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diff --git a/40361-8.txt b/40361-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d6fc1d3..0000000 --- a/40361-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8332 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Air Pirate, by Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gull - -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/license - - -Title: The Air Pirate - -Author: Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gull - -Release Date: July 28, 2012 [EBook #40361] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AIR PIRATE *** - - - - -Produced by Mark C. Orton, Martin Pettit and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -_The Air Pirate_ - - - - -Some Ranger Gull Books - -_HIS GRACE'S GRACE_ -_BACK TO LILAC LAND_ -_THE CIGARETTE SMOKER_ -_PORTALONE_ -_THE SERF_ } _Historical_ -_THE HOUSE OF TORMENT_ } _Novels_ -_WHEN SATAN RULED_ } -_THE HARVEST OF LOVE_ -_A STORY OF THE STAGE_ -_THE PRICE OF PITY_ - - - - -_THE AIR PIRATE_ - -_By Ranger Gull, Author of "The Serf," -"Back to Lilac Land," "The Snare of the Fowler," etc._ - -[Illustration: Decoration] - -_LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, LTD. -PATERNOSTER HOUSE, E.C._ - - - - -Dedication - - -TO PERCY BURTON, Esq. - - In memory of a certain celebrated walk from Great Holland to - Frinton-on-Sea, and the salmon we met at the end of it. With all - good wishes from the Author. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAP. PAGE - I.--THE COMMISSIONER OF AIR POLICE FOR GREAT - BRITAIN RIDES TO PLYMOUTH IN GOOD COMPANY 9 - - II.--FATE OF THE TRANSATLANTIC AIR-LINER - "ALBATROS" 24 - - III.--"COLD-BLOODED PIRACY IN THE HIGH AIR" 39 - - IV.--THE NEWSPAPERS IN FULL CRY 55 - - V.--THE FAMILIAR SPIRIT OF MR. VAN ADAMS 67 - - VI.--MR. DANJURO, THINKING MACHINE, - EXPLAINS HIMSELF 83 - - VII.--THE CURIOUS FIGHT IN THE RESTAURANT 99 - - VIII.--THE HUNTING INSTINCT IS STIMULATED - BY A PROCESSION 111 - - IX.--THE MAN WITH THE WICKED FACE 128 - - X.--SIR JOHN CUSTANCE COMES UPON THE - HOUSE OF HELZEPHRON 138 - - XI.--"THE AIR WOLVES ARE HUNTING TO-NIGHT!" 150 - - XII.--THE KILLING OF MICHAEL FEDDON 165 - - XIII.--THE SECRET THAT PUZZLED TWO CONTINENTS 176 - - XIV.--THE AIR PIRATE AT LAST 187 - - XV.--LED OUT TO DIE 203 - - XVI.--THE HOUNDS FROM THIBET AND MR. VARGUS; - WITH A DISCOVERY ON BOARD THE PIRATE 216 - - XVII.--THE MOMENT OF TRIUMPH 236 - -XVIII.--THE GOLDEN DREAM 253 - - XIX.--LAST FLIGHT OF THE PIRATE AIRSHIP 266 - - EPILOGUE 277 - - - - -THE AIR PIRATE - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE COMMISSIONER OF AIR POLICE FOR GREAT BRITAIN RIDES TO PLYMOUTH IN -GOOD COMPANY - - -Nearly two years ago a leading London daily newspaper said: "The -Government have assured us that all danger from present and future air -piracies is now over, and that the recent events which so startled and -horrified both this country and the United States of America can never -recur. For our own part we accept that assurance, and we do not think -that the Commissioner of Air Police for the British Government will be -caught napping again. - -"In saying this we do not in the least mean to imply that Sir John -Custance could either have foreseen or prevented the astounding -mid-Atlantic tragedies. Sir John, though barely thirty years of age, is -an official in every way worthy of his high position, an organizer of -exceptional ability and a pilot of practical experience. Press and -public are perfectly well aware that it is owing to his personal -exertions that our magnificent Transatlantic air-liners are no longer -stricken down by the Night Terror of the immediate past. And in saying -this much, we have both a suggestion and a request to make. - -"The inner history of the piracies is only fully known to one man. It is -a story, we understand, that puts the imagination of the boldest writer -of fiction to shame. Such parts of it as have been made public hint at a -story of absorbing interest behind. The bad old days of censorship and -secrecy have vanished with the occasions that made them necessary. We -suggest that a full and detailed 'story' of the first--and we trust the -last--Air Pirate should be written, and given to the world. And we call -upon that most popular public man, Sir John Custance, to do this for us. -He alone knows everything." - -At the time that it appeared I read the above to Charles Thumbwood, my -little valet, as I finished breakfast, in my Half Moon Street chambers. - -"Not _quite_ correct, Charles. You know almost as much about it as I do. -To say nothing of a certain friend ..." - -"I wouldn't say that, Sir John," said Charles, brushing my light -overcoat. "Though I rode part of the course alongside of you; to say -nothing of Mr. Danjuro." Thumbwood was a jockey before I took him into -my service. "Are you going to write it all down, Sir John?" - -"That depends on several things, and on one person especially. I must -think it all over." - -Think it over I did as I drove to my offices in Whitehall--the Scotland -Yard of the Air--and I discussed it afterwards with a certain lady.... - -Which is how the following narrative came to be written, though I did -not complete it until the best part of two years had elapsed. - - -II - -I never did any flying during the Great War. I was too young, being only -fifteen and at Eton when Peace was signed. But from the very earliest -days that I can remember aviation fascinated me as nothing else could. -My father, the first baronet, left me a moderate fortune. He died when I -was eighteen, and instead of going to Oxford, I entered as a cadet in -the R.F.C. It is not necessary to detail how, when I had earned my -wings, I joined the civil side of flying and became a pilot-commander in -the Transatlantic Service. I had a good deal of influence behind me, -and, to cut a long story short, at twenty-eight I was Assistant, and at -thirty Chief Commissioner of the British Air Police. I was answerable -to Government alone, and, within its limits, my powers were absolute. - -It was on a morning in late June, the 25th to be exact, when the wheels -began to move. I date the start of everything from that morning. About -one o'clock on the preceding night Thumbwood had waked me from -refreshing sleep. A wireless message, in code, had been received at -Whitehall. It was addressed to me personally, and was from the -Controller of the White Star Air Line at Plymouth. My people at -Whitehall, on night duty, thought it of sufficient importance to send on -even at this hour. - -As soon as I was thoroughly awake, and had done cursing Thumbwood, I -read the message. It only said that a matter of the gravest importance -required my personal presence at Plymouth, and would I come down at -once. - -Now considerable experience of the fussy great men who controlled the -air-liner companies, which linked up England with all parts of the -world, had made me somewhat sceptical of these urgent demands for my -presence. More than once I had to explain that I was not at the beck and -call of any commercial magnate, and if I had made myself disliked in -certain quarters I had, at least, made my office respected. - -Accordingly I scribbled instructions to the chief inspector on duty that -he should send a wireless to Plymouth requesting further details. Then -I went to sleep again. - -As a matter of fact, I _was_ going to Plymouth the next morning in any -case, though on private business. Sir Joshua Johnson, Controller of the -White Star Line, did not, of course, know that. His midnight message was -a coincidence. - -I could have flown down from Whitehall in my fast police yacht in an -hour, but, as it happened, I was going to train from Paddington. Sir -Joshua could wait until I turned up some time after lunch. - -How well I remember the morning of my departure from town. The long -departure platform at Paddington was crowded with well-dressed, -happy-looking people, as I stood by the door of my reserved carriage in -the Riviera Express--that superb train, with its curved roof, which runs -to Plymouth without a stop. - -Thumbwood, invaluable little man, filled the carriage with flowers, -great bunches of white lilac and June roses, and the station-master, who -came up for a chat, looked curiously at the bower my valet had made. The -Chief Commissioner of Air Police was not wont to travel like that! - -For my part, I was wildly exhilarated, and at the same time, as nervous -as a boy making his first flight. To-day might prove one of the happiest -or quite the most miserable of my life. I was going to put it to the -test. Confound it, why didn't Connie come? - -On this morning Miss Constance Shepherd, the young light-comedy actress, -adored of London, and to me the rose of all the roses, was travelling -down to Plymouth to catch the air-liner starting from that port to New -York at eight-thirty this evening. And she had promised to travel with -me! - -Would she have done so, I kept on asking myself, if she didn't know -quite well what I meant to say to her? Or was it just friendliness? I -knew she liked me. - -... Why didn't she come? Here it was, only eight minutes before the -train started. As I searched the platform, with an eye that strove to -appear calm and unconcerned, I saw faces that I knew--faces of -theatrical celebrities, two or three of the prettiest girls in England, -a handsome, hook-nosed young man, who was, perhaps, the best known -theatrical manager in London, two eminent comedians carrying bouquets. -And the Press photographers were beginning to arrange their cameras.... - -I had completely forgotten what a tremendous celebrity dear little -Connie was. I might have known they'd have given her a send-off on her -way to the States. All the same, it annoyed me, as it seemed to be -annoying a tall, hatchet-faced man in Donegal tweeds, who scowled at -the little crowd. Was he a friend, too, I wondered? - -She came at last, very late of course, and after a brief smile at me, -underwent the public ceremonies of the occasion, while I--I own -it--retired into the carriage for a minute or two. But I saw the cameras -click, and the girls embrace, and the crowd of sightseers trying to push -into the charmed circle, and then Connie was in the corridor, leaning -out of the window, waving and smiling as the train began to move to an -accompaniment of loud cheers. - -"My dear Connie, royalty isn't in it!" I said, as she stepped laughingly -into the carriage, and I pushed the sliding door home. - -"Oh, they're dears!" she said, "and they do really mean well, despite -the fact that we shall all be in the picture papers to-morrow morning, -and that's good for business." - -"I thought you were never coming." - -"It is an impression I convey," she answered; "but I'm very careful, -really. My maid was here with the luggage half an hour ago. What lovely -flowers you have got for me, John!" - -She lay back in her seat as the train gathered speed and Ealing flashed -by with a roar, and I feasted my eyes on the fairest picture in the -world. - -She wore a simple travelling coat and skirt of white piqué, and the -white lilac was all about her, framing her face as she held up a branch -to inhale its fragrance. All England knew that face in the days when -little Connie sang and danced herself into the heart of the public, but -none knew it as well as I. - -How can I describe that marvellous hair of dark chestnut, those deep -amethyst eyes, and the perfect bow of lips which were truer to the exact -colour of coral than any I have ever seen? It only makes a catalogue -after all. It's the expression--the soul, if you like--that makes the -true face; and here was one so frank and kind and sweet that when one -looked it seemed as if hands were placed beneath the heart, lifting it -up! - -On one other day only did I see her more lovely than she was now. - -Well, it was too early to say what I wanted to say, and, besides, I was -nervous as yet. We hadn't settled down. As I expected, her breakfast had -consisted of tea and a macaroon, so I produced a basket--lunch was to -come later--in which a silver box of caviare sandwiches was surrounded -by crushed ice in a larger box of zinc. There was also iced hock and -seltzer water. We both felt more at home in a few minutes. - -We had lit our cigarettes, and I was thinking hard, when someone passing -along the corridor looked in upon us for a moment. I had an impression -of a brown face and a scowl. It was the man in tweeds that I had noticed -at Paddington. - -"That _beast_!" said Connie suddenly. - -I turned and looked at her. She was frowning adorably, and I thought she -looked rather pale. - -"D'you know him, then?" - -"I did, and I simply hate him." - -"Who is he?" - -"I expect you've heard his name, John. Most people have in town. He is -Henry Helzephron, a big man in your way once." - -I _did_ know the name as that of a pilot of extraordinary courage and -ability during the Great War. He had gained the Victoria Cross when a -lad of twenty, and his exploits during two wonderful years formed part -of the history of aviation. He had not flown for years now, and divided -his time between the more dissipated haunts of the West End and an -estate he had somewhere in Devon or Cornwall, a "has-been" with a -sinister reputation, a lounger of thirty-six. - -"I know. 'Hawk Helzephron' he used to be called. Gone all to pieces, I -understand. But how do _you_ know him, dear?" - -"He did me the honour to ask me to marry him about two months ago," she -answered, "and since then he is always putting himself in my way. He -does not speak, but he comes to the theatre and glares. I am always -meeting him, and I hate the sight of him. He makes me afraid...." - -Here was my chance and I took it like a shot. She should never be -unprotected from Helzephrons and all the tribe who haunt the stage door -any more! - -A successful aviator takes instantaneous decisions. He must. If he -hesitates he's lost. - -What I said, as the Riviera Express hurled itself through the summer -noon, is not part of this narrative. I daresay I was no more original -than most men, but the results were eminently satisfactory for, as we -ran past the towers and winding river of Exeter, Connie and I were -engaged. - -I remember that I lugged the ring out of my waistcoat pocket--sapphires -and diamonds, a top-shelf ring!--precisely as we glided through Exeter -Station. - -"O-oh!" said Connie, as the thing winked and shone in the sunlight; and -then: "You _wretch_! I'll never forgive you--never!" - -I wondered what was the matter. In fact, I asked her. - -"You made so sure of me that you actually bought this beforehand!" - -"It doesn't do to leave anything to chance," I said, and I made her put -it on, and gave her several other things of no particular importance -while she was doing it. - -For the rest of the journey, past the red cliffs and blue seas of -Teignmouth and Paignton, we had a long and happy talk, finding out--of -course--all sorts of delightful things about each other which we had -only suspected before. - -Perhaps there is nothing fresher and more delightful in life than those -first few hours of revelation, when a man and a girl who love each other -have, at last, become engaged. It is like coming into harbour after an -anxious voyage, and yet, all the time there is the splendid knowledge -that there are new and marvellous seas waiting to be explored, this -time--together! - -Connie was to act in New York for a month and in Boston for a fortnight. -It was a 'star' engagement, and six weeks would soon pass. Besides, now -that Plymouth was barely thirty hours from New York, there was nothing -to prevent me from popping over once or twice to see her. I was -responsible to no one for my time, and half a dozen quite real matters -in connection with my job would provide a valid excuse. After the six -weeks were over, why, then, we would be married! - -"There is absolutely no reason on earth why we should wait," I told her, -in sublime ignorance of what the Fates had in store for both of us. -"I'll have a special licence ready, and the day you land again on this -side you shall be Lady Custance, darling!" - -So it was settled, lightly and happily enough, and when we left the -train at Plymouth Station there was not a cloud in the sky or in our -hearts. - -I found that Mr. Thumbwood had been making excellent use of his time, -even as his master had, for the little man was assisting a demure and -well-looking maiden to collect luggage, who turned out to be Connie's -maid, Wilson. - -We left them to it and drove to the Royal Hotel, not before I had seen -the train start again on its journey to Cornwall, with Mr. -Helzephron--whom I had quite forgotten--standing in the corridor and -regarding us with a malignant scowl upon his hawk-like, dissipated -countenance. But Mr. Helzephron, and all other men alive, were about six -a penny to me just then. - -Connie was to leave the sea-drome at eight-thirty in that fine -flying-liner _Atlantis_. She was a Royal Mail ship, and about the -fastest and finest flyer in the Transatlantic service, with a carrying -capacity of three hundred and fifty passengers, and a thousand tons dead -weight of cargo. Her crew numbered forty, and she was commanded by -Captain Swainson, one of the most reliable pilot commanders in the air. -He was a man I both knew and liked. - -Connie wanted a rest and a sleep. "At least, I want to be alone to think -it all over!" she said, so she went up to her room in the hotel at -once. I arranged to call for her at five, when we would go for a stroll -and afterwards have an early dinner. Then I washed my hands and strolled -into the famous long bar of the hotel for a sandwich and a whisky and -soda, before proceeding to the offices of the White Star Line on the -Hoe. - -As I munched my sandwich, I wondered what the affair was that had made -Sir Joshua Johnson send me a wireless message in the middle of the -night--a time when obese old gentlemen should be fast asleep in bed. I -had told my people at Whitehall to ask for further particulars, but I -had not the least intention of being bothered with them--or any police -business whatever--until I had settled my own personal affairs with -Connie. Accordingly, when I left my chambers in the morning to go to -Paddington, I sent a message to Whitehall to say that I was proceeding -to Plymouth during the day, and would wait till my arrival to hear what -the business was. Muir Lockhart, my assistant, would perfectly -understand, and was quite capable of dealing with anything that might -come along. - -The long bar was, as usual, full of naval officers, with a sprinkling of -Air Merchant Service men in their uniform of grey, silver and light -blue. I saw no one that I knew, until the swing-doors leading into the -hotel were flung open, and a wiry little man in the black and silver -uniform of my own corps came hurriedly in. His peaked cap, with the -silver wings and sword badge, was pushed back on his head, and he was in -a state of unenviable heat and perspiration. He was Pilot Superintendent -Lashmar, chief of the Ocean Patrol stationed at Plymouth, with equal -rank to a lieutenant-commander in the Navy, and one of my most trusted -officers in the West. - -He went up to the bar and ordered a "long glass of iced ginger-beer, -with a dash of gin in it," and then I clapped him on the shoulder. He -wheeled round in a second, and when he saw who it was his face changed -from anxiety to relief. - -"Thank Heaven you're come, sir," he said, as he saluted. "We've been -signalling to Whitehall all the morning, and all we could get was that -you were on your way. I've been backwards and forwards from the A.P. -Headquarters to the White Star Office a dozen times." - -"I came down by train, Mr. Lashmar," I said, realizing in an instant -that there really _was_ something important afoot, and that by bad luck -I was behind time. Sir Joshua Johnson was all very well, but when my own -people began to send out signals--that was quite another matter. - -"We thought you'd fly down in the yacht, sir, and we've been sending -wireless trying to pick you up." - -"I couldn't. I have had some most important business to attend to. -Anyhow, I'm here now. What's it all about?" - -"You haven't heard _anything_, sir?" he asked in amazement. - -Again I cursed my luck, but I wasn't going to give it away. "We'll go -round to Sir Joshua Johnson at once," was all I said. - -"That will be best, sir, and then every detail can be put before you in -sequence. I have my report with me, written up to date. I think I've -taken all possible measures up to the present, but, of course, we've -been waiting for you. Sir Joshua, as you may imagine, is half out of his -wits." - -"He's not had very far to travel, then," I said to gain time. All this -was so much Greek to me, and I had to walk warily. - -In a minute more Lashmar and I were on the Hoe and approaching the -stately offices of the Line, which stood in the very centre of that -famous promenade above the blue waters of the Sound. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -FATE OF THE TRANS-ATLANTIC AIR-LINER "ALBATROS" - - -There were a good many people in both the ante-room and the secretaries' -room as I was led to Sir Joshua. I was immediately aware of an unusual -stir and excitement, and people nodded and whispered as I -passed--"That's Sir John Custance, the Police Commissioner." "I expect -there's some news," were two of the _sotto voce_ remarks I heard. - -Sir Joshua sat in his own magnificent apartment, with the great window -looking out over Drake's Island and Mount Edgcombe to the horizon. A -tray and a decanter showed that he had lunched there, and there was a -good deal of cigar smoke in the air. - -Sir Joshua was a tall and corpulent man of nearly seventy, with a red -face with little purple veins in the cheeks, a thatch of snow-white hair -and close whiskers. He had been an early pioneer of commercial flying, -and had reaped his reward in the control of the finest air fleet in the -world and the Lord knows how many millions of money. He was distinctly -an able and upright man, and his only faults were a slight pomposity and -a mistaken idea that the Commissioner of A.P. for Great Britain was a -sort of unpaid official of The White Star Line! A good many of the great -air-shipping magnates had tried to take that line in the past--and been -snubbed for their pains! - -Sir Joshua was not pompous this afternoon, and his face was twitching as -he shook hands. - -"Thank God you're come, Sir John," he said, "I am almost out of my mind -with worry and anxiety. You will agree with me that this affair is as -grave as it well can be?" - -To that I was diplomatically silent. What I said was: "I have seen -Superintendent Pilot Lashmar. What I want now, Sir Joshua, as a -preliminary, is a brief and exact account from your own lips." - -"Sit down," he said, pushing a padded chair towards me and handing a box -of cigars. "You shall have it in a nutshell." He sat down opposite to -me, pulled some papers towards him with a hand that shook a little, and -began to read. - -... "Our liner _Albatros_, carrying the mails, left New York yesterday -morning about seven a.m., American time. She was consequently due here -at Plymouth about six-thirty this afternoon--Greenwich. The weather -conditions at the ten thousand feet mail-ship level were perfect. In -addition to the mails there were about two hundred passengers, and she -carried, though this was known only to a few officials, a parcel of -particularly fine Brazilian diamonds, consigned from Tiffany's of New -York to Aaron and Harris, the dealers in precious stones, of Hatton -Garden. The jewels were in the ship's safe, in charge of the purser. -Various ships--I have the full list--sighted the _Albatros_ during the -day and exchanged signals, while she duly reported herself by wireless -as she passed each lightship, as soon as dusk fell. The lightships, as -you know, are a hundred miles apart from the Fastnet to Long Island, and -are connected by cable with our telegraph room here. The indicating -dials register, degree by geographical degree, the exact position of any -of our ships when in the air. This record is printed on a tape beneath -each dial, and each record is examined every hour or two by a clerk." - -Of course, I knew all this. The minutest detail of the system was -familiar. I wished that Sir Joshua would "cut the cackle and come to the -'osses." No doubt my face showed something of what I felt, for Sir -Joshua half apologized. - -"You see, Sir John," he said, "I thought it best to prepare some sort of -short and coherent statement for the Press. As yet they have got hold -of nothing, but we can't possibly keep it much longer. Even you -couldn't, with all your powers. And what I am reading is this statement. -I particularly want you to hear it, as, of course, it rests with you if -it shall be published in this form or not." - -I bowed, and Sir Joshua continued: - -"At ten o'clock last night the clerk on duty examined the tapes. When he -came to the one recording the progress of the _Albatros_, he found that -for two hours there was no record of her at all. The last record was -that she had passed and signalled to Lightship A. 70 that all was well. -A two hours' gap is so unusual, owing to the--er--perfection of our -organization, that the clerk was alarmed, and reported the matter to a -superior upstairs. - -"A general call to all our ships in the air at that moment was at once -sent out, and in a few minutes responses were received from several of -them to the effect that the _Albatros_ had not been sighted. Nor was -there any answer from the ship herself. A signal to Lightship A. 71, the -next guide-boat the _Albatros_ should have passed, elicited the -information that she had never done so. By eleven o'clock all these -facts were known in this office. The night staff here became seriously -alarmed. By a fortunate coincidence I was attending a performance at the -Theatre Royal close by, with Lady Johnson and my daughters. This was -known, and a messenger caught me at the close of the play, and I came -round at once. I had not been in the offices for five minutes, when news -of the most extraordinary and sensational character began to come in -from our receiving station by the Citadel. - -"Captain Pring, one of our most reliable pilot commanders, was in charge -of the _Albatros_. The message was from him, and this is the gist of it. -At sundown the _Albatros_ was flying on the ten-thousand-foot level. The -Lightship A. 70 was some twenty miles astern. No other airships were in -sight, when the look-out man reported a boat coming up at great speed -from the east. The _Albatros_ was doing her steady ninety knots, but as -the two ships approached, it was seen that the stranger, a much smaller -boat, was flying at an almost incredible rate. Pring reports that she -was doing a sixteen to eighteen second mile, but there is doubtless a -mistake in the message. - -"The boat showed no distinguishing lights, and failed to signal, as she -flashed past the liner at the distance of half a mile. There were -several curious features about her which attracted attention, though -what these were we do not yet know. This strange ship turned and came up -with the _Albatros_, actually flying round her in spirals with the -greatest ease. Then, without the slightest warning, she opened fire on -our vessel, and the first shell, obviously by design, blew away our -wireless." - -My heart simply bounded within me. This was news with a vengeance! I had -to exercise all my self-control not to pour out a stream of frantic -questions. It was beyond thinking! Such a thing had not happened since -the League of Nations came into being. It might mean hideous war once -more--anything! - -Sir Joshua had paused to drink a glass of water. He understood the -immense gravity of this news as well as I did, and his voice was -unsteady as he went on in answer to my nod! - -"The _Albatros_ was helpless. Since the international agreement that -only naval, military and police ships may fly armed, she had no possible -means of defence. Flight, even, was impossible, and the loss of her -wireless forbade her to summon help. Then the anonymous ship turned a -machine gun on her rudder and shot it out of gear. There was nothing for -it but to descend to the water and rest on her floats. Pring was forced -to give the order, and she planed down. The other ship followed and took -the water not two hundred yards away. - -"She then signalled in Morse code, with a Klaxon horn, that she was -sending men aboard the _Albatros_, and that if the captain or crew -offered the slightest resistance she'd blow her to pieces. They launched -a Berthon collapsible boat from a door in the stern fusilage. There were -four men in her, all armed with large-calibre automatic pistols, and -wearing pilot's hoods and masks with talc eye-pieces, so that it was -impossible to identify them. Pring could do nothing at all. He had the -passengers to consider. These ruffians cleared out the safe and the -women's jewel-cases--they left the mails alone--and in ten minutes they -were back again with the loot. The ship lifted and went off in the dark -at two hundred miles an hour, leaving the _Albatros_, helpless upon the -water. - -"It was a business of several hours to rig up a makeshift rudder, but, -fortunately, her searchlights were all right, and she kept on signalling -with these until she was sighted by a big cargo steamer, a Baltimore to -Cadiz boat, coming up from the south, the _Sant Iago_. She took off the -passengers and is bringing them home; she's only a fifteen-knot boat, -but I have already dispatched one of our smaller liners to pick her up -and take the passengers aboard. They ought to be here some time -to-morrow. - -"The _Sant Iago_ has wireless, and was able to communicate, not only -with us, but also with the air-yacht _May Flower_, which she sighted on -the four-thousand-foot level at dawn. The _May Flower_ belongs to Mr. -Van Adams, the Philadelphia millionaire, who is crossing to England with -a party of friends. She came down to the water and took up Commander -Pring and the second officer, and should be here by tea-time this -afternoon. Then we shall know more of this unprecedented, this -deplorable business." - -"And the _Albatros_, Sir Joshua?" - -"A small crew was left on her, and an emergency tender and workmen -started at dawn. She ought to be flying again to-night." - -I had all the available facts at last, and long before Sir Joshua had -finished my mind was busy as a mill. There was going to be the very -biggest sort of commotion over this. England and America would be in a -blaze of fury within twenty-four hours, and every flying man, from the -skippers of the lordly London-Brindisi-Bombay boats, or the -Transatlantic Line, to the sporting commercial traveller in a secondhand -50 h.p. trussed-girder blow-fly, would be wagging the admonishing finger -at ME. - -"Thank you, Sir Joshua. Most lucid, if I may say so. As a clear -statement of fact, combined with a sense of vivid narrative, your -account could hardly be improved on." - -"You think, Sir John ..." - -"When the time comes to make a statement for the newspapers I would not -alter a word." - -Thus did the tongue of the flatterer evade a situation that might have -been a trifle awkward for me. I rose at that. "I must leave you now, Sir -Joshua," I said, "as I have a great deal to see to and must rejoin Mr. -Lashmar. Steps have already been taken, and later on in the day I shall -be able to tell you more. Meanwhile I shall see Captain Pring directly -the _May Flower_ arrives, and before anyone else. Our future action must -depend a great deal on his statement." - -This was said in my curtest official manner, and then I got out of the -room as quickly as I possibly could. Lashmar was waiting, and I took him -by the arm and hurried him out of the office. - -"I've only just heard full details, Lashmar, and pretty bad they are. -Now has anything been done--by us, I mean?" - -"I had two of our patrol ships out at two-thirty this morning cruising -over a wide area, sir. They are out still, and reporting every hour. No -results, no strange airship seen anywhere. I've been out myself up and -down the Irish coast and round the Scillies this morning, more for -form's sake than anything else. And I've cabled the whole story, as far -as we know it, to the States." - -"Good! Any reply from them?" - -"Their police ships are out from Cape Breton to the Bermudas, but they -don't seem to have sighted anything out of the ordinary as yet." - -"Of course, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack along -that huge stretch, eight hundred miles if it's an inch. But, as far as I -can see, it's up to them; not us." - -"You think so, sir?" - -"Why, yes. It's a case of sheer rank and daring piracy. It's been -organized with great skill, and the pirates, whoever they are, have -command of something quite out-size in the way of a ship. There isn't a -works in England where such a boat could be built without our knowing -about it before it was launched. And it's dead certain that there's -nowhere in these little islands to hide her. Every single bit of spruce -and piano wire with a motor-bicycle engine that can fly ten yards has to -be registered and licensed by me. No, this is an American stunt." - -We had been crossing the Hoe as we talked, in the direction of the -Citadel, and we now came to the long, low building of Dartmoor stone, -which is the Plymouth Headquarters of the A.P. It is perched on the edge -of the cliff, and within five yards of the spot where Sir Francis Drake -is said to have finished his game of bowls when the Armada was coming up -Channel. - -We passed through the gates, where the police sentry presented arms, and -began to walk up and down the terrace. - -"Signal to Southampton," I ordered, "and get a couple of their fastest -boats here at once. They may be useful in an emergency, and it will look -as if we are doing something. Ready for action, of course, and with full -service ammunition and bombs. Sir Joshua may have a fit if he likes, but -there is nothing to be done until we know more--unless you can suggest -anything?" - -The little man shook his head. He was keen as a terrier, of course, and -he had already acted with great promptitude and wisdom. - -Just then an orderly came out on to the terrace and handed me a signal. - -I read it out to Lashmar: "Air-yacht _May Flower_ just passed St. Mary's -doing ninety knots." It was from our most westerly A.P. station on -Tresco in the Scillies. Lashmar made a rough calculation: "Twenty-five -miles west-sou'-west of Land's End, add another seventy--she'll be here -just under the hour, sir." - -"Then I tell you what, Mr. Lashmar, go and meet her and escort her home. -Not a living soul must speak to Captain Pring before I do--not even Sir -Joshua or any of the White Star people. Give that as my orders when you -meet the yacht. But put it very politely to Mr. Van Adams--my -compliments and that sort of thing. He's the sort of person who could -buy the goodwill of the universe for ready money. Make your escort -appear a compliment from the Government!" - -Lashmar never wasted words. He understood exactly, saluted, and hurried -to the electric railway, which ran down like a chute into the sea-drome -far below. I lit a cigarette and watched, and it was a sight worth -watching. - -Beyond, stretched the largest sea-drome in Great Britain, a harbour -within a harbour, surrounded by massive concrete walls. In the roughest -weather, when even within the distant breakwater the Sound is turbulent, -the sea-drome is calm as a duck-pond. Now it was like a sheet of -polished silver, and resting on their great floats at their moorings -were three gigantic air-liners, with electric launches and motor-boats -plying between them and the landing-stages. - -Right in the centre was the splendid _Atlantis_, graceful as a swan, by -which Connie was to leave for the States in a few hours. She was -surrounded by a swarm of boats no bigger than water-beetles from where I -stood. - -A bell rang, there was a rumbling sound, and from a tunnel just beneath -me the car, with Lashmar in it, shot down to the water like a stone -running down a house roof. As the car dwindled to a punt, a match-box, -and finally a postage stamp, I heard the creak and swish of the -semaphore behind me on the roof of the station. On the far side of the -sea-drome was our Patrol Ship No. 1, stream-line fusilage, with the -familiar red, white and blue line, snow-white planes, guns fore and -aft, and twin propellers of phosphor bronze winking white-hot in the -afternoon sun. - -The semaphore was sighted in five seconds. I got a pair of glasses, and -saw that the engines were already "ticking over" as Lashmar jumped into -a launch and went over the pool, with a cream-white wake behind him and -two ostrich plumes of spray six feet high at the bows. He was on board -in less time than it takes to write it. I heard the faint throbbing of -the four high-compression engines change to the drone of a hornet. No. 1 -Patrol slid over the water until her floats lifted--lifted until they -barely touched the surface, and she was clear. One clean spiral over -Pinklecombe way, and then, as she mounted, she turned and was off over -Rams Head like an arrow from a bow. Though I say it that shouldn't, my -officers and men of the A.P. were just about as good as they're made! - -There was a good three-quarters of an hour to spare, and the Royal Hotel -was not four minutes away. After the recent excitements a cup of tea -with Connie seemed just the thing. As I legged it over the Hoe, I -realized that I might be very busy for some time, and, in consequence, -late for dinner. I must tell my girl that something of great importance -had happened, though, in any case, I was determined to see her off, come -what might. - -Then I remembered something. As Chief Commissioner I had absolute -control over the airports of England in a time of crisis. In any case, -it would be as well to, close the sea-drome in preparation for the _May -Flower's_ arrival. I should then be certain that no one could possibly -get at Captain Pring before I could. And if I chose to detain even the -Royal Mail for half an hour later on in the evening--under the -circumstances!