and joined +him, they came upon a horrifying sight. + +For there, leaning against the open door of the case where the skeleton +of the nine-fingered man hung, was Dollops, bleeding and faint, and with +a score of toothmarks on his neck and throat. On the floor at his feet +Cleek was kneeling on the writhing figure of a man who bit and tore and +snarled like a cornered wolf and fought with teeth and feet and hands +alike in the wild effort to get free from the grip of destiny. A locked +handcuff clamped one wrist, and from it swung, at the end of the +connecting chain, its unlocked mate; the marks of Dollops's fists were +on his lips and cheeks, and at the foot of the case, where the hanging +skeleton doddered and shook to the vibration of the floor, lay a +shattered phial of deep-blue glass. + +"Got you, you hound!" said Cleek through his teeth as he wrenched the +man's two wrists together and snapped the other handcuff into place. +"You beast of ingratitude--you Judas! Kissing and betraying like any +other Iscariot! And a dear old man like that! Look here, Mrs. Bawdrey; +look here, Captain Travers; what do you think of a little rat like +this?" + +They came forward at his word, and, looking down, saw that the figure he +was bending over was the figure of Philip Bawdrey. + +"Oh!" gulped Mrs. Bawdrey, and then shut her two hands over her eyes and +fell away weak and shivering. "Oh, Mr. Cleek, it can't be--it can't! To +do a thing like that?" + +"Oh, he'd have done worse, the little reptile, if he hadn't been pulled +up short," said Cleek in reply. "He'd have hanged you for it, if it had +gone the way he planned. You look in your boxes; you, too, Captain +Travers. I'll wager each of you finds a phial of Ayupee hidden among +them somewhere. Came in to put more of the cursed stuff on the ninth +finger of the skeleton, so that it would be ready for the next time, +didn't he, Dollops?" + +"Yes, guv'ner. I waited for him behind the case just as you told me to, +sir, and when he ups and slips the finger of the skilligan into the neck +of the bottle, I nips out and whacks the bracelet on him. But he was too +quick for me, sir, so I only got one on; and then, the hound, he turns +on me like a blessed hyena, sir, and begins a-chawin' of me windpipe. I +say, guv'ner, take off his silver wristlets, will you, sir, and lemme +have jist ten minutes with him on my own? Five for me, sir, and five for +his poor old dad!" + +"Not I," said Cleek. "I wouldn't let you soil those honest hands of +yours on his vile little body, Dollops. Thought you had a noodle to deal +with, didn't you, Mr. Philip Bawdrey? Thought you could lead me by the +nose, and push me into finding those phials just where you wanted them +found, didn't you? Well, you've got a few more thoughts coming. Look +here, Captain Travers; what do you think of this fellow's little game? +Tried to take me in about you and Mrs. Bawdrey being lovers, and trying +to do away with him and his father to get the old man's money." + +"Why, the contemptible little hound! Bless my soul, man, I'm engaged to +Mrs. Bawdrey's cousin. And as for his stepmother, why, she threw the +little worm over as soon as he began making love to her, and tried to +make her take up with him by telling her how much he'd be worth when his +father died." + +"I guessed as much. I didn't fancy him from the first moment; and he was +so blessed eager to have me begin by suspecting you two, that I smelt a +rat at once. Oh, but he's been crafty enough in other things. Putting +that devilish stuff on the ninth finger of the skeleton, and never +losing an opportunity to get his poor old father to handle it and to +show it to people. It's a strong, irritant poison--sap of the upas tree +is the base of it--producing first an irritation of the skin, then a +blister, and, when that broke, communicating the poison directly to the +blood every time the skeleton hand touched it. A weak solution at first, +so that the decline would be natural, the growth of the malady gradual. +But if I'd found that phial in your room last night, as he hoped and +believed I had done--well, look for yourself. The finger of the skeleton +is thick with the beastly, gummy stuff to-night. Double strength, of +course. The next time his father touched it he'd have died before +morning. And the old chap fairly worshipping him. I suspected him, and +suspected what the stuff that was being used really was from the +beginning. Last night I drugged him, and then I knew." + +"Knew, Mr. Cleek? Why, how could you?" + +"The most virulent poisons have their remedial uses, Captain," he made +reply. "You can kill a man with strychnine; you can put him in his grave +with arsenic; you can also use both these powerful agents to cure and to +save, in their proper proportions and in the proper way. The same rule +applies to ayupee. Properly diluted and properly used, it is one of the +most powerful agents for the relief, and, in some cases, the cure, of +Bright's disease of the kidneys. But the Government guards this unholy +drug most carefully. You can't get a drop of it in Java for love nor +money, unless on the order of a recognized physician; and you can't +bring it into the ports of England unless backed by that physician's +sworn statement and the official stamp of the Javanese authorities. A +man undeniably afflicted with Bright's disease could get these +things--no other could. Well, I wanted to know who had succeeded in +getting ayupee into this country and into this house. Last night I +drugged every man in it, and I found out." + +"But how?" + +"By finding the one who could not sleep stretched out at full length. +One of the strongest symptoms of Bright's disease is a tendency to draw +the knees up close to the body in sleep, Captain, and to twist the arms +above the head. Of all the men under this roof, this man here was the +only one who slept like that last night!" He paused and looked down at +the scowling, sullen creature on the floor. "You wretched little cur!" +he said with a gesture of unspeakable contempt. "And all for the sake of +an old man's money! If I did my duty, I'd gaol you. But if I did, it +would be punishing the innocent for the crimes of the guilty. It would +kill that dear old man to learn this; and so he's not going to learn it, +and the law's not going to get its own." He twitched out his hand, and +something tinkled on the floor. "Get up!" he said sharply. "There's the +key of the handcuffs; take it and set yourself free. Do you know what's +going to happen to you? To-morrow morning Dr. Phillipson is going to +examine you, and to report that you'll be a dead man in a year's time if +you stop another week in this country. You are going out of it, and you +are going to stop out of it. Do you understand? _Stop_ out of it to the +end of your days. For if ever you put foot in it again I'll handle you +as a terrier handles a rat! Dollops?" + +"Yes, guv'ner?" + +"My things packed and ready?" + +"Yes, sir. And all waitin' in the arbour, sir, as you told me to have +'em." + +"Good lad! Get them, and we'll catch the first train back. Mrs. Bawdrey, +my best respects. Captain, all good luck to you. The riddle is solved. +Good-night." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE WIZARD'S BELT + + +It was exactly three o'clock when the two-forty-seven train from +Victoria set Cleek down at Wandsworth Common, and it was exactly fifteen +minutes later when he was shown into the modest little drawing-room of +17 Sunnington Crescent by Mrs. Culpin herself, handed an afternoon +paper, and left in sole possession of the place. + +The letter that drew him to this particular house at this particular +time had come from Mr. Narkom, and was couched in these words: + + MY DEAR CLEEK: + + A most amazing case--probably the most amazing you have yet + tackled--has just cropped up, and I am all eagerness to have + you hear the astonishing details as expeditiously as possible. + The client is one Captain Morrison, a retired army officer + living solely on his half-pay; so the reward--if any--must of + necessity be small. His daughter, Miss Mary Morrison, a young + and extremely attractive girl, is involved in the amazing + affair, and it is at her earnest appeal that the matter has + been brought to my notice. As the captain is in such weak + health that a journey of any distance is out of the question, + I shall ask you to meet me at Wandsworth Common, where he + lives. Will you, therefore, be at 17 Sunnington Crescent, + Wandsworth, this afternoon between the hours of three and + four? The house is the residence of a Mrs. Culpin, widow of + one of my Yard men who was killed last autumn. I am wiring her + to expect you. But, knowing your reluctance in the matter of + any clue to your identity being circulated, I have given you + the name you adopted in the Bawdrey affair: "George Headland." + I have also taken the same precaution with regard to Captain + Morrison, leaving you to disclose your identity or not, as + you see fit, after you have interviewed him and the other + persons connected with this extraordinary affair. + + Yours, etc., + + MAVERICK NARKOM. + +Cleek did not even glance at the afternoon paper which Mrs. Culpin had +so considerately left him. Instead, he walked to the open window, +through which the summer sunshine was streaming, and, with his hands +loosely clasped behind his back, stood looking out thoughtfully at the +groups of merry children who were romping on the not far distant common +and making the air melodious with their happy laughter. And so he was +still standing when, some ten or a dozen minutes later, the door behind +him opened and Narkom walked into the room. + +"Well, here I am at last, you see, my dear fellow," said the +superintendent, crossing the floor and shaking hands with him. "Ripping +day, isn't it? What are you doing, admiring the view or taking stock of +Mrs. Culpin's roses?" + +"Neither. I was speculating in futures," replied Cleek, glancing back at +the sunlit common, and then glancing away again with a faintly audible +sigh. "How happy, how care-free they are, those merry little beggars, +Mr. Narkom. What you said in your letter set my thoughts harking +backward, and ... I was wondering what things the coming years might +hold for them and for their parents. At one time, you know, that fellow +Philip Bawdrey was as innocent and as guileless as any of those little +shavers; and yet in the after years he proved a monster of iniquity, a +beast of ingratitude, and---- Oh, well, let it pass. He paid, as +thankless children always do pay under God's good rule. I wonder what +his thoughts were when his last hour came." + +"It did come, then?" + +"Yes. I had a letter from Mrs. Bawdrey the other day. News had just come +of his death--from Bright's disease, of course--in Buenos Ayres. His +father never knew of his guilt; never will know now, thank God! He +mourned bitterly, of course, poor, dear old chap; but--well, Heaven +tempers all things with its mercy. The rascal did not die an only son. +There's another now, born three months ago. The longer I live the more +sure I become that straight living always pays, and that Heaven never +forgets to punish and to reward." + +"Ten years of Scotland Yard have enabled me to endorse that statement +emphatically," replied Narkom. "'The riddle of the ninth finger' was no +different in that respect from nine hundred other riddles that have come +my way since I took office. Now sit down, old chap, and let us take up +the present case. But I say, Cleek, speaking of rewards reminds me of +what I wrote you. There's very little chance of one in this affair. All +the parties connected with it are in very moderate circumstances. The +sculptor fellow, Van Nant, who figures in it, was quite well to do at +one time, I believe, but he ran through the greater part of his money, +and a dishonest solicitor did him out of the rest. Miss Morrison herself +never did have any, and, as I have told you, the captain hasn't anything +in the world but his pension; and it takes every shilling of that to +keep them. In the circumstances, I'd have made it a simple 'Yard' +affair, chargeable to the Government, and put one of the regular staff +upon it. But it's such an astounding, such an unheard-of thing, I knew +you'd fairly revel in it. And besides, after all the rewards you _have_ +won you must be quite a well-to-do man by this time, and able to indulge +in a little philanthropy." + +Cleek smiled. + +"I will indulge in it, of course," he said, "but not for that reason, +Mr. Narkom. I wonder how much it will surprise you to learn that, at +the present moment, I have just one hundred pounds in all the world?" + +"My dear fellow!" Narkom exclaimed with a sort of gasp, staring at him +in round-eyed amazement. "You fairly take away my breath. Why, you must +have received a fortune since you took up these special cases. Fifty or +sixty thousand pounds at the smallest calculation." + +"More! To be precise, I have received exactly seventy-two thousand +pounds, Mr. Narkom. But, as I tell you, I have to-day but one hundred +pounds of that sum left. Lost in speculation? Oh, dear no! I've not +invested one farthing in any scheme, company, or purchase since the +night you gave me my chance and helped me to live an honest life." + +"Then in the name of Heaven, Cleek, what has become of the money?" + +"It has gone in the cause of my redemption, Mr. Narkom," he answered in +a hushed voice. "My good friend--for you really _have_ been a good +friend to me, the best I ever had in all the world--my good friend, let +us for only just this one minute speak of the times that lie behind. You +know what redeemed me, a woman's eyes, a woman's rose-white soul. I +said, did I not, that I wanted to win her, wanted to be worthy of her, +wanted to climb up and stand with her in the light? You remember that, +do you not, Mr. Narkom?" + +"Yes, I remember. But, my dear fellow, why speak of your 'Vanishing +Cracksman' days when you have so utterly put them behind you, and for +five whole years have lived a life beyond reproach? Whatever you did in +those times you have amply atoned for. And what can that have to do with +your impoverished state?" + +"It has everything to do with it. I said I would be worthy of that one +dear woman, and I never can be, Mr. Narkom, until I have made +restitution; until I can offer her a clean hand as well as a clean +life. I can't restore the actual things that the 'Vanishing Cracksman' +stole; for they are gone beyond recall, but I can, at least, restore the +value of them, and that I have been secretly doing for a long time." + +"Man alive! God bless my soul! Cleek, my dear fellow, do you mean to +tell me that all the rewards, all the money you have earned in the past +five years----" + +"Have gone to the people from whom I stole things in the wretched old +days that lie behind me," he finished very gently. "It goes back, in +secret gifts, as fast as it is earned, Mr. Narkom. Don't you see the +answers, the acknowledgments, in the 'Personal' columns of the papers +now and again? Wheresoever I robbed in those old days, I am repaying in +these. When the score is wiped off, when the last robbery is paid for, +my hand will be clean, and I can offer it; never before." + +"Cleek! My dear fellow! What a man! What a _man_! Oh, more than ever am +I certain _now_ that old Sir Horace Wyvern was right that night when he +said that you were a gentleman. Tell me--I'll respect it--tell me, for +God's sake, man, who are you? What are you, dear friend?" + +"Cleek," he made reply. "Just Cleek! The rest is my secret and--God's! +We've never spoken of the past since _that_ night, Mr. Narkom, and, with +your kind permission, we never will speak of it again. I'm Cleek, the +detective, at your service once more. Now, then, let's have the new +strange case on which you called me here. What's it all about?" + +"Necromancy--wizardry--fairy-lore--all the stuff and nonsense that goes +to the making of 'The Arabian nights'!" said Narkom, waxing excited as +his thoughts were thus shoved back to the amazing affair he had in hand. +"All your 'Red Crawls' and your 'Sacred Sons' and your 'Nine-fingered +Skeletons' are fools to it for wonder and mystery. Talk about +witchcraft! Talk about wizards and giants and enchanters and the things +that witches did in the days of Macbeth! God bless my soul, they're +nothing to it. Those were the days of magic, anyhow, so you can take it +or leave it, as you like; but this---- Look here, Cleek, you've heard of +a good many queer things and run foul of a good many mysteries, I'll +admit, but did you ever in this twentieth century, when witchcraft and +black magic are supposed to be as dead as Queen Anne, hear of such a +marvel as a man putting on a blue leather belt that was said to have the +power of rendering the wearer invisible, and then forthwith melting into +thin air and floating off like a cloud of pipe smoke?" + +"Gammon!" + +"Gammon nothing! Facts!" + +"Facts? You're out of your head, man. The thing couldn't possibly +happen. Somebody's having you!" + +"Well, somebody had _him_, at all events. Young Carboys, I mean--the +chap that's engaged, or, rather, was engaged, to Captain Morrison's +daughter; and the poor girl's half out of her mind over it. He put the +belt on in the presence of her and her father in their own house, mind +you walked into a bedroom, and vanished like smoke. Doors locked, +windows closed, room empty, belt on the floor and man gone. Not a trace +of him from that moment to this; and yesterday was to have been his +wedding day. There's a 'mystery' if you like. What do you make of that?" + +Cleek looked at him for an instant. Then: + +"My dear Mr. Narkom, for the moment I thought you were fooling," he said +in a tone of deep interest. "But I see now that you are quite in +earnest, although the thing sounds so preposterous, a child might be +expected to scoff at it. A man to get a magic belt; to put it on, and +then to melt away? Why, the 'Seven-league Boots' couldn't be a greater +tax on one's credulity. Sit down and tell me all about it." + +"The dickens of it is there doesn't seem to be much to tell," said +Narkom, accepting the invitation. "Young Carboys, who appears to have +been a decent sort of chap, had neither money, position, nor enemies, so +that's an end to any idea of somebody having a reason for wishing to get +rid of him; and, as he was devotedly attached to Miss Morrison, and was +counting the very hours to the time of their wedding, and, in addition, +had no debts, no entanglement of any sort and no possible reason for +wishing to disappear, there isn't the slightest ground for suspecting +that he did so voluntarily." + +"Suppose you tell me the story from the beginning, and leave me to draw +my own conclusions regarding that," said Cleek. "Who and what was the +man? Was he living in the same house with his fiancee, then? You say the +disappearance occurred there, at night, and that he went into a bedroom. +Was the place his home as well as Captain Morrison's, then?" + +"On the contrary. His home was a matter of three or four miles distant. +He was merely stopping at the Morrisons' on that particular night; I'll +tell you presently why and how he came to do that. For the present, +let's take things in their proper order. Once upon a time this George +Carboys occupied a fair position in the world, and his parents--long +since dead--were well to do. The son, being an only child, was well +looked after, sent to Eton and then to Brasenose, and all that sort of +thing, and the future looked very bright for him. Before he was +twenty-one, however, his father lost everything through unlucky +speculations, and that forced the son to make his own living. At the +'Varsity he had fallen in with a rich young Belgian, named Maurice Van +Nant, who had a taste for sculpture and the fine arts generally, and +they had become the warmest and closest of friends." + +"Maurice Van Nant? That's the sculptor fellow you said in the beginning +had gone through his money, isn't it?" + +"Yes. Well, when young Carboys was thrown on the world, so to speak, +this Van Nant came to the rescue, made a place for him as private +secretary and companion, and for three or four years they knocked round +the world together, going to Egypt, Persia, India, etcetera, as Van Nant +was mad on the subject of Oriental art, and wished to study it at the +fountain head. In the meantime both Carboys' parents went over to the +silent majority, and left him without a relative in the world, barring +Captain Morrison, who is an uncle about seven times removed, and would, +of course, naturally be heir-at-law to anything he left if he had had +anything to leave, poor beggar, which he hadn't. But that's getting +ahead of the story. + +"Well, at the end of four years or so Van Nant came to the bottom of his +purse, hadn't a stiver left; and from dabbling in art for pleasure, had +to come down to it as a means of earning a livelihood. And he and +Carboys returned to England, and, for purposes of economy, pooled their +interests, took a small box of a house over Putney way, set up a regular +'bachelor establishment,' and started in the business of bread winning +together. Carboys succeeded in getting a clerk's position in town; Van +Nant set about modelling clay figures and painting mediocre pictures, +and selling both whenever he could find purchasers. + +"Naturally, these were slow in coming, few and far between; but with +Carboys' steady two pounds a week coming in, they managed to scrape +along and to keep themselves going. They were very happy, too, despite +the fact that Carboys had got himself engaged to Miss Morrison, and was +hoarding every penny he could possibly save in order to get enough to +marry on; and this did not tend to make Van Nant overjoyed, as such a +marriage would, of course, mean the end of their long association and +the giving up of their bachelor quarters." + +"To say nothing of leaving Van Nant to rub along as best he could +without any assistance from Carboys," commented Cleek. "I think I can +guess a portion of what resulted, Mr. Narkom. Van Nant did not, of +course, in these circumstances have any very tender regard for Miss +Morrison." + +"No, he did not. In point of fact, he disliked her very much indeed, and +viewed the approaching wedding with extreme disfavour." + +"And yet you say that nobody had an interest in doing Carboys some sort +of mischief in order to prevent that wedding from being consummated, Mr. +Narkom," said Cleek with a shrug of the shoulders. "Certainly, Van Nant +would have been glad to see a spoke put in that particular wheel; though +I freely confess I do not see what good could come of preventing it by +doing away with Carboys, as he would then be in as bad a position as if +the marriage had been allowed to proceed as planned. Either way he loses +Carboys' companionship and assistance; and his one wish would be to +preserve both. Well, go on. What next? I'm anxious to hear about the +belt. Where and how does that come in?" + +"Well, it appears that Miss Morrison got hold of a humorous book called +'The Brass Bottle,' a fantastic, farcical thing, about a genie who had +been sealed up in a bottle for a thousand years getting out and causing +the poor devil of a hero no end of worry by heaping riches and honours +upon him in the most embarrassing manner. It happened that on the night +Miss Morrison got this book, and read it aloud for the amusement of her +father and lover, Carboys had persuaded Van Nant to spend the evening +with them. Apparently he enjoyed himself, too, for he laughed as +boisterously as any of them over the farcical tale, and would not go +home until he had heard the end of it. When it was finished, Miss +Morrison tells me, Carboys, after laughing fit to split his sides over +the predicament of the hero of the book, cried out: 'By George! I wish +some old genie would take it into his head to hunt _me_ up, and try the +same sort of a dodge with _me_. He wouldn't find this chicken shying his +gold and his gems back at his head, I can tell you. I'd accept all the +Arab slaves and all the palaces he wanted to thrust on me; and then I'd +make 'em all over to you, Mary, dear, so you'd never have to do another +day's worrying or pinching in all your life. But never you nor anybody +else depend upon an Arab's gratitude or an Arab's generosity. He'll +promise you the moon, and then wriggle out of giving you so much as a +star--just as Abdul ben Meerza did with me.' And upon Miss Morrison +asking what he meant by that, he replied, laughingly: 'Ask Van; he knew +the old codger better than I--knew his whole blessed family, blow +him!--and was able to talk to the old skinflint in his own outlandish +tongue.' + +"Upon Miss Morrison's acting on this suggestion, Van Nant told of an +adventure Carboys had had in Persia some years previously. It appears +that he saved the life of a miserly old Arab called Abdul ben Meerza at +the risk of his own; that the old man was profuse in his expressions of +gratitude, and, on their parting, had said: 'By the Prophet, thou shalt +yet find the tree of this day's planting bear rich fruit for thee and +thy feet walk upon golden stones.' But, in spite of this promise, he had +walked away, and Carboys had never heard another word from nor of him +from that hour until three nights ago." + +"Oho!" said Cleek, with a strong, rising inflection. "And he did hear of +him, then?" + +"Yes," replied Narkom. "Quite unexpectedly, and while he was preparing +to spend a dull evening at home with Van Nant--for the night was, as you +must recollect, my dear fellow, a horribly wet and stormy one--a message +came to him from Miss Morrison, asking him to come over to Wandsworth +without delay, as a most amazing thing had happened. A box marked 'From +Abdul ben Meerza' had been delivered there, of all astonishing places. +The message concluded by saying that as it was such a horrible night the +captain, her father, would not hear of his returning, so begged him to +bring his effects, and come prepared to remain until morning. + +"He went, of course, carrying with him a small bag containing his +pyjamas, his shaving tackle, and such few accessories as would be +necessary, since, if he stopped, he must start from there to business in +the morning; and on his arrival was handed a small leather case +addressed as he had been told. Imagining all sorts of wonders, from +jewels of fabulous value to documents entitling him to endless wealth, +he unfastened the case, and found within it a broad belt of blue +enamelled leather secured with a circular brass clasp, on which was +rudely scratched in English the words, 'The wizards of the East grew +rich by being unseen. Whoso clasps this belt about his waist may become +invisible for the wishing. So does ben Meerza remember.' + +"Of course, Carboys treated it as the veriest rubbish--who wouldn't? +Indeed, he suspected Van Nant of having played a joke upon him, and +laughingly threw it aside. Then, finding that he had taken an +uncomfortable journey for nothing, got some good out of it by spending a +pleasant evening with the captain and his daughter. A room had been made +ready for him--in fact, although he did not know it, Miss Morrison had +given him hers, and had herself gone to a less attractive one--and in +due time he prepared to turn in for the night. As they parted Miss +Morrison, in a bantering spirit, picked up the belt and handed it to +him, remarking that he had better keep it, as, after marriage, he might +some time be glad to creep into the house unseen. In the same bantering +spirit he had replied that he had better begin learning how the thing +worked in case of necessity, and, taking the belt, clasped it round his +waist, said good-night, and stepped into the room prepared for him. Miss +Morrison and her father heard him close the door and pull down the +blind, and that was the last that was seen or heard of him. + +"In the morning the bed was found undisturbed, his locked bag on a +chair, and in the middle of the floor the blue leather belt; but of the +man himself there was not one trace to be found. There, that's the +story, Cleek. Now what do you make of it?" + +"I shall be able to tell you better after I have seen the parties +concerned," said Cleek after a moment's pause. "You have brought your +motor, of course? Let us step into it, then, and whizz round to Captain +Morrison's house. What's that? Oh, undoubtedly a case of foul play, Mr. +Narkom. But as to the motive and the matter of who is guilty, it is +impossible to decide until I have looked further into the evidence. Do +me a favour, will you? After you have left me at the captain's house, +'phone up the Yard, and let me have the secret cable code with the East; +also, if you can, the name of the chief of the Persian police." + +"My dear chap, you can't really place any credence in that absurd +assertion regarding the blue belt? You can't possibly think that Abdul +ben Meerza really did send the thing?" + +"No, I can't," said Cleek in reply. "Because, to the best of my belief, +it is impossible for a dead man to send anything; and, if my memory +doesn't betray me, I fancy I read in the newspaper accounts of that big +Tajik rising at Khotour a couple of months ago, that the leader one +Abdul ben Meerza, a rich but exceedingly miserly merchant of the +province of Elburz, was, by the Shah's command, bastinadoed within an +inch of his life, and then publicly beheaded." + +"By Jove! I believe you are right, my dear fellow," asserted Narkom. "I +thought the name had a familiar sound as if I had, somewhere, heard it +before. I suppose there is no likelihood, by any chance, that the old +skinflint could have lived up to his promise and left poor Carboys +something, after all, Cleek? Because, you know, if he did----" + +"Captain Morrison would, as heir-at-law, inherit it," supplemented Cleek +dryly. "Get out the motor, Mr. Narkom, and let's spin round and see him. +I fancy I should like a few minutes' conversation with the captain. +And--Mr. Narkom?" + +"Yes?" + +"We'll stick to the name 'George Headland' if you please. When you are +out for birds it doesn't do to frighten them off beforehand." + + +II + +It did not take more than five minutes to cover the distance between +Sunnington Crescent and the modest little house where Captain Morrison +and his daughter lived; so in a very brief time Cleek had the +satisfaction of interviewing both. + +Narkom's assertion that Miss Morrison was "half out of her mind over the +distressing affair" had prepared him to encounter a weeping, red-eyed, +heart-broken creature of the most excitable type. He found instead a +pale, serious-faced, undemonstrative girl of somewhat uncertain age, +sweet of voice, soft of step, quiet of demeanour, who was either one of +those persons who repress all external evidence of internal fires, and +bear their crosses in silence, or was as cold blooded as a fish and as +heartless as a statue. He found the father the exact antithesis of the +daughter: a nervous, fretful, irritable individual (gout had him by the +heels at the time), who was as full of "yaps" and snarls as any Irish +terrier, and as peevish and fussy as a fault-finding old woman. Added to +this, he had a way of glancing all round the room, and avoiding the eye +of the person to whom he was talking. And if Cleek had been like the +generality of people, and hadn't known that some of the best and +"straightest" men in the world had been afflicted in this manner, and +some of the worst and "crookedest" could look you straight in the eyes +without turning a hair, he might have taken this for a bad sign. Then, +too, he seemed to have a great many more wrappings and swaddlings about +his gouty foot than appeared to be necessary, unless it was done to make +his helpless state very apparent, and to carry out his assertion that he +hadn't been able to walk a foot unassisted for the past week, and could +not, therefore, be in any way connected with young Carboys' mysterious +disappearance. Still, even that had its contra aspect. He _might_ be one +of those individuals who make a mountain of agony out of a molehill of +pain, and insist upon a dozen poultices where one would do. + +But Cleek could not forget that, as Narkom had said, there was not the +shadow of doubt that in the event of Carboys having died possessed of +means, the captain would be the heir-at-law by virtue of his kinship; +and it is a great deal more satisfactory to be rich oneself than to be +dependent upon the generosity of a rich son-in-law. So, after adroitly +exercising the "pump" upon other matters: + +"I suppose, Miss Morrison," said Cleek in a casual, off-hand sort of +way, "you don't happen to know if Mr. Carboys ever made a will, do you? +I am aware, from what Mr. Narkom has told me of his circumstances, that +he really possessed nothing that would call for the execution of such a +document; but young men have odd fancies sometimes, particularly when +they become engaged, so it is just possible that he might have done such +a thing. There might have been a ring or something of that sort he +wanted to make sure of your getting should anything happen to him. Of +course, it is an absurd suggestion, but----" + +"It is not so absurd as you think, Mr. Headland," she interrupted. "As +it happens, Mr. Carboys did make a will. But that was a very long time +ago before he knew me, so my name did not figure in it at all. He once +told me of the circumstances connected with it. It was executed when he +was about three-and-twenty. It appears that there were some personal +trinkets, relics of his more prosperous days: a set of jewelled +waistcoat buttons, a scarf-pin, a few choice books and things like that, +which he desired Mr. Van Nant to have in the event of his death (they +were then going to the Orient, and times there were troublous); so he +drew up a will, leaving everything he might die possessed of to Mr. Van +Nant, and left the paper with the latter's solicitor when they bade +good-bye to England. So far as I know, that will still exists, Mr. +Headland; so"--here the faintest suggestion of a quiver got into her +voice--"if anything of a tragical nature had happened to him, and--and +the trinkets hadn't disappeared with him, Mr. Van Nant could claim them +all, and I should not have even one poor little token to cherish in +memory of him. And I am sure, I am very sure that if he had known--if he +had thought----" + +"Mary, for goodness' sake don't begin to snivel!" chimed in her father +querulously. "It gets on my nerves. And you know very well how I am +suffering! Of course, it was most inconsiderate of Carboys not to +destroy that will as soon as you and he were engaged, but he knew that +marriage invalidates any will a man may have made previously, and--well, +you can't suppose that he ever expected things to turn out as they have +done. Besides, Van Nant would have seen that you got _something_ to +treasure as a remembrance. He's a very decent chap, is Van Nant, Mr. +Headland, although my daughter has never appeared to think so. But +there's no arguing with a woman, any way." + +Cleek glanced at Narkom. It was a significant glance, and said as +plainly as so many words: "What do you think of it? You said there was +no motive, and, provided Carboys fell heir to something of which we know +nothing as yet, here are _two_! If that will was destroyed, one man +would, as heir-at-law, inherit; ditto the other man if it was _not_ +destroyed and not invalidated by marriage. And here's the 'one' man +singing the praises of the 'other' one!" + +"Collusion?" queried Narkom's answering look. "Perhaps," said Cleek's in +response, "one of these two men has made away with him. The question is, +which? and, also, why? when? where?" Then he turned to the captain's +daughter, and asked quietly: "Would you mind letting me see the room +from which the young man disappeared? I confess I haven't the ghost of +an idea regarding the case, captain; but if you don't mind letting your +daughter show me the room----" + +"Mind? Good Lord, no!" responded the captain. "All I want to know is, +what became of the poor boy, and if there's any likelihood of his ever +coming back alive. I'd go up with you myself, only you see how helpless +I am. Mary, take Mr. Headland to the room. And please don't stop any +longer than is necessary. I'm suffering agonies, and not fit to be left +alone." + +Miss Morrison promised to return as expeditiously as possible, and then +forthwith led the way to the room in question. + +"This is it, Mr. Headland," she said as she opened the door and ushered +Cleek in. "Everything is just exactly as it was when George left it. I +couldn't bring myself to touch a thing until after a detective had seen +it. Father said it was silly and sentimental of me to go on sleeping in +the little box of a hall bedroom when I could be so much more +comfortable if I returned to my own. But I couldn't. I felt that I might +possibly be unconsciously destroying something in the shape of a clue if +I moved a solitary object; and so---- Look! there is the drawn blind +just as he left it; there his portmanteau on that chair by the bedside, +and there----" Her voice sank to a sort of awed whisper, her shaking +finger extended in the direction of a blue semicircle in the middle of +the floor. "There is the belt! He had it round his waist when he crossed +this threshold that night. It was lying there just as you see it when +the servant brought up his tea and his shaving water the next morning, +and found the room empty and the bed undisturbed." + +Cleek walked forward and picked up the belt. + +"Humph! Unfastened!" he said as he took it up; and Miss Morrison, +closing the door, went below and left them. "Our wonderful wizard does +not seem to have mastered the simple matter of making a man vanish out +of the thing without first unfastening the buckle, it appears. I should +have thought he could have managed that, shouldn't you, Mr. Narkom, if +he could have managed the business of making him melt into thin air? +Hurr-r-r!" reflectively, as he turned the belt over and examined it. +"Not seen much use, apparently; the leather's quite new, and the inside +quite unsoiled. British manufactured brass, too, in the buckle. +Shouldn't have expected that in a Persian-made article. Inscription +scratched on with the point of a knife or some other implement not +employed in metal engraving. May I trouble you for a pin? Thank you. +Hum-m-m! Thought so. Some dirty, clayey stuff rubbed in to make the +letters appear old and of long standing. Look here, Mr. Narkom; metal +quite bright underneath when you pick the stuff out. Inscription very +recently added; leather, American tanned; brass, Birmingham; stitching, +by the Blake shoe and harness machine; wizard, probably born in +Tottenham Court Road, and his knowledge of Persia confined to Persian +powder in four-penny tins." + +He laid the belt aside, and walked slowly round the room, inspecting its +contents before turning his attention to the portmanteau. + +"Evidently the vanishing qualities of the belt did not assert themselves +very rapidly, Mr. Narkom," he said, "for Mr. Carboys not only prepared +to go to bed, but had time to get himself ready to hurry off to business +in the morning with as little delay as possible. Look here; here are his +pyjamas on the top of this chest of drawers, neatly folded, just as he +left them out of his portmanteau; and as a razor has been wiped on this +towel (see this slim line of dust-like particles of hair), he shaved +before going to bed in order to save himself the trouble of doing so in +the morning. But as there is no shaving mug visible, and he couldn't get +hot water at that hour of the night, we shall probably discover a spirit +lamp and its equipment when we look into the portmanteau. Now, as he had +time to put these shaving articles away after using, and as no man +shaves with his collar and necktie on, if we do not find those, too, in +the portmanteau, we may conclude that he put them on again; and, as he +wouldn't put them on again if he were going to bed, the inference is +obvious: something caused him to dress and prepare to leave the house +voluntarily. That 'something' must have manifested itself very abruptly, +and demanded great haste--either that, or he expected to return; for you +will observe that, although he replaced his shaving tackle in the +portmanteau, he did not put his sleeping suit back with it. While I am +poking about, do me the favour of looking in the bag, Mr. Narkom, and +tell me if you find the collar and necktie there." + +"Not a trace of them," announced the superintendent a moment or two +later. "Here are the shaving mug, the brush, and the spirit lamp, +however, just as you suggested and---- Hallo! what have you stumbled +upon now?" For Cleek, who had been "poking about," as he termed it, had +suddenly stooped, picked up something, and was regarding it fixedly as +it lay in the palm of his hand. + +"A somewhat remarkable thing to discover in a lady's bedchamber, Mr. +Narkom, unless---- Just step downstairs, and ask Miss Morrison to come +up again for a moment, will you?" And then held out his hand so that +Narkom could see, in passing, that a hempseed, two grains of barley, and +an oat lay upon his palm. "Miss Morrison," he inquired as Mary returned +in company with the superintendent, "Miss Morrison, do you keep +pigeons?" + +She gave a little cry, and clasped her hands together, as if reproaching +herself for some heartless act. + +"Oh!" she said, moving hastily toward the window. "Poor dears! How good +of you to remind me. To think that I should forget to feed them for +three whole days. They may be dead by now. But at such a time I could +think of nothing but this hideous mystery. My pigeons, my poor, pretty +pigeons!" + +"Oh, then you do keep them?" + +"Yes; oh, yes. In a wire-enclosed cote attached to the house just +outside this window. Homing pigeons, Mr. Headland. George bought them +for me. We had an even half dozen each. We used to send messages to each +other that way. He would bring his over to me, and take mine away with +him at night when he went home, so we could correspond at any moment +without waiting for the post. That's how I sent him the message about +the arrival of the belt. Oh, do unlock the window, and let me see if +the pretty dears are still alive." + +"It doesn't need to be unlocked, Miss Morrison," he replied as he pulled +up the blind. "See, it can be opened easily--the catch is not secured." + +"Not secured? Why, how strange. I myself fastened it after I despatched +the bird with the message about the belt. And nobody came into the room +after that until George did so that night. Oh, do look and see if the +pretty creatures are dead. They generally coo so persistently; and now I +don't hear a sound from them." + +Cleek