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@@ -1,38 +1,4 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Datchet Diamonds, by Richard Marsh - -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: The Datchet Diamonds - -Author: Richard Marsh - -Release Date: July 27, 2012 [EBook #40353] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DATCHET DIAMONDS *** - - - - -Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by -Google Books (Oxford University) - - - - - - - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40353 *** Transcriber's Notes: @@ -631,7 +597,7 @@ during, at any rate, the last two centuries. The value of their collection is fabulous--the intrinsic value of the stones which the duchess had taken with her on that memorable journey, -according to the paper, was at least L250,000--a quarter of a million +according to the paper, was at least £250,000--a quarter of a million of money! This was the net value--indeed, it seemed that one might almost say it was the trade value, and was quite apart from any adventitious value which they might possess, from, for instance, the @@ -644,7 +610,7 @@ not at all sure that I should not have liked to have had a finger in such a pie as that. It would be better than punting at Eries." The diamonds, it seemed, arrived all right at Windsor, and the duchess -too. The visit passed off with due _eclat_. It was as Her Grace was +too. The visit passed off with due _éclat_. It was as Her Grace was returning that the deed was done, though how it was done was, as yet, a profound mystery. @@ -698,7 +664,7 @@ one of those masters of the art of detection who have been cutting such antics lately in popular fiction. If I were appointed to ferret out the mystery, I fancy that I should begin by wanting to know a few things about her Grace the Duchess. I wonder what happened to that -despatch-box while she and it were _tete-a-tete?_ It is to be hoped +despatch-box while she and it were _tête-à -tête?_ It is to be hoped that she possesses her husband's entire confidence, otherwise it is just possible that she is in for a rare old time of it." @@ -716,7 +682,7 @@ pockets, and mused. "What lucky beggars those thieves must be! What wouldn't any one do for a quarter of a million--what wouldn't I? Even supposing that the value of the stones is over-stated, and that they are only worth half -as much, there is some spending in L125,000. It would set me up for +as much, there is some spending in £125,000. It would set me up for life, with a little over. What prospect is there in front of me--don't I know that there is none? Existence in a country which I have not the faintest desire to go to; a life which I hate; a continual struggling @@ -3037,15 +3003,15 @@ of surprise; then, with increasing amazement, he read them again. "The boom in the shares of the Trumpit Gold Mine continues. On the strength of a report that the reef which has been struck is of importance, the demand for them, even at present prices, exceeded the -supply. When our report left, buyers were offering L10--the highest +supply. When our report left, buyers were offering £10--the highest price of the day." After subjecting the paragraph to a second reading, Mr. Paxton put the paper down upon his knees, and gasped for breath. It was a mistake--a -canard--quite incredible. Trumpits selling at L10--it could not be! He +canard--quite incredible. Trumpits selling at £10--it could not be! He would have been glad, quite lately, to have sold his for 10d each; only he was conscious that even at that price he would have found no -buyer. L10 indeed! It was a price of which, at one time, he had +buyer. £10 indeed! It was a price of which, at one time, he had dreamed--but it had remained a dream. He read the paragraph again. So far as the paper was concerned, there @@ -3397,7 +3363,7 @@ esteem such misery as yours happiness. Tell me, what's the trouble?" In spite of the satirical touch which tinged her speech, a strain of curious melody had all at once come into her voice which--as if it had -been an anaesthetic--served to ease the extreme tension of the other's +been an anæsthetic--served to ease the extreme tension of the other's nerves. Miss Strong looked up, the tears still streaming down her cheeks, but exhibiting some signs of at least elementary self-control. @@ -3561,14 +3527,14 @@ no mood for trifling. to be well-founded rumours have reached England that gold has been found at last in considerable quantities. The shares have gone up with a rush. When the Stock Exchange closed this afternoon they were -quoted at L12 10s. A little more than a week ago they were unsaleable +quoted at £12 10s. A little more than a week ago they were unsaleable at twopence each." -"L12 10s.! oh, Mr. Franklyn! And has Cyril got rid of his?" +"£12 10s.! oh, Mr. Franklyn! And has Cyril got rid of his?" "Not a bit of it. They are in my strongbox. There are ten thousand of them--Cyril is one of the largest holders, if he is not the largest; -and what that means at L12 10s. apiece you can calculate as well as +and what that means at £12 10s. apiece you can calculate as well as I." "Oh, Mr. Franklyn!" The young lady brought her hands together with a @@ -6669,360 +6635,4 @@ be granted. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Datchet Diamonds, by Richard Marsh -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DATCHET DIAMONDS *** - -***** This file should be named 40353.txt or 40353.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/3/5/40353/ - -Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by -Google Books (Oxford University) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: The Datchet Diamonds - -Author: Richard Marsh - -Release Date: July 27, 2012 [EBook #40353] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DATCHET DIAMONDS *** - - - - -Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by -Google Books (Oxford University) - - - - - - - - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - - 1. Page scan source: - http://books.google.com/books?id=3DcPAAAAQAAJ - - - - - - - - _THE DATCHET DIAMONDS_ - - - - - - -[Illustration: "Shall I shoot all three of you?" Page 265. -_Frontispiece_.] - - - - - - - THE - - DATCHET DIAMONDS - - - - - BY - - RICHARD MARSH - - AUTHOR OF "THE CRIME AND THE CRIMINAL," "PHILIP BENNION'S - DEATH," "THE BEETLE," ETC., ETC. - - - - - _ILLUSTRATED BY STANLEY L. WOOD_ - - - - - LONDON - WARD, LOCK & CO., Limited - WARWICK HOUSE, SALISBURY SQUARE, E.C. - NEW YORK AND MELBOURNE - - - - - - - UNWIN BROTHERS, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON. - - - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER I. - TWO MEN AND A MAID. - - - CHAPTER II. - OVERHEARD IN THE TRAIN. - - - CHAPTER III. - THE DIAMONDS. - - - CHAPTER IV. - MISS WENTWORTH'S RUDENESS. - - - CHAPTER V. - IN THE BODEGA. - - - CHAPTER VI. - THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT. - - - CHAPTER VII. - THE DATCHET DIAMONDS ARE PLACED IN SAFE CUSTODY. - - - CHAPTER VIII. - IN THE MOMENT OF HIS SUCCESS. - - - CHAPTER IX. - A PROPOSAL OF MARRIAGE. - - - CHAPTER X. - CYRIL'S FRIEND. - - - CHAPTER XI. - JOHN IRELAND'S WARRANT. - - - CHAPTER XII. - A WOMAN ROUSED. - - - CHAPTER XIII. - THE DETECTIVE AND THE LADY. - - - CHAPTER XIV. - AMONG THIEVES. - - - CHAPTER XV. - PUT TO THE QUESTION. - - - CHAPTER XVI. - A MODERN INSTANCE OF AN ANCIENT PRACTICE. - - - CHAPTER XVII. - THE MOST DANGEROUS FOE OF ALL. - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - THE LAST OF THE DATCHET DIAMONDS. - - - CHAPTER XIX. - A WOMAN'S LOGIC. - - - - - CHAPTER I - - TWO MEN AND A MAID - - -The band struck up a waltz. It chanced to be the one which they had -last danced together at the Dome. How well he had danced, and how -guilty she had felt! Conscious of what almost amounted to a sense of -impropriety! Charlie had taken her; it was Charlie who had made her -go--but then, in some eyes, Miss Wentworth might not have been -regarded as the most unimpeachable of chaperons. That Cyril, for -instance, would have had strong opinions of his own upon that point, -Miss Strong was well aware. - -While Miss Strong listened, thinking of the last time she had heard -that waltz, the man with whom she had danced it stood, all at once, in -front of her. She had half expected that it would be so--half had -feared it. It was not the first time they had encountered each other -on the pier; Miss Strong had already begun to more than suspect that -the chance of encountering her was the magnet which drew Mr. Lawrence -through the turnstiles. She did not wish to meet him; she assured -herself that she did not wish to meet him. But, on the other hand, she -did not wish to go out of her way so as to seem to run away from him. - -The acquaintance had begun on the top of the Devil's Dyke in the -middle of a shower of rain. Miss Strong, feeling in want of -occupation, and, to speak the truth, a little in the blues, had gone, -on an unpromising afternoon in April, on the spur of the moment, and -in something like a temper, on a solitary excursion to the Devil's -Dyke. On the Downs the wind blew great guns. She could hardly stand -against it. Yet it did her good, for it suited her mood. She struggled -on over the slopes, past Poynings, when, suddenly--she, in her -abstraction, having paid no heed to the weather, and expecting nothing -of the kind--it came down a perfect deluge of rain. She had a -walking-stick, but neither mackintosh nor umbrella. There seemed every -likelihood of her having to return like a drowned rat to Brighton, -when, with the appropriateness of a fairy tale, some one came rushing -to her with an umbrella in his hand. She could hardly refuse the -proffered shelter, and the consequence was that the owner of the -umbrella escorted her first to the hotel, then to the station, and -afterwards to Brighton. Nor, after such services had been rendered, -when they parted at the station did she think it necessary to inform -him that, not under any circumstances, was he to notice her again; -besides, from what she had seen of him, she rather liked the man. So, -when, two days afterwards, he stopped her on the pier to ask if she -had suffered any ill-effects from her exposure, it took her some -five-and-twenty minutes to explain that she had not. There were other -meetings, mostly on the pier; and then, as a climax, that Masonic Ball -at the Dome. She danced with him five times! She felt all the time -that she ought not; she knew that she would not have done it if Cyril -had been there. Miss Wentworth, introduced by Miss Strong, danced with -him twice, and when asked by Miss Strong if she thought that she--Miss -Strong--ought to have three dances with him Miss Wentworth declared -that she did not see why, if she liked, she should not have thirty. So -Miss Strong had five--which shows that Miss Wentworth's notions of the -duties of a chaperon were vague. - -And now the band was striking up that identical waltz; and there was -Mr. Lawrence standing in front of the lady with whom he had danced it. - -"I believe that that was ours, Miss Strong," he said. - -"I think it was." - -He was holding her hand in his, and looking at her with something in -his eyes which there and then she told herself would never do. They -threaded their way through the crowd of people towards the head of the -pier, saying little, which was worse than saying much. Although -Charlie had been working, Miss Strong wished she had stayed at home -with her; it would have been better than this. A sense of pending -peril made her positively nervous; she wanted to get away from her -companion, and yet for the moment she did not see her way to do it. - -Beyond doubt Mr. Lawrence was not a man in whose favour nothing could -be said. He was of medium height, had a good figure, and held himself -well. He was very fair, with a slight moustache, and a mouth which was -firm and resolute. His eyes were blue--a light, bright blue--beautiful -eyes they were, but scarcely of the kind which could correctly be -described as sympathetic. His complexion was almost like a girl's, it -was so pink and white; he seemed the picture of health. His manners -were peculiarly gentle. He moved noiselessly, without any appearance -of exertion. His voice, though soft, was of so penetrating a quality -and so completely under control that, without betraying by any -movement of his lips the fact that he was speaking, he could make his -faintest whisper audible in a way which was quite uncanny. Whatever -his dress might be, on him it always seemed unobtrusive; indeed, the -strangest thing about the man was that, while he always seemed to be -the most retiring of human beings, in reality he was one of the most -difficult to be rid of, as Miss Strong was finding now. More than -once, just as she was about to give him his dismissal, he managed to -prevent her doing so in a manner which, while she found it impossible -to resent it, was not by any means to her taste. Finally, finding it -difficult to be rid of him in any other way, and being, for some -reason which she would herself have found it difficult to put into -words, unusually anxious to be freed from his companionship, she -resolved, in desperation, to leave the pier. She acquainted him with -her determination to be off, and then, immediately afterwards, not a -little to her surprise and a good deal to her disgust, she found -herself walking towards the pier-gates with him at her side. Miss -Strong's wish had been to part from him there and then; but again he -had managed to prevent the actual expression of her wish, and it -seemed plain that she was still to be saddled with his society, at any -rate, as far as the gates. - -Before they had gone half-way down the pier Miss Strong had cause to -regret that she had not shown a trifle more firmness, for she saw -advancing towards her a figure which, at the instant, she almost felt -that she knew too well. It was Cyril Paxton. The worst of it was that -she was not clear in her own mind as to what it would be best for her -to do--the relations between herself and Mr. Paxton were of so curious -a character. She saw that Mr. Paxton's recognition of her had not been -so rapid as hers had been of him; at first she thought that she was -going to pass him unperceived. In that case she would go a few steps -farther with Mr. Lawrence, dismiss him, return, and discover herself -to Cyril at her leisure. But it was not to be. Mr. Paxton, glancing -about him from side to side of the pier, observed her on a sudden--and -he observed Mr. Lawrence too; on which trivial accident hinges the -whole of this strange history. - -Miss Strong knew that she was seen. She saw that Mr. Paxton was coming -to her. Her heart began to beat. In another second or two he was -standing in front of her with uplifted hat, wearing a not very -promising expression of countenance. - -"Where's Charlie?" was his greeting. - -The lady was aware that the question in itself conveyed a reproach, -though she endeavoured to feign innocence. - -"Charlie's at home; I couldn't induce her to come out. Her 'copy' for -_Fashion_ has to be ready by the morning; she says she's behind, so -she stayed at home to finish it." - -"Oh!" - -That was all that Mr. Paxton said, but the look with which he favoured -Mr. Lawrence conveyed a very vivid note of interrogation. - -"Cyril," explained Miss Strong, "this is Mr. Lawrence. Mr. Lawrence, -this is Mr. Paxton; and I am afraid you must excuse me." - -Mr. Lawrence did excuse her. She and Mr Paxton returned together up -the pier; he, directly Mr. Lawrence was out of hearing, putting to her -the question which, though she dreaded, she knew was inevitable. - -"Who's that?" - -"That is Mr. Lawrence." - -"Yes, you told me so much already; who is Mr. Lawrence?" - -As she walked Miss Strong, looking down, tapped with the ferrule of -her umbrella on the boards. - -"Oh! he's a sort of acquaintance." - -"You have not been long in Brighton, then, without making -acquaintance?" - -"Cyril! I have been here more than a month. Surely a girl can make an -acquaintance in that time?" - -"It depends, I fancy, on the girl, and on the circumstances in which -she is placed. What is Mr. Lawrence?" - -"I have not the faintest notion. I have a sort of general idea that, -like yourself, he is something in the City. It seems to me that -nowadays most men are." - -"Who introduced him?" - -"A shower of rain." - -"An excellent guarantor of the man's eligibility, though, even for the -average girl, one would scarcely have supposed that that would have -been a sufficient introduction." - -Miss Strong flushed. - -"You have no right to talk to me like that. I did not know that you -were coming to Brighton, or I would have met you at the station." - -"I knew that I should meet you on the pier." - -The lady stood still. - -"What do you mean by that?" - -The gentleman, confronting her, returned her glance for glance. - -"I mean what I say. I knew that I should meet you on the pier--and I -have." - -The lady walked on again; whatever she might think of Mr. Paxton's -inference, his actual statement was undeniable. - -"You don't seem in the best of tempera, Cyril. How is Mr. Franklyn?" - -"He was all right when I saw him last--a good deal better than I was -or than I am." - -"What is the matter with you? Are you ill?" - -"Matter!" Mr. Paxton's tone was bitter. "What is likely to be the -matter with the man who, after having had the luck which I have been -having lately, to crown it all finds the woman he loves philandering -with a stranger--the acquaintance of a shower of rain--on Brighton -pier." - -"You have no right to speak to me like that--not the slightest! I am -perfectly free to do as I please, as you are. And, without -condescending to dispute your inferences--though, as you very well -know, they are quite unjust!--any attempt at criticism on your part -will be resented by me in a manner which you may find unpleasant." - -A pause followed the lady's words, which the gentleman did not seem -altogether to relish. - -"Still the fact remains that I do love you better than anything else -in the world." - -"Surely if that were so, Cyril, at this time of day you and I would -not be situated as we are." - -"By which you mean?" - -"If you felt for me what you are always protesting that you feel, -surely sometimes you would have done as I wished." - -"Which being interpreted is equivalent to saying that I should have -put my money into Goschens, and entered an office at a salary of a -pound a week." - -"If you had done so you would at any rate still have your money, and -also, possibly, the prospect of a career." - -They had reached the end of the pier, and were leaning over the side, -looking towards the Worthing lights. Miss Strong's words were followed -by an interval of silence. When the gentleman spoke again, in his -voice there was the suspicion of a tremor. - -"Daisy, don't be hard on me." - -"I don't wish to be hard. It was you who began by being hard on me." - -He seemed to pay no heed to her speech, continuing on a line of his -own-- - -"Especially just now!" - -She glanced at him. - -"Why especially just now?" - -"Well----" He stopped. The tremor in his voice became more pronounced. -"Because I'm going for the gloves." - -If the light had been clearer he might have seen that her face assumed -a sudden tinge of pallor. - -"What do you mean by you're going for the gloves?" - -"I mean that probably by this time tomorrow I shall have either won -you or lost you for ever." - -"Cyril!" There was a catching in her breath. "I hope you are going to -do nothing--wild." - -"It depends upon the point of view." He turned to her with sudden -passion. "I'm sick of things as they are--sick to death! I've made up -my mind to know either the best or the worst." - -"How do you propose to arrive at that state of knowledge?" - -"I've gone a bull on Eries--a big bull. So big a bull that if they -fall one I'm done." - -"How done?" - -"I shall be done, because it will be for reasons, good, strong, solid -reasons, the last deal I shall ever make on the London Stock -Exchange." - -There was silence. Then she spoke again-- - -"You will lose. You always do lose!" - -"Thanks." - -"It will be almost better for you that you should lose. I am beginning -to believe, Cyril, that you never will do any good till you have -touched bottom, till you have lost all that you possibly can lose." - -"Thank you, again." - -She drew herself up, drawing herself away from the railing against -which she had been leaning. She gave a gesture which was suggestive of -weariness. - -"I too am tired. This uncertainty is more than I can stand; you are so -unstable, Cyril. Your ideas and mine on some points are wide apart. It -seems to me that if a girl is worth winning, she is worth working for. -As a profession for a man, I don't think that what you call 'punting' -on the Stock Exchange is much better than pitch-and-toss." - -"Well?" - -The word was an interrogation. She had paused. - -"It appears to me that the girl who marries a man who does nothing -else but 'punt' is preparing for herself a long line of -disappointments. Think how many times you have disappointed me. Think -of the fortunes you were to have made. Think, Cyril, of the Trumpit -Gold Mine--what great things were to come of that!" - -"I am quite aware that I did invest every penny I could beg, borrow, -or steal in the Trumpit Gold Mine, and that at present I am the -fortunate possessor of a trunkful of shares which are not worth a -shilling a-piece. The reminder is a pleasant one. Proceed--you seem -wound up to go." - -Her voice assumed a new touch of sharpness. - -"The long and the short of it is, Cyril--it is better that we should -understand each other!--if your present speculation turns out as -disastrously as all your others have done, and it leaves you worse off -than ever, the relations, such as they are, which exist between us -must cease. We must be as strangers!" - -"Which means that you don't care for me the value of a brass-headed -pin." - -"It means nothing of the kind, as you are well aware. It simply means -that I decline to link my life with a man who appears incapable of -keeping his own head above water. Because he insists on drowning -himself, why should I allow him to drown me too?" - -"I observe that you take the commercial, up-to-date view of marriage." - -"What view do you take? Are you nearer to being able to marry me -than ever you were? Are you not farther off? You have no regular -income--and how many entanglements? What do you propose that we should -live on--on the hundred and twenty pounds a year which mother left -me?" - -There came a considerable silence. He had not moved from the position -he had taken up against the railing, and still looked across the -waveless sea towards the glimmering lights of Worthing. When he did -speak his tones were cold, and clear, and measured--perhaps the -coldness was assumed to hide a warmer something underneath. - -"Your methods are a little rough, but perhaps they are none the worse -on that account. As you say so shall it be. Win or lose, to-morrow -evening I will meet you again upon the pier--that is, if you will -come." - -"You know I'll come!" - -"If I lose it will be to say goodbye. Next week I emigrate." - -She was still, so he went on-- - -"Now, if you don't mind, I'll see you to the end of the pier, and say -goodbye until tomorrow. I'll get something to eat and hurry back to -town." - -"Won't you come and see Charlie?" - -"Thank you, I don't think I will. Miss Wentworth has not a -sufficiently good opinion of me to care if I do or don't. Make her my -excuses." - -Another pause. Then she said, in a tone which was hardly above a -whisper-- - -"Cyril, I do hope you'll win." - -He stood, and turned, and faced her. - -"Do you really mean that, Daisy?" - -"You know that I do." - -"Then, if you really hope that I shall win--the double event!--as an -earnest of your hopes--there is no one looking!--kiss me." - -She did as he bade her. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - OVERHEARD IN THE TRAIN - - -It was with a feeling of grim amusement that Mr. Paxton bought himself -a first-class ticket. It was, probably, the last occasion on which he -would ride first-class for some considerable time to come. The die had -fallen; the game was lost--Eries had dropped more than one. Not only -had he lost all he had to lose, he was a defaulter. It was out of his -power to settle, he was going to emigrate instead. He had with him a -Gladstone bag; it contained all his worldly possessions that he -proposed to take with him on his travels. His intention was, having -told Miss Strong the news, and having bidden a last farewell, to go -straight from Brighton to Southampton, and thence, by the American -line, to the continent on whose shores Europe dumps so many of its -failures. - -The train was later than are the trains which are popular with City -men. It seemed almost empty at London Bridge. Mr. Paxton had a -compartment to himself. He had an evening paper with him. He turned to -the money article. Eries had closed a point lower even than he had -supposed. It did not matter. A point lower, more or less, would make -no difference to him--the difference would be to the brokers who had -trusted him. Wishing to do anything but think, he looked to see what -other news the paper might contain. Some sensational headlines caught -his eye. - - - "ROBBERY OF THE DUCHESS OF DATCHET'S DIAMONDS! - - "AN EXTRAORDINARY TALE." - - -The announcement amused him. - -"After all that is the sort of line which I ought to have made my -own--robbing pure and simple. It's more profitable than what Daisy -says that I call 'punting.'" - -He read on. The tale was told in the usual sensational style, though -the telling could scarcely have been more sensational than the tale -which was told. That afternoon, it appeared, an amazing robbery had -taken place--amazing, first, because of the almost incredible value of -what had been stolen; and, second, because of the daring fashion in -which the deed had been done. In spite of the desperate nature of his -own position--or, perhaps, because of it--Mr. Paxton drank in the -story with avidity. - -The Duchess of Datchet, the young, and, if report was true, the -beautiful wife of one of England's greatest and richest noblemen, had -been on a visit to the Queen at Windsor--the honoured guest of the -Sovereign. As a fitting mark of the occasion, and in order to appear -before Her Majesty in the splendours which so well became her, the -Duchess had taken with her the famous Datchet diamonds. As all the -world knows the Dukes of Datchet have been collectors of diamonds -during, at any rate, the last two centuries. - -The value of their collection is fabulous--the intrinsic value of the -stones which the duchess had taken with her on that memorable journey, -according to the paper, was at least £250,000--a quarter of a million -of money! This was the net value--indeed, it seemed that one might -almost say it was the trade value, and was quite apart from any -adventitious value which they might possess, from, for instance, the -point of view of historical association. - -Mr. Paxton drew a long breath as he read: - -"Two hundred and fifty thousand pounds--a quarter of a million! I am -not at all sure that I should not have liked to have had a finger in -such a pie as that. It would be better than punting at Eries." - -The diamonds, it seemed, arrived all right at Windsor, and the duchess -too. The visit passed off with due _éclat_. It was as Her Grace was -returning that the deed was done, though how it was done was, as yet, -a profound mystery. - -"Of course," commented Mr. Paxton to himself, "all criminal London -knew what she had taken with her. The betting is that they never lost -sight of those diamonds from first to last; to adequately safeguard -them she ought to have taken with her a regiment of soldiers." - -Although she had not gone so far as a regiment of soldiers, that -precaution had been taken--and precautions, moreover, which had been -found to be adequate, over and over again, on previous occasions--was -sufficiently plain. The duchess had travelled in a reserved saloon -carriage by the five minutes past four train from Windsor to -Paddington. She had been accompanied by two servants, her maid, and a -man-servant named Stephen Eversleigh. Eversleigh was one of a family -of servants the members of which had been in the employment of the -Dukes of Datchet for generations. - -It was he who was in charge of the diamonds. They were in a leather -despatch-box. The duchess placed them in it with her own hand, locked -the box, and retained the key in her own possession. Eversleigh -carried the box from the duchess's apartment in the Castle to the -carriage which conveyed her to the railway station. He placed it on -the seat in front of her. - -He himself sat outside with the maid. When the carriage reached the -station he carried it to the duchess's saloon. The duchess was the -sole occupant of the saloon. She travelled with the despatch-box in -front of her all the way to London. The duke met her at Paddington. -Eversleigh again placed the box on the front seat of the carriage, the -duke and duchess, sitting side by side, having it in full view as the -brougham passed through the London streets. The diamonds, when not in -actual use, were always kept, for safe custody, at Bartlett's Bank. -The confidential agent of the bank was awaiting their arrival when -the brougham reached the ducal mansion in Grosvenor Square. The -despatch-box was taken straight to him, and, more for form's sake than -anything else, was opened by the duchess in his presence, so that he -might see that it really did contain the diamonds before he gave the -usual receipt. - -It was as well for the bank's sake that on that occasion the form was -observed. When the box was opened, it was empty! There was nothing of -any sort to show that the diamonds had ever been in it--they had -vanished into air! - -When he had reached this point Mr. Paxton put the paper down. He -laughed. - -"That's a teaser. The position seems to promise a pleasing problem for -one of those masters of the art of detection who have been cutting -such antics lately in popular fiction. If I were appointed to ferret -out the mystery, I fancy that I should begin by wanting to know a few -things about her Grace the Duchess. I wonder what happened to that -despatch-box while she and it were _tête-à-tête?_ It is to be hoped -that she possesses her husband's entire confidence, otherwise it is -just possible that she is in for a rare old time of it." - -The newspaper had little more to tell. There were the usual attempts -to fill a column with a paragraph; the stereotyped statements about -the clues which the police were supposed to be following up, but all -that they amounted to was this: that the duchess asserted that she had -placed the diamonds in the despatch-box at Windsor Castle, and that, -as a matter of plain fact, they were not in it when the box reached -Grosvenor Square. - -Mr. Paxton leaned back in his seat, thrust his hands into his trouser -pockets, and mused. - -"What lucky beggars those thieves must be! What wouldn't any one do -for a quarter of a million--what wouldn't I? Even supposing that the -value of the stones is over-stated, and that they are only worth half -as much, there is some spending in £125,000. It would set me up for -life, with a little over. What prospect is there in front of me--don't -I know that there is none? Existence in a country which I have not the -faintest desire to go to; a life which I hate; a continual struggling -and striving for the barest daily bread, with, in all human -probability, failure, and a nameless grave at the end. What use is -there in living out such a life as that? But if I could only lay my -hands on even an appreciable fraction of that quarter of a million, -with Daisy at my side--God bless the girl! how ill I have treated -her!--how different it all would be!" - -Mr. Paxton was possessed by a feeling of restlessness; his thoughts -pricked him in his most secret places. For him, the train was moving -much too slowly; had it flown on the wings of the wind it could -scarcely have kept pace with the whirlwind in his brain. Rising to his -feet, he began to move backwards and forwards in the space between the -seats--anything was better than complete inaction. - -The compartment in which he was travelling was not a new one; indeed, -so far was it from being a new one, that it belonged to a type which, -if not actually obsolete, at any rate nowadays is rarely seen. An -oblong sheet of plate-glass was let into the partition on either side, -within a few inches of the roof. This sheet of plate-glass was set in -a brass frame, the frame itself being swung on a pivot. - -Desirous of doing anything which would enable him, even temporarily, -to escape from his thoughts, Mr. Paxton gave way to his idle and, one -might almost add, impertinent curiosity. He stood, first on one seat, -and peered through the glass into the adjoining compartment. So far as -he was able to see, from the post of vantage which he occupied, it was -vacant. He swung the glass round on its pivot. He listened. There was -not a sound. Satisfied--if, that is, the knowledge gave him any -satisfaction!--that there was no one there, he prepared to repeat the -process of espial on the other seat. - -But in this case the result was different. No sooner had he brought -his eyes on a level with the sheet of glass, than he dropped down off -the seat again with the rapidity of a jack-in-the-box. - -"By George! I've seen that man before! It would hardly do to be caught -playing the part of Peeping Tom." - -Conscious of so much, he was also conscious at the same time of an -increase of curiosity. Among Mr. Paxton's attributes was that one -which is supposed to be the peculiar perquisite of royalty--a memory -for faces. If, for any cause, a face had once been brought to his -notice, he never afterwards forgot it. He had seen through that sheet -of glass a countenance which he had seen before, and that quite -recently. - -"The chances are that I sha'n't be noticed if I am careful; and if I -am caught I'll make a joke of it. I'll peep again." - -He peeped again. As he did so audible words all but escaped his lips. - -"The deuce! it's the beggar who was last night with Daisy on the -pier." - -There could not be a doubt about it; in the carriage next to his sat -the individual whose companionship with Miss Strong had so annoyed -him. Mr. Paxton, peering warily through the further end of the glass, -treated Mr. Lawrence to a prolonged critical inspection, which was not -likely to be prejudiced in that gentleman's favour. - -Mr. Lawrence sat facing his observer, on Mr. Paxton's right, in the -corner of the carriage. That he was not alone was plain. Mr. Paxton -saw that he smiled, and that his lips were moving. Unfortunately, from -Mr. Paxton's point of view, it was not easy to see who was his -associate; whoever it was sat just in front of him, and therefore out -of Mr. Paxton's line of vision. This was the more annoying in that Mr. -Lawrence took such evident interest in the conversation he was -carrying on. An idea occurred to Mr. Paxton. - -"The fellow doesn't seem to see me. When I turned that other thing -upon its pivot it didn't make any sound. I wonder, if I were to open -this affair half an inch or so, if I could hear what the fellow's -saying?" - -Mr. Paxton was not in a mood to be particular. On the contrary, he was -in one of those moods which come to all of us, in some dark hour of -our lives, when we do the things which, being done, we never cease -regretting. Mr. Paxton knelt on the cushions and he opened the frame, -as he had said, just half an inch, and he put his ear as close to the -opening as he conveniently could, without running the risk of being -seen, and he listened. At first he heard nothing for his pains. He had -not got his ear just right, and the roar of the train drowned all -other sounds. Slightly shifting his position Mr. Paxton suddenly -found, however, that he could hear quite well. - -The speakers, to make themselves audible to each other, had to shout -nearly at the top of their voices, and this, secure in their privacy, -they did, the result being that Mr. Paxton could hear just as well -what was being said as the person who, to all intents and purposes, -was seated close beside him. - -The first voice he heard was Mr. Lawrence's. - -It should be noted that here and there he lost a word, as probably -also did the person who was actually addressed; but the general sense -of the conversation he caught quite well. - -"I told you I could do it. You only want patience and resolution to -take advantage of your opportunities, and a big coup is as easily -carried off as a small one." - -Mr. Lawrence's voice ceased. The rejoinder came from a voice which -struck Mr. Paxton as being a very curious one indeed. The speaker -spoke not only with a strong nasal twang, but also, occasionally, with -an odd idiom. The unseen listener told himself that the speaker was -probably the newest thing in races--"a German-American." - -"With the assistance of a friend--eh?" - -Mr. Lawrence's voice again; in it more than a suggestion of scorn. - -"The assistance of a friend! When it comes to the scratch, it is on -himself that a man must rely. What a friend principally does is to -take the lion's share of the spoil." - -"Well--why not? A man will not be able to be much of a friend to -another, if, first of all, he is not a friend to himself--eh?" - -Mr. Lawrence appeared to make no answer--possibly he did not relish -the other's reasoning. Presently the same voice came again, as if the -speaker intended to be apologetic-- - -"Understand me, my good friend, I do not say that what you did was not -clever. No, it was damn clever!