--no one would say me nay. - -There is a telephone box in the hall of the Royal Hotel. In thirty -seconds my orders were given, and not a living soul would enter or leave -Plymouth sea-drome without my permission. Then I strolled into the -winter gardens, where I found Connie sitting at a little table among -tubs of azaleas and listening to the strains of a ladies' orchestra. - -"I've half an hour and ten minutes exactly, darling," I said, putting my -watch on the table and helping her to early strawberries. "Tell me when -the time's up, and then I must rush away for an hour before we dine." - -Straightway I forgot all about the _Albatros_, Captain Pring, and the -mysterious armed ship in mid-Atlantic. - -Knowing what I know now, I wonder how I could have taken it so lightly, -even then. But grave and serious as the affair was, amazing, too, in -its boldness, an elaborate and unexpected masterpiece of crime, it -seemed remote and very far away, like something one reads of in a -foreign newspaper, never conceiving that it can have anything to do with -one's own _personal_ life. - -If only I could have peeped but a little way into the future! - - - - -CHAPTER III - -"COLD-BLOODED PIRACY IN THE HIGH AIR" - - -Pilot-commander Pring was a tall, lean, lantern-jawed officer, who, -though of English nationality, had spent most of his life in America. -His face was still pale and grim with passion and mortification as I -closed the door of my private room at the A.P. Station on him, Mr. Van -Adams, the multi-millionaire, and Mr. Rickaby, second officer of the -_Albatros_. - -"Now, gentlemen, sit down, please," I said. "And I will ask Captain -Pring a few questions. Sir Joshua Johnson has given me the main facts, -but I want details. I won't detain you long, but I felt I ought to see -you before anyone else." - -"Oh, quite!" said Mr. Van Adams, a fleshy man, with a watchful eye and a -jaw like a pike. - -"This is an extraordinary affair, Captain Pring," I went on. "But, thank -goodness, you haven't lost your ship, or any lives. I know what you feel -about the _Albatros_." - -"She is father, mother, brother, sister, hired girl and dog under the -waggon to me!" said Pring, and then he blazed up into fury. I -disentangle the few words I can. The majority were too overdressed for -respectable society. - -"... His Majesty's Mails! First time in history of flying, and it's -happened to ME! Cold-blooded piracy in the High Air! They'd have blown -us to pieces as soon as look at us! When I get hold of that -slime-lapping leper, the pirate skipper, I won't leave him hide or hair -to cover the wart he calls his heart! ..." and so on, for a good two -minutes by the office chronometer. - -I let him rip. It was the quickest way. It's dangerous to throttle down -a man like Pring. - -"The Captain is, naturally, furious," I said. - -"Oh, quite!" answered Mr. Van Adams. - -Then we got to business. "The strange airship, Captain Pring. Let's -begin with that. She approached you flying _West_, I understand?" - -"She did, Sir John. Does that put you wise to anything?" - -"It would appear that she was coming from Europe. But that was probably -a trick. She might have been waiting about for hours." - -"Curious thing, then, that all the ships in the air during the last -thirty hours that were within fifteen hundred miles of the American and -Canadian coast never saw anything of her. The Air Police of the U.S.A. -have questioned every registered boat, Transatlantic and coastal trade, -and not one of them sighted her. And, as you know, Sir John, from Cape -Race to Charleston in summer weather the air's as thick with craft as -gnats over a pond. Ain't that so, Mr. Van Adams, sir?" - -"Quite, Captain Pring." - -"I see your inference. Well, we'll leave that for a moment. I understand -that there were some peculiar features about this ship. What were they?" - -"She's the fastest thing in the air, bar none. That I can swear to. A -pilot of my experience can't well be deceived, and if that ship--she's -one of the very few I've seen with four propellers--can't do two hundred -and forty miles an hour, _without a following wind, mind_, then I'm a -paretic!" - -I whistled. Such speeds had been dreamed of but never known. "Nearly -three times hurricane velocity!" I said. - -"She'd race the dawn, Sir John! and that's my honest belief. There's -never been such a flying boat before. And she don't carry a crew of more -than twelve or fifteen men, in my opinion. The rest's all engines and -petrol. She ain't more than twice the size of one of your patrol ships, -all over." - -This was talking! Each moment the affair grew more tense and -interesting. - -"That narrows our field of search no end," I remarked. "A boat like that -can't be built anywhere in the world without leaving traces." - -"It colours the cat different, sure," said Captain Pring. "Now, here's -another point. Gum! I'm going to startle you some more, Sir John, but, -as God sees me, I'm speaking truth. Here's Mr. Rickaby here as'll swear -to all I say...." - -He looked at the second officer, a good-looking, brown-faced lad. "It's -all gospel, Sir John," he broke in. - -"Of course," I said impatiently, "I know you couldn't be mistaken, -Pring, and I won't insult you by thinking you'd pull a Chief -Commissioner's leg over an affair of this importance. What's number two? -Let's have it!" - -"The man who runs her, or the man who built her, has solved another -problem. He's produced silent engines at last! That ship's motors don't -make more noise than a June bug! On a dark night she could pass within -two hundred yards of you, and you'd never guess that she was near." - -From that moment I saw the thing in its true proportions. From that -moment the air became unsafe. A man-eating tiger let loose upon a quiet -country-side was not a tithe as dangerous. - -The three other men saw that I understood. - -"The scoundrels who came aboard the _Albatros_ and looted the ship. -What of them?" - -"They were masked so's their mothers wouldn't, have known 'em. Armed to -the teeth, too. We'd have downed them quick enough, even at the cost of -a life or two, but there was the pirate with a four-inch gun trained on -us. And she meant business. I did right, Sir John?" - -The poor fellow's voice shook, and his face was corrugated with anxiety. - -"I should have done exactly the same myself under the circumstances, -Pring. Your first duty was to the women and children under your care. -That view, I am certain, will be accepted by the company and the -Government, to say nothing of the public, when it gets out. About these -men, again, did you judge them to be American or foreigners?" - -"They didn't speak much, except, to give a few orders. But what they -_did_ say I heard, every word. I was with them all the time, and so was -Mr. Rickaby here. I'll spring another surprise on you, Sir John, and -then I've done. _Those chaps were English, every one of them._ And, -what's more, they weren't any plug-ugly crowd neither! They were -educated men of some social position, club men at some time or other, or -I'm a short sport!" - -The second officer spoke. "Captain Pring is perfectly right, sir," he -said modestly. "I'll swear that they had been public school or 'Varsity -men at some time or other." - -"Where were you?" I asked quickly. - -"Harrow, sir." - -I nodded. Here was another astounding fact for consideration when I was -alone. - -"And then, after a time," Pring continued, "the _Sant Iago_ tramp -steamer freighter came up from way down South and rescued us. After that -we sighted the lights of Mr. Van Adams' air yacht, the _May Flower_, and -in answer to our signal he came down and took me and Rickaby aboard." - -"Quite," said the laconic millionaire. - -"To-night, Captain Pring, I shall want a long talk with you. Now I must -surrender you to Sir Joshua. For the present, I want you all three to -give me your words of honour that you will tell no one at all anything -about the appearance or speed of the ship, that her engines were silent, -or you suspect the ruffians on her to be English. That is most -important. In fact, I must make it an order, under the powers with which -I am invested by the Secretary of State. As an order, it cannot apply, -to you, Mr. Van Adams, but you have been so kind and helpful hitherto -that I feel sure you'll give me your promise? You must see how necessary -it is." - -Mr. Van Adams was going to use his word-of-all-work, I saw it coming, -when he changed his mind. - -"I'm on," he said instead. - -The two pilots gave me their assurances, and we walked out of the office -together. As we went along the terrace Pring pointed down to the -sea-drome, where the millionaire's air yacht, a beautiful boat, painted -cream colour and black, was now resting at her moorings. - -"The _Atlantis_ starts to-night," he said significantly. - -"She will be escorted by an armed patrol," I said, "until she meets one -of the American A.P. ships in mid-ocean. Surely, you don't think there's -any danger?" - -To tell the truth, I had been so concentrated upon the matter in hand -that I had hardly given a thought to the outgoing liner. Can you blame -me? Anyway, duty came before any private considerations. Now, Pring's -remark started a new set of thoughts. I looked at him with great -anxiety. He did not know the whole of my reason, but he saw that I was -disturbed. - -"No, Sir John," he answered, "I don't think the danger worth the waggle -of a mule's ear. It was only a passing remark. It stands to reason that -Captain Kidd'll know that the police boats of two hemispheres are out -looking for him in swarms by now. He'll figure that out, sure. If he -was to start any of his stunts within the next few days, he'd have about -as much chance as a fat man in Fiji." - -"That's what I thought." - -"You may make your mind easy about the _Atlantis_, sir. Besides, as you -say, to put the lid on, she'll be escorted." - -"Quite," I said involuntarily, and then we both laughed. - -"Royal Hotel at ten-thirty," I said. "I shall be staying there -to-night." - -I shall never forget that dinner with Connie. One of her greatest charms -is her serene light-heartedness. It is not silliness or frivolity, don't -think that, but the bloom upon the fruit of a clear and happy nature -whose conscience is at rest. My girl wasn't a fool. She was not ignorant -of evil and the grey sides of life. But they left her untouched. Perhaps -her very simplicity, the gay and stainless courage that she wore like a -flag through life, had helped her to her great success. The British -public might admire and enjoy the work of other artists, but they had -taken little Connie Shepherd to their hearts. - -She was gay at our dinner, bubbling over with joy and fun. I did my best -to respond, but it was rather difficult. There was a shadow on my mind, -and it would not go away. - -"Dearest old John!" she said once, "what is it? You're sad, inside of -you, and you're pretending you're not!" - -"Darling, in an hour or two you'll be gone. How can I be very happy?" - -She shook her head. "It's not that. You can't deceive me. I don't want -to part, either, especially on this day of days. But we are both of us -sensible, and we both know it's only for six weeks. You aren't in the -least sentimental--horrid word!--nor am I. We go deeper than that." - -"Well, then, to tell you the truth"--and it _was_ the truth--"I am a bit -under the weather, and I can't quite say why. Perhaps it's reaction. But -most probably, it's because I have been hearing some news, a matter in -connection with my work which has excited me. It's a problem of -organization I must solve at once. Forgive me, sweetheart!" - -"My dear, if you were not what you are, I should never have said 'yes.' -No one has ever had such a position as you at your age, and I know how -you've fought for it. I _love_ you to be preoccupied about your work." - -We finished dinner, however, in a happier mood, and then walked down to -the sea-drome together. Connie's heavy luggage had gone to New York by -steamer a week ago. The two small trunks she had brought with her from -London were already on board the _Atlantis_, and Wilson and Thumbwood -carried a couple of dressing-bags. - -It was a perfect evening. The sun, in going to rest, had hung the sky -with banners, golden and glorious. The music of a band upon the pier -came softly up to the terrace of the A.P. Station. Young men and maidens -in summer clothes strolled up and down over the greens, and a -sickle-shaped new moon was rising over Devonport and the Hamoaze. - -We went down in the electric car, and boarded the _Atlantis_ from one of -my launches. She was lit up in all her triple decks, as we climbed -aboard by the saloon accommodation ladder, and a steward took Connie and -her maid to her cabin, while I went to find my old friend, Captain -Swainson. - -The big, bearded man was sitting alone in his little room. There was a -cup of black coffee by his side, and he was chewing an unlighted cigar. -I saw at once that he had heard something. - -"The very man!" he cried, jumping up from his basket chair and gripping -me warmly by the hand. "I heard you were here, Sir John, and I made sure -of seeing you before I started. Now what's all this? Sir Joshua's half -out of his mind with worry, the offices are turned upside down, and Seth -Pring--confound him!--is as close as an oyster!" - -I found out that he knew just what Sir Joshua knew, and no more. He was -indignant but quite cool, inclined to minimize the whole affair. - -It seemed to me that to tell him the whole truth would serve no good -purpose. - -Pilot Superintendent Lashmar, whom I was going to send in command of the -escort, would, of course, know everything. - -"Well, I'm sending an escort with you half-way across," I said. "Lashmar -will go--you know him?--in No. 1 Patrol Boat. It's heavily armed, and he -can shoot straighter than any man in the service. Got his experience in -the Great War." - -"Escort be blowed!" said hearty Captain Swainson. "I can't think what -old Pring was about to let himself be held up like that--though, of -course, it's just as you wish, Sir John." - -"I don't suppose there's the least need of it, Swainson. But this -business'll make a bit of a noise, and it looks well. Now I'll tell you -a secret. I'm engaged to be married! Settled it coming down in the train -this morning." - -"The deuce you are! A thousand congratulations!" - -"Thanks. What's more, the lady is aboard your ship, and flies to New -York with you to-night. I want you to look after her for me." - -"Can a duck swim? Well, this _is_ news! Now I understand about that -escort! But do introduce me, Sir John. It will be more than a pleasure -to make the young lady comfortable." - -We went off to seek Connie, and found her sitting behind one of the -multiplex wind-screens on the saloon deck, listening to the music of a -piano and violin that came through the open hatch of the palm-court -below. - -I remember that the musicians were playing a selection of old English -airs, sweet, plaintive music, and had just got to "The Last Rose of -Summer." - -I'm not emotional, but when I hear that tune to-day--thank goodness, it -isn't often!--I go out of the room. - - -At a quarter to nine I stood on the Hoe and watched the _Atlantis_ start -for America. Her navigation lights were all turned on; the innumerable -port-holes of the huge fusilage made an amber necklace below the immense -grey planes. - -Then, from the towers on the sea-drome wall the "flare-path" shot -out--an avenue of white and steady light to guide the liner outwards. -From the roof of the A.P. Station the compressed air-horn sent out three -long, brazen calls. I had arranged it so. It was my Godspeed to -Constance. Old Swainson answered on his Klaxon, and then the liner began -to move slowly over the glittering water. Every second she increased her -speed and lifted until she rose clear and slanted upwards. I had a -vision of the mysterious silvery thing like a moth in the centre of the -light-beam, and then the flare-path shifted out to sea, and rose till it -was almost at a right angle with the water. The _Atlantis_ was -spiralling up to her ten-thousand-foot level, and in a moment or two she -was nothing more than a speck. - -Just as I lost sight of her, Patrol Ship No. 1 lifted and followed like -a hawk after a heron, and then both ships were lost in the night. - -The band on Plymouth Pier was still playing. The young men and maidens -were still strolling round the lawns in the moonlight. The air was sweet -and pure, full of laughter and the voices of girls. But I went back to -the station with a heavy heart. - -Two shorthand clerks and two telegraphists were waiting for me, and in -the next hour I got through an infinity of work. There was a mass of -telegrams to answer from America. They had been re-wired from Whitehall. -I had to send out fifty or sixty signals to organize a complete patrol -of the Atlantic air-lanes. There was a long and confidential "wireless" -to my assistant, Muir Lockhart, in London, and last, though by no means -least, a condensed report of everything for the Home Secretary. It was -after ten when I had finished, and I walked slowly back to the "Royal," -dead tired in mind and body. When I came to think of it, I realized that -this had been one of the most eventful and exciting days of my life. - -Thumbwood--you will hear a great deal about him before this narrative is -over--was waiting in the hall. He hurried me upstairs to where a tepid -bath dashed with ammonia was waiting. Five minutes in this, a brisk rub -down, a complete change into evening kit, a tea-cup of Bovril with a -tablespoon of brandy and a pinch of celery salt in it--what Thumbwood -called my "bran-mash"--and I was a new man again. - -For a perfect valet commend me a man who has had charge of racehorses in -his time! - -Then I went down to meet Captain Pring. I saw at once, as I came into -the public rooms of the hotel, that the news was out. Groups of people -were standing together and talking earnestly. There was a buzz of -suppressed excitement, natural anywhere, but particularly so in the -principal air-port of England. - -And there were special editions of the evening papers.... - -These--I got one and looked--had made the most of very scanty material. -Nothing like the whole truth had leaked out, but there was, -nevertheless, a sensation of the first magnitude. I was recognized and -pointed to; a naval captain even spoke, and tried to pump me!--though -he soon found that there was nothing doing--and when Captain Pring came -into the lounge some idiot started to cheer, and there was what the -papers describe as a "scene." - -Pring and I supped alone in a private room and had a long confidential -talk, in the course of which I learnt many things. I am not going to -give any details of that talk at present. It was momentous--it is enough -to say that now--and has its proper place further on in the story. - -The worthy Captain went at twelve, and I retired to bed. Thumbwood slept -in a dressing-room opening out of my bedroom. By his couch was a -telephone, which I arranged was to be connected with the A.P. Station -all night long. If any signal came Thumbwood was to take it, and, if -important, wake me at once. - -... I am going to conclude this first portion of the narrative in as few -lines as possible. Even to-day I shirk the writing of them. - -I was awakened suddenly to find my room blazing with light; I afterwards -found that the exact time was 2.30 a.m. - -Thumbwood was standing by the bed. "Sir John," he said hoarsely, -"there's a signal!" - -One glance at the lad's face was enough, and I set my teeth--hard. - -"Bad news?" - -"Terrible news, Sir John!" - -"Go on." - -"_Atlantis_ attacked two hundred miles west of Cork. Captain Swainson -and four other men shot dead. Patrol Boat No. 1 disabled. Commander -Lashmar and most of the crew killed. Signal got through by two survivors -of crew, who managed to repair wireless." - -Twice I swallowed with a dry mouth. Thumbwood knew what I wanted to ask. - -"The young lady, Sir John, and her maid ..." - -"Dead, too?" - -"No, Sir John. They were taken from among all the other passengers and -put aboard the pirate ship, which then flew away with them." - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE NEWSPAPERS IN FULL CRY - - -You are to imagine, if you please, the private room of the Chief -Commissioner of Air Police at Whitehall. - -A soft Turkey carpet of dull brick-reds and blues covers the parquet -floor. The walls are hung with pictures of famous airmen of the past, -inventors, fighters, pioneers of the great commercial service of -air-liners which now fills the skies and has shrunk the planet--for all -practical purposes--to a fifth of its former size. There are two or -three huge writing-tables covered with crimson morocco; the chairs are -thickly padded and luxurious. A range of tall windows looks down upon -the endless stir and movement of the wide street, where the nerves of -Empire meet in one central ganglion. - -Standing by one of these windows is a light-haired young man of thirty -in a lounge suit of dark blue. He wears a rather heavy, -carefully-trimmed moustache, and his face is seamed and furrowed with -anxiety and grey from want of rest. - -Thus you see me in London, two days after Thumbwood brought the -terrible news to my bedroom in the hotel at Plymouth. - -General Sir Hercules Nichelson, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Flying -Corps, had been with me for half an hour, and was just taking his leave. - -"Then all that is satisfactorily arranged, Sir John," he said. "We shall -supplement your patrol ships with three war-ships at Plymouth and three -at the Scillies. They will, of course, be air cruisers, both faster and -better armed than your boats, and between us both we shall put an end to -this pest before many days are over." - -"I sincerely trust so," I said. "And I do not see how it is possible -that there should be any further outrages. The net will be too close. -America, with its much greater coastal area, is taking extraordinary -precautions." - -"It will be impossible for these devilish scoundrels to escape," the -General repeated with confidence--the onus of it all was not falling -upon _him!_--"and now, we quite understand one another." - -"Perfectly, I think, Sir Hercules." - -"Your chief station officer is to be in full command, under you, at each -air-port." - -"It was your suggestion, Sir Hercules, and since it came from you, I do -think it would be best. My men are always patrolling the air-lines. The -organization is complete already." - -"Exactly. And as for my fellows, they will be proud to serve under such -gallant and experienced officers as those of the A.P." - -"It's kind of you to say so." - -"Not at all. It is the truth. And now, as an older man, let me give you -a little advice, if I am not taking a liberty. Don't let this affect you -too much, Sir John. Every sane man knows that neither you nor anyone -else could have avoided what has happened, or have provided against it. -It is a great thing to have an acute sense of responsibility; I honour -you for it. But don't overdo it. I know the strain you are enduring. -Don't let it go too far. If you were to break down now, that would be a -final disaster...." - -The kind, white-haired old man shook me warmly by the hand, and left the -room. - -Almost immediately young Bickenhall, my private secretary, came in. -"Here is the morning's Press, sir," he said, and upon my table he put -down various columns cut from the journals of that morning--all dealing -with the sensational and terrible events on the Atlantic that were now -the common knowledge of the world. - -I sat down to glance through them--I was keeping an iron grip upon -myself these times--in order to gauge public opinion. It occurs to me -that, in order to acquaint you with the progress of events from my -awakening at Plymouth till the morning of which I speak, I cannot do -better than quote a paragraph here and there from the daily papers. It -will bring us up to date more quickly and concisely than in any other -way. - -This, then, from one of the leading London journals, a weighty, somewhat -ponderous sheet, with considerable influence: - - -"... We have given an account of the first attack upon the air-liner -_Albatros_, under command of Captain Pring, whose conduct in such a -trying situation did not deviate from the best traditions of our British -aviators. Most people would have thought that after such a dastardly -outrage, the unknown pirate would have been content to rest upon his -infamous laurels and retire to his lair, with the valuable booty he had -secured. But it was not so. With an audacity unparalleled in the annals -of crime, this vulture, on the very next night, commits an outrage -which, for ferocity and daring, makes the first one seem like a mere -frolic. - -"It is now possible to disentangle something of the truth from the -various conflicting stories that have reached us, and it is, moreover, -confirmed in its essential details by the authorities of the Air Police -at Whitehall, who have issued a guarded statement. - -"It appears that two nights ago the famous air-liner _Atlantis_ left -the Plymouth sea-drome about nine in the evening. The Captain, Commander -Pilot Swainson, was one of the best known and trusted officers in the -Transatlantic service. He did not anticipate the slightest danger. Sir -John Custance, Chief Commissioner of the Air Police of Great Britain, -was himself at Plymouth, having hurried down from London upon receiving -news of the first piracy. Sir John insisted that the _Atlantis_ should -be escorted, for half of her journey to America, by the armed Patrol -Ship '1,' under command of Superintendent Pilot-Commander Lashmar, -D.S.O., himself an officer of great distinction. Half-way across the -Atlantic the liner was to be met by a similar escort of the United -States A.P., and let us here say that it is difficult to tell what other -precautions Sir John Custance could have devised. - -"The _Atlantis_ carried the Royal Mail and a full complement of -passengers, among whom were some distinguished names. Mr. Bootfeller, of -the United States Senate, Mr. Greenwell, the well-known publisher, the -Duke of Perth, and 'Walty Priest,' the cinema 'star,' were among the -men, while in the list of ladies was Miss Constance Shepherd, a young -actress, of whom it is not too much to say that she has endeared herself -to the British public. - -"About two o'clock in the morning disastrous and terrible news began to -filter through to the Plymouth wireless stations. It can be summarized -as follows: When not more than two hundred and fifty miles west of -Ireland, the patrol ship, which was flying three miles or so behind the -_Atlantis_, was suddenly attacked by an unknown airship. The moon had -set, the ten-thousand-feet level was dark, and the attack was delivered -without the slightest warning. Patrol Ship No. 1 was instantly disabled -by a rain of shells. Captain Lashmar was shot dead, and with him -perished all of the crew except three men, one of whom was so seriously -wounded that his life is despaired of, the other two being only slightly -wounded. - -"An utter wreck, the patrol ship was just able to descend to the water, -where she rested like a wounded and dying bird. - -"Meanwhile the unknown ship caught up with the _Atlantis_ and -commenced--as in the case of the _Albatros_--with shooting away her -wireless aerials. The rudder and stern propeller were then destroyed, -and the great liner forced to plane to the surface of the water. Six -masked and armed ruffians went aboard of her, and a systematic looting -of the ship commenced. Captain Swainson could not bear this. He drew a -revolver and shot one of the pirates dead. Then, calling on his crew to -assist him, he made a determined rush, regardless of consequences. The -fight was unequal. Captain Swainson was the only defender who carried -fire-arms, while the robbers were provided with heavy automatic pistols. - -"Five men of the _Atlantis_ were killed almost instantly, and the rest -cowed, while the systematic robbery continued. And now, alas! 'horrors -upon horror's head accumulate.' Their evil work completed, the ruffians -sought out Miss Constance Shepherd and her maid, Miss Wilson, from among -the passengers. These unfortunate ladies were forced at the pistol's -mouth to embark upon the pirates' small boat, in which they were rowed -rapidly to the pirate ship and taken on board. The ship then rose from -the water and was lost to sight. - -"Meanwhile two heroes were at work. On board the broken patrol ship two -able navigators, Paget and Fowles, were wounded, indeed, but not -entirely disabled. Both men had some knowledge of wireless, and with -superhuman toil, as the hours went on, they contrived to rig up a -temporary apparatus which, at last, served to send out a brief account -of the disaster and a call for help. - -"When rescue ships arrived at early dawn, they found that the patrol -ship had drifted close to the _Atlantis_, and that Dr. Weatherall, the -surgeon of the liner, had swum aboard the No. 1 and rendered what help -he could to the wounded men. - -"Press representatives are at Plymouth, but, so far, few of the -passengers of the _Atlantis_ have been able, and none have been allowed -by the authorities, to make personal statements for publication. This -embargo, we are assured, will be removed by this evening. - -"This is a precise account of what has happened. We must now turn to the -consideration of the situation...." - - -Another journal, a weekly one this time, headed its remarks with a -portrait of my unhappy self. Underneath was written: "The Man the -Atlantic Pirates tricked!" The rag had an immense circulation in all the -tap rooms of England. - -Well, I would see what the blackguards of the country were reading about -me. Shrewd young Bickenhall wouldn't have brought the unclean thing in -if he hadn't thought it worth while. I give it for what it's worth: - - -"Poor Johnny Custance! You're up against it good and thick to-day, and -no mistake, and Paul Pry"--this was the signature of the tout who wrote -the article--"can't say he's very sorry for you. For some time past a -little bird has been whispering in the clubs that all is not well in the -State of Denmark--to wit, the office of the Commissioner of Air Police -at Whitehall. The aristocratic young gentlemen who daily condescend to -drop into this palatial edifice for an hour or two have long held the -reputation of being the best dressed of all our minor Government -officials, and, considering the salaries they draw from the public -purse, this is not surprising. But I have never yet heard that they did -any work worth mentioning, or, indeed, anything to justify their -precious and beautiful existence. - -"Flying Police we must have, and never has the necessity for them been -greater than at this moment; but there is a vast deal of difference from -the handy pilot of a patrol ship at Plymouth or Portland and the -bureaucratic popinjays of Pall Mall. - -"Sir John Custance, Bart., is the typical Government official of the -musical comedy or the comic paper. He is an aristocrat who, after a -short experience in the air, is shoved into the highly-paid and -responsible position he holds without any reason that the man in the -street can understand. A baronet, and, if report speaks truly, a man of -considerable private means, I have--in common with many other -people--often asked myself what possible qualification this young -gentleman can have for his job. Johnny is a most estimable person, no -doubt, in private life. I have heard it remarked that his moustache is -one of the most perfect things in the West End of London, and he is -frequently to be seen adorning a stall or box at the Parthenon Theatre. -But few people have ever taken him seriously as the head of our Air -Police, and now nobody will." - - -There was a row of stars here, as if Mr. Paul Pry paused for breath, or -was stopping to pick up another handful of mud, and then he went on -again: - - -"If the nation is called upon to pay thousands and thousands a year for -the upkeep of an efficient service of Air Police, it is entitled to see -that it gets it, and that the man in charge is able to provide it. What -has happened? A crew of murdering ruffians in an airship have looted two -of our greatest air-liners, slaughtered several people, kidnapped one of -our most popular actresses, and escaped scot-free. Vanished into the -wide! While Sir John Custance twiddles his thumbs in Whitehall and calls -upon the air forces of the Admiralty and War Office to supplement his -own miserably inefficient organization. - -"As usual, we are not without some very special and exclusive -information in this office. My readers know from past experience that -their Paul is not easily caught napping. I believe that I shall have -something to say that will startle everyone in next week's number, -though, for certain reasons, I cannot be more explicit at present. -Before concluding these remarks, however, I must say a word or two about -the extraordinary and sinister disappearance of delightful Constance -Shepherd. Sad as it is to hear of brave men shot down while doing their -duty, there is something peculiarly terrible in the carrying off of the -little lady to whom London owes so much. Dear little Connie! We of -Bohemia knew and loved you well! Many is the happy hour that Paul Pry -has spent in your company, many the bumper of bubbly water he has -quaffed to your success! - -"No one could possibly have foreseen such a tragic ending to the -American journey which Miss Shepherd set out upon with such high hopes. -And yet, there was not wanting a slight shadow of premonition. Only a -week ago she said to me: 'Paul, I'm not so sure, after all, that -everything will go well. There are certain things. I can't tell you of -them----' But I must refrain from betraying a confidence. Let it be -enough to say that my little friend had her moments of dejection, when -she was not entirely happy about the future." - - -I put down the paper and rang for Bickenhall. "You've read this, I -suppose?" I asked, pointing to it. - -He nodded. "Lies, of course," he said; "mere words to fill up the -column." - -"No doubt. Still, the man hints all sorts of things, damn him! And one -can't neglect any possible clue." I was in a raging fury, and Bickenhall -saw it, though he was far from suspecting the true cause. - -"The office is in the Strand," he said, "three minutes by taxi. I'll go -and interview this Paul Pry and put the fear of God into him." - -I knew my Bickenhall. He is an energetic and hefty young man, and though -I had little hopes that he would discover anything of value, I had a -shrewd suspicion that Mr. Paul Pry was about to experience a peculiarly -unpleasant ten minutes. - -I was right in both my conjectures. - -The secretary returned in half an hour. "Just a ramp," he said. "I found -a greasy ruffian smelling of gin in a back room, and frightened him out -of his life. He's never met Miss Shepherd, and has no private -information whatever. Will apologize in any manner you like." - -I am not going to bother you with what the journalists wrote. There were -hundreds of columns of suggestions, conjecture, reproof, alarm, and so -forth. On the whole my department was let down fairly lightly, and I was -glad. Please don't think that I cared twopence for myself. I did not. -But I should have bitterly resented any serious reflections on my staff, -officers and men, who were, and are, as able and loyal a body as can be -found anywhere in the world. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE FAMILIAR SPIRIT OF MR. VAN ADAMS - - -At mid-day I had an appointment with the Home Secretary. He received me -with the utmost kindness, and we had half an hour of highly confidential -talk. The purport of it will appear later. This is not the place for it. - -Towards the end I informed him that I had a request to make. - -"Tell me," he answered at once, "and let me repeat that the Government -has every confidence in you, Sir John. Don't take this too hardly, I beg -of you." - -I had a sudden impulse. "I trust," I said, "that my anxiety for the -public welfare is in no degree overshadowed by a private sorrow. Indeed, -I am sure that it isn't. But, if I may speak in confidence, I should -like you to know, sir, that I was engaged to be married to Miss -Constance Shepherd." - -There was a perceptible silence. I heard the great man take a long -inward breath, and murmur to himself, "Poor fellow!" Then he did the -right, the quite perfect thing: he stretched out his hand, and took mine -in a firm, warm grasp. - -When I could speak, I returned to business. - -"My request, sir, is this. I want to disappear for a month." - -"Disappear, Sir John?" - -"That's what it amounts to. Practically, I am going to ask for four -weeks' leave of absence. It must be private, though. If the news were -published the public would misunderstand, and think I was deserting my -post in a time of difficulty and danger." - -"Whereas?" - -"Whereas I want to investigate this affair in my own way. I believe that -the theories of the Press and public, and also those of Scotland -Yard--with whom I have been in consultation--are quite wrong. Nor do my -communications with America give me any reason to change my opinion. -This is a matter of life and death to me. I owe the Government, who have -promoted me so rapidly to the high position I occupy, a solution of this -mystery. I owe them and the public that the fiends who have committed -these outrages should be brought to justice. And, if God allows me, I -will do it. My honour and that of my department are at stake. Those two -things come before anything else. In addition, I have the private -reasons of which I have told you. And, in order to succeed, I am -persuaded that my way is the only way." - -"You have certainly the strongest motives a man well could have to urge -you on. But can you be a little more explicit?" - -"I want to leave Mr. Muir Lockhart in charge at the office. He is -perfectly capable of taking charge. He has everything at his fingers' -ends. And I shall arrange that he can always communicate with me at any -time." - -The Home Secretary thought for a moment, and drummed with his fingers on -the arm of his chair. He had been a famous barrister, and renowned for -the perfection of his turn-out. His finger-nails were pink and polished -as the light fell upon them, and I wondered if he had them manicured. - -Then he looked up. "Very well, do as you like," he said suddenly. "I -take it that you know what you're about. And heartfelt good wishes for -your success." - -... This is how I plunged into a series of dangerous adventures, a dark -underworld of crime and almost superhuman cunning, probably without -parallel in modern times. - -Arrangements were soon made at Whitehall. Muir Lockhart was an -understanding man, and by three o'clock in the afternoon I walked out -into the sunshine free from all official cares for a month. I took a -long, deep breath as I crossed the Horse Guards Parade and made my way -to the long, green vista of the Mall. "The first act is over," I -thought. "The curtain is rising on the real drama. Somewhere in this -world there is a man whose discovery and death I owe to Society and to -myself." - -And I was a man who never failed to pay a debt. - -I have given you but little indication of my mental state during the -last few days. It won't bear much writing about even now. A cold fury, -instead of blood, came and went in my veins, and my heart was ice. Every -now and again, especially when I was alone, agony for which there is, -there can be, no name got hold of me, and sported with me as the wind -sports with a leaf. I suppose I had a tiny foretaste of what is felt by -a soul that is eternally damned. I _dared_ not think too much of -Constance and her fate. If I had let myself go that way the running -waters would have risen and overwhelmed me utterly. But, thank God, my -intellect held. The streak of hardness which had served me so well in my -career, and had enabled me to push to the top at an early age, came to -the rescue now. Every faculty was sharpened; the will concentrated to a -single purpose. I was alone, and I walked in darkness, but I was -conscious of Power--charged to the brim as a battery is charged with the -electric fluid. As I walked calmly up St. James', on the way to my -chambers, I doubt if a more single-minded and dangerous man than I -walked the streets of London. - -And I knew, by some mysterious intuition, that I should succeed in the -task before me. I had not, as yet, more than the most rudimentary idea -how I was going to set about it, but I should succeed. Don't -misunderstand me. I had hardly any hope of seeing my dear love alive -again. I believed that all the joy of life was finally extinguished. But -justice--call it vengeance rather--remained, and I was as sure that I -was the chosen instrument of that as I was that I had just passed -between Marlborough House and the Palace of St. James. - -My expensive but delightful chambers in Half Moon Street were on the -second floor--sitting-room, dining-room, bed and dressing rooms and -bath. - -The sitting-room was panelled in cedar-wood, which had been stained a -delicate olive-green, with the mouldings of the panels picked out in -dull gold. Connie and her gay young friends, when they came to have tea -with me, or supper after the theatre, used to say that it was one of the -most charming rooms in London. - -I had spent an infinity of time and money on it, determined that it -should be "just so." For instance, the carpet was from Kairowan in -Tunisia, and had taken a whole family of Arab weavers five years to -make. Never was there a more perfect blue--not the crude peacock colour -of the cheaper Oriental rugs, but a blue infused with a silver-ash -shade, contrasting marvellously with the warm brick-reds and tawny -yellows. It was a bargain at four hundred pounds. - -I had hung only half a dozen pictures in this room, all modern and all -good. My "Boys Bathing," by Charles Conder--better known as the painter -of marvellous fans--was a masterpiece of sunlight and sea foam which -made me the envy of half the collectors in town. Then I had a William -Nicholson--"Chelsea Ware"--that was extraordinarily fascinating. It was -just some old Chelsea plates and a jug standing on a table. It doesn't -sound fascinating, I know, but the painting was so brilliant, there was -such vision in the way it was seen, that one could look at it for hours. - -There was an open hearth of rough red brick in the room, deep and -square, and when there was a fire it burned in a gipsy brazier of iron. -I had a lot of trouble to get this last of the right shape, and finally -it had to be made for me, from the design of an artist in Birmingham. - -Such a room, with its perfect colour harmonies and severe lines, -required no knick-knacks. Nothing small or petty, however beautiful in -itself, could be allowed there. I had two cabinets of magnificent china -in my dining-room, but china would have been quite out of place here. -Along one wall, about four feet from the floor, was a single shelf of -old pewter--cups and flagons of the Tudor period with the double-rose -hall-mark--and that was all. - -As I entered and flung myself wearily into a chair, the afternoon -sunlight poured in through the half-drawn curtains of sea-green silk. In -the ceiling a hidden electric fan was whirring, and the room was -deliciously cool. And as I looked round, the place seemed hateful beyond -all expression. I was sick of it, loathed its beauty and comfort; an -insane desire came to take a hammer and wreak havoc there as my eyes -fell on the only photograph in the room. It was one of Constance, in a -frame of dull silver, studded with turquoises, and she had given it to -me no longer than a fortnight ago. - -Thumbwood slept at the top of the house. He came in, after I had been -resting for a few minutes. - -"I've made the necessary arrangements, Charles," I said, "and we shall -start operations at once." I had no secrets from this devoted friend and -servant. - -"Glad to hear it, Sir John. I've been round the town this morning, and -there's a lot of talk." - -He followed me into the sitting-room and brought me cigars. - -"You see," he went on confidentially, "a gentleman's servant, especially -if he belongs to the club just off Jermyn Street, and more specially -still if he's been a racing man, hears all that's going on quicker than -anyone. This morning I've been talking to the porters and valets of two -of the best clubs, Sir John. Then I 'ad a crack with Meggit, the -bookmaker, what does all the St. James' smaller commissions, and after -that I strolled to the Parthenon Theatre, and took out the stage -door-keeper and filled him up and made 'im talk a bit. 