threw up the sash and looked out. A huge wistaria with tendrils as +thick as a man's wrist covered the side of the house, and made a +veritable ladder down to the little garden; and, firmly secured to this, +on a level with the window-sill and within easy reach therefrom, was the +dovecote in question. He put in his hand, and slowly drew out four +stiff, cold, feathered little bodies, and laid them on the +dressing-table before her; then, while she was grieving over them, he +groped round in all corners of the cote and drew forth still another. + +"Five?" she exclaimed in surprise. "Five? Oh, but there should be only +four, Mr. Headland. It is true that George brought over all six the day +before; but I 'flew' one to him in the early morning, and I 'flew' a +second at night, with the message about the belt; so there should be but +four." + +"Oh, well, possibly one was 'flown' by him to you, and it 'homed' +without your knowledge." + +[Illustration: SWINGING THE HAMMER, HE STRUCK AT THE NYMPH WITH A FORCE +THAT SHATTERED THE MONSTROUS THING TO ATOMS] + +"Yes, but it couldn't get inside the wired enclosure unassisted, Mr. +Headland. See! that spring door has to be opened when it is 'returned' +to the cote after it has carried its message home. You see, I trained +them, by feeding them in here, to come into this room when they were +flown back to me. They always flew directly in if the window was +opened, or gave warning of their presence by fluttering about and +beating against the panes if the sash was closed. And for a fifth pigeon +to be inside the enclosure--I can't understand the thing at all. Oh, Mr. +Headland, do you think it is anything in the nature of a clue?" + +"It may be," he replied evasively. "Clues are funny things, Miss +Morrison; you never know when you may pick one up, nor how. I shouldn't +say anything to anybody about this fifth pigeon, if I were you. Let that +be our secret for awhile; and if your father wants to know why I sent +for you to come up here again just say I have discovered that your +pigeons are dead for want of food." And for a moment or two, after she +had closed the door and gone below again, he stood looking at Mr. Narkom +and slowly rubbing his thumb and forefinger up and down his chin. Then, +of a sudden: + +"I think, Mr. Narkom, we can fairly decide, on the evidence of that +fifth pigeon, that George Carboys left this room voluntarily," returned +Cleek; "that the bird brought him a message of such importance it was +necessary to leave this house at once, and that, not wishing to leave it +unlocked while he was absent, and not--because of the captain's +inability to get back upstairs afterward--having anybody to whom he +could appeal to get up and lock it after him, he chose to get out of +this window, and to go down by means of that wistaria. I think, too, we +may decide that, as he left no note to explain his absence, he expected +to return before morning, and that, as he never did return, he has met +with foul play. Of course, it is no use looking for footprints in the +garden in support of this hypothesis, for the storm that night was a +very severe one and quite sufficient to blot out all trace of them; +but---- Look here, Mr. Narkom, put two and two together. If a message +was sent him by a carrier pigeon, where must that pigeon have come +from, since it was one of Miss Morrison's?" + +"Why, from Van Nant's place, of course. It couldn't possibly come from +any other." + +"Exactly. And as Van Nant and Carboys lived together--kept bachelor +hall--and there was never anybody but their two selves in the house at +any time, why, nobody but Van Nant himself could have despatched the +bird. Look at that fragment of burnt paper lying in the basin of that +candlestick on the washstand. If that isn't all that's left of the paper +that was tied under the pigeon's wing, and if Carboys didn't use it for +the purpose of lighting the spirit lamp by which he heated his shaving +water, depend upon it that, in his haste and excitement, he tucked it +into his pocket, and if ever we find his body we shall find that paper +on it." + +"His body? My dear Cleek, you don't believe that the man has been +murdered?" + +"I don't know--yet. I shall, however, if this Van Nant puts anything in +the way of my searching that house thoroughly or makes any pretext to +follow me whilst I am doing so. I want to meet this Maurice Van Nant +just as soon as I can, Mr. Narkom, just as soon as I can." + +And it was barely two minutes after he had expressed this wish that Miss +Morrison reappeared upon the scene accompanied by a pale, nervous, +bovine-eyed man of about thirty-five years of age, and said in a tone of +agitation: "Pardon me for interrupting, Mr. Headland, but this is Mr. +Maurice Van Nant. He is most anxious to meet you, and father would have +me bring him up at once." + +Narkom screwed round on his heel, looked at the Belgian, and lost faith +in Miss Morrison's powers of discrimination instantly. On the +dressing-table stood Carboys' picture--heavy-jowled, sleepy-eyed, +dull-looking, and on the threshold stood a man with the kindest eyes, +the sweetest smile, and the handsomest and most sympathetic countenance +he had seen in many a day. If the eyes are the mirror of the soul, if +the face is the index of the character, then here was a man weak as +water, as easily led as any lamb, and as guileless. + +"You are just the man I want to see, Mr. Van Nant," said Cleek, after +the first formalities were over, and assuming, as he always did at such +times, the heavy, befogged expression of incompetence. "I confess this +bewildering affair altogether perplexes me; but you, I understand, were +Mr. Carboys' close friend and associate, and as I can find nothing in +the nature of a clue here, I should like, with your permission, to look +over his home quarters and see if I can find anything there." + +If he had looked for any sign of reluctance or of embarrassment upon Van +Nant's part when such a request should be made, he was wholly +disappointed, for the man, almost on the point of tears, seized his +hand, pressed it warmly, and said in a voice of eager entreaty, "Oh, do, +Mr. Headland, do. Search anywhere, do anything that will serve to find +my friend and to clear up this dreadful affair. I can't sleep for +thinking of it; I can't get a moment's peace night or day. You didn't +know him or you would understand how I am tortured and how I miss him. +The best friend, the dearest and the lightest-hearted fellow that ever +lived. If I had anything left in this world, I'd give it all--all, Mr. +Headland, to clear up the mystery of this thing and to get him back. One +man could do that, I believe, could and would, if I had the money to +offer him." + +"Indeed? And who may he be, Mr. Van Nant?" + +"The great, the amazing, the undeceivable man, Cleek. He'd get at the +truth of it. Nothing could baffle and bewilder him. But--oh, well, it's +the old, old tale of the power of money. He wouldn't take the case, a +high-and-mighty 'top-notcher' like that, unless the reward was a +tempting one, I'm sure." + +"No, I'm afraid he wouldn't," agreed Cleek, with the utmost composure. +"So you must leave him out of your calculations altogether, Mr. Van +Nant. And now, if you don't mind accompanying us and showing the +chauffeur the way, perhaps Mr. Narkom will take us over to your house in +his motor." + +"Mind? No, certainly I don't mind. Anything in the world to get at a +clue to this thing, Mr. Headland, anything. Do let us go, and at once." + +Cleek led the way from the room. Halfway down the stairs, however, he +excused himself on the plea of having forgotten his magnifying glass, +and ran back to get it. Two minutes later he rejoined them in the little +drawing-room, where the growling captain was still demanding the whole +time and attention of his daughter, and, the motor being ready, the +three men walked out, got into it, and were whisked away to the house +which once had been the home of the vanished George Carboys. + +It proved to be a small, isolated brick house in very bad condition, +standing in an out-of-the-way road somewhere between Putney and +Wimbledon. It stood, somewhat back from the road, in the midst of a +little patch of ground abounding in privet and laurel bushes, and it was +evident that its cheapness had been its chief attraction to the two men +who had rented it, although, on entering, it was found to possess at the +back a sort of extension, with top and side lights, which must have +appealed to Van Nant's need of something in the nature of a studio. At +all events, he had converted it into a very respectable apology for one; +and Cleek was not a little surprised by what it contained. + +Rich stuffs, bits of tapestry, Persian draperies, Arabian +prayer-mats--relics of his other and better days and of his Oriental +wanderings--hung on the walls and ornamented the floor; his rejected +pictures and his unsold statues, many of them life-sized and all of clay +coated with a lustreless paint to make them look like marble, were +disposed about the place with an eye to artistic effect, and near to an +angle where stood on a pedestal, half concealed, half revealed by +artistically arranged draperies, the life-size figure of a Roman +senator, in toga and sandals, there was the one untidy spot, the one +utterly inartistic thing the room contained. + +It was the crude, half-finished shape of a recumbent female figure, of +large proportions and abominable modelling, stretched out at full length +upon a long, low trestle-supported "sculptor's staging," on which also +lay Van Nant's modelling tools and his clay-stained working blouse. +Cleek looked at the huge, unnatural thing, out of drawing, anatomically +wrong in many particulars, and felt like quoting Angelo's famous remark +anent his master Lorenzo's faun: "What a pity to have spoilt so much +expensive material," and Van Nant, observing, waved his hand toward it. + +"A slumbering nymph," he explained. "Only the head and shoulders +finished as yet, you see. I began it the day before yesterday, but my +hand seems somehow to have lost its cunning. Here are the keys of all +the rooms, Mr. Headland. Carboys' was the one directly at the head of +the stairs, in the front. Won't you and Mr. Narkom go up and search +without me? I couldn't bear to look into the place and see the things +that belonged to him and he not there. It would cut me to the heart if I +did. Or, maybe you would sooner go alone, and leave Mr. Narkom to search +round this room. We used to make a general sitting-room of it at nights +when we were alone together, and some clue may have been dropped." + +"A good suggestion, Mr. Narkom," commented Cleek, as he took the keys. +"Look round and see what you can find, whilst I 'poke about' upstairs." +Then he walked out of the studio. And a few moments later, Narkom going +round and searching every nook and corner, whilst Van Nant, for the want +of something to occupy his mind and hands worked on the nymph, could +hear him moving about overhead in quest of possible clues. + +For perhaps twenty minutes Cleek was away; then he came down and walked +into the room looking the very picture of hopeless bewilderment. + +"Mr. Narkom," he said, "this case stumps me. I believe there's magic in +it, if you ask me; and as the only way to fight magic is with magic, I'm +going to consult a clairvoyante, and if one of those parties can't give +me a clue, I don't believe the mystery ever will be solved. I know of a +ripping good one, but she is over in Ireland, and as it's a dickens of a +way to go, I shan't be able to get back before the day after to-morrow +at the earliest. But--look here, sir, I'll tell you what! This is +Tuesday evening, isn't it? Now if you and Mr. Van Nant will be at +Captain Morrison's house on Thursday evening at seven o'clock, and will +wait there until I come, I'll tell you what that clairvoyante says, and +whether there's any chance of this thing being solved or not. Is that +agreeable, Mr. Van Nant?" + +"Quite, Mr. Headland. I'll be there promptly." + +"And stop until you hear from me?" + +"And stop until I hear from you." + +"Right you are, sir. Now then, Mr. Narkom, if you'll let the chauffeur +whisk me over to the station, I'll get back to London and on to the +earliest possible train for Liverpool, so as to be on hand for the first +Irish packet to-morrow. And while you're looking for your hat, sir--good +evening, Mr. Van Nant--I'll step outside and tell Lennard to crank up." + +With that, he passed out of the studio, walked down the hall, and went +out of the house. And half a minute later, when the superintendent +joined him, he found him sitting in the limousine and staring fixedly at +his toes. + +"My dear Cleek, did you find anything?" he queried as he took a seat +beside him, and the motor swung out into the road and whizzed away. "Of +course, I know you've no more idea of going to Liverpool than you have +of taking a pot-shot at the moon; but there's something on your mind. I +know the signs, Cleek. What is it?" + +The response to this was rather startling. + +"Mr. Narkom," said Cleek, answering one question with another, "what's +the best thing to make powdered bismuth stick: lard, cold cream, or +cocoa butter?" + + +III + +If punctuality is a virtue, then Mr. Maurice Van Nant deserved to go on +record as one of the most virtuous men in existence. For the little +Dutch clock in Captain Morrison's drawing-room had barely begun to +strike seven on the following Thursday evening when he put in an +appearance there, and found the captain and his daughter anxiously +awaiting him. But, as virtue is, on most excellent authority, its own +reward, he had to be satisfied with the possession of it, since neither +Narkom nor Cleek was there to meet him. + +But the reason for this defection was made manifest when Miss Morrison +placed before him a telegram which had arrived some ten minutes earlier +and read as follows: "Unavoidably delayed. Be with you at nine-thirty. +Ask Mr. Van Nant to wait. Great and welcome piece of news for him, +Narkom." + +Van Nant smiled. + +"Great and welcome news," he repeated. "Then Mr. Headland must have +found something in the nature of a clue in Ireland, captain, though +what he could find there I can't imagine. Frankly, I thought him a +stupid sort of fellow, but if he has managed to find a clue to poor +George's whereabouts over in Ireland, he must be sharper than I +believed. Well, we shall know about that at half-past nine, when Mr. +Narkom comes. I hope nothing will happen to make him disappoint us +again." + +Nothing did. Promptly at the hour appointed the red limousine whizzed up +to the door, and Mr. Narkom made his appearance. But, contrary to the +expectations of the three occupants of the little drawing-room, he was +quite alone. + +"So sorry I couldn't come earlier," he said, as he came in, looking and +acting like the bearer of great good news; "but you will appreciate the +delay when I tell you what caused it. What's that, Mr. Van Nant? +Headland? No, he's not with me. As a matter of fact, I've dispensed with +his services in this particular case. Fancy, Miss Morrison, the muff +came back from Ireland this evening, said the clairvoyante he consulted +went into a trance, and told him that the key to the mystery could only +be discovered in Germany, and he wanted me to sanction his going over +there on no better evidence than that. Of course, I wouldn't; so I took +him off the case forthwith, and set out to get another and a better man +to handle it. That's what delayed me. And now, Mr. Van Nant"--fairly +beaming, and rubbing his palms together delightedly--"here's where the +great and welcome news I spoke of comes in. I remembered how your heart +is wrapped up in the solving of this great puzzle and what you said +about it being a question of money alone; and so, what do you think I +did? I went to that great man, Cleek. I laid the matter before him, told +him there was no reward, that it was just a matter of sheer +humanity--the consciousness of doing his duty and helping another fellow +in distress--and, throw up your hat and cheer, my dear fellow, for +you've got your heart's desire: Cleek's consented to take the case!" + +A little flurry of excitement greeted this announcement. Miss Morrison +grabbed his hand and burst into tears of gratitude; the captain, +forgetting in his delight the state of his injured foot, rose from his +chair, only to remember suddenly and sit down again, his half-uttered +cheer dying on his lips; and Van Nant, as if overcome by this unexpected +boon, this granting of a wish he had never dared to hope would be +fulfilled, could only clap both hands over his face and sob +hysterically. + +"Cleek!" he said, in a voice that shook with nervous catches and the +emotion of a soul deeply stirred, "Cleek to take the case? The great, +the amazing, the undeceivable Cleek! Oh, Mr. Narkom, can this be true?" + +"As true as that you are standing here this minute, my dear sir. Not so +much of a money grabber as that muff Headland wanted you to believe, is +he--eh? Waived every hope of a reward, and took the case on the spot. +He'll get at the root of it, Lord, yes! Lay you a sovereign to a +sixpence, Mr. Van Nant, he gets to the bottom of it and finds out what +became of George Carboys in forty-eight hours after he begins on the +case." + +"And when will he begin, Mr. Narkom? To-morrow? The next day? Or not +this week at all? When, sir--when?" + +"When? Why, bless your heart, man, he's begun already or, at least, will +do so in another hour and a half. He's promised to meet us at your house +at eleven o'clock to-night. Chose that place because he lives at Putney, +and it's nearer. Eleven was the hour he set, though, of course, he may +arrive sooner; there's no counting on an erratic fellow like that chap. +So we'll make it eleven, and possess our souls in patience until it's +time to start." + +"But, my dear Mr. Narkom, wouldn't it be better, or, at least, more +hospitable if I went over to meet him, in case he does come earlier? +There's no one in the house, remember, and it's locked up." + +"Lord bless you, that won't bother him! Never travels without his tools, +you know, skeleton keys, and all that, and he'll be in the house before +you can wink an eye. Still, of course, if you'd rather be there to admit +him in the regulation way----" + +"It would at least be more courteous, Mr. Narkom," Miss Morrison +interposed. "So great a man doing so great a favour---- Oh, yes, I +really think that Mr. Van Nant should." + +"Oh, well, let him then, by all means," said Narkom. "Go, if you choose, +Mr. Van Nant. I'd let you have my motor, only I must get over to the +station and 'phone up headquarters on another affair in five minutes." + +"It doesn't matter, thank you all the same. I can get a taxi at the top +of the road," said Van Nant; and then, making his excuses to Miss +Morrison and her father, he took up his hat and left the house. As a +matter of fact, it was only courtesy that made him say that about the +taxi, for there is rarely one to be found waiting about in the +neighbourhood of Wandsworth Common after half-past nine o'clock at +night, and nobody could have been more surprised than he when he +actually did come across one, loitering about aimlessly and quite empty, +before he had gone two dozen yards. + +He engaged it on the spot, jumped into it, gave the chauffeur his +directions, and a minute later was whizzing away to the isolated house. +It was eight minutes past ten when he reached it, standing as black and +lightless as when he left it four hours ago, and, after paying off the +chauffeur and dismissing the vehicle, he fumbled nervously for his +latchkey, found it, unlocked the door, and went hurriedly in. + +"Have you come yet, Mr. Cleek?" he called out, as he shut the door and +stood in the pitch-black hall. "Mr. Cleek! Mr. Cleek, are you here? It +is I--Maurice Van Nant. Mr. Narkom has sent me on ahead." + +Not a sound answered him, not even an echo. He sucked in his breath with +a sort of wheezing sound, then groped round the hall table till he found +his bedroom candle, and striking a match, lit it. The staircase leading +to the upper floors gaped at him out of the partial gloom, and he fairly +sprang at it. He was halfway up it when some other idea possessed him, +brought him to a sudden standstill, and, facing round abruptly, he went +back to the lower hall again, glimmering along it like a shadow, with +the inadequate light held above him, and moving fleetly to the studio in +the rear. + +The door stood partly open, just as he had left it. He pushed it inward +and stepped over the threshold. + +"Mr. Cleek!" he called again. "Mr. Cleek! Are you here?" + +And again the silence alone answered him. The studio was as he had seen +it last, save for those fantastic shadows which the candle's wavering +flame wreathed in the dim corners and along the pictured walls. There, +on its half-draped pedestal, the Roman senator stood, dead white against +the purple background, and there, close to the foot of it, the great +bulk of the disproportionate nymph still sprawled, finished and +whitewashed now, and looking even more of a monstrosity than ever in +that waving light. + +He gave one deep gulping sigh of relief, flashed across the room on +tiptoe, and went down on his knees beside the monstrous thing, moving +the candle this way and that along the length of it, as if searching for +something, and laughing in little jerky gasps of relief when he found +nothing that was not as it had been--as it should be--as he wanted it to +be. And then, as he rose and patted the clay, and laughed aloud as he +realized how hard it had set, then, at that instant, a white shape +lurched forward and swooped downward, carrying him down with it. The +candle slipped from his fingers and clattered on the floor, a pair of +steel handcuffs clicked as they closed round his wrists, a voice above +him said sharply: "You wanted Cleek, I believe? Well, Cleek's got you, +you sneaking murderer! Gentlemen, come in! Allow me to turn over to you +the murderer of George Carboys! You'll find the body inside that +slumbering nymph!" + +And the last thing that Mr. Maurice Van Nant saw, as he shrieked and +fainted, the last thing he realized, was that lights were flashing up +and men tumbling in through the opening windows; that the Roman +senator's pedestal was empty, and the figure which once had stood upon +it was bending over him--alive! + +And just at that moment the red limousine flashed up out of the +darkness, the outer door whirled open, and Narkom came pelting in. + +"He took the bait, then, Cleek?" he cried, as he saw the manacled figure +on the floor, with the "Roman senator" bending over and the policemen +crowding in about it. "I guessed it when I saw the lights flash up. I've +been on his heels ever since he snapped at that conveniently placed taxi +after he left Miss Morrison and her father." + +"You haven't brought them with you, I hope, Mr. Narkom? I wouldn't have +that poor girl face the ordeal of what's to be revealed here to-night +for words." + +"No, I've not. I made a pretext of having to 'phone through to +headquarters, and slipped out a moment after him. But, I say, my dear +chap"--as Cleek's hands made a rapid search of the pockets of the +unconscious man, and finally brought to light a folded paper--"what's +that thing? What are you doing?" + +"Compounding a felony in the interest of humanity," he made reply as he +put the end of the paper into the flame of the candle and held it there +until it was consumed. "We all do foolish things sometimes when we are +young, Mr. Narkom, and George Carboys was no exception when he wrote the +little thing I have just burned. Let us forget all about it. Captain +Morrison is heir-at-law, and that poor girl will benefit." + +"There was an estate, then?" + +"Yes. My cable yesterday to the head of the Persian police set all doubt +upon that point at rest. Abdul ben Meerza, parting with nothing while he +lived, after the manner of misers in general, left a will bequeathing +something like L12,000 to George Carboys, and his executor communicated +that fact to the supposed friend of both parties, Mr. Maurice Van Nant. +Exactly ten days ago, so his former solicitor informed me, Mr. Maurice +Van Nant visited him unexpectedly, and withdrew from his keeping a +sealed packet which had been in the firm's custody for eight years. If +you want to know why he withdrew it--Dollops!" + +"Right you are, guv'ner." + +"Give me the sledge-hammer. Thanks! Now, Mr. Narkom, look!" And swinging +the hammer, he struck at the nymph with a force that shattered the +monstrous thing to atoms; and Narkom, coming forward to look when Cleek +bent over the ruin he had wrought, saw in the midst of the dust and +rubbish the body of a dead man, fully clothed, and with the gap of a +bullet-hole in the left temple. + +Again Cleek's hands began a rapid search, and again, as before, they +brought to light a paper, a little crumpled ball of paper that had been +thrust into the right-hand pocket of the dead man's waistcoat, as though +jammed there under the stress of strong excitement and the pressure of +great haste. He smoothed it out and read it carefully, then passed it +over to Mr. Narkom. + +"There!" he said, "that's how he lured him over to his death. That's the +message the pigeon brought. Would any man have failed to fly to face the +author of a foul lie like that?" + +The message ran: + + Beloved Mary, come to me again to-night. How sweet of you to + think of such a thing as the belt to get him over and to make + him stop until morning! Steal out after he goes to bed, + darling. I'll leave the studio window unlocked, as usual. With + a thousand kisses, + + Your own devoted, + + MAURICE. + +"The dog!" said Narkom fiercely. "And against a pure creature like Mary +Morrison! Here, Smathers, Petrie, Hammond, take him away. Hanging's too +good for a beastly cur like that!" + + * * * * * + +"How did I know that the body was inside the statue?" said Cleek, +answering Narkom's query as they drove back in the red limousine toward +London and Clarges Street. "Well, as a matter of fact, I never did know +for certain until he began to examine the thing to-night. From the first +I felt sure he was at the bottom of the affair, that he had lured +Carboys back to the house, and murdered him; but it puzzled me to think +what could possibly have been done with the body. I felt pretty certain, +however, when I saw that monstrous statue." + +"Yes, but why?" + +"My dear Mr. Narkom, you ought not to ask that question. Did it not +strike you as odd that a man who was torn with grief over the +disappearance of a loved friend should think of modelling any sort of a +statue on that very first day, much less such an inartistic one as that? +Consider: the man has never been a first-class sculptor, it is true, +but he knew the rudiments of his art, he had turned out some fairly +presentable work; and that nymph was as abominably conceived and as +abominably executed as if it had been the work of a raw beginner. Then +there was another suspicious circumstance. Modelling clay is not exactly +as cheap as dirt, Mr. Narkom. Why, then, should this man, who was +confessedly as poor as the proverbial church mouse, plunge into the wild +extravagance of buying half a ton of it--and at such a time? Those are +the things that brought the suspicion into my mind; the certainty, +however, had to be brought about beyond dispute before I could act. + +"I knew that George Carboys had returned to that studio by the dry marks +of muddy footprints, that were nothing like the shape of Van Nant's, +which I found on the boards of the veranda and on the carpet under one +of the windows; I knew, too, that it was Van Nant who had sent that +pigeon. You remember when I excused myself and went back on the pretext +of having forgotten my magnifying glass the other day? I did so for the +purpose of looking at that fifth pigeon. I had observed something on its +breast feathers which I thought, at first glance, was dry mud, as though +it had fallen or brushed against something muddy in its flight. As we +descended the stairs I observed that there was a similar mark on Van +Nant's sleeve. I brushed against him and scraped off a fleck with my +fingernails. It was the dust of dried modelling clay. That on the +pigeon's breast proved to be the same substance. I knew then that the +hands of the person who liberated that pigeon were the hands of some one +who was engaged in modelling something or handling the clay of the +modeller, and the inference was clear. + +"As for the rest: when Van Nant entered that studio to-night, frightened +half out of his wits at the knowledge that he would have to deal with +the one detective he feared, I knew that if he approached that statue +and made any attempt to examine it I should have my man, and that the +hiding-place of his victim's body would be proved beyond question. When +he did go to it, and did examine it---- Clarges Street at last, and +thank fortune for it, as I am tired and sleepy. Stop here, chauffeur. +The riddle is solved, Mr. Narkom. Good-night!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE RIDDLE OF THE 5.28 + + +It was exactly thirty-two minutes past five o'clock on the evening of +Friday, December 9th, when the station-master at Anerley received the +following communication by wire from the signal box at Forest Hill: + + 5.28 down from London Bridge just passed. One first-class + compartment in total darkness. Investigate. + +As two stations, Sydenham and Penge, lie between Forest Hill and +Anerley, in the ordinary course of events this signal-box message would +have been despatched to one or the other of these; but it so happens +that the 5.28 from London Bridge to Croydon is a special train, which +makes no stop short of Anerley station on the way down, consequently the +signalman had no choice but to act as he did. + +"Wire fused, I reckon, or filament burnt out. That's the worst of +electric light," commented the station-master when he received the +communication. "Get a light of some sort from the lamp-room, Webb. +They'll have to put up with that as far as Croydon. Move sharp. She'll +be along presently." Then he took up a lantern (for, in addition to fog, +a slight, sifting snow had come on about an hour previously, rendering +the evening one of darkness and extreme discomfort) and crossed by way +of the tunnel over to the down platform to be ready for the train's +arrival, having some little difficulty in progressing easily, for it so +happened that a local celebrity had been entertaining the newly elected +Lord Mayor that day, and in consequence both the up and the down +platforms were unusually crowded for the season and the hour. + +Promptly at 5.42, the scheduled time for its arrival, the train came +pelting up the snow-covered metals from Penge, and made its first stop +since starting. It was packed to the point of suffocation, as it always +is, and in an instant the station was in a state of congestion. Far down +the uncovered portion of the platform Webb, the porter, who had now +joined the station-master, spied a gap in the long line of brightly +lighted windows, and the pair bore down upon it forthwith, each with a +glowing lantern in his hand. + +"Here she is. Now, then, let's see what's the difficulty," said the +station-master, as they came abreast of the lightless compartment, +where, much to his surprise, he found nobody leaning out and making a +"to-do" over the matter. "Looks as if the blessed thing was empty, +though that's by no means likely in a packed train like the 5.28. Hallo! +Door's locked. And here's an 'Engaged' label on the window. What the +dickens did I do with my key? Oh, here it is. Now, then, let's see +what's amiss." + +A great deal was amiss, as he saw the instant he unlocked the door and +pulled it open, for the first lifting of the lantern made the cause of +the darkness startlingly plain. The shallow glass globe which should +have been in the centre of the ceiling had been smashed, ragged +fragments of it still clinging to their fastenings, and the three +electric bulbs had been removed bodily. A downward glance showed him +that both these and the fragments of the broken globe lay on one seat, +partly wrapped in a wet cloth, and on the other---- He gave a jump and a +howl, and retreated a step or two in a state of absolute panic. For +there in a corner, with his face toward the engine, half sat, half +leaned, the figure of a dead man, with a bullet-hole between his eyes, +and a small, nickel-plated revolver loosely clasped in the bent fingers +of one limp and lifeless hand. + +The body was that of a man whose age could not, at the most, have +exceeded eight-and-thirty, a man who must, in life, have been more than +ordinarily handsome. His hair and moustache were fair, his clothing was +of extreme elegance in both material and fashioning, he wore no +jewellery of any description, unless one excepts a plain gold ring on +the fourth finger of the left hand, his feet were shod in patent-leather +boots, in the rack overhead rested a shining silk hat of the newest +fashion, an orange-wood walking-stick, and a pair of gray suede gloves. +An evening paper lay between his feet, open, as though it had been read, +and in his buttonhole there was a single mauve orchid of exquisite +beauty and delicacy. The body was quite alone in the compartment, and +there was not a scrap of luggage of any description. + +"Suicide," gulped the startled station-master as soon as he could find +strength to say anything; then he hastily slammed and relocked the door, +set Webb on guard before it, and flew to notify the engine driver and to +send word to the local police. + +The news of the tragedy spread like wildfire, but the station-master, +who had his wits about him, would allow nobody to leave the station +until the authorities had arrived, and suffered no man or woman to come +within a yard of the compartment where the dead man lay. + +Some one has said that "nothing comes by chance," but whether that is +true or not, it happened that Mr. Maverick Narkom was among those who +had attended the lunch in honour of the Lord Mayor that day, and that, +at the very moment when this ghastly discovery was made on the down +platform at Anerley station, he was standing with the crowd on the up +one, waiting for the train to Victoria. This train was to convey Cleek, +whom he had promised to join at Anerley, returning from a day spent +with Captain Morrison and his daughter in the beautiful home they had +bought when the law decided that the captain was the legitimate heir of +George Carboys and lawful successor to Abdul ben Meerza's money. + +As soon as the news of the tragedy reached him Mr. Narkom crossed to the +scene of action and made known his identity, and by the time the local +police reached the theatre of events he was in full possession of the +case, and had already taken certain steps with regard to the matter. + +It was he who first thought of looking to see if any name was attached, +as is often the case, to the "Engaged" label secured to the window of +the compartment occupied by the dead man. There was. Written in pencil +under the blue-printed "Engaged" were the three words, "For Lord +Stavornell." + +"By George!" he exclaimed, as he read the name which was one that half +England had heard of at one time or another, and knew to belong to a man +whose wild, dissipated life and violent temper had passed into proverb. +"Come to the end at last, has he! Give me your lantern, porter, and open +the door. Let's have a look and see if there's any mistake or----" The +whistle of the arriving train for Victoria cut in upon his words, and, +putting the local police in charge he ran for the tunnel, made for the +up platform, and caught Cleek. He remained in conversation with him for +two or three minutes after the Victoria train had gone on its way, and +was still talking with him in undertones when, a brief time later, they +appeared from the tunnel and bore down on the spot where the local +police were on guard over the dark compartment. + +"Mr. George Headland, one of my best men," he explained to the local +inspector, who had just arrived. "Let us have all the light you can, +please. Mr. Headland wishes to view the body. Crowd round, the rest of +you, and keep the passengers back. Pull down the blinds of the +compartment before you turn on your bull's-eyes. All right, porter. Tell +the engine driver he'll get his orders in a minute. Now then, +Cl--Headland, decide; it rests with you." + +Cleek opened the door of the compartment, stepped in, gave one glance at +the dead man, and then spoke. + +"Murder!" he said. "Look how the pistol lies in his hand. Wait a moment, +however, and let me make sure." Then he took the revolver from the +yielding fingers, smelt it, smiled, then "broke" it, and looked at the +cylinder. "Just as I supposed," he added, turning to Narkom. "One +chamber has been fouled by a shot and one cartridge has been exploded. +But not to-day, not even yesterday. That sour smell tells its own story, +Mr. Narkom. This revolver was discharged two or three days ago. The +assassin had everything prepared for this little event; but he was a +fool, for all his cleverness, for you will observe that in his haste, +when he put the revolver in the dead hand to make it appear a case of +suicide, he laid it down just as he himself took it from his pocket, +with the butt toward the victim's body and the muzzle pointing outward +between the thumb and forefinger, and with the bottom of the cylinder, +instead of the top of the trigger, touching the ball of the thumb! It is +a clear case of murder, Mr. Narkom." + +"But, sir," interposed the station-master, overhearing this assertion, +and looking at Cleek with eyes of blank bewilderment, "if somebody +killed him, where has that 'somebody' gone? This train has made no stop +until now since it started from London Bridge; so, even if the party was +in it at the start, how in the world could he get out?" + +"Maybe he chucked hisself out of the window, guv'ner," suggested Webb; +"or maybe he slipped out and hung on to the footboard until the train +slowed down, and then dropped off just before it come into the station +here." + +"Don't talk rubbish, Webb. Both doors were locked and both windows +closed when we discovered the body. You saw that as plainly as I." + +"Lummy, sir, so I did. Then where could he a-went to--and how?" + +"Station-master," struck in Cleek, turning from examining the body, "get +your men to examine all tickets, both in the train and out of it, and if +there's one that's not clipped as it passed the barrier at London +Bridge, look out for it, and detain the holder. I'll take the gate here, +and examine all local tickets. Meantime, wire all up the road to every +station from here to London Bridge, and find out if any other signalman +than the one at Forest Hill noticed this dark compartment when the train +went past." + +Both suggestions were acted upon immediately. But every ticket, save, of +course, the season ones--and the holders of these were in every case +identified--was found to be properly clipped; and, in the end, every +signal-box from New Cross on wired back: "All compartments lighted when +train passed here." + +"That narrows the search, Mr. Narkom," said Cleek, when he heard this. +"The lights were put out somewhere between Honor Oak Park and Forest +Hill, and it was between Honor Oak Park and Anerley the murderer made +his escape. Inspector"--he turned to the officer in command of the local +police--"do me a favour. Put your men in charge of this carriage, and +let the train proceed. Norwood Junction is the next station, I believe, +and there's a side track there. Have the carriage shunted, and keep +close guard over it until Mr. Narkom and I arrive." + +"Right you are, sir. Anything else?" + +"Yes. Have the station-master at the junction equip a hand-car with a +searchlight, and send it here as expeditiously as possible. If anybody +or anything has left this train between this point and Honor Oak Park, +Mr. Narkom, this thin coating of snow will betray the fact beyond the +question of a doubt." + +Twenty minutes later the hand-car put in an appearance, manned by a +couple of linemen from the junction, and, word having been wired up the +line to hold back all trains for a period of half an hour in the +interests of Scotland Yard, Cleek and Narkom boarded the vehicle, and +went whizzing up the metals in the direction of Honor Oak Park, the +shifting searchlight sweeping the path from left to right and glaring +brilliantly on the surface of the fallen snow. + +Four lines of tracks gleamed steel-bright against its spotless +level--the two outer ones being those employed by the local trains going +to and fro between London and the suburbs, the two inner ones belonging +to the main line--but not one footstep indented the thin surface of that +broad expanse of snow from one end of the journey to the other. + +"The murderer, whoever he is or wherever he went, never set foot upon so +much as one inch of this ground, that's certain," said Narkom, as he +gave the order to reverse the car and return. "You feel satisfied of +that, do you not, my dear fellow?" + +"Thoroughly, Mr. Narkom; there can't be two opinions upon that point. +But, at the same time, he _did_ leave the train, otherwise we should +have found him in it." + +"Granted. But the question is, _when_ did he get in and _how_ did he get +out? We know from the evidence of the passengers that the train never +stopped for one instant between London Bridge station and Anerley; that +all compartments were alight up to the time it passed Honor Oak Park; +that nobody abroad of it heard a sound of a pistol-shot; that the +assassin could not have crept along the footboard and got into some +other compartment, for _all_ were so densely crowded that half a dozen +people were standing in each, so he could not have entered without +somebody making room for him to open the door and get in. No such thing +happened, no such thing could happen, without a dozen or more people +being aware of it; so the idea of a confederate may be dismissed without +a thought. The unmarked surface of the snow shows that nobody alighted, +was thrown out, or fell out between the two points where the tragedy +must have occurred; both windows were shut and both doors of the +compartment locked when the train made its first stop; yet the fellow +was gone. My dear chap, are you sure, are you really _sure_, that it +isn't a case of suicide after all?" + +Cleek gave his shoulders a lurch and smiled indulgently. + +"My dear Mr. Narkom," he said, "the position of the revolver in the dead +man's hand ought, as I pointed out to you, to settle that question, even +if there were no other discrepancies. In