--that I do say. And I always have said -that there was no one in the profession who can come near you. In your -line of business, or out of it, how many are there who can touch for a -quarter of a million, I want to know? Now, tell me, how did you do -it--is it a secret, eh?" - -If Mr. Lawrence had been piqued, the other's words seemed to have -appeased him. - -"Not from you--the thing was as plain as walking! The bigger the thing -you have to do the more simply you do it the better it will be done." - -"It does not seem as though it were simple when you read it in the -papers--eh? What do you think?" - -"The papers be damned! Directly you gave me the office that she was -going to take them with her to Windsor, I saw how I was going to get -them, and who I was going to get them from." - -"Who--eh?" - -"Eversleigh. Stow it--the train is stopping!" - -The train was stopping. It had reached a station. The voices ceased. -Mr. Paxton withdrew from his listening place with his brain in a -greater whirl than ever. What had the two men been talking about? What -did they mean by touching for a quarter of a million, and the -reference to Windsor? The name which Mr. Lawrence had just mentioned, -Eversleigh--where, quite recently, had he made its acquaintance? Mr. -Paxton's glance fell on the evening paper which he had thrown on the -seat. He snatched it up. Something like a key to the riddle came to -him in a flash! - -He opened the paper with feverish hands, turning to the account of the -robbery of the Duchess of Datchet's diamonds. It was as he thought; -his memory had not played him false--the person who had been in charge -of the gems had been a man named Stephen Eversleigh. - -Mr. Paxton's hands fell nervelessly on to his knees. He stared into -vacancy. What did it mean? - -The train was off again. Having heard so much, Mr. Paxton felt that he -must hear more. He returned to the place of listening. For some -moments, while the train was drawing clear of the station, the voices -continued silent--probably before exchanging further confidences they -were desirous of being certain that their privacy would remain -uninterrupted. When they were heard again it seemed that the -conversation was being carried on exactly at the point at which Mr. -Paxton had heard it cease. - -The German-American was speaking. - -"Eversleigh?--that is His Grace's confidential servant--eh?" - -"That's the man. I studied Mr. Eversleigh by proxy, and I found out -just two things about him." - -"And they were--what were they?" - -"One was that he was short-sighted, and the other was that he had a -pair of spectacles which the duke had given him for a birthday -present, and which he thought no end of." - -"That wasn't much to find out--eh?" - -"You think so? Then that's where you're wrong. It's perhaps just as -well for you that you don't have to play first lead." - -"The treasury is more in my line--eh? However, what was the use which -you made of that little find of yours?" - -"If it hadn't been for that little find of mine, the possibility is -that the sparklers wouldn't be where they are just now. A friend of -mine had a detective camera. Those spectacles were kept in something -very gorgeous in cases. My friend snapped that spectacle case with his -camera. I had an almost exact duplicate made of the case from the -print he got--purposely not quite exact, you know, but devilish near. - -"I found myself at Windsor Station just as Her Grace was about to -start for town. There were a good many people in the booking-office -through which you have to pass to reach the platform. As I expected, -the duchess came in front, with the maid, old Eversleigh bringing up -the rear. Just as Eversleigh came into the booking-office some one -touched him on the shoulder, and held out that duplicate spectacle -case, saying, 'I beg your pardon, sir! Have you lost your glasses?' Of -old Eversleigh's fidelity I say nothing. I don't call mere -straightness anything;--but he certainly wasn't up to the kind -of job he had in hand--not when he was properly handled. He has been -heard to say that he would sooner lose an arm than those precious -spectacles--because the duke gave them to him, you know. Perhaps he -would; anyhow, he lost something worth a trifle more than his arm. -When he felt himself touched on the shoulder, and saw what looked like -that almighty goggle-box in the stranger's hand, he got all of a -flurry, jabbed his fist into the inside pocket of his coat, and to -enable him to do so popped the despatch-box down on the seat beside -him--as I expected that he would do. I happened to be sitting on that -seat with a rug, very nicely screened too by old Eversleigh himself, -and by the stranger with the goggle-box. I nipped my rug over his box, -leaving another one--own brother to the duchess's--exposed. Old -Eversleigh found that the stranger's goggle-box was not his--that his -own was safe in his pocket!--picked up my despatch-box, and marched -off with it, while I travelled with his by the South-Western line to -town; and I can only hope that he was as pleased with the exchange as -I was." - -The German-American's voice was heard. - -"As you say, in the simplicity of your method, my good friend, was its -beauty. And indeed, after all, simplicity is the very essence, the -very soul, of all true art--eh?" - - - - - CHAPTER III - - THE DIAMONDS - - -Mr. Paxton heard no more--he made no serious attempt to hear. As the -German-American ceased to speak the train slowed into Preston Park. At -the station Mr. Paxton saw that some one else got into the next -compartment, forming a third, with its previous occupants, the rest of -the way to Brighton. - -Mr. Paxton had heard enough. The whirlwind in his brain, instead of -becoming less, had grown more. His mental confusion had become worse -confounded. He seemed unable to collect his ideas. He had attained to -nothing like an adequate grasp of the situation by the time the train -had arrived at its journey's end. He alighted, his Gladstone in his -hand, feeling in a sort of intellectual fog. He saw Mr. Lawrence--also -carrying a Gladstone--get out of the next compartment. A tall, thin -man, with high cheekbones, a heavy moustache, and a pronounced -stoop, got out after him--evidently the German-American. Mr. Paxton -allowed the pair to walk down the platform in front, keeping -himself a respectful distance in the rear. They turned into the -refreshment-room. He went in after them, taking up his position close -beside them, with, however, no sort of definite intention in his head. -Mr. Lawrence recognised him at once, showing that he also had a memory -for faces. He nodded. - -"Mr. Paxton, I believe." - -Mr. Paxton admitted that that was his name, conscious, on a sudden, of -a wild impulse to knock the fellow down for daring to accost him. - -"What is your drink, Mr. Paxton?" - -That was too much; Mr. Paxton was certainly not going to drink with -the man. He responded curtly-- - -"I have ordered." - -"That doesn't matter, does it? Drink up, and have another with me." - -The fellow was actually pressing him to accept of his pestilent -charity--that was how Mr. Paxton put it to himself. He said -nothing--not because he had nothing to say, but because never before -in his life had he felt so stupid, with so little control over either -his senses or his tongue. He shook his head, walked out of the -refreshment-room, got into a cab, and drove off to Makell's hotel. - -Directly the cab had started and was out of the station yard he told -himself that he had been a fool--doubly, trebly, a fool--a fool all -round, from every possible point of view. He ought never to have let -the scoundrels out of his sight; he ought to have spoken to the -police; he ought to have done something; under the circumstances no -one but an idiot would have done absolutely nothing at all. Never -mind--for the moment it was too late. He would do something to repair -his error later. He would tell Miss Strong the tale; she would rejoice -to find a friend of her own figuring as the hero of such a narrative; -it would be a warning to her against the making of chance -acquaintance! He would ask her advice; it was a case in which two -heads might be better than one. - -Reaching the hotel, he went straight to his bedroom, still in a sort -of mental haze. He had a wash--without, however, managing to wash much -of the haze out of his head. He turned to unlock his Gladstone, -intending to take out of it his brush and comb. There was something -the matter with the key, or else with the lock--it would not open. It -was a brand-new Gladstone, bought with a particular intent; Mr. Paxton -was very far from being desirous that his proposed voyage to foreign -parts should prematurely be generally known. Plainly, the lock was not -in the best of order. Half abstractedly he fumbled with it for some -seconds, before it could be induced to open, then it was opened rather -by an exertion of force, than in response to the action of the key. - -Having opened it, Mr. Paxton found himself a little puzzled by the -arrangement of its contents. He could not at first remember just where -he had put his brush and comb. He felt on the one side, where he had a -sort of dim idea that it ought to be, and then on the other. He failed -to light on it on either side. He paused for a moment to consider. -Then, by degrees, distinctly remembered having placed it in a -particular corner. He felt for it. It was not there. He wondered where -it had contrived to conceal itself. He was certain that he had placed -it in the bag. It must be in it now. He began to empty the bag of all -its contents. - -The first thing he took out was a shirt. He threw it from him on to -the bed. As it passed through the air something fell from it on to the -floor--something which came rolling against his foot. He picked it up. - -It was a ring. - -He could scarcely believe the evidence of his own eyes. He sat staring -at the trinket in a stupor of surprise. And the more he stared the -more his wonder grew. That it was a ring there could not be the -slightest shadow of doubt. It was a woman's ring, a costly one--a hoop -of diamonds, the stones being of unusual lustre and size. - -How could such an article as that have found its way into his -Gladstone bag? - -He picked up another shirt, and as he did so felt that in the front -there was something hard. He opened the front to see what it was. The -shirt almost dropped from his hand in the shock of his amazement. -Something gleamed at him from inside the linen. Taking this something -out he found himself holding in his hand a magnificent tiara of -diamonds. - -As he knelt there, on one knee, gazing at the gaud, he would have -presented a promising study for an artist possessed of a sense of -humour. His mouth was open, his eyes distended to their fullest; every -feature of his countenance expressed the bewilderment he felt. The -presence of a ring in that brand-new bag of his was sufficiently -surprising--but a tiara of diamonds! Was he the victim of some -extraordinary hallucination, or the hero of a fairy tale? - -He stared at the jewel, and from the jewel to the shirt, and from the -shirt to the bag. Then an idea, beginning at first to glimmer on him -dimly, suddenly took vivid shape, filling him with a sense of strange -excitement. He doubted if the bag were his. He leant over it to -examine it more closely. New brown Gladstone bags, thirty inches in -length, are apt to be as like each other as peas. This was a new bag, -his was a new bag--he perceived nothing in the appearance of this one -to suggest that it was not his. - -And yet that this was not his bag he was becoming more and more -convinced. He turned to the shirt he had been holding. The contents of -his bag had all been freshly purchased--obviously, this shirt had just -come from the maker's too. He looked at the maker's name inside the -neckband. This was not his shirt--it had been bought at a different -shop; it had one buttonhole in front instead of three; it was not his -size. He looked hastily at the rest of the things which were in the -bag--they none of them were his. Had he had his wits about him he -would have discovered that fact directly the bag was opened. Every -garment seemed to have been intended to serve as cover to a piece of -jewellery. He tumbled on to the bed rings, bracelets, brooches, -necklets; out of vests, shirts, socks, and drawers. Till at last he -stood, with an air of stupefaction, in front of a heap of glittering -gems, the like of which he had scarcely thought could have existed -outside a jeweller's shop. - -What could be the meaning of it? By what accident approaching to the -miraculous could a bag containing such a treasure trove have been -exchanged for his? What eccentric and inexcusably careless individual -could have been carrying about with him such a gorgeous collection in -such a flimsy covering? - -The key to the situation came to him as borne by a flash of lightning. -They were all diamonds on the bed--nothing but diamonds. He caught up -the evening paper which he had brought with him from town. He turned -to the list which it contained of the diamonds which had been stolen -from the Duchess of Datchet. It was as he thought. Incredible though -it seemed, unless his senses played him false, in front of him were -those priceless jewels--the world-famed Datchet diamonds! Reflection -showed him, too, that this astounding climax had been brought about by -the simplest accident. He remembered that Mr. Lawrence had alighted -from the railway carriage on to the Brighton platform with the -Gladstone in his hand;--he remembered now, although it had not struck -him at the time, that that bag, like his own, had been brown and new. -In the refreshment-room Mr. Lawrence had put his bag down upon the -floor. Mr. Paxton had put his down beside it. In leaving, he must have -caught up Mr. Lawrence's bag instead of his own. He had spoiled the -spoiler of his spoils. Without intending to do anything of the kind, -he had played on Mr. Lawrence exactly the same trick which that -enterprising gentleman had himself--if Mr. Paxton could believe what -he had overheard him say in the railway carriage--played on the -Duchess of Datchet. - -When Mr. Paxton realised exactly how it was he sat down on the side of -the bed, and he trembled. It was so like a special interposition of -Providence--or was it of the devil? He stared at the scintillating -stones. He took them up and began to handle them. This, according to -the paper, was the Amsterdam Necklace, so called because one of the -Dukes of Datchet had bought all the stones for it in Amsterdam. It, -alone, was worth close in the neighbourhood of a hundred thousand -pounds. - -A hundred thousand pounds! Mr. Paxton's fingers tingled as he thought -of it. His lips went dry. What would a hundred thousand pounds not -mean to him?--and he held it, literally, in the hollow of his hand. He -did not know with certainty whose it was. Providence had absolutely -thrown it at his head. It might not be the Duchess's, after all. At -any rate, it would be but robbing the robber. - -Then there was the Datchet Tiara, the Begum's Brooch, the Banee's -Bracelet; if the newspaper could be credited, every piece in the -collection was historical. As he toyed with them, holding them to the -light, turning them this way and that, looking at them from different -points of view, how the touch of the diamonds seemed to make the blood -in Mr. Paxton's veins run faster! - -He began to move about the bedroom restlessly, returning every now and -then to take still another look at the shimmering lumps of light which -were beginning to exercise over him a stronger and stronger -fascination. How beautiful they were! And how low he himself had -fallen! He could scarcely sink much lower. Anyhow, it would be but to -pass from one ditch to another. Supposing he obtained for them even a -tithe of their stated value! At this crisis in his career, what a -fresh start in life five-and-twenty thousand pounds would mean! It -would mean the difference between hope and helplessness, between -opportunity and despair. With his experience, on such a foundation he -could easily build up a monstrous fortune--a fortune which would mean -happiness--Daisy's and his own. Then the five-and-twenty thousand -pounds could be easily returned. Compared with what he would make with -it, it was but a trifle, after all. - -And then the main point was--and Mr. Paxton told himself that on that -point rested the crux of the position--it would not be the Duchess of -Datchet who would be despoiled; it was the robbers who, with true -poetic justice, would be deprived of their ill-gotten gains. She had -lost them in any case. He--he had but found them. He endeavoured to -insist upon it, to himself, that he had but found them. True, -there was such a thing as the finder returning what he had -found--particularly when he suspected who had been the loser. But who -could expect a man situated as he was to throw away a quarter of a -million of money? This was not a case which could be judged by the -ordinary standards of morality--it was an unparalleled experience. - -Still, he could not bring himself to say, straight out, that he would -stick to what he had got, and make the most of it. His mind was not -sufficiently clear to enable him to arrive at any distinct decision. -But he did what was almost equally fatal, he allowed himself, half -unconsciously--without venturing to put it into so many words--to -drift. He would see which way the wind blew, and then, if he could, go -with it. For the present he would do nothing, forgetting that, in such -a position as his, the mere fact of his doing nothing involved the -doing of a very great deal. He looked at his watch, starting to find -it was so late. - -"Daisy will be tired of waiting. I must hurry, or she'll be off before -I come." - -He looked into the glass. Somehow there seemed to be a sort of film -before his eyes which prevented him from seeing himself quite clearly, -or else the light was bad! But he saw enough of himself to be aware -that he was not looking altogether his usual self. He endeavoured to -explain this in a fashion of his own. - -"No wonder that I look worried after what I've gone through lately, -and especially to-day--that sort of thing's enough to take the heart -out of any man, and make him look old before his time." He set his -teeth; something hard and savage came into his face. "But perhaps the -luck has turned. I'd be a fool to throw a chance away if it has. I've -gone in for some big things in my time; why shouldn't I go in for the -biggest thing of all, and with one bold stroke more than win back all -I've lost?" - -He suffered his own question to remain unanswered; but he stowed the -precious gems, higgledy-piggledy, inside the copy of the evening -paper which contained the news of the robbery of the Duchess of -Datchet's diamonds; the paper he put into a corner of the Gladstone -bag which was not his; the bag he locked with greater care than he had -opened it. When it was fastened, he stood for a moment, surveying it a -little grimly. - -"I'll leave it where it is. No one knows what there is inside it. -It'll be safe enough. Anyhow, I'll give the common or garden thief a -chance of providing for himself for life; his qualms on the moral -aspect of the situation will be fewer than mine. If it's here when I -come back I'll accept its continued presence as an omen." - -He put on his hat, and he went out to find Miss Strong. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - MISS WENTWORTH'S RUDENESS - - -Miss Strong was growing a little tired of waiting. Indeed, she was -beginning to wonder if Mr. Paxton was about to fail in still another -something he had undertaken. She loitered near the gates of the pier, -looking wistfully at every one who entered. The minutes went by, and -yet "he cometh not," she said. - -It was not the pleasantest of nights for idling by the sea. A faint, -but chilly, breeze was in the air. There was a suspicion of mist. Miss -Strong was growing more and more conscious that the night was raw and -damp. To add to the discomfort of her position, just inside the gates -of Brighton pier is not the most agreeable place for a woman to have -to wait at night--she is likely to find the masculine prowler -conspicuously in evidence. Miss Strong had moved away from at least -the dozenth man who had accosted her, when she referred to her watch. - -"I'll give him five minutes more, and then, if he doesn't come, I'm -off." - -Scarcely had she uttered the words than she saw Mr. Paxton coming -through the turnstile. With a feeling of no inconsiderable relief she -moved hastily forward. In another moment they were clasping hands. - -"Cyril! I'm glad you've come at last! But how late you are!" - -"Yes; I've been detained." - -The moment he opened his mouth it struck her that about his manner -there was something odd. But, as a wise woman in her generation, she -made no comment. Together they went up the pier. - -Now that he had come Mr. Paxton did not seem to be in a conversational -mood. They had gone half-way up; still he evinced no inclination to -speak. Miss Strong, however, excused him. She understood the cause of -his silence--or thought she did. Her heart was heavy--on his account, -and on her own. Her words, when they came, were intended to convey the -completeness of her comprehension. - -"I am so sorry." - -He turned, as if her words had startled him. - -"Sorry?" - -"I know all about it, Cyril." - -This time it was not merely a question of appearance. It was an -obvious fact that he was startled. He stood stock still and stared at -her. Stammering words came from his lips. - -"You know all about it? What--what do you mean?" - -She seemed to be surprised at his surprise. "My dear Cyril, you forget -that there are papers." - -"Papers?" - -Still he stammered. - -"Yes, papers--newspapers. I've had every edition, and of course I've -seen how Eries have fallen. - -"Eries? Fallen? Oh!--of course!--I see!" - -She was puzzled to perceive that he appeared positively relieved, as -though he had supposed and feared that she had meant something -altogether different. He took off his hat to wipe his brow, although -the night was very far from being unduly warm. He began walking again, -speaking now glibly enough, with a not unnatural bitterness. - -"They have fallen, sure enough--just as surely as if, if I had gone a -bear, they would have risen. As you were good enough to say last -night, it was exactly the sort of thing which might have been -expected." - -"I am so sorry, Cyril." - -"What's the use of being sorry?" - -His tone was rough, almost rude. But she excused him still. - -"Is it very bad?" - -Then a wild idea came to him--one which, at the moment, seemed to him -almost to amount to inspiration. In the disordered condition of his -faculties--for, temporarily, they were disordered--he felt, no doubt -erroneously enough, that in the girl's tone there was something -besides sympathy, that there was contempt as well--contempt for him as -for a luckless, helpless creature who was an utter and entire failure. -And he suddenly resolved to drop at least a hint that, while she was -despising him as so complete a failure, even now there was, actually -within his grasp, wealth sufficient to satisfy the dreams of avarice. - -"I don't know what you call very bad; as regards the Eries it is about -as bad as it could be. But----" - -He hesitated and stopped. - -"But what?" She caught sight of his face. She saw how it was working. -"Cyril, is there any good news to counteract the bad? Have you had a -stroke of luck?" - -Yet he hesitated, already half regretting that he had said anything at -all. But, having gone so far, he went farther. - -"I don't want you to reckon on it just at present, but I think it -possible that, very shortly, I may find myself in possession of a -larger sum of money than either of us has dreamed of." - -"Cyril! Do you mean it?" - -Her tone of incredulity spurred him on. - -"Should I be likely to say such a thing if I did not mean it? I mean -exactly what I said. To be quite accurate, it is possible, nay, -probable, that before very long I shall be the possessor of a quarter -of a million of money. I hope that will be enough for you. It will for -me." - -"A quarter of a million! Two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, -Cyril!" - -"It sounds a nice little sum, doesn't it? I hope that it will feel as -nice when it's mine!" - -"But, Cyril, I don't understand. Is it a new speculation you are -entering on?" - -"It is a speculation--of a kind." His tone was ironical, though she -did not seem to be conscious of the fact. "A peculiar kind. Its -peculiarity consists in this, that, though I may not be able to lay my -hands on the entire quarter of a million, I can on an appreciable -portion of it whenever I choose." - -"What is the nature of the speculation? Is it on the Stock Exchange?" - -"That, at present, is a secret. It is not often that I have kept a -secret from you; you will have to forgive me, Daisy, if I keep one -now." - -Something peculiar in his tone caught her ear. She glanced at him -sharply. - -"You are really in earnest, Cyril? You do mean that there is a -reasonable prospect of your position being improved at last?" - -"There is not only a reasonable prospect, there is a practical -certainty." - -"In spite of what you have lost in Eries?" - -"In spite of everything." A ring of passion came into his voice. -"Daisy, don't ask me any more questions now. Trust me! I tell you that -in any case a fortune, or something very like one, is within my -grasp." - -He stopped, and she was silent. They went and stood where they had -been standing the night before--looking towards the Worthing lights. -Each seemed to be wrapped in thought. Then she said softly, in her -voice a trembling-- - -"Cyril, I am so glad." - -"I am glad that you are glad." - -"And I am so sorry for what I said last night." - -"What was it you said that is the particular occasion of your sorrow?" - -She drew closer to his side. When she spoke it was as if, in some -strange way, she was afraid. - -"I am sorry that I said that if luck went against you to-day things -would have to be over between us. I don't know what made me say it. I -did not mean it. I thought of it all night; I have been thinking of it -all day. I don't think that, whatever happens, I could ever find it in -my heart to send you away." - -"I assure you, lady, that I should not go unless you sent me!" - -"Cyril!" She pressed his arm. Her voice sank lower. She almost -whispered in his ear, while her eyes looked towards the Worthing -lights. "I think that perhaps it would be better if we were to get -married as soon as we can--better for both of us." - -Turning, he gripped her arms with both his hands. - -"Do you mean it?" - -"I do; if you do the great things of which you talk or if you don't. -If you don't there is my little fortune, with which we must start -afresh, both of us together, either on this side of the world or on -the other, whichever you may choose." - -"Daisy!" His voice vibrated with sudden passion. "Will you come with -me to the other side of the world in any case?" - -"What--even if you make your fortune?" - -"Yes; even if I make my fortune!" - -She looked at him with that something on her face which is the best -thing that a man can see. And tears came into her eyes. And she said -to him, in the words which have been ringing down the ages-- - -"Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; -thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God; where thou diest, -will I die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me, and more -also, if aught but death part thee and me!" - -It may be that the words savoured to him of exaggeration; at any rate, -he turned away, as if something choked his utterance. She, too, was -still. - -"I suppose you don't want a grand wedding." - -"I want a wedding, that's all I want. I don't care what sort of a -wedding it is so long as it's a wedding. And"--again her voice sank, -and again she drew closer to his side--"I don't want to have to wait -for it too long." - -"Will you be ready to marry me within a month?" - -"I will." - -"Then within a month we will be married." - -They were silent. His thoughts, in a dazed sort of fashion, travelled -to the diamonds which were in somebody else's Gladstone bag. Her -thoughts wandered through Elysian fields. It is possible that she -imagined--as one is apt to do--that his thoughts were there likewise. - -All at once she said something which brought him back from what seemed -to be a waking dream. She felt him start. - -"Come with me, and let's tell Charlie." - -The suggestion was not by any means to Mr. Paxton's taste. He -considered for a few seconds, seeming to hesitate. She perceived that -her proposition had not been received with over-much enthusiasm. - -"Surely you don't mind our telling Charlie?" - -"No"--his voice was a little surly--"I don't mind." - -Miss Charlotte Wentworth, better known to her intimates as Charlie, -was in some respects a young woman of the day. She was thirty, and she -wrote for her daily bread--wrote anything, from "Fashions" to -"Poetry," from "Fiction" to "Our Family Column." She had won for -herself a position of tolerable comfort, earning something over -five-hundred a year with satisfactory regularity. To state that is -equivalent to saying that, on her own lines, she was a woman of the -world, a citizen of the New Bohemia, capable of holding something more -than her own in most circumstances in which she might find herself -placed, with most, if not all, of the sentiment which is supposed to -be a feminine attribute knocked out of her. She was not bad-looking; -dressed well, with a suggestion of masculinity; wore pince-nez, and -did whatsoever it pleased her to do. Differing though they did from -each other in so many respects, she and Daisy Strong had been the -friends of years. When Mrs. Strong had died, and Daisy was left alone, -Miss Wentworth had insisted on their setting up together, at least -temporarily, a joint establishment, an arrangement from which there -could be no sort of doubt that Miss Strong received pecuniary -advantage. Mr. Paxton was not Miss Wentworth's lover--nor, to be -frank, was she his; the consequence of which was that her brusque, -outspoken method of speech conveyed to his senses--whether she -intended it or not--a suggestion of scorn, being wont to touch him on -just those places where he found himself least capable of resistance. - -When the lovers entered, Miss Wentworth, with her person on one chair -and her feet on another, was engaged in reading a magazine which had -just come in. Miss Strong, desiring to avoid the preliminary -skirmishing which experience had taught her was apt to take place -whenever her friend and her lover met, plunged at once into the heart -of the subject which was uppermost in her mind. - -"I've brought you some good news--at least I think it is good news." - -Miss Wentworth looked at her--a cross-examining sort of look--then at -Mr. Paxton, then back at the lady. - -"Good news? One always does associate good news with Mr. Paxton. The -premonition becomes a kind of habit." - -The gentleman thus alluded to winced. Miss Strong did not appear to -altogether relish the lady's words. She burst out with the news of -which she spoke, as if with the intention of preventing a retort -coming from Mr. Paxton. - -"We are going to be married." - -Miss Wentworth displayed a possibly intentional mental opacity. - -"Who is going to be married?" - -"Charlie! How aggravating you are! Cyril and I, of course." - -Miss Wentworth resumed her reading. - -"Indeed! Well, it's no affair of mine. Of course, therefore, I should -not presume to make any remark. If, however, any one should invite me -to comment on the subject, I trust that I shall be at the same time -informed as to what is the nature of the comment which I am invited to -make." - -Miss Strong went and knelt at Miss Wentworth's side, resting her -elbows on that lady's knees. - -"Charlie, won't you give us your congratulations?" - -Miss Wentworth replied, without removing her glance from off the open -page of her magazine-- - -"With pleasure--if you want them. Also, if you want it, I will give -you eighteenpence--or even half a crown." - -"Charlie! How unkind you are!" - -Miss Wentworth lowered her magazine. She looked Miss Strong straight -in the face. Tears were in the young lady's eyes, but Miss Wentworth -showed not the slightest sign of being moved by them. - -"Unfortunately, as it would seem, though I am a woman, I do -occasionally allow my conduct to be regulated by the dictates of -common sense. When I see another woman making a dash towards suicide I -don't, as a rule, give her a helping push, merely because she happens -to be my friend; preferentially, if I can, I hold her back, even -though it be against her will. I have yet to learn in what respect -Mr. Paxton--who, I gladly admit, is personally a most charming -gentleman--is qualified to marry even a kitchen-maid. Permit me to -finish. You told me last night that Mr. Paxton was going a bull on -Eries; that if they fell one he would be ruined. In the course of the -day they have fallen more than one; therefore, if what you told me was -correct, he must be ruined pretty badly. Then, without any sort of -warning, you come and inform me that you intend to marry the man who -is doubly and trebly ruined, and you expect me to offer my -congratulations on the event offhand! On the evidence which is at -present before the court it can't be done." - -"Why shouldn't I marry him, even if he is ruined?" - -"Why, indeed? I am a supporter of the liberty of the female subject, -if ever there was one. Why, if you wished to, shouldn't you marry a -crossing-sweep? I don't know. But, on the other hand, I don't see on -what grounds you could expect me to offer you my congratulations if -you did." - -"Cyril is not a crossing-sweep." - -"No; he has not even that trade at his finger-ends." - -"Charlie!" Mr. Paxton made as if to speak. Miss Strong motioned him to -silence with a movement of her hand. "As it happens, you are quite -wrong. It is true that Cyril lost by Eries, but he has more than made -up for that loss by what he has gained in another direction. Instead -of being ruined, he has made a fortune." - -"Indeed! Pray, how did he manage to do that? I always did think that -Mr. Paxton was a remarkable man. My confidence in him is beginning to -be more than justified. And may I, at the same time, ask what is Mr. -Paxton's notion of a fortune?" - -"Tell her, Cyril, all about it." - -Thus suffered at last to deliver his soul in words, Mr. Paxton evinced -a degree of resentment which, perhaps, on the whole, was not -unjustified. - -"I fail to see that there is any necessity for me to justify myself in -Miss Wentworth's eyes, who, on more than one occasion, has shown an -amount of interest in my affairs which was only not impertinent -because it happened to be feminine. But since, Daisy, you appear to be -anxious that Miss Wentworth should be as satisfied on the subject of -my prospects and position as you yourself are, I will do the best I -can. And therefore Miss Wentworth, I would explain that my notion of a -fortune is a sum equivalent to some ten or twenty times the amount you -yourself are likely to be able to earn in the whole of your life." - -"That ought to figure up nicely. And do you really mean to say, Mr. -Paxton, that you have lost one fortune and gained another in the -course of a single day?" - -"I do." - -"How was it done? I wish you would put me in the way of doing it for -myself." - -"Surely, Miss Wentworth, a woman of your capacity is qualified to do -anything she pleases without prompting, and solely on her own -initiative!" - -"Thanks, Mr. Paxton, it's very kind of you to say such pretty things, -but I am afraid you estimate my capacity a thought too highly." Miss -Wentworth turned in her seat, so as to have the gentleman within her -range of vision. "You understand, Mr. Paxton, very well how it is. -Daisy is a lonely child. She belongs to the order of women who were in -fashion before the commercial instinct became ingrained in the -feminine constitution. She wants looking after. There are only Mr. -Franklyn and myself to look after her. Satisfy me that, after all -liabilities are settled, there is a substantial balance on the right -side of your account, and I will congratulate you both." - -"That, at the moment, I cannot do. But I will do this. I will -undertake, in less than a fortnight, to prove myself the possessor of -possibly something like a quarter of a million, and certainly of a -hundred thousand pounds." - -"A quarter of a million! A hundred thousand pounds! Such figures warm -one's blood. One will almost begin to wonder, Mr. Paxton, if you can -have come by them honestly." - -The words were uttered lightly. Mr. Paxton chose to take them as if -they had been meant in earnest. His cheeks flushed. His eyes flamed -fire. He stood up, so beside himself with rage that it was a second or -two before he could regain sufficient self-control to enable him to -speak. - -"Miss Wentworth, how dare you say such a thing! I have endured more -from you than any man ought to endure from any woman. But when you -charge me with dishonesty it is too much, even from you to me. You -take advantage of your sex to address to me language for which, were -the speaker a man, I would thrash him within an inch of his life." - -Miss Strong, with white face, looked from one to the other. - -"Cyril, she didn't mean what you think. Tell him, Charlie, that you -didn't mean what he thinks." - -Through her glasses Miss Wentworth surveyed the angry man with shrewd, -unfaltering eyes. - -"Really, Mr. Paxton puts me in a difficult position. He is so quick to -take offence where none was intended, that one hardly knows what to -think. Surely, when a man shows such heat and such violence in -resenting what only a distorted imagination could twist into an actual -imputation of dishonesty, it suggests that his own conscience can -scarcely be quite clear." - -Mr. Paxton seemed struggling as if to speak, and then to put a bridle -on his tongue. The truth is, that he was only too conscious that he -was in no mood to be a match in argument--or, for the matter of that, -in retort either--for this clear-sighted lady. He felt that, if he was -not careful, he would go too far; that he had better take himself away -before he had made a greater exhibition of himself than he had -already. So he contented himself with what was meant as an assumption -of dignity. - -"That is enough. Between you and me nothing more need, or can, be -said. I have the honour, Miss Wentworth, of wishing you goodnight." - -She showed no symptoms of being crushed. On the contrary, she retained -her coolness, and also her powers of exasperation. - -"Good-night, Mr. Paxton. Shall I ring the bell, Daisy, or will you -show Mr. Paxton to the door?" - -Miss Strong darted at her a look which, on that occasion at any rate, -was not a look of love, and followed Mr. Paxton, who already had -vanished from the room. Finding him in the hall, she nestled up to his -side. - -"I am sorry, Cyril, that this should have happened. If I had had the -least suspicion of anything of the kind, I never would have asked you -to come." - -Mr. Paxton wore, or attempted to wear, an air of masculine -superiority. - -"My dear Daisy, I have seldom met Miss Wentworth without her having -insulted me. On this occasion, however, she has gone too far. I will -never, willingly, darken her door again. I hope you will not ask me; -but if you do I shall be compelled to decline." - -"It's my door as well as hers. But it won't be for long. Still, I -don't think she meant what you thought