'Im and me is -great friends consequent of my taking so many messages and flowers for -you, sir, when Miss Shepherd was acting there." - -"Ah! I see you haven't wasted your time." I smiled inwardly at -Thumbwood's idea of helping me. - -"No, Sir John. I've learned a lot of funny little things, just trifles, -so to say, but they may prove useful later on. There's one thing you -ought to know at once. Them theatricals have been talking, and it's all -over town that Miss Shepherd travelled down to Plymouth with you. It's -certain to be in the papers this afternoon, if it ain't already. There's -been half a dozen reporters buzzing round the theatre this morning." - -I ground my teeth with anger, but only for a moment. Of course, the -thing was inevitable. There was only one thing to do. - -I took up the telephone on the writing-table and got put on to the -_Evening Wire_. "I am Sir John Custance," I said to the editor. "I hear -that there is a good deal of talk going about London in respect of Miss -Constance Shepherd and myself. To avoid the least misconception, I -authorize you to state, in your next edition, that Miss Shepherd and I -were engaged to be married. I'll send my servant down to your office at -once, with a note confirming this conversation." - -It was the only way, much as I hated it, to stop malicious gossip, and I -scribbled a chit to the editor. - -"Get into a taxi and take that at once," I said to Thumbwood. As I gave -him the letter, there was a ring at the front-door bell. - -The little man went out and I heard voices, one harsh and deep, that -seemed familiar. - -"Who is it?" I asked as Charles returned. "I can't see anyone...." - -"Wouldn't take any denial, sir. It's the American gentleman who picked -up Captain Pring after the attack on the _Albatros_. Says he must see -you." - -"Mr. Van Adams?" - -"Yes, Sir John." - -"Show him in." - -A moment afterwards I was shaking hands with the thickset man whose jaw -was like a pike's and whose eyes resembled animated steel. Thumbwood -went off with the letter. I heard the front door close after him. - -Now I don't suppose at that moment I would have seen any other man in -London unconnected with my office at Whitehall. I didn't want to see the -millionaire, but directly he was inside the room my irritation vanished. -He had meant to see me. He had now accomplished his end, and I had a -firm conviction that sentries with fixed bayonets wouldn't have kept him -out. - -He sat down quietly in the chair I indicated, and took a cigar with -great deliberation. I was not in the least impatient. I knew now that I -was glad that he had come, and waited for him to begin. When he did -speak the harsh voice was considerably modified, and no one whatever -could have said that he was an American. - -"Any success I may have made in life," he said without preliminary, "has -come from the faculty of judging men. I started, as a youth, with this -power in a more than ordinary degree. I've been developing it ever -since." - -He puffed thoughtfully at his cigar. He had said this with calm -determination, not in the least as if he were speaking of himself, but -merely as a man stating a fact which would be useful a little later on. - -For my part I said nothing. I felt as though I was playing a sort of -decorous game with rigid rules. To speak then would be to revoke! - -"... And, though the ordinary man does not like to hear such a -statement, I have a pretty good idea of you, Sir John. You're not an -ordinary man. That's why I'm here. I'll put it in two words. I want to -help you. I _can_ help you. It is for you to say if you want me." - -Now there could only be one answer to a question like that. The man in -my arm-chair was one of the most powerful men on earth. Moreover, his -reputation stood high. He was no financial pirate. The whole world -trusted him. - -"I answer that, Mr. Van Adams, with a single word: Thank you." - -He nodded as if pleased. "Quite!" he said, and then, half turning in his -chair, "of course I don't ask you to tell me any official secrets...." - -I laughed at that. The Government would have let this man know all there -was to be known upon his simple request. - -He saw that I understood. "There are none for one thing," I told him. -"You know exactly as much as my department knows, as I told the Home -Secretary this morning. There are no developments, except, of course, -the protective measures we and the States are taking. The one thing I -_can_ tell you, and which is in strict confidence, is that I have -arranged for my official duties to be carried on by my assistant for a -month. From this afternoon I am absolutely free to do what I like and go -where I like. No one will know of this but my confidential servant. I -intend to devote this evening to mapping out a plan of campaign." - -"That's good, Sir John. That is just what I wanted to hear. Let me -explain my motives. They are not complicated. One is that, as one of the -chief money-brokers of the world, I naturally want to prevent any -financial panic. Next, I am a bit of a sportsman in my way. I like -hunting things down. This pursuit appeals to me a good deal. And, -last--when I was five-and-thirty, a desperate gang of crooks in San -Francisco kidnapped my little daughter Pearl--she that is Duchess of -Shropshire now--and held her up to ransom. It was before you took -notice, for I'm close on seventy, but the episode created some -considerable stir at the time. I can pretty well guess what you are -going through now." - -As he looked at me his eyes were no longer like living steel, nor his -jaw like a pike's. - -So he also knew! I mumbled something or other. - -"Quite," he answered quickly, and then went on: "In thinking over -various ways in which I could be of use I have come to a certain -conclusion. Money, I suppose, won't help you--though, of course, any sum -is available?" - -"I have the Government behind me, and I myself am not poor, thank you." - -"It is as I thought. In England I myself can do nothing _personally_ -that others cannot do as well. In America I have every sort of -influence...." - -I looked him in the face. "I am not going to trouble about America in -the very least." - -"Quite! I see what you mean. And I am absolutely of your opinion. Now -I'll come to what I _can_ do for you." - -He rose slowly from his chair and came up to me. When he spoke he had -dropped his voice a full tone. - -"I must let you into one or two little secrets about myself," he said. -"In the first place, a man so rich as I am does not become so without -making powerful and unscrupulous enemies. Also, American methods are -direct. It will probably surprise you to hear that my life has been -attempted twelve or fifteen times, but that is the case. Some of the -methods were diabolically ingenious, too! However, I stand here to-day, -quite unharmed and quite safe. Why? I'll tell you. - -"Quite early in my successful career I saw what would happen. I watched -other men assassinated, and was determined that it shouldn't happen to -me. How was it to be avoided? I thought that point out very carefully, -and came to a conclusion. I must find, and then attach to my person, -someone of extraordinary intelligence, cunning, skill and personal -prowess. My ambitions ran high. I wanted someone who would devote his -whole life to my service, a familiar spirit, no less! It took me three -years of steady work to find that familiar spirit--to discover the exact -combination of qualities I required. But a multi-millionaire is the -Magician of to-day, and I have a Genie as clever and infallible as any -out of the old 'Arabian Nights.' I pay him the salary of a cinema star, -and I say, meaning every word of it, that there isn't another like him -in the world. Do you think this tall talk, Sir John?" - -It was certainly amazing, but I could not but believe him. - -"You startle and you interest me deeply," I replied. "You are to be -congratulated." - -"I am--on a unique human possession. Well, you can't have failed to see -what I'm driving at. I will lend you this man, place his services -entirely at your disposal, for a month!" - -For a moment or two I was silent. I believed every word that Van Adams -said, and I was not hesitating--only just letting the offer, and what it -meant, sink into my mind. It became plain. It was like the offer of a -rope-ladder to a man in prison, a light and a pickaxe to an entombed -miner. - -"It is the most generous offer I've ever heard of, Mr. Van Adams. I -can't express my thanks. You really mean this?" - -"I do. And as an ounce of proof is worth a ton of talk--allow me to -introduce you to Mr. Danjuro!" - -He turned round as he spoke and I with him. Then I gave a cry of -astonishment, which I could not have kept back to save my life. - -Standing some yard or so away was a little Japanese gentleman, not much -more than five feet high. He wore gold pince-nez, a neat blue lounge -suit and brown boots. There was nothing noticeable about him in any way, -except an unusually fine cranial development--a massive forehead and a -great space between the corners of the dark eyes and the ears. - -"Good heavens, how did he get here?" I said. - -Van Adams laughed. "I daresay he'll tell you; I don't know," he -answered. "I just told him to be here. I wanted to give you an object -lesson, in fact. Now, Mr. Danjuro knows all that I know. You can trust -him absolutely. He knows what is in front of him, and he knows where to -find me when I'm wanted. Now I'll leave you together and say -good-afternoon." - -He was gone almost before I could thank him. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -MR. DANJURO, THINKING MACHINE, EXPLAINS HIMSELF - - -"Won't you sit down?" I said foolishly. The little Japanese bowed -politely and did so. - -I was at a loss what to say. My mind was in a whirl. I wanted to laugh, -to call Van Adams back, but my dominating sensation was one of supreme -annoyance. So this natty, commonplace little Asiatic was the -millionaire's "familiar spirit"! He was unique, was he! I cursed myself -for several kinds of fool to have saddled myself with this amazing -stranger at the beginning of my work. At any rate, I reflected -irritably, as I sat down opposite, I could easily send him off on some -wild-goose chase or another.... - -Yes! I was never more annoyed in my life, and my annoyance lasted for -exactly sixty seconds. Without the slightest embarrassment of any sort, -and with no preliminaries at all, Mr. Danjuro plunged into business. His -voice was clear and low. He had no accent of any kind, though his -English was a trifle pedantic and scholarly. He spoke as impersonally as -a gramophone. - -"... I am entirely with you, Sir John, in your opinion that it is not in -the United States of America, but here--in England--that we shall solve -the mystery surrounding this dark business." - -"But I never said ..." - -He smiled faintly, almost wearily. "And since I have the great honour to -be associated with you, I trust you will allow me to suggest a plan of -campaign." - -"I was going to try and think one out to-night." - -"It is a privilege to assist. I have come in contact with many crafty -and malignant criminals during the last thirty years, but here one -detects a master. It will be a pleasure indeed to hunt him down. Have I -your honourable permission to smoke?" - -With one hand he produced a square of rice paper and a pinch of tobacco -from his pocket, and rolled a cigarette on his knee like a conjuring -trick. He had not raised his voice, but a sudden gleam came into the -oblique black eyes which suggested the deep but hidden ferocity of his -race. - -He resumed. "From all I have gathered, and I have talked much with -Captain Pring, Mr. Rickaby and the passengers of the _Albatros_, we -have to look for a man who is (1) an aviator in the first rank; (2) an -inventor and mechanical genius, or able to command the services of such; -(3) a person of some wealth or able to procure money." - -I followed him completely and said so. From what we already knew these -deductions were perfectly fair ones. - -"I thank you. Now we come to the man himself. I believe him to be a -person of education, and one who has held a good social position. He is -also desperate in his circumstances, and a person to whom material -pleasure is the highest good." - -"Rickaby said that the men who came aboard the _Albatros_ spoke like -educated people." - -"Yes. Our field of search already begins to grow narrower. Am I right in -saying that every aviator in this country must pass an examination and -be licensed before he is allowed to fly?" - -"It is so. All aviators, professional or amateur, must have a licence -from the Air Police. This is registered. I have already had the records -for the past ten years searched at Whitehall. But this has yielded no -result. There is no one who could possibly be our man." - -"It was well thought of, Sir John, if I may say so. But in my opinion we -shall have to go back a good deal further than ten years. We now come -to the question of the pirate airship itself and its peculiar qualities. -Let us fix upon one--the silence of its engines. I am aware that the -constructors of motor engines have been busy upon this problem for -years." - -"And with little result. The problem has not been solved." - -"Except by our unknown friends. I have already examined all the recent -patents of silencing devices at your patent office here. I spent -yesterday morning there, and found nothing. The significance of that is -obvious. Any ordinary inventor who had discovered something of such -importance would protect it at once. We can therefore make up our minds -that in no regular motor-engineering works throughout this country has -the complete silencer been evolved. It would be impossible for the most -brilliant inventor to keep such a thing entirely to himself." - -"Again the field shrinks?" - -"Yes, Sir John. We now have a man of the character already indicated, -who, as he has undoubtedly constructed silent engines, must have done so -in secret. He must have had private engineering works in order to make -an important part of his machines. The point is, where? On the -Continent? I think not. He would be watched far more carefully than in -this country. America is still more unlikely. Let us assume England. -Having done so, we can, I think, safely deduce that for obvious reasons -this man and his confederates--for we know he has them--would endeavour -to build his pirate ship as near as possible to the place he intended to -use as the base of his operations. And that base--if your experience -bears me out--is certainly somewhere or other on the coast?" - -"Of course, one would say that it must be so, Mr. Danjuro. And yet it -seems impossible. The whole coast of England is patrolled by the -coastguards. For all practical purposes England is no bigger than a -pocket-handkerchief. I thought of Scotland and the Northern Isles. I -thought of wild places on the Irish coast. I have had a fleet of -airships surveying and photographing these places for the last two days. -No hangar bigger than a motor-shed could have escaped their notice. All -the land police of the villages round the coasts have been interrogated -by Scotland Yard. Nothing, nothing whatever has been seen." - -I spoke with some passion, for I felt it. The sense of impotence was -maddening. - -The Japanese rolled another cigarette. As he did so the door opened and -Thumbwood came in. - -"I delivered your note, Sir John, and the editor's compliments and -thanks." - -"Charles," I said, "this gentleman here is Mr. Danjuro. He is going to -help us. Mr. Danjuro is "--I hesitated for a moment, really it was -difficult to describe him!--"is one of the foremost detectives in the -world!" - -Thumbwood's hand went up to his forehead in the stable boy's salute. -Then, as he saw my guest full-face, he started. "I saw you this morning, -sir," he said. "You were talking to old Mrs. Jessop, the dresser at the -Parthenon Theatre. It was in the 'Blue Dragon,' just round the corner by -the stage-door." - -"And you were with the stage-door keeper. A curious coincidence," Mr. -Danjuro replied, with his weary smile, and at a look from me Thumbwood, -very puzzled indeed, left the room. - -"I spent part of this morning at the Parthenon Theatre, Sir John. Your -servant apparently thought of doing the same thing. A man of -considerable acumen?--I imagined so. To proceed. Now that we have -cleared away a few preliminary obstructions, we arrive at a point which -I regard as of great significance. You are engaged--I speak of intimate -matters, but purely in my character of a consultant--to Miss Constance -Shepherd, a young lady of beauty and celebrity." - -... Confound the fellow, he spoke of Connie as if she were a fish! - -"That is so," I told him. - -"That young lady was kidnapped by the unknown airman. From among all -the passengers she and her maid were singled out. Now that fact--upon -which you must have already pondered considerably--is a key fact. Was it -done for the purpose of holding this lady up to ransom? I see the -suggestion has been made in the Press. I answer no. In the first place, -it would be altogether too dangerous a game, and the attempt would -certainly lead to discovery. Secondly, there were other people on board -who would have been more profitable prey. The Duke of Perth, for -instance, or the cinema actor who receives sixty thousand pounds a year. -Now it is extremely improbable that in the rush and excitement of the -attack and robbery of the _Atlantis_, the pirate leader was suddenly -struck by a pretty face. Indeed, we know from accounts of the passengers -that Miss Shepherd was deliberately searched for. That indicates with -certainty that the pirate knew she was on board, and had a design of -capturing her. In its turn, this predicates a former acquaintance, and, -undoubtedly, a repulse in the past. Hence my inquiries and my interview -with the theatre dresser this morning." - -I astonished that little man. It was the first and last time. Leaping up -in my chair, I believe I shouted like a madman. At any rate, Thumbwood -was inside the room before I could find words to speak. - -Something had flashed upon me, white-hot and sudden, as an electric -advertisement flashes out upon one at night. It was something that I had -entirely and utterly forgotten until now. - -"There was a man," I gasped, "a scoundrel who had been annoying Miss -Shepherd for a long time. He wanted to marry her. She told me of it. -_And he was once a celebrated flying man!_" - -"Long ago, in the Great War," said Danjuro calmly. "Major Helzephron, -V.C. I was aware of it." - -"And one of the boys if ever there was one, sir!" Thumbwood broke in. -"Warned off the course everywhere. I've got a bit of information too!" - -I stared at them, trembling with excitement. And then reality, like a -cold douche of water, brought me to my senses. Of course, it was -impossible. The thing was a mere coincidence. Why, while the first -ship--the _Albatros_--had been attacked, this man, Helzephron, was in -London! He had travelled west in the same train with me and Connie. - -"May I ask exactly what you know, Sir John?" - -... I told Danjuro precisely what had happened at Paddington and how -Connie herself had explained it. - -He listened to me in attentive silence. When I had finished, I saw that -a small leather pocket-book had appeared in his hands--everything that -the fellow did had the uncanny effect of a clever trick--and he was -turning over the leaves. - -"So far," he began, "in the consideration of this problem we have been -eliminating impossibilities, or improbabilities so strong that they -amount to that. This has left us with a small residuum of fact, unproved -fact, but sufficient to work from. One thing emerges clearly. It is the -nature and personality of our unknown friend. It is not too much to say -that he MUST be very like what we have imagined him to be. A certain -person appears dimly on the scene--this Major Helzephron. Let us see how -his personality squares with the personality we have been deducing. Mr. -Thumbwood has apparently collected some information. I have done so, -too. Let us pool results!" He looked at Charles, who blushed. - -"Out with it, Charles; you've done splendidly," I said. - -"Well, Sir John, I found out that this gentleman is a pretty bad -wrong-'un, judging by the company he keeps. And he used to annoy Miss -Shepherd something chronic. He'd wait at the stage-door and try and -speak to her when she got into the car after the performance, and he was -always leaving notes and flowers with the stage-door keeper. Miss -Shepherd would never take them. She always sent them back from her room. -It got so bad at last that she complained to the stage manager, and he -had a plain clothes man from Vine Street there one night. Major -Helzephron was told off pretty plainly, I hear. He used to come very -nasty sometimes, and once or twice he was fair blotto! And Mr. Meggit, -the commission agent, knows him well. He's done a lot of racing in his -time, and no open scandal. But he knows how to work the market, and the -best men won't lay him the odds no more." - -I shrugged my shoulders. It was only what one expected. The man was one -of the fast blackguards who infest the West End of London; that was all. -There were dozens like him. The facts only seemed to prove that he could -not possibly be connected with the Atlantic outrages. - -"You see?" I said to the Japanese, sure that he would follow my thought. -Then I thanked good little Charles and he left the room. - -"That is the surface," Danjuro replied. "I cross-examined a _woman_ who -was in constant attendance on Miss Shepherd. From her I learnt just what -your servant has discovered. But I went a little deeper. It is a case of -genuine overmastering passion on the part of this man. Nothing less. He -is of a dangerous age for that to come to him, certainly over forty-five -years. A woman knows. But that is not all." - -"So far we have learnt nothing of importance." I was getting restive, I -wanted to be _doing_ something. And yet, what was there to do? If I had -thought all night by myself I could not have mapped out the situation -more clearly. And as I looked at the little man, half lost in a big -saddlebag chair, I felt ashamed of my irritation. A brain packed in ice -was there, a logical machine of the first order. I could not expect -humanity, sympathy, from such a one. Still, it would have helped! Hadn't -I lost the one thing that made life worth living? What might not be -happening to Connie even now? - -... He read my thoughts like a book, confound him! - -"I understand your feelings, believe me, Sir John," he said, "but I must -go my own way. We have not been talking for an hour yet! And if it is -any consolation for you to know, let me say that it is imperative that -we leave London to-night." - -"My nerves are strained. Please go on," I answered. "I can hardly tell -you what a godsend your appearance on the scene really is to me." - -"In my business as agent and guard to my patron, Mr. Van Adams, it is -always necessary that I keep more or less in touch with a certain circle -of what I may describe as the aristocracy, the brains of International -Crime. It has proved useful. After my visit to the Parthenon this -morning I called upon an old acquaintance, the Honourable James -Brookfield." - -"Lord Slidon's son? The man who got five years ..." - -"Yes. Of course, everyone knows his name. He made one little slip. Mr. -Brookfield is very acute, and a great student of character. Entirely -incapable of understanding a man or woman of decent morals and normal -instincts, he is infallible in his judgment of the criminal type. Mr. -Brookfield owes me any little service he can render, and I supplemented -my request for information with a note for fifty pounds." - -"And you learnt ...?" - -"That Major Helzephron is all we have just heard, but a far more -sinister and formidable person than anyone suspects. He is a man of -marked intellectual powers. Below the veneer of coarse pleasures and -fast life in London and Paris, there is something that glows like a hot -coal. His appearances in town are irregular and fitful. His real life, -Brookfield is certain of this, is lived far away from cities. And it is -_a life with a purpose_." - -Quite suddenly and unexpectedly Mr. Danjuro began to reveal himself. - -The last words were spoken in a changed voice. The flatness and monotony -had vanished. The words vibrated in the room, and I felt the thrill of -them. It was the power of personality, and from then onwards I was hand -in glove with this bizarre thinking machine that Fate had sent me. - -I tried to emulate Danjuro's dispassionate and scientific method. - -"It is curious," I said, "that a real intellect should care to spend -part of its time in rake-helling round the low clubs, the gambling-rooms -and stage-doors of London. Such a thing is known, but it is rare." - -"You put your finger instantly upon what seems a weak spot in my -character sketch. But let us assume that it has been done with a deep -motive." - -"Ah!" He knew, or suspected, something more. He referred to his -notebook. - -"Two years ago a certain Mr. Herbert Gascoigne was expelled from Christ -Church College, Oxford." - -"Sent down, we call it; but go on." - -"The case was a bad one. The young man had established a sort of -gambling club and ruined several of his contemporaries. It was -discovered that he was using a roulette wheel that had been tampered -with. He came to London and drifted into the worst gang of swindlers. -Major Helzephron met him. They became very friendly. The younger man was -obviously under the influence of the elder. Finally Gascoigne deserted -his old haunts and has disappeared." - -I began to see light. - -"On several occasions my astute friend, Mr. Brookfield, has witnessed -precisely the same phenomenon. Some young man of the upper classes has -been ruined socially, and our enigmatic friend has taken him up, been -seen about with him, and so forth. Finally the young man vanishes." - -"It is not philanthropy, Mr. Danjuro." - -"It is not, and it gives rise to curious speculations. Where could a -Napoleonic criminal, patiently planning and meditating a stupendous -coup, find a better recruiting ground than among the desperate and -ruined young men of his own class? The plan is in itself evidence of -genius. They speak his language, he understands their way of thought; -there are a thousand bonds between them. I can conceive no more solid -and formidable combination than just this. The one last virtue remaining -to these desperate and outcast young men will be loyalty to their -leader. Society has cast them out, therefore they will make war on -Society. Given that attitude of mind, a leader like Major Helzephron, -and a plan so daring, and the thing becomes plain as daylight. And if -this man had not fallen into an overmastering passion for Miss Shepherd -there would have been no means of getting on his trail at all." - -It was only with great difficulty that I could control my thoughts. We -seemed miles nearer the truth than I had been an hour ago. Then one idea -emerged clearly. - -"Quite so. And isn't it all in our favour that we, and we alone, are in -a position to connect Helzephron with the piracy? He will think himself -perfectly secure?" - -"I do not for a moment believe," Danjuro replied with emphasis, "that a -single soul besides ourselves has the least suspicion. The man will have -taken supreme care to cover his tracks. My inquiries could have -suggested nothing to the people I interviewed. Mr. Brookfield thinks I -required my information for quite another reason. Yes, Sir John, we have -a task of immense difficulty and danger before us. You must recognize -that to the full. My sincere belief is that it would be somewhat safer -to venture into a cage of cobras than where we have to go. But"--he took -out his watch--"it is five o'clock. Let us say that the game begins at -this moment! Very well. We, and not the enemy, have scored the first -point!" - -He suddenly glided from his chair with a single sinuous movement. As he -stood up he was transformed. The bland modern look faded from his face. -It grew terrible. The eyes narrowed to slits of light, the square jaw -protruded, the grey lips were caught up in a tiger-grin, and the slim -body seemed to swell out with iron muscle like a wrestler stripped in -the arena. - -You have seen some of the real old Japanese colour-prints, pictures of -the ancient Samurai or the frightful Akudogi shouting at you--yes? The -flat, awful stolidity, the incarnate hate.... - -Then you have seen something of what I saw then. - -Wow! Millionaire Van Adams was well served! - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE CURIOUS FIGHT IN THE RESTAURANT - - -"It is a good deal to ask, Sir John," said Danjuro briskly, "but, for -the moment, will you place yourself entirely in my hands?" - -"I am perfectly content to do so." - -"Then permit me to press the bell." He did so. - -"I left a black bag in the hall," Danjuro said politely when Thumbwood -came in. "Would you please let me have it?" - -The bag was brought. Danjuro placed it on the table and opened it. - -"You are very well known, Sir John," he remarked. "Major Helzephron and -his friends have either seen you at some time or other, or have -certainly seen the numerous pictures of you that have appeared in the -newspapers during the last few days. It is imperative that you change -your appearance at once. I foresaw that and have brought materials." - -I am afraid I whistled with dismay. The idea didn't please me in the -very least. "Is it really necessary?..." - -"Absolutely. But it will not inconvenience you. Will you go into your -bedroom and clip off your moustache with scissors, afterwards shaving -the upper lip clean? You see, the man who leaves London to-night must -not in the least resemble the Chief Commissioner of Air Police." - -I went and did it. I had to. When the operation was over I shouldn't -have known myself, it made such a difference. I never knew that I had -such a grim and forbidding mouth! - -I returned to the sitting-room. Mr. Danjuro did not make the least -comment, but he removed my collar and tie with the deftness of a barber -and fastened a towel round my neck. Then he sponged my skin all over -with some faintly pink stuff out of a bottle. When he had done that, he -began on my hair with something else, and finally my eyebrows. - -"May I ask what you are doing?" I said after a time. - -"I am dyeing your hair black, Sir John. The dye can be removed at any -time. The appearance is absolutely natural. The drug I am using is not -generally known. I procure it from a friend in the Honcho Dori at -Yokohama, and also the liquid which has already changed your skin from -blond to swarthy. I will treat your hands in a minute." - -I suppose I was three-quarters of an hour under his ministrations -before he stepped back and looked at me critically. "Part your hair in -the centre, instead of at the side, wear a low collar instead of a high -one, and spectacles--they can be of plain glass--and you need not have -the slightest fear of recognition. In fact, Sir John, as far as outward -appearance goes, you have already ceased to exist!" - -There was a mirror over the mantel-shelf. I stood up and looked. It was -marvellous! It was uncanny, too. A dark-haired, dark-skinned stranger -leered out of the glass at me, and I turned away with mingled feelings -of amazement and disgust. - -"Do you drive an automobile?" the Japanese asked. - -I jumped at the suddenness of the question, for my thoughts were far -away. "Yes, I have a touring car of my own in a neighbouring garage." - -"It will be better not to use it. We shall take one of Mr. Van Adams' -cars. It is ready." - -I laughed. "I've a lot to hear yet, you know, Mr. Danjuro, though I have -placed myself in your hands without reserve. But you made very sure of -me beforehand, didn't you?" - -"It is Mr. Van Adams' command," he answered simply, and I reflected that -here, indeed, was a man with a single soul. - -"We shall leave London at midnight," he went on, "and drive through the -whole of the night. I, also, am an expert chauffeur, and we can relieve -each other." - -"Thumbwood can drive, too. Of course we take him with us?" - -"He will be of the greatest assistance. Now, Sir John, if you want to -take a little sleep, now is the time. I should like to consult with your -servant, if I may, and have a chat with him. We shall have a good deal -to do with one another." - -Strangely enough, I did feel drowsy, despite my excitement. A couple of -hours' sleep would refresh me wonderfully, and I knew it. - -"Very well; I think it is a good suggestion. Say for two hours." - -"By all means. I will carry out some other arrangements meanwhile. You -shall have full explanations later on, and I thank you sincerely for the -confidence you have reposed in me." - -While we were talking we had left the room and crossed the hall. - -"A pleasant sleep," he said, politely opening the door for me. "We will -go and have a look at Major Helzephron later on." - -"_What?