the natural order of things, a +man who had just put a bullet into his own brain would, if he were +sitting erect, as Lord Stavornell was, drop the revolver in the +spasmodic opening and shutting of the hands in the final convulsion; +but, if he retained any sort of a hold upon it, be sure his forefinger +would be in the loop of the trigger. He wouldn't be holding the weapon +backward, so to speak, with the cylinder against the ball of his thumb +and the hammer against the base of the middle finger. If he had held it +that way he simply couldn't have shot himself if he had tried. Then, if +you didn't remark it, there was no scorch of powder upon the face, for +another thing; and, for a third, the bullet-hole was between the eyes, a +most unlikely target for a man bent upon blowing out his own brains; the +temple or the roof of the mouth are the points to which natural +impulse----" He stopped and laid a sharp, quick-shutting hand on the +shoulder of one of the two men who were operating the car. "Turn back!" +he exclaimed. "Reverse the action, and go back a dozen yards or so." + +The impetus of the car would not permit of this at once, but after +running on for a little time longer it answered to the brake, slowed +down, stopped, and then began to back, scudding along the rail until +Cleek again called it to a halt. They were within gunshot of the station +at Sydenham when this occurred; the glaring searchlight was still +playing on the metals and the thin layer of snow between, and Cleek's +face seemed all eyes as he bent over and studied the ground over which +they were gliding. Of a sudden, however, he gave a little satisfied +grunt, jumped down, and picked up a shining metal object, about two and +a half inches long, which lay in the space between the tracks of the +main and the local lines. It was a guard's key for the locking and +unlocking of compartment doors, one of the small T-shaped kind that you +can buy of almost any iron-monger for sixpence or a shilling any day. It +was wet from contact with the snow, but quite unrusted, showing that it +had not been lying there long, and it needed but a glance to reveal the +fact that it was brand new and of recent purchase. + +Cleek held it out on his palm as he climbed back upon the car and +rejoined Narkom. + +"Wherever he got on, Mr. Narkom, here is where the murderer got off, you +see, and either dropped or flung away this key when he had relocked the +compartment after him," he said. "And yet, as you see, there is not a +footstep, beyond those I have myself just made, to be discovered +anywhere. From the position in which this key was lying, one thing is +certain, however: our man got out on the opposite side from the platform +toward which the train was hastening and in the middle of the right of +way." + +"What a mad idea! If there had been a main line express passing at the +time the fellow ran the risk of being cut to pieces. None of them slow +down before they prepare to make their first stop at East Croydon, and +about this spot they would be going like the wind." + +"Yes," said Cleek, looking fixedly at the shining bit of metal on his +palm; "going like the wind. And the suction would be enormous between +two speeding trains. A step outside, and he'd have been under the wheels +in a wink. Yes, it would have been certain death, instant death, if +there had been a main line train passing at the time; and that he was +not sucked down and ground under the wheels proves that there _wasn't_." +Then he puckered up his brows in that manner which Narkom had come to +understand meant a thoughtfulness it was impolitic to disturb, and stood +silent for a long, long time. + +"Mr. Narkom," he said suddenly, "I think we have discovered all that +there is to be discovered in this direction. Let us get on to Norwood +Junction as speedily as possible. I want to examine that compartment and +that dead body a little more closely. Besides, our half hour is about +up, and the trains will be running again shortly, so we'd better get out +of the way." + +"Any ideas, old chap?" + +"Yes, bushels of them. But they all may be exploded in another half +hour. Still, these are the days of scientific marvels. Water does run +uphill and men do fly, and both are in defiance of the laws of +gravitation." + +"Which means?" + +"That I shall leave the hand-car at Sydenham, Mr. Narkom, and 'phone up +to London Bridge station; there are one or two points I wish to ask some +questions about. Afterward I'll hire a motor from some local garage and +join you at Norwood Junction in an hour's time. Let no one see the body +or enter the compartment where it lies until I come. One question, +however: is my memory at fault, or was it not Lord Stavornell who was +mixed up in that little affair with the French dancer, Mademoiselle +Fifi de Lesparre, who was such a rage in town about a year ago?" + +"Yes; that's the chap," said Narkom in reply. "And a rare bad lot he has +been all his life, I can tell you. I dare say that Fifi herself was no +better than she ought to have been, chucking over her country-bred +husband as soon as she came into popularity, and having men of the +Stavornell class tagging after her; but whether she was or was not, +Stavornell broke up that home. And if that French husband had done the +right thing, he would have thrashed him within an inch of his life +instead of acting like a fool in a play and challenging him. Stavornell +laughed at the challenge, of course; and if all that is said of him is +true, he was at the bottom of the shabby trick which finally forced the +poor devil to get out of the country. When his wife, Fifi, left him, the +poor wretch nearly went off his head; and, as he hadn't fifty shillings +in the world, he was in a dickens of a pickle when _somebody_ induced a +lot of milliners, dressmakers, and the like, to whom it was said that +Fifi owed bills, to put their accounts into the hands of a collecting +agency and to proceed against him for settlement of his wife's accounts. +That was why he got out of the country post-haste. The case made a great +stir at the time, and the scandal of it was so great that, although the +fact never got into the papers, Stavornell's wife left him, refusing to +live another hour with such a man." + +"Oh, he had a wife, then?" + +"Yes; one of the most beautiful women in the kingdom. They had been +married only a year when the scandal of the Fifi affair arose. That was +another of his dirty tricks forcing that poor creature to marry him." + +"She did so against her will?" + +"Yes. She was engaged to another fellow at the time, an army chap who +was out in India. Her father, too, was an army man, a Colonel +Something-or-other, poor as the proverbial church mouse, addicted to +hard drinking, card-playing, horse-racing, and about as selfish an old +brute as they make 'em. The girl took a deep dislike to Lord Stavornell +the minute she saw him; knew his reputation, and refused to receive him. +That's the very reason he determined to marry her, humble her pride, as +it were, and repay her for her scorn of him. + +"He got her father into his clutches, deliberately, of course, lent him +money, took his I O U's for card debts and all that sort of thing, until +the old brute was up to his ears in debt and with no prospect of paying +it off. Of course, when he'd got him to that point, Stavornell demanded +the money, but finally agreed to wipe the debt out entirely if the +daughter married him. They went at her, poor creature, those two, with +all the mercilessness of a couple of wolves. Her father would be +disgraced, kicked out of the army, barred from all the clubs, reduced to +beggary, and all that, if she did not yield; and in the end they so +played upon her feelings, that to save him she gave in; Stavornell took +out a special license, and they were married. Of course, the man never +cared for her; he only wanted his revenge on her, and they say he led +her a dog's life from the hour they came back to England from their +honeymoon." + +"Poor creature!" said Cleek sympathetically. "And what became of the +other chap, the lover she wanted to marry and who was out in India at +the time all this happened?" + +"Oh, they say he went on like a madman when he heard it. Swore he'd kill +Stavornell, and all that, but quieted down after a time, and accepted +the inevitable with the best grace possible. Crawford is his name. He +was a lieutenant at the time, but he's got his captaincy since, and I +believe is on leave and in England at present--as madly and as +hopelessly in love with the girl of his heart as ever." + +"Why 'hopelessly,' Mr. Narkom? Such a man as Stavornell must have given +his wife grounds for divorce a dozen times over." + +"Not a doubt of it. There isn't a judge in England who wouldn't have set +her free from the scoundrel long ago if she had cared to bring the case +into the courts. But Lady Stavornell is a strong Church-woman, my dear +fellow; she doesn't believe in divorce, and nothing on earth could +persuade her to marry Captain Crawford so long as her first husband +still remained alive." + +"Oho!" said Cleek. "Then Fifi's husband isn't the only man with a +grievance and a cause? There's another, eh?" + +"Another? I expect there must be a dozen, if the truth were known. +There's only one creature in the world I ever heard of as having a good +word to say for the man." + +"And who might that be?" + +"The Hon. Mrs. Brinkworth, widow of his younger brother. You'd think the +man was an angel to hear her sing his praises. Her husband, too, was a +wild sort. Left her up to her ears in debt, without a penny to bless +herself, and with a boy of five to rear and educate. Stavornell seems +always to have liked her. At any rate, he came to the rescue, paid off +the debts, settled an annuity upon her, and arranged to have the boy +sent to Eton as soon as he was old enough. I expect the boy is at the +bottom of this good streak in him if all is told; for, having no +children of his own---- I say! By George, old chap! Why, that nipper, +being the heir in the direct line, is Lord Stavornell now that the uncle +is dead! A lucky stroke for him, by Jupiter!" + +"Yes," agreed Cleek. "Lucky for him; lucky for Lady Stavornell; lucky +for Captain Crawford; and _unlucky_ for the Hon. Mrs. Brinkworth and +Mademoiselle Fifi de Lesparre. So, of course---- Sydenham at last. +Good-bye for a little time, Mr. Narkom. Join you at Norwood Junction as +soon as possible, and---- I say!" + +"Yes, old chap?" + +"Wire through to the Low Level station at Crystal Palace, will you? and +inquire if anybody has mislaid an ironing-board or lost an Indian canoe. +See you later. So long." + +Then he stepped up on to the station platform, and went in quest of a +telephone booth. + + +II + +It was after nine o'clock when he turned up at Norwood Junction, as +calm, serene, and imperturbable as ever, and found Narkom awaiting him +in a small private room which the station clerk had placed at his +disposal. + +"My dear fellow, I never was so glad!" exclaimed the superintendent, +jumping up excitedly as Cleek entered. "What kept you so long? I've been +on thorns. Got bushels to tell you. First off, as Stavornell's identity +is established beyond doubt, and no time has been lost in wiring the +news of the murder to his relatives, both Lady Stavornell and Mrs. +Brinkworth have wired back that they are coming on. I expect them at any +minute now. And here's a piece of news for you. Fifi's husband is in +England. The Hon. Mrs. Brinkworth has wired me to that effect. Says she +has means of knowing that he came over from France the other day; and +that she herself saw him in London this morning when she was up there +shopping." + +"Oho!" commented Cleek. "Got her wits about her, that lady, evidently. +Find anything at the Crystal Palace Low Level, Mr. Narkom?" + +"Yes. My dear Cleek, I don't know whether you are a wizard or what, and +I can't conceive what reason you can have for making such an inquiry, +but----" + +"Which was it? Canoe or ironing-board?" + +"Neither, as it happens. But they've got a lady's folding cutting table; +you know the sort, one of those that women use for dressmaking +operations; and possible to be folded up flat, so they can be tucked +away. Nobody knows who left it; but it's there awaiting an owner; and it +was found----" + +"Oh, I can guess that," interposed Cleek nonchalantly. "It was in a +first-class compartment of the 5.18 from London Bridge, which reached +the Low Level at 5.43. No, never mind questions for a few minutes, +please. Let's go and have a look at the body. I want to satisfy myself +regarding the point of what in the world Stavornell was doing on a +suburban train at a time when he ought, properly, to be on his way home +to his rooms at the Ritz, preparing to dress for dinner; and I want to +find out, if possible, what means that chap with the little dark +moustache used to get him to go out of town in his ordinary afternoon +dress and by that particular train." + +"Chap with the small dark moustache? Who do you mean by that?" + +"Party that killed him. My 'phone to London Bridge station has cleared +the way a bit. It seems that Lord Stavornell engaged that compartment in +that particular train by telephone at three o'clock this afternoon. He +arrived all alone, and was in no end of a temper because the carriage +was dirty; had it swept out, and stood waiting while it was being done. +After that the porter says he found him laughing and talking with a +dark-moustached little man, apparently of continental origin, dressed in +a Norfolk suit and carrying a brown leather portmanteau. Of course, as +the platform was crowded, nobody seems to have taken any notice of the +dark-moustached little man; and the porter doesn't know where he went +nor when--only that he never saw him again. But I know where he went, +Mr. Narkom, and I know, too, what was in that portmanteau. An air +pistol, for one thing; also a mallet or hammer and that wet cloth we +found, both of which were for the purpose of smashing the electric light +globe without sound. And he went into that compartment with his victim!" + +"Yes; but, man alive, how did he get out? Where did he go after that, +and what became of the brown leather portmanteau?" + +"I hope to be able to answer both questions before this night is over, +Mr. Narkom. Meantime, let us go and have a look at the body, and settle +one of the little points that bother me." + +The superintendent led the way to the siding where the shunted carriage +stood, closely guarded by the police; and, lanterns having been procured +from the lamp-room, Cleek was soon deep in the business of examining the +compartment and its silent occupant. + +Aided by the better light, he now perceived something which, in the +first hurried examination, had escaped him, or, if it had not--which is, +perhaps, open to question--he had made no comment upon. It was a spot +about the size of an ordinary dinner plate on the crimson carpet which +covered the floor of the compartment. It was slightly darker than the +rest of the surface, and was at the foot of the corner seat directly +facing the dead man. + +"I think we can fairly decide, Mr. Narkom, on the evidence of that," +said Cleek, pointing to it, "that Lord Stavornell did have a companion +in this compartment, and that it was the little dark man with the small +moustache. Put your hand on the spot. Damp, you see; the effect of some +one who had walked through the snow sitting down with his feet on this +particular seat. Now look here." He passed his handkerchief over the +stain, and held it out for Narkom's inspection. It was slightly browned +by the operation. "Just the amount of dirt the soles of one's boots +would be likely to collect if one came with wet feet along the muddy +platform of the station." + +"Yes; but, my dear chap, that might easily have happened--particularly +on such a day as this has been--before Lord Stavornell's arrival. He +can't have been the only person to enter this compartment since +morning." + +"Granted. But he is supposed to have been the only person who entered it +after it was swept, Mr. Narkom; and that, as I told you, was done by his +orders immediately before the train started. We've got past the point of +'guesswork' now. We've established the presence of the second party +beyond all question. We also know that he was a person with whom +Stavornell felt at ease, and was intimate enough with to feel no +necessity for putting himself out by entertaining with those little +courtesies one is naturally obliged to show a guest." + +"How do you make that out?" + +"This newspaper. He was reading at the time he was shot. You can see for +yourself where the bullet went through--this hole here close to the top +of the paper. When a man invites another man to occupy with him a +compartment which he has engaged for his own exclusive use--and this +Stavornell must have done, otherwise the man couldn't have been +travelling with him--and then proceeds to read the news instead of +troubling himself to treat his companion as a guest, it is pretty safe +to say that they are acquaintances of long standing, and upon such terms +of intimacy that the social amenities may be dispensed with +inoffensively. Now look at the position of this newspaper lying between +the dead man's feet. Curved round the ankle and the lower part of the +calf of the left leg. If we hadn't found the key we still should have +known that the murderer got out on that side of the carriage." + +"How should we have known?" + +"Because a paper which has simply been dropped could not have assumed +that position without the aid of a strong current of air. The opening of +that door on the right-hand side of the body supplied that current, and +supplied it with such strength and violence that the paper was, as one +might say, absolutely sucked round the man's leg. That is a positive +proof that the train was moving at the time it happened, for the day, as +you know, has been windless. + +"Now look! No powder on the face, no smell of it in the compartment; and +yet the pistol found in his hand is an ordinary American-made +thirty-eight calibre revolver. We have an amateur assassin to deal with, +Mr. Narkom, not a hardened criminal; and the witlessness of the fellow +is enough to bring the case to an end before this night is over. Why +didn't he discharge that revolver to-day, and have enough sense to bring +a thimbleful of powder to burn in this compartment after the work was +done? One knows in an instant that the weapon used was an air-pistol, +and that the fellow's only thought was how to do the thing without +sound, not how to do it with sense. I don't suppose that there are three +places in all London that stock air-pistols, and I don't suppose that +they sell so many as two in a whole year's time. But if one has been +sold or repaired at any of the shops in the past six months--well, +Dollops will know that in less than no time. I 'phoned him to make +inquiries. His task's an easy one, and I've no doubt he will bring back +the word I want in short order. And now, Mr. Narkom, as our friend the +assassin is such a blundering, short-sighted individual, it's just +possible that, forgetting so many other important things, he may have +neglected to search the body of his victim. Let us do it for him." + +As he spoke he bent over the dead man and commenced to search the +clothing. He slid his hand into the inner pocket of the creaseless +morning coat and drew out a note-book and two or three letters. All were +addressed in the handwriting of women, but only one seemed to possess +any interest for Cleek. It was written on pink notepaper, enclosed in a +pink envelope, and was postmarked "Croydon, December 9, 2.30 P.M.," and +bore those outward marks which betokened its delivery, not in course of +post, but by express messenger. One instant after Cleek had looked at it +he knew he need seek no further for the information he desired. It read: + + Piggy! Stupid boy! The ball of the dress fancy is not for + to-morrow, but to-night. I have make sudden discoverment. Come + quick, by the train that shall leave London Bridge at the time + of twenty-eight minute after the hour of five. You shall not + fail of this, or it shall make much difficulties for me, as I + come to meet it on arrival. Do not bother of the costume; I + will have one ready for you. I have one large joke of the + somebody else that is coming, which will make you scream of + the laughter. Burn this--FIFI. + +And at the bottom of the sheet: + + Do burn this. I have hurt the hand, and must use the writing + of my maid; and I do not want you to treasure that. + +"There's the explanation, Mr. Narkom," said Cleek as he held the letter +out. "That's why he came by this particular train. There's the snare. +That's how he was lured." + +"By Fifi!" said Narkom. "By Jove! I rather fancied from the first that +we should find that she or her husband had something to do with it." + +"Did you?" said Cleek with a smile. "I didn't, then; and I don't even +yet!" + +Narkom opened his lips to make some comment upon this, but closed them +suddenly and said nothing. For at that moment one of the constables put +in an appearance with news that, "Two ladies and two gentlemen have +arrived, sir, and are asking permission to view the body for purposes of +identification. Here are the names, sir, on this slip of paper." + +"Lady Stavornell; Colonel Murchison; Hon. Mrs. Brinkworth; Captain James +Crawford," Narkom read aloud; then looked up inquiringly at Cleek. + +"Yes," he said. "Let them come. And--Mr. Narkom?" + +"Yes?" + +"Do you happen to know where they come from?" + +"Yes. I learned that when I sent word of Stavornell's death to them this +evening. Lady Stavornell and her father have for the past week been +stopping at Cleethorp Hydro, to which they went for the purpose of +remaining over the Christmas holidays; and, oddly enough, both Mrs. +Brinkworth and Captain Crawford turned up at the same place for the same +purpose the day before yesterday. It can't be very pleasant for them, I +should imagine, for I believe the two ladies are not very friendly." + +"Naturally not," said Cleek, half abstractedly. "The one loathing the +man, the other loving him. I want to see those two ladies; and I +particularly want to see those two men. After that----" Here his voice +dropped off. Then he stood looking up at the shattered globe, and +rubbing his chin between his thumb and forefinger and wrinkling up his +brows after the manner of a man who is trying to solve a problem in +mental arithmetic. And Narkom, unwise in that direction for once, chose +to interrupt his thoughts, for no greater reason than that he had thrice +heard him mutter, "Suction--displacement--resistance." + +"Working out a problem, old chap?" he ventured. "Can I help you? I used +to be rather good at that sort of thing." + +"Were you?" said Cleek, a trifle testily. "Then tell me something. +Combating a suction power of about two pounds to the square inch, how +much wind does it take to make a cutting-table fly, with an unknown +weight upon it, from the Sydenham switch to the Low Level station? When +you've worked that out, you've got the murderer. And when you do get him +he won't be any man you ever saw or ever heard of in all the days of +your life! But he will be light enough to hop like a bird, heavy enough +to pull up a wire rope with about three hundred pounds on the end of it, +and there will be two holes of about an inch in diameter and a foot +apart in one end of the table that flew." + +"My dear chap!" began Narkom in tones of blank bewilderment, then +stopped suddenly and screwed round on his heel. For a familiar voice had +sung out suddenly a yard or two distant: "Ah! keep yer 'air on! Don't +get to thinkin' you're Niagara Falls jist because yer got water on the +brain!" And there, struggling in the grip of a constable, who had laid +strong hands upon him, stood Dollops with a kit-bag in one hand and a +half-devoured bath bun in the other. + +"All right there, constable; let the boy pass. He's one of us!" rapped +out Cleek; and in an instant the detaining hand fell, and Dollops' chest +went out like a pouter pigeon's. + +"Catch on to that, Suburbs?" said he, giving the constable a look of +blighting scorn; and, swaggering by like a mighty conqueror, joined +Cleek at the compartment door. "Nailed it at the second rap, guv'ner," +he said in an undertone. "Fell down on Gamage's, picked myself up on +Loader, Tottenham Court Road; 14127 A, manufactured Stockholm. Valve +tightened--old customer--day before yesterday in the afternoon." + +"Good boy! good boy!" said Cleek, patting him approvingly. "Keep your +tongue between your teeth. Scuttle off, and find out where there's a +garage, and then wait outside the station till I come." + +"Right you are, sir," responded Dollops, bolting the remainder of the +bun. Then he ducked down and slipped away. And Cleek, stepping back into +the shadow, where his features might not be too clearly seen until he +was ready that they should be, stood and narrowly watched the small +procession which was being piloted to the scene of the tragedy. A moment +later the four persons already announced passed under Cleek's watchful +eye, and stood in the dead man's presence. Lady Stavornell, tall, +graceful, beautiful, looking as one might look whose lifelong martyrdom +had come at last to a glorious end; Captain Crawford, bronzed, agitated, +a trifle nervous, short of stature, slight of build, with a rather +cynical mouth and a small dark moustache; the Hon. Mrs. Brinkworth, a +timid, dove-eyed, little wisp of a woman, with a clinging, pathetic, +almost childish manner, her soft eyes red with grief, her mobile mouth +a-quiver with pain, the marks of tears on her lovely little face; and, +last of all, Colonel Murchison, heavy, bull-necked, ponderous of body, +and purple of visage a living, breathing monument of Self. + +"Hum-m-m!" muttered Cleek to himself, as this unattractive person passed +by. "Not he--not by his hand. He never struck the blow--too cowardly, +too careful. And yet---- Poor little woman! poor little woman!" And his +sympathetic eyes went past the others--past Mrs. Brinkworth, sobbing and +wringing her hands and calling piteously on the dead to speak--and dwelt +long and tenderly upon Lady Stavornell. + +A moment he stood there silent, watching, listening, making neither +movement nor sound; then of a sudden he put forth his hand and tapped +Narkom's arm. + +"Detain this party, every member of it, by any means, on any pretext, +for another forty-five minutes," he whispered. "I said the assassin was +a fool; I said the blunders made it possible for the case to be +concluded to-night, did I not? Wait for me. In three-quarters of an hour +the murderer will be here on this spot with me!" Then he screwed round +on his heel, and before Narkom could speak was gone, soundlessly and +completely gone, just as he used to go in his Vanishing Cracksman's +days, leaving just that promise behind him. + + +III + +It wanted but thirteen minutes of being midnight when the gathering +about the siding where the shunted carriage containing the body of the +murdered man still stood received something in the nature of a shock +when, on glancing round as a sharp whistle shrilled a warning note, they +saw an engine, attached to one solitary carriage, backing along the +metals and bearing down upon them. + +"I say, Mr. Knockem, or Narkhim, or whatever your name is," blurted out +Colonel Murchison, as he hastily caught the Hon. Mrs. Brinkworth by the +arm and whisked her back from the metals, leaving his daughter to be +looked after by Captain Crawford, "look out for your blessed bobbies. +Somebody's shunting another coach in on top of us; and if the ass +doesn't look what he's doing----There! I told you!" as the coach in +question settled with a slight jar against that containing the body of +Lord Stavornell. "Of all the blundering, pig-headed fools! Might have +killed some of us. What next, I wonder?" + +What next, as a matter of fact, gave him cause for even greater wonder; +for as the two carriages met, the door of the last compartment in the +one which had just arrived opened briskly, and out of it stepped first a +couple of uniformed policemen, next a ginger-haired youth with a kit-bag +in one hand and a saveloy in the other, then the trim figure of the +lady who had so long and popularly been known in the music-hall world as +Mademoiselle Fifi de Lesparre, and last of all----"Cleek!" blurted out +Narkom, overcome with amazement, as he saw the serenely alighting +figure. And "Cleek!" went in a little rippling murmur throughout the +entire gathering, civilians and local police alike. + +"All right, Mr. Narkom," said Cleek himself, with a slight shrug of the +shoulders. "Even the best of us slip up sometimes; and since everybody +knows now, we'll have to make the best of it. Gentlemen, ladies, you, +too, my colleagues, my best respects. Now to business." Then he stepped +out of the shadow in which he had alighted into the full glow of the +lanterns and the flare which had been lit close to the door of the dead +man's carriage, conscious that every eye was fixed upon his face and +that the members of the local force were silently and breathlessly +"spotting" him. But in that moment the weird birth-gift had been put +into practice, and Narkom fetched a sort of sigh of relief as he saw +that a sagging eyelid, a twisted lip, a queer, blurred _something_ about +all the features, had set upon that face a living mask that hid +effectually the face he knew so well. + +"To business?" he repeated. "Ah, yes, quite so, my dear Cleek. Shall I +tell the ladies and gentlemen of your promise? Well, listen. Mr. Cleek +is more than a quarter of an hour beyond the time he set, but he gave me +his word that this riddle would be solved to-night, to-night, ladies and +gentlemen, and that when I saw him here the murderer would be with him." + +"Oh, bless him! bless him!" burst forth Mrs. Brinkworth impulsively. +"And he brings her! That wicked woman! Oh, I knew that she had something +to do with it." + +"Your pardon, Mrs. Brinkworth, but for once your woman's intuition is at +fault," said Cleek quietly. "Mademoiselle Fifi is not here as a +prisoner, but as a witness for the Crown. She has had nothing even in +the remotest to do with the crime. Her name was used to trap Lord +Stavornell to his death. But the lady is here to prove that she never +heard of the note which was found on Lord Stavornell's body; to prove +also that, although it is true she did expect to go to a fancy-dress +ball with his lordship, that fancy-dress ball does not occur until next +Friday, the sixteenth inst., not the ninth, and that she never even +heard of any alteration in the date." + +"Ah, non! non! non! nevaire! I do swear!" chimed in Fifi herself, almost +hysterical with fright. "I know nossing--nossing!" + +"That is true," said Cleek quietly. "There is not any question of +Mademoiselle Fifi's complete innocence of any connection with this +murder." + +"Then her husband?" ventured Captain Crawford agitatedly. "Surely you +have heard what Mrs. Brinkworth has said about seeing him in town +to-day?" + +"Yes, I have heard, Captain. But it so happens that I know for a +certainty M. Philippe de Lesparre had no more to do with it than had his +wife." + +"But, my dear sir," interposed the colonel; "the--er--foreign person at +the station, the little slim man in the Norfolk suit, the fellow with +the little dark moustache? What of him?" + +"A great deal of him. But there are other men who are slight, other men +who have little dark moustaches, Colonel. That description would answer +for Captain Crawford here; and if he, too, were in town to-day----" + +"I was in town!" blurted out the captain, a sudden tremor in his voice, +a sudden pallor showing through his tan. "But, good God, man! you--you +can't possibly insinuate----" + +"No, I do not," interposed Cleek. "Set your mind at rest upon that +point, Captain; for the simple reason that the little dark man is a +little dark fiction; in other words, he does not and never did exist!" + +"What's that?" fairly gasped Narkom. "Never existed? But, my dear Cleek, +you told me that the porter at London Bridge saw him and----" + +"I told you what the porter told me; what the porter thought he saw, and +what we shall, no doubt, find out in time at least fifty other people +thought they saw, and what was, doubtless, the 'good joke' alluded to in +the forged note. The only man against whom we need direct our attention, +the only man who had any hand in this murder, is a big, burly, +strong-armed one like Colonel Murchison here." + +"What's that?" roared out the colonel furiously. "By the Lord Harry, do +you dare to assert that I--I sir--killed the man?" + +"No, I do not. And for the best of reasons. The assassin was shut up in +that compartment with Lord Stavornell from the moment he left London +Bridge; and I happen to know, Colonel, that although you were in town +to-day, you never put foot aboard the 5.28 from the moment it started to +the one in which it stopped. And at that final moment, Colonel," he +reached round, took something from his pocket, and then held it out on +the palm of his hand, "at that final moment, Colonel, you were passing +the barrier at the Crystal Palace Low Level with a lady, whose ticket +from London Bridge had never been clipped, and with this air-pistol, +which she had restored to you, in your coat pocket!" + +"W-w-what crazy nonsense is this, sir? I never saw the blessed thing in +all my life." + +"Oh, yes, Colonel. Loader, of Tottenham Court Road, repaired the valve +for you the day before yesterday, and I found it in your room just---- +Quick! nab him, Petrie! Well played! After the king, the trump; after +the confederate, the assassin! And so----" He sprang suddenly, like a +jumping cat, and there was a click of steel, a shrill, despairing cry, +then the rustle of something falling. When Captain Crawford and Lady +Stavornell turned and looked, he was standing with both hands on his +hips, looking frowningly down on the spot where the Hon. Mrs. Brinkworth +lay, curled up in a limp, unconscious heap, with a pair of handcuffs +locked on her folded wrists. + +"I said that when the murderer was found, Mr. Narkom," he said as the +superintendent moved toward him, "it would be no man you ever saw or +ever heard of in all your life. I knew it was a woman from the bungling, +unmanlike way that pistol was laid in the dead hand; the only question I +had to answer was _which_ woman--Fifi, Lady Stavornell, or this wretched +little hypocrite. Here's your 'little dark man', here's the assassin. +The Norfolk suit and the false moustache are in her room at the hydro. +She made Stavornell think that she, too, was going to the fancy ball, +and that the surprise Fifi had planned was for her to meet him as she +did and travel with him. When the train was under way she shot him. Why? +Easily explained, my dear chap. His death made her little son heir to +the estates. During his minority she would have the handling of the +funds; with them she and her precious husband would have a gay life of +it in their own selfish little way!" + +"Her what? Lord, man, do you mean to say that she and the colonel----" + +"Were privately married seven weeks ago, Mr. Narkom. The certificate of +their union was tucked away in Colonel Murchison's private effects, +where it was found this evening." + + * * * * * + +"How was the escape from the compartment managed after the murder was +accomplished?" said Cleek, answering Narkom's query, as they whizzed +home through the darkness together by the last up train that night. +"Simplest thing in the world. As you know, the 5.28 from London Bridge +runs without stop to Anerley. Well, the 5.18 from the same +starting-point runs to the Crystal Palace Low Level, taking the main +line tracks as far as Sydenham, where it branches off at the switch and +curves away in an opposite direction. That is to say, for a considerable +distance they run parallel, but eventually diverge. + +"Now, as the 5.18 is a train with several stops, the 5.28, being a +through one, overtakes her, and several times between Brockley and +Sydenham they run side by side, at so steady a pace and on such narrow +gauge that the footboard running along the side of the one train is not +more than two and a half feet separated from the other. Their pace is so +regular, their progress so even, that one could with ease step from the +footboard of the one to the footboard of the other but for the horrible +suction which would inevitably draw the person attempting it down under +the wheels. + +"Well, something had to be devised to overcome the danger of that +suction. But what? I asked myself, for I guessed from the first how the +escape had occurred, and I knew that such a thing absolutely required +the assistance of a confederate. That meant that the confederate would +have to do, on the 5.18, exactly what they had trapped Stavornell into +doing on the other train: that is, secure a private compartment, so that +when the time came for the escape to be accomplished he could remove the +electric bulbs from the roof of his compartment, open the door, and, +when the two came abreast, the assassin could do the same on the other +train, and presto! the dead man would be alone. But what to use to +overcome the danger of that horrible suction?" + +"Ah, I see now what you were driving at when you inquired about the +ironing-board or the Indian canoe. The necessary sections to construct a +sort of bridge could be packed in either?" + +"Yes. But they chose a simple plan, the cutting-table. A good move that. +Its breadth minimised the peril of the suction; only, of course, it +would have to be pulled up afterward, to leave no clue, and the added +space would call for enormous strength to overcome the power of that +suction; and enormous strength meant a powerful man. The rest you can +put together without being told, Mr. Narkom. When that little vixen +finished her man, she put out the lights, opened the door (deliberately +locking it after her to make the thing more baffling), crossed over on +that table, was helped into the other compartment by Murchison, and then +as expeditiously as possible slipped on the loose feminine outer +garments she carried with her in the brown portmanteau, the table was +hauled up and taken in--nothing but wire rope for that, sir--and the +thing was done. + +"Murchison, of course, purchased two tickets, so that they might pass +the barrier at the Low Level unquestioned when they left, but he wasn't +able to get the extra ticket clipped at London Bridge because there was +no passenger for it. That's how I got on to the little game! For the +rest, they planned well. Those two trains being always packed, nobody +could see the escape from the one to the other, because people would be +standing up in every compartment, and the windows completely blocked. +But if---- Hullo! Victoria at last, thank goodness, 'and so to bed,' as +Pepys says. The riddle's solved, Mr. Narkom. Good-night!