she did--she couldn't be so -absurd! It's a way she has of talking; she often says things without -considering the construction of which they are capable." - -"It is only the fact of her being a woman, my dear Daisy, which gives -her the impunity of which she takes undue advantage." - -"Cyril, you mustn't brand all women because of one. We are not all -like that. Do you suppose that I am not aware that the person, be it -man or woman, who imagines you to be capable of dishonesty either does -not know you, or else is stark, raving mad? Do you think that I could -love you without the absolute certainty of knowing you to be a man of -blameless honour? I don't suppose you are an angel--I'm not one -either, though perhaps you mightn't think it, sir! And I take it for -granted that you have done plenty of things which you would rather -have left undone--as I have too! But I do know that, regarded from the -point of view of any standard, whether human or Divine, in all -essentials you are an honest man, and that you could be nothing else." - -The eulogium was a warm one--it made Mr. Paxton feel a trifle queer. - -"Thank you, darling," - -So he murmured, and he kissed her. - -"You will meet me again to-morrow night to tell me how the fortune -fares?" - -He tried to avoid doing so; but the effort only failed--he had to -wince. He could only hope that she did not notice it. - -"I will, my darling--on the pier." - -"And mind you're punctual!" - -"I promise you I'll be punctual to a second." - - - - - CHAPTER V - - IN THE BODEGA - - -As Mr. Paxton walked away from the house in which the two ladies -resided, it was with the consciousness strong upon him that his -position had not been made any easier by what he had said to the lady -of his love, not to speak of that lady's friend. Before he had met -Miss Strong he had been, comparatively, free--free, that is, to return -the diamonds to their rightful owner. Now, it seemed to him, his hands -were tied--he himself had tied them. He had practically committed -himself to a course of action which could only point in one direction, -and that an ugly one. - -"What a fool I've been!" - -One is apt to tell oneself that sort of thing when the fact is already -well established, and also, not only without intending to undo one's -folly, but even when one actually proposes to make it more! As Mr. -Paxton did then. He told himself, frankly, and with cutting scorn, -what a fool he had been, and then proceeded to take what, under -similar circumstances, seems to be a commonly accepted view of the -situation--assuring, or endeavouring to assure himself, that to pile -folly on to folly, until the height of it reached the mountain-tops, -and then to undo it, would be easier than to take steps to undo it at -once, while it was still comparatively a little thing. - -It was perhaps this line of reasoning which induced Mr. Paxton to -fancy himself in want of a drink. He turned into the Bodega. He -treated himself to a whisky and soda. While he was consuming the -fluid and abusing Fate, some one touched him on the shoulder. Looking -round he found himself confronted by Mr. Lawrence and his friend the -German-American. Not only was their appearance wholly unexpected, but -obviously the surprise was not a pleasant one. Mr. Paxton clutched at -the edge of the bar, glaring at the two men as if they had been -ghosts. - -"Good evening, Mr. Paxton." - -It was Mr. Lawrence who spoke, in those quiet, level tones with which -Miss Strong was familiar. To Mr. Paxton's lively imagination their -very quietude seemed to convey a threat. And Mr. Lawrence kept those -beautiful blue eyes of his fixed on Mr. Paxton's visage with a -sustained persistence which, for some cause or other, that gentleman -found himself incapable of bearing. He nodded, turned his face away, -and picked up his glass. - -But to do Mr. Paxton justice, he was very far from being a coward; -nor, when it came to the sticking-point, was his nerve at all likely -to fail him. He realised instantly that he was in a very delicate -situation, and one on which, curiously enough, he had not reckoned. -But if Mr. Lawrence and his friend supposed that Mr. Paxton, even if -taken by surprise, was a man who could, in the long run, be taken at -an advantage, they were wrong. Mr. Paxton emptied his glass, and -replied to Mr. Lawrence-- - -"It's not a pleasant evening, is it? I think that up at the station -you asked me to have a drink with you. Now, perhaps, you'll have one -with me?" - -As he spoke Mr. Paxton was conscious that the German-American was -regarding him, if possible, even more intently than his friend. This -was the man to whom he had taken an instinctive dislike. There was -about the fellow a suggestion of something animal--of something almost -eerie. He did not strike one as being a person with whom it would be -wise to quarrel, but rather as an individual who would stick at -nothing to gain his ends, and who would be moved by no appeals for -either sympathy or mercy. - -"Would you mind stepping outside for a moment, Mr. Paxton?" - -"Outside? Why?" - -Mr. Paxton's air of innocence was admirably feigned. It might be that -he was a better actor with a man than with a woman. - -"There is something which I rather wish to say to you." - -"To me? What is it?" - -"I would rather, if you don't mind, speak to you outside." - -Mr. Paxton turned his back against the bar facing Mr. Lawrence with a -smile. - -"Aren't we private enough in here? What is it you can have to say to -me?" - -"You know very well what it is I have to say to you. If you take my -advice, you'll come outside." - -Mr. Lawrence still spoke softly, but with a softness which, if one -might put it so, had in it the suggestion of a scratch. A gleam came -into his eyes which was scarcely a friendly gleam. The smile on Mr. -Paxton's countenance broadened. - -"I know! You are mistaken. I do not know. You are the merest -acquaintance; I have never exchanged half a dozen words with you. What -communication of a private nature you may have to make to me, I have -not the faintest notion, but, whatever it is, I would rather you said -it here." - -Mr. Paxton's tones were, perhaps purposely, as loud as Mr. Lawrence's -were soft. What he said must have been distinctly audible, not -only to those who were close to him but also to those who were at a -little distance. Especially did the high words seem audible to a -shabby-looking fellow who was seated at a little table just in front -of them, and wore his hat a good deal over his eyes, but who, in spite -of that fact, seemed to keep a very keen eye on Mr. Paxton. - -Perceiving that his friend appeared to be slightly nonplussed by Mr. -Paxton's manner, the German-American came a little forward, as if to -his assistance. This was a really curious individual. As has been -already mentioned, he was tall and thin, and, in spite of his stoop, -his height was accentuated by the fashion of his attire. He wore a -long, straight black overcoat, so long that it reached almost to his -ankles. It was wide enough to have admitted two of him. He kept it -buttoned high up to his chin. His head was surmounted by a top hat, -which could scarcely have been of English manufacture, for not only -was it a size or two too large for him, but, relatively, it was almost -as long as his overcoat. Thus, since his hat came over his forehead, -and his overcoat came up to his chin, not much of his physiognomy was -visible, and what was visible was not of a kind to make one long for -more. His complexion was of a dirty red. His cheekbones were high, and -his cheeks were hollow. They were covered with tiny bristles, which -gleamed in the light as he moved his head. His eyes were small, and -black, and beady, and he had a trick of opening and shutting them, as -if they were constantly being focussed. His nose was long, and thin, -and aquiline--that aquiline which suggests a vulture. His voluminous -moustache was black; one wondered if it owed that shade to nature. -But, considerable though it was, it altogether failed to conceal his -mouth, which, as the Irishman said, "rolled right round his jaws." -Indeed, it was of such astonishing dimensions that the surprise which -one felt on first encountering it, caused one, momentarily, to neglect -to notice the practically entire absence of a chin. - -This pleasing-looking person, coming to Mr. Paxton, raised a long, -lean forefinger, capped by what rather resembled a talon than a human -fingernail, and crooked it in Mr. Paxton's face. And he said, speaking -with that pronounced German-American accent-- - -"Permit me, my dear friend, to ask of Mr. Paxton just one -question--just one little question. Mr. Paxton, what was the colour of -your Gladstone bag, eh?" - -Mr. Paxton felt, as he regarded the speaker, that he was looking at -what bore a stronger resemblance to some legendary evil creature than -to a being of our common humanity. - -"I fail to understand you, sir." - -"And yet my question is a very simple one--a very simple one indeed. I -ask you, what was the colour of your Gladstone bag, eh?" - -"My Gladstone bag!--which Gladstone bag?" - -"The Gladstone bag which you brought with you in the train from town, -eh?" - -Mr. Paxton gazed at his questioner with, on his countenance, an entire -absence of any sort of comprehension. He turned to Mr. Lawrence-- - -"Is this a friend of yours?" - - -[Illustration: "What was the colour of your Gladstone bag, eh?" _The -Datchet Diamonds_. _Page_ 82.] - - -The pair looked at Mr. Paxton, then at each other, then back at Mr. -Paxton, then again at each other. The German-American waggled his lean -forefinger. - -"He is very difficult, Mr. Paxton--very difficult indeed, eh? He -understand nothing. It is strange. But it is like that sometimes, eh?" - -Mr. Lawrence interposed. - -"Look here, I'll be plain enough, even for you, Mr. Paxton. Have you -got my Gladstone bag?" - -Mr. Lawrence still spoke softly, but as he put his question Mr. Paxton -was conscious that his eyes were fixed on him with a singular -intentness, and his friend's eyes, and the eyes of the man who half -concealed them with his hat, and, unless he was mistaken, the eyes of -another shabby individual who was seated at a second table, between -himself and the door. Indeed, he had a dim perception that sharp eyes -were watching him from all over the spacious room, and that they -waited for his words. Still, he managed to retain very fair control -over his presence of mind. - -"Your Gladstone bag! I! What the deuce do you mean?" - -"What I say--have you got my Gladstone bag?" - -Mr. Paxton drew himself up. Something of menace came on to his face -and into his eyes. His tone became hard and dry. - -"Either I still altogether fail to understand you, Mr. Lawrence, or -else I understand too much. Your question is such a singular one that -I must ask you to explain what construction I am intended to place -upon it." - -The two men regarded each other steadily, eye to eye. It is possible -that Mr. Paxton read more in Mr. Lawrence's glance than Mr. Lawrence -read in his, for Mr. Paxton perceived quite clearly that, in spite of -the man's seeming gentleness, on the little voyage on which he was -setting forth he would have to look out, at the very least, for -squalls. The German-American broke the silence. - -"It is that Mr. Paxton has not yet opened the Gladstone bag, and seen -that a little exchange has taken place--is that so, eh?" - -Mr. Paxton understood that the question was as a loophole through -which he might escape. He might still rid himself of what already he -dimly saw might turn out to be something worse than an Old Man of the -Sea upon his shoulders. But he deliberately declined to avail himself -of the proffered chance. On the contrary, by his reply he burnt his -boats, and so finally cut off his escape--at any rate in that -direction. - -"Opened it? Of course I opened it! I opened it directly I got in. I've -no more idea of what you two men are talking about than the man in the -moon." - -Once more the friends exchanged glances, and again Mr. Lawrence asked -a question. - -"Mr. Paxton, I've a particular reason for asking, and I should -therefore feel obliged if you will tell me what your bag was like?" - -Mr. Paxton never hesitated--he took his second fence in his stride. - -"Mine? It's a black bag--rather old--with my initials on one -side--stuck pretty well all over with luggage labels. But why do you -ask?" - -Again the two men's eyes met, Mr. Lawrence regarding the other with a -glance which seemed as if it would have penetrated to his inmost soul. -This time, however, Mr. Paxton's own eyes never wavered. He returned -the other's look with every appearance of _sang froid_. Mr. Lawrence's -voice continued to be soft and gentle. - -"You are sure that yours was not a new brown bag?" - -"Sure! Of course I'm sure! It was black; and, as for being new--well, -it was seven or eight years old at least." - -"Would you mind my having a look at it?" - -"What do you want to have a look at it for?" - -"I should esteem it a favour if you would permit me." - -"Why should I?" - -Again the two men's glances met. The German-American spoke. - -"Where are you stopping, Mr. Paxton, eh?" - -Wheeling round, Mr. Paxton treated the inquirer to anything but an -enlightening answer. - -"What has that to do with you? Although a perfect stranger to me--and -one to whom I would rather remain a stranger--you appear to take a -degree of interest in my affairs which I can only characterize -as--impertinent." - -"It is not meant to be impertinent, oh, dear no; oh, no, Mr Paxton, -eh?" - -Putting up his clawlike hand, the fellow began to rub it against his -apology for a chin. Mr. Paxton turned his attention to Mr. Lawrence; -it was a peculiarity of that gentleman's bearing that since his -appearance on the scene he had never for a single instant removed his -beautiful blue eyes from Mr. Paxton's countenance. - -"You have asked me one or two curious questions, without giving me any -sort of explanation; now perhaps you won't mind answering one or two -for me. Have you lost a bag?" - -"I can scarcely say that I have lost it. I am parted from it--for a -time." - -Mr. Paxton stared, as if not comprehending. - -"I trust that the parting may not be longer than you appear to -anticipate. Was there anything in it of value?" - -"A few trifles, which I should not care to lose." - -"Where, as you phrase it, did the parting take place?" - -"In the refreshment-room at the Central Station--when you went out of -it." - -Mr. Paxton flushed--it might have been a smart bit of acting, but it -was a genuine flush. He looked at the soft-toned but sufficiently -incisive speaker as if he would have liked to have knocked him down; -possibly, too, came very near to trying to do it. Then seemed to -remember himself, confining himself instead to language which was as -harsh and as haughty as he could conveniently make it. - -"That is not the first time you have dropped a similar insinuation. -But it shall be the last. I do not wish to have a scene in a public -place, but if you address me again I will call the attention of the -attendants to you, and I will have you removed." - -So saying, Mr. Paxton, wheeling round on his heels, favoured the -offender with a capital view of his back. To be frank, he hardly -expected that his Bombastes Furioso air would prove of much effect. He -had reason to think that Mr. Lawrence was not the sort of person to -allow himself to be cowed by such a very unsubstantial weapon as -tall-talk. His surprise was, therefore, the greater when, the words -being scarcely out of his mouth, the German-American, touching his -associate on the arm, made to him some sort of a sign, and without -another word the two marched off together. Somewhat oddly, as it -seemed, when they went out two or three other persons went out also; -but Mr. Paxton particularly noticed that the man with the hat over his -eyes who was seated at the little table remained behind, suddenly -appearing, however, to have all his faculties absorbed in a newspaper -which had been lying hitherto neglected just in front of him. - -Mr. Paxton congratulated himself on the apparent effect which his -words had had. - -"That's a good riddance, anyhow. I don't think that I'm of the sort -that's easily bluffed, but the odds were against me, and--well--the -stakes are high--very high!" - -As Mr. Paxton took off his hat to wipe his forehead it almost seemed -that his temperature was high as well as the stakes. He called for -another whisky and soda, As he sipped it, he inquired of himself how -long it would be advisable for him to stop before taking his -departure; he had no desire to find the enterprising associates -waiting for him in the street. While he meditated some one addressed -him from behind, in precisely the same words which Mr. Lawrence had -originally used. Commonplace though they were, as they reached his -ears they seemed to give him a sort of thrill. - -"Good evening, Mr. Paxton." - -Mr. Paxton turned round so quickly that some of the liquor which was -in the glass that he was holding was thrown out upon the floor. The -speaker proved to be a rather short and thick-set man, with a stubbly -grey beard and whiskers, and a pair of shrewd, brown eyes. Mr. Paxton -beheld him with as few signs of satisfaction as he had evinced on -first beholding Mr. Lawrence. He tried to pass off his evident -discomposure with a laugh. - -"You! You're a pretty sort of fellow to startle a man like that!" - -"Did I startle you?" - -"When a man's dreaming of angels, he's easily startled. What's your -liquid?" - -"Scotch, cold. Who was that you were talking to just now?" - -Mr. Paxton shot at the stranger a keen, inquisitorial glance. - -"What do you mean?" - -"Weren't you talking to somebody as I came in?--two men, weren't -there?" - -"Oh yes! One of them I never met in my life before, and I never want -to meet again. The other, the younger, I was introduced to yesterday." - -"The younger--what's his name?" - -"Lawrence. Do you know him?" - -The stranger appeared not to notice the second hurried, almost anxious -look which Mr. Paxton cast in his direction. - -"I fancied I did. But I don't know any one of the name of Lawrence. I -must have been wrong." - -Mr. Paxton applied himself to his glass. It appeared, he told himself, -that he was in bad luck's way. Only one person could have been more -unwelcome just at the moment than Mr. Lawrence had been, and that -person had actually followed hard on Mr. Lawrence's heels. As is the -way with men of his class, who frequent the highways and the byways of -great cities, Mr. Paxton had a very miscellaneous acquaintance. Among -them were not a few officers of police. He had rather prided himself -on this fact--as men of his sort are apt to do. But now he almost -wished that he had never been conscious that such a thing as a -policeman existed in the world; for there--at the moment when he was -least wanted--standing at his side, was one of the most famous of -London detectives; a man who was high in the confidence of the -dignitaries at the "Yard"; a man, too, with whom he had had one or two -familiar passages, and whom he could certainly not treat with the same -stand-off air with which he had treated Mr. Lawrence. - -He understood now why the associates had stood not on the order of -their going; it was not fear of him, as in his conceit he had -supposed, which had sped their heels; it was fear of John Ireland. -Gentlemen of Mr. Lawrence's kidney were pretty sure to know a man of -Mr. Ireland's reputation, at any rate by sight. The "office" had been -given him that a "tec." was in the neighbourhood, and Mr. Lawrence had -taken himself away just in time, as he hoped, to escape recognition. -That that hope was vain was obvious from what John Ireland had said. -In spite of his disclaiming any knowledge of a man named Lawrence, Mr. -Paxton had little doubt that both men had been "spotted." - -A wild impulse came to him. He seemed to be drifting, each second, -into deeper and deeper waters. Why not take advantage of what might, -after all, be another rope thrown out to him by chance? Why not make a -clean breast of everything to Ireland? Why not go right before it was, -indeed, too late--return her diamonds to the sorrowing Duchess, and -make an end of his wild dreams of fortune? No; that he would--he could -not do. At least not yet. He had committed himself to Daisy, to Miss -Wentworth. There was plenty of time. He could, if he chose, play the -part of harlequin, and with a touch of his magic wand at any time -change the scene. He even tried to flatter himself that he might -play the part of an amateur detective, and track the criminals on -original--and Fabian!--lines of his own; but self-flattery of that -sort was too gross even for his digestion. - -"Nice affair that of the Duchess of Datchet's diamonds." - -The glass almost dropped from Mr. Paxton's hand. The utterance of the -words at that identical instant was of course but a coincidence; but -it was a coincidence of a kind which made it extremely difficult for -him to retain even a vestige of self-control. Fortunately, perhaps, -Mr. Ireland appeared to be unconscious of his agitation. Putting his -glass down on the bar-counter, he twisted it round and round by the -stem. He tried to modulate his voice into a tone of complete -indifference. - -"The Duchess of Datchet's diamonds? What do you mean?" - -"Haven't you heard?" - -Mr. Paxton hesitated. He felt that it might be just as well not to -feign too much innocence in dealing with John Ireland. - -"Saw something about it as I came down in the train." - -"I thought you had. Came down from town?" - -"Yes--just for the run." - -"Came in the same train with Mr. Lawrence?" - -"I rather fancy I did." - -"He was in the next compartment to yours, wasn't he?" - -Mr. Ireland's manner was almost ostentatiously careless, and he seemed -to be entirely occupied in the contents of his glass, but for some -reason Mr. Paxton was beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable. - -"Was he? I wasn't aware of it. I noticed him on the platform when the -train got in." - -"With his friend?" - -"Yes--the other man was with him." - -"Went into the refreshment-room with them, didn't you, and had a -drink?" - -Mr. Paxton turned and looked at the speaker; Mr. Ireland seemed, as it -were, to studiously refrain from looking at him. - -"Upon my word, Ireland, you seem to have kept a keen eye upon my -movements." - -"I came down by that train too; you didn't appear to notice me." - -Mr. Paxton wished--he scarcely knew why, but he did wish--that he had. -He admitted that the detective had gone unrecognised, and there was a -pause, broken by Mr. Ireland. - -"I am inclined to think that I know where those diamonds are." - -Odd how conscience--or is it the want of experience?--plays havoc with -the nervous system of the amateur in crime. Ordinarily, Mr. Paxton was -scarcely conscious that he had such things as nerves; he was about as -cool an individual as you would be likely to meet. But since lighting -on those sparkling pebbles in somebody else's Gladstone bag, he had -been one mass of nerves, and of exposed nerves, too. Like some -substance which is in the heart of a thunderstorm, and which is -peculiarly sensitive to the propinquity of electricity, he had been -receiving a continual succession of shocks. When Mr. Ireland said in -that unexpected and, as Mr. Paxton felt, uncalled-for fashion that he -thought that he knew where those diamonds were, Mr. Paxton was the -recipient of another shock upon the spot. Half a dozen times it had -been with an effort that he had just succeeded in not betraying -himself; he had to make another and a similar effort then. - -"You think that you know where those diamonds are?" - -"I do!" - -There was silence; then the officer of the law went on. Mr. Paxton -wished within himself that he would not. - -"You're a sporting man, Mr. Paxton. I wouldn't mind making a bet that -they're not far off! There's a chance for you!" - -"Oh!" It was not at all a sort of bet which Mr. Paxton was disposed to -take, nor a kind of chance he relished. "Thanks; but it's a thing -about which you're likely to know more than I do; I'm not betting. Are -you on the job?" - -"Half the Yard is on the job already." - -Silence once more; then again Mr. Ireland. He stood holding his glass -in his hand, twiddling it between his finger and thumb, and all his -faculties seemed to be engaged in making an exhaustive examination of -the liquor it contained; but Mr. Paxton almost felt as if his voice -had been the voice of fate. - -"The man who has those diamonds will find that they won't be of the -slightest use to him. He'll find that they'll be as difficult to get -rid of as the Koh-i-Nor. Like the chap who stole the Gainsborough, -he'll find himself in possession of a white elephant. Every dealer of -reputation, in every part of the world, who is likely to deal in such -things knows the Datchet diamonds as well as, if not better than, the -Duke himself. The chap who has them will have to sell them to a fence. -That fence will give him no more for them than if they were the -commonest trumpery. And for this very good reason--the fence will -either have to lock them up, and bequeath them to his great-grandson, -on the offchance of his having face enough to put them on the market; -or else he will have to break them up and offer them to the trade as -if they were the ordinary stones of commerce, just turned up by the -shovel. If I were on the cross, Mr. Paxton, I wouldn't have those -sparklers if they were offered me for nothing. I should be able to get -very little for them; the odds are they would quod me; and you may -take this from me, that for the man--I don't care who he is, first -offender or not--who is found with the Duchess of Datchet's diamonds -in his possession, it's a lifer!" - -Mr. Paxton was silent for a moment or two after the detective had -ceased. He took another drink; it might have been that his lips stood -in need of being moistened. - -"You think it would be a lifer, do you?" - -"I'm certain. After all the jewel thieves who have got clean off, if a -judge does get this gentleman in front of him--which I think he -will!--he'll make it as hot for him as ever he can. I shouldn't like -to see you in such a position, Mr. Paxton, I assure you." - -Again Mr. Paxton raised his glass to his lips. - -"I hope that you won't, Mr. Ireland, with all my heart." - -"I hope I sha'n't, Mr. Paxton. You know, perhaps as well as I do, it's -an awful position for a man to stand in. What did you say your -friend's name was--Lawrence? It's queer that I should have thought -that I knew his face, and yet I don't think that I ever knew any one -of that name. By the way, I fancy that you once told me that you -didn't mind having a try at anything in which there was money to be -made. Now, if you could give me a hint as to the whereabouts of the -Duchess's diamonds, you might find that there was money in that." - -As he emptied his glass Mr. Paxton looked the detective in the face. - -"I wish I could, John--I'd be on for the deal! Only, I'm sorry that I -can't." - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - THE ADVENTURES OF A NIGHT - - -"There was something about Mr. John Ireland's manner which I couldn't -quite make out." - -This was what Mr. Paxton told himself as he came out of the Bodega. He -turned down Ship Street, on to the front, meaning to stroll along the -King's Road to his hotel. As he came out of the hotel his eye caught a -glimpse of a loiterer standing in the shadow of a door higher up the -street. When he had gone a little distance along the King's Road, -glancing over his shoulder, he perceived that some one was standing at -the corner of Ship Street, with his face turned in his direction. - -"It occurs to me as being just possible that the events of the night -are going to form a fitting climax to a day of adventure. That Ireland -can have the slightest inkling of how the case really stands is -certainly impossible; and yet, if I didn't know it was impossible, I -should feel just a trifle uneasy. His manner's queer. I wonder if he -has any suspicions of Lawrence, or of Lawrence's friend. That he knew -the pair I'll bet my boots. Plainly, Lawrence is not the fellow's real -name; it is simply the name by which he chose to be known to Daisy. If -Ireland has cause to suspect the precious pair, seeing me with them -twice, under what may seem to him to be curious circumstances, may -cause him to ask himself what the deuce I am doing in such a galley. -Undoubtedly, there was something in Mr. Ireland's manner which -suggested that, in his opinion, I knew more about the matter than I -altogether ought to." - -Again Mr. Paxton glanced over his shoulder. About a hundred yards -behind him a man advanced in his direction. Looking across the road, -on the seaward side, he perceived that another man was there--a man -who, as soon as Mr. Paxton turned his head, stopped short, seeming to -be wholly absorbed in watching the sea. The man immediately behind -him, however, was still advancing. Mr. Paxton hesitated. A fine rain -was falling. It was late for Brighton. Except these two, not a -creature was in sight. - -"I wonder if either of those gentlemen is shadowing me, and, if so, -which?" - -He turned up West Street. When he had gone some way up it he peeped to -see. A man was coming up the same side of the street on which he was. - -"There's Number One." He went farther; then looked again. The same man -was coming on; at the corner of the street a second man was loitering. -"There's Number Two. Unless I am mistaken that is the gentleman who on -a sudden found himself so interested in the sea. The question is, -whether they are both engaged by the same person, or if they are in -separate employ. I have no doubt whatever that one of them defies the -chances of catching cold in the interests of Mr. Lawrence. Until the -little mystery connected with the disappearance of his Gladstone bag -is cleared up, if he can help it, he is scarcely likely to allow me to -escape his constant supervision. For him I am prepared; but to be -attended also by a myrmidon of Ireland's is, I confess, a prospect -which I do not relish." - -He trudged up the hill, pondering as he went. The rain was falling -faster. He pulled his coat collar up about his ears. He had no -umbrella. - -"This is for me an experience of an altogether novel kind, and -uncommonly pleasant weather it is in which to make its acquaintance. -One obvious reason why Mr. Lawrence should have me shadowed is because -of the strong desire which he doubtless feels to know where it is that -I am staying. The natural deduction being that where I stay, there -also stays my Gladstone bag. The odds are that Mr. Lawrence feels a -quite conceivable curiosity to know in what the difference exactly -consists between my Gladstone bag, and the one from which he, as he -puts it, for a time has parted. Why John Ireland should wish to have -my movements dogged I do not understand; and I am bound to add I would -much rather not know either." - -Mr. Paxton had reached the top of West Street. The man on the same -side of the road still plodded along. On the opposite side of the -street, much farther behind, came the other man too. Mr. Paxton formed -an immediate resolution. - -"I have no intention of tramping the streets of Brighton to see which -of us can be tired first. I'm off indoors. The Gladstone, with its -contents, I'll confide to the landlord of the hotel, to hold in his -safe keeping. Then we'll see what will happen." - -He swept round the corner into North Street, turning his face again -towards the front. As he expected, first one follower, then the other, -appeared. - -"It's the second beggar who bothers me. I wonder what it means?" - -Arrived at the hotel, Mr. Paxton went straight to the office. He asked -for the landlord. He was told that the landlord did not reside in the -building, but that he could see the manager. He saw the manager. - -"I have property of considerable value in my Gladstone bag. Have you a -strong room in which you could keep it for me till the morning?" - -The manager replied in the affirmative, adding that he was always -pleased to take charge of valuables which guests might commit to his -charge. Mr. Paxton went to his bedroom. He unlocked the Gladstone -bag--again with some difficulty--unwrapped the evening paper which -served as an unworthy covering for such priceless treasures. There -they were--a sight to gladden a connoisseur's heart; to make the blood -in his veins run faster! How they sparkled, and glittered, and -gleamed! How they threw off coruscations, each one a fresh revelation -of beauty, with every movement of his hands and of his eyes. He would -get nothing for them--was that what John Ireland said? Nothing, at any -rate, but the lowest market price, as for the commonest gems. John -Ireland's correctness remained to be proved. There were ways and -means in which a man in his position--a man of reputation and of the -world--could dispose of such merchandise, of which perhaps John -Ireland, with all his knowledge of the shady side of life, had never -dreamed. - -Putting the stones back into the bag, Mr. Paxton took the bag down -into the office. Then he went into the smoking-room. It was empty when -he entered. But hardly had he settled himself in a chair, than some -one else came in, a short, broad-shouldered individual, with piercing -black eyes and shaven chin and cheeks. Mr. Paxton did not fancy his -appearance; the man's manner, bearing, and attire were somewhat rough; -he looked rather like a prizefighter than the sort of guest one would -expect to encounter in an hotel of standing. Still less was Mr. Paxton -pleased with the familiarity of his address. The man, placing himself -in the adjoining chair, plunged into the heart of a conversation as if -they had been the friends of years. After making one or two remarks, -which were of so extremely confidential a nature that Mr. Paxton -hardly knew whether to smile at them as the mere gaucheries of an -ill-bred person, or to openly resent them as an intentional -impertinence, the man began to subject him to a species of -cross-examination which caused him to eye the presumptuous stranger -with suddenly aroused but keen suspicion. - -"Stopping here?" - -"It seems that I am, doesn't it?" - -"On what floor?" - -"Why do you ask?" - -"On the third floor, ain't you?" - -"Why should you suppose that I am on the third floor?" - -"I don't suppose nothing. Perhaps you're on the fourth. Are you on the -fourth?" - -"The world is full of possibilities." - -The man took a pull or two at his pipe; then, wholly unabashed, began -again-- - -"What's your number?" - -"My number?" - -"What's the number of your room?" - -"I see." - -"Well--what is it?" - -"What is what?" - -"What is what! Why, what's the number of your room?" - -"Precisely." - -"Well, you haven't told me what it is." - -"No." - -"Aren't you going to tell me?" - -"I am afraid that I must wish you good-night." Rising, Mr. Paxton -moved towards the door. Turning in his chair, the stranger stared at -him with an air of grievance. - -"You don't seem very polite, not answering a civil question when -you're asked one." - -Mr. Paxton only smiled. - -"Good-night." - -He could hear the stranger grumbling to himself, even after the door -was closed. He asked the porter in the hall casually who the man might -be. - -"I don't know, sir. He came in just after you. I don't think I have -ever seen him before. He has taken a bed for the night." - -Mr. Paxton went up the stairs, smiling to himself as he went. - -"They are hot on the scent. Mr. Lawrence evidently has no intention of -allowing the grass to grow under his feet. He means, if the thing is -possible, to have a sight of that Gladstone bag, at any rate by -deputy. I may be wrong, but the deputy whom I fancy he has selected is -an individual possessed of such a small amount of tact--whatever other -virtues he may have--that I hardly think I am. In any case it is -probably just as well that that Gladstone bag sleeps downstairs, while -I sleep up." - -The door of Mr. Paxton's bedroom was furnished with a bolt as well as -a lock. He carefully secured both. - -"I don't think that any one will be able to get through that door -without arousing me. And even should any enterprising person succeed -in doing so, I fear that his success will go no farther. His labours -will be unrewarded." - -Mr. Paxton was master of a great art--the art of being able to go to -sleep when he wished. Practically, in bed or out of it, whenever he -chose, he could treat himself to the luxury of a slumber; and also, -when he chose, he could wake out of it. This very desirable -accomplishment did not fail him then. As soon as he was between the -sheets he composed himself to rest; and in an infinitesimally short -space of time rest came to him. He slept as peacefully as if he had -not had a care upon his mind. - -And his sleep continued far into the night. But, profound and restful -though it was, it was light. The slightest unusual sound was -sufficient to awake him. It was indeed a sound which would have been -inaudible to nine sleepers out of ten which actually did arouse him. -Instantly his eyes were wide open and his senses keenly on the alert. -He lay quite still in bed, listening. And as he listened he smiled. - -"I thought so. My friend of the smoking-room, unless I err. Trying to -turn the key in the lock with a pair of nippers, from outside. It -won't do, my man. You are a little clumsy at your work. Your -clumsiness betrayed you. You should get a firm hold of the key before -you begin to turn, or your nippers are apt to slip, and when they slip -they make a noise." - -Mr. Paxton permitted no sign to escape him which could show the -intruder who was endeavouring to make an unceremonious entrance into -the apartment that he had ceased to sleep. He continued to lie quite -still and to listen, enjoying what he heard. Either the lock was rusty -or the key refractory, or, as Mr. Paxton said, the operator clumsy, -but certainly he did take what seemed to be an unconscionable length -of time in performing what is supposed to be a rudimentary function in -the burglar's art. He fumbled and fumbled, time after time, in vain. -One could hear in the prevailing silence the tiny click which his -nippers made each time they lost their hold. Some three or four -minutes probably elapsed before a slight grating sound--which seemed -to show that the lock was rusty--told that, after all, the key had -been turned. Mr. Paxton almost chuckled. - -"Now for the scattering of the labourer's hopes of harvest!" - -The person who was outside the door, satisfied that the lock had been -opened, firmly, yet no doubt gently, grasped the handle of the door. -He