_" I shouted. - -"He is in London. I have never seen him and I must certainly do so." - -"In London?" I cried, a dozen conflicting thoughts crowding and -crushing into my mind. - -"... It is the reason that we leave London to-night." - -Then he had shut the door on me and was gone. I had known him less than -two hours. I was a man accustomed to rule, whose whole life was spent in -giving orders, and I lay down on my bed like a lamb without a further -question. And, what is more, I did exactly as Mr. Danjuro had said. I -fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. - -At a little after eight Mr. Danjuro and myself sat at dinner at the -Restaurant Mille Colonnes. Most people know that expensive and luxurious -home of epicures, with Nicholas, its stout and arrogant proprietor, and -M. Dulac, its famous chef. - -We sat in the south gallery, at the extreme end, against the wall. The -electric lights in the roof above us had been extinguished, and our -table was lighted by candles in red shades. Indeed, we sat in a sort of -darkness which must have made us almost invisible to the other diners, -most of whom sat in the longer arm of the gallery at right angles to our -own. - -We, on the contrary, could see everything. We could look over the gilded -rail into the hall of the restaurant below, and every detail of the -gallery on our own level was clear and distinct, though there was such -a towering erection of flowers and ferns in the centre of our table that -it obscured what would otherwise have been a perfect view. - -I wore a low, turned-down collar and a dark flannel suit. Danjuro, also, -had changed his clothes, and, in some real but indefinite way, his -appearance. He wore a flannel suit and a straw hat, and also a necktie -which I suddenly spotted as that of my old college, Christ Church, -Oxford. But the extraordinary thing about him was that he seemed fifteen -years younger. - -He had promised to explain at the "Mille Colonnes." As we began upon the -salted prawns and the stuffed olives he did so. - -"You are now Mr. Johns, an Oxford tutor, Sir John. I am a young Japanese -gentleman, my own name will serve, whom you are coaching. We are going -into the country with this disguise. It is one which will easily account -for your being in the company of an Asiatic gentleman, and which you -will have no difficulty in sustaining." - -It was, indeed, a simple and excellent plan for avoiding undue -curiosity. I said so, and then: "Now perhaps you will tell me where we -are going. I have my ideas...." - -"We are going west," he answered gravely. "To Cornwall." - -My heart beat fast. It was what I wanted him to say. "To the home of -Helzephron?" - -"Yes. For it is there we shall be in the very centre of the web. In -those far western solitudes, despite the recent opening up of the Duchy -to tourists, there are still vast spaces of lonely moorland and -unvisited coast where one may walk for half a day and meet no living -soul. There is a great Hinterland between the little town of St. Ives -and the Land's End that for all practical purposes is unknown and -unexplored. Later on, I will show you certain maps.... It is in one of -the remotest spots of all that Major Helzephron has his house. I tell -you, Sir John," he continued, with a sort of passion, "that in those -lost and forgotten solitudes, where England stretches out her granite -foot to spurn the Atlantic, strange secrets lie hid to-day! On those -grey and lonely moors, where the last Druids practised their mysterious -rites, and which are still covered with sinister memorials of the past, -lies the explanation of the terror which is troubling the world! There, -and there only, shall we discover the secrets of the air, and--if human -skill and determination are of any avail--Miss Constance Shepherd!" - -An obsequious waiter came with iced _consommé_. He was followed by the -great Nicholas himself, bulging out of his buttoned frock-coat--Nicholas -never wore evening dress--who bowed low and had a whispered -confabulation with Danjuro. - -I remarked on this unusual honour. "I do what I wish here," the -Japanese replied. "It is, of course, through Mr. Van Adams. I hold this -place in the hollow of my hand--as you will presently see!" - -He gave one of his rare and weary smiles, and then said quietly: "Please -do not get up or move. Major Helzephron has just come into the gallery!" - -I could not have moved. His words turned me to stone. - -"I felt sure," he went on, "that for a day or two Helzephron would show -himself in London. Knowing what we know--or at least suspect--such a -move was a certainty. He is in the habit of coming here. He booked his -usual seat at this restaurant, and his usual box at the Parthenon -Theatre--and for reasons obvious to you and me, if to no one else in the -world! I confess to an anxiety to look upon this man." - -"You have had this corner darkened?" I said quickly. "No one can see -_us_ here?" - -"Not clearly. And Helzephron would not know who we are if he did see us. -But, as he is sure to come upon us in Cornwall, it is better to take no -risks. To that end I have had a little device arranged for us which -proved of great service to me once in Chicago." - -He bent forward to the mass of ferns and flowers in the centre of the -table, disarranging the greenery at its base. At once a green-painted -tube became visible, and then a slanting mirror, the size of a postcard. - -"What on earth is that?" I whispered. - -"An adaptation of the periscope!" he replied, taking a magnifying glass -from his pocket, adjusting it, and bending over the mirror. "The lens is -focussed upon Helzephron's table. With this magnifier I enlarge the -image in the mirror. Ah! So that is the honourable gentleman!" - -A faint hissing noise came from him. His face stiffened into fixed and -horrible intentness as he stared through his magnifier at the little -oblong of mirror. - -"Shi-ban, Go-ban, hei!" he muttered. "There are two, then. I expect the -younger man is the Honourable Herbert Gascoigne, of whom we have heard!" - -The hissing noise continued, the ecstasy of attention did not relax for -two or three minutes. - -At last Danjuro looked up. His face, which had seemed carved out of -jade, relaxed. - -"Will you take my seat?" he said politely, handing me his reading-glass. -"A little drama will commence in a few minutes. It will interest you!" - -I gave him a glance of interrogation as we exchanged chairs. - -"We shall be in Cornwall to-morrow, and in advance of our friends," he -whispered. "But, in order that we may carry out our preliminary -inquiries quite undisturbed, I have thought out a little plan by which, -if all goes well, Major Helzephron will be detained in London for a day -or two--you will see." - -Trembling with eagerness I stared down at the mirror. - -The periscope was perfectly focussed. The addition of the reading-glass -made everything perfectly clear. - -Two men in evening clothes were seated at a table. Their heads were -close together, and they were talking earnestly. One was a tall, -handsome boy of two-and-twenty, with a fair complexion and a reckless, -dissipated cast of face. Young as he was, evil experience had marked -him, and his smile was that of a much older man. - -But I scarcely cast a glance on him as I stared at the coloured, moving -miniature of "Hawk Helzephron." The man's face was deeply tanned; above -the brows a magnificent dome of white forehead went up to a thatch of -dark red hair--the forehead of a thinker if ever I saw one. The face -below was seamed and lined everywhere. The thin nose curved out and down -like that of a bird of prey. The mouth was large, well-shaped, but -compressed, the chin a wedge of resolution. And, as he talked, I saw a -pair of slightly protruding eyes, cold and fierce. The whole aspect of -the man was ferocious and formidable to a degree. - -"Watch!" whispered Danjuro. - -I watched, and this is what I saw. - -Into the picture came a thick-set, brutal-looking man, with a blazing -diamond in his shirt-front. He was passing Helzephron's table when his -dinner jacket caught a wine-glass and swept it to the floor. - -The hawk-faced man looked up with a scowl and said something just as the -portly Nicholas and a waiter appeared in the background, as if passing -casually by. - -The thick-set man bent down till his face was close to Helzephron's. He -said something also, with an unpleasant smile. - -Instantly Helzephron leapt up and drove his fist full into the other's -face. - -The fight that followed ended very speedily. The thick-set man took the -blow calmly. Then, without heat, and in a fashion which instantly told -me the truth of the matter, he set about Helzephron, hitting him where -and when he chose, until a shouting crowd of guests and waiters -separated the combatants and a policeman and commissionaire hurried them -away from the gallery. - -During all the tumult Mr. Danjuro sat quietly smoking a cigarette. - -"That was Mr. Wag Ashton, the pugilist," he remarked. "Honourable -Nicholas and the waiter saw that the honourable Helzephron struck him -first. I think the Major will be resting for a day or two before Mr. -Ashton summonses him for assault." - -I felt faint with surprise and amazement. - -"So you, you arranged ..." - -He interrupted me. "Now let us finish our dinner in peace," he said. -"Some river trout, _meunier_, are coming." - -An hour afterwards, with myself at the wheel, a huge sixty horse-power -limousine, loaded with luggage and with Messrs. Danjuro and Thumbwood -inside, was rolling down the Piccadilly slope. - -To Penzance. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE HUNTING INSTINCT IS STIMULATED BY A PROCESSION - - -The big car rolled down Piccadilly. She was a beauty to handle, as I -discovered in the first two minutes. The very latest type of electric -starter, a magnificent lighting installation--every convenience was -ready to my hand. I was in an extraordinary state of mind as I steered -the car through the late theatre and restaurant traffic, purely -mechanically and without conscious thought about it. - -The predominant sensation was one of immense overwhelming relief at the -prospect of _action_. Mere office activities, the planning of guard and -patrol ships, conferences with pilots and officials, had been quite -powerless to calm the terrible fever of unrest within me. It was -commanding other people to do things, not doing them myself. I knew all -the time that I should have been happier piloting one of the war-planes -over the Atlantic. Now, at any rate, I was doing something real. I was -actually setting out, in my own person, upon a definite quest. It might -be all moonshine. I was well aware that many hard-headed people would -have laughed at this expedition, considering the slender evidence I had. -They would have talked about "circumstantial evidence," the folly of -pure assumption, and so forth. "Behold this dreamer cometh!" would have -been their attitude. - -And although I was driving the big car up Park Lane for Oxford Street -and the road to the West, I did feel as if I were in a dream. My whole -life had been altered by the events of the past few days, ruined for -ever it might be. To-night its stream was violently diverted from its -course. Everything with which I was familiar had flashed away, and I was -on the brink of the fantastic and unknown. There was not a man in London -setting out upon so strange an errand, under circumstances so -unprecedented, as I was this night. We slid by a huge white house, set -back from the railings, and with all its windows looking out over the -Park. It was the London palace that Mr. Van Adams had built for himself -during the last five years, and the strangeness of my affair was -intensified at the sight. - -Only a few hours ago the great man had been sitting in my chambers, and -introducing the enigmatic figure that sat behind me in the car. Here -was a dream figure indeed! It was impossible to think of Danjuro as a -human being. He was just a brain, a specialized force, devoted to one -object, and probably, as Van Adams had hinted, the supreme force of its -kind in existence. Already I had placed myself in his hands, and not -only my personal interests, dear as those were to me, but my -responsibilities to the State as well, and that was no small thing for -him to have achieved in so short a space of time. The unique detachment -and concentration that was sitting behind me had an almost magical -effect upon one's mind and will. With such help, surely, I could not -fail? - -I fell to thinking of what the Japanese had already achieved, the quiet -and masterly skill of his analysis, the cold audacity of his plot to -keep Helzephron in London, the neatness and finish of his operations as -witnessed by the periscope upon the dinner-table at the "Mille -Colonnes." Surely, Helzephron, or whoever was the master-criminal, was a -doomed man with Danjuro on his track? - -We were running out of Ealing now, and traffic was almost gone in the -long, straight westward road among the acres of market gardens and -glass-houses that fringe the western approach to the metropolis. I let -out the powerful engines, and as the car leapt like a spurred horse, my -heart leapt up into anger at the name Helzephron. - -Connie--poor, lost Connie--had told me herself how the man had pestered -her, and I had seen him at Paddington with my own eyes. The -investigations at the Parthenon Theatre by Thumbwood and Danjuro had put -the details in the picture, and an ugly one it was. The man, V.C. as he -was, had a bad reputation enough. I had watched him that very evening, -marked every line upon the hawk-like, cruel face, and thrilled when the -vulgar pugilist attacked him. It was the next best thing to thrashing -him myself! Yet--I record this as an interesting point of my psychology -at the beginning of the enterprise--I was disgusted with and loathed the -man only. I did not hate him, for I found it, even now, impossible to -believe that he was the abductor of my girl. - -Understand me if you can. Danjuro had convinced my intellect, but not my -heart. My state was the reverse of the ordinary state in such a -situation. Plenty of people believe in anything--a religion for -example--by faith, and cannot justify their faith intellectually. Their -belief is always confident and strong. I believed intellectually, but -had no faith, which was why this quest seemed shadow-like and a thing in -a dream. No doubt, the long night drive and my curious companion--I was -always conscious of him--intensified the impression of unreality. - -About three in the morning Danjuro spoke through the tube and insisted -on relieving me. I stopped the huge car in a dark, tree-bordered road, -where the moonlight lay in pools and patches of silver, and exchanged -seats with the little man. As I stood on the road and stamped with my -feet to restore the circulation, the night-breeze rustled in the leaves, -and far away I heard the nightjar spinning. Never was such a still and -solitary place. Danjuro's face in the moonlight seemed as immobile and -lifeless as one of those Japanese masks of wax with eyes of opalescent -glass that you can buy in the Oriental shops. - -I got inside and, suddenly weary, sank back in the luxuriously cushioned -seat. The car started again, and Thumbwood switched on a light in the -roof. He produced a Thermos flask of hot soup, which I found delicious -and refreshing. - -"How have you been getting on with Mr. Danjuro?" I inquired. - -"Very well, thank you, Sir John. He knows everything, I do believe. If -there's one thing where I should detect a man who was talking through -'is 'at, it's 'osses. Stands to reason. But this gentleman knows 'osses -like a blooming trainer, sir. And as for the games of the crooks in the -ring and on the course, he's wide to every one of 'em. I generally -carries a pack of cards in my pocket, sir, and I've got one with me now. -The things 'e showed me passes belief. I've seen a good deal of that -sort of work, but Mr. Danjuro's an easy winner. I wouldn't play poker -with 'im, no, nor 'alfpenny nap, for a fistful o' thick 'uns!" - -We breakfasted at Exeter, and I had the opportunity of a shave and a -bath. I remember that when I was half-way up the hotel stairs a horrid -thought struck me, and I hurried down again to consult Danjuro. - -How would the stuff he had put on my skin stand hot water and soap? - -He reassured me, however. Nothing would remove the beastly stuff but a -preparation he carried with him, and I bathed in peace. - -It was a beautiful morning when we started again, and for many miles our -route lay close to the smiling Devon sea. The waves were sapphire blue, -framed in the red sandstone rocks, and the sky resembled a great hollow -turquoise. It was a bright morning, and one side of me rejoiced in it; -but the thought of my girl was always there, a constant sullen pain, for -which the morning held no anodyne. - -Thumbwood drove on this stretch of the journey, and Danjuro sat inside -studying innumerable maps, and now and then making notes in a -pocket-book. I wondered what thoughts were seething and bubbling behind -that massive dome of skull. - -Apart from the scenery, there was plenty to interest a Commissioner of -Air Police. The sky was speckled with small private planes, converging -upon Plymouth or Exeter from many a pleasant country residence. There -was no longer any need for the professional man or the prosperous -tradesman to live within a very few miles of his place of business. Men -flew to their day's work, and from considerable distances, and as a -matter of course. A mile or two out at sea one distinguished the large -steady-going passenger airships by which England was now ringed, and -occasionally the Royal Mail boats cut the sky like javelins. More than -once I spotted one of my police patrols. It was curious to remember that -I, who sat here with a stained face and shaven lip, bowling along the -Devon roads at a miserable forty miles an hour, had supreme control of -all those aerial argosies. - -There were few cars upon the roads at this early hour. Contrary to -general opinion fifteen years ago, the popularity of flying had by no -means killed the automobile. It had lessened their numbers in an -appreciable degree, and made the roads more pleasant. I should, of -course, have preferred to reach our destination, or, at any rate, to -have travelled the greater part of the way towards it by airship. The -system of registration and the police regulations--framed by -myself--would have given too much away. My actual identity and purpose -might not have been discovered, but we should have been easily traced, -and Helzephron--if he was what we suspected--would be the first to hear -of a private aeroplane making its appearance in the solitudes where he -lived. - -Towards midday we were approaching Plymouth, when I began to feel -uneasy. The agony I had endured there a day or two ago, when Thumbwood -burst into my bedroom with news of the _Atlantis_ disaster, clouded my -memory. I felt that I never wished to see the pride of Devon again. -This, though, was merely weakness which I crushed down. More practical -considerations occurred to me. I made Charles stop the car and got -inside with Danjuro. - -"Look here," I said, "hadn't we better run straight through the town and -get on into Cornwall? We can lunch at St. Germans or somewhere." - -"You have some special reason for avoiding Plymouth, Sir John?" Danjuro -asked politely. - -"Well, it's the air-port for America. One of my largest stations is -there. Dozens and dozens of people know me. I've always been a familiar -figure in Plymouth, and never more so than lately, of course." - -The Japanese gave his little weary smile. "I do not think you realize -the alteration in your appearance," he said. "I assure you, and I am an -expert in these matters, that no one at all would ever recognize you. I -had proposed to stop in Plymouth for at least a couple of hours." - -"Why, exactly?" - -"For several reasons. One is that I shall be able to purchase some local -Cornish maps and a directory or two, which I need, and found no -opportunity of procuring in London. But that is not all. Here we are in -the very centre of air matters, as far as the Atlantic is concerned. The -place is still seething with excitement. Nothing else but the piracies -is spoken of. The town is packed with correspondents of the principal -European newspapers. It is in a ferment. I much wish to go about with my -ears open for an hour or two. I do think, Sir John, that it would be -unwise to neglect this opportunity, for you as well as myself. There is -no knowing what we may pick up." - -"You're certain about my disguise?" - -"Perfectly certain. You will not, of course, enter into long -conversations with anyone who knows you well, as your voice would betray -you. Otherwise you may rest secure." - -"Yes, that's the weak point," I replied. "I've always heard that, -however perfectly a man may be disguised, you cannot disguise his -voice." - -He rolled a cigarette with the quick snatching movement of his fingers -that always struck me as a miracle of dexterity. - -"It is not true," he remarked. "I have invented five methods, three -mechanical and two medical or chemical, whichever you like to call -them. When we have leisure I will show you. But there is no need for -anything of the sort in your case. It will give you confidence, Sir -John, to test the completeness of your new appearance. If you will go to -the Royal Hotel and lunch there--keeping awake to hear the general -talk--I will join you about three." - -"Very well," I replied, though with some reluctance, "and the car?" - -"Mr. Thumbwood has been with you at the 'Royal,' and he is not -disguised. It would be better that he should not approach the hotel. We -will put you down a short distance away. I will remain in the car and -direct Thumbwood where to go." - -Nothing escaped this little man! He seemed to foresee and provide for -everything, and when I alighted five minutes afterwards, some two -hundred yards from the hotel, I felt fairly secure in my new character -as Mr. Johns, the don of Christ Church, Oxford. - -Immediately I was in the street I became aware--you know how one -does?--that the Japanese was right, and Plymouth was in a ferment. -London is too vast for anything but a national calamity to make any -alteration in the outward appearance of things, and even then it takes a -sharp eye and a man well versed in the psychology of crowds to detect -anything unusual. Not so a big provincial town. - -As I walked along the classic façade of the theatre and turned the -corner to the main entrance of the hotel, I saw one thought on every -face and heard one single topic of discussion. The streets, always so -gay and cheerful with military and naval uniforms, seemed more crowded -than their wont, and there was a definite electricity in the air. I know -that I felt stimulated, encouraged to persist, and as I ascended the -massive steps of the hotel, my clean-shaven lips smiled to think with -what interest I should be regarded if anyone had but an inkling of whom -I was and upon what mission. - -And then I had a shock. - -Standing in the big lounge-hall, and talking to a man in a black -morning-coat and a silk hat, was my second in command--Muir Lockhart, -Assistant Commissioner of Air Police! He was in uniform, a special -uniform that we both wore upon ceremonial occasions only. - -"Yes," he was saying, "I'm down here representing the Chief." - -I dared not stay to listen, but I walked towards them as slowly as I -could. Muir Lockhart has a somewhat high, penetrating voice. - -"When did you come down?" asked the other man. - -"Arrived half an hour ago, flew down from Whitehall this morning," said -Muir Lockhart. - -"Then Sir John Custance isn't coming?" - -My assistant shook his head. "Utterly impossible," he said. "Sir John -cannot leave town just now. He must be at the head of things; can't -possibly be spared. I saw him this morning before I left; he had been -working all night and was nearly dead. 'Explain my position to them,' he -said; 'nothing but strict duty would keep me away from Plymouth to-day.' -So, you see how it is, Mr. Mayor?" - -"Oh, quite, quite! Well, I must be getting round to the Guildhall. You -will march up your men at half-past one? Thank you." - -The man in the silk hat, who I realized must be the Mayor of Plymouth, -hurried away. I was left face to face with Muir Lockhart. - -He stared at me, not offensively, but in such a way that he could not -have missed a detail of my appearance; he always was an observant -beggar. Then he passed by without a sign of recognition. Good! I -reflected, if my own colleague, who saw me for several hours each day, -did not know me, no one else would. It seemed a good omen, and I blessed -Danjuro in my heart. - -And what a splendid liar Muir Lockhart was! He knew that I had gone away -on my own, and he hadn't the least idea in the world where I was! It -was a temptation to discover myself, but I refrained. - -I was very puzzled. What on earth was he doing here in uniform, and -talking to the Mayor about? I hadn't a suspicion of the truth even then, -and I had a curious sense of being out of things, forgotten and on the -scrap-heap! The long drive had made me hungry and I thought about lunch. -Before going into the coffee-room I wished to remove the stains of -travel, so I went down the corridor to the lavatory. - -When I entered a man in his shirt-sleeves was bending over one of the -basins and sluicing himself with many splashes. As I was washing my own -swarthy hands he emerged from a towel and gave me a casual glance. - -It was Mr. Van Adams! - -I could not repress a violent start, the thing was so sudden. What did -this gathering of the clans mean? He noticed my movement at once, and -looked at me with inquiry in his eyes. The lavatory was quite empty save -for our two selves, and my decision was taken at once. - -"Mr. Van Adams?" I asked. - -"Sure!" he replied. "You have the floor--shoot!" - -"You don't know me?" - -"Not from the great Lum-tum, though your voice is kind of homey." - -"I'm Sir John Custance. Danjuro's been faking me up. He's down here -with me." - -"Gee!" said Mr. Van Adams. "Aren't you the fresh thing now, Sir John? So -you're down for the obsequies incog.? That's what I've come for--matter -of respect. Flew down from Park Lane after breakfast." - -"I'm on my way west. We only stopped here for an hour or two, as Danjuro -had some business." - -"I've ordered lunch in a private room overlooking the square. Come right -up, Sir John, you'll be able to see everything from there." - -"Thank you. But I'm still in the dark. I'm right away from the office -now, as you know. I saw Commander Muir Lockhart here just now, but I -couldn't speak to him...." - -He took me by the arm and led me along the corridor to the lift. -"Captain Lashmar, of your force and the five men of the patrol boat are -being buried to-day," he said; "also Captain Swainson, of the -_Atlantis_, and the boys murdered on _his_ ship." - -I flushed under my dye. I had never heard a word of it. I felt an -absolute beast as we entered the private room, and I tried to explain to -the millionaire. - -"Think you callous and unfeeling?" he said in answer. "Guess I know -better than that, my friend. You're out to prevent just such a -spectacle as we're going to witness from ever happening again. You're -playing a better game than prancing along at the head of a procession. -You're getting busy at the heart of things. Now sit down and share the -pork bosom and beans, or whatever they've given us. And tell me all -about it." - -We sat down to lunch, and after a glass of Burgundy, I told Van Adams of -all that had occurred, and also expressed my complete confidence in -Danjuro. - -"You're right," he said. "There isn't an investigator on the globe -that'd carry a tune to him. He has his orders to stick to you right -through and he'll carry them out. That little man's got a brain like the -Mammoth Cave, and he's without human passions, save only one--he'd go to -hell in a paper suit for me! See here----" and the millionaire told me a -string of anecdotes about the uncanny little Jap that would make the -fortunes of a writer of Romance. - -He was still on the same subject when he stopped in the middle of a -sentence. - -The noise in the square outside was suddenly hushed, and we heard a -muffled chord of music. Rising from our chairs we went to the windows. -Everywhere, as far as eye could reach, was a black sea of heads, from -among which the slender clocktower on its island in the centre rose -like a sentinel. - -The pavements were lined by troops, soldiers and sailors in equal -proportions, and there was a flutter as of falling leaves as every head -was bared and the piercing sweetness of Chopin's "Funeral March" filled -all the air. - -Then they came, following the band: thirteen coffins covered with -flowers, thirteen brave heroes, who would never slant down the long -reaches of the upper air again. - -After the hearses walked Paget and Fowles, the two heroic airmen who had -called the rescuing ship by wireless, and then came the chaplains and -Muir Lockhart. - -For my part I saw the whole procession in a dream. The head of the -Transatlantic Air Line, the Mayor and Corporation in their robes--the -stately funereal pomp of it all seemed unsubstantial and unreal. - -Mr. Van Adams was kneeling a yard or two away from the window. His head -was bent, he had a crucifix and a string of golden beads in his hands, -and was saying prayers. Who would have thought it of this master of -millions with the pike-like jaw? I suppose he was a Catholic. - -But my mind was far away, above the heaving wastes of the Atlantic, and -I saw an unnamed, unknown ship rushing through the air, at a speed -undreamed of hitherto in the history of flight. And in the pilot's seat -I had a vision of a hawk-faced man with cruel eyes and a smile upon his -hard, thin lips.... - -I stood there for so long that the very tail of the procession was -passing by, and Mr. Van Adams rose from his prayers with the sign of the -Cross, and touched me on the arm. - -"Look!" he said, pointing down into the street. - -I followed his finger and saw Danjuro standing on the opposite kerb. He -was looking after the cortège, and his face, with the expression on it, -was quite clear to see.... - -In an instant I came out of my dream. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE MAN WITH THE WICKED FACE - - -On the morning after our arrival I stepped out of my bedroom window at -Penzance and stood upon the balcony. - -Many times had I flown over Cornwall; never had I set foot in the Duchy -until now. Plymouth had always been my furthest west. - -The sea was blue as the Mediterranean, the sky a huge hollow turquoise, -the air all Arabia. Away in the bay St. Michael's Mount, crowned with -towers, gleamed like a vision of the New Jerusalem in some old monkish -missal--and the heart within me was so hard, stern, and full of deadly -purpose that no summer seas nor balmy western winds could touch the -rigour of my mood. - -For we were on the battlefield now. There was no more vagueness nor -speculation. I, in the place I occupied, owed a debt to society, and to -myself a personal and bitter revenge. And those debts should be paid. - -Danjuro knocked and entered the bedroom. Yesterday afternoon, within -half an hour of our arrival at Penzance, he had disappeared, telling me -not to wait up for him, as he could not say what time he would return. I -accordingly went to bed early, for I was tired out, and had not seen him -until now. - -"I have been very busy, Sir John," he said. "In the characters of a -mining engineer at one place and agent for a foreign shipping firm at -another, I have been making some very necessary inquiries. I engaged a -local motor--our own would hardly have suited the part--and I have -covered a great deal of country." - -"And your exact object?" - -"I have two. One is to discover any private engineering works where -special engines could have been made in secret. You will remember that -we both came to the conclusion that the Air Pirate could have obtained -silent engines in no other way. The other is--petrol." - -"Petrol! I never thought of that! I see what you mean." - -"Precisely, Sir John. An airship such as the one we are after must have -a constant supply of petrol, and, of course, consumes enormous -quantities. When I can connect a certain private individual with the -receipt of such quantities, we are another step forward." - -"How have you got on?" I asked eagerly. - -"I have nothing definite. But there are certain indications--slight, -oh, very slight!--which I am following up. I will go into everything -with you this evening. Meanwhile you have your own day mapped out." - -"Yes. I have studied the local maps and asked a good many questions. -After breakfast I shall walk over the moors to this little lonely -village of Zerran. It is about eight miles away from here, and, I -understand, not more than one and a half from Tregeraint Sea House, -which is the home of Major Helzephron. There is a fair-sized -old-fashioned inn on the cliffs where we shall probably be able to get -rooms." - -"And settle down to our reading party," he replied, with a sudden gleam -in his narrow eyes. "I have the Greek texts of Plato's 'Republic' and -the 'Meno' in my portmanteau; it is wise to pay attention to details! We -shall, then, meet at dinner this evening, and I expect that your news -will be of great importance. With your permission, I shall take -honourable Thumbwood with me. He will be useful." - -After breakfast, with some sandwiches and a flask, I set out, passing -down the main street of the far western town, and by the last station in -England, till I found myself mounting a winding road which led upwards -through a suburb towards the moorlands. - -The air was heavy with the perfume of innumerable flowers. Tall -palm-trees grew in the gardens of old granite houses, a sub-tropical -flora flourished everywhere, and it was difficult to believe that one -was in England. The hedges were luxuriant with ferns that grow in -hot-houses elsewhere, Royal Osmunda and Maidenhair, and every moment the -road grew steeper. - -If you look at the map of Cornwall you will see that the extremity of -the county forms a sort of peninsula. Penzance is on the south, and -faces the English Channel on the south. My back was now turned to this, -and I was walking due north, towards my objective, the vast and little -known "Hinterland" of mountainous moor and savage coast which lies -between the Channel and the Atlantic. - -As I went, the warmth and colour, the riot of Nature all round, seemed -as unreal as a dream. It brought no ease or healing to my soul. Deep, -deep down, though controlled and prisoned by the will, an unending agony -was lying. I'm not going to insist upon this, or often obtrude it in my -story. But you must not think that, until the very end, I knew a -moment's peace. My dear love and her awful fate were ever before me, and -all the sights and sounds of Nature in this western paradise breathed -nothing but her name. - -... At last the habitations of man grew fewer. Gardens gave place to -sloping fields enclosed by "hedges" of stone, and at length a long, -level sky-line above and in front showed me that the moors were close. - -I reached the top at last, and took in a great breath of the sweetest, -most exhilarating air that I have ever known. The unfenced road -stretched away ahead of me for miles, a long, white ribbon laid upon the -heath and yellow gorse. I was on a vast plateau of gold and brown and -purple. To the left great hills crowned with rock granite tors cut into -the sky, and to the right was the jagged summit of Carne Zerran, three -miles away as the crow flies. At its foot, on the edge of mighty cliffs -that fell away a sheer three hundred feet to the ocean, I knew lay the -little village that I sought. - -I looked at my map for a moment, took out my pocket compass, and then -plunged into the heather. Already I had a good idea of the lie of the -country--it is an instinct with your flying man--and I realized that an -accurate knowledge of it would prove invaluable in the task before me. - -I met no living soul during that first walk over the moor. Larks were -singing high above in the blue; a pair of the rare Cornish choughs, with -their scarlet bills, flew screeching from the summit of a lichen-covered -rock as big as a house; but until I got to Carne Zerran, and looked down -to the narrow strip of pasture lands and cornfields that lie along the -cliffs, there was no sign of human habitation. - -Far down below I saw a church tower and a little cluster of grey houses. -Beyond was the coast-line, with a creamy froth of breakers at the foot -of the jagged cliffs, and the Atlantic, "Mother of Oceans," beyond. -There was no land between me and New York! I suppose that in all the -glory of sun and colour, superb spaces of sea and sky, I stood alone, -and looked upon a scene as fair as any on this earth. But as I focussed -my binoculars, and swept the coast, my only thought was that here--if -anywhere at all--was the heart of the mystery I had come to solve. - -Well! It was a fitting setting, in its lonely vastness. Anything might -happen here among these Druid-haunted hills. A crafty fiend, a man with -a great intellect and Satan in his soul, might well find this his proper -theatre! - -About a mile from the village, and just below me, I saw the cliffs bent -inwards between two projecting headlands. This must be the Zerran Cove -of the map, and--yes, seemingly upon the very edge of the precipice was -a long, grey building, which could be none other than "The Miners' -Arms." - -I began the descent, leaping from rock to rock, where the adders lay -basking in the sun. After a few hundred yards, I struck a gorge, -through which a stream fell towards the sea. Here I found a well-defined -path, which looped downwards to the ruins of a deserted tin-mine. I saw, -as I passed it, the windowless engine-house, and the gaunt timbers of -the winding gear still in place. The gibbet-like erection and the dumps -of useless stuff covered with rank dock leaves made a forlorn and ugly -picture in that narrow gorge where the sun hardly penetrated. - -I passed it soon, and came out upon the main coach road from St. Ives to -Land's End, and, crossing this, found a side lane, which took me direct -to the remote hostelry I had seen from the heights above. - -It was a large place, covered with ivy, and no doubt did a considerable -trade eighty years before, when the innumerable tin-mines on the moor -were all at work. Now it seemed forgotten by the world, and all asleep -in the sun. "An ideal base for our operations!" I thought, as I strode -through an open door into a long, low room, with a stone floor and -heavily timbered roof. - -It was cool, and so dark after the blazing sunshine that, for a moment, -I could see nothing, though I heard a sound of stertorous breathing. -When my eyes became accustomed to the gloom I saw that there was a man -asleep by the little counter. He sat on a bench which ran along the -wall, and his head was buried in his arms, which rested on a -beer-stained table. By his side stood a bottle half full of whisky. - -Supposing him to be the landlord--and no engaging figure at that--I -touched him on the shoulder. It was like springing a trap! Instantly he -snatched away his arms and sat up. For a second sleep held him. Then it -passed away like a breath on glass, and if ever I saw fear on a man's -face I saw it then. - -He was dressed in a blue jersey and an alpaca coat, oil-stained and -dirty. His hands were the hands of a mechanic, with grimy nails. But it -was his face that held me. It was sleek and cunning. There was a curious -mixture of refinement and wickedness. He seemed like a naturally -sensitive man, whom circumstances, indulgence, or some special -temptation, had led very deeply astray. - -I noted all this while he stared at me with a drooping jaw and bloodshot -eyes. His skin had turned dead-white, like the belly of a fish, and -whatever he was thinking I felt that I would not have that man's -conscience for a million. - -"I want you," I said--they were the first words that came. - -He made an inarticulate noise. - -"You are the landlord, aren't you?" - -At that he gave a long breath and his rigidity relaxed. He snatched at -the whisky bottle, poured some into a glass and drank it off neat. - -"Lord, how you startled me!" he said glibly. "I was far -away--dreaming--and you frightened me out of my life!" - -It was my turn to be amazed, though I showed nothing. The fellow spoke -with a cultivated voice and accent which were impossible to mistake. He -was not what I had thought him. - -"I am very sorry," I said; "you must please excuse me. But I naturally -thought ..." - -"Of course you did!" he said, and a civil but ugly smile came on his -clever, unpleasant face. "As a matter of fact, Trewhella, the landlord, -has just gone to the village for a few minutes. He asked me to keep -house for him. He's almost due back now." - -Thanking him urbanely, I sat down, my mind working very quickly. He -offered me some whisky, and though it was the last thing I wanted, I -accepted after a show of reluctance. He was watching me out of the -corners of his eyes the whole time. - -"Can you tell me," I said, with great openness of manner, "if I can get -rooms here, or in Zerran village?" - -He became alert at once. "Rooms, to stay in, do you mean?" - -"Yes. I am an Oxford tutor, and I have a young foreign gentleman in my -charge whom I am coaching. I want a quiet place for three or four weeks, -and this seems ideal for the purpose." - -His face cleared. "I should imagine so," he replied. "I know Trewhella -does let sometimes." - -"You live here?" I remarked, with polite indifference. - -"I have been here for a year," he answered. "I am, as a matter of fact, -a mining engineer--hence these clothes! I belong to a little private -syndicate of friends who are opening up a disused tin-mine, on the moor -not far away. Ah, here is the landlord! Trewhella, this gentleman wishes -to speak to you." And then to me: "Good-morning, sir. No doubt, if you -come here, I and my friends will see something of you. We are mostly -public-school and University men ourselves, and we often look in here of -an evening after our day's work." - -He waved his hand and went out into the sunshine. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -SIR JOHN CUSTANCE COMES UPON THE HOUSE OF HELZEPHRON - - -Mr. Trewhella was an elderly Cornishman, with welcoming manners, the -native shrewdness of his race, but without guile. We got on famously -from the word "go." He had three bedrooms and a large sitting-room to -let. His wife, who had driven into St. Ives, was, he asserted, a good -cook. As for Thumbwood, he could wait on us and live with the landlord -and his wife. Finally, there was an empty barn which would hold our car -very comfortably. - -"And what would you be thinking of paying, zur?" asked Mr. Trewhella. - -"I shall leave that to you. I may tell you that the gentleman I am -preparing for his Oxford examination is wealthy. He is a Japanese -nobleman, and as long as you make us comfortable ..." - -This had the desired effect. The landlord became expansive in his slow -way, and showed me all over the premises of his quaint and rambling -dwelling. It was a wild and fantastic spot, an ancient haunt of -smugglers and wreckers, I learnt. The back-yard opened straight into the -short pneumatic turf above the cliffs, the brink of which was not more -than two hundred yards away. Here the stream, which flowed past the inn, -descended in a series of miniature cataracts to a tiny cove of -deep-green water, almost enclosed by two towering precipices, crowned -with jagged spires and pinnacles of rock. There was a little scimitar of -golden sand far down at the water's edge, and the scene was one of -savage grandeur that I have rarely known surpassed in all my travels. - -As he stood on the height and looked down, I saw something which seemed -strangely out of place. A line of street rails, with wooden rollers at -intervals between them, fell at a dizzy angle from a spot some ten yards -away on the turf, ending abruptly on the level, and in front of a -smallish hut of corrugated iron. - -"What is the rail for?" I asked. "Surely you don't haul the -boats"--there were two of them lying on the beach--"right up to the top -of the cliff! It must be two hundred and fifty feet!" - -"Nigher three hundred, zur. No. Them rails belong to bring up machinery -and stores for Tregeraint Mine by Carne Zerran. They do come by sea in a -lil' steamboat. 'Tes more convenient so. There be a lil' oil engine in -that shed to haul 'em up in trucks. I let the land, for 'tes all mine -down-along, and they do pay me ten pound a year." - -We strolled back to the house, Mr. Trewhella proposing a Cornish pasty -and beer for lunch. - -"Now you mention it, that gentleman who was keeping house for you just -now said that he was a mining engineer." - -The landlord's big, weather-beaten face wrinkled like a stained window. -He began to heave and chuckle, finally exploding in a bellow of -laughter. - -"Mr. Vargus!" he spluttered, "Mr. Vargus! He _thinks_ he be a mining -engineer, but a knows no more about it than my pig! He be a clever -gentleman, sure 'nuf. He do have some braäve knowledge to machinery, -I'll allow. But mining, and tin-mining!" - -Mr. Trewhella could find no further words to express his contempt for -the mining attainments of my friend with the refined and evil face. - -"You see," the landlord continued, as we ate our pasties, "I'm an old -mine-captain myself, bred and born to it. 'Tedn't likely as I could be -deceived. When I heered that a gentleman had come into Tregeraint Manor -and the old mine, and proposed to work it, I laughed, I did. I know -every inch of Wheal Tregeraint, and fifty years ago it was a fine -property. To-day them amatoors up along'll never get enough tin out to -oxidize, let alone smelt." - -"Who are they, then, Mr. Trewhella?" - -"That's what lots of folk asked when they first come here in twos and -threes. They're gentlemen, zur, like yourself, that's what they are. -Never was such a thing known in these parts, though folk are used to 'em -now. There's Mr. Helzephron, a Cornishman himself, and should know -better, Mr. Vargus, you seed, Mr. Gascoigne, a mad young devil if you -like, and near a dozen more. They all live together in the greät house -on the cliff and work the mine theyselves. Never no one else allowed. -They cooks and does for themselves, just as if they was in a mining camp -in California." - -"No women, servants or anything?" - -"Never an apron. My missus belong to say they lives like Popish monks, -which she see when travelling with a lady among the Eyetalians. 'Not so, -my tender dear,' says I. 'I never heered that Popish monks spent most of -their evenings in the village inn with a bottle of Scotch whisky afore -each man, and precious little left by closing time!'" - -"A hard-drinking lot then?" - -"Wonderful at their liquor. I tell you, zur, it's good for me! Now I've -got used to them and their funny ways, I wish they'd stay for ever. -Speaking from a strictly business point of view, that is. But soon -they'll find out they've lost their money and they'll jack it up. 'Tes -not in reason as they can go on, though they do seem so full of hope and -certainty, as you mind to up! But I _know_." - -He was obviously pleased with my interest in his talk. I wondered what -he would have said if he had known who I was and why I was there? Under -a calm exterior, a professor munching potato pasty! I was filled with a -furious excitement. The man's gossip was worth a sovereign a word. Here -was, moment by moment, what looked like complete confirmation of our -suspicions. And yet, even as I realized this, I realized also how -infernally clever the scheme was. Without the clue which Danjuro and -myself alone possessed, there was nothing in the world to connect -Helzephron and Tregeraint with the business that was ruffling the calm -of two continents. - -It was not my game to ask more direct questions than I could help. It -was better to let the racy stream flow on, with a word of comment now -and then. I ventured a calculated one now. - -"Fools and their money are soon parted," said I. - -"You may say that, zur! And they've poured out money like water. -Electric light, oal sorts o' cases full of new-fangled machinery, and -that mystery made about the silly old mine you'd think it was a seam of -diamonds." - -"It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good, Mr. Trewhella!" I rose -from the table as I spoke. "But what you say about a dozen or more -gentlemen drinking nearly a bottle of whisky each rather surprises me. -I'm no foe to honest enjoyment, but ..." - -I put on a slight primness of manner, as became the character I -sustained. - -The landlord nodded vigorously. "'Tes so!" he agreed, "and most onusual. -They be gentlefolk, sure 'nuff, but shall I tell 'ee what I think?" - -"What's that?" - -"I think as most of 'em's dropped out, so to speak. I shouldn't be -frightened if as their families didn't have anything to say to 'em, and -they've nowhere much else to go. Mr. Helzephron knows what he's about, -he do. I judge by a kind o' reckless way they have, 'specially the -younger gentlemen. They don't seem to mind about ordinary things same as -most. Well, I suppose this fool tin-mining keeps 'em out of mischief." - -I wondered. - - -When I set out upon the return journey I took another route. I found -from the landlord that by skirting the coast for a mile in the direction -of St. Ives I could come upon a moorland path that would take me to the -little railway-station of St. Erth. I could then catch a train for -Penzance. My ostensible reason was to vary my walk, my real one that by -this change of plan I should pass by and have a view of Tregeraint Mine -and the Manor House. - -"Not that you'll see much or get close," said Mr. Trewhella. - -"How is that?" I asked. - -"I told you that Mr. Helzephron"--apparently the hawk-faced man had -dropped his military title in Cornwall--"do make a mystery of his -peddling mine. He goes further than that. The mine buildings and the -house are surrounded by two fences of barbed-wire and the Manor by a -high wall. 'Trespassers,' notice boards belong to say, 'will be -prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the law'!" - -"Well, I shan't attempt to trespass, Mr. Trewhella!" - -The landlord laughed. "Mine prospectin's not in the way of a larned -gentleman like yourself. Maybe it's as well. Mr. Helzephron has got two -dogs he turns out at night, and terrible ugly customers they be. Mr. -Vargus do tell me that they be Tibetan mastiffs, which am the largest -dogs in the world. They look like a sour-faced Newfoundland with heavy -ears, only bigger." - -I tramped away from "The Miners' Arms." Although I recognized the fact -that we were only at the fringe of discovery, my mind was made up. Thick -darkness surrounded me, but I was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt -that Major Helzephron, and no other, was the man for whom the whole -world was hunting. - -And as I thought of him and the crew of lost and reckless men who did -his will, the fair landscape seemed to darken, the sweet airs to be -tainted.... - -The path I traversed was the coastguard's path, as I could see by the -white-washed boulders to serve as a guide by night. It was never more -than two or three yards away from the brink of the savage precipices -that fell for two hundred and fifty feet sheer to the water. The ocean -was on my left; on the right the great hill, known as Carne Zerran, -towered up, and the edge of the high moors cut the sky. On that side it -was as though one were walking at the bottom of a cup. - -After about half a mile of the path, it suddenly left the cliff edge, -and turned inland. For several hundred yards the brink was guarded by a -semicircle of barbed-wire fence, which made it impossible to approach. A -notice board informed the wayfarer that here, owing to old mining -operations, the cliff was extremely dangerous. - -It looked so, indeed. The edge was broken and irregular. I saw that it -ran out in a curious headland for a considerable way, a mere wall of -rock with a razor-back path on the top, which curved round again and ran -parallel to the cliff on which I was, making a mighty chasm from which -rose the cries of innumerable sea-birds. There was a narrow mouth -seawards, and another headland jutted out to make a cove like the one at -the inn, though that, of course, had no winding cañon at the end. - -I crept up to the brink, where the wire fence began, and, lying down, -with one arm round the first post, peered over. - -It was a terrible place. The rock overhung so for hundreds of yards that -I could not see the bottom. But the other side of the cañon was clear to -view, a great wall of black rock, where sea-hawks nested, and -inaccessible to the boldest climber. To the right the cove seemed to be -of fair size from horn to horn, but it was no tranquil spot like the one -at the back of the inn. Even on a calm day like the present, the -Atlantic ground swell poured in with tremendous force, and was broken -with ferocious whirlpools and spray-fountains by toothed rock-ledges a -foot or two below the surface. The smallest boat could not have entered -Tregeraint Cove and lived there for a moment. - -For some reason or other the place affected me most unpleasantly, and -it was with a little shudder that I retreated and skirted the fence -which guarded the dangerous part of the cliff. When I had passed by -this, the path turned at right angles and went inland. - -As I turned I saw, perhaps a furlong away, the house of Helzephron. - -It lay upon the eastern slope of Carne Zerran, an ancient, grim-looking -house of granite, long, low, and of considerable size. A few stunted -trees grew round about, and a fairly extensive domain of gardens, as I -supposed, surrounded by a high wall. Using my prism glasses, I could see -that this wall was topped by iron spikes. Of course, I was considerably -below Tregeraint as on the sloping hill-side, and it lay quite open to -view. Higher up, and beyond the house, was the derrick, engine-house and -sheds of the mine, with here and there dumps of débris and various -sheds. - -Although the wire fences, which I soon made out, went round the whole -property, it lay quite open to the view. And when I had passed it, and -climbed to the table-land of the moor beyond, I saw that it would be -even more open to the eyes--spread out like a map, in short. - -One thing was already certain. There was nothing whatever in the nature -of a hangar, no building that could possibly shelter even an ordinary -four or five seater biplane, to say nothing of an air cruiser. - -I was not disappointed, because I had hardly expected to meet with -anything of the kind. The pirate ship, you will remember, was--like all -the big long-distance airships--a cross between what used to be known in -the old days as the "seaplane" and the "flying-boat." True, some of our -war aeroplanes of quite large size were fitted with floats that could be -raised, and wheels for land work in addition. - -This might be the case with the pirate. But it was not to be thought of -for a moment that a man of Helzephron's intelligence would dare to house -his extraordinary ship where any one of my police could have -investigated simply by showing his badge of office. The land policeman -and the coastguards of the whole English coastline had already reported -on every hangar and aerodrome in the kingdom. If Helzephron was the man -I believed him, I was well aware that we were only at the beginning of -the duel. - -I mounted up past the wire fences and the mine. I did not dare to use my -glasses in passing, for I saw in the distance one or two figures of men -strolling about by the engine-house and derrick. But when I was at last -among the heather at the top, I lay down, and took a long survey of the -buildings, drawing a careful map in my pocket-book, which might prove -of great use later on. - -I waited half an hour at the little station of St. Erth, and then caught -a train to Penzance, arriving at the hotel about tea-time. As I came -into the lounge, after a wash and brush up, I saw Danjuro sitting in one -corner. He had a pile of newspapers round him, and I saw that the London -journals had arrived. - -He handed me one of them as I sat down. A paragraph among the police -news was marked in pencil. - -Major Helzephron had been taken to Vine Street Police Station, and -locked up for the night, charged with an aggravated assault on Mr. Wag -Ashton at the Mille Colonnes Restaurant, on the evidence of M. Nicholas -and the head-waiter. - -A medical man had attended the Court on behalf of the prosecutor, to say -that Mr. Ashton was too unwell to appear until the morrow. Upon his -promising to attend the Court the next day, Major Helzephron was -admitted to bail. - -"That gives us nearly two clear days," said Danjuro. "When Ashton does -appear, he will not press the case, and will own that he gave -provocation; Helzephron will be fined, perhaps let off. I see that -Honourable Ashton battered him a good deal! And now, your news, Sir -John, if you please." - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -"THE AIR WOLVES ARE HUNTING TO-NIGHT!" - - -He made no comment, and did not interrupt me until I had completely -finished, nor did his inscrutable face give any indication of what he -thought. - -"My own investigations," he said, "can be told in a few words. The small -steamship which brings supplies to the cove behind the inn is the -private property of Helzephron, and she is a great deal faster and much -better engined than most people are aware. She lies at the little port -of Hayle, which is on the main line from Plymouth to Penzance, in St. -Ives Bay. At certain times _large quantities of petrol arrive in -separate consignments from different parts of the country_. The _Sea -Gull_ is loaded to her capacity, and then makes the short voyage to -Zerran Cove." - -"That's the last link!" I said. "No one could doubt now!" - -"There is another, still more interesting fact. Hayle was once a place -of much greater importance than it is at present. There were large -foundries and engineering works there in the past. These have been -abandoned, owing to the silting up of the harbour, for many years, as -only vessels of small draught can enter easily to-day. But the foundry -buildings remain. From time to time a portion of them has been let for -this or that small enterprise. Three years ago Helzephron rented a part -of the works and installed machinery. He had about twenty labourers, but -the real work, whatever it was, took place in a large experimental shed, -to which no one was admitted but he and his friends. They were already -at Zerran, and used to drive over in motors every day. It was locally -known that some new machinery for Wheal Tregeraint was being made. Many -shippings took place from Hayle to Zerran Cove." - -"But the ship, the Pirate Ship itself?" - -"Who can tell? We go step by step in the dark. Many theories have -crossed my mind. I have dismissed them all. I want to approach this, the -most sinister problem of all, with a blank mind. We can do nothing till -we are on the spot. Our preliminary work is over, but the real labour -begins." - -"A sinister problem enough," I answered bitterly. "But not the most -trouble to me. I tell you, Danjuro, that as I lay among the heather and -looked down upon that lonely house, as I thought of the devilish crew -that live there, for a moment my heart turned to water, and the agony -was more than I could endure. _She_ may be there, at this moment, -defenceless and in the power ..." - -I could not go on. I covered my face with my hands, and was nearer -breaking down than ever before. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. "It -has never left my mind, either. Do not give way, for the moment of -action has come. We go to the inn at Zerran to-night--within the hour." - -"To-night!" - -"Yes. We cannot afford to waste a moment. Helzephron is kept in London. -One great danger is removed from our path. We shall never have a better -opportunity than now. In dealing with enemies such as ours, we must -strike quickly and strongly when they think themselves most secure. -Before dawn we must have penetrated the inmost secrets of Tregeraint." - -I had by now grown accustomed to regard Danjuro as the leader of our -enterprise. His decision was like cool water to a man dying of thirst in -a desert. I stood up, absolutely myself. "There is, of course, no reason -why we should not install ourselves at Zerran to-night instead of -to-morrow morning. Trewhella won't mind," I said. - -"I will order the car in an hour. Meanwhile, I have one or two things to -do. Perhaps you will settle the hotel bill, Sir John, and tell the -people that we are leaving?..." - -It was a stiflingly hot night as the car climbed up to the moors, and in -the glare of our headlights the gorse and heather by the roadside -streamed swiftly like some golden cinema, leaving a more sable dark -before and behind them. Danjuro, by my side, was lost in thought. The -massive head hung upon his chest. About half-way on our journey he said -a curious thing. "This would be an ideal night for another raid in the -air-lanes of the Atlantic." - -I did not answer, for I, also, was thinking deeply. So it was for -to-night! We crossed swords, fired the first shot, what you will, with -our cunning enemy in a few hours. What would they bring forth? - -I felt no fear, only a deep resolution not to fail in rescue and the -execution of Justice. I was happier than I had been for days, for it is -thought that turns the bones to pith and thins the blood, not action. -And, as we flashed down the dark moor road to where the lights of the -solitary inn showed yellow, I sent a wordless prayer to the Throne of -Justice and Mercy. And, as if an answer was truly and instantly -vouchsafed, there came into my mind these words from the ninety-first -Psalm: "I will deliver thee from the snare of the hunter." - -And after that I put mere abstract thought away from me. - -As we rolled up silently to the inn, we heard a great noise of singing -from the long room. A tall woman came out of a side door, and I -explained that we had decided to come earlier than we had planned. She -was a comely, good-humoured dame, who made no trouble about our arrival. -Both bedrooms and sitting-rooms were prepared, and when Thumbwood had -taken the car round to the barn, he went upstairs to unpack the baggage. -Mr. Trewhella appeared from the bar. I introduced Danjuro, and we -arranged to have some supper at half-past ten. - -Meanwhile the singing continued in great volume, mingled with the -twanging chords of a banjo. - -"Your guests are merry to-night," said Danjuro. - -"It's the gentlemen from the mine, sir," said the landlord. "It's one of -their nights off, so to speak. Would you like to join 'em for half an -hour?" - -"I think not on our first night. But they sing very well. As a foreigner -I am interested in all English customs; may I take a peep?..." - -He had gone to the communicating door as he spoke, and pulling aside a -red curtain which covered the upper half of glass, he looked through. I -did the same. - -The long room was full of people and tobacco smoke. With a single -exception, that of Mr. Vargus, they were all quite young men, ranging, -I should say, from three-and-twenty to thirty. Most of them were dressed -in old tweed suits, but the material and cut told their own tale, and -spoke of the "right" kind of tailor. At first glance they might have -been a collection of naval officers or senior undergraduates, but only -at first glance. My eyes roved from face to face, and on each I saw the -loss of innocence and honour. Some were cunning; others had a brutality -in ill accord with their youth, and there was a hard bravado in the eyes -of all. It was sickening. One felt that one had suddenly looked upon -something that should remain hidden. In that haze of smoke lurked all -that was vaguely horrible, all that was monstrous and evil in the -universe. - -I almost wanted to spit upon the floor, in an uncontrollable gesture of -repudiation. As I turned, I saw the landlord looking at me. - -"A promising lot of young devils," said I. - -"You do see it too, zur?" he replied, and then Danjuro touched my arm, -and I turned to look again. A man, without a hat, had just entered the -room from the outside. He sat in a chair which he had obviously occupied -before, for he was in naval uniform, and his cap was lying there. He was -a big, foolish-looking fellow, far gone in drink, but despite that his -face was the only wholesome one there. - -"Who is that?" I whispered to Trewhella, as Mr. Vargus poured a -generous allowance of rum into the new-comer's glass. - -"That's Billy Pengelly, our coastguard. The gentlemen do make a lot of -him, and he's none the better for't, for Billy's one as likes his drop. -Still, he goes and sleeps it off, and he belong to be strong as a bull. -And in these lone parts there's not often anyone to see if he's on the -watch or not." - -A tall boy with a banjo took up his instrument and twanged the chords. - -"Now, gentlemen!" he shouted in a clear fresh tenor, "a chorus!" And -without further preliminary he dashed into nothing less than the -"Pirate's Chanty" from "Treasure Island": - - - "_Fifteen men on the dead man's chest! - Yo, ho! and a bottle of rum!_" - - -The inn rocked with the volume of sound. I stood there fascinated, with -a sort of horror. The thing--knowing what I knew--was so daring and grim -that, more than anything else, it showed me with whom we had to deal. - -The application was lost upon Danjuro, but I told him what it meant in -French, and he nodded with contracted eyes. - - - "_Drink, and the devil had done for the rest, - Yo, ho! and a bottle of rum!_" - - -One would have thought that the room could not contain the noise, and -that the very windows must be shattered, and in the very middle of it I -heard something else--the urgent, throbbing sound of an engine. - -Danjuro heard it as soon as I did. "Motor-bicycle," he whispered. - -The sound grew insistent. Whoever was coming rode hell for leather and -with the exhaust open. Then there was a succession of reports, a -grinding noise, and the door of the bar was flung suddenly open. - -A tall man in goggles and overalls covered with dust walked in. As he -did so, the pirate chant stopped with dramatic suddenness, and the -singers jumped to their feet. Then he removed his glasses and his cap. - -It was Major Helzephron. - -They clustered round him thickly, and to each one he said a quiet word. -In every case, when this happened, the man spoken to nodded and vanished -into the night. I could hear them running outside the inn. Lastly, -Helzephron took Vargus by the arm, and they also passed out. I could see -the man more plainly than ever before. There was a great bruise round -about the left eye, and the face was pale. But it blazed with will and -purpose, and the cruel mouth was set in a malicious and abominable -smile. - -"_The wolves are hunting to-night!_" Danjuro said to me two minutes -later in my bedroom, and once again his face was like a demon of Old -Japan. "Helzephron will not appear at the police court to-morrow. He has -arranged it somehow, and, after all, it is a trivial affair. He has -ridden down from London during the day." - -"You mean that there is going to be a raid to-night?" - -"I feel sure of it. Why else should Helzephron rush from London? And you -observed the manner of his confederates. Don't you see this--with all -his cunning precautions the pirate is far too clever not to know that -his career must be a short one. He cannot hope to remain concealed for -any great length of time. His object is to obtain an immense fortune -_quickly_. Already I calculate he has stolen jewels and money to the -value of two hundred thousand pounds. A few more such coups and he can -disband his crew and disappear for ever. Speed is the essence of his -plan." - -"But we must do something, we must stop it...." - -"Our opportunity for action is improved, Sir John. In the first place, -you must take steps to concentrate a fleet of patrol ships in this -neighbourhood." - -"The car is here. I can write official telegrams in code to Plymouth -and London. Within an hour the hinterland and the sea from here to -Scilly can be covered with a swarm of ships. St. Ives is only six miles -away." - -"Write the dispatches at once. I will call Thumbwood, who must take them -in, together with an official note from you to the postmaster." - -I unlocked my portfolio and wrote the wires. There should be such an -invasion of the air to-night as Far West Cornwall had never known! - -Thumbwood appeared, I gave him full instructions, and heard the -Rolls-Royce start below. - -"And now, our part!" I said to Danjuro. - -"If we are right in our conjecture, the pirates will shortly leave -Tregeraint on their expedition. How they will join the airship or where -we don't know. But we may safely assume that the house will be left in -charge of one or at most two men. The others will all be wanted to man -the ship; it is a simple calculation. Here is your chance. You must get -inside Tregeraint, obtain conclusive evidence, and if the poor lady is -there alive, bring her away in safety. Perhaps to-night the Pirate Ship -will make its last cruise! Our presence here, our identity, is quite -unsuspected. A concentration of hostile airships in this neighbourhood -is the last thing Helzephron will expect to-night." - -"And you, my friend?" - -"I would that I could come with you, for you go in danger of your life, -but, as I see it, my work should be different. Someone, in view of its -escape, _must_ solve the mystery of the Pirate Ship itself. I have a -theory already; I must put it to proof. There are boats in the cove -below--I see that the moon is rising, I know what I must do. But, even -so, I will come with you, Sir John, if you say so." - -I shook my head. "No, I will go alone. It is my job." - -Then Danjuro did a strange thing. He took my hand, bowed over it and -kissed it! "You also are of the Samurai!" he said. - -In a minute more he carried in a heavy bag from his own bedroom, and -produced from it a miscellany of objects. - -"Here is a twelve-shot automatic, with a dozen cartridge clips," he -said. "You know all about the working of it? I thought so. This pair of -wire-cutters you will need for the barbed fence. These two keys with -adjustable wards--you turn the milled screw at the end to adjust -them--will open any ordinary lock. Here also is an extremely powerful -steel lever, with a wedge end. In the hands of a strong man like -yourself it will wrench open most windows or doors." - -God knows there was no lightness in my heart, but in the usual English -way at serious moments, I laughed. - -"The Complete Burglar!" I said. - -Danjuro looked at me with a glance as cold as ice. - -"I am in most deadly earnest, Sir John. You know what my experience has -been. Well, I say deliberately that I have never been in such peril as -you are going into." - -"I meant nothing. And what is this?" I had taken up a little leather -tube with a lens at one end. - -"A powerful electric torch. But it is more than that. You can instantly -reverse it in your hand, and if you press this stud, the plated bottom -flies open, and by means of a spring an ounce of cayenne pepper is -projected for several yards. It will stop anyone and operates -instantaneously. A little thing I invented and have found most useful. -These handcuffs are of papier mâché and weigh practically nothing. They -are from Japan and tough as the hardest steel. You may require them. And -I never go on an expedition without this tiny bottle of chloroform and -pad. You can stow everything about you with ease, and the combined -weight is as nothing." - -I did so, and it was as he said. Then a thought struck me. - -"Armed and prepared like this, I feel certain that I shall get in. But -there are two Tibetan mastiffs let loose in the grounds at night. I can -shoot them, but the noise of the report ..." - -"That is provided for, Sir John. You see this gun?" - -"It looks like a short-barrelled rook-rifle, except for the great -thickness at the breech." - -"It holds ten conical bullets. They are hollow-nosed and expand on -impact. The point is that the gun is perfectly noiseless. Powder is not -used at all. The propelling power is liquefied carbonic-acid gas, and -all that is heard at the moment of firing is a sharp snap. With this you -can stalk the dogs and kill them easily enough. Do not forget your -hunting flask and brandy and water. And for concentrated food, should -you be detained in hiding, though I and Thumbwood will be coming to look -after you if you don't appear by morning, these solid chocolate cakes -are invaluable." - -All this was done quickly, and with the most business-like precision. -Although my sense of humour told me that I was like the White Knight in -"Alice in Wonderland," I did realize that I should be a terribly nasty -customer to tackle, and I was grateful. - -While we had been talking there came sounds from below of the closing of -the inn, and shortly after we were called to supper. - -"Don't you stay up any longer, Mr. Trewhella," I said. "You must want -your rest. As for us, we are late birds. Both I and my friend sometimes -take a five minutes' stroll last thing before we turn in. That won't -inconvenience you?" - -"Bless your life, no, zur. You do as you're a mind here. 'Tesn't like a -town. The key of the front door hangs on a nail by the side. And if you -_should_ be going out later, Billy Pengelly's in the empty pigsty, a -sleeping off what he's had, and there's a bucket of cold water on the -wall. In half an hour's time or so I know as he'd be grateful for having -it poured over 'en!" - -We promised to perform what was evidently one of the amenities of this -primitive place and Mr. Trewhella withdrew. - -"That coastguard may be useful to me," Danjuro said. "And now, Sir John, -I don't want to hurry you, but my advice is that you start. I don't -suppose that the band has left Tregeraint yet. But there are a hundred -hiding-places on the moor all round the domain, and you may be able to -see which way they go before you make your own attempt. I shall be on -the trail in a very few minutes after you." - -"And Charles? He will be back shortly." - -"I shall need him. I know he would wish to be with you, Sir John, but I -believe your chances are better alone. I shall not leave until he -returns, provided he is not unduly detained." - -He went to the window and pulled aside the curtain. "A waning moon," he -said, "which will be at full power about midnight, when there may be -such a battle in the air as the world will hear with wonder!" - -I saw to my gear. It fitted about me very comfortably. - -"Well, good-night," I said, and without further words I went quietly out -of the house. - -When I got a hundred yards away I turned and looked at it, all silvered -in the moon. The air was sweet with the perfume of shy moorland flowers -that give up all their treasure to the night. The Atlantic, far below, -made a sound like fairy dreams, and on the distant slopes of Carne -Zerran an owl sounded his melancholy oboe note. - -A lovely night, gentlemen! - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE KILLING OF MICHAEL FEDDON - - -The moon was in its last quarter, and shed a faint spectral light over -the moor as I came quietly up to the first of the barbed-wire fences -that surrounded Tregeraint. I lay down in the heath, certain that I was -quite invisible, and waited. - -An hour had hardly elapsed since the band had left "The Miners' Arms." -Were they still here, or had they set out for their unknown destination? -I could not hear a sound of any kind. From where I lay the high wall hid -the house, and among the mine buildings higher up there was neither -light nor movement. Tregeraint might have been deserted for a hundred -years, and the roaring company of the inn had vanished into thin air. -And strain my eyes as I would, there was no sign of the great Tibetan -dogs. - -I remained motionless for a quarter of an hour by the illuminated dial -of my watch. Then, as nothing happened, I began operations. The wire -was tough and intricate, but ten minutes' work with Danjuro's powerful -cutters disposed of it sufficiently for me to crawl through both the -first and second fence without a scratch. I stood now in the lower -portion of a large, oblong paddock of short grass, all grey in the moon. -The surrounding wall of the Manor was about a hundred yards up the -slope, and with the gas rifle on my arm I glided over the intervening -space like a ghost. My boots were soled with india-rubber and I made no -sound at all. - -I found the wall to be ten or eleven feet high. It was crowned with a -_cheval de frise_ of iron spikes, and, owing to its height and smooth -surface, quite insurmountable. But I knew there must be an entrance -somewhere, and never expected to climb the barrier, and I began a -cautious circuit. About half-way round the extent I came to a wooden -door set in the wall. It was a mere postern, not more than five feet -high, and had a barred _grille_ in the centre of about a foot square. I -reflected that this must be a side or garden exit, and that the main -gate was probably on the other side, facing the mine-head. But it was -all the better for my purpose if this was so, and I took out my steel -"jemmy" and prepared to tackle it. - -My intention was to prise it open with my tool, for I am a very powerful -man, but suddenly another idea occurred to me. The bars of the _grille_ -were old and rusted. As there was no key-hole in the door, it was -obviously secured by bolts. I inserted my lever, and without putting out -my full strength, and with little more sound than is made by the -striking of a match, soon had three of the bars out of the wood and -lying on the grass. - -My arms are long. I pushed my right through and my fingers, after a -little groping, caught the handle of the bolt, which slid back easily -enough. It had been oiled and showed that the door, which swung back at -once, was in constant use. - -I stepped within, treading like a cat, and closed the door behind me. I -stood in a large and neglected garden, where shrubs and flowers grew as -they would and formed a miniature jungle, through which I could see the -dark façade of the house, now quite close. Everything was as still as -death, and I listened with strained attention for several minutes. So -far the work had been ridiculously easy, but as I crept up a moss-grown -path towards the building every nerve was on the alert. I was not -afraid, I think I can truly say so, but there was a chill on my soul. -This old house, with its atmosphere of robbery and murder, its singular -and formidable inhabitants, the unknown dangers of the approach, and, -above all, the thought that Connie might be within it, all combined to -wrap me in a terrible gloom of the spirit. Yet, looking back, I see -that this was well. It hardened all my resolution and made me terrible. - -I had no thought of it then, but now I can see the grim horror of such a -being as I had become approaching the house step by step.... - -All the lower windows were shuttered. There was not a gleam of light -anywhere as I followed the path and came to the front, where there was a -grass-grown gravel sweep and iron gates in the wall. This part of the -house was plain and unadorned, save for a pillared porch and steps -leading down to the drive. A thick growth of ivy covered it from the -ground to the first-floor windows, and after I had gently tried the -heavy front door, which, as I expected, was locked, this suggested a -mode of entrance. If I could climb up and get on to the roof of the -porch, it might be possible to force the central bedroom window, which I -could see was unshuttered. - -The ivy was of ancient growth, the stems thick and tough. Any schoolboy -could have mounted to the top of the porch. And any boy could have -pushed back the catch of the window with the blade of his pocket-knife, -opened it and stepped inside. - -I stood in a bedroom, dark, except for a little pool of moonlight by the -window. I felt curtains, and I drew them before I switched on my torch. -It was an ordinary bedroom, very