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE LION'S SMILE + + +It was on the very stroke of five when Cleek, answering an urgent +message from headquarters, strolled into the bar parlour of "The Fiddle +and Horseshoe," which, as you may possibly know, stands near to the +Green in a somewhat picturesque by-path between Shepherd's Bush and +Acton, and found Narkom in the very act of hanging up his hat and +withdrawing his gloves preparatory to ordering tea. + +"My dear Cleek, what a model of punctuality you are," said the +superintendent, as he came forward and shook hands with him. "You would +put Father Time himself to the blush with your abnormal promptness. Do +make yourself comfortable for a moment or two while I go and order tea. +I've only just arrived. Shan't be long, old chap." + +"Pray don't hurry yourself upon my account, Mr. Narkom," replied Cleek, +as he tossed his hat and gloves upon a convenient table and strolled +leisurely to the window and looked out on the quaint, old-fashioned +arbour-bordered bowling green, all steeped in sunshine and zoned with +the froth of pear and apple blooms, thick-piled above the time-stained +brick of the enclosing wall. "These quaint old inns, which the march of +what we are pleased to call 'progress' is steadily crowding off the face +of the land, are always deeply interesting to me; I love them. What a +day! What a picture! What a sky! As blue as what Dollops calls the +'Merry Geranium Sea.' I'd give a Jew's eye for a handful of those apple +blossoms, they are divine!" + +Narkom hastened from the room without replying. The strain of poetry +underlying the character of this strange, inscrutable man, his amazing +love of Nature, his moments of almost womanish weakness and sentiment, +astonished and mystified him. It was as if a hawk had acquired the +utterly useless trick of fluting like a nightingale, and being himself +wholly without imagination, he could not comprehend it in the smallest +degree. + +When he returned a few minutes later, however, the idealist seemed to +have simmered down into the materialist, the extraordinary to have +become merged in the ordinary, for he found his famous ally no longer +studying the beauties of Nature, but giving his whole attention to the +sordid commonplaces of man. He was standing before a glaringly printed +bill, one of many that were tacked upon the walls, which set forth in +amazing pictures and double-leaded type the wonders that were to be seen +daily and nightly at Olympia, where, for a month past, "Van Zant's Royal +Belgian Circus and World-famed Menagerie" had been holding forth to +"Crowded and delighted audiences." Much was made of two "star turns" +upon this lurid bill: "Mademoiselle Marie de Zanoni, the beautiful and +peerless bare-back equestrienne, the most daring lady rider in the +universe," for the one; and, for the other, "Chevalier Adrian di Roma, +king of the animal world, with his great aggregation of savage and +ferocious wild beasts, including the famous man-eating African lion, +Nero, the largest and most ferocious animal of its species in +captivity." And under this latter announcement there was a picture of a +young and handsome man, literally smothered with medals, lying at full +length, with his arms crossed and his head in the wide-open jaws of a +snarling, wild-eyed lion. + +"My dear chap, you really do make me believe that there actually is such +a thing as instinct," said Narkom, as he came in. "Fancy your selecting +that particular bill out of all the others in the room! What an abnormal +individual you are!" + +"Why? Has it anything to do with the case you have in hand?" + +"Anything to do with it? My dear fellow, it _is_ 'the case.' I can't +imagine what drew your attention to it." + +"Can't you?" said Cleek, with a half smile. Then he stretched forth his +hand and touched the word "Nero" with the tip of his forefinger. "That +did. Things awaken a man's memory occasionally, Mr. Narkom, and---- Tell +me, isn't that the beast there was such a stir about in the newspapers a +fortnight or so ago, the lion that crushed the head of a man in full +view of the audience?" + +"Yes," replied Narkom, with a slight shudder. "Awful thing, wasn't it? +Gave me the creeps to read about it. The chap who was killed, poor +beggar, was a mere boy, not twenty, son of the Chevalier di Roma +himself. There was a great stir about it. Talk of the authorities +forbidding the performance, and all that sort of thing. They never did, +however, for on investigation---- Ah, the tea at last, thank fortune. +Come, sit down, my dear fellow, and we'll talk whilst we refresh +ourselves. Landlady, see that we are not disturbed, will you, and that +nobody is admitted but the parties I mentioned?" + +"Clients?" queried Cleek, as the door closed and they were alone +together. + +"Yes. One, Mdlle. Zelie, the 'chevalier's' only daughter, a slack-wire +artist; the other, Signor Scarmelli, a trapeze performer, who is the +lady's fiance." + +"Ah, then our friend the chevalier is not so young as the picture on the +bill would have us believe he is." + +"No, he is not. As a matter of fact, he is considerably past forty, and +is, or rather, was, up to six months ago, a widower, with three +children, two sons and a daughter." + +"I suppose," said Cleek, helping himself to a buttered scone, "I am to +infer from what you say that at the period mentioned, six months ago, +the intrepid gentleman showed his courage yet more forcibly by taking a +second wife? Young or old?" + +"Young," said Narkom in reply. "Very young, not yet four-and-twenty, in +fact, and very, very beautiful. That is she who is 'featured' on the +bill as the star of the equestrian part of the program: 'Mdlle. Marie de +Zanoni.' So far as I have been able to gather, the affair was a love +match. The lady, it appears, had no end of suitors, both in and out of +the profession; it has even been hinted that she could, had she been so +minded, have married an impressionable young Austrian nobleman of +independent means who was madly in love with her; but she appears to +have considered it preferable to become 'an old man's darling,' so to +speak, and to have selected the middle-aged chevalier rather than some +one whose age is nearer her own." + +"Nothing new in that, Mr. Narkom. Young women before Mdlle. Marie de +Zanoni's day have been known to love elderly men sincerely: young Mrs. +Bawdrey, in the case of 'The Nine-fingered Skeleton,' is an example of +that. Still, such marriages are not common, I admit, so when they occur +one naturally looks to see if there may not be 'other considerations' at +the bottom of the attachment. Is the chevalier well-to-do? Has he +expectations of any kind?" + +"To the contrary; he has nothing but the salary he earns, which is by no +means so large as the public imagines; and as he comes of a long line of +circus performers, all of whom died early and poor, 'expectations,' as +you put it, do not enter into the affair at all. Apparently the lady +did marry him for love of him, as she professes and as he imagines; +although, if what I hear is true, it would appear that she has lately +outgrown that love. It seems that a Romeo more suitable to her age has +recently joined the show in the person of a rider called Signor Antonio +Martinelli; that he has fallen desperately in love with her, and +that----" + +He bit off his words short and rose to his feet. The door had opened +suddenly to admit a young man and a young woman, who entered in a state +of nervous excitement. "Ah, my dear Mr. Scarmelli, you and Miss Zelie +are most welcome," continued the superintendent. "My friend and I were +this moment talking about you." + +Cleek glanced across the room, and, as was customary with him, made up +his mind instantly. The girl, despite her association with the arena, +was a modest, unaffected little thing of about eighteen; the man was a +straight-looking, clear-eyed, boyish-faced young fellow of about +eight-and-twenty, well, but by no means flashily, dressed, and carrying +himself with the air of one who respects himself and demands the respect +of others. He was evidently an Englishman, despite his Italian _nom de +theatre_, and Cleek decided out of hand that he liked him. + +"We can shelve 'George Headland' in this instance, Mr. Narkom," he said, +as the superintendent led forward the pair for the purpose of +introducing them, and suffered himself to be presented in the name of +Cleek. + +The effect of this was electrical; would, in fact, had he been a vain +man, have been sufficiently to gratify him to the fullest, for the girl, +with a little "Oh!" of amazement, drew back and stood looking at him +with a sort of awe that rounded her eyes and parted her lips, while the +man leaned heavily upon the back of a convenient chair and looked and +acted as one utterly overcome. + +"Cleek!" he repeated, after a moment's despairful silence. "You, sir, +are that great man? This is a misfortune indeed." + +"A misfortune, my friend? Why a 'misfortune,' pray? Do you think the +riddle you have brought is beyond my powers?" + +"Oh, no; not that--never that!" he made reply. "If there is any one man +in the world who could get at the bottom of it, could solve the mystery +of the lion's change, the lion's smile, you are that man, sir, you. That +is the misfortune: that you could do it, and yet I cannot expect it, +cannot avail myself of this great opportunity. Look! I am doing it all +on my own initiative, sir, for the sake of Zelie and that dear, lovable +old chap, her father. I have saved fifty-eight pounds, Mr. Cleek. I had +hoped that that might tempt a clever detective to take up the case; but +what is such a sum to such a man as you?" + +"If that is all that stands in the way, don't let it worry you, my good +fellow," said Cleek, with a smile. "Put your fifty-eight pounds in your +pocket against your wedding-day, and good luck to you. I'll take the +case for nothing. Now then, what is it? What the dickens did you mean +just now when you spoke about 'the lion's change' and 'the lion's +smile'? What lion--Nero? Here, sit down and tell me all about it." + +"There is little enough to tell, Heavens knows," said young Scarmelli, +with a sigh, accepting the invitation after he had gratefully wrung +Cleek's hand, and his fiancee, with a burst of happy tears, had caught +it up as it slipped from his and had covered it with thankful kisses. +"That, Mr. Cleek, is where the greatest difficulty lies, there is so +little to explain that has any bearing upon the matter at all. It is +only that the lion, Nero, that is, the chevalier's special pride and +special pet, seems to have undergone some great and inexplicable change, +as though he is at times under some evil spell, which lasts but a moment +and yet makes that moment a tragical one. It began, no one knows why +nor how, two weeks ago, when, without hint or warning, he killed the +person he loved best in all the world, the chevalier's eldest son. +Doubtless you have heard of that?" + +"Yes," said Cleek. "But what you are now telling me sheds a new light +upon the matter. Am I to understand, then, that all that talk, on the +bills and in the newspapers, about the lion being a savage and a +dangerous one is not true, and that he really is attached to his owner +and his owner's family?" + +"Yes," said Scarmelli. "He is indeed the gentlest, most docile, most +intelligent beast of his kind living. In short, sir, there's not a +'bite' in him; and, added to that, he is over thirty years old. Zelie, +Miss di Roma, will tell you that he was born in captivity; that from his +earliest moment he has been the pet of her family; that he was, so to +speak, raised with her and her brothers; that, as children, they often +slept with him; that he will follow those he loves like any dog, fight +for them, protect them, let them tweak his ears and pull his tail +without showing the slightest resentment, even though they may actually +hurt him. Indeed, he is so general a favourite, Mr. Cleek, that there +isn't an attendant connected with the show who would not, and, indeed, +has not at some time, put his head in the beast's mouth, just as the +chevalier does in public, certain that no harm could possibly come of +the act. + +"You may judge, then, sir, what a shock, what a horrible surprise it was +when the tragedy of two weeks ago occurred. Often, to add zest to the +performance, the chevalier varies it by allowing his children to put +their heads into Nero's mouth instead of doing so himself, merely making +a fake of it that he has the lion under such control that he will +respect any command given by him. That is what happened on that night. +Young Henri was chosen to put his head into Nero's mouth, and did so +without fear or hesitation. He took the beast's jaws and pulled them +apart, and laid his head within them, as he had done a hundred times +before; but of a sudden an appalling, an uncanny, thing happened. It was +as though some supernatural power laid hold of the beast and made a +thing of horror of what a moment before had been a noble-looking animal. +Suddenly a strange hissing noise issued from its jaws, its lips curled +upward until it smiled--smiled, Mr. Cleek!--oh, the ghastliest, most +awful, most blood-curdling smile imaginable and then, with a sort of +mingled snarl and bark, it clamped its jaws together and crushed the +boy's head as though it were an egg-shell!" + +He put up his hands and covered his eyes as if to shut out some +appalling vision, and for a moment or two nothing was heard but the low +sobbing of the victim's sister. + +"As suddenly as that change had come over the beast, Mr. Cleek," +Scarmelli went on presently, "just so suddenly it passed, and it was the +docile, affectionate animal it had been for years. It seemed to +understand that some harm had befallen its favourite--for Henri was its +favourite--and, curling itself up beside his body, it licked his hands +and moaned disconsolately in a manner almost human. That's all there is +to tell, sir, save that at times the horrid change, the appalling smile, +repeat themselves when either the chevalier or his son bend to put a +head within its jaws, and but for their watchfulness and quickness the +tragedy of that other awful night would surely be repeated. Sir, it is +not natural; I know now, as surely as if the lion itself has spoken, +that some one is at the bottom of this ghastly thing, that some human +agency is at work, some unknown enemy of the chevalier's is doing +something, God alone knows what or why, to bring about his death as his +son's was brought about." + +And here, for the first time, the chevalier's daughter spoke. + +"Ah, tell him all, Jim, tell him all!" she said, in her pretty broken +English. "Monsieur, may the good God in heaven forgive me if I wrong +her; but--but---- Ah, Monsieur Cleek, sometimes I feel that she, my +stepmother, and that man, that 'rider' who knows not how to ride as the +artist should, monsieur, I cannot help it, but I feel that they are at +the bottom of it." + +"Yes, but why?" queried Cleek. "I have heard of your father's second +marriage, mademoiselle, and of this Signor Antonio Martinelli, to whom +you allude. Mr. Narkom has told me. But why should you connect these two +persons with this inexplicable thing. Does your father do so, too?" + +"Oh, no! oh, no!" she answered excitedly. "He does not even know that we +suspect, Jim and I. He loves her, monsieur. It would kill him to doubt +her." + +"Then why should you?" + +"Because I cannot help it, monsieur. God knows, I would if I could, for +I care for her dearly, I am grateful to her for making my father happy. +My brothers, too, cared for her. We believed she loved him; we believed +it was because of that that she married him. And yet--and yet---- Ah, +monsieur, how can I fail to feel as I do when this change in the lion +came with that man's coming? And she--ah, monsieur, why is she always +with him? Why does she curry favour of him and his rich friend?" + +"He has a rich friend, then?" + +"Yes, monsieur. The company was in difficulties; Monsieur van Zant, the +proprietor, could not make it pay, and it was upon the point of +disbanding. But suddenly this indifferent performer, this rider who is, +after all, but a poor amateur and not fit to appear with a company of +trained artists, suddenly this Signor Martinelli comes to Monsieur van +Zant to say that, if he will engage him, he has a rich friend, one Senor +Sperati, a Brazilian coffee planter, who will 'back' the show with his +money and buy a partnership in it. Of course M. van Zant accepted; and +since then this Senor Sperati has travelled everywhere with us, has had +the entree like one of us, and his friend, the bad rider, has fairly +bewitched my stepmother, for she is ever with him, ever with them both, +and--and---- Ah, mon Dieu! the lion smiles, and my people die! Why does +it 'smile' for no others? Why is it only they, my father, my brother, +they alone?" + +"Is that a fact?" said Cleek, turning to young Scarmelli. "You say that +all connected with the circus have so little fear of the beast that even +attendants sometimes do this foolhardy trick? Does the lion never +'smile' for any of those?" + +"Never, Mr. Cleek, never under any circumstances. Nor does it always +smile for the chevalier and his son. That is the mystery of it. One +never knows when it is going to happen; one never knows why it does +happen. But if you could see that uncanny smile----" + +"I should like to," interposed Cleek. "That is, if it might happen +without any tragical result. Hum-m-m! Nobody but the chevalier and the +chevalier's son! And when does it happen in their case, during the +course of the show, or when there is nobody about but those connected +with it?" + +"Oh, always during the course of the entertainment, sir. Indeed, it has +never happened at any other time--never at all." + +"Oho!" said Cleek. "Then it is only when they are dressed and made up +for the performance, eh? Hum-m-m! I see." Then he lapsed into silence +for a moment, and sat tracing circles on the floor with the toe of his +boot. But, of a sudden: "You came here directly after the matinee, I +suppose?" he queried, glancing up at young Scarmelli. + +"Yes; in fact, before it was wholly over." + +"I see. Then it is just possible that all the performers have not yet +got into their civilian clothes. Couldn't manage to take me round behind +the scenes, so to speak, if Mr. Narkom will lend us his motor to hurry +us there? Could, eh? That's good. I think I'd like to have a look at +that lion and, if you don't mind, an introduction to the parties +concerned. No! don't fear; we won't startle anybody by revealing my +identity or the cause of the visit. Let us say that I'm a vet. to whom +you have appealed for an opinion regarding Nero's queer conduct. All +ready, Mr. Narkom? Then let's be off." + +Two minutes later the red limousine was at the door, and, stepping into +it with his two companions, he was whizzed away to Olympia and the first +step toward the solution of the riddle. + + +II + +As it is the custom of those connected with the world of the circus to +eat, sleep, have their whole being, as it were, within the environment +of the show, to the total exclusion of hotels, boarding-houses, or +outside lodgings of any sort, he found on his arrival at his destination +the entire company assembled in what was known as the "living-tent," +chatting, laughing, reading, playing games and killing time generally +whilst waiting for the call to the "dining-tent," and this gave him an +opportunity to meet all the persons connected with the "case," from the +"chevalier" himself to the Brazilian coffee planter who was "backing" +the show. + +He found this latter individual a somewhat sullen and taciturn man of +middle age, who had more the appearance of an Austrian than a Brazilian, +and with a swinging gait and an uprightness of bearing which were not to +be misunderstood. + +"Humph! Known military training," was Cleek's mental comment as soon as +he saw the man walk. "Got it in Germany, too; I know that peculiar +'swing.' What's his little game, I wonder? And what's a Brazilian doing +in the army of the Kaiser? And, having been in it, what's he doing +dropping into this line; backing a circus, and travelling with it like a +Bohemian?" + +But although these thoughts interested him, he did not put them into +words nor take anybody into his confidence regarding them. + +As for the other members of the company, he found "the indifferent +rider," known as Signor Antonio Martinelli, an undoubted Irishman of +about thirty years of age, extremely handsome, but with a certain +"shiftiness" of the eye which was far from inspiring confidence, and +with a trick of the tongue which suggested that his baptismal +certificate probably bore the name of Anthony Martin. He found, too, +that all he had heard regarding the youth and beauty of the chevalier's +second wife was quite correct, and although she devoted herself a great +deal to the Brazilian coffee planter and the Irish-Italian "Martinelli," +she had a way of looking over at her middle-aged spouse, without his +knowledge, that left no doubt in Cleek's mind regarding the real state +of her feelings toward the man. And last, but not least by any means, he +found the chevalier himself a frank, open-minded, open-hearted, lovable +man, who ought not, in the natural order of things, to have an enemy in +the world. Despite his high-falutin _nom de theatre_, he was Belgian, a +big, soft-hearted, easy-going, unsuspicious fellow, who worshipped his +wife, adored his children, and loved every creature of the animal world. + +How well that love was returned, Cleek saw when he went with him to that +part of the building where his animals were kept, and watched them +"nose" his hand or lick his cheek whenever the opportunity offered. But +Nero, the lion, was perhaps the greatest surprise of all, for so tame, +so docile, so little feared was the animal, that its cage door was open, +and they found one of the attendants squatting cross-legged inside and +playing with it as though it were a kitten. + +"There he is, doctor," said the chevalier, waving his hand toward the +beast. "Ah, I will not believe that it was anything but an accident, +sir. He loved my boy. He would hurt no one that is kind to him. Fetch +him out, Tom, and let the doctor see him at close quarters." + +Despite all these assurances of the animal's docility Cleek could not +but remember what the creature had done, and, in consequence, did not +feel quite at ease when it came lumbering out of the cage with the +attendant and ranged up alongside of him, rubbing its huge head against +the chevalier's arm after the manner of an affectionate cat. + +"Don't be frightened, sir," said Tom, noticing this. "Nothing more'n a +big dog, sir. Had the care of him for eight years, I have--haven't I, +chevalier?--and never a growl or scratch out of him. No 'smile' for your +old Tom, is there, Nero, boy, eh? No fear! Ain't a thing as anybody does +with him, sir, that I wouldn't do off-hand and feel quite safe." + +"Even to putting your head in his mouth?" queried Cleek. + +"Lor', yes!" returned the man, with a laugh. "That's nothing. Done it +many a day. Look here!" With that he pulled the massive jaws apart, and, +bending down, laid his head within them. The lion stood perfectly +passive, and did not offer to close his mouth until it was again empty. +It was then that Cleek remembered, and glanced round at young Scarmelli. + +"He never 'smiles' for any but the chevalier and his son, I believe you +said," he remarked. "I wonder if the chevalier himself would be as safe +if he were to make a feint of doing that?" For the chevalier, like most +of the other performers, had not changed his dress after the matinee, +since the evening performance was so soon to begin; and if, as Cleek had +an idea, that the matter of costume and make-up had anything to do with +the mystery of the thing, here, surely, was a chance to learn. + +"Make a feint of it? Certainly I will, doctor," the chevalier replied. +"But why a feint? Why not the actual thing?" + +"No, please--at least, not until I have seen how the beast is likely to +take it. Just put your head down close to his muzzle, chevalier. Go +slow, please, and keep your head at a safe distance." + +The chevalier obeyed. Bringing his head down until it was on a level +with the animal's own, he opened the ponderous jaws. The beast was as +passive as before; and, finding no trace of the coming of the mysterious +and dreaded "smile," he laid his face between the double row of gleaming +teeth, held it there a moment, and then withdrew it uninjured. Cleek +took his chin between his thumb and forefinger and pinched it hard. What +he had just witnessed would seem to refute the idea of either costume or +make-up having any bearing upon the case. + +"Did you do that to-day at the matinee performance, chevalier?" he +hazarded, after a moment's thoughtfulness. + +"Oh, yes," he replied. "It was not my plan to do so, however. I alter my +performance constantly to give variety. To-day I had arranged for my +little son to do the trick; but somehow---- Ah! I am a foolish man, +monsieur; I have odd fancies, odd whims, sometimes odd fears, +since--since that awful night. Something came over me at the last +moment, and just as my boy came into the cage to perform the trick I +changed my mind. I would not let him do it. I thrust him aside and did +the trick myself." + +"Oho!" said Cleek. "Will the boy do it to-night, then, chevalier?" + +"Perhaps," he made reply. "He is still dressed for it. Look, here he +comes now, monsieur, and my wife, and some of our good friends with him. +Ah, they are so interested, they are anxious to hear what report you +make upon Nero's condition." + +Cleek glanced round. Several members of the company were advancing +toward them from the "living-tent." In the lead was the boy, a little +fellow of about twelve years of age, fancifully dressed in tights and +tunic. By his side was his stepmother, looking pale and anxious. But +although both Signor Martinelli and the Brazilian coffee planter came to +the edge of the tent and looked out, it was observable that they +immediately withdrew, and allowed the rest of the party to proceed +without them. + +"Dearest, I have just heard from Tom that you and the doctor are +experimenting with Nero," said the chevalier's wife, as she came up with +the others and joined him. "Oh, do be careful, do! Much as I like the +animal, doctor, I shall never feel safe until my husband parts with it +or gives up that ghastly 'trick.'" + +"My dearest, my dearest, how absurdly you talk!" interrupted her +husband. "You know well that without that my act would be commonplace, +that no manager would want either it or me. And how, pray, should we +live if that were to happen?" + +"There would always be my salary; we could make that do." + +"As if I would consent to live upon your earnings and add nothing +myself! No, no! I shall never do that, never. It is not as though that +foolish dream of long ago had come true, and I might hope one day to +retire. I am of the circus, and of it I shall always remain." + +"I wish you might not; I wish the dream might come true, even yet," she +made reply. "Why shouldn't it? Wilder ones have come true for other +people; why should they not for you?" + +Before her husband could make any response to this, the whole trend of +the conversation was altered by the boy. + +"Father," he said, "am I to do the trick to-night? Senor Sperati says it +is silly of me to sit about all dressed and ready if I am to do nothing, +like a little super, instead of a performer and an artist." + +"Oh, but that is not kind of the senor to say that," his father replied, +soothing his ruffled feelings. "You are an artist, of course; never +super--no, never. But if you shall do the trick or not, I cannot say. It +will depend, as it did at the matinee. If I feel it is right, you shall +do it; but if I feel it is wrong, then it must be no. You see, doctor," +catching Cleek's eye, "what a little enthusiast he is, and with how +little fear." + +"Yes, I do see, chevalier; but I wonder if he would be willing to humour +me in something? As he is not afraid, I've an odd fancy to see how he'd +go about the thing. Would you mind letting him make the feint you +yourself made a few minutes ago? Only, I must insist that in this +instance it be nothing more than a feint, chevalier. Don't let him go +too near at the time of doing it. Don't let him open the lion's jaws +with his own hands. You do that. Do you mind?" + +"Of a certainty not, monsieur. Gustave, show the good doctor how you go +about it when papa lets you do the trick. But you are not really to do +it just yet, only to bend the head near to Nero's mouth. Now then, come +see." + +As he spoke he divided the lion's jaws and signalled the child to bend. +He obeyed. Very slowly the little head drooped nearer to the gaping, +full-fanged mouth, very slowly and very carefully, for Cleek's hand was +on the boy's shoulder, Cleek's eyes were on the lion's face. The huge +brute was as meek and as undisturbed as before, and there was actual +kindness in its fixed eyes. But of a sudden, when the child's head was +on a level with those gaping jaws, the lips curled backward in a ghastly +parody of a smile, a weird, uncanny sound whizzed through the bared +teeth, the passive body bulked as with a shock, and Cleek had just time +to snatch the boy back when the great jaws struck together with a snap +that would have splintered a skull of iron had they closed upon it. + +The hideous and mysterious "smile" had come again, and, brief though it +was, its passing found the boy's sister lying on the ground in a dead +faint, the boy's stepmother cowering back, with covered eyes and shrill, +affrighted screams, and the boy's father leaning, shaken and white, +against the empty cage and nursing a bleeding hand. + +In an instant the whole place was in an uproar. "It smiled again! It +smiled again!" ran in broken gasps from lip to lip; but through it all +Cleek stood there, clutching the frightened child close to him, but not +saying one word, not making one sound. Across the dark arena came a rush +of running footsteps, and presently Senor Sperati came panting up, +breathless and pale with excitement. + +"What's the matter? What's wrong?" he cried. "Is it the lion again? Is +the boy killed? Speak up!" + +"No," said Cleek very quietly, "nor will he be. The father will do the +trick to-night, not the son. We've had a fright and a lesson, that's +all." And, putting the sobbing child from him, he caught young +Scarmelli's arm and hurried him away. "Take me somewhere that we can +talk in safety," he said. "We are on the threshold of the end, +Scarmelli, and I want your help." + +"Oh, Mr. Cleek, have you any idea, any clue?" + +"Yes, more than a clue. I know how, but I have not yet discovered why. +Now, if you know, tell me what did the chevalier mean, what did his +wife mean, when they spoke of a dream that might have come true but +didn't? Do you know? Have you any idea? Or, if you have not, do you +think your fiancee has?" + +"Why, yes," he made reply. "Zelie has told me about it often. It is of a +fortune that was promised and never materialised. Oh, such a long time +ago, when he was quite a young man, the chevalier saved the life of a +very great man, a Prussian nobleman of great wealth. He was profuse in +his thanks and his promises, that nobleman; swore that he would make him +independent for life, and all that sort of thing." + +"And didn't?" + +"No, he didn't. After a dozen letters promising the chevalier things +that almost turned his head, the man dropped him entirely. In the midst +of his dreams of wealth a letter came from the old skinflint's steward +enclosing him the sum of six hundred marks, and telling him that as his +master had come to the conclusion that wealth would be more of a curse +than a blessing to a man of his class and station, he had thought better +of his rash promise. He begged to tender the enclosed as a proper and +sufficient reward for the service rendered, and 'should not trouble the +young man any further.' Of course, the chevalier didn't reply. Who +would, after having been promised wealth, education, everything one had +confessed that one most desired? Being young, high-spirited, and +bitterly, bitterly disappointed, the chevalier bundled the six hundred +marks back without a single word, and that was the last he ever heard of +the Baron von Steinheid from that day to this." + +"The Baron von Steinheid?" repeated Cleek, pulling himself up as though +he had trodden upon something. + +"Do you mean to say that the man whose life he saved---- Scarmelli, tell +me something: Does it happen by any chance that the 'Chevalier di +Roma's' real name is Peter Janssen Pullaine?" + +"Yes," said Scarmelli, in reply. "That is his name. Why?" + +"Nothing, but that it solves the riddle, and the lion has smiled for the +last time! No, don't ask me any questions; there isn't time to explain. +Get me as quickly as you can to the place where we left Mr. Narkom's +motor. Will this way lead me out? Thanks! Get back to the others, and +look for me again in two hours' time; and Scarmelli?" + +"Yes, sir?" + +"One last word: don't let that boy get out of your sight for one +instant, and don't, no matter at what cost, let the chevalier do his +turn to-night before I get back. Good-bye for a time. I'm off." + +Then he moved like a fleetly passing shadow round the angle of the +building, and two minutes later was with Narkom in the red limousine. + +"To the German embassy as fast as we can fly," he said as he scrambled +in. "I've something to tell you about that lion's smile, Mr. Narkom, and +I'll tell it while we're on the wing." + + +III + +It was nine o'clock and after. The great show at Olympia was at its +height; the packed house was roaring with delight over the daring +equestrianship of "Mademoiselle Marie de Zanoni," and the sound of the +cheers rolled in to the huge dressing-tent, where the artists awaited +their several turns, and the chevalier, in spangled trunks and tights, +all ready for his call, sat hugging his child and shivering like a man +with the ague. + +"Come, come, buck up, man, and don't funk it like this," said Senor +Sperati, who had graciously consented to assist him with his dressing +because of the injury to his hand. "The idea of you losing your nerve, +you of all men, and because of a little affair like that. You know very +well that Nero is as safe as a kitten to-night, that he never has two +smiling turns in the same week, much less the same day. Your act's the +next on the programme. Buck up and go at it like a man." + +"I can't, senor, I can't!" almost wailed the chevalier. "My nerve is +gone. Never, if I live to be a thousand, shall I forget that awful +moment, that appalling 'smile.' I tell you there is wizardry in the +thing; the beast is bewitched. My work in the arena is done, done +forever, senor. I shall never have courage to look into the beast's jaws +again." + +"Rot! You're not going to ruin the show, are you, and after all the +money I've put into it? If you have no care for yourself, it's your duty +to think about me. You can at least try. I tell you you must try! Here, +take a sip of brandy, and see if that won't put a bit of courage into +you. Hallo!" as a burst of applause and the thud of a horse's hoofs down +the passage to the stables came rolling in, "there's your wife's turn +over at last; and there--listen! the ringmaster is announcing yours. Get +up, man; get up and go out." + +"I can't, senor, I can't! I can't!" + +"But I tell you you must." + +And just here an interruption came. + +"Bad advice, my dear captain," said a voice, Cleek's voice, from the +other end of the tent; and with a twist and a snarl the "senor" screwed +round on his heel in time to see that other intruders were putting in an +appearance as well as this unwelcome one. + +"Who the deuce asked you for your opinion?" rapped out the "senor" +savagely. "And what are you doing in here, anyhow? If we want the +service of a vet., we're quite capable of getting one for ourselves +without having him shove his presence upon us unasked." + +"You are quite capable of doing a great many things, my dear captain, +even making lions smile!" said Cleek serenely. "It would appear that the +gallant Captain von Gossler, nephew, and, in the absence of one who has +a better claim, heir to the late Baron von Steinheid--That's it, nab the +beggar. Played, sir, played! Hustle him out and into the cab, with his +precious confederate, the Irish-Italian 'signor,' and make a clean sweep +of the pair of them. You'll find it a neck-stretching game, captain, I'm +afraid, when the jury comes to hear of that poor boy's death and your +beastly part in it." + +By this time the tent was in an uproar, for the chevalier's wife had +come hurrying in, the chevalier's daughter was on the verge of +hysterics, and the chevalier's prospective son-in-law was alternately +hugging the great beast-tamer and then shaking his hand and generally +deporting himself like a respectable young man who had suddenly gone +daft. + +"Governor!" he cried, half laughing, half sobbing. "Bully old governor. +It's over--it's over. Never any more danger, never any more hard times, +never any more lion's smiles." + +"No, never," said Cleek. "Come here, Madame Pullaine, and hear the good +news with the rest. You married for love, and you've proved a brick. The +dream's come true, and the life of ease and of luxury is yours at last, +Mr. Pullaine." + +"But, sir, I--I do not understand," stammered the chevalier. "What has +happened? Why have you arrested the Senor Sperati? What has he done? I +cannot comprehend." + +"Can't you? Well, it so happens, chevalier, that the Baron von Steinheid +died something like two months ago, leaving the sum of sixty thousand +pounds sterling to one Peter Janssen Pullaine and the heirs of his body, +and that a certain Captain von Gossler, son of the baron's only sister, +meant to make sure that there was no Peter Janssen Pullaine and no heirs +of his body to inherit one farthing of it." + +"Sir! Dear God, can this be true?" + +"Perfectly true, chevalier. The late baron's solicitors have been +advertising for some time for news regarding the whereabouts of Peter +Janssen Pullaine, and if you had not so successfully hidden your real +name under that of your professional one, no doubt some of your +colleagues would have put you in the way of finding it out long ago. The +baron did not go back on his word and did not act ungratefully. His +will, dated twenty-nine years ago, was never altered in a single +particular. I rather suspect that that letter and that gift of money +which came to you in the name of his steward, and was supposed to close +the affair entirely, was the work of his nephew, the gentleman whose +exit has just been made. A crafty individual that, chevalier, and he +laid his plans cleverly and well. Who would be likely to connect him +with the death of a beast-tamer in a circus, who had perished in what +would appear an accident of his calling? Ah, yes, the lion's smile was a +clever idea. He was a sharp rascal to think of it." + +"Sir! You--you do not mean to tell me that he caused that? He never went +near the beast--never--even once." + +"Not necessary, chevalier. He kept near you and your children; that was +all that he needed to do to carry out his plan. The lion was as much his +victim as anybody else. What it did it could not help doing. The very +simplicity of the plan was its passport to success. All that was +required was the unsuspected sifting of snuff on the hair of the person +whose head was to be put in the beast's mouth. The lion's smile was not, +properly speaking, a smile at all, chevalier; it was the torture which +came of snuff getting into its nostrils, and when the beast made that +uncanny noise and snapped its jaws together, it was simply the outcome +of a sneeze. The thing would be farcical if it were not that tragedy +hangs on the thread of it, and that a life, a useful human life, was +destroyed by means of it. Yes, it was clever, it was diabolically +clever; but you know what Bobby Burns says about the best-laid schemes +of mice and men. There's always a Power higher up that works the ruin of +them." + +With that he walked by and, going to young Scarmelli, put out his hand. + +"You're a good chap and you've got a good girl, so I expect you will be +happy," he said; and then lowered his voice so that the rest might not +reach the chevalier's ears. "You were wrong to suspect the little +stepmother," he added. "She's true blue, Scarmelli. She was only playing +up to those fellows because she was afraid the 'senor' would drop out +and close the show if she didn't, and that she and her husband and the +children would be thrown out of work. She loves her husband--that's +certain--and she's a good little woman; and, Scarmelli?" + +"Yes, Mr. Cleek?" + +"There's nothing better than a good woman on this earth, my lad. Always +remember that. I think you, too, have got one. I hope you have. I hope +you will be happy. What's that? Owe me? Not a rap, my boy. Or, if you +feel that you must give me something, give me your prayers for equal +luck when my time comes, and send me a slice of the wedding cake. The +riddle's solved, old chap. Good-night!