turned it. With all his gentleness it grated. One could hear that -he gave it an inward push, only to discover that the bolt was shot -inside. And that same moment Mr. Paxton's voice rang out, clear and -cold-- - -"Who's there?" - -No answer. Mr. Paxton's sharp ears imagined that they could just -detect the shuffling along the passage of retreating footsteps. - -"Is any one at the door?" - -Still no reply. Mr. Paxton's next words were uttered _sotto voce_ with -a grin. - -"I don't fancy that there is any one outside the door just now; nor -that to-night there is likely to be again. I'll just jump out and undo -the result of that poor man's patient labours." - -Re-locking the door, Mr. Paxton once more composed himself to rest, -and again sleep came to him almost in the instant that he sought it. -And for the second time he was aroused by a sound so faint that it -would hardly have penetrated to the average sleeper's senses. On this -occasion the interruption was unexpected. He turned himself slightly -in bed, so that he might be in a better position for listening. - -"What's that? If it's my friend of the smoking-room again, he's a -persevering man. It doesn't sound as if it were coming from the door; -it sounds more as if it were coming from the window--and, by George, -it is! What does it mean? It occurs to me that this is a case in which -it might be advisable that I should make personal inquiries." - -Slipping out of bed, Mr. Paxton thrust his legs into a pair of -trousers. He took a revolver from underneath his pillow. - -"It's lucky," he said to himself, as his fingers closed upon the -weapon, "that my prophetic soul told me that this was a plaything -which might be likely to come in handy." - -In his bare feet he moved towards the window, holding the revolver in -his hand. - -The room was in darkness, but Mr. Paxton was aware that in front of -the window stood the dressing-table. He knew also that the window -itself was screened, not only by the blind, but by a pair of heavy -curtains. Placing himself by the side of the dressing-table, he -gingerly moved one of the curtains, with a view of ascertaining if his -doing so would enable him to see what was going on without. One thing -the movement of the curtains did reveal to him, that there was a dense -fog out of doors. The blind did not quite fit the window, and enough -space was left at the side to show that the lights in the King's Road -were veiled by a thick white mist. Mr. Paxton moved both the blind and -the curtain sufficiently aside to enable him to see all that there was -to be seen, without, however, unnecessarily exposing himself. - -For a moment or so that all was nothing. Then, gradually becoming -accustomed to the light, or want of it, he saw something which, while -little enough in itself, was yet sufficient to have given a nervous -person a considerable shock. Something outside seemed to reach from -top to bottom of the window. At first Mr. Paxton could not make out -what it was. Then he understood. - -"A ladder--by George, it is! It would almost seem as if my friend of -the smoking-room had given his friends outside the 'office,' and that -they are taking advantage of the fog to endeavor to succeed where he -has failed. If I had expected this kind of thing, I should have -preferred to sleep a little nearer to the sky. Instead of the first -floor, it should have been the third, or even the fourth, beyond the -reach of ladders. Messrs. Lawrence and Co. seem resolved to beat the -iron while it's hot. The hunt becomes distinctly keen. It is perhaps -only natural to expect that they should be anxious; but, so far as I -am concerned, a little of this sort of thing suffices. They are slow -at getting to work, considering how awkward they might find it if some -one were to come along and twig that ladder. Hallo, the fun begins! -Unless my ears deceive me, some one's coming now." - -Mr. Paxton's ears did not deceive him. Even as he spoke a dark -something appeared on the ladder above the level of the window. It was -a man's head. The head was quickly followed by a body. The acute -vision of the unseen watcher could dimly make out, against the white -background of fog, the faint outline of a man's figure. This figure -did an unexpected thing. Without any sort of warning, the shutter of a -dark lantern was suddenly opened, and the light thrown on the window -in such a way that it shone full into Mr. Paxton's eyes. That -gentleman retained his presence of mind. He withdrew his head, while -keeping his hold on the blind; if he had let it go the movement could -scarcely have failed to have been perceived. - -The light vanished almost as quickly as it came. It was followed by a -darkness which seemed even denser than before. It was a second or two -before Mr. Paxton could adapt his dazzled eyes to the restoration of -the blackness. When he did so, he perceived that the man on the ladder -was leaning over towards the window. If the lantern had been flashed -on him just then, it would have been seen that an ugly look was on Mr. -Paxton's countenance. - -"You startled me, you brute, with your infernal lantern, and now I've -half a mind to startle you." - -Mr. Paxton made his half-mind a whole one. He brought his revolver -to the level of his elbow; he pointed it at the window, and he -fired. The figure on the ladder disappeared with the rapidity of a -jack-in-the-box. Whether the man had fallen or not, there was for the -moment no evidence to show. Mr. Paxton dragged the dressing-table -away, threw up the window, and looked out. The mist came streaming in. -In the distance could be heard the stampede of feet. Plainly two or -three persons were making off as fast as their heels would carry them. -An imperious knocking came at the bedroom door. - -"Anything the matter in there?" - -Mr. Paxton threw the door wide open. A porter was standing in the -lighted corridor. - -"A good deal's the matter. Burglary's the matter." - -"Burglary?" - -"Yes, burglary. I caught a man in the very act of opening my window, -so I had a pop at him. He appears to have got off; but his ladder he -has left behind." - -Other people came into the room, among them the manager. An -examination of the premises was made from without. The man had -escaped; but the precipitancy of his descent was evidenced by the fact -that his lantern, falling from his grasp, had been shattered to -fragments on the ground. - -The fragments he had not stayed to gather. Still less had he and his -associates stood on the order of their going sufficiently long to -enable them to remove the ladder. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - THE DATCHET DIAMONDS ARE PLACED IN SAFE CUSTODY - - -When the morning came, and Mr. Paxton found himself being -cross-examined by the manager, with every probability of his, later -on, having to undergo an examination by the police, he was as taciturn -as possible. Although he was by no means sorry that he had fired that -shot, and so effectually frightened the man upon the ladder, he would -infinitely rather that less fuss had been made about it afterwards. - -One thing Mr. Paxton had decided to do before he left his bedroom. He -had decided to remove the Datchet diamonds to a place of safety. That -Mr. Lawrence and his friends had a very shrewd notion that they were -in his possession was plain; that they were disposed to stick at -nothing which would enable them to get hold of them again was, if -possible, plainer. Mr. Paxton was resolute that they should not have -them, who ever did. - -It happened that, in his more prosperous days, he had rented one of -the Chancery Lane Deposit Company's safes. Nor was the term of his -tenancy at an end. He determined to do a bold, and, one might add, an -impudent thing. He would carry the duchess' diamonds back with him to -town, lock them in the safe he rented, and then, whatever might -happen, nobody but himself would ever be able to have access to them -again. He had the Gladstone bag brought up to his bedroom, removed -from it the precious parcel, returned the bag itself to the manager's -keeping, and, declining to have his morning meal at the hotel, went up -by the Pullman train to town, and breakfasted on board. He flattered -himself that whoever succeeded in taking from him the diamonds before -his arrival with them in Chancery Lane, would have to be a very clever -person. - -Still, he did not manage to reach his journey's end without having had -one or two little adventures by the way. - -He drove up from the hotel to the station in a hansom cab. As he -stepped into the cab he noticed, standing on the kerbstone a little to -the left of the hotel entrance, a man who wore his billycock a good -deal on the side of his head, and who had a cigar sticking out of the -corner of his mouth. - -He should not have particularly observed the fellow had not the man, -as soon as he found Mr. Paxton's eyes turned in his direction, -performed a right-about-face on his heels, and presented an almost -ostentatious view of the middle of the back. When Mr. Paxton's cab -rattled into the central yard, and Mr. Paxton proceeded to step out -from it on to the pavement, another hansom came dashing up behind his -own, and from it there alighted the man who had turned his back on him -in front of the hotel. As Mr. Paxton took his ticket this man was at -his side. And, having purchased his morning paper, as he strolled up -the platform towards the train, he noticed that the fellow was only a -few steps in his rear. - -There seemed to be no reasonable room for doubt that the man was -acting as his shadow. No one likes to feel that he is under espionage. -And Mr. Paxton in particular felt that just recently he had endured -enough of that kind of thing to last--if his own tastes were to be -consulted--for the remainder of his life. He decided to put a stop -there and then to, at any rate, this man's persecution. Suddenly -standing still, wheeling sharply round, Mr. Paxton found himself face -to face with the individual with his hat on the side of his head. - -"Are you following me?" - -Mr. Paxton's manner as he asked the question, though polite, meant -mischief. The other seemed to be a little taken aback. Then, with an -impudent air, taking what was left of his cigar out of his mouth, he -blew a volume of smoke full into Mr. Paxton's eyes. - -"Were you speaking to me?" - -Mr. Paxton's fingers itched to knock the smoker down. But situated as -he was, a row in public just then would have been sheer madness. He -adopted what was probably an even more effective plan. He signalled to -a passing official. - -"Guard!" The man approached. "This person has been following me from -my hotel. Be so good as to call a constable. His proceedings require -explanation." - -The man began to bluster. - -"What do you mean by saying I've been following you? Who are you, I -should like to know? Can't any one move about except yourself? -Following you, indeed! It's more likely that you've been following -me!" - -A constable came up. Mr. Paxton addressed him in his cool, incisive -tones. - -"Officer, this person has followed me from my hotel to the station; -from the station to the booking-office; from the booking-office to the -bookstall; and now he is following me from the bookstall to the train. -I have some valuable property on me, with which fact he is possibly -acquainted. Since he is a complete stranger to me, I should be obliged -if you would ask him what is the cause of the unusual interest which -he appears to take in my movements." - -The man with the cigar became apologetic. - -"The gentleman's quite mistaken; I'm not following him; I wouldn't do -such a thing! I'm going to town by this train, and it seems that this -gentleman's going too, and perhaps that's what's made him think that I -was following. If there's any offence, I'm sure that I beg pardon." - -The man held out his hand--it was unclean and it was big--as if -expecting Mr. Paxton to grasp it. Mr. Paxton, however, moved away -addressing a final observation to the constable as he went. - -"Officer, be so good as to keep an eye upon that man." - -Mr. Paxton entered the breakfast carriage. What became of the too -attentive stranger he neither stopped to see nor cared to inquire. He -saw no more of him; that was all he wanted. As the train rushed -towards town he ate his breakfast and he read his paper. - -The chief topic of interest in the journals of the day was the robbery -on the previous afternoon of the Duchess of Datchet's diamonds. It -filled them to the almost complete exclusion of other news of topical -importance. There were illustrations of some of the principal jewels -which had been stolen, together with anecdotes touching on their -history--very curious some of them were! The Dukes of Datchet seemed -to have gathered those beautiful gems, if not in ways which were dark, -then occasionally, at any rate, in ways which were, to say the least -of it, peculiar. Those glittering pebbles seemed to have been mixed up -with a good deal of trickery and fraud and crime. - -The papers gave the most minute description of the more important -stones. Even the merest novice in the knowledge of brilliants, if he -had mastered those details, could scarcely fail to recognise them if -ever they came his way. It appeared that few even royal collections -possessed so large a number of really fine examples. Their valuation -at a quarter of a million was the purest guesswork. The present duke -would not have accepted for them twice that sum. - -Half a million! Five hundred thousand pounds! At even 3 per cent.--and -who does not want more for his money than a miserable 3 per cent.?-- -that was fifteen thousand pounds a year. Three hundred pounds a week. -More than forty pounds a day. Over three pounds for every working -hour. And Mr. Paxton had it in his pockets! - -It was not strange that Mr. Lawrence and his associates should betray -such lively anxiety to regain possession of such a sum as that; it -would have been strange if they had not! It was a sum worth having; -worth fighting for; worth risking something for as well. - -And yet there was something; indeed, there was a good deal, which -could be said for the other side of the question. Mr. Paxton owned to -himself that there was. He could not honestly--if it were still -possible to speak of honesty in connection with a gentleman who had -launched himself on such a venture--lay his hand upon his heart, and -say that he was happier since he had discovered what were the contents -of somebody else's Gladstone bag. On the contrary, if he could have -blotted out of his life the few hours which had intervened since the -afternoon of the previous day, he would have done so, even yet, with a -willing hand. - -Nor was this feeling lessened by an incident which took place on his -arrival at London Bridge. If he were of an adventurous turn of mind, -evidently he could not have adopted a more certain means of gratifying -his peculiar taste than by retaining possession of the duchess's -diamonds. Adventures were being heaped on him galore. - -As he was walking down the platform, looking for a likely cab, some -one came rushing up against him from behind with such violence as to -send him flying forward on his face. Two roughly dressed men assisted -him to rise. But, while undergoing their kindly ministrations, it -occurred to him, in spite of his half-dazed condition, that they were -evincing a livelier interest in the contents of his pockets than in -his regaining his perpendicular. He managed to shake them off, -however, before their interest had been carried to too generous a -length. - -The inevitable crowd had gathered. A man, attired as a countryman, was -volubly explaining--with a volubility which was hardly suggestive of a -yokel--that he was late for market, and was hurrying along without -looking where he was going, when he stumbled against the gentleman, -and was so unfortunate as to knock him over. He was profuse, and -indeed almost lachrymose, in his apologies for the accident which his -clumsiness had occasioned. Mr. Paxton said nothing. He did not see -what there was to say. He dusted himself down, adjusted his hat, got -into a cab and drove away. - -Drove straight away to Chancery Lane. And, when he had deposited the -Duchess of Datchet's diamonds in his safe, and had left them behind -him in that impregnable fortress, where, if the statements of the -directors could be believed, fire could not penetrate, nor water, nor -rust, nor thieves break through and steal, he felt as if a load had -been lifted off his mind. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - IN THE MOMENT OF HIS SUCCESS - - -Diamonds worth a quarter of a million! And yet already they were -beginning to hang like a millstone round Mr. Paxton's neck. The relief -which he felt at having got rid of them from his actual person proved -to be but temporary. All day they haunted him. Having done the one -thing which he had come to town to do, he found himself unoccupied. He -avoided the neighbourhood of the Stock Exchange, and of his usual -haunts, for reasons. Eries were still declining. The difference -against him had assumed a portentous magnitude. Possibly, confiding -brokers were seeking for him high and low, anxious for security which -would protect them against the necessity of having to make good his -losses. No, just then the City was not for him. Discretion, of a sort, -suggested his confining himself to the West-end of town. - -Unfortunately, in this case, the West-end meant loitering about bars -and similar stimulating places. He drank not only to kill time but -also to drown his thoughts, and the more he tried to drown them, the -more they floated on the surface. - -What a fool he had been--what an egregious fool! How he had exchanged -his talents for nothing, and for less than nothing. How he had thrown -away his prospects, his opportunities, his whole life, his all! And -now, by way of a climax, he had been guilty of a greater folly than -any which had gone before. He had sold more than his birthright for -less--much less--than a mess of pottage. He had lost his soul for the -privilege of being able to hang a millstone round his neck--cast -honour to the winds for the sake of encumbering himself with a burden -which would crush him lower and lower, until it laid him level with -the dust. - -Wherever he went, the story of the robbery met his eyes. The latest -news of it was announced on the placards of the evening papers. -Newsboys bawled it in his ears. He had only to listen to what was -being said by the other frequenters of the bars against which he -lounged to learn that it was the topic of conversation on every -tongue. All England, all Europe, indeed, one might say that the whole -of the civilised world was on tiptoe to catch the man who had done -this thing. As John Ireland had said, he might as soon think of being -able to sell the diamonds as of being able to sell the Koh-i-Nor. -Every one who knew anything at all of precious stones was on the -look-out for them, from pole to pole. During his lifetime he would not -even venture to attempt their disposal, any attempt of the kind would -inevitably involve his being instantaneously branded as a felon. - -Last night, when he left London, he had had something over two hundred -pounds in his pockets. Except debts, and certain worthless securities, -for which no one would give him a shilling, it was all he had left in -the world. It was not a large sum, but it was sufficient to take him -to the other side of the globe, and to keep him there until he had had -time to turn himself round, and to find some means of earning for -himself his daily bread. He had proposed to go on to Southampton this -morning, thence straight across the seas. Now what was it he proposed -to do? Every day that he remained in England meant making further -inroads into his slender capital. At the rate at which he was living, -it would rapidly dwindle all away. Then how did he intend to replenish -it? By selling the duchess's diamonds? Nonsense! He told himself, with -bitter frankness, that such an idea was absolute nonsense; that such a -prospect was as shadowy as, and much more dangerous than, the -proverbial mirage of the desert. - -He returned by an afternoon train to Brighton, in about as black a -mood as he could be. He sat in a corner of a crowded compartment--for -some reason he rather shirked travelling alone--communing with the -demons of despair who seemed to be the tenants of his brain; fighting -with his own particular wild beasts. Arrived at Brighton without -adventure, he drove straight to Makell's Hotel. - -As he advanced into the hall, the manager came towards him out of the -office. - -"Good evening, Mr. Paxton. Did you authorise any one to come and fetch -away your bag?" - -"No. Why?" - -"Some fellow came and said that you had sent him for your Gladstone -bag." - -"I did nothing of the kind. Did you give it him?" - -The manager smiled. - -"Hardly. You had confided it to my safe keeping, and I was scarcely -likely to hand it to a stranger who was unable to present a more -sufficient authority than he appeared to have. We make it a rule that -articles entrusted to our charge are returned to the owners only, on -personal application." - -"What sort of a man was he to look at?" - -"Oh, a shabby-looking chap, very much down at heel indeed, -middle-aged; the sort of man whom you would expect would run -messages." - -"Tell me, as exactly as you can, what it was he said." - -"He said that Mr. Paxton had sent him for his Gladstone bag. I asked -him where you were. He said you were at Medina Villas, and you wanted -your bag. You had given him a shilling to come for it, and you were to -give him another shilling when he took it back. I told him our rule -referring to property deposited with us by guests, and he made off." - -Medina Villas? Miss Strong resided in Medina Villas, and Miss -Wentworth; with which fact Mr. Lawrence was possibly acquainted. Once -more in this latest dash for the bag Mr. Paxton seemed to trace that -gentleman's fine Roman hand. He thanked the manager for the care which -he had taken of his interests. - -"I'm glad that you sent the scamp empty away, but, between you and me, -the loss wouldn't have been a very serious one if you had given him -what he wanted. I took all that the bag contained of value up with me -to town, and left it there." - -The manager looked at him, as Mr. Paxton felt, a trifle -scrutinisingly, as if he could not altogether make him out. - -"There seems to be a sort of dead set made at you. First, the -attempted burglary last night--which is a kind of thing which has -never before been known in the whole history of the hotel--and now -this impudent rascal trying to make out that you had authorised him to -receive your Gladstone bag. One might almost think that you were -carrying something about with you which was of unique importance, and -that the fact of your doing so had somehow become known to a -considerable proportion of our criminal population." - -Mr. Paxton laughed. He had the bag carried upstairs, telling himself -as he went that it was already more than time that his sojourn at -Makell's Hotel should be brought to a conclusion. - -He ate a solitary dinner, lingering over it, though he had but a -scanty appetite, as long as he could, in order to while away the time -until the hour came for meeting Daisy. Towards the end of the meal, -sick to death of his own thoughts, for sheer want of something else to -do, he took up an evening paper, which he had brought into the room -with him, and which was lying on a chair at his side, and began to -glance at it. As he idly skimmed its columns, all at once a paragraph -in the City article caught his eye. He read the words with a feeling -of surprise; then, with increasing amazement, he read them again. - -"The boom in the shares of the Trumpit Gold Mine continues. On the -strength of a report that the reef which has been struck is of -importance, the demand for them, even at present prices, exceeded the -supply. When our report left, buyers were offering £10--the highest -price of the day." - -After subjecting the paragraph to a second reading, Mr. Paxton put the -paper down upon his knees, and gasped for breath. It was a mistake--a -canard--quite incredible. Trumpits selling at £10--it could not be! He -would have been glad, quite lately, to have sold his for 10d each; -only he was conscious that even at that price he would have found no -buyer. £10 indeed! It was a price of which, at one time, he had -dreamed--but it had remained a dream. - -He read the paragraph again. So far as the paper was concerned, there -seemed to be no doubt about it--there it was in black and white. The -paper was one of the highest standing, of unquestionable authority, -not given to practical jokes--especially in the direction of -quotations in its City article. Could the thing be true? He felt that -something was tingling all over his body. On a sudden, his pulses had -begun to beat like sledge-hammers. He rose from his seat, just as the -waiter was placing still another plate in front of him, and, to the -obvious surprise of that well-trained functionary, he marched away -without a word. He made for the smoking-room. He knew that he should -find the papers there. And he found them, morning and evening -papers--even some of the papers of the day before--as many as he -wished. He ransacked them all. Each, with one accord, told the same -tale. - -The thing might be incredible, but it was true! - -While he was gambling in Eries, losing all, and more than all, that he -had; while he was gambling in stolen jewels, losing all that was left -of his honour too, a movement had been taking place in the market -which was making his fortune for him all the time, and he had not -noticed it. The thing seemed to him to be almost miraculous. And -certainly it was not the least of the miracles which lately had come -his way. - -Some two years before a friend had put him on--as friends do put us -on--to a real good thing--the Trumpit Gold Mine. The friend professed -to have special private information about this mine, and Mr. Paxton -believed that he had. He still believed that he thought he had. Mr. -Paxton was not a greenhorn, but he was a gambler, which now and then -is about as bad. He looked at the thing all round--in the light of his -friend's special information!--as far as he could, and as time would -permit, and it seemed to him to be good enough for a plunge. The -shares just then were at a discount--a considerable discount. From one -point of view it was the time to buy them--and he did. He got together -pretty well every pound he could lay his hands on, and bought ten -thousand--bought them out and out, to hold--and went straight off and -told Miss Strong he had made his fortune. It was only the mistake of a -word--what he ought to have told her was that he had lost it. The -certainly expected find of yellow ore did not come off, nor did the -looked-for rise in the shares come off either. They continued at a -discount, and went still lower. Purchasers could not be discovered at -any price. - -It was a bitter blow. Almost, if not quite, as bitter a blow to Miss -Strong as to himself. Indeed, Mr. Paxton had felt ever since as if -Miss Strong had never entirely forgiven him for having made such a -fool of her. He might--he could not help fancying that some such line -of reasoning had occupied her attention more than once--before telling -her of the beautiful chickens which were shortly about to be hatched, -at least have waited till the eggs were laid. - -He had been too much engaged in other matters to pay attention to -quotations for shares, which had long gone unquoted, and which he had, -these many days, regarded as a loss past praying for. It appeared that -rumours had come of gold in paying quantities having been found; that -the rumours had gathered strength; that, in consequence, the shares -had risen, until, on a sudden, the market was in a frenzy--as -occasionally the market is apt to be--and ten pounds a-piece was being -offered. Ten thousand at ten pounds a-piece--why, it was a hundred -thousand pounds! A fortune in itself! - -By the time Mr. Paxton had attained to something like an adequate idea -of the situation, he was half beside himself with excitement. He -looked at his watch--it was time for meeting Daisy. He hurried into -the hall, crammed on his hat, and strode into the street. - -Scarcely had he taken a dozen steps, when some one struck him a -violent blow from behind. As he turned to face his assailant, an arm -was thrust round his neck, and what felt like a damp cloth was forced -against his mouth. He was borne off his feet, and, in spite of his -struggles, was conveyed with surprising quickness into a cab which was -drawn up against the kerb. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - A PROPOSAL OF MARRIAGE - - -"It's too bad of him!" - -Miss Strong felt that it was much too bad! Twenty minutes after the -appointed time, and still no signs of Mr. Paxton. The weather was, if -anything, worse even than the night before. The mist was more -pronounced; a chillier breeze was in the air; a disagreeable drizzle -showed momentary symptoms of falling faster. The pier was nearly -deserted; it was not the kind of evening to tempt pleasure-seekers -out. - -Miss Strong had been at the place of meeting in front of time. After -Mr. Paxton's departure on the previous evening, between Miss Wentworth -and herself there had been certain passages. Bitter words had been -said--particularly by Miss Strong. In consequence, for the first time -on record, the friends had parted in anger. Nor had the quarrel been -made up afterwards. On the contrary, all day long the atmosphere had -been charged with electricity. Miss Strong was conscious that in -certain of the things which she had said she had wronged her friend, -as, she assured herself, her friend had wronged her lover. It is true -two wrongs do not make a right; but Miss Strong had made up her mind -that she would not apologise to Miss Wentworth for what she had said -to her, until Miss Wentworth had apologised for what she had said to -Cyril. As Miss Wentworth showed no disposition to do anything of the -kind, the position was more than a trifle strained. So strained indeed -that Miss Strong, after confining herself to the bedroom for most of -the day, rushed out of the house a full hour before it was time for -meeting Cyril, declaring to herself that anything--mist, wind, or -rain--was better than remaining prisoned any longer under the same -roof which sheltered an unfriendly friend. Under such circumstances, -to her, it seemed a cardinal crime on Cyril's part that he should -actually be twenty minutes late. - -"After what he said last night, about not keeping me waiting for a -second--considering the way in which he said it--I did think that he -would be punctual. How can he expect me to trust him in larger things, -if he does not keep faith with me in small? If anything had happened -to detain him, he might have let me know in time." - -The indignant lady did not stay to reflect that she had left home -unnecessarily early, and that an explanation of the gentleman's -absence might, even now, be awaiting her there. Besides, twenty -minutes is not long. But perhaps in the case of a lovers' rendezvous, -by some magnifying process proper to such occasions, twenty minutes -may assume the dimensions of an hour. - -"I'll go once more up and down the pier, and then if he hasn't come -I'll go straight home. How Charlie will laugh at me, and triumph, and -say 'I told you so!' Oh, Cyril, how unkind you are, not to come when -you promised! I don't care, but I do know this, that if Charlie -Wentworth is not careful what she says, I will never speak to her -again--never--as long as I live!" - -It seemed as if the young lady did not quite know whether to be the -more angry with her lover or her friend. She went up the pier; then -started to return. As she came back a man wearing a mackintosh -advanced to her with uplifted cap and outstretched hand. - -"Miss Strong!" - -It was Mr. Lawrence. The last man whom, just then, she would have -wished to see. - -Could anything have been more unfortunate? What would Cyril think if, -again, he found them there together. She decided to get rid of the man -without delay. But the thing was easier decided on than done. -Especially as Mr. Lawrence immediately said something which caused her -to postpone his dismissal longer than she had intended. - -"I saw Mr. Paxton this afternoon, in town." - -He had fallen in quite naturally by her side. She had moderated her -pace, wishing to rid herself of him before she reached the gates. - -"Indeed! In the City, I suppose? He is there on business." - -"He wasn't in the City when I saw him. And the business on which he -was employed was of an agreeable kind. He seemed to be making a day of -it at the Criterion bar." - -"Are you not mistaken? Are you sure that it was Mr. Paxton?" - -"Quite sure. May I ask if he is an intimate friend of yours?" - -"He is--a very intimate friend indeed. I am expecting him here every -moment." - -"Expecting him here! You really are!" Mr. Lawrence stopped, and -turned, and stared, as if her words surprised him. "I beg your pardon, -Miss Strong, but--he is stopping to-night in town." - -"Stopping to-night in town!" It was Miss Strong's turn to stand and -stare. "How do you know? Did he tell you so?" - -"Not in so many words, but--I think you will find that he is. The--the -fact is, Miss Strong, I heard an ugly story about Mr. Paxton, and--I -am afraid you will find that there is something wrong." - -The lady grasped the handle of her umbrella with added vigour. Her -impulse was to lay it about the speaker's head. But she refrained. - -"You must be too acute of hearing, Mr. Lawrence. If I were you, I -should exchange your ears for another pair. Good evening." - -But she was not to escape from him so easily. He caught her by the -arm. - -"Miss Strong, don't go--not for a moment. There is something which I -particularly wish to say to you." - -"What there is, Mr. Lawrence, which you can particularly wish to say -to me I am unable to conceive." - -"I fear that may be so, Miss Strong. But there is something, all the -same. These are early days in which to say it; and the moment is not -the most propitious I could have chosen. But circumstances are -stronger than I. I have a feeling that it must be now or never. You -know very little of me, Miss Strong. Probably you will say you know -nothing--that I am, to all intents and purposes, a stranger. But I -know enough of you to know that I love you: that you are to me what no -woman has ever been before, or will ever be again. And what I -particularly wish to say to you is to ask you to be my wife." - -His words were so wholly unexpected, that, for the moment, they took -the lady's breath away. He spoke quietly, even coldly; but, in his -coldness there was a vibrant something which was suggestive of the -heat of passion being hidden below, while the very quietude of his -utterance made his words more effective than if he had shouted them at -the top of his voice. It was a second or two before the startled lady -answered. - -"What you have said takes me so completely by surprise that I hardly -know whether or not you are in earnest." - -"I am in earnest, I assure you. That I am mad in saying it, I am quite -aware; how mad, even you can have no notion. But I had to say it, and -it's said. If you would only be my wife, you would do a good deed, of -the magnitude of which you have no conception. There is nothing in -return which I would not do for you. On this occasion in saying so I -do not think that I am using an empty form of words." - -"As you yourself pointed out, you are a stranger to me; nor have I any -desire that you should be anything but a stranger." - -"Thank you, Miss Strong." - -"You brought it upon yourself." - -"I own that it is not your fault that I love you; nor can I admit that -it is my misfortune." - -"There is one chief reason why your flattering proposals are unwelcome -to me. I happen already to be a promised wife. I am engaged to Mr. -Paxton." - -"Is that so? Then I am sorry for you." - -"Why are you sorry?" - -"Ere long, unless I am mistaken, you will learn that I have cause for -sorrow, and that you have cause for sorrow too." - -Without another word the lady, the gentleman making no effort to -detain her, walked away. She went straight home. - -She found Miss Wentworth in her favourite attitude--feet stretched on -a chair in front of her--engaged, as Miss Strong chose to phrase it, -in "her everlasting reading." When Miss Wentworth was not writing she -was wont to be reading. Miss Strong occasionally wished that she would -employ herself in more varying occupations. - -Momentarily oblivious of the coolness which had sprung up between her -friend and herself, Miss Strong plumped herself down on to a chair, -forgetful also of the fact that she had brought her umbrella with her -into the room, and that the rain was trickling down it. - -"Charlie, whatever do you think has happened?" - -Miss Wentworth had contented herself with nodding as her friend had -entered. Now, lowering her book, she glanced at her over the top of -it. - -"I don't know what has happened, my dear, but I do know what is -happening--your umbrella is making a fish-pond on the carpet." - -Miss Strong got up with something of a jump. She deposited her -mackintosh and umbrella in the hall. When she returned her friend -greeted her with laughter in her eyes. - -"Well, what has happened? But perhaps before you tell me you might -give an eye to those elegant boots of yours. They never struck me as -being altogether waterproof." - -With tightened lips Miss Strong removed her boots. It was true that -they badly wanted changing. But that was nothing. In her present mood -she resented having her attention diverted to unimportant details. She -expressed herself to that effect as she undid the buttons. - -"I do believe that you are the hardest-natured girl I ever knew. -You've no sense of feeling. If I were dying for want of it, I should -never dream of coming to you for sympathy." - -Miss Wentworth received this tirade with complete placidity. - -"Quite so, my dear. Well, what has happened?" - -Miss Strong snuggled her feet into her slippers. She began to fidget -about the room. Suddenly she burst out in what could only be described -as a tone of angry petulance. - -"You will laugh at me--I know you will. But you had better not. I can -tell you that I am in no mood to be laughed at. I feel as if I must -tell it to some one, and I have no one in the world to tell things to -but you--Mr. Lawrence has dared to make me a proposal of marriage." - -The complete, and one might almost say, the humorous repose of Miss -Wentworth's manner