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE MYSTERY OF THE STEEL ROOM + + +"Oh, blow!" said Dollops disgustedly, as the telephone bell jingled. "A +body never gets a square meal in this house now that that blessed +thing's been put in!" Then he laid down his knife and fork, scuttled +upstairs to the instrument, and unhooked the receiver. "'Ullo! Wot's the +rumpus?" he shouted into it. "Yus, this is Captain Burbage's. Wot? No, +he ain't in. Dunno when he will be. Dunno where he is. Who is it as +wants him? If there's any message----" + +The sound of some one whistling softly the opening bars of the national +anthem at the other end of the wire cut in upon his words and filled him +with a sudden deep and startled interest. + +"Oh, s'help me!" he said, with a sort of gasp. "The Yard!" Then, +lowering his voice to a shrill whisper, "That you, Mr. Narkom? Beg yer +pardon, sir. Yus, it's me--Dollops. Wot? No, sir. Went out two hours +ago. Gone to Kensington Palace Gardens. Tulips is out, and you couldn't +hold him indoors with a chain at tulip time. Yus, sir--top hat, gray +spats; same's the captain always wears, sir." + +Narkom, at the other end of the line, called back: "If I miss him, if he +comes in without seeing me, tell him to wait; I'll be round before +three. Good-bye!" then hung up the receiver and turned to the gentleman +who stood by the window on the other side of the private office +agitatedly twirling the end of his thick gray-threaded moustache with +one hand, while with the other he drummed a nervous tattoo upon the +broad oaken sill. "Not at home, Sir Henry; but fortunately I know where +to find him with but little loss of time," he said, and pressed twice +upon an electric button beside his desk. "My motor will be at the door +in a couple of minutes, and with ordinary luck we ought to be able to +pick him up inside of the next half hour." + +Sir Henry--Sir Henry Wilding, Bart., to give him his full name and +title--a handsome, well-set-up man of about forty years of age, well +groomed, and with the upright bearing which comes of military training, +twisted round on his heel at this and gave the superintendent an almost +grateful look. + +"I hope so, God knows, I hope so, Mr. Narkom," he said agitatedly. "Time +is the one important thing at present. The suspense and uncertainty are +getting on my nerves so horribly that the very minutes seem endless. +Remember, there are only three days before the race, and if those +rascals, whoever they are, get at Black Riot before then, God help me, +that's all! And if this man Cleek can't probe the diabolical mystery, +they _will_ get at her, too, and put Logan where they put Tolliver, the +brutes!" + +"You may trust Cleek to see that they don't, Sir Henry. It is just the +kind of case he will glory in; and if Black Riot is all that you believe +her, you'll carry off the Derby plate in spite of these enterprising +gentry who---- Hallo! here's the motor. Clap on your hat, Sir Henry, and +come along. Mind the step! Kensington Palace Gardens, Lennard--and as +fast as you can streak it." + +The chauffeur proved that he could "streak it" as close to the margin of +the speed limits as the law dared wink at, even in the case of the +well-known red limousine, and in a little over twenty minutes pulled up +before the park gates. Narkom jumped out, beckoned Sir Henry to follow +him, and together they hurried into the grounds in quest of Cleek. + +Where the famous tulip beds made splotches of brilliant colour against +the clear emerald of the closely clipped grass they came upon him, a +solitary figure in the garb of the elderly seaman, "Captain Burbage, of +Clarges Street," seated on one of the garden benches, his hands folded +over the knob of his thick walking-stick and his chin resting upon them, +staring fixedly at the gorgeous flowers and apparently deaf and blind to +all else. + +He was not, however, for as the superintendent approached without +altering his gaze or his attitude in the slightest particle, he said +with the utmost calmness: "Superb, are they not, my friend? What a pity +they should be scentless. It is as though Heaven had created a butterfly +and deprived it of the secret of flight. Walk on, please, without +addressing me. I am quite friendly with that policeman yonder, and I do +not wish him to suspect that the elderly gentleman he is so kind to is +in any way connected with the Yard. Examine the tulips. That's right. +You came in your limousine, of course? Where is it?" + +"Just outside the gates, at the end of the path on the right," replied +Narkom, halting with Sir Henry and appearing to be wholly absorbed in +pointing out the different varieties of tulips. + +"Good," replied Cleek, apparently taking not the slightest notice. "I'll +toddle on presently, and when you return from inspecting the flowers you +will find me inside the motor awaiting you." + +"Do, old chap, and please hurry; time is everything in this case. Let me +introduce you to your client. (Keep looking at the flowers, please, Sir +Henry.) I have the honour to make you acquainted with Sir Henry Wilding, +Cleek; he needs you, my dear fellow." + +"Delighted--in both instances. My compliments, Sir Henry. By any chance +that Sir Henry Wilding whose mare, Black Riot, is the favourite for next +Wednesday's Derby?" + +"Yes, that very man, Mr. Cleek; and if----" + +"Don't get excited and don't turn, please; our friend the policeman is +looking this way. What's the case? One of 'nobbling'? Somebody trying to +get at the mare?" + +"Yes. A desperate 'somebody,' who doesn't stop even at murder. A very +devil incarnate who seems to possess the power of invisibility and who +strikes in the dark. Save me, Mr. Cleek! All I've got in the world is at +stake, and if anything happens to Black Riot, I'm a ruined man." + +"Yar-r-r!" yawned the elderly sea captain, rising and stretching. "I do +believe, constable, I've been asleep. Warm weather this for May. A +glorious week for Epsom. Shan't see you to-morrow, I'm afraid. Perhaps +shan't see you until Thursday. Here, take that, my lad, and have +half-a-crown's worth on Black Riot for the Derby; she'll win it, sure." + +"Thanky, sir. Good luck to you, sir." + +"Same to you, my lad. Good day." Then the old gentleman in the top hat +and gray spats moved slowly away, passed down the tree-shaded walk, +passed the romping children, passed the Princess Louise's statue of +Queen Victoria, and, after a moment, vanished. Ten minutes later, when +Narkom and Sir Henry returned to the waiting motor, they found him +seated within it awaiting them, as he had promised. Giving Lennard +orders to drive about slowly in the least frequented quarters, while +they talked, the superintendent got in with Sir Henry, and opened fire +on the "case" without further delay. + +"My dear Cleek," he said, "as you appear to know all about Sir Henry and +his famous mare, there's no need to go into that part of the subject, +so I may as well begin by telling you at once that Sir Henry has come up +to town for the express purpose of getting you to go down to his place +in Suffolk to-night in company with him. You are his only hope of +outwitting a diabolical agency which has set out to get at the horse and +put it out of commission before Derby Day, and in the most mysterious, +the most inscrutable manner ever heard of, my dear chap. Already one +groom who sat up to watch with her has been killed, another hopelessly +paralysed, and to-night Logan, the mare's trainer, is to sit up with her +in the effort to baulk the almost superhuman rascal who is at the bottom +of it all. Conceive, if you can, my dear fellow, a power so crafty, so +diabolical, that it gets into a locked and guarded stable, gets in, my +dear Cleek, despite four men constantly pacing back and forth before +each and every window and door that leads into the place and with a +groom on guard inside, and then gets out again in the same mysterious +manner without having been seen or heard by a living soul. In addition +to all the windows being small and covered with a grille of iron, a fact +which would make it impossible for any one to get in or out once the +doors were closed and guarded, Sir Henry himself will tell you that the +stable has been ransacked from top to bottom, every hole and every +corner probed into, and not a living creature of any sort discovered. +Yet only last night the groom, Tolliver, was set upon inside the place +and killed outright in his efforts to protect the horse; killed, Cleek, +with four men patrolling outside, and willing to swear, each and every +one of them, that nothing and no one, either man, woman, child, or +beast, passed them going in or getting out from sunset until dawn." + +"Hum-m-m!" said Cleek, sucking in his lower lip. "Mysterious, to say the +least. Was there no struggle? Did the men on guard hear no cry?" + +"In the case of the first groom, Murple, the one that was +paralysed--no," said Sir Henry, as the question was addressed to him. +"But in the case of Tolliver--yes. The men heard him cry out, heard him +call out 'help!' but by the time they could get the doors open it was +all over. He was lying doubled up before the entrance to Black Riot's +stall, with his face to the floor, as dead as Julius Caesar, poor fellow, +and not a sign of anybody anywhere." + +"And the horse? Did anybody get at that?" + +"No; for the best of reasons. As soon as these attacks began, Mr. Cleek, +I sent up to London. A gang of twenty-four men came down, with steel +plates, steel joists, steel posts, and in seven hours' time Black Riot's +box was converted into a sort of safe, to which I alone hold the key the +instant it is locked up for the night. A steel grille about half a foot +deep, and so tightly meshed that nothing bigger than a mouse could pass +through, runs all round the enclosure close to the top of the walls, and +this supplies ventilation. When the door is closed at night, it +automatically connects itself with an electric gong in my own bedroom, +so that the slightest attempt to open it, or even to touch it, would +hammer out an alarm close to my head." + +"Has it ever done so?" + +"Yes, last night, when Tolliver was killed." + +"How killed, Sir Henry? Stabbed or shot?" + +"Neither. He appeared to have been strangled, poor fellow, and to have +died in most awful agony." + +"Strangled! But, my dear sir, that would hardly have been possible in so +short a time. You say your men heard him call out for help. Granted that +it took them a full minute--and it probably did not take them half +one--to open the doors and come to his assistance, he would not be stone +dead in so short a time; and he was stone dead when they got in, I +believe you said?" + +"Yes. God knows what killed him, the coroner will find that out, no +doubt, but there was no blood shed and no mark upon him that I could +see." + +"Hum-m-m! Was there any mark on the door of the steel stall?" + +"Yes. A long scratch, somewhat semi-circular, and sweeping downward at +the lower extremity. It began close to the lock and ended about a foot +and a half lower." + +"Undoubtedly, you see, Cleek," put in Narkom, "some one tried to force +an entrance to the steel room and get at the mare, but the prompt +arrival of the men on guard outside the stable prevented his doing so." + +Cleek made no response. Just at that moment the limousine was gliding +past a building whose courtyard was one blaze of parrot tulips, and, his +eye caught by the flaming colours, he was staring at them and +reflectively rubbing his thumb and forefinger up and down his chin. +After a moment, however: + +"Tell me something, Sir Henry," he said abruptly. "Is anybody interested +in your not putting Black Riot into the field on Derby Day? Anybody with +whom you have a personal acquaintance, I mean, for of course I know +there are other owners who would be glad enough to see him scratched. +But is there anybody who would have a particular interest in your +failure?" + +"Yes--one: Major Lambson-Bowles, owner of Minnow. Minnow's second +favourite, as perhaps you know. It would delight Lambson-Bowles to see +me 'go under'; and, as I'm so certain of Black Riot that I've mortgaged +every stick and stone I have in the world to back her, I should go under +if anything happed to the mare. That would suit Lambson-Bowles down to +the ground." + +"Bad blood between you, then?" + +"Yes, very. The fellow's a brute, and--I thrashed him once, as he +deserved, the bounder. It may interest you to know that my only sister +was his first wife. He led her a dog's life, poor girl, and death was a +merciful release to her. Twelve months ago he married a rich American +woman, widow of a man who made millions in hides and leather. That's +when Lambson-Bowles took up racing and how he got the money to keep a +stud. Had the beastly bad taste, too, to come down to Suffolk--within a +gunshot of Wilding Hall--take Elmslie Manor, the biggest place in the +neighbourhood, and cut a dash under my very nose, as it were." + +"Oho!" said Cleek; "then the major is a neighbour as well as a rival for +the Derby plate. I see! I see!" + +"No, you don't--altogether," said Sir Henry quickly. "Lambson-Bowles is +a brute and a bounder in many ways, but--well, I don't believe he is +low-down enough to do this sort of thing, and with murder attached to +it, too, although he did try to bribe poor Tolliver to leave me. Offered +my trainer double wages, too, to chuck me and take up his horses." + +"Oh, he did that, did he? Sure of it, Sir Henry?" + +"Absolutely. Saw the letter he wrote to Logan." + +"Hum-m-m! Feel that you can rely on Logan, do you?" + +"To the last grasp. He's as true to me as my own shadow. If you want +proof of it, Mr. Cleek, he's going to sit in the stable and keep guard +himself to-night, in the face of what happened to Murple and Tolliver." + +"Murple is the groom who was paralysed, is he not?" said Cleek, after a +moment. "Singular thing that. What paralysed him, do you think?" + +"Heavens knows. He might just as well have been killed as poor Tolliver +was, for he'll never be any use again, the doctors say. Some injury to +the spinal column, and with it a curious affection of the throat and +tongue. He can neither swallow nor speak. Nourishment has to be +administered by tube, and the tongue is horribly swollen." + +"I am of the opinion, Cleek," put in Narkom, "that strangulation is +merely part of the procedure of the rascal who makes these diabolical +nocturnal visits. In other words, that he is armed with some +quick-acting infernal poison, which he forces into the mouths of his +victims. That paralysis of the muscles of the throat is one of the +symptoms of prussic acid poisoning, you must remember." + +"I do remember, Mr. Narkom," replied Cleek enigmatically. "My memory is +much stimulated by these details, I assure you. I gather from them that, +whatever is administered, Murple did not get quite so much of it as +Tolliver, or he, too, would be dead. Sir Henry"--he turned again to the +baronet--"do you trust everybody else connected with your establishment +as much as you trust Logan?" + +"Yes. There's not a servant connected with the hall that hasn't been in +my service for years, and all are loyal to me." + +"May I ask who else is in the house besides the servants?" + +"My wife, Lady Wilding, for one; her cousin, Mr. Sharpless, who is on a +visit to us, for another; and for a third, my uncle, the Rev. Ambrose +Smeer, the famous revivalist." + +"Mr. Smeer does not approve of the race track, of course?" + +"No, he does not. He is absurdly 'narrow' on some subjects, and 'sport' +of all sorts is one of them. But, beyond that, he is a dear, lovable, +old fellow, of whom I am amazingly fond." + +"Hum-m-m! And Lady Wilding and Mr. Sharpless, do they, too, disapprove +of racing?" + +"Quite to the contrary. Both are enthusiastic upon the subject and both +have the utmost faith in Black Riot's certainty of winning. Lady Wilding +is something more than attached to the mare; and as for Mr. Sharpless, +he is so upset over these rascally attempts that every morning when the +steel room is opened and the animal taken out, although nothing ever +happens in the daylight, he won't let her get out of his sight for a +single instant until she is groomed and locked up for the night. He is +so incensed, so worked up over this diabolical business, that I verily +believe if he caught any stranger coming near the mare he'd shoot him in +his tracks." + +"Hum-m-m!" said Cleek abstractedly, and then sat silent for a long time +staring at his spats and moving one thumb slowly round the breadth of +the other, his fingers interlaced and his lower lip pushed upward over +the one above. + +"There, that's the case, Cleek," said Narkom, after a time. "Do you make +anything out of it?" + +"Yes," he replied; "I make a good deal out of it, Mr. Narkom, but, like +the language of the man who stepped on the banana skin, it isn't fit for +publication. One question more, Sir Henry. Heaven forbid it, of course, +but if anything should happen to Logan to-night, who would you put on +guard over the horse to-morrow?" + +"Do you think I could persuade anybody if a third man perished?" said +the baronet, answering one question with another. "I don't believe +there's a groom in England who'd take the risk for love or money. There +would be nothing for it but to do the watching myself. What's that? Do +it? Certainly, I'd do it! Everybody that knows me knows that." + +"Ah, I see!" said Cleek, and lapsed into silence again. + +"But you'll come, won't you?" exclaimed Sir Henry agitatedly. "It won't +happen if you take up the case; Mr. Narkom tells me he is sure of that. +Come with me, Mr. Cleek. My motor is waiting at the garage. Come back +with me, for God's sake, for humanity's sake, and get at the bottom of +the thing." + +"Yes," said Cleek in reply. "Give Lennard the address of the garage, +please; and--Mr. Narkom?" + +"Yes, old chap?" + +"Pull up at the first grocer's shop you see, will you, and buy me a +couple of pounds of the best white flour that's milled; and if you can't +manage to get me either a sieve or a flour dredger, a tin pepper-pot +will do!" + + +II + +It was two o'clock when Sir Henry Wilding's motor turned its back upon +the outskirts of London, and it was a quarter past seven when it whirled +up to the stables of Wilding Hall, and the baronet and his gray-headed, +bespectacled and gray-spatted companion alighted, having taken five +hours and a quarter to make a journey which the trains which run daily +between Liverpool Street and Darsham make in four. + +As a matter of fact, however, they really had outstripped the train, but +it had been Cleek's pleasure to make two calls on the way, one at +Saxmundham, where the paralysed Murple lay in the infirmary of the local +practitioner, the other at the mortuary where the body of Tolliver was +retained, awaiting the sitting of the coroner. Both the dead and the +still living man Cleek had subjected to a critical personal examination, +but whether either furnished him with any suggested clue he did not say. +The only remark he made upon the subject was when Sir Henry, on hearing +from Murple's wife that the doctor had said he would probably not last +the week out, had inquired if the woman knew where to "put her hand on +the receipt for the payment of the last premium, so that her claim +could be sent in to the life assurance company without delay when the +end came." + +"Tell me something, Sir Henry," said Cleek, when he heard that, and +noticed how gratefully the woman looked at the baronet when she replied, +"Yes, Sir Henry, God bless you, sir!" "Tell me, if it is not an +impertinent question, did you take out an insurance policy on Murple's +life and pay the premium on it yourself? I gathered the idea that you +did from the manner in which the woman spoke to you." + +"Yes, I did," replied Sir Henry. "As a matter of fact, I take out a +similar policy, payable to the widow, for every married man I employ in +connection with my racing stud." + +"May I ask why?" + +"Well, for one thing, they usually are too poor and have too many +children to support to be able to take it out for themselves, and +exercising racers has a good many risks. Then, for another thing, I'm a +firm believer in the policy of life assurance. It's just so much money +laid up in safety, and one never knows what may happen." + +"Then it is fair," said Cleek, "to suppose, in that case, that you have +taken out one on your own life?" + +"Yes--rather! And a whacking big one, too." + +"And Lady Wilding is, of course, the beneficiary?" + +"Certainly. There are no children, you know. As a matter of fact, we +have been married only seven months. Before the date of my wedding the +policy was in my Uncle Ambrose's, the Rev. Mr. Smeer's, favour." + +"Ah, I see!" said Cleek reflectively. Then fell to thinking deeply over +the subject, and was still thinking of it when the motor whizzed into +the stableyard at Wilding Hall and brought him into contact for the +first time with the trainer, Logan. He didn't much fancy Logan at first +blush, and Logan didn't fancy him at all at any time. + +"Hur!" he said disgustedly, in a stage aside to his master as Cleek +stood on the threshold of the stable, with his head thrown back and his +chin at an angle, sniffing the air somewhat after the manner of a +bird-dog. "Hur! If un's the best Scotland Yard could let out to ye, sir, +a half-baked old softy like that, the rest of 'em must be a blessed poor +lot, Ah'm thinkin'. What's un doin' now, the noodle?--snuffin' the air +like he did not understand the smell of it! He'd not be expectin' a +stable to be scented with eau de cologne, would he? What's un name, +sir?" + +"Cleek." + +"Hur! Sounds like a golf-stick an' Ah've no doubt he's got a head like +one: main thick and with a twist in un. I dunna like 'tecs, Sir Henry, +and I dunna like this one especial. Who's to tell as he aren't in with +they devils as is after Black Riot? Naw! I dunna like him at all." + +Meantime, serenely unconscious of the displeasure he had excited in +Logan's breast, Cleek went on sniffing the air and "poking about," as he +phrased it, in all corners of the stable; and when, a moment later, Sir +Henry went in and joined him, he was standing before the door of the +steel room examining the curving scratch of which the baronet had +spoken. + +"What do you make of it, Mr. Cleek?" + +"Not much in the way of a clue, Sir Henry, a clue to any possible +intruder, I mean. If your artistic soul hadn't rebelled against bare +steel, which would, of course, have soon rusted in this +ammonia-impregnated atmosphere, and led you to put a coat of paint over +the metal, there would have been no mark at all, the thing is so slight. +I am of the opinion that Tolliver himself caused it. In short, that it +was made by either a pin or a cuff button in his wristband when he was +attacked and fell. But enlighten me upon a puzzling point, Sir Henry: +What do you use coriander and oil of sassafras for in a stable?" + +"Coriander? Oil of sassafras? I don't know what the dickens they are. +Have you found such things here?" + +"No; simply smelt them. The combination is not usual--indeed, I know of +but one race in the world who make any use of it, and they merely for a +purpose which, of course, could not possibly exist here, unless----" + +He allowed the rest of the sentence to go by default, and, turning, +looked all round the place. For the first time he seemed to notice +something unusual for the equipment of a stable, and regarded it with +silent interest. It was nothing more nor less than a box, covered with +sheets of virgin cork, and standing on the floor just under one of the +windows, where the light and air could get to a weird-looking, +rubbery-leaved, orchid-like plant, covered with ligulated scarlet +blossoms which grew within it. + +"Sir Henry," he said, after a moment, "may I ask how long it is since +you were in South America?" + +"I? Never was there in my life, Mr. Cleek--never." + +"Ah! Then who connected with the hall has been?" + +"Oh, I see what you are driving at," said Sir Henry, following the +direction of his gaze. "That Patagonian plant, eh? That belonged to poor +Tolliver. He had a strange fancy for ferns and rock plants and things of +that description, and as that particular specimen happens to be one that +does better in the atmosphere of a stable than elsewhere, he kept it in +here." + +"Who told him that it does better in the atmosphere of a stable?" + +"Lady Wilding's cousin, Mr. Sharpless. It was he who gave Tolliver the +plant." + +"Oho! Then Mr. Sharpless has been to South America, has he?" + +"Why, yes. As a matter of fact, he comes from there; so also does Lady +Wilding. I should have thought you would have remembered that, Mr. +Cleek, when---- But perhaps you have never heard? She--they--that is," +stammering confusedly and colouring to the temples, "up to seven months +ago, Mr. Cleek, Lady Wilding was on the--er--music-hall stage. She and +Mr. Sharpless were known as 'Signor Morando and La Belle Creole' and +they did a living statue turn together. It was highly artistic; people +raved; I--er--fell in love with the lady and--that's all!" + +But it wasn't; for Cleek, reading between the lines, saw that the mad +infatuation which had brought the lady a title and an over-generous +husband had simmered down as such things always do sooner or later and +that the marriage was very far from being a happy one. As a matter of +fact, he learned later that the county, to a woman, had refused to +accept Lady Wilding; that her ladyship, chafing under this ostracism, +was for having a number of her old professional friends come down to +visit her and make a time of it, and that, on Sir Henry's objecting, a +violent quarrel had ensued, and the Rev. Ambrose Smeer had come down to +the hall in the effort to make peace. And he learned something else that +night which gave him food for deep reflection: the Rev. Ambrose Smeer, +too, had been to South America. When he met that gentleman, in spite of +the fact that Sir Henry thought so highly of him, and it was known that +his revival meetings had done a world of good, Cleek did not fancy the +Rev. Ambrose Smeer any more than he fancied the trainer, Logan. + +But to return to the present. By this time the late-falling twilight of +May had begun to close in, and presently--as the day was now done and +the night approaching--Logan led in Black Riot from the paddock, +followed by a slim, sallow-featured, small-moustached man, bearing a +shotgun, and dressed in gray tweeds. Sir Henry, who, it was plain to +see, had a liking for the man, introduced this newcomer to Cleek as the +South American, Mr. Andrew Sharpless. + +"That's the English of it, Mr. Cleek," said the latter jovially, but +with an undoubted Spanish twist to the tongue. "I wouldn't have you risk +breaking your jaw with the Brazilian original. Delighted to meet you, +sir. I hope to Heaven you will get at the bottom of this diabolical +thing. What do you think, Henry? Lambson-Bowles's jockey was over in +this neighbourhood this afternoon. Trying to see how Black Riot shapes, +of course, the bounder! Fortunately, I saw him skulking along on the +other side of the hedge, and gave him two minutes in which to make +himself scarce. If he hadn't, if he had come a step nearer to the mare, +I'd have shot him down like a dog. That's right, Logan, put her up for +the night, old chap, and I'll get out your bedding." + +"Aye," said Logan, through his clamped teeth, "and God help man or devil +that comes a-nigh her this night. God help him, Lunnon Mister, that's +all Ah say!" Then he passed into the steel room with the mare, attended +her for the night, and, coming out a minute or two later, locked her up +and gave Sir Henry the key. + +"Broke her and trained her, Ah did; and willin' to die for her, Ah am, +if Ah can't pull un through no other way," he said, pausing before Cleek +and giving him a black look. "A Derby winner her's cut out for, Lunnon +Mister, and a Derby winner her's goin' to be, in spite of all the +Lambson-Bowleses and the low-down horse-nobblers in Christendom!" Then +he switched round and walked over to Sharpless, who had taken a pillow +and a bundle of blankets from the convenient cupboard, and was making a +bed of them on the floor at the foot of the locked steel door. + +"Thanky, sir, 'bliged to un, sir," said Logan, as Sharpless hung up the +shotgun and, with a word to the baronet, excused himself and went in to +dress for dinner. Then he faced round again on Cleek, who was once more +sniffing the air, and pointed to the rude bed: "There's where Ted Logan +sleeps this night--there!" he went on suddenly; "and them as tries to +get at Black Riot comes to grips with me first, me and the shotgun Mr. +Sharpless has left Ah. And if Ah shoot, Lunnon Mister, Ah shoot to +kill!" + +Cleek turned to the baronet. + +"Do me a favour, Sir Henry," he said. "For reasons of my own, I want to +be in this stable alone for the next ten minutes, and after that let no +one come into it until morning. I won't be accountable for this man's +life if he stops in here to-night, and for his sake, as well as for your +own, I want you to forbid him to do so." + +Logan seemed to go nearly mad with rage at this. + +"Ah won't listen to it! Ah will stop here, Ah will! Ah will!" he cried +out in a passion. "Who comes ull find Ah here waitin' to come to grips +with un. Ah won't stop out--Ah won't! Don't un listen to Lunnon Mister, +Sir Henry, for God's sake, don't!" + +"I am afraid I must, in this instance, Logan. You are far too +suspicious, my good fellow. Mr. Cleek doesn't want to 'get at' the mare; +he wants to protect her; to keep anybody else from getting at her, so +join the guard outside if you are so eager. You must let him have his +way." And, in spite of all Logan's pleading, Cleek did have his way. + +Protesting, swearing, almost weeping, the trainer was turned out and the +doors closed, leaving Cleek alone in the stable; and the last Logan and +Sir Henry saw of him until he came out and rejoined them he was standing +in the middle of the floor, with his hands on both hips, staring fixedly +at the impromptu bed in front of the steel-room door. + +"Put on the guard now and see that nobody goes into the place until +morning, Sir Henry," he said, when he came out and rejoined them some +minutes later. "Logan, you silly fellow, you'll do no good fighting +against Fate. Make the best of it and stop where you are." + +That night Cleek met Lady Wilding for the first time. He found her what +he afterward termed "a splendid animal," beautiful, statuesque, more of +Juno than of Venus, and freely endowed with the languorous temperament +and the splendid earthy loveliness which grows nowhere but under +tropical skies and in the shadow of palm groves and the flame of cactus +flowers. She showed him but scant courtesy, however, for she was but a +poor hostess, and after dinner carried her cousin away to the +billiard-room, and left her husband to entertain the Rev. Ambrose and +the detective as best he could. Cleek needed but little entertaining, +however, for in spite of his serenity he was full of the case on hand, +and kept wandering in and out of the house and upstairs and down until +eleven o'clock came and bed claimed him with the rest. + +His last wakeful recollection was of the clock in the lower corridor +striking the first quarter after eleven; then sleep claimed him, and he +knew no more until all the stillness was suddenly shattered by a +loud-voiced gong hammering out an alarm and the sound of people tumbling +out of bed and scurrying about in a panic of fright. He jumped out of +bed, pulled on his clothing, and rushed out into the hall, only to find +it alive with startled people, and at their head Sir Henry, with a +dressing-gown thrown on over his pyjamas and a bedroom candle in his +shaking hand. + +"The stable!" he cried out excitedly. "Come on, come on, for God's sake. +Some one has touched the door of the steel room; and yet the place was +left empty, empty!" + +But it was no longer empty, as they found out when they reached it, for +the doors had been flung open, the men who had been left on guard +outside the stables were now inside it, the electric lights were in full +blaze, the shotgun still hanging where Sharpless had left it, the +impromptu bed was tumbled and tossed in a man's death agony, and at the +foot of the steel door Logan lay, curled up in a heap and stone dead! + +"He would get in, Sir Henry; he'd have shot one or the other of us if we +hadn't let him," said one of the outer guards, as Sir Henry and Cleek +appeared. "He would lie before the door and watch, sir, he simply would; +and God have mercy on him, poor chap; he was faithful to the last!" + +"And the last might not have come for years, the fool, if he had only +obeyed," said Cleek; then lapsed into silence and stood staring at a +dust of white flour on the red-tiled floor and at a thin wavering line +that broke the even surface of it. + + +III + +It was perhaps two minutes later when the entire household, mistress, +guests, and servants alike, came trooping across the open space between +the hall and the stables in a state of semi-deshabille, but in that +brief space of time friendly hands had reverently lifted the body of the +dead man from its place before the steel door, and Sir Henry was +nervously fitting the key to the lock in a frantic effort to get in and +see if Black Riot was safe. + +"_Dios!_ what is it? What has happened?" cried Lady Wilding, as she came +hurrying in, followed closely by Sharpless and the Rev. Ambrose Smeer. +Then, catching sight of Logan's body, she gave a little scream and +covered her eyes. "The trainer, Andrew, the trainer now!" she went on +half hysterically. "Another death--another! Surely they have got the +wretch at last?" + +"The mare! The mare, Henry! Is she safe?" exclaimed Sharpless excitedly, +as he whirled away from his cousin's side and bore down upon the +baronet. "Give me the key, you're too nervous." And, taking it from him, +unlocked the steel room and passed swiftly into it. + +In another instant Black Riot was led out, uninjured, untouched, in the +very pink of condition and, in spite of the tragedy and the dead man's +presence, one or two of the guards were so carried away that they +essayed a cheer. + +"Stop that! Stop it instantly!" rapped out Sir Henry, facing round upon +them. "What's a horse, even the best, beside the loss of an honest life +like that?" and flung out a shaking hand in the direction of dead Logan. +"It will be the story of last night over again, of course? You heard his +scream, heard his fall, but he was dead when you got to him--dead--and +you found no one here?" + +"Not a soul, Sir Henry. The doors were all locked; no grille is missing +from any window; no one is in the loft; no one in any of the stalls; no +one in any crook or corner of the place." + +"Send for the constable, the justice of the peace, anybody!" chimed in +the Rev. Ambrose Smeer at this. "Henry, will you never be warned; never +take these awful lessons to heart? This sinful practice of racing horses +for money----" + +"Oh, hush, hush! Don't preach me a sermon now, uncle," interposed Sir +Henry. "My heart's torn, my mind crazed by this abominable thing. Poor +old Logan! Poor, faithful old chap! Oh!" He whirled and looked over at +Cleek, who still stood inactive, staring at the flour-dusted floor. "And +they said that no mystery was too great for you to get at the bottom of +it, no riddle too complex for you to find the answer? Can't you do +something? Can't you suggest something? Can't you see any glimmer of +light at all?" + +Cleek looked up, and that curious smile which Narkom knew so well, and +would have known had he been there was the "danger signal," looped up +one corner of his mouth. + +"I fancy it is _all_ 'light,' Sir Henry," he said. "I may be wrong, but +I fancy it is merely a question of comparative height. Do I puzzle you +by that? Well, let me explain. Lady Wilding there is one height, Mr. +Sharpless is another, and I am a third; and if they two were to place +themselves side by side, and, say, about four inches apart, and I were +to stand immediately behind them, the difference would be most apparent. +There you are. Do you grasp it?" + +"Not in the least." + +"Bothered if I do either," supplemented Sharpless. "It all sounds like +tommy rot to me." + +"Does it?" said Cleek. "Then let me explain it by illustration," and he +walked quietly toward them. "Lady Wilding, will you oblige me by +standing here? Thank you very much. Now, if you please, Mr. Sharpless, +will you stand beside her ladyship while I take up my place here +immediately behind you both? That's it exactly. A little nearer, +please--just a little, so that your left elbow touches her ladyship's +right. Now then," his two hands moved briskly, there was a click-click; +and then: "There you are; that explains it, my good Mr. and Mrs. Filippo +Bucarelli; explains it completely!" + +And as he stepped aside on saying this, those who were watching, those +who heard Lady Wilding's scream and Mr. Sharpless's snarling oath and +saw them vainly try to spring apart and dart away, saw also that a steel +handcuff was on the woman's right wrist, its mate on the man's left one, +and that they were firmly chained together. + +"In the name of heaven, man," began Sir Henry, appalled by this, and +growing red and white by rapid turns. + +"I fancy that heaven has very little to do with this precious pair, Sir +Henry," interposed Cleek. "You want the two people who are accountable +for these diabolical crimes, and there they stand." + +"What! Do you mean to tell me that Sharpless, that my wife----" + +"Don't give the lady a title to which she has not and never had any +legal right, Sir Henry. If it had ever occurred to you to emulate my +example to-night and search the lady's effects, you would have found +that she was christened Enriqua Dolores Torjada, and that she was +married to Senor Filippo Bucarelli here, at Valparaiso in Chili, three +years ago, and that her marriage to you was merely a clever little +scheme to get hold of a pot of money and share it with her rascally +husband." + +"It's a lie!" snarled out the male prisoner. "It's an infernal +policeman's lie! You never found any such thing!" + +"Pardon me, but I did," replied Cleek serenely. "And what's more, I +found the little phial of coriander and oil of sassafras in your room, +senor, and I shall finish off the Mynga Worm in another ten minutes!" + +Bucarelli and his wife gave a mingled cry, and, chained together though +they were, made a wild bolt for the door; only, however, to be met on +the threshold by the local constable to whom Cleek had dispatched a note +some hours previously. + +"Thank you, Mr. Philpotts; you are very prompt," he said. "There are +your prisoners nicely trussed and waiting for you. Take them away, we +are quite done with them here. Sir Henry"--he turned to the baronet--"if +Black Riot is fitted to win the Derby she will win it and you need have +no more fear for her safety. No one has ever for one moment tried to get +at her. You yourself were the one that precious pair were after, and the +bait was your life assurance. By killing off the watchers over Black +Riot one by one they knew that there would come a time, when, being able +to get no one else to take the risk of guarding the horse and sleeping +on that bed before the steel-room door, you would do it yourself; and +when that time came they would have had you." + +"But how? By what means?" + +"By one of the most diabolical imaginable. Among the reptiles of +Patagonia, Sir Henry, there is one, a species of black adder, known in +the country as the Mynga Worm whose bite is more deadly than that of the +rattler or the copperhead, and as rapid in its action as prussic acid +itself. It has, too, a great velocity of movement and a peculiar power +of springing and hurling itself upon its prey. The Patagonians are a +barbarous people in the main and, like all barbarous people, are +vengeful, cunning, and subtle. A favourite revenge of theirs upon +unsuspecting enemies is to get within touch of them and secretly to +smear a mixture of coriander and oil of sassafras upon some part of +their bodies, and then either to lure or drive them into the forest. By +a peculiar arrangement of Mother Nature this mixture has a fascination, +a maddening effect upon the Mynga Worm, just as a red rag has on a bull, +and, enraged by the scent, it finds the spot smeared with it and +delivers its deadly bite." + +"Good heaven! How horrible! And you mean to tell me----" + +"That they employed one of those deadly reptiles in this case? Yes, Sir +Henry. I suspected it the very moment I smelt the odour of the coriander +and sassafras, but I suspected that an animal or a reptile of some kind +was at the bottom of the mystery at a prior period. That is why I wanted +the flour. Look! Do you see where I sifted it over this spot near the +Patagonian plant? And do you see those serpentine tracks through the +middle of it? The Mynga Worm is there in that box, at the roots of that +plant. Now see!" + +He caught up a horse blanket, spread it on the floor, lifted the box and +plant, set them down in the middle of it and, with a quick gathering up +of the ends of the blanket, converted it into a bag and tied it round +with a hitching strap. + +"Get spades, forks, anything, and dig a hole outside in the paddock," he +went on. "Make a deep hole, a yard deep at the least--then get some +straw, some paraffin, turpentine, anything that will burn furiously and +quickly, and we will soon finish the little beast." + +The servants flew to obey, and when the hole was dug, he carried the bag +out and lowered it carefully into it, covered it with straw, drenched +this with a gallon or more of lamp oil, and rapidly applied a match to +it and sprang back. + +A moment later those who were watching saw a small black snake make an +ineffectual effort to leap out of the blazing mass, fall back into the +flames, and disappear forever. + + * * * * * + +"The method of procedure?" said Cleek, answering the baronet's query as +the latter was pouring out what he called "a nerve settler" prior to +following the Rev. Ambrose's example and going to bed. "Very cunning, +and yet very, very simple, Sir Henry. Bucarelli made a practice, as I +saw this evening, of helping the chosen watcher to make his bed on the +floor in front of the door to the steel room, but during the time he was +removing the blankets from the cupboard his plan was to smear them with +the coriander and sassafras and so arrange the top blanket that when the +watcher lay down, the stuff touched his neck or throat and made that the +point of attack for the snake, whose fang makes a small round spot not +bigger than the end of a knitting needle, which is easily passed over by +those not used to looking for such a thing. There was such a spot on +Tolliver's throat; such another at the base of Murple's skull, and there +is a third in poor Logan's left temple. No, no more, please; this is +quite enough. Success to Black Riot and the Derby! The riddle is solved, +Sir Henry. Good-night!