was in striking contrast to her friend's -excitability. - -"Mr. Lawrence? Isn't that the individual whom you met on the Dyke, and -who was introduced to you by his umbrella?" - -"Of course it is!" - -"And he has proposed to you, has he? Very good of him, I'm sure. The -sex has scored another victory. I did not know that matters had -progressed with you so far as that! But now and then, I suppose, one -does move quickly. I offer you my congratulations." - -"Charlie! You are maddening!" - -"Not at all. But I believe that it is a popular theory that a woman -ought always to be congratulated on receiving a proposal from a man. -The idea seems to be that it is the best gift which the gods can -possibly bestow--upon a woman. And, pray, where did this gentleman so -honour you? Right under Mr. Paxton's nose?" - -"Cyril wasn't there." - -"Not there?" Miss Strong turned her face away. Miss Wentworth eyed her -for a moment before she spoke again. "I thought that you had an -appointment with him, and that you went out to keep it." - -"He never came." - -"Indeed!" - -Miss Wentworth's tone was dry. But, in spite of its dryness, it seemed -that there was something in it which touched a secret spring which was -hidden in her listener's breast. Suddenly Miss Strong broke into a -flood of tears, and, running forward, fell on her knees at her -friend's side, and pillowed her face in her lap. - -"Oh, Charlie, I am so unhappy--you mustn't laugh at me--I am! -Everything seems to be going wrong--everything. I feel as if I should -like to die!" - -"There is allotted to every one of us a time for death. I wouldn't -attempt to forestall my allotment, if I were you. What is the -particular, pressing grief?" - -"I am the most miserable girl in the world!" - -"Hush! Be easy! There are girls--myriads of them--myriads--who would -esteem such misery as yours happiness. Tell me, what's the trouble?" - -In spite of the satirical touch which tinged her speech, a strain of -curious melody had all at once come into her voice which--as if it had -been an anæsthetic--served to ease the extreme tension of the other's -nerves. Miss Strong looked up, the tears still streaming down her -cheeks, but exhibiting some signs of at least elementary self-control. - -"Everything's the trouble! Everything seems to be going wrong; that's -just the plain and simple truth. Cyril said he would meet me tonight, -and promised he'd be punctual, and I waited for him, ever so long, on -the pier, in the rain, and after all he never came. And then that -wretched Mr. Lawrence came and made his ridiculous proposal, and--and -said all sorts of dreadful things of Cyril!" - -"Said all sorts of dreadful things of Cyril, did he? As, for instance, -what?" - -"He said that he was going to stop in town all night." - -"Well, and why shouldn't he?" - -"Why shouldn't he? After saying he would meet me! And promising to be -punctual! And keeping me waiting on the pier! Without giving me any -sort of hint that he had changed his mind! Charlie!" - -"Pray, how did Mr. Lawrence come to know that Mr. Paxton intended to -spend the night in London?" - -"He says that he saw him there." - -"I did not know they were acquainted!" - -"I introduced them the night before last." - -"I see." Again Miss Wentworth's tone was significantly dry. "Mr. -Paxton has never seemed to me to be a man whose confidence was easily -gained, especially by a stranger. Mr. Lawrence must have progressed -more rapidly with him even than with you. And, pray, what else was Mr. -Lawrence pleased to say of Mr. Paxton?" - -"Oh, a lot of lies! Of course I knew that they were a lot of lies, but -they made me so wild that I felt that I should like to shake him." - -"Shake me instead, my dear. One is given to understand that jolting is -good for the liver. Who's that?" - -There was a sound of knocking at the front door. Miss Strong glanced -eagerly round. A flush came into her cheeks; a light into her eyes. - -"Possibly that is the recalcitrant Mr. Paxton, in his own proper -person, coming with apologies in both his hands. Perhaps you would -like to go and see." - - - - - CHAPTER X - - CYRIL'S FRIEND - - -Miss Strong did like to go and see. She looked at Miss Wentworth with -a make-believe of anger, and, rising to her feet, went quickly across -the room. Admission had already been given to the knocker. There -advanced towards the girl standing in the open door a man--who was not -Mr. Paxton. - -"Mr. Franklyn! I thought----" - -There was a note of disappointment in her voice. She stopped short, as -if desirous not to allow her self-betrayal to go too far. She moved a -little back, so as to allow the newcomer to enter the room. - -This newcomer was a man of the medium height, about forty years of -age. His black hair was already streaked with grey. He had a firm, -clear-cut, clean-shaven mouth and chin, and a pair of penetrating -grey-black eyes, with which he had a trick of looking every one whom -he addressed squarely in the face. His manner, ordinarily, was grave -and deliberate, as if he liked to weigh each word he uttered. He held -Miss Strong's hand for a moment in his cool, close grasp. - -"Well; you thought what?" - -"I'm very glad to see you--you know I am; but I thought it was Cyril." - -"Are you expecting him?" - -"I was expecting him, but--it seems he hasn't come." - -Turning to Miss Wentworth he greeted her. And it was to be noted that -as she offered him her hand a humorous twinkle beamed through her -glasses, and her whole face was lighted by a smile. He turned again to -Miss Strong. - -"Have you heard the news?" - -"What news?" - -"Hasn't Cyril told you?" - -"He told me something last night, but I really couldn't tell you quite -what it was he told me, and I haven't seen him since." - -"He is in Brighton?" - -"Is he? I was informed that he was stopping in town." - -"You were informed? By whom?" - -"By an acquaintance, who said that he saw him there." - -Mr. Franklyn waited before speaking again. His unflinching eyes seemed -to be studying the lady's face. Probably he saw that there was -something unusual in her manner. - -"That is strange. I was under the impression that he was in Brighton. -I have come from town specially to see him. I expected to find him -with you here." - -"He did promise to meet me to-night. He hasn't kept his promise. I -don't understand why. To be plain with you, it rather troubles me. - -"He promised to meet you?" - -"He did most faithfully." - -"And you have received no intimation from him to the effect that he -was not coming?" - -"Not a word--not a line!" - -"Then he may be here at any moment. Something has unexpectedly delayed -him. You are acquainted with him sufficiently well to be aware that -had anything occurred to cause him to alter his plans, he would -immediately have let you know. Your informant was wrong. I have had -inquiries made for him everywhere in town, and as a result have good -reason to believe that he is in Brighton." - -"What is the news of which you were speaking?" - -"Has Cyril said nothing to you about the Trumpit Gold Mine?" - -"He referred to it casually the night before last in his usual strain, -as having been the cause of his destruction." - -"That really is extraordinary. I confess I do not understand it. It is -so unlike Cyril to have communicated neither with you nor with me. Are -you sure that he said nothing more?" - -"About the Trumpit Gold Mine? Not a word. What was there, what is -there to say? Do get it out!" - -The young lady made an impatient movement with her foot. The gentleman -looked at her with amusement in his eyes. She was very well worth -looking at just then. Her hair was a little out of order; and, though -she might not have agreed with such a statement, it suited her when it -was slightly disarranged. Her cheeks were flushed. She held herself -very straight. Perhaps it was her tears which had lent brightness to -her eyes; they were bright. Her small, white teeth sparkled between -her blush-rose lips, which were slightly parted as if in repressed -excitement. She presented a pretty picture of a young lady who was in -no mood for trifling. - -"I shall have much pleasure, Miss Strong, in getting it out. What seem -to be well-founded rumours have reached England that gold has been -found at last in considerable quantities. The shares have gone up with -a rush. When the Stock Exchange closed this afternoon they were -quoted at £12 10s. A little more than a week ago they were unsaleable -at twopence each." - -"£12 10s.! oh, Mr. Franklyn! And has Cyril got rid of his?" - -"Not a bit of it. They are in my strongbox. There are ten thousand of -them--Cyril is one of the largest holders, if he is not the largest; -and what that means at £12 10s. apiece you can calculate as well as -I." - -"Oh, Mr. Franklyn!" The young lady brought her hands together with a -little clap. She turned in natural triumph towards her friend. "What -did I tell you? Now aren't you sorry for what you said last night? -Didn't I say that you hadn't the faintest notion of what you were -talking about?" - -Miss Wentworth, though, as was to be expected, not so excited as the -lady who was principally concerned, evinced sufficiently lively signs -of interest. - -"You certainly did, and I certainly hadn't; and while you left nothing -unsaid which you ought to have said, there can be no sort of doubt -whatever that I said everything which I ought to have left unsaid. -But, at the same time, I do beg leave to remark that Mr. Paxton need -not have worn such an air of mystery." - -"Why?" Miss Strong tapped the toe of her slipper against the floor. -"He wasn't compelled to blurt out his affairs to all the world." - -Miss Wentworth shrugged her shoulders. - -"Certainly not--if I am all the world. Are you also all the world? -From what I gathered he did not make much of a confidante of you." - -"Well, he wasn't forced to!" Suddenly Miss Strong made a wholly -irrational, but not wholly unnatural, movement in the direction of -Miss Wentworth's chair. She placed her hand upon that lady's -shoulders. And she kissed her twice, first on the lips, then on the -brow. And she exclaimed, "Never mind. I forgive you!" - -Miss Wentworth was quite as demure as the occasion required. She -surveyed her emotional friend with twinkling eyes. - -"Thank you very much indeed, my dear." - -Miss Strong moved restlessly about the room, passing, as it seemed, -aimlessly from object to object. - -"It is strange that he should have kept such news to himself! And not -have said a word about it! And now not coming after all!" She turned -to Mr. Franklyn. "I suppose that it is all quite true? That you have -not been building up my hopes simply to dash them down again?" - -"I have given you an accurate statement of the actual position of -affairs when prices were made up for the day, as you may easily prove -yourself by a reference to an evening paper." - -With her hands Miss Strong pushed back her hair from her temples. - -"After all he had lost in Eries----" - -Mr. Franklyn interposed a question. - -"In Eries! Did he lose in Eries?" - -"I am afraid he did, heavily. And then, in spite of that, on the same -day, to see his way to a quarter of a million!" - -"A quarter of a million! Did he mention that precise amount?" - -"I think he did,--I feel sure he did. Charlie, didn't you hear him -speak of a quarter of a million?" - -Miss Wentworth, who from the depths of her easy chair had been -regarding the two almost as if they had been studies of interesting, -though contrasting, types of human nature, smiled as she replied-- - -"I believe that I did hear Mr. Paxton make a passing and, as it seemed -to me, a mysterious allusion to that insignificant sum." - -"Then he must be acquainted with the movements of the markets." Mr. -Franklyn was the speaker. "Though I must tell you candidly, Miss -Strong, that at present I am very far from being prepared to advise -him to hold until his profits reach what Miss Wentworth, in a truly -liberal spirit, calls that insignificant sum. As things stand, he can -get out with half of it. If he waits for more, he may get nothing. -Indeed, it is an almost vital necessity of the situation that I should -see him at once. The shares are in my keeping. Without his direct -authority I can do nothing with them. After all, the boom may be but a -bubble; it may already have been blown to a bursting-point; in the -morning it may have been pricked. Such things are the commonplaces of -the Stock Exchange. In any case, it is absolutely necessary that he -should be on the spot, ready, if needful, to take prompt, instant -advantage of the turn of the market in whatever direction it may be. -Or, by the time that he does appear upon the scene, his shares may -again be unsaleable at twopence apiece, and all his profits may have -gone. Now, tell me, do you know where he stayed last night?" - -"At Makell's Hotel. He nearly always does stay there when he is in -Brighton." - -"It is possible, then, that he is there now; or, at any rate, that -they have news of him. I will go at once and inquire." - -Miss Strong made a quick movement towards the speaker. - -"Mr. Franklyn, mayn't I come with you?" - -He hesitated. - -"There is not the slightest necessity. If he is there I will bring him -back with me; if he is not I will either bring or send you news." - -"You promise?" - -"I do--certainly." - -"You promise that you will let me hear as soon as you can--at -once--without a moment's delay?" The girl put her hand to her side. -Tears came into her eyes. "Mr. Franklyn, you don't know what all this -means to me. All day long I have been conscious of something hanging -over me, as it were, a cloud of catastrophe. That something very -strange either has happened, or shortly will happen, I am convinced. -It frightens me! So, if you wish to do me a kindness, you will not -keep me in suspense one moment longer than you can help." - -Miss Strong had passed, so far as appearances went, instantly, without -any sort of warning, from a white heat of excitement to almost -preternatural coldness. One had only to look at her to perceive that -her mind was not at ease; nor, since mental and physical conditions -are closely allied, her body either. Mr. Franklyn proffered -reassurance. - -"Believe me, Miss Strong, there is not the slightest real cause for -anxiety. The probability is that Cyril is looking for me, just as I am -looking for him; that, in fact, we are chasing each other. Anyhow, you -shall have news when I have news, and that without a second's delay. I -ought to find a cab upon the nearest stand. If I do, you ought to hear -from me in thirty minutes. But even if I don't, I think that I can -promise that you shall hear from me within the hour." - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - JOHN IRELAND'S WARRANT - - -Mr. Franklyn was unable to find a cab. He walked. And as he walked he -wondered. Mr. Paxton's conduct seemed to him to be stranger than, in -the presence of Miss Strong, he had cared to admit. It was unlike -Cyril to have allowed so amazing a change to have taken place in a -holding in which he was so largely interested, and yet to have held -his peace. Mr. Franklyn had made more considerable efforts to place -himself in communication with Cyril than he had hinted at. There had -been several things lately in that gentleman's conduct which had -struck him as peculiar. But all his efforts had been vain. It was only -by chance that that afternoon he had run across an acquaintance who -informed him that he had just seen Mr. Paxton leaving Victoria in a -Brighton train. Taking it for granted that he was journeying towards -Miss Strong, as soon as he could, Franklyn followed on his heels. - -And now Miss Strong had seen nothing of him! Indeed, she had been told -that he intended to spend the night in town. Coupled with other -circumstances, to Mr. Franklyn the thing seemed distinctly odd. - -Arrived at Makell's Hotel, he accosted the porter who held the door -open for him to enter. - -"Is Mr. Paxton staying here?" - -"Mr. Paxton is out." - -"Out? Then he is staying here?" - -"He has been here. I don't know if he is returning. You had better -inquire at the office." - -Mr. Franklyn inquired. At the office their acquaintance with Mr. -Paxton's movements did not appear to be much greater than the -porter's. He was out. He might return. He probably would. When, they -could not say. - -"How long ago is it since he went out?" - -"Something over an hour." - -"Did he say anything about where he was going to?" - -"Not to me. I know nothing, it's only what I surmise, but he went -hurrying out as if he had an appointment which he wanted to keep." - -"An appointment? Something over an hour ago? Yes, he had an -appointment about that time, but he never kept it." Franklyn looked at -his watch. The thirty minutes of which he had spoken to Miss Strong -were already nearly past. "Can I have a bed here to-night?" - -The clerk said that he could. Franklyn took a card out of his -pocket-book. He scribbled on it in pencil-- - -"I shall be at Medina Villas till eleven. Come at once. They are very -anxious to have news of you." - -Securing it in an envelope, he handed it to the clerk, instructing -him, should Mr. Paxton return before he did, to let him have it at -once. Then Mr. Franklyn left the hotel, meaning to walk to the cab -rank, which was distant only a few yards, and then drive straight back -to Medina Villas. - -As he walked along the broad pavement some one stopping him, addressed -him by name. - -"Is that you, Mr. Franklyn?" - -The speaker was John Ireland. In his professional capacity as a -solicitor Mr. Franklyn had encountered the detective on more than one -occasion. The detective's next question took Mr. Franklyn a little by -surprise. - -"Where's Mr. Paxton?" - -Mr. Franklyn looked at his questioner as attentively as the imperfect -light would permit. To his trained ear there was something in the -inquirer's tone which was peculiar. - -"Mr. Paxton! Why do you ask?" - -Ireland seemed to hesitate. Then blurted out bluntly-- - -"Because I've a warrant for his arrest." - -Franklyn made a startled movement backwards. - -"His arrest! Ireland, you're dreaming!" - -"Am I? I'm not of a dreaming sort, as you ought to know by now. Look -here, Mr. Franklyn, you and I know each other. I know you're Mr. -Paxton's friend, but if you'll take my advice, you won't, for his -sake, try to give him a lead away from us. You've just come out of -Makell's Hotel. Is he there?" - -Mr. Franklyn answered, without pausing a moment for reflection. - -"He is not there. Nor did they seem to be able to tell me where he is. -I'm quite as anxious to see him as you are." - -Ireland slapped his hand against his legs. - -"Then I'll be hanged if I don't believe that he's given us the slip. -It'll almost serve me right if he has. I ought to have had him without -waiting for a warrant, but the responsibility was a bit bigger one -than I cared to take. And now some of those pretty friends of his have -given him the word, and he's away. If he's clean away, and all because -I shirked, I shall almost feel like doing time myself." - -When he spoke again Franklyn's manner was caustic. - -"Since, Ireland, you appear to wish me to be a little unprofessional, -perhaps you also won't mind being a little unprofessional, by way of a -_quid pro quo_. Might I ask you to tell me what is the offence which -is specified on the warrant which you say you hold?" - -"I don't mind telling you, not the least. In the morning you'll see it -for yourself in all the papers--as large as life and twice as natural. -Mr. Paxton is wanted for the robbery of the Duchess of Datchet's -diamonds." - -If the other had struck him Mr. Franklyn could scarcely have seemed -more startled. - -"The Duchess of Datchet's diamonds! Ireland, are you mad or drunk?" - -"Both, if you like. It's as you choose, Mr. Franklyn." - -Franklyn eyed the detective as if he really thought that he might be -mentally deranged. - -"Seriously, Ireland, you don't mean to say that Mr. Paxton--Mr. Cyril -Paxton--the Cyril Paxton whom I know--is charged with complicity in -the affair of the robbery of the Duchess of Datchet's diamonds?" - -"You have hit it, Mr. Franklyn, to a T." - -Regardless of the falling drizzle, Mr. Franklyn took off his hat, as -if to allow the air a chance to clear his brain. - -"But--the thing is too preposterous!--altogether too outrageous for -credibility! You yourself must be aware that in the case of a man in -Paxton's position, such a step as that which you propose to take is -likely to be fraught, for yourself, with the very gravest -consequences. And I, on my part, can assure you that you are on the -verge of making another of those blunders for which you police are -famous. Who is the author of this incredibly monstrous charge?" - -"Don't you trouble yourself about that, Mr. Franklyn. People who bring -monstrous charges will have to bear the brunt of them. But I tell you -what I'll do. You talk about being unprofessional. I'm willing to be a -bit more unprofessional for the sake of a little flutter. I'll bet you -any reasonable sum you like, at evens, that when we do have him it's -proved that at any rate Mr. Paxton knows where the duchess's diamonds -are." - -"You talk utter nonsense." - -"All right, put it so. Anyhow, I'm willing to back my talk. And I'm -giving you a chance to back yours." - -"Let me understand you. Do you say that you are willing to back your -ability to prove that Mr. Paxton has a guilty knowledge of the Datchet -diamonds?" - -"A guilty knowledge--that's it; you keep on hitting it, and you've hit -it again. I'm ready to lay an even hundred pounds--we may as well have -something on worth having--that when we do get Mr. Paxton it's proved -that he has, as you put it, a guilty knowledge of the whereabouts of -the Datchet diamonds." - -"Such a supposition is wholly beyond the bounds of reason." - -"Will you bet?" - -"I will." - -"You understand that I'm betting on a certainty; but since you seem to -think that you're betting on a certainty too the thing's about even. -It's a bet?" - -"It is." - -"Good! Perhaps you'll make a note of it. I'll make one too." As a -matter of fact, Mr. Ireland, taking out his pocket-book, made a note -of it upon the spot. "When I've proved my point I'll ask you for that -hundred." - -"Say, rather, that when you've failed to prove it, I'll ask you." - -"All right. And you shall have it, never you fear." Mr. Ireland -replaced his pocketbook. "Now I'm going to Makell's to make a few -inquiries on my own account. If those inquiries are not satisfactory, -I'll at once wire round Mr. Paxton's description. There'll be a reward -offered for him in the morning, and if we don't have him within -four-and-twenty hours, I'm a Dutchman." - -Franklyn, knowing his man, was more moved by Ireland's words than he -cared to show. - -"For goodness' sake, Ireland, be careful what you do. As you say, you -know me, and you know that it is not my custom to express an opinion -rashly. I assure you that it is my solemn conviction that if you take -the steps which you speak of taking, you will be doing a possibly -irreparable injury to a perfectly innocent man." - -The detective looked at the lawyer steadily for a second or two. - -"Quite right, Mr. Franklyn, I do know you, and it is because I know -you that I am willing to strain a point, and, without prejudice to -that little bet of ours, give you proof that in matters of this sort a -man of my experience is not likely to move without good grounds. You -see this?" - -Mr. Ireland took something out of his waistcoat pocket. It was a ring. -Slipping it on to the tip of his little finger, he held it up for the -other to see. - -"I see that it's a ring. What of it?" - -"As Mr. Paxton was coming out of Makell's Hotel this morning he took -his handkerchief out of his pocket. As he did so, unnoticed by him, -something dropped out of his handkerchief on to the pavement. It was -this ring." - -"Well?" - -"Ill, I should call it, if I were you, because this ring happens to be -one of those which were stolen from the Duchess of Datchet. I had -previously had reasons of my own for suspecting that he knew more than -was good for him of that business; even you will grant that the -discovery in his possession of one of the stolen articles was -sufficient to turn suspicion into practical certainty." - -Mr. Franklyn said nothing, perhaps because he had nothing to say which -he felt was equal to the occasion. What Mr. Ireland said astounded -him. He perceived that, at any rate in Mr. Paxton's absence, the -position presented the appearance of an aggravating puzzle. That Mr. -Paxton could, if he chose, furnish a satisfactory solution, he did not -doubt. But he wondered what it was. - -The detective went on. - -"Now, Mr. Franklyn, since I have been, as you yourself would say, -unprofessionally open with you, I must ask you, on your side, to be -equally open with me. What are you going to do?" - -Franklyn reflected before replying. - -"I fail to see how you are entitled to ask me such a question; unless -you suspect me also of being an accomplice in the crime. At any rate I -decline to answer." - -"Very well, Mr. Franklyn, I am sorry, but I must do my duty. I have -reason to suspect that you may intend to aid and abet Mr. Paxton in -effecting his escape. To prevent your doing so is my obvious duty. -Hollier!" - -Mr. Ireland beckoned to a man who had hitherto been loitering under -the shadow of the houses. Mr. Franklyn might or might not have noticed -it, but during their conversation two or three other men had been -hanging about within hailing distance in apparently similar -purposeless fashion. The individual who had been signalled to -approached. - -"Mr. Franklyn, this is George Hollier, an officer of police. Hollier, -this gentleman's name is Franklyn. He's a friend of Mr. Paxton. I -think it's just possible that he will, if he can, give Mr. Paxton a -helping hand to get away. I order you to follow him, to observe his -movements as closely as you may, and if he does anything which in your -judgment looks like an attempt to place himself in communication with -Mr. Paxton, to arrest him on the spot. You understand?" - -The man nodded. Mr. Franklyn said nothing. He called a cab from the -rank in front of them. As the vehicle drew up beside them Mr. Ireland -addressed the man upon the box. - -"Cabman, what's your number?" - -The cabman gave question for question. - -"What do you want to know for?" - -"I'm an officer of police. This gentleman wishes you to drive him -somewhere. It is possible that I may require you to tell me where. You -won't lose by it; you needn't be afraid." - -The driver gave his number. The detective noted it, as he had done his -bet. He called a second cab, again addressing its Jehu. - -"Cabman, this man is an officer of police. He's going to ride beside -you on the box, and he wants you to keep the cab in which this -gentleman is going to be a passenger well in sight. He'll see that you -are properly paid for your trouble." - -As Mr. Franklyn drove off he was almost tickled by the thought that -he, a lawyer of blameless reputation, and of the highest standing, was -being followed about the streets of Brighton by a policeman as if he -had been a criminal. - -But all disposition towards amusement was banished by the further -instant reflection that he had promised Miss Strong to bring her news -of her lover. And he was bringing her news--of what a character! - - - - - CHAPTER XII - - A WOMAN ROUSED - - -Almost as soon as Mr. Franklyn touched the knocker of the house in -Medina Villas, the door was opened from within, and he found himself -confronted by Miss Strong. - -"Oh, Mr. Franklyn, is it you at last?" She saw that some one was -standing at Mr. Franklyn's back. "Cyril!" she cried. Then, perceiving -her mistake, drew back. "I beg your pardon, I thought it was Mr. -Paxton." - -The man in the rear advanced. - -"Is Mr. Paxton here?" He turned to Mr. Franklyn. "Unless you want -trouble, if he is here, you had better tell me." - -Mr. Franklyn answered. - -"Mr. Paxton is not here. If you like you may go in and look for -yourself; but if you are a wise man you will take my assurance as -sufficient." - -Mr. Hollier looked at Mr. Franklyn, then at Miss Strong, then decided. - -"Very well, sir. I don't wish to make myself more disagreeable than I -can help. I'll take your word." - -Directly he was in the hall and the door was closed Miss Strong caught -Mr. Franklyn by the arm. He could feel that she was trembling, as she -whispered, almost in his ear-- - -"Mr. Franklyn, what does that man want with Cyril?" - -He drew her with him into the sitting-room. Conscious that he was -about to play a principal part in a very delicate situation, he -desired to take advantage of still another moment or two to enable him -to collect his thoughts. Miss Wentworth, having relinquished her -reading, was sitting up in her armchair, awaiting his arrival with an -air of evident expectancy. He looked at Miss Strong. Her hand was -pressed against her side; her head was thrown a little back; you could -see the muscles working in her beautiful, rounded throat almost as -plainly as you may see them working in the throat of a bird. For the -moment Mr. Franklyn was inclined to wish that Cyril Paxton had never -been his friend. He was not a man who was easily unnerved, but as he -saw the something which was in the young girl's face, he found -himself, for almost the first time in his life, at a loss for words. - -Miss Strong had to put her question a second time. - -"Mr. Franklyn, what does that man want with Cyril?" - -When he did speak the lawyer found, somewhat to his surprise, that his -throat seemed dry, and that his voice was husky. - -"Strictly speaking, I cannot say that the man wants Cyril at all. What -he does want is to know if I am in communication with him." - -"Why should he want to know that?" While he was seeking words, Miss -Strong followed with another question. "But, tell me, have you seen -Cyril?" - -"I have not. Though it seems he is in Brighton, or, rather, he was two -hours ago." - -"Two hours ago? Then where is he now?" - -"That at present I cannot tell you. He left his hotel two hours ago, -as was thought, to keep an appointment; it would almost seem as if he -had been starting to keep the appointment which he had with you." - -"Two hours ago? Yes. I was waiting for him then. But he never came. -Why didn't he? You know why he didn't. Tell me!" - -"The whole affair seems to be rather an odd one, though in all -probability it amounts to nothing more than a case of cross-questions -and crooked answers. What I have learnt is little enough. If you will -sit down I will tell you all there is to tell." - -Mr. Franklyn advanced a chair towards Miss Strong with studied -carelessness. She spurned the proffered support with something more -than contempt. - -"I won't sit down. How can I sit down when you have something to tell -me? I can always listen best when I am standing." - -Putting his hands behind his back, Mr. Franklyn assumed what he -possibly intended to be an air of parental authority. - -"See here, Miss Strong. You can, if you choose, be as sensible a young -woman as I should care to see. If you so choose now, well and good. -But I tell you plainly that on your showing the slightest symptom of -hysterics my lips will be closed, and you will not get another word -out of me." - -If by his attempting to play the part of heavy father he had supposed -that Miss Strong would immediately be brought into a state of -subjection, he had seldom made a greater error. So far from having -cowed her, he seemed to have fired all the blood in her veins. She -drew herself up until she had increased her stature by at least an -inch, and she addressed the man of law in a strain in which he -probably had never been addressed before. - -"How dare you dictate how I am to receive any scraps of information -which you may condescend to dole out to me! You forget yourself. Cyril -is to be my husband; you pretend to be his friend. If it is anything -but pretence, and you are a gentlemen, and a man of honour, you will -see that it is your duty to withhold no tidings of my promised husband -from his future wife. How I choose to receive those tidings is my -affair, not yours." - -Certainly the lady's slightly illogical indignation made her look -supremely lovely. Mr. Franklyn recognised this fact with a sensation -which was both novel and curious. Even in that moment of perturbation, -he told himself that it would never be his fate to have such a -beautiful creature breathing burning words for love of him. While he -wondered what to answer, Miss Wentworth interposed, rising from her -chair to do so. - -"Daisy is quite right, Mr. Franklyn. Don't play the game which the cat -plays with the mouse by making lumbering attempts to, what is called, -break it gently. If you have bad news, tell it out like a man! You -will find that the feminine is not necessarily far behind the -masculine animal in fibre." - -Mr. Franklyn looked from one young woman to the other, and felt -himself ill-used. He had known them both for quite a tale of years; -and yet he felt, somehow, as if he were becoming really acquainted -with them for the first time now. - -"You misjudge me, Miss Strong, and you, Miss Wentworth, too. The -difficulty which I feel is how to tell you, as we lawyers say, without -prejudice, exactly what there is to tell. As I said, the situation is -such an odd one. I must begin by asking you a question. Has either of -you heard of the affair of the robbery of the Duchess of Datchet's -diamonds?" - -"The affair of the robbery of the Duchess of Datchet's diamonds?" - -Miss Strong repeated his words, passing her hand over her eyes, as if -she did not understand. Miss Wentworth, however, made it quickly plain -that she did. - -"I have; and so of course has Daisy. What of it?" - -"This. An addle-headed detective, named John Ireland, has got hold of -a wild idea that Cyril knows something about it." - -Miss Wentworth gave utterance to what sounded like a half-stifled -exclamation. - -"I guessed as much! What an extraordinary thing! I had been reading -about it just before Mr. Paxton came in last night, and when he began -talking in a mysterious way about his having made a quarter of a -million at a single coup--precisely the amount at which the diamonds -were valued--it set me thinking. I suppose I was a fool." - -For Miss Wentworth's quickness in guessing his meaning Mr. Franklyn -had been unprepared. If she, inspired solely by the evidence of her -own intuitions, had suspected Mr. Paxton, what sort of a case might -not Mr. Ireland have against him? But Miss Strong's sense of -perception was, apparently, not so keen. She looked at her companions -as a person might look who is groping for the key of a riddle. - -"I daresay I am stupid. I did read something about some diamonds being -stolen. But--what has that to do with Cyril?" - -Mr. Franklyn glanced at Miss Wentworth as if he thought that she might -answer. But she refrained. He had to speak. - -"In all probability the whole affair is a blunder of Ireland's." - -"Ireland? Who is Ireland?" - -"John Ireland is a Scotland Yard detective, and, like all such gentry, -quick to jump at erroneous conclusions." - -They saw that Miss Strong made a little convulsive movement with her -hands. She clenched her fists. She spoke in a low, clear, even tone of -voice. - -"I see. And does John Ireland think that Cyril Paxton stole the -Datchet diamonds?" - -"I fancy that he hardly goes as far as that. From what I was able to -gather, he merely suspects him of being acquainted with their present -whereabouts." - -Although Miss Strong did not raise her voice, it rang with scorn. - -"I see. He merely suspects him of that. What self-restraint he shows! -And is that John Ireland on the doorstep?" - -"That is a man named Hollier, whom John Ireland was good enough to -commission to keep an eye on me." - -"Why on you? Does he suspect you also?" - -Mr. Franklyn shrugged his shoulders. - -"He knows that I am Cyril's friend." - -"And all Cyril's friends are to be watched and spied upon? I see. And -is Cyril arrested? Is he in prison? Is that the meaning of his -absence?" - -"Not a bit of it. He seems, temporarily, to have disappeared." - -"And when he reappears I suppose John Ireland will arrest him?" - -"Candidly, Miss Strong, I fear he will." - -"There is something else you fear. And which you fear too!" - -Miss Strong swung round towards Miss Wentworth with an imperious -gesture. Her rage, despite it being tinged with melodrama, was in its -way sublime. The young lady's astonishing intensity so carried away -her hearers that they probably omitted to notice that there was any -connection between her words and manner and the words and manner of, -say, the transpontine drama. - -"You fear, both of you, that what John Ireland suspects is true. You -feel that Cyril Paxton, the man I love, who would not suffer himself -to come into contact with dishonour, whose shoestrings you are neither -of you worthy to unloose--you fear that he may have soiled his hands -with sordid crime. I see your fear branded on your faces--looking from -your eyes. You cravens! You cowards! You unutterable things! To dare -so to prejudge a man who, as yet, has had no opportunity to know even -what it is with which you charge him!" - -Suddenly Miss Strong devoted her particular attention to Miss -Wentworth. She pointed her words with a force and a directness which -ensured their striking home. - -"As for you, now I know what it was you meant last night; what it was -which in your heart you accused him of, but which your tongue did not -dare to quite bring itself to utter. And you have pretended to be my -friend, and yet you are so swift to seek to kill that which you know -is dearer than life to the man whom I love and hold in honour. Since -your friendship is plainly more dangerous than your enmity, in the -future we'll be enemies, openly, avowedly, for never again I'll call -you friend of mine!" - -Miss Wentworth moved forward, exclaiming-- - -"Daisy!" - -But Miss Strong moved back. - -"Don't speak to me! Don't come near to me! If you touch me, woman -though I am, and woman though you are, I will strike you!" - -Since Miss Strong seemed to mean exactly what she said, Miss -Wentworth, deeming, under certain given circumstances, discretion to -be the better part of valour, held her peace. Miss Strong, having -annihilated Miss Wentworth, one could but hope to her entire -satisfaction, redirected her attention to the gentleman. - -"And you pretended to be Cyril's friend! Heaven indeed preserve us -from our friends, it is they who strike the bitterest blows! This only -I will say to you. You have the courage of your opinions when there's -no courage wanted, but were Cyril Paxton this moment to enter the room -you would no more dare to hint to him what you have dared to hint to -me, than you would dare to fly." - -Then, recollecting herself, with exquisite sarcasm Miss Strong -apologised for having confused her meaning. - -"I beg your pardon, Mr. Franklyn, a thousand times. I said exactly the -contrary of what I wished to say. Of course, if Cyril did enter the -room, there is only one thing which you would dare to do, dare to fly. -I leave you alone together, in the complete assurance that I am -leaving you to enjoy the perfect communion of two equal minds." - -Miss Strong moved towards the door. Mr. Franklyn interposed. - -"One moment, Miss Strong. Where are you going?" - -"To look for Cyril. Do you object? I will try to induce him not to -hurt you, when I find him." - -"You understand that you will have to endure the ignominy of having -the man outside following you wherever you may go." - -"Ignominy, you call it! Why, the man may actually be to me as a -protection from my friends." - -"You use hard words. I enter into your feelings sufficiently to -understand that, from your own point of view, they may not seem to be -unjustified. But at the same time I am sufficiently your friend, and -Cyril's friend, to decline to allow you, if I can help it, to throw -dust in your own eyes. That Cyril has been guilty of actual theft, I -do not for a moment believe. That he may have perpetrated some -egregious blunder, I fear is possible. I know him probably as well as -you do. I know John Ireland too, and I am persuaded that he would not -bring a charge of this kind without having good grounds to go upon. -Indeed, I may tell you plainly--slurring over the truth will do no -good to any one--Cyril is known to have been in actual possession of -one of the missing jewels." - -"I don't believe it." - -"Best assured you will do good neither to Cyril's cause nor to your -own by a refusal to give credence to actual facts. It is only facts -which a judge and jury can be induced to act upon. Satisfactorily -explain them if you can, but do not suppose that you will be able to -impress other people with the merits of your cause by declining to -believe in their existence. I do entreat you to be advised by me -before, by some rash, if well-meaning act, you do incalculable -mischief to Cyril and yourself." - -"Thank you, Mr. Franklyn, but one does not always wish to be advised -even by one's legal adviser. Just now I should be obliged by your -confining yourself to answering questions. Perhaps you will be so good -as to tell me where I am most likely to find John Ireland, that -immaculate policeman?" - -"When I left him he was just going to Makell's Hotel to make inquiries -as to Cyril's whereabouts upon his own account." - -"Then I will go to Makell's Hotel to make inquiries of John Ireland -upon my account." - -"In that case you must excuse me if I come with you. I warn you again, -that if you are not careful you may do Cyril more mischief than you -have any notion of." - -"I shall come too." - -This was Miss Wentworth. Miss Strong bowed. - -"If you will, you will. Evidently the man on the doorstep is not -likely to serve me as an adequate protection against my friends." - -Miss Strong put on her hat and mackintosh in what was probably one of -the shortest times on record. Miss Wentworth generally dressed more -quickly than her friend; on such an occasion she was not likely to be -left behind. The curious procession of three passed through the door -and down the steps in Indian file, Miss Strong first, Mr. Franklyn -last. - -At the bottom of the steps stood Mr. Hollier. The leader looked him up -and down. - -"Is your name Hollier?" - -The man touched his hat. - -"That's my name, miss." - -"I am Daisy Strong, Mr. Cyril Paxton's promised wife." She seemed on a -sudden to be fond of advertising the fact. "I am going to look for Mr. -Paxton now. You may, if you choose, play the part of spy, and follow -me; but let me tell you that if he comes to harm through you, or -through any of your associates, there'll be trouble." - -"I see, miss." - -Mr. Hollier grinned, hurting, as it seemed, the lady's sense of -dignity. - -"I don't know what you see to smile at. A woman has given a man -sufficient cause for tears before to-day. You may find, in your own -case, that she will again." - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - - THE DETECTIVE AND THE LADY - - -Mr. Ireland marched into Makell's Hotel as if he owned the building. -He created a sensation in the office. - -"You know me?" - -The clerk, who was a good-looking young gentleman, with a curled -moustache, eyed the speaker with somewhat supercilious curiosity. Mr. -Ireland's manner was more suggestive of his importance than was his -appearance. The clerk decided that he did not know him. He owned as -much. - -"I'm Inspector Ireland, of the Criminal Investigation Department. I -hold a warrant for the arrest of Cyril Paxton. He is stopping in your -hotel. I don't want to cause any more trouble than necessary--my -assistants are outside--so, perhaps, you will tell me whereabouts in -the house I am likely to find him." - -The clerk looked the surprise which he felt. - -"Mr. Paxton is out." - -"Are you sure?" - -"I will make inquiries if you wish it. But I know that he is out. I -saw him go, and, as I have not left the office since he went, if he -had returned I could not have helped seeing him." - -"Has he any property here?" - -"I will speak to the manager." - -The clerk turned as if to suit the action to the word. Reaching -through the office window, Mr. Ireland caught him by the shoulder. - -"All right. You send for him. I'll speak to him instead." - -The clerk eyed the detaining hand with an air of unconcealed disgust. - -"Very good. Have the kindness to remove your hand. If you are a -policeman, as you say you are, yours is not the kind of grasp which I -care to have upon my shoulder." - -"Hoity-toity! Don't you injure yourself, young man. All I want is to -have the first talk with the manager. Are you going to send for the -manager, or am I?" - -"Here is the manager." - -As the clerk spoke, and before he had had time to properly smooth his -ruffled plumes, the dignitary in question entered the office from an -inner room. John Ireland accosted him. - -"Are you the manager of this hotel--name of Treadwater?" - -"I am Mr. Treadwater." - -Ireland explained who he was, and what he wanted. Mr. Treadwater was -evidently even more surprised than the clerk had been. - -"You have a warrant for the arrest of Cyril Paxton! Not our Mr. -Paxton, surely?" - -"I don't know about your Mr. Paxton; but it's the Mr. Paxton who's -stopping here, so don't you make any mistake about it. I'm told he's -out. One of my men will stay here till he returns. In the meantime I -want to know if there is any property of his about the place. If there -is, I want to have a look at it." - -The manager considered. - -"I don't wish to seem to doubt, Mr. Ireland, that you are what you say -you are, or, indeed, anything at all that you have said. But an effort -has already been made once to-day to gain access--under what turned -out to be false pretences--to certain property which Mr. Paxton has -committed to our keeping. And I am compelled to inform you that it is -a rule of ours not, under any circumstances, to give up property which -has been intrusted to us by our guests to strangers without a proper -authority." - -Ireland smiled grimly. - -"Where is there somewhere I can speak to you in private? I'll show you -authority enough, and to spare." - -The manager, having taken Mr. Ireland into the inner room, the -detective lost no time in explaining the position. - -"You're a sensible man, Mr. Treadwater. You don't want to have any -bother in a place of this sort, and I don't want to make any more -bother than I'm compelled. Mr. Paxton's wanted for a big thing, about -as big a thing as I've ever been engaged in. I wasn't likely to come -here without my proper credentials, hardly. Just you cast your eye -over this." - -Ireland unfolded a blue paper which he had taken from among a sheaf of -other papers, which were in the inner pocket of his coat, and held it -up before the manager's face. - -"That's a search warrant. If you're not satisfied with what you see of -it, I'll read it to you, and that's all I'm bound to do. I've reason -to believe that Cyril Paxton has certain stolen property in his -possession here, in this hotel. If you choose to give me facilities to -examine any property he may have, well and good. If you don't choose, -this warrant authorises me to search the building. I'll call my men -in, and I'll have it searched from attic to basement--every drawer and -every box which the place contains, if it takes us all night to do -it." - -Mr. Treadwater rubbed his hands together. He did not look pleased. - -"I had no idea, when I spoke, that you were in possession of such a -document. As you say, I certainly do not wish to have a bother. A -search warrant is authority enough, even for me. All the property Mr. -Paxton has in the hotel is in this room. I will show it to you." The -manager moved to a door which seemed to have been let into the wall. -"This is our strong-room. As you perceive, it is a letter lock. Only -one person, except myself, ever has the key to it." - -While he was speaking he opened the door. He disappeared into the -recess which the opening of the door disclosed. Presently he -reappeared carrying a Gladstone in his hand. He laid the bag on the -table, in front of Mr. Ireland. - -"That is all the property Mr. Paxton has in the hotel." - -"How do you know?" - -The manager smiled--the smile of superiority. - -"My dear sir, it is part of my duty to know what every guest brings -into the hotel. You can, if you like, go up to the room which he -occupied last night, but you'll find nothing in it of Mr. Paxton's. -All that he brought with him is contained in that Gladstone bag." - -"Then we'll see what's in it. I'm going to open it in your presence, -so that you'll be evidence to prove that I play no hankey-pankey -tricks." - -Mr. Ireland did open it in the manager's presence. With, considering -the absence of proper tools, a degree of dexterity which did him -credit. But after all it appeared that there was nothing in it to -adequately reward him for the trouble he had taken. The bag was filled -chiefly with shirts and underclothing. Although every article seemed -to be bran-new, there was absolutely nothing which, correctly -speaking, could be said to be of value. With total want of ceremony -the investigator turned the entire contents of the bag out upon the -table. But though he did so, nothing in any way out of the common was -discovered. - -Judging from the expression of his countenance, Mr. Ireland did not -seem to be contented. - -"Wasn't there an attempt at burglary here last night? One's been -reported." - -"There was. For the first time in the history of the hotel. An attempt -was made from the street to gain admission through the window, to Mr. -Paxton's bedroom." - -"And didn't you say that an attempt had been made to-day to gain -access, by means of false pretences, to Mr. Paxton's property?" - -"That is so." - -"And didn't he ask you to keep that property safe in your -strong-room?" - -"He did." - -"Well--doesn't it seem as if somebody was precious anxious to lay his -hands upon that property, and that Mr. Paxton was equally anxious that -he shouldn't?" - -"Precisely." - -"And yet you go and tell me that all the property he has is contained -in that Gladstone bag. What is there that should make any one go out -of his way to take it? You tell me that!" - -When the manager replied, it was with an appreciable amount of -hesitation. - -"I think that is a point on which I may be able to throw some light." - -"Then throw it--do!" - -"I shouldn't be surprised if Mr. Paxton took all that the bag -contained which was of value up to London with him this morning, and -left it there. Indeed, this evening, before he went out, he told me -that that was what he had done." - -Mr. Ireland gave utterance to what, coming from the mouth of any one -but an inspector of police, would have sounded like a string of -execrations. - -"I suppose you've no idea what it was that he took with him or where -it was he took it?" - -"Not the faintest notion." - -"Mr. Treadwater, this is another illustration of the fact that if you -want a thing well done you must do it yourself. This morning I set a -man to shadow Mr. Paxton--I told him not to let him get out of his -sight. What does he do, this utter idiot? He sees our gentleman drop a -ring. My man, he picks it up, and he gets into such a state of -excitement that he loses his head and tears straight off with it to -me. I'm not saying that he'd not chanced upon an important piece of -evidence, because he had; but if he'd kept his wits about him, and had -his head screwed on straight, he'd have had the ring and Mr. Paxton -too. As it was, that was the last he saw of Mr. Paxton." - -"May I ask what it is you suspect Mr. Paxton of having taken with him -up to town?" - -"Unless I'm out of my reckoning, Mr. Paxton went up to town with the -Duchess of Datchet's diamonds stowed away in his pockets." - -The manager's face was a vivid note of exclamation. - -"No! My dear sir, I have been acquainted with Mr. Paxton some -considerable time. I happen to know that he's a gentleman of position -in the City. You must surely be mistaken in supposing that he could be -mixed up in such an affair as that--it's incredible!" - -"Is it? That's all right. If you like, you think so. Gentlemen of -position in the City have had their fingers in some queer pies before -to-day. If you don't happen to know it, I present you with the -information gratis. Have you any idea of where he was going when he -went out to-night?" - -"I fancy that when he comes to Brighton he comes to see a lady. I -rather took it for granted that, as usual, he was going to her." - -"What's her name; and where does she live?" - -"I don't know her name; but I believe she lives in Medina -Villas--that, you know, is at West Brighton." - -"Medina Villas?" Ireland seemed to be turning something over in his -mind. He smiled. "I shouldn't be surprised. If she does, I'm inclined -to think that one of my men has got his eye on her address. If Mr. -Paxton's there, he's nabbed. But I'm afraid he isn't. On this occasion -I'm inclined to think that he had an appointment which he found to be -slightly more pressing than that which he had with the lady." Ireland -looked at the manager with what he probably intended for a look of -frankness. "I don't mind owning that there are features about the -case, as it stands at present, which are beyond my comprehension, and -I tell you, I would give a good round sum to be able this moment to -lay my finger on Mr. Paxton." - -"So would I. I'd give a great deal to be able to lay my finger on Mr. -Paxton. With all my heart I would. Yes, sir, indeed I would." - -Each of the talkers had been too much interested in what the other had -to say to notice that while they talked, without invitation or any -sort of announcement, a procession--the procession of three!--had -entered the room. The speaker was, of course, Miss Strong. Behind her, -gripping the handle of her parasol, as it seemed a little nervously, -came Miss Wentworth. Mr. Franklyn, looking distinctly the most -uncomfortable of the trio, brought up the rear. Miss Strong, in front, -bore herself like a female paladin. She held herself quite straight; -her shoulders were thrown well back; her dainty head was gallantly -poised upon her lovely neck; she breathed the air of battle. She might -not have known it, but seldom had she looked more charming. The -detective and the manager both looked at her askance. She only looked -at the detective. - -"Are you John Ireland?" - -"I am. Though I have not the pleasure, madam, of knowing you." - -"I am Daisy Strong, who am shortly to be Cyril Paxton's wife. How dare -you, Mr. Ireland, so foully slander him!" - -Mr. Ireland showed symptoms of being surprised. He had an eye for a -lady, and still more, perhaps, for a pretty girl. And by neither was -he accustomed to being addressed in such a strain. - -"I trust, madam, that I have not slandered Mr. Paxton." - -"You trust so, do you? Mr. Franklyn, will you come forward, please, -instead of hanging behind there in the shadow of Miss Wentworth's -skirts, as if you were afraid?" - -Mr. Franklyn, thus addressed, came forward, looking, however, as if he -would rather not. - -"You hear what this person says. And yet you tell me he has slandered -Cyril Paxton as foully as he could." - -Mr. Franklyn shot a glance at Mr. Ireland which was meant to be -pregnant with meaning. He showed a disposition to hum and to ha. - -"My dear Miss Strong, I'm sure you will find that Mr. Ireland is not -unreasonable. His only desire is to do his duty." - -Miss Strong stamped her foot upon the floor. - -"His duty! to slander a gentleman in whose presence he is not worthy -to stand! Because a man calls himself a policeman, and by doubtful -methods contrives to earn the money with which to keep himself alive, -is such an one entitled to fling mud at men of stainless honour and -untarnished reputation, and then to excuse himself by pretending that -flinging mud is his duty? If you, Mr. Franklyn, are afraid of a -policeman, merely because he's a policeman, I assure you I am not. And -I take leave to tell Mr. Ireland that there are policemen who are, at -least, as much in want of being kept in order as any member of the -criminal classes by any possibility could be." - -Ireland eyed the eloquent lady as if he were half-puzzled, -half-amused. - -"I understand your feelings, madam, and I admire your pluck in -standing up for Mr. Paxton." - -Again the lady stamped her foot. - -"I care nothing for your approval! And it has nothing at all to do -with the matter on hand." - -The detective coughed apologetically. - -"Perfectly true, madam. But I can't help it. I assure you I always do -admire a young woman who sticks up for her young man when he happens -to find himself in a bit of a scrape. But, if you take my tip, Miss -Strong, you'll leave us men to manage these sort of things. You'll -only do Mr. Paxton harm by interfering. You tell her, Mr. Franklyn, if -what I say isn't true." - -Miss Strong turned towards Mr. Ireland, cutting short the words on -Franklyn's lips before they had a chance of getting themselves spoken. - -"Do not refer to Mr. Franklyn on any matter which concerns me. There -is no connection between us. Mr. Franklyn and I are strangers. I am -quite capable of taking care of myself. I even think that you may find -me almost a match for you." She turned to Treadwater. "Is Mr. Paxton -stopping in this hotel?" - -"He stayed here last night, madam. And he has been here again this -evening. At present, he is out." - -"And what is this?" - -She motioned towards the open bag, with its contents strewed upon the -table. - -"That is Mr. Paxton's. Mr. Ireland has forced it open." - -Miss Strong turned towards Ireland--a veritable feminine fury. - -"You wretched spy! you cowardly thief! To take advantage of a man's -back being turned to poke and pry among his private possessions in -order to gratify your curiosity! Is that the science of detection?" -She transferred her attentions to the manager. "And you--are those the -lines on which your hotel is conducted, that you hand over, in their -absence, the belongings of your guests to the tender mercies of such a -man as this? If so, then your methods of management ought to be known -more widely than they are. Decent people will then know what they have -to expect when they trust themselves inside your doors." - -Treadwater did not seem as if he altogether relished the fashion of -the lady's speech. He began to make excuses. - -"I protested against Mr. Ireland's action; but on his producing a -search warrant, I yielded to the pressure of necessity." - -"The pressure of necessity! Do you call this the pressure of -necessity?" - -Miss Strong pointed a scornful finger at Mr. Ireland. Ostentatiously -ignoring her, the detective addressed himself to the manager. - -"I'm going now, Mr. Treadwater. I'll leave one of my men behind me. If -Mr. Paxton returns, he'll deal with him." - -The lady interposed. - -"What do you mean--he'll deal with him?" - -"What do I mean? I mean that Mr. Paxton will be arrested as soon as he -shows his nose inside the door. And I'll tell you what, Miss Strong, -if you were to use fewer hard words, and were to do something to prove -Mr. Paxton's innocence, instead of talking big about it, you might do -him more good than you're likely to do by the way in which you've been -going on up to now. I'll put these things together and take them with -me." - -By "these things" Mr. Ireland meant Mr. Paxton's. He moved towards the -table. Miss Strong thrust herself between him and it. - -"Don't touch them--don't dare to touch them! Don't dare to touch -Cyril's property! Do you suppose that, because you're a policeman, all -the world can be cowed into suffering you to commit open robbery?" - -She clutched at the table with both her hands, glaring at him like -some wild cat. Shrugging his shoulders, Ireland laughed, shortly, -grimly. - -"Very good, Miss Strong. There is nothing there which is of the -slightest consequence in this particular case. You are welcome to take -them in your custody. Only, remember, you assume the responsibility -for their safe keeping." - -"The man who forces open another man's portmanteau without the -knowledge of its owner becomes, I fancy, at once responsible for its -contents. And I promise you that if the slightest article is missing -you will be taught that even a policeman can be called to account." - -Without attempting to answer her, Ireland went towards the door, -pausing, as he went, to whisper to Mr. Franklyn-- - -"Why did you bring her with you? She'll only make bad worse." - -Mr. Franklyn shrugged his shoulders, as the detective himself had -done. - -"I didn't bring her! She brought me!" - -Miss Strong's clear tones came after the detective. - -"You set a man to spy on me, Mr. Ireland, and now I mean to spy on -you. We'll see if turn and turn about is not fair play, and if you -dare to try to prevent my going exactly where I please." - -Still ignoring her, Ireland went into the hall. There he found Hollier -in waiting. - -"Any report, Hollier?" - -"Nothing material, sir. I followed Mr. Franklyn to Medina Villas and -back, but saw nothing to cause me to suppose that he was in -communication with Mr. Paxton." - -"You remain here until I relieve you. If Mr. Paxton returns, arrest -him. Send for me if I am required. I will leave a man outside, so that -you can have help, if it is needed." - -Ireland went through the hall, and through the door, Miss Strong hard -upon his heels. On the steps he turned and spoke to her. - -"Now, Miss Strong, if you are wise, you'll go home and go to bed. You -may do as you like about attempting to follow me, but I promise you, I -shall not permit you to dog my footsteps one moment longer than it -suits my convenience. On that point you need be under no -misapprehension." - -The detective strode away. Miss Strong was about to follow, when Miss -Wentworth caught her by the arm. - -"Now, Daisy, be reasonable--you'll do no good by persisting--let's go -home." - -"Loose my arm." - -Miss Wentworth loosed it. - -In less than a minute Daisy had decreased the distance between Ireland -and herself to half a dozen feet. Franklyn and Miss Wentworth came -after, splashing through the mud and the mist, somewhat -disconsolately, a few paces in the rear. - -The cavalcade had gone, perhaps, fifty yards, when a figure, dashing -out of an entry they were passing, caught Ireland by the lapel of his -sleeve. - -"Guv'nor! I want to speak to you!" - -The figure was that of a man--an undersized, half-grown, very -shabby-looking man. The light was not bad enough to conceal so much. -The collar of a ragged, dirty coat was turned up high about his neck, -and an ancient billycock was crammed down upon his head. Stopping, -Ireland turned and looked at him. - -"You want to speak to me?" - -"Yes, Mr. Ireland; don't yer know me?" - -"Know you?" Suddenly Ireland's arm went out straight from the -shoulder, and the stranger, as if he had been a rat, was gripped -tightly by the neck. "Yes, Bill Cooper, I do know you. I've been -looking for you some time. There's something which I rather wish to -say to you. Now, what's your little game?" - -The man's voice became a whine; the change was almost excusable when -one considers how uncomfortable he must have been in the detective's -grasp. Daisy, who was standing within a yard, could hear distinctly -every word that was uttered. - -"Don't be nasty, Mr. Ireland, that ain't like you! I know you want -me--that's all right--but if you take me without hearing what I've got -to say you'll be sorry all the same." - -"Sorry, shall I? How do you make that out?" - -"Why, because I'll make your fortune for you if you'll give me half a -chance--leastways, I daresay it's made already, but I'll double it for -you, anyhow." - -"And pray how do you propose to do that?" - -"Why, I'll put you on to the biggest thing that ever you were put on -to." - -"You mean that you'll round on your comrades. I see. Is that it?" - -The stranger did not seem to altogether like the fashion in which Mr. -Ireland summed up his intentions. - -"You may call it what you please, but if I hadn't been used bad first -of all myself, I wouldn't have said a word; red-hot irons wouldn't -have made me. But when a chap's been used like I've been used, he -feels like giving of a bit of it back again; that's fair enough, ain't -it?" - -"Chuck the patter, Bill. Go on with what you have to say." - -"Look here, Mr. Ireland, you give me ten thick 'uns, enough to take me -to 'Merriker; I'll go there, and I'll put you on to them as had -something to do with them there Duchess of Datchet's diamonds what's -been and got theirselves mislaid." - -It was Daisy who answered. She seemed to speak in sudden and -uncontrollable excitement. "I don't know what ten thick 'uns are, but -if you do what you say I'll give you fifty pounds out of my own -pocket." - -The man regarded Miss Strong with an inquiring eye. - -"I don't know you, miss. Mr. Ireland, who's the lady?" - -"The lady's all right. She's a bit interested in the Datchet diamonds -herself. If she says she'll give you fifty pounds you'll get 'em, only -you've got to earn 'em, mind!" - -"Fifty pound!" The man drew a long breath. - -"I'd do pretty nigh anything for fifty pound, let alone the way -they've been and used me. I've been having a cruel hard time, I -have--cruel hard!" - -Ireland took Cooper by the shoulder and shook him, with the apparent -intention of waking him up. - -"All right, Mr. Ireland, all right; there ain't no call for you to go -handling of me; I ain't doing nothing to you. I don't know the lady, -and she don't know me, and I'm only a-trying to see that's it's all -right. You wouldn't do a pore bloke, miss, would you? That fifty'll be -all right?" - -Mr. Ireland presented Cooper with a second application of the previous -dose. - -"That fifty'll be all right, or rather it'll be all wrong, if you keep -me standing here much longer in the rain." - -"You are so hasty, Mr. Ireland, upon my word you are. I'm a-coming to -it, ain't I? Now I'll tell you straight. Tom the Toff, he done the -nicking; and the Baron, he put him up to it." Miss Strong looked -bewildered. - -"Tom the Toff? The Baron? Who are they?" - -The detective spoke. - -"I know who they are, Miss Strong. And I may tell Mr. Cooper that I've -had an eye on those two gentlemen already. What I want to know is -where the diamonds are. They're worth more than the rogues who took -them. Now, Bill, where are the shiners?" - -Cooper stretched out both his hands in front of him with a gesture -which was possibly intended to impress Mr. Ireland with a conviction -of his childlike candour. - -"That's where it is--just exactly where it is! I don't know where the -shiners are--and that's the trewth! Yet more don't nobody else seem to -know where the shiners are! That's what the row's about! Seems as how -the shiners has hooked theirselves clean off--and ain't there -ructions! So far as I can make out from what I've come across and put -together, don't yer know, it seems as how a cove as they calls -Paxton----" - -"Paxton!" - -The name came simultaneously from Ireland and Miss Strong. - -"I don't know as that's his name--that's only what I've heard 'em call -him, don't yer know. He's a rare fine toff, a regular out-and-outer, -whatever his name is. It seems as how this here cove as they calls -Paxton has been playing it off on the Toff and the Baron, and taken -the whole blooming lot of sparklers for his own--so far as I can make -out, he has." - -"It's a lie!" - -This was, of course, Miss Strong. The plain speaking did not seem to -hurt Mr. Cooper's feelings. - -"That I don't know nothing at all about; I'm only telling you what I -know. And I do know that they've had a go at this here cove as they -calls Paxton more than once, and more than twice, and that now they've -got him fast enough." - -Mr. Ireland twisted Cooper round, so that the electric lamplight shone -on his face. - -"What do you mean--they've got him fast enough?" - -"I mean what I says, don't I? They got hold of him this evening, and -they've took him to a crib they got, and if he don't hand over them -sparklers they'll murder him as soon as look at him." - -Miss Strong turned to the detective with shining eyes. - -"Mr. Ireland, save him! What shall we do?" - -"Don't put yourself out, Miss Strong. This may turn out to be the best -thing that could have happened to Mr. Paxton. Bill, where's this crib -of theirs?" - -Cooper pushed his hat on to the side of his head. - -"I don't know as how I could rightly describe it to you--Brighton -ain't my home, you know. But I daresay I could show it to you if I was -to try." - -"Then you shall try. Listen to me, Bill Cooper. If you take me to this -crib of theirs, and if what you say is true, and you don't try to play -any of those tricks of yours, I'll add something of my own to this -lady's fifty, and it'll be the best stroke of business that you ever -did in all your life." - -Ireland called a cab. He allowed Daisy to enter first. Cooper got in -after her. - -"The police-station, driver--as fast as you can." - -Cooper immediately wanted to get out again. - -"Where are you a-taking me to? I ain't going to no police-station!" - -"Stay where you are, you idiot! So long as you act fairly with me, -I'll act fairly with you. You don't suppose that this is a sort of job -that I can tackle single-handed? I'm going to the station to get help. -Now then, driver, move that horse of yours!" - -The cab moved off, leaving Miss Wentworth and Mr. Franklyn to follow -in another if they chose. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - - AMONG THIEVES - - -Cyril was vaguely conscious of the touch of some one's hand about -the region of his throat; not of a soft or a gentle hand, but of a -clumsy, fumbling, yet resolute paw. Then of something falling on to -him--falling with a splashing sound. He opened his eyes, heavily, -dreamily. He heard a voice, speaking as if from afar. - -"Hullo, chummie, so you ain't dead, after all?--leastways, not as yet -you ain't." - -The voice was not a musical voice, nor a friendly one. It was harsh -and husky, as if the speaker suffered from a chronic cold. It was the -voice not only of an uneducated man, but of the lowest type of -English-speaking human animal. Cyril shuddered as he heard it. His -eyes closed of their own accord. - -"Now then!" - -The words were accompanied by a smart, stinging blow on Mr. Paxton's -cheek, a blow from the open palm of an iron-fronted hand. Severe -though it was, Paxton was in such a condition of curious torpor that -it scarcely seemed to stir him. It induced him to open his eyes again, -and that, apparently, was all. - -"Look here, chummie, if you're a-going to make a do of it, make a do -of it, and we'll bury you. But if you're going to keep on living, move -yourself, and look alive about it. I ain't going to spend all my time -waiting for you--it's not quite good enough." - -While the flow of words continued, Cyril endeavoured to get the -speaker's focus--to resolve his individuality within the circuit of -his vision. And, by degrees, it began to dawn on him that the man was, -after all, quite close to him: too close, indeed--very much too close. -With a sensation of disgust he realised that the fellow's face was -actually within a few inches of his own--realised, too, what an -unpleasant face it was, and that the man's horrible breath was -mingling with his. It was an evil face, the face of one who had grown -prematurely old. Staring eyes were set in cavernous sockets. A month's -growth of bristles accentuated the animalism of the man's mouth, and -jaw, and chin. His ears stuck out like flappers. His forehead receded. -His scanty, grizzled hair looked as if it had been shaved off close to -his head. Altogether, the man presented a singularly unpleasant -picture. As Paxton grasped, slowly enough, how unpleasant, he became -conscious of a feeling of unconquerable repulsion. - -"Who are you?" he asked. - -His voice did not sound to him as if it were his own. It was thin, and -faint like the voice of some puny child. - -"Me?" The fellow chuckled--not by any means in a way which was -suggestive of mirth. "I'm the Lord Mayor and Aldermen--that's who I -am." - -Paxton's senses were so dulled, and he felt so stupid, that he was -unable to understand, on the instant, if the fellow was in earnest. - -"The Lord Mayor and Aldermen--you?" - -The man chuckled again. - -"Yes; and likewise the Dook of Northumberland and the Archbishop of -Canterbury. Let alone the Queen's own R'yal physician, what's been -specially engaged, regardless of all cost, to bring you back to life, -so as you can be killed again." - -The man's words made Cyril think. Killed again? What had happened to -him already? Where was he? Something seemed suddenly to clear his -brain, and to make him conscious of the strangeness of his -surroundings. He tried to move, and found he could not. - -"What's the matter? Where am I?" - -"As for what's the matter, why, there's one or two things as is the -matter. And, as for where you are, why, that's neither here nor there. -If I was you, I wouldn't ask no questions." - -Mr. Paxton looked at the speaker keenly. His eyesight was improving. -The sense of accurate perception was returning to him fast. The -clearer his head became, the more acutely he realised that something -beyond the normal seemed to be weighing on his physical frame, and to -clog all the muscles of his body. - -"What tricks have you been playing on me?" - -The man's huge mouth was distorted by a mirthless grin. - -"There you are again, asking of your questions. Ain't I told yer, not -half a moment since, that if I was you I wouldn't? I've only been -having a little game with you, that's all." - -The man's tone stirred Paxton to sudden anger. It was all he could do -to prevent himself giving utterance to what, under the circumstances, -would have been tantamount to a burst of childish petulance. He tried -again to move, and immediately became conscious that at least the -upper portion of his body was sopping wet, and he was lying in what -seemed to be a pool of water. - -"What's this I'm lying in?" - -For answer the man, taking up a pail which had been standing by his -side, dashed its contents full into Cyril's face. - -"That's what you're lying in--about eighteen gallons or so of that; as -nice clean water as ever you swallowed. You see, I've had to give you -a sluicing or two, to liven you up. We didn't want to feel, after all -the trouble we've had to get you, as how we'd lost you." - -The water, for which Mr. Paxton had been wholly unprepared, and which -had been hurled at him with considerable force, had gone right into -his eyes and mouth. He had to struggle and gasp for breath. His -convulsive efforts seemed to amuse his assailant not a little. - -"That's right, choke away! A good plucked one you are, from what I -hear. Fond of a bit of a scrap, I'm told. A nice little job they seem -to have had of it a-getting of you here." - -As the fellow spoke, the events of the night came back to Cyril in a -sudden rush of memory. His leaving the hotel, flushed with excitement; -the glow of pleasure which had warmed the blood in his veins at the -prospect of meeting Daisy laden with good tidings--he remembered it -all. Remembered, too, how, when he had scarcely started on his quest, -some one, unexpectedly, had come upon him from behind, and how a cloth -had been thrown across his face and held tightly against his mouth--a -wet cloth, saturated with some sticky, sweet-smelling stuff. And how -it had dragged him backwards, overpowering him all at once with a -sense of sickening faintness. He had some misty recollection, too, of -a cab standing close beside him, and of his being forced into it. But -memory carried him no further; the rest was blank. - -He had been kidnapped--that was clear enough; the cloth had been -soaked with chloroform--that also was sufficiently clear. The -after-effects of chloroform explained the uncomfortable feeling which -still prostrated him. But by whom had he been kidnapped? and why? and -how long ago? and where had his captors brought him? - -He was bound hand and foot--that also was plain. His hands were drawn -behind his back and tied together at the wrists, with painful -tightness, as he was realising better and better every moment. He had -been thrown on his back, so that his whole weight lay on his arms. -What looked like a clothes line had been passed over his body, -fastened to a ring, or something which was beneath him, on the floor, -and then drawn so tightly across his chest that not only was it -impossible for him to move, but it was even hard for him to breathe. -As if such fastenings were not enough, his feet and legs had been -laced together and rendered useless, cords having been wound round -and round him from his ankles to his thighs. A trussed fowl could not -have been more helpless. The wonder was that, confined in such bonds, -he had ever been able to escape the stupefying effects of the -chloroform--even with the aid of his companion's pail of water. - -The room in which he was lying was certainly not an apartment in any -modern house. The floor was bare, and, as he was painfully conscious, -unpleasantly uneven. The ceiling was low and raftered, and black with -smoke. At one end was what resembled a blacksmith's furnace rather -than an ordinary stove. Scattered about were not only hammers and -other tools, but also a variety of other implements, whose use he did -not understand. The place was lighted by the glowing embers of a fire, -which smouldered fitfully upon the furnace, and also by a lamp which -was suspended from the centre of the raftered ceiling--the glass of -which badly needed cleaning. A heavy deal table stood under the lamp, -and this, together with a wooden chair and a stool or two, was all the -furniture the place contained. How air and ventilation were obtained -Paxton was unable to perceive, and the fumes which seemed to escape -from the furnace were almost stifling in their pungency. - -While Paxton had been endeavouring to collect his scattered senses, so -that they might enable him, if possible, to comprehend his situation, -the man with the pail had been eyeing him with a curious grin. - -Paxton asked himself, as he looked at him, if the man might not be -susceptible to the softening influence of a substantial bribe. He -decided, at any rate, to see if he had not in his constitution such a -thing as a sympathetic spot. - -"These ropes are cutting me like knives. If you were to loosen them a -bit you would still have me tied as tight as your heart could desire. -Suppose you were to ease them a trifle." - -The fellow shook his head. - -"It couldn't be done, not at no price. It's only a-getting of yer used -to what's a-coming--it ain't nothing to what yer going to have, lor' -bless yer, no. The Baron, he says to me, says he, 'Tie 'em tight,' he -says, 'don't let's 'ave no fooling,' he says. 