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE RIDDLE OF THE SIVA STONES + + +Cleek threw aside his newspaper as the telephone jingled, and walking to +the instrument, unhooked the receiver. + +"Hallo!" he said; then, a second later, "Yes. This is Captain Burbage +speaking," he added, and stood silent, waiting. Not for long, however. +Almost instantly the connecting line hummed with the sound of some one +at the other end whistling the opening bars of "God Save the King," and +that settled it. + +"You, is it, Mr. Narkom?" Cleek said, as the anthem broke off at an +agreed point, which point, by the way, was altered every twenty-four +hours. "No, nothing in particular. I was only reading the account of +Black Riot's Derby. Ripping, wasn't it? Half a yard ahead of the nearest +competitor, and Minnow nowhere. What? Yes, certainly, if you want me. A +great hurry, eh? Yes, start this minute if that will do. What's that? +Yes; I know the place well. All right. I'll be there almost as soon as +you are. Good-bye," and he switched off the line instantly. + +Five minutes later, accompanied by Dollops bearing the inevitable brown +leather kit-bag, in case a change of attire should be found necessary, +he emerged from the house in Clarges Street, walked down Piccadilly as +far as Duke Street, turned from that into Jermyn Street, and strolled +leisurely along in the direction of the Geological Museum, keeping a +sharp look-out, however, for the red limousine. + +Of a sudden it came pelting round the corner of Regent Street, whizzed +along until Lennard, the chauffeur, caught sight of the well-known +figure, then swung to the kerb close to the corner of York Street and +came to an abrupt halt. In another moment Cleek had taken the brown +kit-bag from Dollops, stepped with it into the vehicle, and was by +Narkom's side. + +"Well," he said, gripping the superintendent's welcoming hand and +settling himself comfortably as the motor swung out into the roadway +again and continued on its way. "Here I am, you see, Mr. Narkom, and," +nodding toward the kit-bag, "prepared for any emergency, as they say in +the melodramas. It isn't often you give me a 'hurry call' like this, so +it's fair to suppose that you have something of unusual importance on +hand." + +"If you said I had something positively amazing on hand you'd come a +deal nearer the mark, my dear fellow," returned the superintendent. "The +steel-room case was a fool to it for mystery, although it is not +entirely unlike it in some respects; for the thing happened behind +locked doors, and there's no clue to when, where, or how the assassin +got in nor the ghost of an explanation to be given as to how he got out +again. That is where the two cases are alike; but where they differ, is +the most amazing point; for the dickens of it is that whereas the steel +room was a stable and there were a few people on guard, this crime was +committed in a house filled with company. A reception was in progress, +yet not only was one of the best-known figures in London society done to +death under the very noses, so to speak, of her friends and +acquaintances, but jewels of immense value, jewels of historical +interest, in fact, were carried off in the most unaccountable manner. In +brief, my dear Cleek, the victim was the aged Duchess of Heatherlands; +the jewels that have vanished are those two marvellous blush-pink +diamonds known to the world of gem collectors as 'The Siva Stones.' +Surely, you whose knowledge seems unlimited"--noting the blank look on +Cleek's face--"must have heard of those divine gems?" + +"Indeed, yes," replied Cleek. "I have good reason to know of them, as I +shall prove to you presently. My knowledge of the diamonds is so +complete that I can tell you at once that they weigh twenty-four and one +sixty-fifth carats each; that, apart from their marvellous and most +unusual colour, a delicate azalea pink, like the first flush of the +morning, they are, perhaps, the most perfectly cut and most perfectly +matched pair of diamonds in the world. What may be their earliest +history it is impossible to state. All that is positively known of them +is that they once formed two of the three eyes of the god Siva, and that +they were abstracted from the head of the idol during the loot of the +Hindu temples after Clive's defeat of Suraja Dowlah, in 1757. They were +subsequently brought to England, where, in course of time, they passed +into the possession of the fifth Duke of Heatherlands, who bestowed them +upon his wife as a personal gift, so that they were never at any time +included in the entail." + +"My dear Cleek," said Narkom, looking at him with positive bewilderment, +"is there anything you do not know? It is positively marvellous that you +should be in possession of all these details regarding the Siva stones." + +Cleek looked down at his toes and a faint flush reddened his drooping +face. + +"Not so marvellous as you may think, Mr. Narkom, when I tell you the +genesis of it," he said with a slight show of embarrassment. "The +S'aivas, or worshippers of Siva, have never relaxed their efforts to +regain possession of the stones and return them to their place in the +head of their desecrated idol. They have, in fact, offered immense sums +to the successive holders of them, and an immense reward to anybody who +shall be instrumental in restoring them. In the old times, in my +vanishing cracksman days, I once planned to get that reward by stealing +the gems, and if I had lived that life another month--if the eyes of a +woman had not dimmed the splendid opulence of these cold eyes of a +god----" His voice sank and dropped off into silence, and Narkom had the +good sense and the good taste to look out of the window and say nothing. + +"And so these remarkable diamonds have been stolen after all, have +they?" said Cleek, breaking silence suddenly. "And that vulgar and +overbearing old shrew, the Dowager Duchess of Heatherlands, has paid +for the possession of them with her life! Ah, my dear Mr. Narkom, what a +disastrous thing lust of power and craving for position is! The lady +would better have stuck to her father's beer vats and the glory of +Hobson and Simkin's entire, and Heatherlands might better have left her +there instead of selling her the right to wear his ducal coronet. They +both would have lived and died a deal happier, I am sure." + +"Yes," agreed Narkom. "They lived a veritable cat-and-dog life, I +believe, although it was years before my time, or yours either, for the +matter of that, so I can only speak from hearsay. His Grace didn't find +Miss Simkins, the brewer's daughter, so enviable a possession after +marriage as she had appeared before; and, as she held the +purse-strings--and held them closely, too--he got precious little but +abuse and unhappiness out of the bargain. The lady, feeling herself +miles above her former connections when she became duchess, cut her own +people completely; and as her husband's family would have none of her at +any price, she simply made enemies for herself on both sides. It was +perhaps just as well for all concerned that there were no children." + +"And at the duke's death some ten or a dozen years ago, the title +passed, I believe, to his younger brother, who in his turn died about +eighteen months ago and passed it on to a cousin, a young fellow of +about two-and-twenty, who had recently married a girl as little blest +with this world's goods as was he himself." + +"Yes," replied Narkom. "And as his grandmother was one of the ladies who +had been bitterest in cutting the ex-Miss Simkins, the old girl never +let any of her sympathies or her sovereigns go his way. Of course he +tried to make up to her, talked about 'upholding the dignity of the +name,' and all that, but it was no go; old money-bags wouldn't part with +a stiver. So the interview wound up with some pretty plain speaking on +both sides, and the young duke flung himself out of the house in a +towering passion and with no good will toward her, which was a bad thing +all round, and particularly bad for him." + +"Why?" + +"Because that happened only the day before yesterday. Last night the old +duchess was murdered, and, so far as can be ascertained with certainty, +he was the last person with her and the last to see her alive." + +"Hum-m-m!" said Cleek, pulling down his lower lip and frowning at his +toes. "Not nice that, for the duke, I must admit." + +"Not at all nice," agreed Narkom. "As a matter of fact, I should not be +at all surprised if a warrant for his arrest were issued before morning. +Still, of course, there is the Hindu to be taken into consideration. As +you yourself said, those beggars have always been after the stones." + +"Oho! So there's a Hindu in the affair, is there?" + +"Yes. Been hanging about the place for weeks and weeks, trying to make +friends with the servants. Peddles embroidered table covers, silk +scarves, crepe shawls, lucky charms, and things of that sort. Hasn't +missed coming, the housekeeper tells me, one solitary day for the past +month until the present one. Of course, he may turn up before night, +although it's hours and hours past his regular time for calling; but, at +the same time, it must be admitted that it has a queer look. + +"Then, too, there's a third party, or, indeed, I might as well say a +third and a fourth, for they are brother and sister, a Miss Lucretia +Spender and her brother Tom. They're relations of the late duchess on +the Simkins's side. Mother was an aunt of hers. Not particularly +prepossessing, either of them. Run a second-hand clothing shop over in +Camden Town; down on their luck and expected the brokers in. Came to see +the duchess in the effort to borrow money. She bundled them out neck and +crop, and the brokers did come in and they went out into the streets, +poor wretches. That was ten days ago. But both were seen hanging about +the house last night as late as eleven o'clock. The murder was committed +and the jewels stolen somewhere between midnight and three o'clock in +the morning." + +Cleek looked up. + +"Suppose you begin the thing at the beginning instead of giving me the +case piecemeal in this fashion, Mr. Narkom," he said. "How did it all +start? Was the duchess giving an entertainment last night?" + +"No; but Captain and Mrs. Harvey Glossop were, and the thing happened at +their house, within a stone's throw of Hyde Park Corner." + +"Captain Harvey Glossop," repeated Cleek. "Happen by any chance that +he's related to Glossop, the big company promoter who floated 'Sapavo' +and made 'Oxine' a household word three years ago?" + +"Same man. Worth a million sterling if he's worth a penny. Isn't really +a military man, you know. Was 'captain' in the volunteers up to the +time of their disbanding. Topping fine fellow, popular everywhere. Makes +money hand over fist, and gives the best dinners in town, they say." + +"Two very excellent passports to Society under modern conditions," +commented Cleek. "Well, go on. Captain and Mrs. Glossop were giving a +reception, and Her Grace of Heatherlands was there?" + +"Yes--as their guest. As a matter of fact she had been their guest for +the past eight months. She and Mrs. Glossop took a great fancy to each +other when they met at Nice last October, and the duchess, being +entirely alone and getting too old to care much for social affairs, +rented her house in Park Lane to an American family, and took up her +abode with the Glossops. A suite of rooms was placed at her disposal, +and, since, unlike most feminine friendships, this one grew warmer and +closer every day, she appears to have been perfectly comfortable and +happy for the first time in many years." + +"Good. Let us have the story of last night now, please. How did the +duchess come to have the Siva stones in her personal possession at that +time? Surely she was not insane enough to keep the gems in the house +with her?" + +"No; she never did that. They were always in the strong room at her +banker's. She hadn't even seen them, much less worn them, for years +until, on her order, they were brought to her from the bank yesterday +morning so that she might appear in them last night, for last night was +an exceptional occasion." + +"In what particular way?" + +"It was to be Mrs. Glossop's last 'at home' for a long, long time. Her +health not being very good of late, the doctors had ordered a voyage to +the Cape, and everything has long been in readiness for her departure +next Wednesday fortnight. As last night's affair was in the nature of a +sort of leave-taking, the duchess resolved to come out of her recent +retirement and to wear the famous Siva stones. She did so. I hear from +Captain Glossop that she made her appearance so covered with jewels that +she appeared like a jeweller's window, in the midst of which shone the +two amazing diamonds, suspended by a slender chain about her neck, and +putting every other jewel she wore to shame by their gorgeous +magnificence." + +"I can well imagine that they would, Mr. Narkom. They produced a +sensation, of course?" + +"Rather! The captain tells me that they fairly took away his breath. It +was the first time either he or his wife had ever seen them; indeed, it +appears that it was the first time the young Duke of Heatherlands +himself, who, with his bride, was present, had set eyes upon the +appallingly magnificent things. He was heard to say to his young duchess +that it was 'not only beastly vulgar, but beastly rough--Heatherland +Court with a ton weight of mortgages upon it, you without so much as a +decent bracelet, and all that money locked up and useless, when a tenth +of it would put baby and us in clover!'" + +"He was right there, Mr. Narkom; it was rough. He, with a wife and a +little son, and loaded down with debts and cares at three-and-twenty, +and the duchess with millions lying idle and unheeded at eighty-three! +Well, go on, please; what followed?" + +"After remaining 'on exhibition' until half-past eleven," resumed the +superintendent, "the duchess took leave of the other guests, kissed Mrs. +Glossop good-night, and retired to her own rooms with the avowed +intention of going to bed. About twelve minutes later the young Duke of +Heatherlands, too, left the room, and went up after her." + +"Hum-m-m! What for?" + +"He says for the purpose of making one final appeal to her, to what +womanhood was in her, by showing her the miniature his wife wore of +their little son and heir. The old duchess's maid says that she met him +on the stairs as she was coming down, and told him that her mistress was +sitting in her tea-gown taking her regular glass of hot whisky-and-water +before getting into bed; so he would have to be quick if he wished to +speak to her for, as soon as she had finished that, she would lock and +bolt the door and go to bed forthwith. + +"He says, however, that when he got to the room the door was already +locked, that in answer to his knocking and appealing the old duchess had +merely told him to go about his business. She said she paid her rates +and taxes to support unions and workhouses for paupers, and that she +wasn't going to support any on the outside. + +"After that, he says, he came away, knowing that it was hopeless, went +down and rejoined his wife, and in five or ten minutes' time they said +good-night to their host and hostess and went home. That was the very +last interview, so far as anybody has been able to discover, that any +one had with the Dowager Duchess of Heatherlands. On account of the weak +state of Mrs. Glossop's health, the entertainment broke up early. At +half-past twelve the final guest took his departure; at one, Captain +Glossop's man helped his master to undress and get into his bed. At the +same moment Mrs. Glossop's maid performed a like office for her +mistress, saw her in hers, put out the light, and in another ten minutes +every soul in the house was between sheets and asleep. + +"At three o'clock, however, a startling thing occurred. Godwin, the +cook, waking thirsty and finding her water-bottle empty, rose and went +downstairs to fill it. She returned in a panic to rouse the housekeeper, +Mrs. Condiment, and tell her that there was a light burning in the old +duchess's room, its reflection being clearly visible under the door and +through the keyhole. She, the cook, had knocked on the door to inquire +if anything was wanted, as she knew the duchess's maid was asleep in +another part of the house. But she had been unable to get any sort of a +response. + +"Well, to make a long story short, my dear Cleek," went on Narkom, "the +household was roused, the door of the duchess's room was found to be +both locked and bolted on the inside--so securely that, all other +efforts to open it proving unavailing, an axe had to be procured and the +barrier hacked down. When the last fragment fell and the captain and his +servants could get into the room, a horrible sight awaited them. On the +duchess's dressing-table her two bedroom candles were still burning, +just as the maid says she left them when she went out and met the young +duke coming up the stairs; on the bed lay the duchess herself, stone +dead, a noosed rope drawn tightly round her neck, used, no doubt, to +keep her from calling out, and the bedding was literally saturated with +the blood which flowed from several stab wounds in the breast, the side, +and the fleshy upper part of both arms." + +"Hum-m-m!" commented Cleek. "That looks as if she had struggled very +desperately, and one would hardly expect that from a woman of her +advanced years and choked into breathlessness at that. Still, her arms +could not have been cut otherwise; arms are not vital parts, and the +maddest of assassins would know that. So, of course, they were either +slashed unavoidably in a desperate death struggle or, else----" His +brows knotted, his voice slipped off into reflective silence. He took +his chin between his thumb and forefinger and squeezed it hard. After a +moment, however: "Mr. Narkom," he inquired, "were the Siva stones found +to have been stolen at the same time that the body was discovered, or +was their loss learned of later?" + +"Oh, at the very instant the body was discovered, my dear chap. It +could hardly have been overlooked for so much as an instant, for the +slender chain upon which they had formerly hung was lying across the +body, the setting of the gems had been prised open and the diamond +removed." + +"Singular circumstances, both." + +"In what way, Cleek?" + +"Well, for one thing, it shows that the assassin must have had plenty of +time and a very good reason for taking the stones without their setting. +If he hadn't, he'd have grabbed the thing and done that elsewhere. Must +have taken them to the light for the purpose and laid them down upon +some firm, hard surface; you can't pick a diamond out of a good setting +without some little difficulty, Mr. Narkom, and certainly not in the +palm of your hand. Why, then, should the assassin have brought the chain +back after that operation and laid it upon the body of the victim? +Rather looks as if he wanted the fact that the stones had disappeared to +be apparent at first glance. Any other jewels stolen at the same time?" + +"No; only the Siva stones." + +"Hum-m-m! And the noosed rope that was about the neck of the murdered +woman; what was that like? Something that had been brought from outside +the house or something that could be picked up within it?" + +"As a matter of fact, my dear fellow, it was part of the bellrope that +belonged to that very room. It had been cut off and converted into a +noose." + +"Oho!" said Cleek. "I see--I see!" Then, after a moment: "Pull down the +blinds of the limousine, will you, Mr. Narkom?" he added as he bent and +picked up the kit-bag. "I want to do a little bit in the way of a +change; and, if you are proceeding directly to the scene of the +murder----" + +"I am, dear chap. Any idea, Cleek?" + +"Bushels. Tell you if they're worth anything after I've seen the body. +If they are---- Well, I shall either have the Siva stones in my hand +before eight o'clock to-night, or----" + +"Yes, old chap? Or what?" + +"Or the Hindu's got 'em and they're already out of the country for good +and all. And--Mr. Narkom, 'George Headland' will do, if you please." + + +II + +Lennard having slackened the speed of the motor considerably, and in +addition taken two or three wide curves out of the direct line, it was +quite half-past four when the limousine stopped in front of the Glossop +residence, about which a curious collection of morbid-minded people had +gathered. There alighted therefrom, first the superintendent, and then +the over-dressed figure with the lank, fair hair and the fresh-coloured, +insipid countenance of as perfect a specimen of the genus sap-head as +you could pick up anywhere between John o' Groat's and Land's End. A +flower was in his buttonhole, a monocle in his eye, and the gold head of +his jointed walking-stick was sucked into the red eyelet of his +puckered-up lips. + +"Oh, yez! Oh, yez!" sang out derisively a bedraggled female on the edge +of the crowd as this utterly unrecognizable edition of Cleek stepped out +upon the pavement. "Oh, yez! Oh, yez! 'Ere's to give notice! Them's the +bright sparks wot rides in motor-cars, them is, and my poor 'usband a +hoofin' of it all the dies of 'is blessed life!" + +"Move on, now--move on!" cautioned the constable on guard, waving her +aside and making a clear passage for the superintendent and his +companion across the pavement and up the steps. And a moment later Cleek +was in the house, in the morning-room, in the presence of Captain +Harvey Glossop, his wife, and the young Duke of Heatherlands. + +The lady was a pale, fragile-looking woman of about three-and-twenty, +very beautiful, very well bred, low-voiced, and altogether charming. Her +husband was some five or six years her senior, a genial, kindly man with +a winning smile, an engaging personality, and the manners of one used to +the good things of life and, like all people who really are used to +them, making no boast of it and putting on no "side" whatsoever. As for +the young duke--well, he was just an impetuous, hot-headed, hot-tongued, +lovable boy, the kind of chap who, in a moment of temper, would swear to +have your heart's blood, but, if you stumbled and fell the next moment, +would risk breaking his neck to get to you and help you and offer you +his last shilling to cab it home. + +"Well, here I am, you see, Mr. Narkom," blurted out his impulsive Grace +as the superintendent and Cleek came in. "If any of your lot want me +they won't have to hunt me up and they won't find me funking it, no +matter how black it looks for me. I didn't kill her, I didn't even get +to see her; and anybody that says I did, lies--that's all!" + +"My dear Heatherlands," protested the captain, "don't work yourself up +into such a pitch of excitement. I don't suppose Mr. Narkom has come +here to arrest you. It is just as black with regard to that mysterious +Hindu fellow, remember. Perhaps a little blacker when you come to recall +how suddenly and mysteriously he has disappeared. And, certainly, his +motive looks quite as strong as yours." + +"I haven't any motive--I never did have one, and I take it beastly +unkind of you to say that, Glossop!" blurted out the young duke +impetuously. "Just because I'm hard up is no reason why I should commit +murder and robbery. What could I want with the Siva stones? I couldn't +sell them, could I, marked things that every diamond dealer in the +world knows? Oh, yes, I know what people say: I could have turned them +over to the Hindu and claimed the reward; that perhaps I did and that +that's why this particular Hindu has disappeared. But it's not true. I +didn't have anything to do with it. I didn't get into the room at all +last night. And even if I had I couldn't have bolted it on the inside +after I'd left it, could I? If you and your lot want me, Mr. Narkom, I'm +here, and I'll face every charge they can bring against me." + +"Pardon me, your Grace, but I'm not here for the purpose of apprehending +anybody," replied Narkom suavely. "My errand is of a totally different +sort, I assure you. Captain Glossop, allow me to make you acquainted +with a great friend of mine, Mr. George Headland. Mr. Headland is an +amateur investigator of criminal matters, and he has taken a fancy to +look into the details of this one. It may be that he will stumble upon +something of importance--who knows? And in such an affair as this I deem +it best to leave no stone unturned, no chance untried." + +"Quite so, Mr. Narkom, quite so," agreed the captain. "Mr. Headland, I +am delighted to meet you, though, of course, I should have preferred to +do so under happier circumstances." + +"Thanks very much," said Cleek with an inane drawl, but a quick, +searching look out of the corner of his eye at the young duke. "Awfully +good of you to say so, I'm sure. Your Grace, pleased to meet you. +Charmed, Mrs. Glossop. Yes, thanks, I will have a cup of tea. So nice of +you to suggest it." + +"Must be rather interesting work, this looking into criminal matters on +your own initiative, Mr. Headwood--pardon, Headland, is it? Do forgive +me, but I have a most abominable memory for names," said the captain. +"Believe me, I shall be willing to give you any possible assistance that +I can in the present unhappy case." + +"Thanks--jolly kind of you, and I very much appreciate it, I assure +you," returned Cleek in his best "blithering idiot" fashion. "Should be +ever so much obliged if you'd--er--permit me to view the scene of the +tragedy and the--er--body of the deceased, don't you know. Of course, +Mr. Narkom has said I may, but--er--after all, an Englishman's house is +his castle and all that, so it's only polite to ask." + +"Oh, certainly, do so by all means, Mr. Headland. You will excuse my +saying it, but I doubt if you will find any clues there, however, for +the regular officials have already been over the ground." + +"Searched the room, have they, in quest of the diamonds? Thieves do +funny things sometimes, you know, and it's just possible that they got +in a funk and hid the things instead of taking them away." + +"Well, of all the blessed id----" began the young duke, looking over at +him disgustedly; and then discreetly stopped and left the term +unfinished. + +"I fancy, my dear Headland," interposed Narkom, "I neglected to tell you +that the captain had my men search the place from top to bottom, go +through every cupboard, into every nook and corner, turn out the +servants' boxes--even his own and Mrs. Glossop's, as well--so that it is +certain the jewels could not have been concealed anywhere about the +premises either by accident or design. Nothing was found--nothing. The +Siva stones have utterly and completely disappeared." + +"And no other jewels besides?" + +"Not a solitary one, Mr. Headland." + +"Rum sort of a thief, wasn't it, to cut off with only half the booty? +The duchess must have had lots of other jewels and there were Mrs. +Glossop's, too. Those superb rings of yours, for instance, madam, fancy +a burglar getting in and not paying his respects to those. Pardon +me----" Her hand a-glitter with splendid flashing diamonds was resting +on the edge of the tea table. He bent over and looked at them closely. +Naturally she resented this under the circumstances, but though her +cheeks flushed she let the hand rest where it was until he had studied +it to his heart's content. + +"May I say, Mr. Headland, that all her Grace's jewels have been +identified by her banker, to whose care the police have returned them," +she said with just the shadow of an indignant note in her low, sweet +voice. "These have been in my possession for years, thank you. A +thousand people can testify to that; and the insinuation is not nice." + +"My dear madam, I assure you I had not the slightest thought----" + +"Very likely not. As a matter of fact, I don't see how you could, Mr. +Headland; but under these distressing and extraordinary circumstances it +was an unhappy attention and a most suggestive one. Pray say no more +about it. You are at liberty, Mr. Narkom, to show Mr. Headland over the +house whenever he chooses to investigate it." + +And as he chose to investigate it at that moment the superintendent led +the way to the death chamber forthwith. + +"I say, old chap, that was a bit thick, and no mistake," whispered +Narkom as they went up the stairs. "To be talking about the dead woman's +jewels and then to stoop and examine Mrs. Glossop's own--a woman worth +millions!" + +"Clear your mind of the idea that I meant to suggest anything of that +sort at all, Mr. Narkom," Cleek replied. "It was the beauty of the rings +themselves that appealed to me--that, and the wonder of the +circumstances." + +"Circumstances? What circumstances?" + +"Two very extraordinary ones. First: why a woman of such evident taste, +breeding, and position as Mrs. Glossop should choose to load her fingers +with diamond rings in the daytime; and, second, why she should choose +this particular day of all others to do so." + +"Possibly she neglected to take them off when she went to bed last night +and, in the excitement of the things which have happened since, has +thought no more about them. But here's the room at last. Still on duty, +I see, Hammond." This to the plain-clothes officer before the door of +the death chamber. "Yes, going in; thanks. Come along, Headland." + +Then the improvised door opened, closed again, and Cleek and the +superintendent stood in the presence of it--the silent, immutable It +which yesterday had been a living woman. Cleek went over and looked at +the quiet figure, particularly at the wounds on the arms, both of them +close to the shoulder, and immediately below the larger, muscle, then +turned and looked round the room. It was richly appointed, indeed, the +suite had been especially fitted up for her Grace's occupancy, and was, +as might have been expected in such a house, in extremely good taste +from the rich, dull-coloured Indian carpet to the French paper on the +walls. This was a striped paper in two tones of white, one glazed +slightly, the other dull, like two ribbons--a white velvet and a white +silk one--drawn straight down over its surface from ceiling to floor at +regular distances of half a yard apart. He admired that paper, and it +interested him! + +"Here, you see, old chap, not a possibility of anybody getting in or out +save by the door which we ourselves have just entered," said Narkom, +opening one door which led into a dressing-room, another leading to a +spacious and richly appointed sitting-room, and a third which gave +access to a porcelain bath set in a marble-floored, marble-walled +apartment lighted and aired by a window of painted glass. "All windows +and all doors locked on the inside when the body was found, and +everything as you see it now; no furniture upset, no sign of a struggle. +There is the bell-rope that was cut; there the noose that was made from +it; and there on the dressing-table the bedroom candles that were found +burning just as the maid left them when she went out and met the young +duke coming up the stairs." + +Cleek walked over and looked at the candles. + +"If I remember correctly, Mr. Narkom," he said, "I believe you told me +that her Grace retired to this room at half-past eleven, and that +something like twelve or fifteen minutes later the young duke came up +for the purpose of speaking to her. That would make it somewhere in the +close neighbourhood of a quarter to twelve when the maid left her +mistress; and it was three o'clock in the morning, was it not, when the +murder was discovered? Hum-m-m! Singular, most singular, amazingly so!" + +"What?" + +"The condition of these two candles. Look at them," said he, taking one +out of the silver holder and extending it for Narkom's examination. "One +would suppose that candles which had been burning for three hours and a +quarter would be fairly well consumed, Mr. Narkom; yet, look at these. +They are hardly an inch shorter than the regulation length, so that they +cannot have burned for more than a quarter of an hour at most! Now, +granting that the duchess herself burnt them for ten minutes in +undressing and imbibing her nightly whisky-and-water--and that would +just about tally with the young duke's assertion that the door was +locked and her Grace in bed when he reached the room--that would leave +them to have been burning for just five minutes when the cook, Godwin, +says she discovered the light shining under the door and through the +keyhole." + +"By George, you're right. We must have a word with that cook, Cleek. +Either she lied about the time, or else---- Great Scott, man! What if +she, that cook, that Godwin woman, had a hand in it--was herself in +league with the murderer--even let him out of the house before she gave +the alarm? Good heaven, Cleek, we mustn't let that woman get away!" + +"She won't--if she's guilty. I'll tell you that for certain if you can +manage to find out what preparations, if any, have as yet been made for +the duchess's funeral." + +"But, man alive, what can that have to do with it?" + +"Perhaps a great deal; perhaps nothing at all. Just slip downstairs, +will you, and, without giving the subject away, or mentioning anything +about the candles, do a little quiet 'pumping' of the young duke. See if +he knows, or has any plans. I seem to fancy that I have heard somewhere +of a splendid mausoleum being built by the Dowager Duchess of +Heatherlands and the young duke will know if it's so or not. Pump him, +I'll stop here until you return." + +It was a full twenty minutes before the superintendent got the +information he wanted and came back with it. + +"Well?" said Cleek, as he came in. "There is a mausoleum being built, is +there not?" + +"Yes. The murdered woman has been having it built for the past five or +six months for the express purpose of having herself and her late +husband entombed there, apart from all other Heatherlands and with all +the pomp of dead royalty. The structure will not be completed for quite +another half year. In the meantime, as this tragical affair has +disorganised all arrangements and the body cannot be interred in the +mausoleum until its completion, and it would be difficult to get an +order to disinter it if it were once underground, Captain Glossop has +consented to have it placed for a time in the new and as yet unused +vault which he had erected last month in Brompton Cemetery." + +"'A friend in need is a friend indeed,'" quoted Cleek sententiously; +then, after a moment, "Mr. Narkom," he said. + +"Yes, old chap?" + +"Let's go down and have another cup of tea, I want to have a word or two +with the young duke." + +"My dear fellow! Good heaven, do you think----" + +"No; I've got past 'thinking.' I know one thing, however; for I've been +poking about while you were away. The cook's room is just over this one, +but the cook didn't do it. A five-foot woman can't reach up and cut down +eight and a half feet of bell-rope, and--look, see! She wouldn't be +likely to do it with the blade of a safety razor if she could!" + + +III + +The little gathering in the drawing-room had not undergone much in the +way of a change since they left it Cleek and the superintendent saw when +they returned. The tea things had been removed, for the young duke's +peppery temper was still in the ascendant and he was parading his +six-feet-one of vigorous young manhood up and down the floor in a manner +which wasn't the best thing in the world for the white-and-green Persian +carpet. The tall captain sat on a low sofa beside his beautiful wife, +who thoughtfully turned her rings on her fingers and followed with +grave, sad-looking eyes the constantly pacing figure of the restless +duke. + +"My dear fellow, of course neither Amy nor I believe," the captain was +saying, as Cleek and Narkom made their reappearance; "but the thing is, +can you make others as disbelieving when your unhappy condition is so +well known and her Grace's maid positively swears that the door was not +locked, and---- Ah, here you are again, Mr. Narkom, and your good friend +the amateur investigator with you." + +"Amateur fiddlesticks!" blurted out the young duke, with a short, +derisive laugh. "Fellow who doesn't know any better than to look for +jewels that are not lost, and look for them on a lady's fingers at that! +By Jove, you know, Glossop, if it had been my wife!---- But there! you +easy-going fellows will swallow anything for the sake of keeping peace. +Well, Mr. Crime Investigator, found out who did it yet, eh?" + +"Perhaps not exactly," replied Cleek, moving over toward the sofa; "but +I've found out who didn't do it, and that's something." + +"Oh, yes, decidedly!" flung back the duke, with another sarcastic laugh. +"Wonderfully brainy, that! Not more than two or three million people in +Great Britain who could tell you that Napoleon didn't do it, and the +Black Prince didn't do it, and it's twopence to a teacup that +Shakespeare hadn't any hand in it at all. You'll be out-Cleeking Cleek +by the time you've sucked the head off that cane. Well, whatever other +amazing thing have you 'unearthed'? What's next--eh?" + +"Only this," said Cleek quietly, making a feint of dropping his cane and +stooping to recover it. Then he moved like a quick-leaping animal. There +was a sharp metallic "click-click," a frightened scream from Mrs. +Glossop, a half-indignant, wholly excited roar from the captain, and the +duke, glancing toward them, saw that they both had got to their feet in +a sort of panic and were standing there, white, quaking, and handcuffed +together. + +"Good Lord!" began the duke. "Look here, Mr. Narkom--I say! This idiot's +out of his head." + +"More than out of it!" swung in the captain furiously. "To people in our +position! Good God! I can stand a fool as far as any man can, Mr. +Narkom, but when it comes to this---- Look here, you, Mr. Woodhead, or +Thickhead, or whatever your infernal name is----" + +"Call a spade a spade, my dear captain. The name is Cleek, if you can't +remember my other." + +"Cleek!" The duke repeated it with a sort of gulp; the captain spat it +out as though it were something red-hot, and the captain's wife merely +whined it and fainted. + +"Yes, Captain--Cleek! Oh, I've got you, my friend, got you foul!" said +Cleek in reply. "All but ruined by the failure of the gold reefs and the +milling and mining companies last autumn, weren't you, and have been +playing a bluff game and living on your credit ever since? A pretty +little scheme you two beauties hatched up between you to get the old +duchess into your clutches, to rob her of the Siva stones, and to have +Mrs. Glossop and your Hindu ally slip over to India with them and claim +the reward before the truth of your financial condition leaked out! Oh, +yes; I've got you, my friend, got you tight and fast. + +"And, Captain, I've got something more as well! I've got the place where +the panel slides in the striped wall-paper and leads to the wardrobe +with the false back in your own room; I've got your private papers; I've +got the safety razor-blade, and I've got the hiding-place of the Siva +stones as well! Humph! Fainted like any other human brute when he's +pushed to the wall! That's right, Hammond; call the constable in from +outside and take the pair of them away. Oh, don't waste any pity on +them, your Grace," as the duke moved impulsively toward the stricken and +defeated pair. "They wouldn't have hesitated to hang you if they could +have turned the evidence your way and saved their own wretched +skins--and all for a pair of rose-pink diamonds that are red enough now, +God knows. What's that? Where are they? Where you must get a surgeon to +abstract them, for I wouldn't touch them for millions, your Grace. They +are hidden in the body itself, embedded in the flesh, jammed out of +sight through those cuts in the arms and embedded under the muscles!" + +"Good heaven, how horrible!" + +"Yes, isn't it? Oh, they laid their plans well, those two, and they laid +them together. The body would not be put underground for a long, long +time, and when it was the Siva stones would not go to earth with it. +There was the specially constructed vault at Brompton, their private +property. They would get the stones while the body lay there, and nobody +would be a whit the wiser. + +"Ring for a glass of wine, your Grace, and after you have steadied your +nerves I'll take you upstairs and show you something. In the captain's +room there's a wardrobe which has a false back, and behind that is a +sliding panel, its joining hidden by the stripes of the wall-paper, +which leads into the old duchess's bedroom. That is how they got in and +got out again and left every door and window locked on the inside. When +they had finished their work, they lit the candles, and the rest you +know. If there is anything to joy over in this appalling affair, find it +in this fact: I am convinced that the dowager duchess died intestate. +That being so, and she having no other living relatives, her property +will no doubt be divided equally, by order of the Crown, between three +persons: yourself, for one, and those two poor, homeless creatures, Tom +Spender and his sister, for the others; and as it amounts to several +millions sterling, dark days are over for you and for them forever!" + + * * * * * + +"How did I find it out?" said Cleek, answering Narkom's question, as +they drove home through the shadows of evening together. "Well, I think +I first got a suspicion of the captain and his wife when you told me +about the cut bell-rope, because, you see, it is hardly likely that +anybody could get into the room and cut that without disturbing the old +lady, and, as she didn't cry out, I came to the conclusion that that +somebody must certainly be some one she knew and trusted, and whose +presence in the room would not be unusual. That at once suggested Mrs. +Glossop, and the possibility of the lady saying that she had heard a +noise, and had come up and found the door unlocked. The captain, who +would make his entrance unheard while they were talking, would cut the +rope, throw the noose round the victim's neck while she was off guard, +and the rest would follow easily. + +"But I could find no motive and could get no actual clue until I looked +at the lady's rings. Clearly the putting of them on was an attempt to +accentuate the presumed fact of their great wealth by exhibiting open +evidence of how richly the lady was dowered with jewels and how little +she need covet those of others. I got upon the trail of the true state +of affairs when I examined those rings and found that they were simply +paste, close imitations of the splendid originals which she had no doubt +long since been obliged either to pawn or sell. + +"As for the hiding-place of the Siva stones, the fact of the utterly +unnecessary wounds in the arms--unnecessary as helping the assassin to +kill her, I mean--gave me the first hint of that. Afterward, when I saw +the body, and noticed the position of those wounds, I was sure of it. +That is where Glossop bungled. They could not have come about in any +struggle or any possible effort of the deceased to protect herself by +throwing up her arms, for they were in the wrong position, for one +thing, and they were deep, clean-cut punctures, for another, and---- My +corner at last! The riddle is solved, Mr. Narkom. Good-night." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE DIVIDED HOUSE + + +"Superintendent Narkom waitin' upstairs in your room, sir. Come +unexpected and sudden like about five minutes ago," said Dollops, as the +key was withdrawn from the lock and Cleek stepped into the house. "Told +him you'd jist run round the corner, sir, to get a fresh supply of them +cigarettes you're so partial to, so he sat down and waited. And, oh, I +say, guv'ner?" + +"Yes?" said Cleek inquiringly, stopping in his two-steps-at-a-time +ascent of the stairs. + +"Letter come for you, too, sir, whilst you was out. Envellup wrote in a +lady's hand, and directed to 'Captain Burbage.' Took it up and laid it +on your table, sir." + +"All right," said Cleek, and resumed his journey up the stairs, passing +a moment later into his private room and the presence of Maverick +Narkom. + +The superintendent, who was standing by the window looking out into the +brilliant radiance of the morning, turned as he heard the door creak, +and immediately set his back to the things that had nothing to do with +the conduct of Scotland Yard, and advanced toward his famous ally with +that eagerness and enthusiasm which he reserved for matters connected +with crime and the law. + +"My dear Cleek, such a case; you'll fairly revel in it," he began +excitedly. "As I didn't expect to find you out at this hour of the +morning, I dispensed with the formality of 'phoning, hopped into the +car, and came on at once. Dollops said you'd be back in half a minute, +and," looking at his watch, "it's now ten since I arrived." + +"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Mr. Narkom," broke in Cleek, "but--look +at these," pulling the tissue paper from an oblong parcel he was +carrying in his hand and exposing to view a cluster of lilies of the +valley and La France roses. "They are what detained me. Budleigh, the +florist, had his window full of them, fresh from Covent Garden this +morning, and I simply couldn't resist the temptation. If God ever made +anything more beautiful than a rose, Mr. Narkom, it is yet to be +discovered. Sit down, and while you are talking I'll arrange these in +this vase. No; it won't distract my attention from what you are saying, +believe me. Somehow, I can always think better and listen better when +there are flowers about me, and if----" + +He chopped off the sentence suddenly and laid the flowers down upon his +table with a briskness born of sudden interest. His eye had fallen upon +the letter of which Dollops had spoken. It was lying face upward upon +the table, so that he could see the clear, fine, characterful hand in +which it was written and could read clearly the Devonshire postmark. + +"My dear Cleek," went on Narkom, accepting the invitation to be seated, +but noticing nothing in his eagerness to get to business, "my dear +Cleek, never have I brought you any case which is so likely to make your +fortune as this, and when I tell you that the reward offered runs well +into five figures----" + +"A moment, please!" interjected Cleek agitatedly. "Don't think me rude, +Mr. Narkom, but--your pardon a thousand times. I must read this letter +before I give attention to anything else, no matter how important!" + +Then, not waiting for Narkom to signify his consent to the interruption, +as perforce he was obliged to do in the circumstances, he carried the +letter over to the window, broke the seal, and read it, his heart +getting into his eyes and his pulses drumming with that kind of +happiness which fills a man when the one woman in the world writes him a +letter. + +Even if he had not recognized her handwriting, he must have known from +the postmark that it was from Ailsa Lorne, for he had no correspondent +in Devonshire, no correspondent but Narkom anywhere, for the matter of +that. His lonely life, the need for secrecy, his plan of +self-effacement, prevented that. But he had known for months that Miss +Lorne was in Devon, that she had gone there as governess in the family +of Sir Jasper Drood, when her determination not to leave England had +compelled her to resign her position as guide and preceptress to little +Lord Chepstow on the occasion of his mother's wedding with Captain +Hawksley. And now to have her write to him--to him! A sort of mist got +into his eyes and blurred everything for a moment. When it had passed +and he could see clearly, he set his back to Narkom and read these +words: + + The Priory, Tuesday, June 10th. + + DEAR FRIEND: + + If you remember, as I so often do, that last day in London, + when you put off the demands of your duty to see me safely in + the train and on my way to this new home, you will perhaps + also remember something that you said to me at parting. You + told me that if a time ever came when I should need your + friendship or your help, I had but to ask for them. If that is + true, and I feel sure that it is, dear Mr. Cleek, I need them + now. Not for myself, however, but for one who has proved a + kind friend indeed since my coming here, and who, through me, + asks your kind aid in solving a deep and distressing mystery + and saving a threatened human life. No reward can be offered, + I fear, beyond that which comes of the knowledge of having + done a good and generous act, Mr. Cleek, for my friend is not + in a position to offer one. But I seem to feel that this will + weigh little with you, and it emboldens me to make this + appeal. So, if no other case prevents, and you really wish to + do me a favour, if you can make it convenient to be in the + neighbourhood of the lych-gate of Lyntonhurst Church on + Wednesday morning at eleven o'clock, you will win the + everlasting gratitude of-- + + Your sincere friend, + + AILSA LORNE. + +The superintendent heard the unmistakable sound of the letter being +folded and slid back into its envelope, and very properly concluded that +the time of grace had expired. + +"Now, my dear Cleek, let us get down to business," he began forthwith. +"This amazing case which I wish you to undertake and will, as I have +already said, bring you a colossal reward----" + +"Your pardon, Mr. Narkom," interjected Cleek, screwing round on his heel +and beginning to search for a railway guide among the litter of papers +and pamphlets jammed into the spaces of a revolving bookcase, "your +pardon, but I can undertake no case, sir--at least, for the present. I +am called to Devonshire, and must start at once. What's that? No, there +is nothing to be won, not a farthing piece. It's a matter of friendship, +nothing more." + +"But, Cleek! God bless my soul, man, this is madness. You are simply +chucking away enough money to keep you for the next three years." + +"It wouldn't make any difference if it were enough to keep me for the +next twenty, Mr. Narkom. You can't buy entrance to paradise for all the +money in the world, my friend, and I'm getting a day in it for nothing! +Now then," flirting over the leaves of the guide book, "let's see how +the trains run. Dorset--Darsham--Dalby--Devonshire. Good! Here you are. +Um-m-m. Too late for that. Can't possibly catch that one, either. Ah, +here's the one--1.56--that will do." Then he closed the book, almost ran +to the door, and, leaning over the banister, shouted down the +staircase, "Dollops--Dollops, you snail, where are you? Dol---- Oh, +there you are at last, eh? Pack my portmanteau. Best clothes, best +boots, best everything I've got, and look sharp about it. I'm off to +Devonshire by the 1.56." + +And, do all that he might, Narkom could not persuade him to alter his +determination. The 1.56 he said he would take; the 1.56 he did take; and +night coming down over the peaceful paths and the leafy loveliness of +Devon found him putting up at the inn of "The Three Desires," hours and +hours and hours ahead of the appointed time, to make sure of being at +the trysting place at eleven next morning. + +He was. On the very tick of the minute he was there at the old +moss-grown lych-gate, and there Miss Lorne found him when she drove up +in Lady Drood's pony phaeton a little time afterward. She was not alone, +however. She had spoken of a friend, and a sharp twitch disturbed +Cleek's heart when he saw that a young man sat beside her, a handsome +young man of two-or three-and-twenty, with a fair moustache, a pair of +straight-looking blue eyes, and that squareness of shoulder and +uprightness of bearing which tells the tale of a soldier. + +In another moment she had alighted, her fingers were lying in the close +grasp of Cleek's, and the colour was coming and going in rosy gusts over +her smiling countenance. + +"How good of you to come!" she said. "But, there! I knew that you would, +if it were within the range of possibility; I said so to Mr. Bridewell +as we came along. Mr. Cleek, let me have the pleasure of making you +acquainted with Lieutenant Bridewell. His fiancee, Miss Warrington, is +the dear friend of whom I wrote you. Lieutenant Bridewell is home on +leave after three years' service in India, Mr. Cleek; but in those three +years strange and horrible things have happened, are still happening, in +his family circle. But now that you have come---- We shall get at the +bottom of the mystery now, lieutenant; I feel certain that we shall. Mr. +Cleek will find it out, be sure of that." + +"At least, I will endeavour to do so, Mr. Bridewell," said Cleek +himself, as he wrung the young man's hand and decided that he liked him +a great deal better than he had thought he was going to do. "What is the +difficulty? Miss Lorne's letter mentioned the fact that not only was +there a mystery to be probed but a human life in danger. Whose life, may +I ask? Yours?" + +"No," he made reply, with a sort of groan. "I wish to heaven it were no +more than that. I'd soon clear out from the danger zone and put an end +to the trouble, get rid of that lot at the house and put miles of sea +between them and me, I can tell you. It's my dad they are killing--my +dear old dad, bless his heart--and killing him in the most mysterious +and subtle manner imaginable. I don't know how, I don't know why, that's +the mystery of it, for he hasn't any money nor any expectations, just +the annuity he bought when he got too old to follow his calling (he used +to be a sea captain, Mr. Cleek), and there'd be no sense in getting rid +of him for that, because, of course, the annuity dies with him. But +somebody's got some kind of a motive and somebody's doing it, that's +certain, for when I went out to India three years ago he was a hale and +hearty old chap, fit as a fiddle and lively as a cricket, and now, when +I come back on leave, I find him a broken wreck, a peevish, wasted old +man, hardly able to help himself, and afflicted with some horrible +incurable disease which seems to be eating him up alive." + +"Eating him?" repeated Cleek. "What do you mean by 'eating' him, Mr. +Bridewell? The expression is peculiar." + +"Well, it exactly explains the circumstances, Mr. Cleek. If I didn't +know better, I should think it a case of leprosy. But it isn't. I've +seen cases of leprosy, and this isn't one of them. There's none of the +peculiar odour, for one thing; and, for another, it isn't contagious. +You can touch the spots without suffering doing so, although he suffers, +dear old boy, and suffers horribly. It's just living decay, Mr. +Cleek--just that. Fordyce, that's the doctor who's attending him, you +know, says that the only way he has found to check the thing is by +amputation. Already the dear old chap has lost three fingers from the +right hand by that means. Fordyce says that the hand itself will have to +go in time if they can't check the thing, and then, if that doesn't stop +it, the arm will have to go." + +Cleek puckered up his brows and began to rub his thumb and forefinger up +and down his chin. + +"Fordyce seems to have a pronounced penchant for amputation, Mr. +Bridewell," he said after a moment. "Competent surgeon, do you think?" + +"Who--Fordyce? Lord bless you, yes! One of the 'big pots' in that line. +Harley Street specialist in his day. Fell heir to a ton of money, I +believe, and gave up practice because it was too wearing. Couldn't get +over the love of it, however, so set up a ripping little place down +here, went in for scientific work, honour and glory of the profession +and all that sort of thing, you know. God knows what would have become +of the dad if he hadn't taken up the case! might be in his grave by this +time. Fordyce has been a real friend, Mr. Cleek; I can't be grateful +enough to him for the good he has done: taking the dear old dad into his +home, so to speak, him and Aunt Ruth and--and that pair, the Cordovas." + +"The Cordovas? Who are they? Friends or relatives?" + +"Neither, I'm afraid. To tell the truth, they're the people I suspect, +though God knows why I should, and God forgive me if I'm wrong. They're +two West Indians, brother and sister, Mr. Cleek. Their father was mate +of the _Henrietta_, under my dad, years and years ago. Mutinied, too, +the beggar, and was shot down, as he ought to have been, as _any_ +mutineer ought to be. Left the two children, mere kiddies at the time. +Dad took 'em in, and has been keeping them and doing for them ever +since. I don't like them--never did like them. Fordyce doesn't like +them, either. Colonel Goshen does, however. He's sweet on the girl, I +fancy." + +Cleek's eyebrows twitched upward suddenly, his eyes flashed a sharp +glance at the lieutenant, and then dropped again. + +"Colonel Goshen, eh?" he said quietly. "Related, by any chance, to that +'Colonel Goshen' who testified on behalf of the claimant in the great +Tackbun case?" + +"Don't know, I'm sure. Never heard of the case, Mr. Cleek." + +"Didn't you? It was quite a sensation some eighteen months ago. But you +were in India, then, of course. Fellow turned up who claimed to be the +long-lost Sir Aubrey Tackbun who ran away to sea when a boy some thirty +odd years ago and was lost track of entirely. Lost his case at that +first trial, and got sent to prison for conspiracy Is out again now. +Claims to have new and irrefutable refutable evidence, and is going to +have a second try for the title and estates. A Colonel Goshen, of the +Australian militia, was one of his strongest witnesses. Wonder if there +is any connection between the two?" + +"Shouldn't think so. This Colonel Goshen's an American or he says he is, +and I've no reason to doubt him. Deuced nice fellow, whatever he is, and +has been a jolly good friend to the pater. As a matter of fact, it was +through him that Fordyce got to know the dad and became interested in +his case, and---- What's that? Lud, no! No possible means of connecting +my old dad with any lost heirs, sir--not a ghost of one. Born here in +Devon, married here, lived all his life here, that is, whenever he was +on land, and he'll die here, and die soon, too, if you don't get at the +bottom of this and save him. And you will, Mr. Cleek, and you will, +won't you? Miss Lorne says that you've solved deeper mysteries than +this, and that you will get at the bottom of it without fail." + +"Miss Lorne has more faith in my ability than most people, I fear, Mr. +Bridewell. I will try to live up to it, however. But suppose you give me +the facts of the case a little more clearly. When and how did it all +begin?" + +"I think it was about eight months ago that Aunt Ruth wrote me about +it," the lieutenant replied. "Aunt Ruth is my late mother's maiden +sister, Mr. Cleek. My mother died at my birth, and Aunt Ruth brought me +up. As I told you, my father retired from the sea some years ago, and, +having purchased an annuity, lived on that. He managed to scrape enough +together to have me schooled properly and put through Sandhurst, and +when I got my lieutenancy, and was subsequently appointed to a +commission in India, I left him living in the little old cottage where I +was born. With him were Aunt Ruth and Paul and Lucretia Cordova. Up to +about eight months or so ago he continued to live there, devoting +himself to his little garden and enjoying life on land as much as a man +who loves the sea ever can do. Then, of a sudden, Lucretia Cordova fell +in with Colonel Goshen, and introduced him to the pater. A few days +after that my father seems to have eaten something which disagreed with +him, for he was suddenly seized with all the symptoms of ptomaine +poisoning. He rallied, however, but from that point a strange weakness +overcame him, and at the colonel's suggestion he went for a sail round +the coast with him. He did not improve. The weakness seemed to grow, but +without any sign of the horrible bodily suffering with which he is now +afflicted. + +"Colonel Goshen is a great friend of Dr. Fordyce's, and through that +friendship managed to interest him in the case to such a degree that he +made a twenty-mile trip especially to see my father. They struck up a +great friendship. Fordyce was certain, he said, that he could cure the +dad if he had him within daily reach, and, on the dad saying that he +couldn't afford to come over to this part of the country and keep up two +establishments, Fordyce came to the rescue, like the jolly brick he is. +In other words, his place here being a good deal larger than he +requires, he's a bachelor, Mr. Cleek, he put up a sort of partition to +separate it into two establishments, so to speak, put one-half at the +dad's disposal rent free, and there he is housed now, and Aunt Ruth and +the two Cordovas with him. Yes, and even me, now; for as soon as he +heard that I was coming home on leave, Fordyce wouldn't listen to my +going to 'The Three Desires' for digs, but insisted that I, too, should +be taken in, and a clinking suite of rooms in the west wing put at my +disposal. + +"But in spite of all his hopes for the dear old dad's eventual cure, +things in that direction have grown steadily worse. The horrible malady +which is now consuming him manifested itself about a fortnight after his +arrival, and it has been growing steadily worse every day. But it isn't +natural, Mr. Cleek; I know what I am saying, and I say that! Somebody is +doing something to him for some diabolical reason of which I know +nothing, and he is dying--dying by inches. Not by poison, I am sure of +that, for since the hour of my return I have not let him eat or drink a +single thing without myself partaking of it before it goes to him and +eating more of it after it has gone to him. But there is no effect in my +case. Nothing does he touch with his hand that I do not touch after him; +but the disease never attacks me, yet all the while he grows worse and +worse, and the end keeps creeping on. There! that's the case, Mr. Cleek. +For God's sake, get at the bottom of it and save my father, if you +can." + +Cleek did not reply for a moment. Putting out his hands suddenly, he +began to drum a thoughtful tattoo upon the post of the lych-gate, his +eyes fixed on the ground and a deep ridge between his puckered brows. +But, of a sudden: + +"Tell me something," he said. "These Cordovas--what reason have you for +suspecting them?" + +"None, only that I dislike them. They're half-castes, for one thing, +and--well, you can't trust a half-caste at any time." + +"Hum-m-m! Nothing more than that, eh? Just a natural dislike? And your +Aunt Ruth; what of her?" + +"Oh, just the regulation prim old maid: sour as a lemon and as useful. A +good sort, though. Fond of the pater, careful as a mother of him, temper +like a file, and a heart a good deal bigger than you'd believe at first +blush. Do anything in the world for me, bless her." + +"Even to the point of putting up a friend of yours for a couple of +days?" + +"Yes; if I had one in these parts, which I haven't." + +"Never count your chickens--you know the rest," said Cleek, with a +smile. "A fellow you met out in India, a fellow named George Headland, +lieutenant, remember the name, please, has just turned up in these +parts. You met him quite unexpectedly, and if you want to get at the +bottom of this case, take him along with you and get your Aunt Ruth to +put him up for a day or two." + +"Oh, Mr. Cleek!" + +"George Headland, if you please, Miss Lorne. There's a great deal in a +name, Shakespeare or anybody else to the contrary." + + +II + +It was two o'clock in the afternoon when, after lunching with Cleek at +the inn of "The Three Desires," Lieutenant Bridewell turned up at the +divided house with his friend, "George Headland," and introduced him to +the various occupants thereof; and, forthwith, "Mr. George Headland" +proceeded to make himself as agreeable to all parties as he knew how to +do. He found Aunt Ruth the very duplicate of what young Bridewell had +prepared him to find, namely, a veritable Dorcas: the very embodiment of +thrift, energy, punctiliousness, with the graceful figure of a ramrod +and the martial step of a grenadier; and he decided forthwith that, be +she a monument of all the virtues, she was still just the kind of woman +he would fly to the ends of the earth rather than have to live with for +one short week. In brief, he did not like Miss Ruth Sutcliff, and Miss +Ruth Sutcliff did not like him. + +Of the two Cordovas, he found the girl Lucretia a mere walking vanity +bag: idle, shiftless, eager for compliments, and without two ideas in +her vain little head. "Whoever is at the bottom of the affair, she +isn't," was his mental comment. "She is just a gadfly, just a gaudy, +useless insect, born without a sting, or the spirit to use one if she +had it." + +Her brother Paul was not much better. "A mere lizard, content to bask in +the sunshine and caring not who pays for the privilege so long as he +gets it. I can see plainly enough why a fellow like young Bridewell +should dislike the pair of them, and even distrust and suspect them, +too; but, unless I am woefully mistaken, they can be counted out of the +case entirely. Who, then, is in it? Or is there really any case at all? +Is the old captain's malady a natural one, in spite of all these +suspicions? I'll know that when I see him." + +[Illustration: WITH THAT HE STRIPPED DOWN THE COUNTERPANE, LIFTED THE +WATER-JUG FROM ITS WASHSTAND AND EMPTIED ITS CONTENTS OVER THE +MATTRESSES] + +When he _did_ see him, about an hour after his arrival at the divided +house, he did know it, and decided forthwith, whatever the mysterious +cause, foul play was there beyond the question of a doubt. Somebody had +a secret reason for destroying this old man's life, and that somebody +was quietly and craftily doing it. But how? By what means? Not by +poison, that was certain, for no poison could have this purely local +effect and confine itself to the right side of the body, the right hand, +the right arm, the right shoulder, spread to no other part and simply +corrode the flesh and destroy the bone there as lime or caustic might, +and leave the left side wholly unblemished, entirely without attack. +Wholly unlike the case of old Mr. Bawdrey, in the affair of the +"Nine-fingered Skeleton," this could be no poison that was administered +by touch, injected into the blood through the pores of the skin; for +whatsoever Captain Bridewell touched, his son touched after him, and no +evil came of it to him. Then, too, there was no temptation of wealth to +inherit, as in old Bawdrey's case, for the little that Captain Bridewell +possessed would die with him. He had no expectations; he stood in no +one's way to an inheritance. Why, then, was he being done to death?--and +how? + +A dear, kindly, lovable old fellow, with a heart as big as an ox's, a +hand ever ready to help those in need, as witness his adoption of the +mutineering mate's children, a mind as free from guile as any child's, +he ought, in the natural order of things, to have not one enemy in the +world, one acquaintance who did not wish him well; and yet---- + +"I must manage to get a look at that maimed hand somehow and to examine +that peculiar eruption closely," said Cleek to Bridewell, when they were +alone together. "I could get so little impression of its character on +account of the bandages and the sling. Do you think I could get to see +it some time without either?" + +"Yes, certainly you can. Fordyce always dresses it in the evening. We'll +make it our business to be about then, and he'll be sure to let you see +it if you like." + +"I should, indeed," said Cleek. "And by the way, I haven't seen Dr. +Fordyce yet. Isn't he about?" + +"Not just at present; be in to tea, though. He's off on his rounds at +present. Makes a practice of looking after the poor for the simple +humanity of the thing. Never charges for his services. You'll like +Fordyce, he's a ripping sort." + +And so indeed he seemed to be when, at tea, Cleek met him for the first +time and found him a jovial, round-faced, apple-cheeked, rollicking +little man of fifty-odd years. + +"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Headland--very pleased indeed," he said gaily, +when young Bridewell introduced them. "Londoner, I can see, by the cut +of you, Londoner and soldier, too. No mistaking military training when a +man carries himself like that. Londoner myself once upon a time. But no +place like the country for health, and no part of the country like +Devon. Paradise, sir, Paradise. Well, Captain, and how are we to-day, +eh? Better?" + +"No, I'm afraid not, doctor," replied the old seaman. "Pain's been a +little worse than yesterday. Never was so bad as when I woke up this +morning; and, if you'll pardon my saying it, sir, that lotion you gave +me doesn't seem to have done a bit of good." + +"Oho! there's a lotion, is there?" commented Cleek mentally, when he +heard this. "I'll have a look at that lotion before I go to bed +to-night." Yet, when he did, he found it a harmless thing that ought to +have been beneficial even if it had not. + +"I say, Fordyce," put in young Bridewell, remembering Cleek's desire and +seeing a chance of gratifying it sooner than he had anticipated, "don't +you think it would be a good thing to have a look at the pater's arm +now? He says the pain's getting up to the shoulder, and so bad at times +he can hardly bear it. Do look at it, will you? I hate to see him +suffering like this." + +"Oh, certainly, of course I will. Just wait until I've had my tea, old +chap," replied the doctor; and, when he had had it, moved over to the +deep chair where the captain sat rocking to and fro and squeezing his +lips together in silent agony, and proceeded to remove the bandages. He +had barely uncovered the maimed hand, however, ere Cleek sauntered over +in company with the old seaman's son and stood beside him. He was close +enough now to study the character of the eruption, and the sight of it +tightened the creases about his lips, twitched one swift gleam of light +through the darkness of his former bewilderment. + +"Good God!" he said, swept out of himself for the moment by the +appalling realization which surged over him; then, remembering himself, +caught the doctor's swiftly given upward look and returned it with one +of innocent blankness. "Awful, isn't it, doctor? Don't think it's +smallpox, or something of that sort, do you?" + +"Rubbish!" responded the doctor, with laughing contempt for such a silly +fool as this. "Smallpox, indeed! Man alive, it isn't the least thing +like it. I should think a child would know that. No, Captain, there +isn't any change in its condition, despite the increased pain, unless it +may be that it is just a shade better than when I dressed it this +morning. There, there, don't worry about its going up to the shoulder, +Lieutenant. We'll save the arm, never fear." And then, without examining +that arm at all, proceeded to rebandage the maimed hand and replace it +in the supporting sling; and, afterward, went over and talked with Aunt +Ruth before passing out and going round to his side of the divided +house. But so long as he remained in sight, Cleek's narrowed eyes +followed him and the tense creases seamed Cleek's indrawn, silent lips. +But when he broke that silence it was to speak to the captain and to say +some silly, pointless thing about that refuge of the witless--the +weather. + +"Bridewell," he said ten minutes later, when, upon Aunt Ruth's objecting +to it being done indoors, the lieutenant invited him to come outside for +a smoke, "Bridewell, tell me something: Where does your father sleep?" + +"Dad? Oh, upstairs in the big front room just above us. Why?" + +"Nothing, but, I've a whim to see the place, and without anybody's +knowledge. Can you take me there?" + +"Certainly. Come along," replied the lieutenant, and led the way round +to a back staircase and up that to the room in question. It was a pretty +room, hung with an artistic pink paper which covered not only the +original walls but the wooden partitions which blocked up the door +leading to Dr. Fordyce's own part of the house; and close against that +partition and so placed that the screening canopy shut out the glare +from the big bay window, stood a narrow brass bedstead equipped with the +finest of springs, the very acme of luxury and ease in the way of soft +mattresses, and so piled with down pillows that a king might have envied +it for a resting-place. + +Cleek looked at it for a moment in silence, then reached out and laid +his hand upon the papered partition. + +"What's on the other side of this?" he queried. "Does it lead into a +passage or a room?" + +"Into Fordyce's laboratory," replied the lieutenant. "As a matter of +fact, this used to be Fordyce's own bedroom, the best in the house. But +he gave it up especially for the dad's use as the view and the air are +better than in any other room in the place, he says, and he's a great +believer in that sort of thing for sick people. Ripping of him, wasn't +it?" + +"Very. Suppose you could get your father not to sleep here to-night for +a change?" + +"Wouldn't like to try. He fairly dotes on that comfortable soft bed. +There's not another to compare with it in the house. I'm sure he +wouldn't rest half so well on a harder one, and wouldn't give this one +up unless he was compelled to do so by some unforeseen accident." + +"Good," said Cleek. "Then there is going to be 'some unforeseen +accident'--look!" With that he stripped down the counterpane, lifted the +water-jug from the washstand and emptied its contents over the +mattresses, and when the pool of water had been absorbed, replaced the +covering and arranged the bed as before. + +"Great Scot, man," began the lieutenant, amazed by this; but Cleek's +hand closed sharply on his arm, and Cleek's whispered "Sh-h-h!" sounded +close to his ear. "Keep your father up after everybody else has gone to +bed, especially Aunt Ruth," he went on. "If she's not at hand, the +damage can't be repaired for this night at least. Give him your room and +you come in with me. Bridewell, I know the man; I know the means; and +with God's help to-night I'll know the reason as well!" + + +III + +Everything was carried out in accordance with Cleek's plan. The captain, +trapped into talking by his son, sat up long after Miss Sutcliff and the +one serving maid the house boasted had gone to bed, and when, in time, +he, too, retired to his room, the soaked mattress did its work in the +most effectual manner. Whimpering like a hurt child over the unexplained +and apparently unexplainable accident, the old man suffered his son to +lead him off to his own room; and there, unable to rest on the harder +mattress, and suffering agonies of pain, he lay for a long time before +the door swung open, the glimmer of a bedroom candle tempered the +darkness to a sort of golden dusk, and the very double of Dr. Fordyce +came softly into the room. It was Cleek, wrapped in a well-padded +dressing-gown and carrying in addition to the candle a bottle of lotion +and a fresh linen bandage. + +"Why, doctor," began the old captain, half rising upon the elbow of his +uninjured arm. "Whatever in the world brings you here?" + +"Study, my dear old friend, study," returned a voice so like to Dr. +Fordyce's own that there was scarcely a shade of difference. "I have +been sitting up for hours and hours thinking, reading, studying until +now I am sure, very, very sure, Captain, that I have found a lotion that +will ease the pain. For a moment after I let myself in by the partition +door and found your room empty I didn't know where to turn; but +fortunately your moans guided me in the right direction, and here I am. +Now then, let us off with that other bandage and on with this new one, +and I think we shall soon ease up that constant pain." + +"God knows I hope so, doctor, for it is almost unbearable," the old man +replied, and sat holding his lips tightly shut to keep from crying out +while Cleek undid the bandage and stripped bare the injured arm from +finger-tips to shoulder. His gorge rose as he saw the thing, and in +seeing, knew for certain now that what he had suspected in that first +glance was indeed the truth, and in that moment there was something akin +to murder in his soul. He saw with satisfaction, however, that, although +the upper part of the arm was much swollen, as yet the progress of decay +had not gone much beyond the wrist; and having seen this and verified +the nature of the complaint, he applied the fresh lotion and was for +bandaging the arm up and stealing out and away again when he caught +sight of something that made him suck in his breath and set his heart +hammering. + +The captain, attracted by his movement and the sound of his thick +breathing, opened his pain-closed eyes, looked round and met the +questioning look of his. + +"Oh," he said with a smile of understanding. "You are looking at the +tattooing near my shoulder, are you? Haven't you ever noticed it +before?" + +"No," said Cleek, keeping his voice steady by an effort. "Who did it +and why? There's a name there and a queer sort of emblem. They are not +yours, surely?" + +"Good heaven, no! My name's Samuel Bridewell and always has been. Red +Hamish put that thing there--oh, more than five-and-twenty years ago. +Him and me was wrecked on a reef in the Indian Ocean when the _Belle +Burgoyne_ went down from under us and took all but us down with her. It +might as well have took Red Hamish, too, poor chap, for he was hurt +cruel bad, and he only lived a couple of days afterward. There was just +me alone on the reef when the _Kitty Gordon_ come sailin' along, see my +signal of distress, and took me off near done for after eight days' +fastin' and thirstin' on that bare scrap of terry firmer as they calls +it. I'd have been as dead as Red Hamish himself, I reckon, in another +twenty-four hours." + +"Red Hamish? Good heavens, who was Red Hamish?" + +"Never heard him called any other name than just that. Must have had +one, of course; and it's so blessed long ago now I disremember what it +was he put on the back of my shoulder. A great hand at tattooing he was. +Fair lived with his injy ink and his prickin' needles. Kept 'em in a +belt he wore and had 'em on him when the _Belle Burgoyne_ went down and +I managed to drag him on to the reef, poor chap. + +"'Had your call, Red,' I says to him when I got him up beside me. 'I +reckon you're struck for death, old man.' 'I know it,' says he to me. +'But better me than you, cap'n', he says, ''cause there ain't nobody +waitin' and watchin' for me to come home to her and the kid. Though +there is one woman who'd like to know where I'd gone and when and how +death found me,' he says, after a moment. 'I'd like to send a word--a +message--a sign just to her, cap'n. She'd know--she'd understand +and--well, it's only right that she should.' + +"'Well, give it to me, Red,' I says. 'I'll take it to her if I live, +old man.' But, bless you, there wasn't anything to write the message on, +of course; and it wasn't for a long time that Red hit upon a plan. + +"'Cap'n,' he says, 'I've got my inks and my needles. Let me put it on +your shoulder, will you? Just a name and a sign. But she'll understand, +she'll know, and that's all I want.' Of course I agreed--who wouldn't +for a mate at a time like that? So I lays down on my face and Red goes +at me with the needles and works till he gets it done. + +"'There,' he says when he'd reached the end of it. 'If ever anybody +wants to know who died on this here reef, cap'n, there's Red Hamish's +answer,' he says. 'She'll know, my mother, the only one that cares,' +says he, and chucks his belt into the sea and that's all. + +"Thanky, doctor, thanky. It does feel better, and I do believe that I +shall sleep now. At first I missed the hummin' of that electric fan in +your laboratory, I fancy, but bless you, sir, I feel quite drowsy and +comfortable now. Remember me to Colonel Goshen when you go back to your +rooms, will you? I see him go round the angle of the buildin' and into +your side of the house just after you left me to-night, sir, and I +thought likely he'd come round and call, but he didn't. Good-night, +sir--good-night, and many thanks!" + +But even before he had finished speaking Cleek had gone out of the room, +and was padding swiftly along the passage to where Lieutenant Bridewell +awaited him. + +"Well?" exclaimed the young man breathlessly as the fleet-moving figure +flashed in and began tearing off the beard, the dressing-gown, and the +disguising wig. "You found out? You learned something, then?" + +"I have learned everything, everything!" said Cleek, and pouncing upon +his portmanteau whisked out a couple of pairs of handcuffs. "Don't stop +to ask questions now. Come with me to the partition door and clap those +things on the wrists of the man that gets by me. There are two of them +in there, your Dr. Fordyce and your Colonel Goshen, and I want them +both." + +"Good heavens, man, you don't surely mean that they, those two dear +friends----" + +"Don't ask questions, come!" rapped in Cleek, then whirled out of the +room and flew down the passage to the partition door, and pounded +heavily upon it. "Doctor Fordyce, Doctor Fordyce, open the door, come +quickly. Something has happened to Captain Bridewell," he called. "He's +not in his room, not in the house, and it looks as if somebody had +spirited him away!" + +A clatter of footsteps on the other side of the partition door answered +this; then the bolt flashed back, the door whirled open, two +figures--one on the very heels of the other--came tumbling into sight, +and then there was mischief! + +Cleek sprang, and a click of steel sounded. The doctor, caught in a sort +of throttle-hold, went down with him upon the floor; the colonel, unable +to check himself in time, sprawled headlong over them, and by the time +he could pull himself to his knees young Bridewell was upon him, and +there were gyves upon his wrists as well as upon the doctor's. + +"Got you, you pretty pair!" said Cleek, as he rose to his feet and shut +a tight hand upon the collar of the manacled doctor; "got you, you dogs, +and your little game is up. Oh, you needn't bluster, doctor; you needn't +come the outraged innocence, Colonel. You'll, neither of you, bolster up +the rascally claim of your worthy confederate, the Tackbun Claimant; and +your game with the X-rays, your devil's trick of rotting away a man's +arm to destroy tattooed evidence of a rank imposter's guilt is just so +much time wasted and just so many pounds sterling thrown away." + +"What's that?" blustered the colonel. "What do you mean? What are you +talking about? Tackbun Claimant? Who's the Tackbun Claimant? Do you +realize to whom you are speaking? Fordyce, who and what is this +infernally impudent puppy?" + +"Gently, gently, Colonel. Name's Cleek, if you are anxious to know it." + +"Cleek? Cleek?" + +"Precisely, doctor. Cleek of Scotland Yard, Cleek of the Forty Faces, if +you want complete details. And if there are more that you feel you would +like to know, I'll give them to you when I hand you over to the +Devonshire police for your part in this rascally conspiracy to cheat the +late Lady Tackbun's nephew out of his lawful rights and to rot off the +arm of the man who constitutes the living document which will clearly +establish them. The lost Sir Aubrey Tackbun is dead, my friend, dead as +Julius Caesar, dead beyond the hopes of you and your confederates to +revive even the ghost of him now. He died on a coral reef in the Indian +Ocean five-and-twenty years ago, and the proof of it will last as long +as Captain Bridewell can keep his arm and lift his voice to tell his +story, and I think that will be a good many years, now that your little +scheme is exploded. You'll make no X-ray martyr of that dear old man, so +the money you spent in the instrument on the other side of that board +partition, the thing whose buzzing you made him believe came from an +electric fan, represents just so many sovereigns thrown away!" + + * * * * * + +"Yes, it was a crafty plot, a scheme very well laid indeed," said Cleek, +when he went next day to the lych-gate to say good-bye again to Ailsa +Lorne. "Undoubtedly a mild poison was used in the beginning, as an +excuse, you know, for the 'colonel' to get him away and into the charge +of the 'doctor,' and, once there, the rest was easy if subtle. The huge +X-ray machine would play always upon the partition whilst the captain +was sleeping, and you know how efficacious that would be when there was +only a thin board between that powerful influence and the object to be +operated upon. Then, too, the head of the bed was so arranged that the +captain's right side would always be exposed to the influence, so there +was no possibility of evading it. + +"How did I suspect it? Well, to tell you the truth, I never did suspect +it until I saw the captain's hand. Then I recognized the marks. I saw +the hand of a doctor, an X-ray martyr, who sacrificed himself to science +last year, Miss Lorne, and the marks were identical. Oh, well, I've +solved the riddle, Miss Lorne, that's the main point, and now--now I +must emulate 'Poor Joe' and move on again." + +"And without any reward, without asking any, without expecting any. How +good of you--how generous!" + +He stood a moment, twisting his heel into the turf and breathing +heavily. Then, quite suddenly: + +"Perhaps I did want one," he said, looking into her eyes. "Perhaps I +want one still. Perhaps I always hoped that I should get it, and that it +would come from you!" + +A rush of sudden colour reddened all her face. She let her eyes fall, +and said nothing. But what of that? After all, actions speak louder than +utterances, and Cleek could see that there was a smile upon her lips. He +stretched forth his hand and laid it gently on her arm. + +"Miss Lorne," he said very softly, "if, some day when all the wrongs I +did in those other times, are righted, and all the atonement a man can +make on this earth has been made, if then--in that time--I come to you +and ask for that reward, do you think--ah! do you think that you can +find it in your heart to give it?" + +She lifted up her eyes, the eyes that had saved him, that had lit the +way back, that would light it ever to the end of life and, stretching +out her hand, put it into his. + +"When that day dawns, come and see," she said, and smiled at him through +happy tears. + +"I will," he made answer. "Wait and I will. Oh, God, what a good, good +thing a real woman is!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE RIDDLE OF THE RAINBOW PEARL + + +"Note for you, sir, messenger just fetched it. Addressed to 'Captain +Burbage,' so it'll be from the Yard," said Dollops, coming into the room +with a doughnut in one hand and a square envelope in the other. + +Cleek, who had been sitting at his writing-table with a litter of folded +documents, bits of antique jewellery, and what looked like odds and ends +of faded ribbon lying before him, swept the whole collection into the +table drawer as Dollops spoke and stretched forth his hand for the +letter. + +It was one of Narkom's characteristic communications, albeit somewhat +shorter than those communications usually were, a fact which told Cleek +at once that the matter was one of immense importance. It ran: + + MY DEAR CLEEK: + + For the love of goodness don't let anything tempt you into + going out to-night. I shall call about ten. Foreign government + affair--reward simply enormous. Watch out for me. + + Yours, in hot haste. + + MAVERICK NARKOM. + +"Be on the look-out for the red limousine," said Cleek, glancing over at +Dollops, who stood waiting for orders. "It will be along at ten. That's +all. You may go." + +"Right you are, guv'ner. I'll keep my eyes peeled, sir. Lor'! I do hope +it's summink to do with a restaurant or a cookshop this time. I could do +with a job of that sort, my word, yes! I'm fair famishin'. And, beggin' +pardon, but you don't look none too healthy yourself this evening, +guv'ner. Ain't et summink wot's disagreed with you, have you, sir?" + +"I? What nonsense! I'm as fit as a fiddle. What could make you think +otherwise?" + +"Oh, I dunno, sir--only---- Well, if you don't mind my sayin' of it, +sir, whenever you gets to unlocking of that drawer and lookin' at them +things you keep in there--wotever they is--you always gets a sort of +solemncholy look in the eyes, and you gets white about the gills, and +your lips has a pucker to 'em that I don't like to see." + +"Tommy rot! Imagination's a splendid thing for a detective to possess, +Dollops, but don't let yours run away with you in this fashion, my lad, +or you'll never rise above what you are. Toddle along now, and look out +for Mr. Narkom's arrival. It's after nine already, so he'll soon be +here." + +"Anybody a-comin' with him, sir?" + +"I don't know, he didn't say. Cut along now; I'm busy!" said Cleek. +Nevertheless, when Dollops had gone and the door was shut and he had the +room to himself again, and, if he really did have any business on hand, +there was no reason in the world why he should not have set about it, he +remained sitting at the table and idly drumming upon it with his +finger-tips, a deep ridge between his brows and a far-away expression in +his fixed, unwinking eyes. And so he was still sitting when, something +like twenty minutes later, the sharp "Toot-toot!" of a motor horn +sounded. + +Narkom's note lay on the table close to his elbow. He took it up, +crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into his waste basket. "A foreign +government affair," he said with a curious one-sided smile. "A strange +coincidence, to be sure!" Then, as if obeying an impulse, he opened the +drawer, looked at the litter of things he had swept into it, shut it up +again, and locked it securely, putting the key into his pocket and +rising to his feet. Two minutes later, when Narkom pushed open the door +and entered the room, he found Cleek leaning against the edge of the +mantelpiece and smoking a cigarette with the air of one whose feet trod +always upon rose petals, and who hadn't a thought beyond the affairs of +the moment, nor a care for anything but the flavour of Egyptian tobacco. + +"Ah, my dear fellow, you can't think what a relief it was to catch you. +I had but a moment in which to dash off the note, and I was on thorns +with fear that it would miss you; that on a glorious night like this +you'd be off for a pull up the river or something of that sort," said +the superintendent as he bustled in and shook hands with him. "You are +such a beggar for getting off by yourself and mooning." + +"Well, to tell you the truth, Mr. Narkom, I came within an ace of doing +the very thing you speak of," replied Cleek. "It's full moon, for one +thing, and it's primrose time for another. Happily for your desire to +catch me, however, I--er--got interested in the evening paper and that +delayed me." + +"Very glad, dear chap; very glad indeed," began Narkom. Then, as his eye +fell upon the particular evening paper in question lying on the +writing-table, a little crumpled from use, but with a certain +"displayed-headed" article of three columns' length in full view, he +turned round and stared at Cleek with an air of awe and mystification. +"My dear fellow, you must be under the guardianship of some uncanny +familiar. You surely must, Cleek!" he went on. "Do you mean to tell me +that is what kept you at home? That you have been reading about the +preparations for the forthcoming coronation of King Ulric of +Mauravania?" + +"Yes; why not? I am sure it makes interesting reading, Mr. Narkom. The +kingdom of Mauravania has had sufficient ups and downs to inspire a +novelist, so its records should certainly interest a mere reader. To be +frank, I found the account of the amazing preparations for the +coronation of his new Majesty distinctly entertaining. They are an +excitable and spectacular people, those Mauravanians, and this time they +seem bent upon outdoing themselves." + +"But, my dear Cleek, that you should have chosen to stop at home and +read about that particular affair! Bless my soul, man, it's--it's +amazing, abnormal, uncanny! Positively uncanny, Cleek!" + +"My dear Mr. Narkom, I don't see where the uncanny element comes in, I +must confess," replied Cleek with an indulgent smile. "Surely an +Englishman must always feel a certain amount of interest in Mauravanian +affairs. Have the goodness to remember that there should be an +Englishman upon that particular throne. Aye, and there would be, too, +but for one of those moments of weak-backed policy, of a desire upon the +part of the 'old-woman' element which sometimes prevails in English +politics to keep friendly relations with other powers at any cost. + +"Brush up your history, Mr. Narkom, and give your memory a fillip. +Eight-and-thirty years ago Queen Karma of Mauravania had an English +consort and bore him two daughters and one son. You will perhaps recall +the mad rebellion, the idiotic rising which disgraced that reign. That +was the time for England to have spoken. But the peace party had it by +the throat; they, with their mawkish cry for peace, peace at any price, +drowned the voices of men and heroes, and, the end was what it was! +Queen Karma was deposed, she and her children fled, God knows how, God +knows where, and left a dead husband and father, slain like a hero and +an Englishman, fighting for his own and with his face to the foe. +Avenge his death? Nonsense! declared the old women. He had no right to +defy the will of Heaven, no right to stir up strife with a friendly +people and expect his countrymen to embroil themselves because of his +lust for power. It would be a lasting disgrace to the nation if England +allowed a lot of howling, bloodthirsty meddlers to persuade it to +interfere! + +"The old women had their way. Queen Karma and her children vanished; her +uncle Duke Sforza came to the throne as Alburtus III., and eight months +ago his son, the present King Ulric, succeeded him. The father had been +a bad king, the son a bad crown prince. Mauravania has paid the price. +Let her put up with it! I don't think in the light of these things, Mr. +Narkom, there is any wonder that an Englishman finds interest in reading +of the affairs of a country over which an Englishman's son might, and +ought to, have ruled. As for me, I have no sympathy, my friend, with +Mauravania or her justly punished people." + +"Still, my dear fellow, that should not count when the reward for taking +up this case is so enormous, and I dare say it will not." + +"Reward? Case?" repeated Cleek. "What do you mean by that?" + +"That I am here to enlist your services in the cause of King Ulric of +Mauravania," replied Narkom impressively. "Something has happened, +Cleek, which if not cleared up before the coronation day, now only one +month hence, as you must have read, will certainly result in his +Majesty's public disgrace, and may result in his overthrow and death! +His friend and chief adviser Count Irma has come all the way from +Mauravania, and is at this moment downstairs in this house, to put the +case in your hands and to implore you to help and to save his royal +master!" + +"His royal master? The son of the man who drove an Englishman's wife +and an Englishman's children into exile--poverty--misery--despair?" said +Cleek, pulling himself up. "I won't take it, Mr. Narkom! If he offers me +millions, I'll lift no hand to help or to save Mauravania's king!" + +The response to this came from an unexpected quarter. + +"But to save Mauravania's queen, monsieur? Will you do nothing for her?" +said an excited, an imploring voice. And as Cleek, startled by the +interruption, switched round and glanced in the direction of the sound, +the half-closed door swung inward and a figure, muffled to the very +eyes, moved over the threshold into the room. "Have pardon, monsieur, I +could not but overhear," went on the newcomer, turning to Narkom. "I +should scarcely be worthy of his Majesty's confidence and favour had I +remained inactive. I simply had to come up unbidden. _Had_ to, +monsieur"--turning to Cleek--"and so----" His words dropped off +suddenly. A puzzled look first expanded and then contracted his eyes, +and his lips tightened curiously under the screen of his white, military +moustache. "Monsieur," he said, presently putting into words the sense +of baffling familiarity which perplexed him. "Monsieur, you then are the +great, the astonishing Cleek? You, monsieur? Pardon, but surely I have +had the pleasure of meeting monsieur before? No, not here, for I have +never been in England until to-day; but, in my own country, in +Mauravania. Surely, monsieur, I have seen you there?" + +"To the contrary," said Cleek, speaking the simple truth, "I have never +set foot in Mauravania in all my life, sir. And as you have overheard my +words you may see that I do not intend to even now. The difficulties of +Mauravania's king do not in the least appeal to me." + +"Ah, but Mauravania's queen, monsieur, Mauravania's queen." + +"The lady interests me no more than does her royal spouse." + +"But, monsieur, she must if you are honest in what you say, and your +sympathies are all with the deposed and exiled ones, the ex-Queen Karma +and her children. Surely, monsieur, you who seem to know so well the +history of that sad time cannot be ignorant of what has happened since +to her ex-Majesty and her children?" + +"I know only that Queen Karma died in France, in extreme poverty, +befriended to the last by people of the very humblest birth and of not +too much respectability. What became of her son I do not know; but her +daughters, the two princesses, mere infants at the time, were sent, one +to England, where she subsequently died, and the other to Persia, where, +I believe, she remained up to her ninth year, and then went no one seems +to know where." + +"Then, monsieur, let me tell you what became of her. The late King +Alburtus discovered her whereabouts, and, to prevent any possible +trouble in the future, imprisoned her in the Fort of Sulberga up to the +year before his death. Eleven months ago she became the Crown Prince +Ulric's wife. She is now his consort. And by saving her, monsieur, you +who feel so warmly upon the subject of the rights of her family's +succession, will be saving her, helping Mauravania's queen, and +defeating those who are her enemies." + +Cleek sucked in his breath and regarded the man silently, steadily, for +a long time. Then: + +"Is that true, count?" he asked. "On your word of honour as a soldier +and a gentleman, is that true?" + +"As true as Holy Writ, monsieur. On my word of honour. On my hopes of +heaven!" + +"Very well, then," said Cleek quietly. "Tell me the case, count. I'll +take it." + +"Monsieur, my eternal gratitude. Also the reward is----" + +"We will talk about that afterward. Sit down, please, and tell me what +you want me to do." + +"Oh, monsieur, almost the impossible," said the count despairfully. "The +outwitting of a woman who must in very truth be the devil's own +daughter, so subtle, so appalling are the craft and cunning of her. +That, for one thing. For another, the finding of a paper which, if +published, as the woman swears it shall be if her terms are not acceded +to, will be the signal for his Majesty's overthrow. And, for the +third"--emotion mastered him; his voice choked and failed; he deported +himself for a moment like one afraid to let even his own ears hear the +thing spoken of aloud, then governed his cowardice and went on--"For the +third thing, monsieur," he said, lowering his tone until it was almost a +whisper, "the recovery--the restoration to its place of honour before +the coronation day arrives of that fateful gem, Mauravania's pride and +glory, 'the Rainbow Pearl!'" + +Cleek clamped his jaws together like a bloodhound snapping, and over his +hardened face there came a slow-creeping, unnatural pallor. + +"Has that been lost?" he said in a low, bleak voice. "Has he, this +precious royal master of yours, this usurper--has he parted with that +thing; the wondrous Rainbow Pearl?" + +"Monsieur knows of the gem then?" + +"Know of it? Who does not? Its fame is world-wide. Wars have been fought +for it, lives sacrificed for it. It is more valuable than England's +Koh-i-noor, and more important to the country and the crown that possess +it. The legend runs, does it not? that Mauravania falls when the Rainbow +Pearl passes into alien hands. An absurd belief, to be sure, but who can +argue with a superstitious people or hammer wisdom into the minds of +babies? And _that_ has been lost, that gem so dear to Mauravania's +people, so important to Mauravania's crown?" + +"Yes, monsieur--ah, the good God help my country!--yes!" said the count +brokenly. "It has passed from his Majesty's hands; it is no longer among +the crown jewels of Mauravania and a Russian has it." + +"A Russian?" Cleek's cry was like to nothing so much as the snarl of a +wild animal. "A Russian to hold it--and Russia the sworn enemy of +Mauravania! God help your wretched king, Count Irma, if this were known +to his subjects." + +"Ah, monsieur, it is that we dread; it is that against which we +struggle," replied the count. "If that jewel were missing on the +coronation day, if it were known that a Russian holds it--Dear God! the +populace would rise, monsieur, and tear his Majesty to pieces." + +"He deserves no better!" said Cleek through his close-shut teeth. "To a +Russian--a Russian! As heaven hears me, but for his queen---- Well, let +it pass. Tell me how did this Russian get the jewel, and when?" + +"Oh, long ago, monsieur, long ago; many months before King Alburtus +died." + +"Was it his hand that gave it up?" + +"No, monsieur. He died without knowing of its loss, without suspecting +that the stone in the royal palace is but a sham and an imitation," +replied the count. "It all came of the youth, the recklessness, the +folly of the crown prince. Monsieur may have heard of his--his many wild +escapades, his thoughtless acts, his--his----" + +"Call them dissipations, count, and give them their real name. His acts +as crown prince were a scandal and a disgrace. To whom did he part with +this gem, a woman?" + +"Monsieur, yes! It was during the time he was stopping in +Paris--incognito to all but a trusted few. He--he met the woman there, +became fascinated with her, bound to her, an abject slave to her." + +"A slave to a Russian? Mauravania's heir and a Russian?" + +"Monsieur, he did not know that until afterward. In a mad freak--there +was to be a masked ball--he yielded to the lady's persuasions to let her +wear the famous Rainbow Pearl for that one night. He journeyed back to +Mauravania and abstracted it from among the royal jewels, putting a mere +imitation in its place so that it should not be missed until he could +return the original. Monsieur, he was never able to return it at any +time, for once she got it, the Russian made away with it in some secret +manner and refused to give it up. Her price for returning it was his +royal father's consent to ennoble her, to receive her at the Mauravanian +court, and so to alter the constitution that it would be possible for +her to become the crown prince's wife." + +"The proposition of an idiot. The thing could not possibly be done." + +"No, monsieur, it could not. So the crown prince broke from her and bent +all his energies upon the recovery of the pearl and the keeping of its +loss a secret from the king and his people. Bravos, footpads, burglars, +all manner of men, were employed before he left Paris. The woman's house +was broken into, the woman herself waylaid and searched, but nothing +came of it, no clue to the lost jewel could be found." + +"Why, then, did he not appeal to the police?" + +"Monsieur, he--he dared not. In one of his moments of madness +he--she--that is---- Oh, monsieur, remember his youth! It appears that +the woman had got him to put into writing something which, if made +public, would cause the people of Mauravania to rise as one man and to +do with him as wolves do with things that are thrown to them in their +fury." + +"The dog! Some treaty with a Russian, of course!" said Cleek +indignantly. "Oh, fickle Mauravania, how well you are punished for your +treasonable choice! Well, go on, count. What next?" + +"Of a sudden, monsieur, the woman disappeared. Nothing was heard of her, +no clue to her whereabouts discovered for two whole years. She was as +one dead and gone until last week." + +"Oho! She returned then?" + +"Yes, monsieur. Without hint or warning she turned up in Mauravania, +accompanied by a disreputable one-eyed man who has the manner and +appearance of one bred in the gutters of Paris, albeit he is well +clothed, well looked after, and she treats him and his wretched +collection of parakeets with the utmost consideration." + +"Parakeets?" put in Narkom excitedly. "My dear Cleek, couldn't a +parakeet be made to swallow a pearl?" + +"Perhaps; but not this one, Mr. Narkom," he made reply. "It is quite the +size of a pigeon's egg, I believe; is it not, count?" + +"Yes, monsieur, quite. To see it is to remember it always. It has the +changing lights of the rainbow and----" + +"Never mind that; go on with the story, please. This woman and this +one-eyed man appeared last week in Mauravania, you say?" + +"Yes, monsieur; and with them a bodyguard of at least ten servants. Her +demand now is that his Majesty make her his morganatic wife; that he +establish her at the palace, under the same roof with his queen; and +that she be allowed to ride with them in the state carriage on the +coronation day. Failing that, she swears that she will not only publish +the contents of that dreadful letter, but send the original to the chief +of the Mauravanian police and appear in public at the coronation with +the Rainbow Pearl upon her person." + +"The Jezebel! What steps have you taken, count, to prevent this?" + +"All that I can imagine, monsieur. To prevent her from getting into +close touch with the public, I have thrown open my own house to her and +received her and her retinue under my own roof rather than allow them to +be quartered at an hotel. Also, this has given me the opportunity to +have her effects and those of her followers secretly searched; but no +clue to the letter, no clue to the pearl has anywhere been discovered." + +"Still, she must have both with her, otherwise she could not carry out +her threat. No doubt she suspects what motive you had in taking her into +your own house, count. A woman like that is no fool. But tell me, does +she show no anxiety, no fear of a search?" + +"None, monsieur. She knows that my people search her effects; indeed she +has told me so. But it alarms her not a whit. As she told me two days +ago, I shall find nothing; but if I did it would be useless, for, on the +moment anything of hers was touched, her servants would see that the +finder never carried it from the house." + +"Oho!" said Cleek with a strong rising inflection. "A little searching +party of her own, eh? The lady is clever, at all events. The moment +either pearl or letter should be removed from its hiding-place her +servants would allow nobody to leave the house without being searched to +the very skin?" + +"Yes, monsieur. So if by any chance you were to discover either----" + +"My friend, set your mind at rest," interposed Cleek. "If I find either, +or both, they will leave the house with me, I promise you. Mr. +Narkom"--he turned to the superintendent--"keep an eye on Dollops for +me, will you? There are reasons why I can't take him, can't take +anybody, with me in the working out of this case. I may be a couple of +days or I may be a week, I can't say as yet, but I start with Count Irma +for Mauravania in the morning. And, Mr. Narkom." + +"Yes, old chap?" + +"Do me a favour, please. Be at Charing Cross station when the first boat +train leaves to-morrow morning, will you, and bring me a small pot of +extract of beef, a very small pot, the smallest they make, not bigger +than a shilling nor thicker than one if they make them that size. What's +that? Hide the pearl in it? What nonsense! I don't want one half big +enough for that. Besides, they'd be sure to find it when they searched +me if I tried any such fool's trick as that. Dollops isn't the only +creature in the world that gets hungry, my friend, and beef extract is +very sustaining, very, I assure you, sir." + + +II + +"A Beautiful city, count, an exceedingly beautiful city," said Cleek, as +the carriage which had been sent to meet them at the station rolled into +the broad Avenue des Arcs, which is at once the widest and most ornate +thoroughfare the capital city of Mauravania boasts. "Ah, what a +heritage! No wonder King Ulric is so anxious to retain his sovereignty; +no wonder this--er--Madame Tcharnovetski, I think you said the name +is----" + +"Yes, monsieur. It is oddly spelled, but it is pronounced a little +broader than you give it, quite as though it were written +Shar-no-_vet_-skee, in fact, with the accent on the third syllable." + +"Ah, yes. Thanks very much. No wonder she is anxious to become a power +here. Mauravania is a fairyland in very truth; and this beautiful avenue +with its arches, its splendid trees, its sculpture, its---- Ah! +_cocher_, pull up at once. Stop, if you please, stop!" + +"_Oui_, monsieur," replied the driver, reining in his horses and +glancing round. "_Dix mille pardons_, m'sieur, there is something +amiss?" + +"Yes; very much amiss, from the dog's point of view," replied Cleek, +indicating by a wave of the hand a mongrel puppy which crouched, forlorn +and hungry, in the shadow of an imposing building. "He should be a +Socialist among dogs, that little fellow, count. The mere accident of +birth has made him what he is, and that poodled monstrosity the lady +yonder is leading the pet and pride of a thoughtless mistress. I want +that little canine outcast, count, and with your permission I will +appropriate him and give him his first carriage ride." With that, he +stepped down from the vehicle, whistled the cur to him, and taking it up +in his arms, returned with it to his seat. + +"Monsieur, you are to me the most astonishing of men," said the count, +noticing how he patted the puppy and settled it in his lap as the +carriage resumed its even rolling down the broad, beautiful avenue. "One +moment upholding the rights of birth, the next rebelling against the +injustice of it. Are your sympathies with the unfortunate so keen, +monsieur, that even this stray cur may claim them?" + +"Perhaps," replied Cleek enigmatically. "You must wait and see, count. +Just now I pity him for his forlornity; to-morrow, next day, a week +hence, I may hold it a better course to put an end to his hopeless lot +by chloroforming him into a painless and peaceful death." + +"Monsieur, I cannot follow you, you speak in riddles." + +"I deal in riddles, count; you must wait for the solution of them, I'm +afraid." + +"I wish I could grasp the solution of one which puzzles me a great deal, +monsieur. What is it that has happened to your countenance? You have +done nothing to put on a disguise; yet, since we left the train and +entered the landau, some subtle change has occurred. What is it? How +has it come about? The night before last, when I saw you for the first +time, your face was one that impressed me with a sense of familiarity, +now, monsieur, you are like a different man.'" + +"I am a different man, count. Like this puppy here, I am a waif and a +stray; yet, at the same time, I have my purpose and am part of a +carefully laid scheme." + +The count made no reply. He could not comprehend the man at all, and at +times, but for the world-wide reputation of him, he would have believed +him insane. Not a question as to the great and important case he was on, +but merely incomprehensible remarks, trifling fancies, apparently +aimless whims! Two nights ago a pot of beef extract; to-day a mongrel +puppy; and all the time the hopes of a kingdom, the future of a monarch +resting in his hands! + +For twenty minutes longer the landau rolled on; then it came to a halt +under the broad porte-cochere of the Villa Irma, and two minutes after +that Cleek and the count stood in the presence of Madame Tcharnovetski, +her purblind associate, and her retinue of servant-guards. + +A handsome woman, this madame, a woman of about two-and-thirty, with the +tar-black eyes and the twilight-coloured tresses of Northern Russia; +bold as brass, flippant as a French cocotte, steel-nerved and +calm-blooded as a professional gambler. It had been her whim that all +the women of the count's family should be banished from the house during +her stay; that the great salon of the villa, a wondrous apartment, hung +in blue and silver, and lit by a huge crystal chandelier, should be put +at her disposal night and day; that the electric lights should be +replaced with dozens of wax candles (after the manner of the ballrooms +of her native Russia); that her one-eyed companion, with his wicker cage +of screeching parakeets should come and go when and where and how he +listed, and that an electric alarm bell be connected with her sleeping +apartment and his. + +"Your hirelings will tamper with his birds and his effects in the night, +I know that, Monsieur le Comte," she had said when she demanded this. +"He is a nervous fellow, this poor Clopin; I wish him to be able to ring +for help if you and your men go too far." + +Clopin was sitting by the window chattering to his birds when Cleek +entered, and a glance at him was sufficient to decide two points: first +he was not disguised, nor was his partial blindness in any way a sham, +for an idiot could have seen that the droop of the left eyelid over the +staring, palpably artificial eye which glazed over the empty socket +beneath was due to perfectly natural causes; and, second, that the man +was indeed what the count had said he resembled, namely, a gutter-bred +outcast. + +"French," was Cleek's silent comment upon him. "One of those charlatans +who infest the streets of Paris with their so-called 'fortune-telling +birds,' who, for ten centimes, pick out an envelope with their beaks as +a means of telling you what the future is supposed to hold. What has +made a woman like this pick up with a fellow of his stamp? Hum-m-m! +Puppy, I think you are a good move," stroking the ears of the mongrel +dog; "a very much better move than a cage of useless parakeets that are +meant to throw suspicion in the wrong direction and have a seed-cup so +large and so obviously overfilled that it is safe to say there is +nothing hidden in it and never has been. And madame has a fancy for wax +lights," his gaze travelling upward to the glittering chandelier. +"Hum-m-m! How well they know, these women whose beauty is going off, +that wax-lights show less of Time's ravages than gas or electricity. +Candles in the chandelier; candles in the sconces; candles on the +mantelpiece. This room should be very charming when it is lighted at +night." + +It was--as he learned later. Just now things not quite so charming +filled the bill, for madame was jeering at him in a manner not to be +misunderstood. + +"A police spy, that is what you are, monsieur!" she said, coming up to +him and impudently snapping her fingers under his nose. "Such a fool +this white-headed old dotard of a count, to think that he can take me in +with a silly yarn about going to visit a nephew and bringing him back +here to stay. Monsieur, you are a police spy. Well, good luck to you. +Get what the Mauravanian king wants, if--you--can!" + +"Madame," replied Cleek, with a deeply deferential bow and with an +accent that seemed born of Paris, "Madame, that is what I mean to do, I +assure you." + +"Ah, do you?" she answered, with a scream of laughter. "You hear that, +Clopin? You hear that, my good servitors? This silly French noodle is +going to get the things in spite of us. Oho, but you have a fine opinion +of yourself, monsieur. You need work fast, too, pretty boaster, I can +tell you. For the royal jewellers will require the Rainbow Pearl very +soon to fix it in its place in the crown for the coronation ceremony, +and if that thing his Majesty holds is offered to them, how long, think +you, will it be before all Mauravania knows that it is an imitation? +Look you," waxing suddenly vicious, "I'll make it shorter still, the +time you have to strive. Monsieur le Comte, take this message to his +Majesty from me. If in three days he does not promise to accede to my +demands and give me a public proof of it over his royal seal, I leave +Mauravania. The pearl and the letter leave with me, and they shall not +come back until I return with them for the coronation." + +"For the love of God, madame," said the count, "don't make it harder +still. Oh, wait, wait, I beseech you!" + +"Not an hour longer than I have now said!" she flung back at him. "I +have waited until I am tired of it, and my patience is worn out. Three +days, count; three days, monsieur with the puppy dog; three days, and +not an instant longer, do you hear?" + +"Quite enough, madame," replied Cleek, with a courtly bow. "I promise to +have them in two!" + +She threw back her head and fairly shook with laughter. + +"Of a truth, monsieur, you are a candid boaster!" she cried. "Look you, +my good fellows, and you too, my poor dumb Clopin, pretty monsieur here +will have the letter and the pearl in two days' time. Look to it that he +never leaves this house at any minute from this time forth that you do +not search him from top to toe. If he resists--ah, well, a pistol may go +off accidentally, and things that Mauravania's king would give his life +to keep hidden will come to light if any charge of murder is preferred. +Monsieur the police spy, I wish you joy of your task." + +"Madame, I _shall_ take joy in it," Cleek replied. "But why should we +talk of unpleasant things when the future looks so bright? Come, may we +not give ourselves a pleasant evening? Look, there is a piano, and---- +Count, hold my puppy for me, and please see that no one feeds him at any +time. I am starving him so that he may devour some of Clopin's +parakeets, because I hate the sight of the little beasts. Thank you. +Madame, do you like music? Listen, then; I'll sing you Mauravania's +national anthem: 'God guard the throne; God shield the right!'" and, +dropping down upon the seat before the open instrument, he did so. + +That night was ever memorable at the Villa Irma, for the detective +seemed somehow to have given place to the courtier, and so merry was his +mood, so infectious his good nature, that even madame came under the +spell of it. She sang with him, she even danced a Russian polka with +him; she sat with him at dinner, and flirted with him in the salon +afterward; and when the time came for her to retire, it was he who took +her bedroom candle from the shelf and put in into her hand. + +"Of a truth, you are a charming fellow, monsieur," she said, when he +bent and kissed her hand. "What a pity you should be a police spy and +upon so hopeless a case." + +"Hopeless cases are my delight, madame. Believe me, I shall not fail." + +"Only three days, remember, _cher ami_--only three days!" + +"Madame is too kind. I have said it: two will do. On the morning of the +third madame's passport will be ready and the Rainbow Pearl be in the +royal jewellers' hands. A thousand pleasant dreams, _bon soir_!" And +bowed her out and kissed his hand to her as she went up the stairs to +bed. + + +III + +Thrice during the next twenty-four hours Cleek, who seemed to have +become so attached to the mongrel dog that he kept it under his arm +continually, had reason to leave the house, and thrice was he seized by +madame's henchmen, bundled unceremoniously into a convenient room, and +searched to the very skin before he was suffered to pass beyond the +threshold. And if so much as a pin had been hidden upon his person, it +must have been discovered. + +"You see, monsieur, how hopeless it is!" said the count despairfully. +"One dare not rebel; one dare not lift a finger, or the woman speaks and +his Majesty's ruin falls. Oh, the madness of that boast of yours! Only +another twenty-four hours, only another day and then God help his +Majesty!" + +"God has helped him a great deal better than he deserves, count," +replied Cleek. "By to-morrow night at ten o'clock be in the square of +the Aquisola, please. Bring with you the passports of madame and her +companions, also a detachment of the Royal Guard, and his Majesty's +cheque for the reward I am to receive." + +"Monsieur! You really hope to get the things? You really do?" + +"Oh, I do more than 'hope,' count, I have succeeded. I knew last night +where both pearl and letter were. To-morrow night--ah, well, let +to-morrow tell its own tale. Only be in the square at the hour I +mention, and when I lift a lighted candle and pass it across the salon +window, send the guard here with the passports. Let them remain outside, +within sight, but not within range of hearing what is said and done. You +alone are to enter, remember that." + +"To receive the jewel and the letter?" eagerly. "Or, at least to have +you point out the hiding-place of them?" + +"No; we should be shot down like dogs if I undertook a mad thing like +that." + +"Then, monsieur, how are we to seize them? How get them into our +possession, his Majesty and I?" + +"From my hand, count; this hand which held them both before I went to +bed last night." + +"Monsieur!" The count fell back from him as if from some supernatural +presence. "You found them? You held them? You took possession of them +last night? How did you get them out of the house?" + +"I have not done so yet." + +"But can you? Oh, monsieur, wizard though you are, can you get them past +her guards? Can you, monsieur, can you?" + +"Watch for the light at the window, count. It will not be waved unless +it is safe for you to come and the pearl is already out of the house." + +"And the letter, monsieur, the damning letter?" + +Cleek smiled one of his strange, inscrutable smiles. + +"Ask me that to-morrow, count," he said. "You shall hear something, you +and madame, that will surprise you both," then twisted round on his heel +and walked hurriedly away. And all that day and all that night he danced +attendance upon madame, and sang to her, and handed her bedroom candle +to her as he had done the night before, and gave back jest for jest and +returned her merry badinage in kind. + +Nor did he change in that when the fateful to-morrow came. From morning +till night he was at her side, at her beck and call; doing nothing that +was different from the doings of yesterday, save that at evening he +locked the mongrel dog up in his room instead of carrying him about. And +the dog, feeling its loneliness or, possibly, famishing, for he had +given it not a morsel of food since he found it, howled and howled until +the din became unbearable. + +"Monsieur, I wish you would silence that beast or else feed it," said +madame pettishly. "The howling of the wretched thing gets on my nerves. +Give it some food for pity's sake." + +"Not I," said Cleek. "Do you not remember what I said, madame? I am +getting it hungry enough to eat one or perhaps all of Clopin's wretched +little parakeets." + +"You think they have to do with the hiding of the paper or the pearl, +_cher ami_? Eh?" + +"I am sure of it. He would not carry the beastly little things about for +nothing." + +"Ah, you are clever, you are very, very clever, monsieur," she made +answer, with a laugh. "But he must begin his bird-eating quickly, that +nuisance-dog, or it will be too late. See, it is already half-past nine; +I retire to my bed in another hour and a half, as always, and then your +last hope he is gone--z-zic! like that; for it will be the end of the +second day, monsieur, and your promise not yet kept. Pestilence, +monsieur," with a little outburst of temper, "do stop the little beast +his howl. It is unbearable! I would you to sing to me like last night, +but the noise of the dog is maddening." + +"Oh, if it annoys you like that, madame," said Cleek, "I'll take him +round to the stable and tie him up there, so we may have the song +undisturbed. Your men will not want to search me, of course, when I am +merely popping out and popping in again like that, I am sure?" + +Nevertheless they did, for although they had heard and did not stir when +he left the room and ran up for the dog, when he came down with it under +his arm and made to leave the house, he was pounced upon, dragged into +an adjoining apartment by half a dozen burly fellows, stripped to the +buff, and searched, as the workers in a diamond mine are searched, +before they suffered him to leave the house. There was neither a sign of +a pearl nor a scrap of a letter to be found upon him, they made sure of +that before they let him go. + +"An enterprising lot, those lackeys of yours, madame," he said, when he +returned from tying the dog up in the stable and rejoined her in the +salon. "It will be an added pleasure to get the better of them, I can +assure you." + +"_Oui_, if you can!" she answered, with a mocking laugh. "Clopin, _cher +ami_, your poor little parakeets are safe for the night, unless monsieur +grows desperate and eats them for himself." + +"Even that, if it were necessary to get the pearl, madame," said Cleek, +with the utmost sang-froid. "Faugh!" looking at his watch, "a good +twenty minutes wasted by the zealousness of those idiotic searchers of +yours. Ten minutes to ten! Just time for one brief song. Let us make hay +while the sun lasts, madame, for it goes down suddenly here in +Mauravania; and for some of us it never comes up again!" Then, throwing +himself upon the piano-seat, he ran his fingers across the keys and +broke into the stately measures of the national anthem. And, of a +sudden, while the song was yet in progress, the clock in the corridor +jingled its musical chimes and struck the first note of the hour. + +He jumped to his feet and lifted both hands above his head. + +"Mauravania!" he cried. "Oh, Mauravania! For thee! For thee!" Then +jumped to the mantelpiece, and, catching up a lighted candle, flashed it +twice across the window's width, and broke again into the national hymn. + +"Monsieur," cried out madame, "monsieur, what is the meaning of that? +Have you lost your wits? You give a signal! For what? To whom?" + +"To the guards of Mauravania's king, madame, in honour of his safe +escape from you!" he made reply; then twitched back the window curtains +until the whole expanse of glass was bared. "Look! do you see them, do +you, Madame?" he said. "His Majesty of Mauravania sends Madame +Tcharnovetski a command to leave his kingdom, since he no longer has +cause to fear a wasp whose sting has been plucked out." + +Her swift glance flashed to the fireplace, then to the corner where +Clopin still sat with his jabbering parakeets, then flashed back to +Cleek, and she laughed in his face. + +"I think not, monsieur," she said, with a swaggering air. "Truly, I +think not, my excellent friend." + +"What a pity you only think so, madame! As for me---- Ah, welcome, +count, welcome a thousand times. The paper, my friend; you have brought +the paper? Good! good! Quick, give it to me. Madame, your +passport--yours and your people's. You leave Mauravania by the midnight +train, and you have but little time to pack your effects. Your passport, +madame, and your bedroom candle. Oh, yes, the paper is still round it, +see!" slipping off a sheet of white notepaper that was wrapped round the +full length of the candle from top to bottom, "but if you will examine +it, madame, you will find it is blank. I burned the real letter the +night before last when I put this in its place." + +"You what?" she snapped; then caught the tube-shaped covering he had +stripped from the candle, uncurled it, and screamed. + +"Blank, madame, quite blank, you see," said Cleek serenely. "For one so +clever in other things, you should have been more careful. A little +pinch of powder in the punch at dinner-time--just that--and on the first +night, too! It was so easy afterward to get into your room, remove the +real paper, and wrap the candle in a blank piece while you slept." + +"You, you dog!" she snapped out viciously. "You drugged me?" + +"Yes, madame; you and the one-eyed man as well! Oh, don't excite +yourself; don't pull at the poor wretch like that. The glass eye will +come out quite easily, but--I assure you there is only a small lump of +beeswax in the socket now. I removed the Rainbow Pearl from poor +Monsieur Clopin's blind eye ten minutes after I burnt the letter, +madame, and it passed out of this house to-night! A clever idea to pick +up a one-eyed pauper, madame, and hide the pearl in the empty socket of +the lost eye, but it was too bad you had to supply a glass eye to keep +it in, after the lid and the socket had withered and shrunk from so many +years of emptiness. It worried the poor man, madame; he was always +feeling it, always afraid that the lump behind would force it out; and, +what is an added misfortune for your plans, the glass shell did not +allow you to see the change when the pearl vanished and the bit of +beeswax took its place. Madame Tcharnovetski, your passport. I know +enough of the King of Mauravania to be sure that your life will not be +safe if you are not past the frontier before daybreak!" + + * * * * * + +"Monsieur le comte--no! I thank you, but I cannot wait to be presented +to his Majesty, for I, too, leave Mauravania tonight, and, like madame +yonder, return to other and more promising fields," said Cleek, an hour +later, as he stood on the terrace of the Villa Irma and watched the slow +progress down the moonlit avenue of the carriage which was bearing +Madame Tcharnovetski and her effects to the railway station. "Give me +the cheque, please; I have earned that, and there is good use for it. I +thank you, count. Now do an act of charity, my friend: give the little +dog in the stable a good meal, and then have a surgeon chloroform him +into a peaceful and a merciful death. They will find the Rainbow Pearl +in his intestines when they come to dissect the body. I starved him, +count, starved him purposely, poor little wretch, so that he would be +hungry enough to snap at anything in the way of food and bolt it +instantly. Tonight, when I went up to take him out to the stable, a +thick smearing of beef extract over the surface of the pearl was +sufficient; he swallowed it in a gulp! For a double reason, count, there +should be a cur quartered on the royal arms of this country after +tonight." + +His voice dropped off into silence. The carriage containing madame had +swung out through the gateway, and its shadow no longer blotted the +broad, unbroken space of moonlit avenue. He turned and looked far out, +over the square of the Aquisola, along the light-lined esplanade, to the +palace gates and the fluttering flag that streamed against the sky above +and beyond them. + +"Oh, Mauravania!" he said. "An Englishman's heritage! Dear country, how +beautiful! My love to your Queen, my prayers for you." + +"Monsieur!" exclaimed the count, "monsieur, what juggle is this? Your +face is again the face of that other night, the face that stirs memory +yet does not rivet it. Monsieur, speak, I beg of you. What are you? Who +are you?" + +"Cleek," he made answer. "Just Cleek! It will do. Oh, Mauravania, dear +land of desolated hopes, dear grave of murdered joys!" + +"Monsieur!" + +"Hush! Let me alone. There are things too sacred; and this----" His +hands reached outward as if in benediction; his face, upturned, was as a +face transfigured, and something that shone as silver gleamed in the +corner of his eye. "Mauravania!" he said. "Oh, Mauravania! My +country--my people--good-bye!" + +"Monsieur! Dear Heaven--_Majesty_!" + +Then came a rustling sound, and when Cleek had mastered himself and +looked down, a figure with head uncovered knelt on one knee at his feet. + +"Get up, count," he said, with a little shaky laugh. "I appreciate the +honour, but your fancy is playing you a trick. I tell you I never set +foot in Mauravania before, my friend." + +"I know, I know. How should you, Majesty, when it was as a child at +Queen Karma's breast Mauravania last saw---- Don't leave like this! +Majesty! Majesty! 'God guard the right'--the pearl and the kingdom are +here." + +"Wrong, my good friend. The kingdom is there, where you found me in +England; and so, too, is the pearl. For there is no kingdom like the +kingdom of love, count, and no pearl like a good woman." + +"But, Majesty----" + +"Good-night, count, and many thanks for your hospitality. You are a +little upset to-night, but no doubt you will be all right again in the +morning. I will walk to the station and alone, if it is all the same to +you." + +"Majesty!" + +"Dreams, count, dreams. The riddle is solved, my friend. Good luck to +your country and good-bye!" + +And, setting his back to the palace and the lights and the fluttering +flag, and his face to the land that held her, turned and went his +way--to the West--to England--to those things which are higher than +crowns and better than sceptres and more precious than thrones and +ermine. + + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Inconsistent hyphenation of kitbag/kit-bag, tomorrow/to-morrow and +tonight/to-night has been retained. 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