'So as when the Toff's -a-ready to deal with him he'll be in a humbler frame of mind.'" - -"The Baron?--the Toff?--who are they?" - -"There you are again, a-asking of your questions. If you ask questions -I'll give you another dose from this here pail." - -The speaker brandished his pail with a gesture which was illustrative -of his meaning. Paxton felt, as he regarded him, that he would have -given a good round sum to have been able to carry on a conversation -with him on terms of something like equality. - -"What's your name?" - -"What!" - -As, almost unconsciously, still another question escaped Mr. Paxton's -lips, the fellow, moving forward, brandished his pail at arm's length -above his shoulders. Although he expected, momentarily, that the -formidable weapon would be brought down with merciless force upon his -unprotected face and head, Paxton, looking his assailant steadily in -the eyes, showed no signs of flinching. It was, possibly, this which -induced the fellow to change his mind--for change it he apparently -did. He brought the pail back slowly to its original position. - -"Next time you'll get it. I'm dreadful short of temper, I am--can't -stand no crossing. Talk to me about the state of the nation, or the -price of coals, or your mother-in-law, and I'm with you, but questions -I bar." - -Paxton tried to summon up a smile. - -"Under different circumstances I should be happy to discuss with you -the political and other tendencies of the age, but just at present, -for conversation on such an exalted plane, the conditions can scarcely -be called auspicious." - -Up went the pail once more. - -"None of your sauce for me, or you'll get it. Now, what's the matter?" - -The matter was that Paxton had closed his eyes and compressed his -lips, and that a suggestive pallor had come into his cheeks. The pain -of his ligatures was rapidly becoming so excruciating that it was as -much as he could do to bear it and keep his senses. - -"These ropes of yours cut like knives," he murmured. - -Instead of being moved to pity, the fellow was moved to smile. - -"Like another pailful--hot or cold?" - -It was a moment or two before Paxton could trust himself to speak. -When he did it was once more with the ghastly semblance of a smile. - -"What a pleasant sort of man you seem to be!" - -"I am that for certain sure." - -"What would you say to a five-pound note?" - -"Thank you; I've got one or two of them already. Took 'em out of your -pocket, as you didn't seem to have no use for them yourself." - -While Paxton was endeavouring, seemingly, to grasp the full meaning of -this agreeable piece of information, a door at the further end of the -room was opened and some one else came in. Paxton turned his head to -see who it was. It was with a sense of shock, and yet, with a -consciousness that it was, after all, what he might have expected, -that he perceived that the newcomer was the ill-favoured associate of -Mr. Lawrence, towards whom he had felt at first sight so strong an -aversion. He was attired precisely as he had been when Paxton had seen -him last--in the long, loose, black overcoat and the amazingly high -tall hat. As he stood peering across the room, he looked like some -grotesque familiar spirit come straight from shadowland. - -"Well, my Skittles, and is our good friend still alive--eh?" - -The man with the pail thus addressed as Skittles grinned at Paxton as -he answered. - -"The blokey's all right. Him and me's been having a little friendly -talk together." - -"Is that so? I hope, my Skittles, you have been giving Mr. Paxton a -little good advice?" - -The man with the curious foreign accent came, and, standing by Cyril's -side, glowered down on him like some uncanny creature of evil origin. - -"Well, Mr. Paxton, I am very glad to see you, sir, underneath this -humble roof--eh?" - -Paxton looked up at him as steadily as the pain which he was enduring -would permit. - -"I don't know your name, sir, or who you are, but I must request you -to give me, if you can, an explanation of this extraordinary outrage -to which I have been subjected?" - -"Outrage--eh? You have been subjected to outrage? Alas! It is hard, -Mr. Paxton, that a man of your character should be subjected to -outrage--not true--eh?" - -"You'll be called to account for this, for that you may take my word. -My absence has been discovered long ago, and I have friends who will -leave no stone unturned till they have tracked you to your lair." - -"Those friends of yours, Mr. Paxton, will be very clever if they track -me to what you call my lair until it is too late--for you! You have my -promise. Before that time, if you are not very careful, you will be -beyond the reach of help." - -"At any rate I shall have the pleasure of knowing that, for your share -in the transaction, you'll be hanged." - -The German-American shrugged his shoulders. - -"Well, perhaps. That is likely, anyhow. It is my experience that, -sooner or later, one has to pay for one's little amusements, as, Mr. -Paxton, you are now to find." - -Paxton's lips curled. There was something about the speaker's -manner--in his voice, with its continual suggestion of a sneer, about -his whole appearance--which filled him with a sense of loathing to -which he would have found it impossible to give utterance in words. He -felt as one might feel who is brought into involuntary contact with an -unclean animal. - -"I don't know if you are endeavouring to frighten me. Surely you are -aware that I am not to be terrified by threats?" - -"With threats? Oh, no! I do not wish to frighten you with threats. -That I will make you afraid, is true, but it will not be with -threats--I am not so foolish. You think that nothing will make you -afraid? Mr. Paxton, I have seen many men like that. When a man is -fresh and strong, and can defend himself, and still has hopes, it -takes a deal, perhaps, to make him afraid. But when a man is helpless, -and is in the hands of those who care not what he suffers, and he has -undergone a little course of scientific treatment, there comes a time -when he is afraid--oh, yes! As you will see. Why, Mr. Paxton, what is -the matter with you? You look as if you were afraid already." - -Paxton's eyes were closed, involuntarily. Beads of sweat stood upon -his brow. The muscles of his face seemed to be convulsed. It was a -second or two before he was able to speak. - -"These cords are killing me. Tell that friend of yours to loosen -them." - -"Loosen them? Why, certainly. Why not? My Skittles, loosen the cords -which give Mr. Paxton so much annoyance--at once." - -Skittles looked at the Baron with doubtful eyes. - -"Do you mean it, Baron?" - -The Baron--as the German-American was designated by Skittles--burst, -without the slightest warning, into a frenzy of rage, which, although -it was suggested rather than expressed, seemed to wither Skittles, -root and branch, as if it had been a stroke of lightning. - -"Mean it?--you idiot! How dare you ask if I mean it? Do as I say!" - -Skittles lost no time in doing his best to appease the other's anger. - -"You needn't be nasty, Baron. I never meant no harm. You don't always -mean just exactly what you says--and that's the truth, Baron." - -"Never you mind what I mean at other times--this time I mean what I -say. Untie the ropes which fasten Mr. Paxton to the floor--the ropes -about his hands and his feet, they are nothing, they will do very well -where they are. A change of position will do him good--eh? Lift him up -on to his feet, and stand him in the corner against the wall." - -Skittles did as he was bid--at any rate, to the extent of unfastening -the cords, which, as it were, nailed Paxton to the ground. The relief -was so sudden, and, at the same time, so violent, that before he knew -it, he had fainted. Fortunately, his senses did not forsake him long. -He returned to consciousness just in time to hear the Baron-- - -"My Skittles, you get a pail of boiling water, so hot it will bring -the skin right off him. It's the finest thing in the world to bring a -man out of a faint--you try it, quick, you will see." - -Paxton interposed, feebly--just in time to prevent the drastic -prescription being given actual effect. - -"You needn't put your friend to so much trouble. I must apologise for -going off. I was never guilty of such a thing before. But if you had -felt as I felt you might have fainted too." - -"That is so--not a doubt of it. And yet, Mr. Paxton, a little time -ago, if I had told you that just because a cord was untied you would -faint, like a silly woman, you would have laughed at me. It is the -same with fear. You think that nothing will make you afraid. My -friends, and myself, we will show you. We will make you so afraid -that, even if you escape with your life, and live another fifty years, -you will carry your fear with you always--always--to the grave." - -The Baron rubbed his long, thin, yellow hands together. - -"Now, my Skittles, you will lift Mr. Paxton on to his feet, and you -will stand him in the corner there, against the wall. He is very well -again, in the best of health, and in the best of spirits, eh? Our -friend"--there was a perceptible pause before the name was -uttered--"Lawrence--you know Mr. Lawrence, my Skittles, very well--is -not yet ready to talk to our good friend Mr. Paxton--no, not quite, -yet. So, till he is ready, we must keep Mr. Paxton well amused, is -that not so, my Skittles, eh?" - -Acting under the Baron's instructions, Skittles picked up Mr. Paxton -as if he had been a child, and--although he staggered beneath the -burden--carried him to the corner indicated by the other. When Cyril -had been placed to the Baron's--if not to his own--satisfaction, the -Baron produced from his hip-pocket a revolver. No toy affair such as -one sees in England, but the sort of article which is found, and -commonly carried, in certain of the Western states of America, and -which thereabouts is called, with considerable propriety, a gun. This -really deadly weapon the Baron proceeded to fondle in a fashion which -suggested that, after all, he actually had in his heart a tenderness -for something. - -"Now, my Skittles, it is some time since I have had practice with my -revolver; I am going to have a little practice now. I fear my hand may -be a trifle out; it is necessary that a man in my position should -always keep it in--eh? Mr. Paxton, I am going to amuse you very -much indeed. I am a pretty fair shot--that is so. If you keep quite -still--very, very still indeed--I do not think that I shall hit you, -perhaps not. But, if you move ever so little, by just that little you -will be hit. It will not be my fault, it will be yours, you see. I am -going to singe the lobe of your left ear. Ready! Fire!" - -The Baron fired. - -Although released from actual bondage to the floor, Mr. Paxton was -still, to all intents and purposes, completely helpless. His hands -remained pinioned. Cords were wound round his legs so many times, and -were drawn so tightly, that the circulation was impeded, and without -support he was incapable of standing up straight on his own feet. He -had no option but to confront the ingenious Baron, and to suffer him -to play what tricks with him he pleased. Whatever he felt he suffered -no signs of unwillingness to escape him. He looked his tormentor in -the face as unflinchingly as if the weapon which he held had been a -popgun. Scarcely had the shot been fired than, in one sense, if not in -another, he gave the "shootist" as good as he had sent. - -"You appear to be a braggart as well as a bully. You can't shoot a -bit. That landed a good half-inch wide of my left ear." - -"Did I not say I fear my hand is a little out? Now it is your right -ear which I will make to tingle. Ready! Fire!" - -Again the Baron fired. - -So far as one was able to perceive, his victim did not move by so much -as a hair's breadth, yet there was a splash of blood upon his cheek. - -"Now I will try to put a bullet into the wall quite close to the right -side of your throat. Ready! Fire!" - - - - - CHAPTER XV - - PUT TO THE QUESTION - - -The noise of the report had not yet died away, and the cloud of smoke -got wholly clear of the muzzle of the Baron's revolver, when the door -of the room was thrown open to admit some one, who in low, clear, -even, authoritative tones, asked a question-- - -"Who's making this noise?" - -Whether the Baron's aim had this time been truer there was, as yet, no -evidence to show. Cyril had, at any rate, escaped uninjured. At the -sound of the voice, which, although it had been heard by him so -seldom, had already become too familiar, he glanced round towards the -questioner. It was Lawrence. He stood just inside the door, looking -from the Baron to the involuntary target of that gentleman's little -pleasantries. Close behind him were two men, whom Paxton immediately -recognised as old acquaintances; the one was the individual who had -taken a bed for the night at Makell's Hotel, who had shown such a -pertinacious interest in his affairs, and whom he had afterwards -suspected of an attempt to effect an entrance through his bedroom -door; the second was the person who, the next morning, had followed -him to the Central Station, and of whose too eager attentions he had -rid himself by summoning a constable. - -In the looks which Lawrence directed towards the Baron there seemed to -be something both of reproach and of contempt. - -"Pray, what is the meaning of this?" - -The Baron made a movement in the air with one hand, then pointed with -it to the revolver which he held in the other. - -"My friend, it is only a little practice which I have--that is all! It -is necessary that I keep my hand well in--not so--eh?" - -Lawrence's voice as he replied was alive with quiet scorn. - -"I would suggest that you should choose a more appropriate occasion on -which to indulge yourself in what you call a little practice. Did it -not occur to you, to speak of nothing else, that it might be as well -to make as little, instead of as much, noise as you conveniently -could?" He went and stood in front of Mr. Paxton. "I am sorry, sir, -that we should meet again under such disagreeable conditions; but, as -you are aware, the responsibility for what has occurred cannot, -justly, be laid either on my friends or on myself." - -Paxton's reply was curt. The abrupt, staccato, contemptuous tone in -which he spoke was in striking contrast to Lawrence's mellifluous -murmurings. - -"I am aware of nothing of the sort." - -Lawrence moved his head with a slight gesture of easy courtesy, which -might, or might not, have been significative of his acquiescence in -the other's point-blank contradiction. - -"What is that upon your face--blood?" - -"That is proof positive of your bungling friend's bad markmanship. He -would, probably, have presented me with a few further proofs of his -incapacity had you postponed your arrival for a few minutes longer." - -Lawrence repeated his former courteous inclination. - -"My friend is a man of an unusual humour. Apt, occasionally, like the -rest of us, to rate his capacities beyond their strict deserts." He -turned to the two men who had come with him into the room. "Untie Mr. -Paxton's legs." Then back again to Cyril. "I regret, sir, that it is -impossible for me, at the moment, to extend the same freedom to your -arms and hands. But it is my sincerest trust that, in a very few -minutes, we may understand each other so completely as to place it in -my power to restore you, without unnecessary delay, to that position -in society from which you have been withdrawn." - -Although Paxton was silent outwardly, his looks were eloquent of the -feelings with which he regarded the other's well-turned phrases. When -his legs had been freed, the two newcomers, standing on either side of -him as if they had been policemen, urged him forward, until he stood -in front of the heavy table which occupied the centre of the room. On -the other side of the table Lawrence had already seated himself on the -only chair which the place contained. The Baron, still holding his -revolver, had perched himself on a corner of the table itself. -Lawrence, leaning a little forward on his chair, with one arm resting -on the table, never lost his bearing of apparent impartiality, and, -while he spoke with an air of quiet decision, never showed signs of a -ruffled temper. - -"I have already apologised to you, sir, for the discomforts which you -may have endured; but, as you are aware, those discomforts you have -brought upon yourself." - -Paxton's lips curled, but he held his peace. - -"My friends and I are in the position of men who make war upon -society. As is the case in all wars, occasions arise on which -exceptional measures have to be taken which, though unpleasant for all -the parties chiefly concerned, are inevitable. You are an example of -such an occasion." - -Cyril's reply was sufficiently scornful. - -"You don't suppose that your wind-bag phrases hoodwink me. You're a -scoundrel; and, in consort with other scoundrels, you have taken -advantage of a gentleman. I prefer to put the matter into plain -English." - -To this little outburst Lawrence paid no attention. For all the notice -he seemed to take of them the contemptuous words might have remained -unuttered. - -"It is within your knowledge that, in pursuit of my profession, I -appropriated the Duchess of Datchet's diamonds. I do not wish to -impute to you, Mr. Paxton, acts of which you may have not been guilty; -therefore I say that I think it possible it was by accident you -acquired that piece of information. It is in the same spirit of -leniency that I add that, at the refreshment-rooms at the Central -Station, it was by mistake that you took my Gladstone bag in exchange -for your own. I presume that at this time of day you do not propose to -deny that such an exchange was effected. In that Gladstone bag of -mine, which you took away with you by mistake instead of your own, as -you know, were the Datchet diamonds. What I have now to ask you to -do--and I desire, I assure you, Mr. Paxton, to ask you with all -possible courtesy--is to return those diamonds at once to me, their -rightful owner." - -"By what process of reasoning do you make out that you are the -rightful owner of the Datchet diamonds?" - -"By right of conquest." - -"Right of conquest! Then, following your own line of reasoning, even -taking it for granted that all you have chosen to say of me is -correct, I in my turn have become their rightful owner." - -"Precisely. But the crux of the position is this. If the duchess could -get me into her power she would stick at nothing to extort from me the -restitution of the stones. In the same way, now that I have you in my -power, I intend to stick at nothing which will induce their -restoration from you." - -"The difference between you and myself is, shortly, this--you are a -thief, and I am an honest man." - -"Pray, Mr. Paxton, what is your standard of honesty? If you were -indeed the kind of honest man that you would appear to wish us to -believe you are, you would at once have handed the stones to the -police, or even have restored them to the duchess." - -"How do you know that I have not?" - -"I will tell you how I know. If you had been so honest there would not -be in existence now a warrant to arrest you on the charge of stealing -them. Things being as they are, it happens that there is." - -"It's an impudent lie!" - -"Possibly you may believe it to be an impudent lie; still, it is the -truth. A warrant for your arrest has been granted to-day to your -friend Ireland, of Scotland Yard, on his sworn information. I merely -mention this as evidence that you have not handed the stones to the -police, that you have not returned them to the duchess, but that you -have retained them in your possession with a view of using them for -purposes of your own, and that, therefore, your standard of morality -is about on a level with ours." - -"What you say is, from first to last, a tissue of lies. You hound! You -know that! Although it is a case of five to one, my hands are tied, -and so it's safe to use what words you please." - -Lawrence, coming closer to the table, leaned both his elbows on the -board, and crossed his arms in front of him. - -"It seems, Mr. Paxton, as if you, a man of whose existence I was -unaware until the other day, have set yourself to disappoint me in two -of the biggest bids I have ever made for fortune and for happiness. I -am a thief. It has never been made sufficiently plain to me that the -difference between theft and speculation is such a vital one as to -clearly establish the superiority of the one over the other. But even -a thief is human--sometimes very human. I own I am. And it chances -that, for some days now, I had begun to dream dreams of a most amusing -kind--dreams of love--yes, and dreams of marriage. I chanced to meet a -certain lady--I do not think, Mr. Paxton, that I need name any names?" - -"It is a matter of indifference to me whether you do so or not." - -"Thank you, very much. With this certain lady I found myself in love. -I dreamt dreams of her--from which dreams I have recently arisen. A -new something came into my life. I even ventured, in my new-learned -presumption, to ask her would she marry me. Then for the first time I -learned that what I asked for already had been given, that what I so -longed for already was your own. It is strange how much one suffers -from so small a thing. You'd not believe it. In our first fall, then, -it seems that you have thrown me. - -"Then there is this business of the Datchet jewels. A man of your -experience cannot suppose that an affair of this magnitude can be -arranged and finished in a moment. It needs time, and careful -planning, and other things to boot. I speak as one who knows. Suppose -you planned some big haul upon the Stock Exchange, collected your -resources, awaited the propitious second, and, when it came, brought -off your coup. If in that triumphant moment some perfect stranger were -to carry off, from underneath your very nose, the spoils for which you -had risked so much, and which you regarded, and rightly regarded, as -your own, what would your feelings be towards such an one? Would you -not feel, at least, that you would like to have his blood? If you have -sufficient imagination to enable you to place yourself in such a -situation, you will then be able to dimly realise what, at the present -moment, our feelings are towards you." - -Paxton's voice, when he spoke, was, if possible, more contemptuous -than ever. - -"I care nothing for your feelings." - -"Precisely; and, by imparting to us that information, you make our -task much easier. We, like others, can fight for our own hands--and we -intend to. You see, Mr. Paxton, that, although I did the actual -conveying of the diamonds, and therefore the major share of the spoil -is mine, there were others concerned in the affair as well as myself, -and they naturally regard themselves as being entitled to a share of -the profits. You have, consequently, others to deal with as well as -myself, for we, to be plain, are many. And our desire is that you -should understand precisely what it is we wish to do. The first thing -which we wish you to do is to tell us where, at the present moment, -the diamonds are?" - -"Then I won't, even supposing that I know!" - -Lawrence went on without seeming to pay any heed to Cyril's -unqualified refusal-- - -"The second thing which we wish you to do--supposing you to have -placed the diamonds where it will be difficult for us to reach -them--is to give us an authority which will be sufficient to enable us -to demand, as your agents, if you choose, that the diamonds be handed -to us without unnecessary delay." - -"I will do nothing of the kind." - -Again Lawrence seemed to allow the refusal to go unheeded. - -"And we would like you to understand that, so soon as the diamonds are -restored to us, you will be free to go, and to do, and say exactly -what you please, but that you will continue to be our prisoner till -they are." - -"If my freedom is dependent on my fulfilling the conditions which you -would seek to impose, I shall continue to be what you call your -prisoner until I die; but, as it happens, my freedom is contingent on -nothing of the sort, as you will find." - -"We would desire, also, Mr. Paxton, that you should be under no -delusion. It is far from being our intention that what, as you put it, -we call your imprisonment should be a period of pleasant probation; on -the contrary, we intend to make it as uncomfortable as we can--which, -believe me, is saying not a little." - -"That, while I am at your mercy, you will behave in a cowardly and -brutal fashion I have no doubt whatever." - -"More. We have no greater desire than you have yourself that you -should continue to be, what we call, our prisoner. With a view, -therefore, to shortening the duration of your imprisonment we shall -leave no stone unturned--even if we have to resort to all the tortures -of the Spanish Inquisition--to extort from you the things which we -require." - -Paxton laughed--shortly, dryly, scornfully. - -"I don't know if your intention is to be impressive; if it is, I give -you my word that you don't impress me a little bit. Your attempts to -wrap up your rascality in fine-sounding phrases strike me as being -typical of the sort of man you are." - -"Mr. Paxton, before we come to actual business, let me advise -you--and, believe me, in this case my advice is quite unprejudiced--not -to treat us to any more of this kind of talk! Can't you realise that -it is not for counters we are playing? That men of our sort, in our -position, are not likely to stick at trifles? That it is a case of head -you lose, tails we win--for, while it is obviously a fact that we have -nothing we can lose, it is equally certainly a fact that there is -nothing you can gain? So learn wisdom; be wise in time; endeavour to be -what I would venture to call conformable. Be so good as to give me your -close attention. I should be extremely obliged, Mr. Paxton, if you -would give me an answer to the question which I am about to put to you. -Where, at the present moment, are the Datchet diamonds?" - -"I would not tell you even if I knew." - -"You do know. On that point there can be no room for doubt. We mean to -know, too, before we've done with you. Is that your final answer?" - -"It is." - -"Think again." - -"Why should I think?" - -"For many reasons. I will give still another chance; I will repeat my -question. Before you commit yourself to a reply, do consider. Tell me -where, at the present moment, are the Datchet diamonds?" - -"That I will never tell you." - -Mr. Lawrence made a movement with his hands which denoted disapproval. - -"Since you appear to be impervious to one sort of reasoning, perhaps -you may be more amenable to another kind. We will do our best to make -you." Mr. Lawrence turned to the man who had been addressed as -Skittles. "Be so good as to put a branding-iron into the fire, the one -on which there is the word 'thief.'" - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - - A MODERN INSTANCE OF AN ANCIENT PRACTICE - - -Skittles, when he had, apparently with an effort, mastered the nature -of Mr. Lawrence's instructions, grinned from ear to ear. - -He went to where a number of iron rods with broad heads were heaped -together on a shelf. They were branding-irons. Selecting one of these, -he thrust it into the heart of the fire which glowed on the -blacksmith's furnace. He heaped fuel on to the fire. After a movement -or two of the bellows it became a roaring blaze. - -Lawrence turned to Mr. Paxton-- - -"Still once more--are you disposed to tell us where the Datchet -diamonds are?" - -"No." - -Lawrence smiled. He addressed himself to the two men who held Paxton's -arms. - -"Hold him tight. Now, Skittles, bring that iron of yours. Burn a hole -under Mr. Paxton's right shoulder-blade, through his clothing." - -Skittles again moved the iron from the fire. It had become nearly -white. He regarded it for a moment with a critical eye. Then, -advancing with it held at arm's length in front of him, he took up his -position at Mr. Paxton's back. - -"Don't let him go. Now!" - -Skittles thrust the flaming iron towards Paxton's shoulder-blade. - -There was a smell of burning cloth. For a second Paxton stood like a -statue; then, leaping right off his feet, he gave first a forward and -then a backward bound, displaying as he did so so much vigour that, -although his guardians retained their hold, Skittles, apparently, was -taken unawares. Possibly, with an artist's pride in good workmanship, -he had been so much engrossed by the anxiety to carry out the -commission with which he had been entrusted thoroughly well, that he -was unprepared for interruptions. However that may have been, when -Paxton moved his grip on the iron seemed to suddenly loosen, so that, -losing for the moment complete control of it, it fell down between -Paxton's arms, the red-hot brand at the further end resting on his -pinioned wrists. A cry as of a wounded animal, which he was totally -unable to repress, came from his lips--a cry half of rage, half of -agony. But the red-hot iron, while inflicting on him frightful pain, -had at least done him one good service; if it had burned his flesh, it -had also burned the cords which bound his wrists together. Exerting, -in his passion and his agony, the strength of half a dozen men, he -severed the scorched strands of rope as if they had been straws, and, -hurling from him the two fellows who held his arms--who had expected -nothing so little as to find his arms unbound--he stood before them, -so far as his limbs were concerned, free. - -Once lost, he was not to be easily regained. He was quicker in his -movements than Skittles had ever been, and the latter's quickest days -were long since done. Dropping on to one knee, plunging forward under -Skittles' guard, he butted that gentleman with his head full in the -stomach, and had snatched the iron by its handle from his astonished -hands before he had fully realised what was happening. Springing with -the rapidity of a jack-in-the-box, to his feet again, he brought the -dreadful weapon down heavily on Skittles' head. With a groan of agony, -that gentleman dropped like a log on to the floor. - -Armed with the heated iron--a kind of article with which no one would -care to come into close contact--Paxton turned and faced the others, -who as yet did not seem fully alive to what had taken place. - -"Now, you brutes! I may be bested in the end, but I'll be even with -one or two of you before I am!" - -Lawrence stood up. - -"Will you? That still remains to be seen. Shoot him, Baron!" - -The Baron fired. Either his marksmanship, or his nerve, or his -something, was at fault, for he missed. Before he could fire again -Paxton's weapon had crashed through his grotesquely tall high hat, and -apparently through his skull as well, for he too went headlong to the -floor. Quick as lightning as he fell Cyril took his revolver from his -nerveless grasp. Lawrence and his two colleagues were--a little late -in the day, perhaps--making for him. But when they saw how he was -doubly armed and his determined front they paused--and therein showed -discretion. - -The tables had turned. The fortune of war had gone over to what -hitherto had been distinctly the losing side. So at least Paxton -appeared to think. - -"Now, the question is, what shall I do with you? Shall I shoot all -three of you--or shall I brain one of you with this pretty little -play-thing, which I have literally snatched from the burning?" - -If one could draw deductions from the manner in which he bore himself, -Lawrence never for an instant lost his presence of mind. When he spoke -it was in the easy, quiet tones which he had used throughout. - -"You move too fast, forgetting two things--one, that you are caught -here like a rat in a trap, so that, unless we choose to let you, you -cannot get out of this place alive; the other, that I have only to -summon assistance to overwhelm you with the mere force of numbers." - -"Then why don't you summon assistance, if you are so sure that it will -come at your bidding?" - -"I intend to summon assistance when I choose." - -"I give you warning that, if you move so much as a muscle in an -attempt to attract the attention of any other of your associates who -may be about the place, I will shoot you!" - -For answer Lawrence smiled. Suddenly, lifting his hand, he put two -fingers to his lips and blew a loud, shrill, peculiar whistle. -Simultaneously Paxton raised the revolver, and, pointing it straight -at the other's head, he pulled the trigger. - -And that was all. No result ensued. There was the sound of a -click--and nothing more. His face darkened. A second time he pulled -the trigger; again without result. Mr. Lawrence's smile became more -pronounced. His tone was one of gentle badinage. - -"I thought so. You see, you will move too quickly. It is a -six-chambered revolver. I was aware that my highly esteemed friend had -discharged two barrels earlier in the evening, and had not reloaded. I -knew that he had taken two, if not three, little pops at you, and had -had another little pop just now. If, therefore, he had not recharged -in my absence the barrels I had seen him empty, and had taken, before -I interrupted him, three little pops at you, the revolver must be -empty. I thought the risk worth taking, and I took it." - -While Cyril seemed to hesitate as to what to do next, Lawrence, -raising his fingers to his lips, blew another cat-call. - -While the shrill discord still travelled through the air, Paxton -sprang towards him. Stepping back, the whistler, picking up the wooden -chair on which he had been sitting, dashed it in his assailant's face. -And at the same moment the two men who had hitherto remained passive -spectators of what had been, practically, an impromptu if abortive -duel, closed in on Paxton from either side. - -He struck at one with his clubbed revolver. The other, getting his arm -about his throat, dragged him backwards on to the floor. He was down, -however, only for a second. Slipping from the fellow's grasp like an -eel, he was up again in time to meet the renewed attack from the man -whom he had already struck with his revolver. He struck at him again; -but still the man was not disabled. - -Meanwhile, his more prudent companion, conducting his operations from -the rear, again got his arms about Paxton. The three went in a heap -together on the floor. - -Just then the door was opened and some one entered on the scene. -Paxton did not stop to see who it was. Exercising what seemed to be a -giant's strength, he succeeded in again freeing himself from the grasp -of his two opponents. Leaping to his feet, he made a mad dash at -Lawrence. That gentleman, springing nimbly aside, eluded the -threatening blow from the clubbed revolver, delivered neatly enough a -blow with his clenched fist full in Mr. Paxton's face. The blow was a -telling one. Mr. Paxton staggered; then, just as he seemed about to -fall, recovered himself, and struck again at Mr. Lawrence. This time -the blow went home. The butt of the revolver came down upon the -other's head with a sickening thud. The stricken man flung up his -arms, and, without a sound, collapsed in an invertebrate heap. - -The whole place became filled with confusion and shouts. - -With what seemed to be a sudden inspiration, swinging right round, -with the branding-iron, which he had managed to retain in his -possession, Paxton struck at the hanging lamp, which was suspended -from the ceiling. In a moment the atmosphere began to be choked by the -suffocating fumes of burning oil. A sheet of fire was running across -the floor. Heedless of all else, Paxton rushed towards the door. - -Such was the confusion occasioned by the disappearance of the lamp, -and by the appearance of the flames, that his frantic flight seemed -for the moment to be unnoticed. He tore through the door, up a narrow -flight of steps rising between two walls, which he found in front of -him, only, however, to find an individual awaiting his arrival at the -top. This individual was evidently one who deemed that there are cases -in which discretion is the better part of valour, and that the present -case was one of them. When Paxton appeared, instead of trying to -arrest his progress, he moved hastily aside, evincing, indeed, a -conspicuous unwillingness to offer him any impediment in his wild -career. Paxton passed him. There was a door in front of him. In his -mad haste, throwing it open, he went through it. In an instant it was -banged behind him; he heard the sound of a bolt being shot home into -its socket, and of a voice exclaiming with a chuckle--on the other -side of the door!-- - -"Couldn't have done it better if I'd tried, I couldn't! Locked hisself -in--straight he has!" - -Too late Paxton learned that, to all intents and purposes, that was -exactly what he had done. - -The place in which he found himself was pitchy dark. He had supposed -that it might be a passage leading to a door beyond. It proved -to be nothing of the kind. It seemed, instead, to be some sort of -cupboard--probably a pantry--for he could feel that there were shelves -on either side of him, and that on the shelves were what seemed to be -victuals. Though narrow, by stretching out his arms he could feel the -wall with either hand; it extended, longitudinally, to some -considerable distance--possibly to twenty feet. At the further end -there was a window. It was at an inconvenient height from the floor, -and directly under it was a shelf. On this shelf, so far as he was -able to judge, was an indiscriminate collection of pieces of crockery. -The shelf, however, was a broad one, and, disregarding the various -impedimenta with which it seemed to be covered, by clambering on to it -he was brought within easy reach of the window. It was a small one, -and had two sashes. Had the sashes not been there, there might have -been sufficient space to enable him to thrust his body through the -frame. They were of the ordinary kind, moving up and down, and, in -consequence, when they were open to their widest extent, only half the -window space was available either for ingress or for egress. - -He did throw up the lower sash as far as it would go, only to discover -that it scarcely gave him room enough to put the whole of his head -outside. Taking firm hold of the framework, he tested its solidity; it -appeared to be substantially constructed of some kind of heavy wood. -Though he exerted considerable force, it could hardly be induced to -rattle. To remove it, even if it was removable, would be a work of -time and of labour. Time he had not at his command. Although he was -fastened in, his assailants were not fastened out. At any moment they -might enter; his struggles--against such odds!--would have to be -recommenced all over again. - -He was conscious that the best of his strength was spent. He was stiff -and sore, weary and bewildered. Nor had he escaped uninjured. He was -covered with bruises--bruises which ached. Where the red-hot -branding-iron, slipping from Mr. Skittles' grasp, had struck against -his wrists, the flesh felt as if it had been burnt to the bone; it -occasioned him exquisite pain. No, in his present plight, recapture -would be easy. After the recent transactions, in which he had played -so prominent a figure, recapture would mean nameless tortures, if not -death outright. His only hope lay in flight, or--the thought came to -him as he was endeavouring to marshal his faculties in sufficient -order to enable him to take an impartial view of his position--in -summoning help. - -Summoning help? Yes! why not? The thing was feasible. Here was the -open window. He could call through it. His cries might be heard, and -if he could only make his shouts heard by some one without the alarm -would be raised, and he would soon be rescued from this den of -thieves. - -Thrusting his head out as far as possible, he shouted, with might and -with main--"Help! Murder! Help!" - -He listened. He seemed to hear the faint echo of his own words -travelling mockingly, mournfully, through the silent air. Naught else -was audible. All else was still as the grave. - -Nor did the prospect of his being able to make himself heard seem -promising. - -He had no notion whereabouts the house in which he was so unwilling a -guest was situated. In front of him he could see nothing but open -space. There was neither moon nor stars, nor was the atmosphere -particularly clear; yet, as his eyes grew more accustomed to the -darkness, it seemed to him that he could see for miles, and that there -was nothing to be seen. There was not a light in sight; no glare of -lights upon the distant sky; the shadow neither of a house nor of a -tree. No murmur of voices; no hum of far-off traffic; not even the -unceasing turmoil of the restless sea. - -Since, so far as he was able to perceive, the place seemed to be given -up to such utter and entire solitude, it struck him with unpleasant -force that it might be located in the very heart of the open Downs. In -that case it was quite upon the cards that there was not another human -habitation within miles. At night--even yet!--few places are more -deserted than the Brighton Downs. All sorts of deeds without a name, -so far as human witnesses are concerned, can be wrought thereon with -complete impunity. - -If the house was really built upon the Downs, his chances of making -himself heard were remote indeed. Still, in his desperate position, he -was not disposed to give up hope without making at least another -trial. Once more he shouted "Help! Murder! Help!" - -Again he listened. And this time, from what evidently was a -considerable distance, there was borne through the night what seemed -to be an answering call--"Hollo!" - -Seldom was so slight a sound so grateful to a listener's ears! - -With renewed ardour he repeated his shouts, with, if possible, even -greater vigour than before: "Quick! Help! Murder! Help!" - -Again, from afar, there seemed to come the faint response--"Hollo!" - -And at the same instant he became conscious of voices speaking -together outside the door of the cul-de-sac in which, foolishly -enough, he had allowed himself to be made, for a second time, a -prisoner. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - - THE MOST DANGEROUS FOR OF ALL - - -Mr. Paxton withdrew his face from the window. He turned towards the -door, his ears wide open. The speakers were talking so loudly that he -could hear distinctly, without moving from his post of vantage on the -shelf, every word which was uttered. They seemed to be in a state of -great excitement. - -The first voice he heard belonged evidently to the quick-witted -individual who had fastened him in the trap which he himself had -entered. - -"There he is--inside there he is--ran in of his own accord he did, so -I shut the door, and I slipped the bolt before he knowed where he was. -The winder's only a little 'un--if he gets hisself out, you can call -me names." - -The second voice was one which Mr. Paxton did not remember to have -previously noticed. - -"Blast him!--what do I care where he is? He ain't no affair of mine! -There's the Toff, and a crowd of 'em down there--you come and lend a -hand!" - -"Not me! I ain't a-taking any! I ain't going to get myself choked, not -for no Toff, nor yet for any one else. I feel more like cutting my -lucky--only I don't know my way across these ---- hills." - -"You ain't got no more pluck than a chicken. Go and put the 'orse in! -Me and them other two chaps will bring 'em up. We shall have to put -the whole lot aboard, and make tracks as fast as the old mare will -canter." - -A third voice became audible--a curiously husky one, as if its owner -was in difficulties with his throat. - -"Here's the Toff--he seems to be a case. I ain't a-going down no more. -It's no good a-trying to put it out--you might as well try to put out -'ell fire!" - -Then a fourth voice--even huskier than the other. - -"Catch 'old! If some one don't catch 'old of the Baron I shall drop -'im. My God! this is a pretty sort of go!" - -There was a pause, then the voice of the first speaker again. - -"He do look bad, the Baron do--worse nor the Toff, and he don't seem -too skittish!" - -"Strikes me he ain't far off from a coffin and a six-foot 'ole. You -wouldn't look lively if you'd had what he 'as. That there ---- brained -'im, and now he's been burned alive. I tell you what it is, we shall -have to look slippy if we want to get ourselves well out of this. Them -others will have to scorch--it's no good trying to get 'em out--no -mortal creature could live down there--it'll only be a bit sooner, -anyhow. The whole ---- place is like a ---- tinder-box. It'll all be -afire in less than no time, and it'll make a bonfire as'll be seen -over all the countryside; and if we was seen a-making tracks away from -it, there might be questions asked, and we mightn't find that pretty!" - -"Where's the ---- as done it all?" - -"In there--that's where he is!" - -"In there? Sure? My----! wouldn't I like to strip his skin from off -his ---- carcase!" - -"He'll have his skin stripped off from him without your doing nothing, -don't you be afraid--and made crackling of! He'll never get outside of -that--he'll soon be warm enough--burnt to a cinder, that's what he'll -be!" - -Suddenly there was a tumult of exclamations and of execrations, sound -of the opening of a door, and of a general stampede. Then silence. - -And Mr. Paxton realised to the full what had happened. For into the -place of his imprisonment there penetrated, all at once, the fumes of -smoke--fumes which had an unpleasantly irritating effect upon the -tonsils of his throat. - -The house was on fire! The hanging-lamp which he had sent crashing to -the floor had done its work--had, indeed, plainly, done more than he -intended. Nothing so difficult to extinguish as the flames of burning -oil. Nothing which gets faster, fiercer, more rapidly increasing -hold--nothing which, in an incredibly short space of time, causes more -widespread devastation. - -The house was on fire! and he was caged there like a rat in a trap! -The smoke already reached him--already the smell of the fire was in -his nostrils. And those curs, those cowards, those nameless brutes, -thinking only of their wretched selves, had left their comrades in -that flaming, fiery furnace, to perish by the most hideous of deaths, -and had left him, also, there to burn. - -In a sudden paroxysm of rage, leaping off the shelf, he rushed to the -opposite end of what, it seemed, bade fair to be his crematorium, and -flung himself with all his weight and force against the door. It never -yielded--he might as well have flung himself against the wall. He -shouted through it, like a madman-- - -"Open the door! Open the door, you devils!" - -In his frenzy a stream of oaths came flooding from his lips. In such -situations even clean-mouthed men can swear. There are not many of us -who, brought suddenly, under such circumstances, face to face with the -hereafter, can calm our minds and keep watch and ward over our -tongues. Mr. Paxton, certainly, was not such an one. He was, rather, -as one who was consumed with fury. - -What was that? He listened. It was the sound of wheels and of a -horse's hoofs. Those scoundrels were off--fleeing for their lives. And -he was there--alone! And in the dreadful furnace, at the bottom of -that narrow flight of steps, the miserable creatures with whom he had -had such a short and sharp reckoning were being burned. - -In his narrow chamber the presence of smoke was becoming more -conspicuous. He could hear the crackling of fire. It might have been -imagination, but it seemed to him that already the temperature was -increasing. What was he to do? He recollected the window--clambered -back upon the shelf, and thrust his face out into the open air. How -sweet it was! and fresh, and cool! Once more he listened. He could -hear, plainly enough, the noise of wheels rolling rapidly away, but -nothing more. With the full force of his lungs he repeated his -previous cry, with a slight variation-- - -"Help! Fire! Help!" - -But this time there came no answering "Hollo!" There was no reply. -Again he shouted, and again and again, straining his throat and his -lungs to bursting-point, screaming himself hoarse, but there was none -that answered. It seemed that this was a case in which, if he could -not help himself, he, in very deed and in very truth, was helpless. - -He set himself to remove the sashes from their places, feeling that if -he only could, small even then though the space would be, he might, at -such a pinch as this, be able to squeeze his body through. But the -thing was easier essayed than done. The sashes were small, strongly -constructed, and solidly set in firmly fashioned grooves. He attacked -them with his hands; he hammered them with the Baron's revolver and -the branding-iron, but they remained precisely where they were. He had -a suspicion that they were looser, and that in time, say in an hour or -so, they might be freed. But he had not an hour to spare. He had not -many minutes, for while he still wrestled with their obstinacy there -came from behind him a strange, portentous roar. His prison became -dimly, fitfully illuminated with a dreadful light--so that he could -see. - -What he could see through the cracks in the bolted door were tongues -of fire, roaring in the room beyond--roaring as the waves roar over -the stones, or as the sound of a high wind through the tops of trees. -The suddenness of the noise, disturbing so unexpectedly the previous -stillness, confused him. He remained on the shelf, looking round. -Then, oblivious for the moment of the danger which so swiftly was -coming nearer, he was filled with admiration. What a beautiful ruddy -light it was, which was making the adjacent chamber to gleam like -glowing gold! How every instant it was becoming ruddier and ruddier, -until, with fairylike rapidity, it became a glorious blaze of colour! -The whole place was transfigured and transformed. It was radiant with -the splendours of the Fairy Queen's Palace of a Million Marvels. - -The crackling noise which fire makes when its hungry tongues lick -woodwork brought him back to a sense of stern reality. He became -conscious of the strong breeze which was blowing through the open -window. It was coming from the house, and was bearing with it -a rush as of heated breath. Already it seemed to scorch his -cheeks--momentarily it seemed to scorch them more and more. The air, -as he drew it into his lungs, was curiously dry. He had to draw two -breaths where before he had drawn one. It parched his throat. What -would he not have given to have been able to glue his lips to cool, -fresh water! As in a vision he pictured himself laving his face, -splashing in the crystal waters of a running stream, with the trees in -leaf above his head. - -Escape was hopeless. Neither on the one side nor on the other could -salvation be attained. Other men, he told himself, with a sardonic -twitching of the corners of his lips, had been burnt alive before -to-day--then why not he? He, at any rate, could play the man. To -attempt to strive against the inevitable was puerile. Better, if one -must die, "facing fearful odds," to die with one's arms folded, and -with one's pulse marking time at its normal pace. What must be, might -be; what cared he? - -Confound the smoke! It came in thicker and thicker wreaths through the -interstices in the panels of the door. It was impossible to continue -facing it; it made him cough, and the more he coughed the more he had -to. It got into his mouth and up his nose; it made his eyes tingle. To -cough and cough until, like a ramshackle cart, one shook oneself to -pieces, was not the part of dignity. - -He turned his back to the door. He thrust his face again through the -window. With his lips wide open he gulped in the air with a sense of -rapture which amounted to positive pain. What a feeling of life and of -freedom there seemed to be under the stars and the far-reaching sky! -What a spirit of solitude was abroad on the hills, in the darkness of -the night! What a lonely death this was which he was about to die! No -one there but God and the fire to see if he died like a man! - -He tried to collect his thoughts. As he did so, there was borne to -him, on a sudden overwhelming flood of recollection, the woman whom he -loved. He seemed to see her there in front of him--her very face. What -was she doing now? What would she do if she had an inkling of his -plight? What, when she knew that he had gone? If he had only had time -to hand over to her all the fruits of that rise in the shares of the -Trumpit Gold Mine! - -How hot it was! And the smoke--how suffocating! How the fire roared -behind him! The bolted door had been stout enough to keep him captive, -but against the fury of the flames it would be as nothing. Any moment -they might be through. And then? - -He had an inspiration. He began to feel in his pockets. Those rogues -had stripped them, only leaving, so far as in his haste he could -judge, two worthless trifles, which probably had been overlooked -because of their triviality. In one pocket was the back of an old -letter, in another a scrap of pencil. They were sufficient to serve -his purpose. Spreading the half-sheet of notepaper out on the shelf in -front of him, he wrote, as well as he could for the blinding, stifling -smoke, with the piece of pencil-- - -"I give and bequeath all that I have in the world to my dear love, -Daisy Strong, who would have been my wife. God bless her!--CYRIL -PAXTON." - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - - THE LAST OF THE DATCHET DIAMONDS - - -They found him, with the half-sheet of notepaper all crushed in his -hand. - -At the police station, acting on the hints dropped by Mr. Cooper, Mr. -Ireland had enlisted the aid of a dozen constables. He had chartered a -large waggonette, and with Mr. Cooper and a sergeant beside him on the -box-seat had started off for an evening drive across the Downs. Miss -Strong had, perforce, to content herself with a seat with Miss -Wentworth and Mr. Franklyn in a fly behind. - -The weather had cleared. By the time they reached the open country the -stars were shining, and when they found themselves following the -winding road among the hills it was as fine a night as one could wish. -Suddenly the occupants of the fly became conscious that the waggonette -in front had stopped. A constable, hurrying back, checked the flyman. -Miss Strong leant over the side of the vehicle to address him. - -"What is the matter?" - -"We don't know yet, miss. Only there's something coming along the -road, and we want to see what they look like. They seem to be in a bit -of a hurry." - -As the man said, whoever it was who was approaching did seem to be in -a "bit of a hurry." Evidently the horse in the advancing vehicle was -being urged to a breakneck gallop. Where the waggonette had stopped -the ground rose abruptly on either side. The road turned sharply just -in front. The constables, alighting, formed in double line across it. -Suddenly the people who were hastening Brightonwards found themselves -quite unexpectedly surrounded by the officers of the law. There was -the liveliest five minutes Miss Strong had ever known. At the end of -it the police found themselves in possession of three prisoners, who -had fought as well as, under the circumstances, they knew how, and -also of a fly with two men lying apparently dead inside it. - -When Miss Strong learnt this, she came hurrying up. - -"Is Cyril there?" - -Mr. Ireland shook his head. - -"You are telling me the truth?" - -"If you doubt it, Miss Strong, you may look for yourself." - -Just then a constable who, for purposes of observation, had climbed -the sloping ground on one side of the road, gave a great shout. - -"Fire! There's a house on fire on the hills!" - -Mr. Cooper, who, while his former friends were being captured, had, -much against his will, been handcuffed to a policeman, called to Mr. -Ireland. - -"I reckon it's the crib. They been and set it afire, and left the -bloke as they calls Paxton to burn inside of it. See if they ain't!" - - * * * * * - -It was Miss Strong who found him. Running round the burning building, -she came to a little open window through which a man's hand was -stretched. The window was too high above the ground to enable her to -see into it. Only the hand was visible. She thought it belonged to -some one who was seeking to escape. - -"Who are you?" she cried. - -None answered. She touched the hand, supposing its owner did not hear. -As she did so a piece of crumpled paper fell out of it. She caught at -it as it fluttered through the air; looked at it--there was a -sufficiency of artificial light to enable her to see--saw her own -name--"my dear love, Daisy Strong"--staring her in the face; perceived -that it was in the writing which she knew so well. - -"Cyril, Cyril!" - -She snatched at the hand which had held that paper--testimony of a -love which was resolute to live even beyond the grave--sprang up at -the window, through which the smoke was streaming, with the flames -beginning to follow after--broke into shrieks. They brought tools, and -having by their aid removed the sashes, they dragged him by main force -through the window, through which he himself had vainly endeavoured to -escape. And slowly, enduring as he went not a little agony, he went -through the Valley of the Shadow, branching out of it after all -through a pass which led, not unto Death, but back again to the Plain -of Life. - -When, weeks after, he opened his eyes to consciousness, the first -thing he saw was, leaning over him, the face of the woman he loved. - -"Daisy!" - -In an attenuated whisper the name came from his lips. And, forgetting -herself, she fell on his breast and kissed him, and in the tumult of -her joy cried as if her heart would break. While still his life was in -the balance, never once had she lost her self-control, fearing that if -she did she might be banished from his presence. Now that the event -seemed clear, the cisterns of her heart were opened, and she wept as -one distraught. - -As the days went by Mr. Paxton understood not only that he was in a -bedroom in Miss Wentworth's house, but also that in the adjacent -apartment there was something, or some one, whose presence Miss -Strong, at any rate, was desirous should be concealed from him. The -thing becoming more and more conspicuous, Mr. Paxton insisted at last -on having the mystery explained to him. With flashing eyes and -faltering lips Miss Strong explained. - -In the room adjoining that in which he lay was a policeman. He had -been there all the time. He intended to remain, at least, as long as -Mr. Paxton stayed. Mr. Paxton was, in fact, a prisoner--a prisoner in -Miss Wentworth's house. Since it had seemed likely that he would die, -the authorities had suffered him to be committed to the hands of -friends, in order that, if they could, they might nurse him back to -health and strength. But not for an instant had he been out of -official supervision. Egress from the sick-chamber was only possible -by passing through the adjoining room; in that adjoining room a -policeman had been stationed night and day. Now that he was mending, -at any moment rough, unfeeling hands might drag him off to gaol. - -Miss Strong's manner, as she made the situation clear to Mr. Paxton, -was reminiscent of the Tragic Muse. Her rage against Mr. Ireland was -particularly fierce. When she spoke of him it was with clenched fists -and knitted brows and eyes like flaming coals. - -"He actually dares to pretend to think that you had something to do -with the stealing of the Datchet diamonds." - -Mr. Paxton seemed to hesitate; then took her breath away with his -answer. - -"He is right in thinking so; I had." - -She was standing at his bedside. When he said that, she looked down at -him as if she felt either that her ears must be playing her false or -that he must be still delirious. Yet he seemed to speak rationally, -and although pale and wan and but the shadow of his old self, he did -not look as if he were insane. - -"Cyril! You don't understand me. I say that he thinks that you had -something to do with the stealing of the Datchet diamonds--some -improper connection with the crime, I mean." - -"I understand you perfectly well, my dear. I repeat, I had." - -She sat down on a chair and gasped. - -"You had! Goodness gracious! What?" - -"After they had been stolen. The diamonds came into my possession -owing to an accident." - -"Cyril! Whatever did you do with them?" - -"They are in my possession now." - -"The Datchet diamonds! In your possession! Where?" - -Her eyes, opened at their widest, were round as saucers. She was a -living note of exclamation. Obviously, though he did not seem as -though he were, she felt that he must be still delirious. He quickly -made it plain to her, however, that he was nothing of the kind. He -told her, clearly and succinctly, the whole strange history--nothing -extenuating, attempting in no whit to whitewash the blackness of his -own offending--precisely as it all occurred. And when his tale was at -an end, instead of reproaching him by so much as a look, she kissed -him, and, pillowing her lovely head upon his undeserving breast, -anointed him with her tears, as if by what his criminality had cost -him he had earned for himself a niche in hagiology. Later, he repeated -the story to Mr. Franklyn and to Mr. Ireland. Neither of them were -moved to show signs of sympathy. Plainly his friend was of opinion -that, at the very least, he had played the fool; while the detective, -whose moral sensibilities had perhaps been dulled by his constant -contact with crime, seemed to be struck rather by his impudence than -by anything else. - -Mr. Paxton having voluntarily furnished Mr. Ireland with sufficient -authority to enable him to gain access to the safe which he rented in -that stronghold in Chancery Lane, the diamonds were found reposing -securely in its fastnesses, exactly as he had described. Her Grace of -Datchet's heart was gladdened by the knowledge that her priceless -treasures would be returned to her in the same condition in which they -left her. And the thing, being noised abroad, became a nine days' -wonder. - -The law is very beautiful in its tender mercies. The honest man, being -sick, may die in a ditch, and no one cares. On the ailing criminal are -lavished all the resources of medical science. Mr. Lawrence and his -friend the Baron were far too precious in the eyes of the law to be -allowed to die. It was absolutely indispensable that such unmitigated -scoundrels should be kept alive. And they were. Although, had not the -nicest skill been continually at their disposal, they had been dead a -dozen times. Not only had Mr. Paxton broken both their skulls--well -broken them too--with a breaking that required not a little mending; -but, as if that were not enough, they had been nearly incinerated on -top of it. However, the unremitting attention with which the law -provided them, because they were such rogues, sufficed to pull them -through. And at last there came a day on which they were sufficiently -recovered to permit of their taking their places in the dock in order -that they might be charged with their offences. - -The prisoners who stood before the magistrates, charged with various -degrees of complicity in the robbery of the Duchess of Datchet's -diamonds, were, to begin with, six in number. First and foremost was -Reginald Hargraves, _alias_ Arthur Lawrence, _alias_ "The Toff," -_alias_, in all probability, twenty other names. From the beginning to -the end he bore himself with perfect self-possession, never leading -any one to suppose, either by look or gesture, that he took any -particular amount of interest in what was going on. A second was Isaac -Bergstein, _alias_ "The Baron." His behaviour, especially when the -chief and most damning testimony was being given against him, was -certainly not marked by the repose which, if we are to believe the -poet, is a characteristic of the caste of Vere de Vere. Cyril Paxton -was a third; while the tail consisted of the three gentlemen who had -fallen into the hands of the Philistines on the road to Brighton. - -Before the case was opened the counsel for the prosecution intimated -that he proposed to offer no evidence against the defendant, Cyril -Paxton, but, with the permission of the Bench, would call him as a -witness for the Crown. The Bench making no objection, Mr. Paxton -stepped from the dock to the box, his whilom fellow-prisoners -following him on his passage with what were very far from being looks -of love. - -Mr. William Cooper and Mr. Paxton were the chief witnesses for the -prosecution. It was they who made the fate of the accused a certainty. -Mr. Cooper, in particular, had had with them such long and such an -intimate acquaintance that the light which he was enabled to cast on -their proceedings was a vivid one. At the same time, beyond all sort -of doubt, Mr. Paxton's evidence was the sensation of the case. Seldom -has a more curious story than that which he unfolded been told, even -in that place in which all the strangest stories have been told, a -court of justice. He had more than one bad quarter of an hour, -especially at the hands of cross-examining counsel. But, when he was -finally allowed to leave the box, it was universally felt that, so far -as hope of escape for the prisoners was concerned, already the case -was over. Their defenders would have to work something like a miracle -if Mr. Paxton's evidence was to be adequately rebutted. - -That miracle was never worked. When the matter came before the judge -at the assizes, his lordship's summing-up was brief and trenchant, -and, without leaving their places, the jury returned a verdict of -guilty against the whole of the accused. Mr. Hargraves and Mr. -Bergstein--who have figured in these pages under other names--was each -sent to penal servitude for twenty years, their colleagues being -sentenced to various shorter periods of punishment. Mr. Hargraves--or -Mr. Lawrence, whichever you please--bowed to the judge with quiet -courtesy as he received his sentence. Mr. Bergstein, or the "Baron," -however, looked as if he felt disposed to signify his sentiments in an -altogether different fashion. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - - A WOMAN'S LOGIC - - -The boom in the shares of the Trumpit Gold Mine continued long enough -to enable Mr. Paxton to realise his holding, if not at the top -price--that had been touched while he had been fighting for his life -in bed--still for a sum which was large enough to ensure his complete -comfort, so far as pecuniary troubles were concerned, for the rest of -his life. It was his final speculation. The ready money which he -obtained he invested in consols. He lives on the interest, and -protests that nothing will ever again induce him to gamble in stocks -and shares. Since a lady who is largely interested in his movements -has endorsed his promise, it is probable that he will keep his word. - -Immediately after the trial Mr. Cyril Paxton and Miss Daisy Strong -were married quietly at a certain church in Brighton; if you find -their names upon its register of marriages you will know which church -it was. In the first flush of his remorse and self-reproach--one -should always remember that "when the devil was ill, the devil a saint -would be"--Mr. Paxton declared that his conduct in connection with the -Datchet diamonds had made him unworthy of an alliance with a decent -woman. When he said this, urged thereto by his new-born humility and -sense of shame, Miss Strong's conduct really was outrageous. She -abused him for calling himself unworthy, asserted that all along she -had known that, when it came to the marrying-point, he meant to jilt -her; and that, since her expectations on that subject were now so -fully realised, to her most desperate undoing, all that there remained -for her to do was to throw herself into the sea from the end of the -pier. She vowed that everything had been her fault, exclaiming that if -she had never fallen away from the high estate which is woman's proper -appanage, so far as to accept of the shelter of Mr. Lawrence's -umbrella in that storm upon the Dyke, but suffered herself to be -drowned and blown to shreds instead, nothing would have happened which -had happened; and that, therefore, all the evil had been wrought by -her. Though she had never thought--never for an instant--that he -would, or could, have been so unforgiving! When she broke into tears, -affirming that, in the face of his hardheartedness, nothing was left -to her but death, he succumbed to this latest example of the beautiful -simplicity of feminine logic, and admitted that he might after all be -a more desirable _parti_ than he had himself supposed. - -"You have passed through the cleansing fires," she murmured, when, her -reasoning having prevailed, a reconciliation had ensued. "And you have -issued from them, if possible, truer metal than you went in." - -Mr. Paxton felt that that indeed was very possible. He allowed the -compliment to go unheeded--conscious, no doubt, that it was -undeserved. - -"God grant that I may never again be led into such temptation!" - -That was what he said. 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Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - diff --git a/40353-8.zip b/40353-8.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 26734ec..0000000 --- a/40353-8.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/40353-h.zip b/40353-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 4a14d46..0000000 --- a/40353-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/40353-h/40353-h.htm b/40353-h/40353-h.htm index b6dc033..c694acd 100644 --- a/40353-h/40353-h.htm +++ b/40353-h/40353-h.htm @@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ <meta name="Publisher" content="Ward, Lock & Co., Limited"> <meta name="Date" content="1898"> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> <style type="text/css"> body {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; background-color:#FFFFFF;} @@ -96,42 +96,7 @@ p.hang2 {margin-left:3em; text-indent:0em;} </style> </head> <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Datchet Diamonds, by Richard Marsh - -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: The Datchet Diamonds - -Author: Richard Marsh - -Release Date: July 27, 2012 [EBook #40353] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DATCHET DIAMONDS *** - - - - -Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by -Google Books (Oxford University) - - - - - - -</pre> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40353 ***</div> <br> <br> @@ -743,7 +708,7 @@ during, at any rate, the last two centuries.</p> <p class="normal">The value of their collection is fabulous--the intrinsic value of the stones which the duchess had taken with her on that memorable journey, -according to the paper, was at least £250,000--a quarter of a million +according to the paper, was at least £250,000--a quarter of a million of money! This was the net value--indeed, it seemed that one might almost say it was the trade value, and was quite apart from any adventitious value which they might possess, from, for instance, the @@ -756,7 +721,7 @@ not at all sure that I should not have liked to have had a finger in such a pie as that. It would be better than punting at Eries."</p> <p class="normal">The diamonds, it seemed, arrived all right at Windsor, and the duchess -too. The visit passed off with due <i>éclat</i>. It was as Her Grace was +too. The visit passed off with due <i>éclat</i>. It was as Her Grace was returning that the deed was done, though how it was done was, as yet, a profound mystery.</p> @@ -810,7 +775,7 @@ one of those masters of the art of detection who have been cutting such antics lately in popular fiction. If I were appointed to ferret out the mystery, I fancy that I should begin by wanting to know a few things about her Grace the Duchess. I wonder what happened to that -despatch-box while she and it were <i>tête-à-tête?</i> It is to be hoped +despatch-box while she and it were <i>tête-à -tête?</i> It is to be hoped that she possesses her husband's entire confidence, otherwise it is just possible that she is in for a rare old time of it."</p> @@ -828,7 +793,7 @@ pockets, and mused.</p> <p class="normal">"What lucky beggars those thieves must be! What wouldn't any one do for a quarter of a million--what wouldn't I? Even supposing that the value of the stones is over-stated, and that they are only worth half -as much, there is some spending in £125,000. It would set me up for +as much, there is some spending in £125,000. It would set me up for life, with a little over. What prospect is there in front of me--don't I know that there is none? Existence in a country which I have not the faintest desire to go to; a life which I hate; a continual struggling @@ -3149,15 +3114,15 @@ of surprise; then, with increasing amazement, he read them again.</p> <p class="normal">"The boom in the shares of the Trumpit Gold Mine continues. On the strength of a report that the reef which has been struck is of importance, the demand for them, even at present prices, exceeded the -supply. When our report left, buyers were offering £10--the highest +supply. When our report left, buyers were offering £10--the highest price of the day."</p> <p class="normal">After subjecting the paragraph to a second reading, Mr. Paxton put the paper down upon his knees, and gasped for breath. It was a mistake--a -canard--quite incredible. Trumpits selling at £10--it could not be! He +canard--quite incredible. Trumpits selling at £10--it could not be! He would have been glad, quite lately, to have sold his for 10d each; only he was conscious that even at that price he would have found no -buyer. £10 indeed! It was a price of which, at one time, he had +buyer. £10 indeed! It was a price of which, at one time, he had dreamed--but it had remained a dream.</p> <p class="normal">He read the paragraph again. So far as the paper was concerned, there @@ -3509,7 +3474,7 @@ esteem such misery as yours happiness. Tell me, what's the trouble?"</p> <p class="normal">In spite of the satirical touch which tinged her speech, a strain of curious melody had all at once come into her voice which--as if it had -been an anæsthetic--served to ease the extreme tension of the other's +been an anæsthetic--served to ease the extreme tension of the other's nerves. Miss Strong looked up, the tears still streaming down her cheeks, but exhibiting some signs of at least elementary self-control.</p> @@ -3673,14 +3638,14 @@ no mood for trifling.</p> to be well-founded rumours have reached England that gold has been found at last in considerable quantities. The shares have gone up with a rush. When the Stock Exchange closed this afternoon they were -quoted at £12 10s. A little more than a week ago they were unsaleable +quoted at £12 10s. A little more than a week ago they were unsaleable at twopence each."</p> -<p class="normal">"£12 10s.! oh, Mr. Franklyn! And has Cyril got rid of his?"</p> +<p class="normal">"£12 10s.! oh, Mr. Franklyn! And has Cyril got rid of his?"</p> <p class="normal">"Not a bit of it. They are in my strongbox. There are ten thousand of them--Cyril is one of the largest holders, if he is not the largest; -and what that means at £12 10s. apiece you can calculate as well as +and what that means at £12 10s. apiece you can calculate as well as I."</p> <p class="normal">"Oh, Mr. Franklyn!" The young lady brought her hands together with a @@ -6776,381 +6741,7 @@ be granted.</p> <br> <br> - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Datchet Diamonds, by Richard Marsh - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DATCHET DIAMONDS *** - -***** This file should be named 40353-h.htm or 40353-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/3/5/40353/ - -Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by -Google Books (Oxford University) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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