untidy, furnished with a suite of -painted deal. There was, however, a great saucer-bath full of water, and -a pair of Indian clubs. The wall was hung with photographs of football -teams, and in an open drawer of the little dressing-table was a pile of -gold and notes. - -Commonplace enough, like an undergraduate's room at Oxford, but, -nevertheless, it affected me unpleasantly. It was like a sudden intimacy -with something abominable, as I opened the door inch by inch, and felt -for the powerful pistol in my pocket. My heart hung poised for an -instant as I stepped out into a dark corridor, and then I gave a gasp, -and my heart almost stopped beating. - -I stood at the head of broad, shallow stairs. Below was a large hall, -dimly lit, and pouring up to me in a volume of sound came the melodious -thunder of a piano played by a master hand! - -At first my knees grew weak, and I clutched the shadowy banisters to -save me from falling. Constance! Who could be playing in this evil house -but she! I can never forget the agonized pang of mingled joy and horror -that I felt. But as I crouched and listened, the fierce emotion passed -away. Whoever was playing, it was not my girl. A lost soul made that -music. - -I glided down the stairs. Certainly the wolves had left their lair, -though in what manner I could not divine. The house was inhabited by -but one or two people at most. All the doors along the corridor stood -open, as if the rooms had been left in a hurry. The building _felt_ -deserted, empty of its usual inhabitants.... - -A dim light came from an open door at the right of the hall. I peeped in -and saw a long shadowy room of great size. The walls were panelled and -hung here and there with pictures, the floor carpeted. Two immense oak -tables, with their complement of chairs, went up and down the centre, -and it hardly needed a butler's hatch in the wall, doubtless -communicating with the kitchen, to tell me that this was the dining-room -of Helzephron and his buccaneers. - -At the far end, and opposite the entrance door, was a wide and lofty -archway, half covered by a curtain. It led to another room beyond, and -it was from this that a bright light streamed, and the sound of music -came. - -I placed my gas rifle on the floor by the wall, took out my automatic, -unlocking the safety catch, and went to the curtain on tiptoe. There was -an alcove at the side, where some shelves had been, and this was -perfectly dark. I marked it as a possible hiding-place, and then pulled -the curtain aside for half an inch. Just as I did so there was a clash -of prelude, and the pianist began the enchanted Third Ballade of Chopin. - -It was the man known to me as Vargus, the man with the smooth voice, -the face that was evil and refined. He sat at a magnificent grand piano, -swaying a little on his stool.... - -Do you know that marvellous composition of Chopin's? Most people have -heard it at least once or twice in their lives, played by some -_maestro_. I have heard the renderings of the great pianists of the -world, but none played as this man played. - -A terrible remorse informed the unearthly music. It was as though the -player strained with every power of his being to recapture something -irrevocably lost. When he came to that strange passage which has been so -often compared to the soft cantering of a horse, the pain in the lovely -chords was unbearable. The artist, Aubrey Beardsley, made a wonderful -drawing of this passage--a spectral white charger ambling through a dark -wood of pines, bearing a lady in a cloak of black velvet. The picture -rose before my eyes as I stood, but it flashed away, and words of awful -significance took its place in my mind and fitted themselves to the -closing chords.... - - - "_Night and day he was among the tombs, and on the hills, crying - out and beating himself with stones._" - - -As you may know, the piece ends in a furious welter of sound. It had -just concluded, and the player sat motionless as a wax doll, when -another figure heaved itself into my line of vision, a burly giant, -with red hair and a heavy, sullen face. - -"Now you've finished that ---- row," he growled, "we'd better be moving. -We may get signals coming through soon. And I suppose I must feed the -canaries!" - -I knew the man at once. There was no possibility of mistake. It was -Michael Feddon, the famous Rugby international, and six years ago the -idol of the public. It was said that he was the finest back that England -had ever seen. In the height of his career he had been mixed up in a -horrible, criminal scandal, and received five years' penal servitude. - -I swallowed in my throat with loathing, but the next words drove all -thought of Feddon's career from my mind. - -"Everything is ready on a tray in the kitchen, and the soup is on the -electric stove. It will be hot by now," said Vargus, in his soft, creamy -voice. - -"I'll get it, and I wish the damned business was over. I said from the -first that when the Chief brought those two women here we ran more risk -than ever before. It'll turn out badly yet. Mark my words, Vargus." - -Vargus took up a bottle which stood on a table by the piano. It was -brandy, and he poured out two glasses half full, adding soda from a -siphon. - -"Here's luck; not a bit of it," he said. "If all goes well to-night, a -couple more expeditions will see us finished, with a hundred thousand -each, and scattered all over the globe. We all have our fancies. The -Chief's is this Shepherd girl. Well, in another fortnight he'll -disappear with her. Every man to his taste." - -Feddon swallowed his brandy at a gulp. "She'll lead him a dance yet!" he -said. "I never saw such a spitfire. I hate going near her, and I wish it -wasn't my turn to stay at home. I'd tame her, though, if she were mine. -I wouldn't stand her pretty ways and the things she says, like the Chief -does. He's mad about the girl." - -"And what would you do, my beefy friend?" said Vargus, with his -abominable smile. - -Feddon touched his middle. He was wearing a leather belt. "Take this to -her," he said, "and beat her black and blue." - -Vargus rose, grinning. "Well, get the food," he said. "I'll go down at -once. You'll find me in the wireless cabin." - -Feddon lurched forward. I had just time to press myself into the alcove, -when he came through the curtain and strode heavily through the room -into the hall. - -Vargus went to a tall mirror by the piano, as I watched him -breathlessly. He did something that I could not see, and it swung open -like a door. There was the snap of an electric switch, and I saw him -step into a lift, pull a rope, and sink out of sight, leaving the door -open. - -He could not have sunk ten feet when I was in the room. It was large and -square, furnished with something like luxury, and brilliantly lit with -electric globes. - -There was an arm-chair in full view of the archway. I sat down, and it -was still warm from its last occupant. That seemed to me amusing, and I -smiled. - -Something clanked, a soft swishing noise changed to a distant rumble, -and the lift came into sight. I had it covered, but it was -empty--waiting for the man who was going to "feed the canaries." - -I waited for him, too. There was a box of cigarettes close by. I lit one -and smoked quietly. Then I heard him coming through the dining-room, his -footsteps and the rattle of a tray. - -The half-drawn curtain bellied out and was pushed aside. Feddon stood -there with the tray in his hands and the light shining on his ugly red -hair. - -He saw me. His mouth opened and his eyes started out. He seemed -unutterably foolish, like a great cod, and I laughed aloud. - -But he was quick, oh, quick and clever! Like the famous footballer that -he was! In a second he had ducked, and the loaded tray was skimming -across the room straight at my head, as he hurled himself after it, -quick as a snake strikes. - -I was ready, though. He was not. My first shot broke his shoulder and -stopped him for an instant. Then, with a roar of pain and fury, he came -on again, and I shot him through the heart when he was three feet away. - -Mr. Feddon would feed no more canaries. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -THE SECRET THAT PUZZLED TWO CONTINENTS - - -I stood looking down at Michael Feddon's body. I was stunned. For the -man I had just killed I cared nothing, felt no emotion. I had saved him -from the drop; that was all. But, though I had been convinced that -Danjuro's and my own suspicions were absolute fact, the full realization -had come so suddenly that it clouded the mind. - -Constance _was_ here, and she was unharmed! - -I had, indeed, penetrated into the very centre of this lair of the -air-wolves, and already had enough evidence to hang the lot. For a -minute the mingled joy and relief was so great that I could not grasp -them. - -The brandy bottle of Mr. Vargus was still on the side table. I stepped -over the body--the leather belt which he had proposed as an instrument -of correction for Constance was in full view--and helped myself -sparingly. Almost immediately my brain cleared. - -I listened intently. The two shots from my automatic had alarmed no -one. The sinister house was as silent as before. It seemed quite certain -that Feddon and Vargus alone remained to guard it. Even the two Tibetan -mastiffs of which I had heard so much had disappeared. - -To my right, the tall mirror swung on its hinges, and the lift beyond -was lit by a globe in the roof. To what it led I did not know, probably -some cellar where poor Constance and her maid were imprisoned, though a -lift seemed superfluous. At any rate, Vargus--the next person to -tackle--was down there, and it was long odds that I could not get the -better of him. Moreover, and this was in my favour, he was expecting -Feddon, and the arrival of the lift would not startle him at first, if -he were close by. - -I examined the lift. It was electrically operated, and of a type -perfectly familiar to me, fitted with an automatic magnetic brake. I saw -that it travelled from its secret recess behind the mirror to one other -spot only, stopping nowhere on the way. A touch of the rope started it, -and it would stop itself when its journey was done. - -Well, there was no use waiting. Again I must plunge into the unknown. -Connie was waiting! I wondered how honourable Danjuro was getting on, -and laid myself long odds that he wasn't having such an exciting time as -I was! How he would stare if he came back to "The Miners' Arms" in a -few hours and found me there with Connie, and the artistic Mr. Vargus -cooling down in the patent _papier mâché_ handcuffs from Japan! Mr. -Trewhella of the inn had shown me a large pig, which he called "Gladys," -and of which he was fond. There was a vacant and stoutly-built sty next -door, which would be an excellent place of confinement for the -interpreter of Chopin! - -... Yes, I thought these thoughts, even at that moment. I was madly -exhilarated. Everything had gone so easily and well. I stepped into the -lift humming a song. It was the old chanty that the pirates had roared -in the inn two short hours ago: - - - "_Fifteen men on the dead man's chest._" - - -There was a looking-glass on one side of the lift--probably the thing -had been bought entire at some sale--and I saw myself in it. The song -died away. Whose was this grim and terrible face, gashed with deep -lines, with eyes that smouldered with a red light? Mine? I have told you -how Danjuro looked when the bloodhound that he was emerged for an -instant from behind the bland Oriental mask. There was not a pin to -choose between us. - -The lift sank slowly. Every second I expected the soft jerk of its -stopping. But the seconds went on. Down and down, what cellar was it -that lay so low? Were we dropping to the centre of the earth? It seemed -an age before the motion slowed, and I had already obtained an inkling -of the truth when a dim archway rose up before me, and the machine came -to rest. - -This was no cellar. I was deep down in Tregeraint Mine, which must run -under the house itself! In the necessity for fox-like caution, I did not -follow out the thought--not yet. But I believe that the subconscious -brain had already seen far into the mystery.... - -I stepped out into a mine cutting. The walls were cut in the rock, and -the roof here and there shored up with heavy timber props. It was wide -enough for two men to walk abreast, and quite eight feet high. Every -fifteen yards or so hung a roughly-wired electric lamp, and the floor -was beaten hard by the passage of many feet. The air was hot and -stagnant. - -I prowled down this passage without a sound, my pistol in my hand, ready -to shoot at sight, but for what seemed an interminable time I met no -one, and saw nothing but the damp walls, here and there sparkling with -yellow pyrites and the green of copper. - -There came at length a rough wooden door, which swung easily open, and -beyond a much narrower and higher passage than before, a more natural -cleft in the immemorial rock, it seemed, owing nothing to the agency of -human hands. It dripped with water. Hitherto I had been walking on a -level, now I trod a fairly steep descent, while the path was no longer -straight, but full of fantastic twistings. Each moment the air grew -cooler, and each moment a deep, murmurous noise, like very faint and -muffled drums, grew louder. - -The lights, now suspended from a thick and tarry cable, were less -frequent than at first, and the place was full of shadows. But as for -the noise, that could only be one thing, the Atlantic ground-swell. I -was approaching the sea, doubtless by one of the old mine "adits," made -for ventilation many years ago and long before the invention of the -electric fan. - -The narrow way ended in a door. It was latched but not locked, and I -pushed it slowly open. Immediately there was a sense of vast and gloomy -space. I say "gloomy," for it was not absolutely dark. Here and there -hung dim, yellow lights.... - -Advancing a step or two upon a floor of hard earth on sand, I found -myself in a vast cavern. It seemed as large as the shell of a cathedral, -and for organ there was the plangent, echoing sound of sea waves. The -sound came from my right, and was carried on a current of sweet, -brine-laden air. Peering through the darkness, I seemed to be aware of -a faint, ghostly radiance, a considerable distance away. - -I had lost the capacity for amazement, but not of quick thinking. In a -lightning flash of realization I knew that I had penetrated to the heart -of Helzephron's secret, even before my thoughts arranged themselves in -sequence. And then, as near as possible coincident with my stepping -through the door, I heard a shout. - -Someone had seen me.... - -The shout came from the other side of the long, aisle-shaped cave. -Simultaneously, half-way up the side, at a height of thirty feet from -the floor, there was a sudden illumination. I saw a broad ledge in the -wall, railed round, with a ladder staircase descending from it. A little -black figure was leaning over the rail, and it was from this that the -shouting came. It did not need his words to tell me that here was a -wireless station. I could see the drum and the battery shelf quite -distinctly. - -"A signal!" he shouted, and I knew that he took me for the dead man -above. "They're coming back! The sky swarms with armed patrols and -warships. They've had to run for it, but the Chief thinks he's shaken -them off. I must switch on the guides!" - -I gave an answering shout, keying my voice down to something like -Feddon's bass growl. - -"It's C.Q.D.!--C.Q.D.!" came in a shrill voice of alarm, and Mr. Vargus -ran down the ladder like an ape. - -C.Q.D.! The signal of "extreme danger." Well, I rather thought it was! - -Where I stood I was in deep shadow, and my face could not possibly be -seen. I was much the same height and build as the dead man, and Vargus -ran down the cave without the least suspicion. He had gone to his left, -my right, to where I had already seen a pale light, and I followed him, -more slowly, at a distance of some ten yards. It was a natural instinct -enough. My only idea was to silence him, find Constance, and fly from -the horrible place. I could not know that I was making a fatal mistake. - -I was running forward into complete understanding. The great cave turned -a little to the right. It opened out every second until at length I saw -the mouth, wide as that of the largest-sized hangar on an aerodrome, -flooded with moonlight! - -Opposite, sixty yards away, was a precipitous wall of black rock; -between it and the mouth of the cave a terrible chasm, which fell sheer -to the water. It was all clear now. Far above, on the top of the cliffs, -was that fenced-in part with the "dangerous" notice boards. You will -remember that I had lain down by the side of this fence and peered -downwards. I had looked into the same gulf that I was now looking into -from a much lower altitude. And the rock there overhung so greatly that -there was no possible indication of the cave mouth where I now stood. - -Moreover, the cave itself turned _inward_ from the sea, running parallel -to the cliff. _From the sea, as from the land, the opening of the cave -was entirely hidden._ - -Vargus was fumbling at a switch-board. He pulled down a vulcanite -handle; there was a green spark, and lights at the top, bottom and sides -of the entrance glowed out brightly. - -Imagine an illuminated rabbit-hole in the side of a railway embankment, -and you have an exact miniature of what this vast secret cave had now -become. Go a little further and think of a bat whose lair was in this -hole, and was guided to it by the lights.... - -Vargus snapped another and smaller switch. I watched him with a sense of -complete detachment. I knew, as well as if I had been told, that he was -lighting guiding lamps somewhere on the two headlands that guarded the -entrance to the cave outside. No thought of danger came to me; I think -joy at this complete discovery, and wonder at the stupendous cunning and -achievement of it all were my only emotions. - -"They may be here at any moment, Feddon. I tell you I don't like it at -all. I told the Chief that it was madness not to lie low for a bit. But -you know what he is. The Government has got the tip somehow, the Cornish -seas are _humming_ with enemies. That fellow, Custance, is smart as they -make them...." - -He was moving towards me as these words came from him in a nervous, -disjointed stream of words. Then he saw me, and stopped bang in the -middle of a sentence. - -It was my moment. - -"How do you do, Mr. Vargus," I said. "You mentioned my name. Indeed, you -paid me a compliment for which I thank you. I thought I'd drop in for a -chat. Sorry to find Major Helzephron out." - -I never saw a man in such deadly fear. His face went the colour of -cheese, and a horrible choking noise began in his throat. He staggered -to within a yard of the brink; another step and he would have plunged -into the abyss. - -"You, you, _you_!" he said, the last word in a dreadful whisper. - -"The Oxford professor--yes. Mr. Vargus, I am a lover of music, and you -have entertained me royally to-night. But you have played Chopin for the -last time in this world." - -I lifted the pistol and covered his heart. His yellow mask quivered and -was still. "Quickly, please," he said, and there was even a faint smile -of relief about his pallid lips. - -He could face death gladly, and I knew why. To have shot him there and -cast his body to the void would have been a mercy. I had other uses for -Mr. Vargus. - -My pistol hand was steady as a rock. With the left I took out Danjuro's -handcuffs and walked up to him. - -"Not yet," I said, when I was within a foot. - -He saw what I meant. As comprehension leapt into his eyes he tried to -step back. He nearly did it, but I was just too quick for him. I caught -his ankle with the crook of my right foot, and he crashed on his back -with his head and shoulders actually over the chasm. Before he could -move again I had jerked him backwards by the legs, and had him -handcuffed. - -I pulled him to his feet by his collar, and half marched, half carried -him back into the cave. He was nothing more than a bundle of clothes in -my hands. - -"Now," I said, "take me _at once_ to the place where Miss Shepherd is -confined, and, though I make no promises, it may go less hardly with you -than the rest." - -He twisted his head and tried to look me in the face. "If I do, will you -shoot me?" he whispered, fawning on me like a beaten dog. "For God's -sake shoot me, or give me an opportunity to shoot myself." - -"The hangman will save you the trouble," I answered brutally. "Now then, -march!" He gave a great wail of despair. - -"Ah, you don't know what I was once!" he cried, and there was such a -horror of remorse, a damnation so profound in that cry of agony, that a -fiend would have been moved. - -"I heard you play the Third Ballade," I answered, and my voice was no -longer firm. - -"Death, please, Death." - -"Take me quickly to Miss Shepherd. Then perhaps--I can't kill you -myself, but ..." - -It was as though my words poured a new life into his veins. His knees -still knocked together in a loathsome paralysis, but he made effort to -shamble forward. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -THE AIR PIRATE AT LAST - - -Vargus was silent now. Our feet made no noise upon the sandy floor of -the cave. It was then that I heard something like a cat purring. - -Unconsciously I stopped to listen. No, it wasn't a cat, it was the faint -drone of some night beetle; it was ... - -On the right wall of the cavern, remember that my back was turned to its -mouth and the sea--there was a sudden flash of white light. - -The rest happened in five seconds. - -The light leapt out from the wall, and instantaneously the vast vaulted -place was brilliantly illuminated. I had a fleeting vision of wooden -galleries, a workshop and smithy, piles of stores, and then I wheeled -round with a shout of terror. The drone had leapt up to a deep, menacing -note, like the E string of a double bass. A circular furnace of white -light in the centre of a gigantic shadow rushed at me with incredible -speed. - -A blast of wind struck me like the shell from a six-inch gun; the drone -rose to the echoing shout of an army as the Pirate Airship entered the -cave that was its home. - -I had just the millionth part of a second in which to realize the truth -before my head struck; the wind seemed to tear out my very vitals, and I -knew nothing more. - - * * * * * - -Once, when I was a boy at the seaside in Wales, I dived into a deep rock -pool, and, deceived by the clearness of the water, hit my head against a -submerged ledge, and for several seconds was stunned. There was no one -with me, but, fortunately, I recovered in time, and with bursting lungs -regained the surface. - -The experience was repeated now, or so it seemed, with a curious -subconscious memory. I thought that I was rushing violently upwards -towards the light out of a well of darkness. Each moment the radiance -increased and my speed grew greater. There was a sound as of many waters -in my ears. - -I opened my eyes. The light was brilliant, painful. Also, it moved and -flashed, and so it was not the sun of twenty years before beating -down.... - -Someone spoke: "Yes, it's the man himself. He's shaved off his -moustache, and his hair and skin are dyed. He's a fair chap really. -Look at his lower neck and chest. It's Sir John Custance right enough!" - -I lay and listened. Although I heard every word, and perceived that an -electric torch was dancing about, the conversation hardly seemed to -concern me. - -There was another voice: "Vargus said he admitted it, but Vargus has -fainted again." - -Hands felt me all over. Things were taken from my pockets, and there -were sharp exclamations of surprise. Somebody gave a long, low whistle. - -"No bones broken. His eyes are opening. Give me that flash, Gascoigne." - -Someone poured brandy down my throat--I knew it was brandy--and I moved -my limbs and groaned. - -Then I heard a shout as a door that I could not see was burst open. -"Feddon's killed!" came in a high, excited voice. "Poor old Feddy's shot -through the heart." - -I think it was at this precise moment that I regained full -consciousness, and realized that I was not badly hurt. My whole body -felt as if it had been severely beaten, but instinct told me that there -was no real damage. As for the shock, it was not until several hours -afterwards that I felt its effect, though then it meant collapse. - -I lay perfectly still, this time by design, and closed my eyes. -Everything had come back to me; I remembered every incident from the -moment I had cut the barbed wire to that when I had escaped, by a -miracle, death from the returning Pirate Ship. - -My first thought was one of bitter disappointment. So they had run the -gauntlet, after all! The mystery ship had escaped the swarm of cruisers -and patrol boats that were looking for her. I believe I ground my teeth -with rage. A second afterwards I groaned out loud. The sound was wrung -from my very heart. I was too late to rescue Constance now.... - -All round me there was a buzz of low-pitched voices. Without any trouble -at all, I could detect the note of fear and consternation. And it was -tonic. My plight seemed desperate enough, but there was a chance yet. -They had taken my weapons from me, but others might prove as valuable. -The pirates were disorganized, alarmed. Well, craft should meet craft! -Surely, the moment was favourable? - -I was in a dimly-lit place, surrounded by dark figures. How long I lay -thus I do not know, probably for no great space of time. At any rate, I -had not been in full possession of my faculties for many minutes when a -door opened, and a voice spoke in accents of authority. - -It was a voice that I had never heard before, but I knew whose it was. - -"I have made a careful examination of the house," came in clear, -well-bred tones, "and there is no one there. It is the same outside and -all round the fence. I let the dogs loose and they discovered nothing." - -"How did this"--I was kicked brutally in the side--"get in, Chief?" -asked a voice. - -"Cut the fence wire, and managed to open the door in the east wall. Then -climbed the porch and entered through Feddon's bedroom. The dogs -followed the scent and showed. That doesn't matter much now. The point -is that he's here." - -"And we know what to deduce from that!" I heard, and pricked up my ears. -My friend Mr. Vargus had revived then! There was a soft malignancy in -his voice that made me shudder. - -"Vargus is right. It is fairly certain that the game's up as far as this -place is concerned. They've marked us down, sure enough. In a few -minutes I shall take steps to find out exactly how much they _do_ know. -Meanwhile we appear to have some time before us, and we must carry out -the emergency plan that we've so often rehearsed. Gascoigne, Jones and -Sutton, Pointz, fill all the petrol tanks to full capacity, load -emergency stores, examine and reverse ship. When finished, report to me -in my room." - -The men hurried away. - -"Philips and Minver get on to the moor and report any man or body of men -advancing on the house. You will take rifles and act as outposts. At any -sign of approach, don't hesitate to fire. Then fall back on the house." - -"Shall we take the dogs, Chief? They would be useful." - -"No, I shall need them. The rest of you will hold the house till the -last moment. Then get into the lift and come down. It will take them -some time to find out the way and follow, while one man can hold the -passages for any length of time. We shall all be fifty miles out at sea -before anyone can break in down here, and all the swag is packed ready -to go on board. Vargus, you will stay down here and help me in what I've -got to do." - -Several other men left the room. - -In a lower voice, though I heard every word, Helzephron went on talking -to his lieutenant. - -"... Mind you, I don't actually expect an attack in force, but we must -be prepared. For all we know, there may be a hundred men waiting on the -moor. One thing is certain. They know where, or whereabouts we are, or -that gentleman on the floor would not have got in, nor all those ships -be cruising about outside. So we must be off with all we can take to our -emergency base in the Hebrides. Once outside, nothing can touch us, of -course, and we'd get up to sixteen thousand feet at once. Barometer -readings make it pretty certain that it will be cloudy at dawn, and it's -a million chances to one against our even being seen." - -I lay not three yards away. I had not noticed it until now, but my -ankles were tied together, and, weak as I was, any physical effort was -impossible. Helzephron had talked over his plans with an absolute -disregard of my presence. He may or may not have known that I was -conscious; quite obviously he didn't care twopence one way or the other. -And that meant one thing and one thing only. - -Before the Pirate Ship fled from its lair for the last time John -Custance would have ceased to exist in the body. - -"... Now for Sir John. How do you feel, Vargus? You took a nasty toss, -and it's damned lucky for you we turned up when we did! Do you feel -strong enough to drag Sir John into my room? If so, I'll go ahead and -turn on the lights." - -"I'm quite strong enough for _that_," said Mr. Vargus, with a nasty -laugh, and in a few seconds he had me by the heels, and was towing me -like a log over an uneven floor. It was only by stiffening the muscles -of my neck till they cracked that I could keep my head from bruising -badly. Then a cloth of some sort was dropped on my face and tied round -my head. I felt myself carried for a yard or two, put into a chair with -an upright back, and then lashed securely to it by strong cords. - -"I'll call you when I want you again," said the voice of Helzephron. "Go -and help the others load the ship. And remember that we must take every -round of ammunition we can stow in her. Twenty-four hours' rations will -be ample. We can renew those at any time. Shells are quite another -matter. Sacrifice everything to them." - -A door closed. I heard the creak of a chair as Helzephron sat down. -There was a long silence, and through the cloth I could feel that he was -watching me. - -The duel to the death began. I was as a naked man before another with a -sword. I braced every nerve and stiffened my will! - -"You are in a very unpleasant predicament, Sir John Custance." - -The voice was passionless, even a little weary. - -"I think it's mutual, Mr. Helzephron," was my answer, and I put an -accent on the "_Mister_." He should have no honourable military title -from me. - -"Well, that is possible. Indeed, I admit that you have seriously -deranged my plans. But the trumps are mine, after all. With your -intelligence you must be aware that you have a very short time to live." - -"I don't doubt that, but I dispute your estimate of your hand." - -"May I ask why?" - -"With pleasure. I don't care twopence about my own life in comparison -with my duty to society. You care a good deal for yours, and you also -have a short time in front of you. If it is any satisfaction to you to -know, you're in a net from which even the particular minor devils that -preside over thieves can't free you." - -Thus I lied bravely. A good deal, I thought, might depend on my ability -to get the scoundrel into a furious rage, and, anyway, it was a delight -to insult him. - -A sharp breath told me that I had drawn blood. - -"You use dangerous language, Sir John. You'll be sorry if you go on." - -"Now, look here," I rapped out, in the tone I should have used to an -impudent office boy, "please understand that you can't frighten me. I -know that bounders of your type don't understand a gentleman and how he -feels about things. I only assure you that you will waste your time. And -time _ought_"--I said it with meaning--"to be worth more to you now than -all the valuables you picked from the pockets of the _Atlantis_ -passengers." - -He came up to me, and I thought that this was the moment. But he only -tore the cloth from my head and returned to his chair. - -I looked round with interest. The room, no doubt part of the cavern -system into which the mine had penetrated, was matchboarded all round. -The boarding was painted white, and a cluster of electrics hung from the -ceiling. There was a carpet on the floor, a couple of arm-chairs, a -writing-table, and a big steel safe. In one corner was another door than -the entrance one, partly concealed by a green curtain hanging from a -brass rod. - -Helzephron himself sat opposite. The handsome, hawk-like face was badly -bruised. He stared at me with concentrated malignancy. Then he smiled, -with a flash of large white teeth. - -"Really, I should hardly have known you," he said. - -"I should have recognized you anywhere, even with the bruises!" I -replied. "Mr. Ashton left you your teeth, I see." - -His face grew dark. He nodded twice. "I thought that," he said, half to -himself. - -"I saw the whole thing, and it was most amusing, Mr. Helzephron. I was -sitting in the smaller arm of the gallery at the 'Mille Colonnes,' -behind a centre-piece of flowers. I, _and my companion_, had concealed a -periscope in the flowers, and got the whole thing framed, as it were. It -gave a zest to the Burgundy. But I thought you'd have made a better -fight of it!" - -The man leapt from his chair with a savage curse and took two steps -towards me, with clenched fist and lifted arm. - -I looked up in that convulsed and purple face. - -"Quite so!" I said quietly. "I'm tied up. It's quite safe to hit me." - -If he was going to torture me, and I had few illusions on the matter, I -was having my innings now. He _had_ been a gentleman once, he had been a -brave soldier. It was because I knew this that I could stab him. - -He didn't strike. He began to walk up and down the room, swallowing his -rage with an almost superhuman effort--being what he was. Perhaps shame -helped him, perhaps it was cunning, but he sat down again, and though he -trembled, his voice was calm. - -"So you think me a coward, do you?" he said. "I'll do you the justice to -say that you're none." - -My mind was working with an insight that it has never possessed before -or since. The key to the man's psychology was in my hand at last. - -All criminals are vain. In great criminals vanity assumes colossal -proportions until it becomes a real madness. Criminologists call it -megalomania. It is egotism fostered and indulged to the point of -monstrosity, when all moral considerations are swept away, and the -subject thinks himself superior to all law, and glories in his -greatness. - -_Lord of himself, that heritage of woe!_ I think Byron said that. - -"You've correctly expressed me," I told him. - -"Perhaps your detective work has not gone so far as to inform you that I -hold the Victoria Cross?" Yes! he was mad! No sane man of his extraction -would have said that. - -"It is a distinction above all others, Mr. Helzephron. And you'll have -another very soon. Indeed, you'll never be forgotten. You'll be historic -as the one V.C. who was degraded. They'll do it the day before they hang -you at Pentonville, and it will be in the _Gazette_." - -He grew quite white, whether from anger or shame I do not know. But I -went on. Something inside me that was not myself seemed to be speaking. - -"You've been living quite an artificial life, you see, surrounded by -your amicable young friends and the artistic Mr. Vargus. You, no doubt, -think of yourself as of a very glorious order. Making war on society, -Ajax defying the thunder, King of the air, and all that sort of thing. -I'll bet anything you've compared yourself to Napoleon a thousand -times! It's the way the late Kaiser of Germany fell. It's called -megalomania. But you aren't anything of the sort, you know. You are a -cowardly thief, who steals and murders for the sake of his pocket. You -asked me a question and I've answered it." - -He heard each word. His eyes became glassy and his jaw dropped. For all -the world he was like an evil child who hears the truth about itself, -and all the power was wiped out of his face as chalk marks are wiped off -a blackboard. - -He got up abruptly, and left the room by the curtained door. He was away -for ten minutes. When he returned he was his old self, but with an -addition--he had been drinking back his devilishness. There was a strong -odour of brandy as he entered. His eyes were full and liquid, and he was -amazingly vital. I knew that I could hurt him no longer. He wore -impenetrable armour. He sat down and lit a cigarette. He smiled with an -evil good-humour. It was his hour now. - -"Well, we've got acquainted at last," he began in an easy conversational -tone. "You've been excessively clever in hunting me down, and your -powers of insult are exceptional. I admit again that you have smoked me -out here, but as to putting an end to my activities, that's a very -different story. Your people can't get at me once I'm out of this snug -retreat, and they can't force an entry here until I'm gone. So much as -between the Commissioner of Police and the Pirate. You've had your say -and I've had mine." - -"Then there is nothing more to be said." - -"Excuse me, as man to man, there's a good deal. I purchased an evening -paper on the afternoon of the evening when I was attacked by your hired -bully." - -At last the conversation was growing interesting. - -"With stolen money?" I asked impudently. But it fell dead flat. I don't -think he even heard me. - -"The paper made public some news that I had already gathered from -another source. The news of your engagement, Sir John Custance." - -We stared at each other in dead silence for half a minute. - -"To Miss Constance Shepherd," he went on. - -I said nothing. - -"... Who at this moment is not twenty yards away from you, and who will -fly with me to-night to where all your police boats will never find us." - -"By force." - -"Well, up to the present I admit that I have had to take the law into my -own hands. I am a man who believes in getting what he wants. Your -arrival, the fact that you're my guest for a short time, has given my -thoughts quite a new direction." - -I saw that there was a deep and sinister meaning in what he said, but -not an inkling of the abominable truth came to me. He understood that -from my face, and he laughed out loud. - -"Oh, this is going to be enormously refreshing!" he cried. "This is -going to make everything worth while!" - -My heart turned to stone as I watched that unholy merriment. - -When he had finished laughing, he said: "Miss Shepherd does not know as -yet that I have the honour of entertaining you. I am about to inform -her. And then, if she wishes it, as no doubt she will, you must really -meet. Journeys end in lovers' meetings, they say." - -He was about to add something when there was a knock at the door. Mr. -Vargus came in. - -"All loaded," he said, looking nervously at me, as if wondering what had -passed during his absence. "All loaded and everything ready for a start. -The others have gone up to the house." - -"Well, there's nothing to report, or they would have telephoned down. -There is no hurry for an hour yet...." - -Helzephron took the short man by the arm and drew him into a corner of -the room. They whispered together for nearly ten minutes. I could not -catch a word. - -Then Vargus nodded with an air of triumphant comprehension, and left the -room. - -"On second thoughts," said Helzephron, "I am not going to prepare Miss -Shepherd. We will let it be in the nature of a pleasant surprise." - -He disappeared through the green-curtained door. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -LED OUT TO DIE - - -In relating what is immediately to follow I shall do so with as plain -and unvarnished a narrative as my pen can command. You will read of what -Constance and I endured, but do not ask me to do more than hint at the -anger of my soul. It is impossible to describe, at least it would -require the pen of a Dante or a Milton, nor would I describe it if I -could. It is bad enough to live that hour again even faintly and in -imagination. To call it up into full memory--soul memory--is a task for -which I have not the least inclination. You shall, therefore, have the -facts with very little comment upon them. - -I think it's about all you'll need. - -Helzephron was away for a considerable time. During his absence Vargus -peeped in once and looked at me. I won't describe his face. - -When the hawk-faced man returned, he dragged my chair to the far end of -the room, and pushed the writing-table in front of it to form a -barrier. There was a deliberation in all he did that was inexpressibly -alarming. His lips were drawn in a tight smile, so that I could see the -teeth.... - -He set a chair over against the wall opposite, and then he went again -through the curtained door. A moment afterwards he entered, followed by -Connie. - -The room grew whirlingly dark and cleared. I could not speak, for my -throat seemed to be closing up, but I saw my girl very distinctly. - -She was, as I had never seen her, deadly pale, with large, dark rings -under her eyes and all the joy of life ironed out of her sweet face. Yet -she was not thinner and there were no lines. The colour had gone from -her cheeks and the lustre from her hair, but I somehow thought that her -physical health had not suffered alarmingly. - -When she spoke I knew that this was true, and I knew why. Her -indomitable spirit remained. The sunny courage of the past had condensed -within her soul and turned to unconquerable purpose. Her voice was so -full of scorn that it cut even me like the lash of a whip. It was a -marvel that the tall man could have borne it for a moment. - -But his eyes had a red light in them, like the eyes of a hound--mad. - -"What new devilry is this?" the girl said, as her eyes fell upon me, -trussed up there behind the table. "Do you suppose that I want any -further evidence to tell me from where you come and whom you serve?" - -"Look at this gentleman; look at him well." - -"Another of your unhappy prisoners! So you add torture to your crimes. -And you dare to make me witness it!" - -She turned in a fury of disgust and loathing, and made a step towards -the door. But before she moved further--God bless her!--she said: "You -have fallen into the hands of a very horrid scoundrel, sir, but ..." - -At that I managed to cry out: "Connie, dearest, don't you know me?" - -I ought not to have been so sudden. I cursed myself for it. It was just -as if I had struck her down, for she reeled, and fell into the chair in -a swoon. - -I myself was near to it. There was a rush as of cataracts, a sensation -of drowning. When I recovered, the maid, Wilson, was ministering to her -mistress; there was a sound of pouring liquid, though I could see -nothing, for Helzephron stood directly in front of me, watching what -went on. - -"Look here, Helzephron," I said hoarsely. "This _can't_ go on. For God's -sake stop it! Get her away before she recovers and do what you like to -me." I thought desperately for something that would move him. - -He turned round slowly. "Too late now," he said slowly. "You've got to -go through with it, both of you." - -The malice had faded out of his eyes. He spoke dreamily: "There is no -other way...." - -He moved away and leant against the wall at the side, looking down -moodily at Constance, who was coming to herself. Her eyes opened, and -Helzephron made an impatient gesture with his arm. The maid, Wilson, -vanished like a ghost. I could see that she, poor thing, went in -terrible fear. - -I spoke out directly I thought Connie could understand. I was -desperately determined to have my say. It might be the last chance. To -my surprise, though I soon understood the reason, Helzephron did not -interrupt. - -"Yes, it is I, Constance. I'm disguised; that is why you didn't know me. -Darling, it's going to be all right. Be brave a little longer!" - -I saw comprehension dawn in her eyes, and then they blazed out into -love. "John! You've come at last. It's been weary waiting. But you are -tied up." Her voice changed. "You're in the power of this man, too!" - -"For this moment I may be; but that is nothing. He is tracked down and -his hour has come. He knows it. I made a mistake and he captured me, but -outside the forces are converging, and for him the whole world is now -no wider than this little room." - -Helzephron made no sign. From his great height he stared down at us like -a stone figure. I doubt if he either saw or heard. - -"Tell me quickly--he has not ill-used you, he has not laid hands on you, -hurt you...." - -A bitter laugh burst from her. "He has stolen me away from life and kept -me here a prisoner. But there has been food to eat, and the cage is -gilded with the proceeds of his thefts. He knows well enough that if he -dared to touch me I should kill myself. No power on earth and none of -his cunning precautions could prevent it, and that also he knows. Thank -God his time has come." - -"Tell me everything, quickly. A lot depends on it." How could I explain -that he was going to kill me, that he could and would do so long before -there was any chance of help arriving? - -"He has dared," she said, and I never knew that a woman's voice could be -so hard, "dared to offer me what he calls love. The word is hideous in -such a mouth. He has raved, threatened and implored me to--to marry -him--to fly away with him and be his wife." - -She shuddered terribly and sank back in the chair, as if exhausted. I -racked my brains for words. What could I say or do? That she would kill -herself rather than yield an inch I was certain. But he could still -prolong her torture. The chances were that he would get away in his -marvellous ship for a time. On the other hand, it might well be that the -searching airships were in such force by now that even the Pirate Ship -could not escape. There would be a battle in the air. She would be shot -to pieces by our cruisers' heavy guns. And Connie would be on board.... - -What could I say? - -Helzephron stood up from the wall. With slow movements he lit a -cigarette, but his hand was trembling as if in a palsy. He spoke to -Constance. - -"You have already told me that you love Sir John Custance," he said. "I -heard that from your own lips two days ago. But 'love' means many -things. And you may well have said it to keep me at arm's length. Sir -John Custance is here now, and in my power. What of him and you?" - -Connie looked at him for a moment without a word. There was not a trace -of fear in her eyes. "I will tell you," she said at length. "That man is -my man, and I am his woman from now until the end of time and for all -eternity. You cannot understand, I know. But if words have meaning, mine -are plain enough." - -Helzephron suddenly threw away his cigarette and gave what seemed to be -a sigh of relief. The sound, the gesture, were startling. I could not -understand.... - -"Well," he said, "that is another, and the last, illusion gone. My life -has been a succession of lost illusions, I think. I loved you, and I -love you still, with all the force and power of a nature which, whatever -else it may be, is stronger than that of most men in this feeble world. -I would have given you a love so rich, abundant and wonderful that you -would have forgotten your passion for this man. Mine would have consumed -it utterly. And you would have responded. You think not, but I know -better. It would have been flame and flame, LOVE. Now I see that it is -indeed too late." - -His tones were not raised; there was nothing particularly eloquent in -the actual words he spoke. But to me they tolled like a great bell--a -bell that tolls while the iron gates of hell are opening slowly.... - -"Yes, too late!" Connie said quickly. "And you see it now! It could -never have been. And now you will let us go! Oh, be quick! Untie John, -please do; it must be hurting him so!" - -For the first and last time that night two tears rolled down my cheeks. - -I suppose that for a brief space there had been some lingering nobility -in Helzephron's mind, some flicker of life in that dark soul. The man -had not always been under the dominion of evil. - -But now I saw, without possibility of mistake, the final eclipse of -good. It was a visible thing, the last awful act in the terrible drama -of his life, and it took place before one's eyes like crystals -dissolving in a glass. - -He looked steadfastly at Constance. - -"Sir John can go," he said, "for all the debt of ill-will I owe him, he -can go from here unharmed. My dear girl, it rests entirely with you!" - -She did not understand. - -"Oh, then let him go now, at once." - -"That man," he answered, "lives, or dies a peculiarly unpleasant death; -goes free, or is nothing but a heap of clothes in half an hour, as you -shall decide, Constance." - -By the slow dilation of her eyes, I think she knew what he would say. - -"It is like this," he went on. "If I cannot have Love, the real thing, -at least Fate has put it in my power to demand--and have!--the second -best, the semblance of it. The moment that you give me your solemn -promise to marry me, Sir John walks out on to the moor." - -I gave Constance one swift, warning look. Would the man believe that -another was as base as he himself? Everything depended on that. - -"You cannot do it, Constance," I said, with a careful tremor in my -voice, trying to suggest a slight dawn of hope, and again I sent her a -signal of caution. - -Helzephron gave an almost imperceptible start, and a faint smile began -to play about his cruel lips. - -The fish was rising. - -"It would be a martyrdom," I went on. "What is my life worth--even to -the State"--I thought that was a clever touch--"in exchange for such a -sacrifice?" - -Praise God for her quick wits! She saw that I was acting, and fell into -her part with supreme naturalness. A wail of pain came from her, and she -covered her face with her hands. "I cannot let you die," she cried. "Do -I not love you? Is not your life of supreme value?" - -I spoke in a tone of hardly veiled eagerness: "But your own happiness, -what of that?" - -Connie made a passionate gesture of renunciation. She turned to our -torturer. "Sir," she said, "have you no mercy, no compassion?" - -"I have nothing but one overmastering need." - -"Then leave us. Let me be alone with Sir John for a few minutes." She -beckoned to him and he came, leaning his head low. - -"Go," she whispered. "I cannot persuade him while you are here. Leave us -alone and I will do my best." - -The fool was wax in her hands. That one confidential whisper seemed to -have transformed him. - -"Yes, I'll go," he said, but I heard every word. "I don't think our -friend will take much persuading! You may be glad to marry a _man_, -after all!" - -He was half-way to the door when suspicion took hold of him. "How do I -know that you won't be up to some trick?" he snarled; "try to loose him -or something? Not that there would be any chance of escape if you did." - -"I give you my word of honour," Connie answered, "or you can tie me up, -too. That would be the best way. Fasten me in this chair so that I can't -move." - -Helzephron shook his head impatiently. Then the door banged and we were -alone. - -I began to speak at once. There was no time to waste. - -"Dearest love of my heart, it is good-bye. We have managed to snatch -these few moments for farewell." - -Her face shone with love and courage as she smiled at me. "Is there no -way, darling?" - -"None. This is the end. We have fooled that devil for a minute. When he -returns and finds out the end will come quickly. Now, listen...." - -In a few sentences I told her exactly how matters stood, and of my -certainty that Helzephron's course was almost run. Nor did I disguise -from her that in any attack upon the Pirate Ship her own fate was sure. - -"What does it matter? I should kill myself, anyhow, rather than submit -to one touch from him. I have the means ready. Oh, my love, I am prouder -of you at this moment than I ever was!" - -How I rejoiced in her! Never for a single instant had she believed that -I would let her do this thing. It was not even spoken of between us. It -was worth while dying for love and trust like this! - -"And you see, dear love," she went on, "it will not be long. We shall be -together again in a few hours, never to part any more...." - -Very solemnly and quietly we said farewell. Neither of us was unhappy. A -great exaltation and peace consoled us, but the moment is too sacred for -description here. - -I gave one last look at her serene and radiant face, striving to image -it upon my brain, so that it should be the last thing I saw, and then I -called for Helzephron with a strong voice. - -From the first instant that he stepped into the room and saw our faces, -he knew the truth. - -He was very quiet, but his eyes shone again with the dull red light that -you may sometimes see in a dog's eyes. One could almost have pitied him, -for he was as one who desired even one drop of living water to cool his -tongue and was tormented in a flame. - -I was praying hard for one boon--that Constance should not see me die. -It seemed that my prayer was answered, for he led her roughly to the -curtained door and pushed her through. - -He whistled, and Vargus came in through the other door. The movements of -both men were detached and business-like. I had the odd fancy that this -was exactly how the paid executioner goes about his work in the prisons. - -Once more the cloth was tied over my head, the chair was lifted, and I -was carried away. The swinging motion lasted a long time. I must have -been taken a considerable distance from the room of my agony when the -chair was finally set down. I heard the plangent beating of waves and -felt cool airs. I was in the central cavern once more, and near to the -mouth of it. So that was it! They were going to throw me to the -whirlpools and the rocks below!... - -I felt strong and slender fingers about my neck--Vargus the -pianist!--and shuddered at the contact. The cloth was removed. It was as -I thought: all round was the cathedral-like cave, but now dozens of -lights were turned on, including a great blue arc-lamp suspended from -the roof, and all the shadows and mystery were gone. - -Not far away, resting upon rubber-covered wheels, which were dropped -below the floats by an adaptation of the Raynor-Wallis patent, was the -great Pirate Ship, towering up under the domed roof, spreading her great -planes from side to side, lovely in her lines, an awful instrument of -power. Even at that supreme moment I longed to examine her, to go aboard -and make acquaintance with the wonders she held. - -The ruling passion of a man's life dies hard! - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -THE HOUNDS FROM THIBET AND MR. VARGUS; WITH A DISCOVERY ON BOARD THE -PIRATE - - -They turned my chair so that I faced the mouth of the cave, which was -some thirty yards away. The moon had set. The short summer night was -over, and the first grey hint of the dawn, that I should never see, was -near. - -Helzephron sat down on a stool a few yards away from me. His back was to -the cavern mouth. He spoke a word to Vargus, who padded away behind me. - -"Why are we waiting?" I said. - -"Because you had the misfortune to hear my friend Vargus pouring his -soul out at the piano, Sir John." - -"I am still rather in the dark." - -"I have no objection to satisfying a curiosity which is legitimate under -the circumstances. I was going to put a pistol to your ear and throw you -into the cove. But Mr. Vargus has fantastic tastes, and you have put his -back up. He asked me a favour, and as I owe him a good deal, I could -not refuse it. But I see he is returning. You shall have a concrete -explanation." - -From, somewhere behind me I heard the padding of footsteps, accompanied -by a curious scuffling noise and the sound of heavy breathing. Then -Helzephron gave a short bark of laughter, and Vargus came round the -chair. - -Then I knew. - -On leather leashes Vargus held two monstrous dogs. Each one was as big -as a newly-born calf. They were like Newfoundlands, and yet unlike, for -there was a great bull-dog jowl to each.... - -"My Tibetan mastiffs," said Helzephron. "Death by dogs for a dog!" - -Vargus brought the brutes within two yards of me. Their teeth were -bared, their hackles rose, there was the dull red light in their eyes, -too, but not a sound came from either. - -Both men watched me intently, but they got none of the satisfaction that -they hoped. It was simply that the bitterness of death was over. That -was all. Fear was something that I was no longer capable of feeling. To -be worried to death by mastiffs was just like any other death, then. I -understood how it was that martyrs for religion, or any cause in which -they believed, died so quietly. - -Helzephron cursed deeply. "Get it over," he said. "Take the dogs to the -far end of the cave. When I blow this whistle let them go. You'll hear -them running up behind you, Sir John," he said, with an insane chuckle. - -Vargus disappeared. - -I stared out at the cave mouth. Each moment it grew lighter. I thought -that I should have liked to have seen one more summer dawn. But -Helzephron was lifting his whistle; and then the mouth of the cave -seemed to recede and shrink to the size of a mere window. - -A mere window. With idle curiosity I saw how a fat spider was slowly -descending his swinging thread, and I was a child again, seated at the -nursery window.... - -The whistle blew a shrill, echoing blast. - -At once my mind awoke to full consciousness, and I braced myself to die -without a cry. The cave mouth became itself again, and the spider ... - -_Hanging by one arm and a leg, half-way down a stout rope, was a short, -thick-set figure...._ - -As the rapid thud of the racing dogs grew loud the figure's right arm -raised itself. - -_Bang! Crash! Bang! Crash!_ a wild howl of pain, thunderous echoes -rolling down the cavern, and Helzephron on his feet in time to see -something bounding towards him like an india-rubber ball. - -I knew who that was. I had one glimpse of a terrible grinning face as -Danjuro leapt at the hawk-faced man; heard a strangled scream and a -long, crunching crack, and saw two whirling figures crash to the floor. - -I can't express the suddenness of it all. Before my brain could register -the impression, another person was sprinting by me, yelling like a -fiend. Then Danjuro rose from the floor--alone--and my ropes were being -divided, my stiff limbs rubbed, and a calm, exultant voice remarked: -"Exit Honourable Helzephron." - -I began to laugh weakly. - -"You were just in time, Danjuro. Have you killed him?" - -He was about to reply when there was a diversion. - -Charles Thumbwood appeared. He had Mr. Vargus by the collar, and was -kicking him along to the accompaniment of flowers of language that I -shall not attempt to reproduce. - -"Caught 'im at the telephone," gasped Charles. "Gr-r-r, you little -swine"--a furious kick--"Gr-r-r, you slime-lapping leper you! 'E was -telephoning to 'is friends, Sir John. Thank Gawd we come in time, Sir -John! Gr-r-r, there's one as you won't forget in an 'urry!" and lifting -Mr. Vargus several inches from the floor with a final kick, Little -Thumbwood flung him away, began to feel me all over with trembling -hands, and burst into a flood of tears. - -But I had caught his words. The telephone! We should have all the band -upon us in two minutes, desperate and fighting for their lives. - -"Quick!" I shouted, "follow me. We must get Miss Shepherd safe. There -isn't a moment to lose." - -I don't know how I did it, and the first few yards were like running on -red-hot ploughshares; but I got going, and raced down the great cave, -past the Pirate Ship, to the door at the end. - -I noticed a door on the left as I ran. It was the one by which I had -first entered, the one that marked the passage leading to the lift. - -"Block that somehow!" I called to Thumbwood. "It may keep them back for -a minute or two. Shoot anyone who breaks through." - -He understood and stopped at once. I saw him dragging up some cases to -make cover and lying down behind them, as I turned just outside the door -which led to the ante-room to Helzephron's private sanctum. - -... We found Constance upon her knees in a richly furnished room. Her -maid, Wilson, was weeping and trembling in a corner. As we burst in she -shrieked with terror. - -But Constance fainted dead away. - -I took that unfortunate woman, Wilson, and shook her into sanity. There -was nothing else to be done, and I remember that it seemed quite -natural and obvious at the time. I knew that we hadn't a moment to lose, -and I was in a state of abnormal excitement. - -When she had regained some sort of control, which was in less than a -minute, I ordered her to attend to Constance, and, when she came to -herself, to tell her that we were all saved and Helzephron as powerless. -Then I hurried out into the cave. - -Danjuro and Thumbwood were working like demons. Piles of boxes and other -impedimenta had been erected in two strategic positions commanding the -door. Behind each pile were two or three automatic rifles and many clips -of ammunition. Just as I came up Danjuro went to the door and opened it -wide. - -I grasped his idea at once. As you may remember from my former -description, the passage was a mere cleft in the rock. Certainly not -more than one man could walk abreast, and he could be shot down the -moment he turned the corner. A child who could shoot straight would have -been able to hold the passage, and behind the barrier on the floor of -the cave would have been safe enough. - -"I trust honourable lady quite safe?" said Danjuro in his quiet, silky -voice. - -"Yes; the maid's attending to her. Thank God that unutterable scoundrel -has not harmed her." - -Then I remembered something. Danjuro's face was perfectly placid and -ordinary. The grinning devil-mask had vanished as if it had never been. -To look at him no one would have guessed that he was anything but a -peaceable little Eastern student, such as you may see by the dozen any -day round about the Law Courts in town. He rolled a cigarette in his -conjuring way as I spoke, and yet, a few moments ago those slender hands -had just broken the neck of the Master Criminal of Europe! - -"Look here, old chap," I said. "I haven't had a moment to thank you. You -and Charles arrived in the very nick of time. A few seconds more and I -should have been done for; and as for Miss Shepherd ..." - -I couldn't go on. I just held out my hand. - -He didn't take it--cold-blooded little beggar! He just bowed politely -and murmured something that sounded like "Glad to be of any help!" Then -he brightened up. "I think, Sir John," he said, "that we can reckon -ourselves as quite safe from any intrusion now!" and he waved his hand -towards the open door. - -"Let 'em all come!" remarked Thumbwood. - -Then, quite suddenly, the floor of the cave seemed to heave up and down. -The great arc lights which made it as bright as day began to wheel round -like fireworks, and I fainted for the second time. - -When I recovered it was to find myself in the late Helzephron's own -room. Something cold was on my forehead and something chilly and scented -trickled down my face. I opened my eyes, and Constance was kneeling by -my side. - -"My love, my dear love!" she whispered. "I never thought that I should -see you alive again. Oh, thank God, thank God!" - -Then her arms were round me, and for a long time we spoke no word. I -think I know what the man who was called back from death in Palestine -long ago must have felt.... - -She gave me food and wine, and at last, though I felt physically weak -and shaken, my mind worked again, and I stood up. We were alone in the -room, and no sound came from outside, so I concluded that all was safe -for the present. - -"A little Japanese carried you in here," Connie said, "as easily as if -you were a child. I had just come to myself, and I thought, oh, John, I -thought that you had been killed, and that he was one of those awful -people. But he shouted out at once that what Wilson said was true and we -were saved. I believed him, in spite of the shock his appearance gave me -at first, and when he had put you down gently in this chair he hurried -away. John, who is he, and how are we saved?" - -"We owe everything to him," I answered gravely. "He killed Helzephron -with his own hands"--I did not tell her about the dogs just then--"and -in a few hours we shall be back in the world. We can never, as long as -we live, pay our debt to Danjuro." - -In as short a time as I could, I explained everything to her, from the -first moment when I had heard of her capture until now. I walked about -the room as I did so, and new life flowed into my cramped limbs. When I -had smoked a cigarette, I felt almost normal again. - -"Now, dear," I said, when my story was over, "we aren't exactly out of -the wood yet, though there's nothing whatever to be alarmed at. Go into -your own room and collect your things together; whatever you want to -take away with you. Stay here with Wilson till I come again. I may be -some time. There are a good many things to straighten out." - -One more embrace and I left her, sobbing with great happiness, and, -passing through the ante-room, hurried out into the great cave. - -My first glance was towards the door of the rock passage leading to the -lift. It was still open. Sitting on the barrier twelve yards or so away -was Thumbwood. A rifle lay across his knees and he was placidly smoking -his pipe. - -"All right?" I shouted. - -"All O.K., Sir John," he answered, standing up. - -"Not a sign of anyone. As a matter of fact, Mr. Danjuro and me have -ascertained that this 'ere dog-fancier 'adn't time to get through to his -friends upstairs. I got 'old of 'im just as he was topping the fence." - -I followed his glance, and I saw Mr. Vargus, trussed like a fowl, on the -floor a yard or two away. - -I had quite forgotten that ingenious and artistic person, and I started. -He was a sorry sight enough, dirty, blood-stained and horrible, as his -pale, wicked face stared up at me. He said nothing, and I shuddered as I -looked at him--shuddered as I had never done at Helzephron. - -"Where's Mr. Danjuro?" I asked. - -"Up at the mouth of the cave, Sir John. I was to send you to him -directly you came." - -I nodded, turned, and began to walk up the great cave. The Pirate -Airship lay there, gleaming and wonderful. There was a light steel -ladder at her side as I passed, leading up into the fuselage, and it was -only by a strong effort of will that I could keep myself from mounting -it and exploring the mechanical marvels that I knew she contained. -However, I resisted the temptation and hurried on. The lights depending -from the roof grew dimmer each moment as I drew near the curving -entrance. "It must be full day outside," I thought, as the fresh sea-air -came to meet me, and then, as I turned round the bend, I saw the squat, -black figure of the Japanese silhouetted against the rosy fires of -sunrise. - -Danjuro was standing motionless. He was looking down at some humped -objects upon the ground. The rope, like a wisp of spider's web, swung -gently to and fro. There was not a sound save the soft murmur of the sea -far down below. - -"I'm all right now," I said, and he turned to me without a start, though -he could not have heard me coming. - -His face was calm, but wrinkled up in every direction. He looked like a -man of immense age, and his narrow eyes were full of brooding, sombre -light. Almost at his feet lay the body of Helzephron. It had been -decently disposed with the hands upon the breast, and the morning light -played over the hawk-like, bronzed face and open eyes in which there was -now no cruelty. - -The dead man was august as he lay there. There was a certain nobility -about the features. He did not look like a scoundrel, and all resentment -and hate passed away from me for ever as I looked at him. - -The two huge dogs, one with a bullet through its brain, the other shot -in the chest and through the heart as it was in the act of leaping, were -hideous objects.... - -When I looked up again the wrinkles had gone from Danjuro's face, the -sombre expression from his eyes. It was a magical change, but I was long -past wonder at anything in connection with him. - -"We will have those dogs skinned," he remarked in his ordinary voice. -"They will make a fine rug for your house, Sir John." - -"No doubt; but we've got to get out of this first. Remember that there -are a dozen desperate scoundrels not far away. And I don't see either -Miss Shepherd or myself returning to the world up that rope! By the way, -I haven't heard how you managed to get here in time." - -He told me the story shortly enough. There was not an unnecessary detail -and no comment whatever. Thumbwood supplied the lacking picturesqueness -some days later. But even as Danjuro told it, I realized the marvellous -sagacity and contempt of danger that had saved us. - -It seemed that when he had arrived at Zerran, the idea of a cave, either -natural or enlarged by pretended mining operations, was already in his -mind. As soon as I had left the inn on my expedition, Danjuro and -Thumbwood had taken one of Trewhella's boats and set out eastwards along -the coast. The Japanese had already taken his bearings, and knew that -Tregeraint House would be a little to the left of the jagged peak of -Carne Zerran. They cruised along into the moonlight until they picked up -their mark, and not two hundred yards further on struck the entrance to -the S-shaped cove. Then Danjuro had no longer any doubts. No boat could -live in that cauldron of the waves, but it seemed a man could, for our -rescuers proved it! - -He stripped and went in--I learnt afterwards that he was as much at home -in the water as a seal, and, of course, like so many of his countrymen, -he was simply a mass of steel muscles. In twenty minutes the secret was -a secret no longer. - -Danjuro's next move was to row back to Zerran Cove at top speed, and -hasten up the cliff path to the inn. Here he disinterred the coastguard -from the pigsty and roused him to immediate action. - -Ropes and crowbars were procured, the fenced-off "dangerous" area on the -cliff-top invaded, and Danjuro, with Charles, descended in the nick of -time. But there was more than this. The coastguard had his orders. -Directly the two men disappeared over the brink he was instructed to -make all haste to the watch-house, some two miles away in the direction -of St. Ives. From there the Chief Boatswain was to telephone all along -the coast to the various stations, and also to the police at St. Ives, -Camborne and Penzance. - -"In three or four hours, perhaps sooner," Danjuro concluded, "an armed -force should be concentrating on the moors upon the house above. The -pirates will be desperate, and will put up a fight--at least, I think -so, but the end is certain." - -"And meantime, all we can do is to wait here until something happens?" - -"That is as you please, Sir John," he answered, looking at me curiously. - -For a minute I did not see what he meant, but then a great idea dawned -upon me. - -"The Pirate Ship!" I burst out. - -"I have always heard that Sir John Custance is a skilled pilot," he said -with a bow. - -I saw it all clearly. There was a gorgeous, dramatic end to it all well -within my grasp! It would be something to make the whole world gasp! The -Pirate Ship was, I knew, already loaded with the proceeds of the -pirates' robberies. It was not only full of loot, but prepared in every -way for a long cruise. Helzephron and his ruffians had planned an almost -immediate escape from the cave to some new refuge of which I had heard -them speak. Doubtless, if things had gone right with them, they would -have been off by now, with my mangled body tossed in the whirlpools -below and Constance still a prisoner. Helzephron would have mounted to a -great height, and trusted to his immense superiority in speed over all -the airships in existence for escape. I have little doubt that, had -things fallen out as he planned, he would have been able to carry out -his scheme. But God disposes.... - -There was nothing, so I thought at the moment, to prevent _me_ from -piloting the airship out of its lair. Once in the sky I could make a -bee-line for Plymouth, and get there in a little more than half an -hour--if it was indeed true that the mysterious ship could do her two -hundred and forty M.P.H. To swoop down to Plymouth sea-drome with -Constance, the Pirate Ship and the recovered treasure! That would, -indeed, be a triumph such as is given to few men to experience. I have a -fairly vivid imagination, and I saw it all in one radiant picture. - -"Let's go and have a look at the ship at once," I said, and almost ran -back into the cavern, where she towered up and threw black velvet -shadows in the fierce blue light that streamed down from the suspended -arcs. Danjuro followed. - -As I swung myself over the side and descended a short ladder, I found -myself in a roomy main cabin. A switch to my hand illuminated it, and -even then I saw that the ship had been designed by a master hand. Below -the port-holes, filled with toughened glass and provided with shutters -of a design that was new to me, ran a continuous seat of woven camels' -hair cord, easily convertible into sleeping bunks for half a dozen -people. There was an electric stove of polished aluminium for cooking, -and an electric radiator for warming the cabin, clustering round a -central supporting column. I saw also that there was a very complete -telephone installation connecting this main cabin with the pilot's room -forward. - -Under the seats was a collection of wooden cases and a box of japanned -steel, which I judged, and rightly, contained the treasure taken from -the _Albatros_ and the _Atlantis_. A sliding door aft led into a -store-room, which seemed to contain everything necessary for a cruise of -several days. I noticed boxes of expensive cigars, bottles of whisky and -liqueurs, tinned oysters, larks, asparagus, such as wealthy yachtsmen -provide themselves with. The dogs did themselves well! - -Leading out of this was a final cabin fitted with tools of every sort, a -rack of automatic rifles and pistols, and several thousand rounds of -small-arms ammunition. Here also, with a padded door, was a little -compartment for the wireless operator, and I pictured one of the -black-hearted scoundrels sitting there and picking up the messages from -airships of the trade routes with a grin upon his face. - -Danjuro came with me and looked about him quickly, but with no change of -expression. "So far, so good," I said to him; "but all this is -unimportant, really, though it is very complete. What really matters is -the pilot's cabin, the engines, controlling gear, petrol supply, and so -on. Let's go forward. Do you understand anything about airships?" - -"A very little, Sir John," he replied, and--so petty are we all at -times--I felt a perceptible thrill of pleasure at hearing there was at -least something of which this paragon was ignorant. - -"Never had occasion to study them?" I asked, as we passed again through -the main cabin. - -"I have watched the pilot in Honourable Van Adams' yacht the _May -Flower_, but that is all...." - -I hardly heard him, for I was in the pilot's room at last. - -I saw at a glance that here were a number of things absolutely new to -me, and so to all the aviators of the world. I am not going to be -technical. This narrative is written for the general reader, and my -expert conclusions have been published elsewhere. I can but indicate -some of the wonders of mechanical skill with which I was confronted. - -For instance, the designer of the ship was the first man to solve the -problem of easy control. Up to the present all pilots had controlled -their ships--the movements of planes and rudders, etc.--with a certain -amount of manual labour. It is true that recent inventions had minimized -this; ball-bearings, the rack and pinion, had made the main control -levers and wheels much easier to move than they were in the old days of -the Great War--when flying first began to come into its own. But there -was still a great deal of physical strain, which greatly lessened -efficiency upon a long cruise. Moreover, the instant decision necessary -to be taken by an aviator--when a fraction of a second may spell safety -or ruin--had been always hampered by the comparative mechanical slowness -of control. - -In the Pirate Ship this disability did not exist. Just as the largest -ocean-going liner--sea-ship, not airship, I mean--can be steered by a -wheel not more than two feet in diameter by the invention of the steam -steering gear, so the Pirate Ship was controlled by a series of little -wheels and levers, covered with leather, that looked like toys. - -Electricity had been brought into play, and a touch of the pilot's hand -was magnified into power that in an instant would deflect a mighty -lifting plane or vast rudder. - -The fuel capacity of the ship was immense. She carried as much petrol, -in the huge and ingeniously contrived tanks below the fuselage, as one -of the great air-liners, though she was not a fifth of the size. I saw -at once that she could keep the air for days. - -Examining the cockpit, in which two quick-firing guns were placed, I -found them both of the very latest pattern, and mounted with a swivel -device that was far in advance of anything attempted hitherto. Only the -great battle-planes of the world's air navies could mount guns of such -power, and she could circle round them with ease while in full flight. - -But it was when I mounted to the little deck above, and began to examine -the two huge six-cylinder engines, that my admiration and interest grew -beyond all bounds. The chief triumph of all, the silencing mechanism -that reduced the ordinary roar of air engines to no more than the hum of -a dynamo, did not at once become clear. It would have been necessary to -take the machines to pieces to have discovered everything; but an -examination of the exhausts put me on the track, and I marvelled at the -creation of a master-mind. - -I was looking at the twin propellers, which had a curve that was new to -me, and even material that I could not immediately define, when Danjuro -hailed me from the pilot's room. - -I tumbled down to find the little man bending over the various controls -ranged in front of the pilot's seat. - -"It seems to me, Sir John," he said, "pray correct me if I am wrong, -that there is something wanting here. I know little about airships, but -something of electricity, and can quite understand this system. But it -seems to me that a key-part of the mechanism has been removed." - -He pulled over a lever a few inches long. Its movement should have been -registered upon a dial above, but the needle never moved. - -"Do that again!" I cried, and, mounting a step, put my head into the -little dome of glass in the cabin roof which commanded the whole length -of the ship. One of the tilting planes by the rudder should have moved -when the lever was pulled over. - -It remained motionless. - -"One of the honourable gentlemen upstairs has got a small but very -essential piece of linking apparatus in his pocket," said Danjuro. - -It was only too true. A moment's reflection satisfied me of that, and I -stared blankly at my companion. - -My gorgeous, if somewhat vainglorious, plan was knocked on the head. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE MOMENT OF TRIUMPH - - -I descended from the airship in silence. Danjuro followed me. Thumbwood -was still on guard. The bundle that was Mr. Vargus lay upon the ground, -and a face like a white wedge of venom stared up at us. There was no -sign of the enemy, but I felt that we should not be left in peace much -longer, and my disappointment at the discovery on board the pirate was -keen. - -"There is still a chance," Danjuro whispered in my ear. "And with your -permission, Sir John, I am going to try it." - -I nodded, and he stepped up to Vargus and pulled him up into a sitting -posture, propping him against the barrier. - -"There is a part of the control mechanism of the airship missing," -Danjuro said, with silky politeness. - -Vargus grinned suddenly, a momentary rictus that came and went, utterly -horrible. - -"And we want that piece of the machine," the Japanese went on. - -Vargus spoke, in his peculiar oily voice. "Then you may go on wanting, -you putty-faced little spawn of a monkey." - -I cannot hope to describe the depth of poisonous hate the man put into -the words. His accent was cultured and refined; the great dome of the -blood-stained forehead spoke loudly of intellect, yet the voice somehow -reeked of the pit. I know that it struck me cold, and I saw the rifle in -Thumbwood's hands was shaking. Although this was the man who had devised -an abominable death for me, I can honestly say that I felt no personal -resentment. I can't account for it, but it was so. - -I should have welcomed that, rather than the inward loathing, like a -shudder of the soul, at something inhuman and unclean. - -What Danjuro felt I don't know, but he didn't turn a hair. - -"I think you will assist us," he said. - -For answer the thing below spat in his face. - -I expected to see Danjuro leap upon him and strangle him where he sat. I -shouldn't have raised a finger to stop it. But it was not so. The little -man stepped aside and carefully wiped his face with a silk handkerchief -that seemed to come from nowhere. Then he went behind Mr. Vargus and -began to feel his head all over, with quick, delicate movements of his -fingers. - -"How can you touch him?" I cried, hardly knowing what I said, for the -thing was ugly and uncanny beyond belief. Danjuro was like some sinister -phrenologist in a nightmare, feeling the bumps of a devil. - -"I know now what I wanted to know about him," Danjuro purred after a -moment. "I never doubted the intelligence, Sir John. It is very marked. -And there is great energy and courage of a sort. But our friend who -spits has one little failing. He is afraid of physical pain." - -"You're not going to ...?" - -Danjuro looked me full in the eyes, and in his I saw a stony resolution -that I was in no state to combat. - -"I will go and see Miss Shepherd," I said, and turning on my heel, -walked quickly to the inner end of the cavern. As I went I heard Danjuro -ask Thumbwood for a box of matches.... - -I am quite aware that there are lots of softhearted people who will say -I ought never to have allowed Danjuro to do what he did. Well, they must -have their own opinion, that's all. I believe it was nothing like so bad -as the cat-o'-nine-tails which is constantly administered in our -prisons, and under the circumstances I think it was justifiable. Call me -what names you like as you read this--you have not seen Mr. Vargus and -his dogs, nor spent a small eternity in the pirates' cave. - -... Constance was wonderfully recovered. I spent a minute or two with -her, and then returned to the scene of action. - -Mr. Vargus was speaking in a quick, panting voice, and these were the -words I heard: - -"Gascoigne, Mr. Gascoigne; he has it. He was our second pilot. It was -always in his charge." - -Danjuro gave his little weary smile. Then he put his hand gently upon my -arm and drew me away to the other side of the cave. - -"We will now summon honourable Gascoigne," he said. "He is the young -gentleman we saw with late honourable Helzephron at the 'Mille -Colonnes.' The little necessary piece of the mechanism in his possession -is, I have just learnt, generally referred to as 'the link.'" - -"But how ...?" I was beginning, when he pointed to a telephone -instrument upon a screen of tongue-and-groove boarding. "This -communicates with the house," he whispered. "Mr. Vargus nearly got -through recently, you will remember, just before the good Thumbwood -caught him." - -He raised the instrument to his mouth and ear. - -In a second or two a bell rang and Danjuro began to speak. I nearly -jumped out of my boots. The words were simple enough, but the voice -with its oily refinement was the voice of Mr. Vargus! - -"Is that you, Gascoigne? Yes, Vargus speaking. The Chief says you are to -come down at once and bring the control link with you. What? No, the -others are to wait till they're sent for. What? Oh, yes, quite dead. I -wish you could have seen it!" - -It was a triumph of mimicry that I shall never forget, the more so as it -was the only occasion on which I heard this marvellous man attempt -anything of the sort. Heaven knows what other talents he must have -possessed! - -"The young gentleman was asking about you, Sir John. He seemed quite -curious about your end!" - -I smiled grimly. "What are you going to do?" I asked. - -In answer he hurried back to the open door and crouched down in the -shadow by its side. I motioned to Thumbwood to lie down behind the -barrier which was exactly facing the passage, and drawing my automatic -pistol, which I had regained from Helzephron's room, I retired to the -opposite side of the door and outside the line of direct vision. - -There was silence for a minute or so, and then, far away in the rock, I -heard a hollow rumble and the clank of a gate. The lift had descended -and Gascoigne was on his way. A few seconds afterwards I heard a merry -whistle, fresh and sweet, as if the performer had not a care in the -world. He was whistling the lilting tune of a popular song which all the -street boys were singing at that time: - - - "_Merry Maudie met her fate at Margate!_" - - -Callous young dog! In a moment he would not be so cheerful.... - -I had left it to that concentrated muscle, Danjuro, though I stood ready -to help if necessary. But I knew that he was a supreme exponent of -jiu-jitsu--_teste_ the hideous death Helzephron died--and I had little -fear. Indeed, I found myself looking on with a detached and interested -curiosity as one might at a prize-fight. I wondered if Danjuro would -kill him or not. And if you had supped so full of horrors as I had in -that awful cave, you'd have felt like that, too! - -... For a second I saw Gascoigne in the full light from the roof and -framed by the archway, like a picture. It was the same young fellow, -with the dissipated face, that I had seen at the restaurant, though he -had not been among the singing pirates at the inn. He was extremely -handsome still, with the face of a lost angel. As a boy at school he -must have been beautiful. - -Then the squat shadow that crouched by the lintel of the door, like a -monstrous toad, expanded swiftly. Danjuro caught Gascoigne by the right -hand with the speed of lightning, and pulled the arm out straight with a -jerk. Then, as the young man was falling forward, the left arm of the -Japanese shot out _under_ his captive's rigid right and the hand seized -the lapel of Gascoigne's coat. He was powerless. If he made the -slightest movement Danjuro would have broken his arm like a pipe-stem. -He could not swing round and hit with his left, and I saw his mouth open -with foolish amazement like the mouth of a fish, as his legs were kicked -from under him, and he fell back with his assailant on the top of him. - -I tied his ankles together with neatness and dispatch, while I listened -to a sickening flood of blasphemous profanity that flowed from the -clear-cut lips of this _ci-devant_ gentleman in a ceaseless stream. More -and more I realized what a crew of utter devils Helzephron had got round -him. - -At last he was bound, and Danjuro took from him a leather box, which he -wore suspended round his shoulders by a strap. He handed it to me, and, -opening it, I found it was the control link that we sought. - -"You can fit that in all right, Sir John?" - -"Oh, yes, I don't think it presents any difficulty." - -"Very well, then, in a few minutes we will start; that is, if you think -you can take the ship out of this place?" - -I had already considered that and decided that I could. It was a -ticklish job enough, and would require the most delicate care, -especially with an untried ship. But in the past I had landed on the -deck of a moving battleship, and there were few stunts that were not -familiar to me. I felt I could do it. - -"I don't think I shall let you down," I said, and hurried to the ship. - -Five minutes showed me that I had got the hang of the apparatus and that -electrical connection was restored, and I spent a further ten in -thoroughly examining and getting accustomed to the controls. Moreover, I -made one new and startling discovery. - -There was no need, in this marvellous ship, for mechanics to swing the -propeller at the start. Again electricity from the ship's dynamo was -employed, and the starting device was a miracle of ingenuity, worked -from the pilot's cabin. - -Mr. Vargus, though I offered to loosen his bonds at the feet, absolutely -refused to walk, and Danjuro carried him up the ladder and threw him -upon the floor of the cabin like a sack of corn. Gascoigne, now very -white and silent, was more amenable. It seems that Vargus had -acquainted him with everything that had passed as they lay together on -the ground. - -"I'll go all right, sir," he said to me, as I helped him to his feet. - -As I had the muzzle of my pistol in the small of his back, he couldn't -well do anything else, but he lost nothing by being civil. - -"I can't believe that the Chief's dead and everything's finished," he -said, with a curious sort of sob. I realized that all sense of right and -wrong had left this youth early. He was the true stuff of which -criminals are made, incapable of putting himself in the place of his -victims, and while bitterly conscious of defeat and punishment to come, -incapable of remorse. - -Without a trace of pose this man behaved just as if he were an officer -captured by the enemy in war-time, and I dare swear he felt just like -that. There is only one thing to do with these abnormals that get -themselves born now and then--destroy them. - -Morally I felt sure that Gascoigne was not a hundredth part so -responsible as Vargus. But one was born a criminal, and, from that point -of view, insane. The other had had the capabilities of sainthood, but -had opened his soul to the Dweller on the Threshold and was doubly lost. - -We went slowly towards the ship. "Good old bird!" he said, as any public -schoolboy might have said it. "I expect this'll be the last cruise I -ever take in her." - -"Or in any ship at all," I answered. "I suppose you've no illusions as -to what's in store for you?" - -"No, I suppose it's a hanging job," he replied, and I assented, though, -as you will learn, both his anticipations were to prove wrong. - -Danjuro and I shifted Vargus out of the main cabin into the small one -where the tools and spare parts were stored. We didn't want Constance to -see him, and he was so well secured that he couldn't possibly do any -harm. - -Gascoigne we left for the present on one of the seats, and I hurried to -fetch the two women, passing Thumbwood, still at his post. - -"Everything is arranged," I called out, as I ran through Helzephron's -room. "We are going to fly to Plymouth at once in the Pirate Ship." - -The maid Wilson shrieked. - -"Oh, Sir John, that awful ship! I couldn't go in 'er again, not for my -life. Let's go in a taxi, Miss, please 'ave a taxi; I couldn't face the -ship." - -"You'll lose your life quickly enough if you stay," I said to the -yelping fool, though, Heaven knows, the poor soul had gone through -enough to turn her mind entirely. Her mouth grew like a round O, and I -was preparing for another shriek when I suddenly thought of something. - -"Miss Connie will be quite safe with me," I said quickly, "and I shall -put you in charge of Charles Thumbwood. You remember him? He'll look -after you all right, Wilson." - -It acted like a charm. I had remembered Charles's attention to the -pretty maid in the train. - -"Ow!" said Wilson. "Is Mr. Thumbwood here, then, Sir John?" - -"Very much so. You will be his especial charge, and the journey won't -take more than three-quarters of an hour." - -The girl picked up the dressing-bag, which she had dropped upon the -floor. "Then that will be all right," she said with a flush, and I -wondered if she thought Charles was going to pilot the ship himself. How -true it is that Faith can move mountains! No doubt Constance felt just -the same about me as Mary Wilson did about Charles. - -... We had come out into the cave, and had walked a few yards towards -the looming bulk of the ship, when the telephone bell on the cave-side -ahead of us rang furiously. It kept on like an alarm-clock, and telling -the girls to remain still for a moment, I ran up and unhooked the -receiver. - -A voice was bawling at the other end, so loud that the words rang and -buzzed one into the other, and I could only distinguish one or two. I -heard enough to know what had happened, though. - -"Chief ... coastguard police ... rifles ... all round the house on the -moor were coming down ... two of us stay ... hold till last moment...." - -So that was it! Billy Pengelly, the coastguard, had made good. The wires -had been at work while we had been about our mole-like warfare -underground. The avengers were among the gorse and heather, and the -remainder of the pirates were doomed.... - -"Come on," I shouted to Connie, realizing that there was literally not a -moment to lose, and, alarmed by the excitement in my voice, they started -to run. - -When they had come up to me, and I started to run with them towards the -ship, there was a sudden thunderous report. Looking to the right, I saw -that Thumbwood had taken cover, and was lying on his stomach behind the -barrier. The open door was but a dim oblong of yellow light at that -distance, and I could not see a yard down the passage in the rocks. - -Thumbwood fired again, and the echoing roar had not died away when -something went by my ear with a vicious _zipp_, and I heard the splash -of a bullet upon the granite. - -The pirates were coming down in force, and, finding themselves between -Scylla and Charybdis, had turned at bay. - -I knew Thumbwood would keep them where they were for a minute or two, -and I raced to the ship with Connie at my side. Wilson had fainted, and -we had to drag her between us. - -Half-way up the light, steep accommodation ladder Danjuro was waiting, -perfectly calm and unconcerned. We handed up the unconscious maid, and -he disappeared with her in a second. Then Connie was helped up the -ladder, while the whole cavern began to thunder with a fusillade of -rapid firing. - -"The police and coastguards are surrounding the house," I shouted, "and -the rest of the crew have come down, and are trying to fight their way -into the cave." - -"It is what I thought, Sir John. Those gentlemen must be considerably -surprised at their reception! We can shoot them all down before they get -out of the passage. Perhaps, now that rescue is at hand, we had better -wait and do so?" - -His eyes were glistening; I saw the light of slaughter in them. For an -instant I hesitated. What he said was sane enough. The risk was -comparatively small; it would only be postponing the triumphal flight. - -Then I took a decision--it rested with me, and I was alone responsible. -"We mustn't shoot them all down," I shouted through the din, for bullets -were streaming into the cave behind as though they were pumped from a -hose. "Some of them must be brought to justice. We had better be off -and leave the coastguards and police to deal with them." - -Thus I spoke. I said what I honestly thought was best at the moment, -though perhaps my mind was a little influenced by the natural and -terrible anxiety to get my girl away from further horrors. - -At any rate, I decided, and all my life long I shall never cease to -regret it. - -"Very good," said Danjuro. "Up into the pilot's cabin, quick, Sir John. -You are indispensable there. Prepare for an instant start. I will run -and fetch Thumbwood. We shall have to fire thirty or forty rounds -quickly into the passage to keep them back. Of course, they are firing -automatic pistols round the bend now, and not exposing themselves any -more. After we have fired we shall run for the ship. You will hear me -shout and then start like lightning!" - -He slipped past me, and, crouching almost to the ground, ran back -towards Thumbwood like some great cat. - -I flung myself aboard. Constance was attending to Wilson in the main -cabin. Gascoigne was lying bound where he had been thrown, but his eyes -were blazing with excitement. - -I put a stop to that at once. "The remainder of your friends are being -shot down," I said curtly. "Lucky for you to be here." - -All the animation died out of his face. And, as I didn't want to leave -him alone with Connie--it seemed a desecration that he should be in the -same place with her even for a moment--I whipped out my knife, cut the -bonds at his feet, and pushed him into the pilot's cabin, making him lie -upon the floor at my side as I got into the swivel chair. I could shoot -him dead in an instant if he moved. - -Then I sat rigid, with my hand upon the switch which started the -engines. - -In reality, I know now that the time of waiting was very short, but it -seemed an eternity to me. For the first time my nerves felt upon the -point of giving way. My hand trembled. I began to think of the narrow -S-shaped passage between high walls of rock to the sea, and realized the -appalling nature of the task before me. A mere touch of the planes upon -those iron barriers, and all the long struggle would prove unavailing, -the triumph turn to a defeat in which my girl and I, the superman -Danjuro, and faithful Thumbwood would lose our hard-won lives. - -One touch and the ship would crumple up like paper and fall like a stone -into the cruel cauldron of jagged rock and furious waves far below. - -There came a voice from the floor. Had the prisoner divined something of -my thoughts? - -"... Look here, Sir John, you're up against a nasty job. It's the very -devil getting out of here if you don't know the way and haven't -practised it." - -Something in the young fellow's voice told me that this was not mockery. -He was, moreover, the second pilot of the Pirate Ship, trained by -Helzephron himself. - -"I did not ask you to speak," I answered. - -"No, but really it's no end of a stunt. The controls are ten times as -sensitive as in an ordinary machine. If you were the best pilot living, -you'd find it hard to manage in a ship that's quite new to you, and has -all sorts of habits and tricks that no other has." - -He spoke truly enough, and I knew it, but it was none the less -unpleasant to hear. - -"I suppose you're afraid for your damned skin," I sneered. - -"Oh, come, draw it mild," he replied. "I only spoke to try and help you. -I know when I'm beaten, and I don't bear any malice." - -"If I do take you safely out, it will only mean the gallows." - -"Oh, no, it won't!" he said. "I shall turn King's evidence. There are -lots of things I know that no one else except Vargus knows now. I shall -get let off with fifteen years. Bet you a fiver, if you like. It's to my -interest to help you out." - -I can generally tell when a man is sincere, and I realized that this -young scoundrel was, despite--and perhaps because of--the baseness of -his motive. - -"Help me?" - -"Yes, out of the passage. Once you get in clear air you'll fly her -easily enough--and you'll be astonished, by Jove! But you'd better let -me pilot you. It's the lift and the sharp right bank that are so -difficult...." - -"Get up," I said. - -He scrambled to his feet. - -"Stand there!" He leaned against the wall at my side, his hands tied -behind him and his arms tightly bound. - -He was about to speak, when suddenly we both started. Something had -happened. For a moment I did not realize what it was. Then I knew. The -continuous thunder of rifle fire had stopped. Everything was dead -silent. I'd hardly become conscious of the fact when there was a loud -shout. - -"Let her go, Sir John! Let her go!" - -Danjuro stumbled into the cabin, panting like a whippet. - -I pulled over the switch and then the lever of the starting mechanism. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -THE GOLDEN DREAM - - -The strangely-shaped propellers bit the air at once, the walls of the -cavern, flooded with spectral light, slid backwards, and as the ship -swerved round the curve towards the entrance, the day leapt at us. - -Wow! but it was touch and go during the next ten seconds. If it had not -been for Gascoigne I am sure that I should never have gone through. The -great ship shot out of its lair like a dart; a touch upon the little -steering-wheel and she was banking in the terrible right-hand turn; the -granite walls seemed rushing to meet and crush her, and only the quick, -steady words of command from the prisoner, which like an automaton I -obeyed, got her finally into the straight.... - -And then--oh, then--I opened out the marvellous engines; she seemed to -shake herself for an instant like a bird poised for a long flight, and, -humming like a wasp, she shot up and out to sea.... - -The needle upon the speed indicator quivered round its dial, moving -ever upwards. Eighty, a hundred, a hundred and fifty--and thirty -more--we were doing nearly two hundred miles an hour, straight out over -the Atlantic before I had a thought of our destination, or of anything -but the supreme glory of that rush up the dawn wind. - -The whole morning world was blue and gold, new-built and beautiful. Far -below, the Mother of Oceans lay in an unwrinkled sheet of sapphire, "as -it were a sea of glass mingled with fire." A tiny purple cloud upon the -horizon was the Isles of Scilly, sleeping under the sun. - -Connie stole in and stood by my side, her hand upon my shoulder, and I -knew that her heart also was full to overflowing, as memory flared up -and down in us like the flame of a lamp in a draught. It was a moment so -exquisite, so full of gratitude to God, that no words of mine can do -more than hint at it. For we had escaped from hell and the snare of -devils, and knew it in one lightning flash of gratitude and joy. - -As she stared out at the sea and sky, which glowed like the pavements of -the New Jerusalem, Connie quoted some words from Milton--the song of the -released spirit in his epilogue of "Comus": - - - "To the Ocean now I fly, - And those happy climes which lie - Where Day never shuts his eye - Up in the broad fields of the sky." - - -And then, as I glanced at the compass card and made a great sweep -round, so that we faced the jagged coasts of Cornwall once again, she -whispered, with a proud note in her voice: - - - "For still the Lord is Lord of Might - In deeds, in deeds, he takes delight." - - -Then, with a tiny pressure of my arm, she went back to the other cabin. - -I had not noticed Danjuro for the last few minutes. He had led Gascoigne -behind me as soon as we had made the passage. Now he reappeared. - -"Danjuro!" I cried, "this ship is wonderful beyond all imagining! There -isn't her equal in the whole world. She'll revolutionize flying. It's a -perfect joy to pilot her!" - -Danjuro nodded calmly; he was not given to enthusiasms, this man with a -panther in his soul. "I have been speaking with the prisoner," he said. - -"With Vargus?" - -"No, though I have been to look at him, and he is quite safe. With -Gascoigne, and he has suggested something that has not occurred to -either of us, Sir John." - -"His help will all tell in his favour when it comes to the trial. What -is it now?" - -"Something eminently sensible and pressing! As you see, this ship is -quite unmistakable. Any pilot would recognize her from the descriptions -which have been circulated. We are now approaching the coast again and -about to fly to Plymouth. The air must be full of armed patrol ships, -and, whatever our speed, if we escape being shot down _en route_, we -should certainly be blown to pieces on approaching the sea-drome!" - -I flushed up. I had been an incredible ass never to have thought of that -before. It was only too true. Nobody could possibly know that we had -captured the Pirate Ship.... - -I reduced our speed to half of what it had been. "What are we to do?" I -said. - -"There is a complete wireless installation on board the ship. Can you -operate it, Sir John?" - -"No. Even if I could leave the controls, that would be impossible. I -know nothing about it, unfortunately." - -"Nor I, Sir John. It is a gap in my knowledge that I propose to remedy -shortly. But this Gascoigne is an operator, and offers to send any -message." - -"I suppose we can trust him? He certainly saved us from disaster coming -out of the cavern." - -I shuddered; I did not want to think of that blood-stained hole of -horror any more. - -"Yes, I think he can he trusted. He has everything to gain, and can do -no harm that I can see. I cannot operate the keys of the apparatus, but -I know the Morse code, and if I stand by him I can check each letter as -he sends it out." - -Then I had an inspiration too. "Good! And now I think I can make it -quite sure. I can remember the private code of the Air Police with -hardly a gap. We will call up Plymouth, and all the police boats now -flying, in that private code. Meanwhile, we had better run out to sea -again while you are taking it down." - -Again I turned the ship, and as we spiralled up and out again, I formed -the message in my mind and translated it, word for word, into the -letters of the code, which Danjuro took down in pencil upon a sheet of -his pocket-book. - -When I had finished, and as the message was necessarily rather a long -one it took some time, Danjuro marched Gascoigne away to the rear cabin, -where Vargus was lying. It was there, you may remember, that the -wireless apparatus was installed. - -We were now reaching a great height, far above any of the regular -air-lanes, and I felt quite secure from any attack. Land, sea, every -reminder of the world below, had vanished utterly. With hardly a sound -from the magic engines we floated in a haze of gold chrysophrase. It was -like a happy dream, though never was dream so beautiful. - -Connie stole in again. "I thought I would leave Thumbwood and Wilson -alone," she said. "They have been sitting side by side and whispering -to each other ever since we started. Neither of them seems to have the -least curiosity as to where we are or where we're going." - -"How thoughtful of you, dearest! Was that the only reason you came in -here!" - -The rest of the conversation is not a part of this story. It lasted a -long time as we droned round great five-mile circles of the upper air. -And then a telephone rang at my ear. - -Danjuro was speaking. The message had been received at Plymouth, and an -answer had been coming through for the last ten minutes. He was writing -it down, letter by letter, from Gascoigne's dictation. Shortly -afterwards he brought it in to me, and as I read it off the world closed -round me again and fairyland vanished. - -Triumph filled my veins and reddened my blood. The message came from -Muir Lockhart, who was at Plymouth again, and was one shout of wonder -and congratulation. "The whole world will thank you," it concluded. - -For a little time I was intoxicated by that message. I saw myself a -hero, vindicated a thousand times in the eyes of all men, the Chief of -Air Police whose name would be historical. I think there are few men of -my age who would not have had their moment of vainglory; we are made so. -But as I read the message to the man who had brought it, I realized -that I had done nothing, after all, and that everything was due to his -marvellous brilliancy and courage. - -Thank Heaven that I realized it without a pang of envy, and I told him -what I thought of him in no unstinted way. - -He heard me to the end with no change of countenance. When I had done, -he said: "You have been very kind, Sir John, and I greatly appreciate -what you have said. If, indeed, you are indebted to me in any way for -the help I have been able to give, you can repay me, if you will." - -"To the half of my kingdom!" I said, with a laugh, though I was in dead -earnest all the same. - -"That is a promise, Sir John?" He looked down at me with magnetic eyes. - -"A promise, Danjuro." - -"Then, while I live, I ask you to say nothing whatever of my part in -this affair. I wish it kept as secret as possible; some little part must -leak out; there will be investigations, public trials, and so forth. But -much can be kept secret, and it rests with you and Thumbwood. And as I -have your promise, my mind is at rest." - -"But this is madness, Danjuro! You are owed the thanks of two -continents. You ..." - -He interrupted me. - -"I want nothing of the sort. I have had your thanks, and that is -sufficient. The work itself is enough. My usefulness to Mr. Van Adams, -the endeavour of my whole life, would be destroyed if anything were -known." - -Reluctantly I promised. "But Mr. Van Adams, I shall tell _him_ -everything!" I said. - -Danjuro bowed his head. A faint flush came into his yellow face. "If you -think I have done anything worth it," he replied, with a curious and -touching silence. - -And this was the man with the panther in his soul! For the American -millionaire he had supreme love, with devotion--worship--and for no one -and nothing else on earth above or below it. - -A man with a single obsession, a man of one idea. Well, most of the -great men in life have been that.... - -I steered for Plymouth at full speed, coming down to three thousand -feet. In a flash the jagged coast, fringed with a thin line of white, -came clear to view. We sped from the Atlantic, over the narrow peninsula -of land which divides it from the Channel, and then turned east. The -Bay, with St. Michael's Mount looking like a tiny white pebble, gave -place to the long, menacing snout of the Lizard, and, as a few minutes -later we neared Falmouth, a flight of airships rose from the water of -that mighty harbour and came up to join us like a flock of gulls, the -big Klaxon electric horns blaring a welcome. Dead Man's Rock and Gall -Island, Looe, Mevagissey, Fowey--all slipped away astern, and the bluff -outlines of Rame Head, from which the Devon watchers first signalled the -Armada, came rushing into view. I had been speeding far ahead, turning -back, flying all round the escorting patrol boats, which were doing all -they knew, letting them see what a wonder had come into our hands, and -rejoicing more and more in the powers of the ship, as I found them one -by one. Now I slowed down, and signalled by horn to the leading vessel -of the flotilla. - -As we turned and entered Plymouth Sound, the others spread themselves -out in a great wedge, of which I was leader, like a skein of wild geese -upon the wing. A salute of guns boomed out as we flew high on the -Breakwater, and all the bells of Plymouth were ringing as I swooped down -into the sea-drome. - -And all this time, for three-quarters of an hour or more, our two -prisoners had been alone together in the aft cabin, where the tools and -spare parts were stored. Neither I nor Danjuro had given them a further -thought, and it was the one fatal mistake we made upon that morning of -triumph. - -Thumbwood had, however, been in to look at them once or twice, and had -seen nothing disturbing. Certainly, when some of my men came to take -them to the station, they were lying sullen in their bonds, and not -saying a word to each other of any kind. - -But by that time the mischief was doubtless done. - - * * * * * - -Space begins to press upon me. There are still two strange and -unforgettable scenes to add to this narrative, further tragedies to set -down. The last scene of all, which I have called "The Epilogue," was not -written for a year after the earlier part of this story, which is now -published as a whole for the first time. Why this is so will become -clear as you read on, if you care to follow me to the very end. - -But as I would not weary you, I will only indicate the happenings during -the rest of that day at Plymouth in the briefest possible fashion. I am -impatient to bring the story up to the hour of eleven-thirty of the same -night. - -Immediately we were at rest on the placid waters of the sea-drome, Muir -Lockhart, with a strong force of Air Police, came aboard. Constance and -her maid were taken in a motor-boat to one of my patrol ships, which -started with them for the Hounslow Aerodrome within half an hour of our -arrival. We both of us thought it best that she should proceed to London -immediately, and going by air in a Government ship, she would escape -all annoyance and publicity. - -All approach to the sea-drome was barred, and though the Hoe was crowded -with spectators, none of them could approach anywhere near to us. When I -had given Lockhart an outline of what had occurred, the two prisoners -were taken over the pool with a strong guard, and run up in the private -lift to the A.P. station, where there was a strong cell ready to receive -them. Then I was free to show my colleague, himself an expert airman, -the wonders of our capture. - -I was doing this--we were in the pilot's cabin--when one of my men came -in and said that a motor-launch had come alongside from the private -air-yacht _May Flower_, which was moored not a hundred yards away. I had -noticed, when descending, that a magnificent yacht was close by, but I -did not identify it as Mr. Van Adams' ship. It appeared that he had been -sleeping aboard for the last two or three nights, since he had flown -down from London for the funeral, and was now alongside. - -Van Adams, of course, was an exception to all ordinary rules, and in a -minute he was shaking hands in the private saloon and betraying a most -lively curiosity as to our adventures. I put Danjuro to satisfy him, and -when we had discussed a bottle of Helzephron's champagne, I left a -couple of trusted men to guard the ship, and went ashore. Danjuro -returned to the _May Flower_ with his patron. - -The rest of the day was a whirl of business and excitement, though I -managed to get three hours much needed sleep in the afternoon. - -Wires from the Government, from America, from Royalty, poured in, in a -never-ceasing stream. There were innumerable officials to see, the -correspondents of the great newspapers to satisfy with some sort of -story--a hundred things to do and arrange for. The whole of England was -in a ferment, and the stone building of the Air Police on the Hoe was, -for a few hours, the centre of it all. The air was thick with patrol -ships, warning off aviators of all kinds from approaching the Pirate -Ship, which lay at rest and harmless by the north wall of the pool. - -Just before I retired to rest the news of what was called "The Battle of -the Moor" began to come through. The pirates, seeing their ship gone, -had rushed up again into the house, and had held it with the courage of -desperation. Only three of them had survived, and were now locked up in -the police-station at Penzance. - -... It would take many pages to detail the events of that crowded day, -which did not end for me until ten o'clock at night, for I was forced to -attend a congratulatory dinner at the "Royal." Previous to that I had -found it necessary to summon Danjuro from the _May Flower_, where he had -remained quietly with Mr. Van Adams during the day. It was necessary -that I should be restored to something like my former self, and only -Danjuro could make me blond again! My moustache, alas! he could not -restore. - -I had arranged to sleep at the station, where there were several -bedrooms, and about ten-thirty I passed the sentry and entered the -grounds. - -Plymouth was now quiet. It was a hot, dark night, with neither moon nor -stars. During the day the weather had changed, and now thunder muttered -far away at sea and amethyst sheet-lightning flickered upon the horizon. - -Now and again a drop of hot rain fell. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -LAST FLIGHT OF THE PIRATE AIRSHIP - - -The station superintendent met me in the office, which was brilliantly -lit and cooled by an electric fan. - -"I expect you're feeling pretty well done, Sir John," he said. - -"I feel pretty tired, Johnson, I own." - -"There's a big thunderstorm coming up, not a doubt of it. The air'll be -cooler afterwards. All the arrangements about the prisoners are made, -sir." - -The staff had been in communication with London all day upon this -matter, but I had not heard the result. I inquired from the -superintendent now. - -"Our two birds, Sir John, and the three they've got at Penzance are to -travel to London to-night. They'll be brought up at Bow Street for a -minute or two, and remanded for a week to suit your convenience. The -Home Office will communicate with you, sir." - -"Very well. How are they going?" - -"The night mail train leaves Penzance at twelve, and gets here at two. -The other three will be on board and well guarded. Our prisoners will -join the train at Mill Bay Station. I've detailed Prosser and Moore to -escort them." - -"See that the men are well armed. How are the prisoners?" - -"Very quiet, sir. They seem to realize that it's all up with them. -They've taken their food all right." - -"They are both together?" - -"Yes, Sir John. You see, we've only the one cell that is absolutely -safe. But that can't make any difference. A man looks in every -half-hour. They can't hear him coming, and he reports that they don't -even talk." - -"They're not handcuffed?" - -"No, I didn't think it necessary, sir. They will be, and chained -together, too, when they leave for the train. We searched them -thoroughly, and took everything they had on them away half an hour after -they were brought in. Would you like to see them, sir?" - -"I don't think so, Johnson. I've been a good deal too much in their -society during the last day or two. I don't want to look at that Vargus -again until he's in the dock, and I'm giving evidence against him." - -"He's a wicked-looking customer, if ever I saw one," said the -inspector, with a face of disgust. "Well, good-night, sir, and I hope -you'll sleep well. I've told the station attendant to have your bath -ready at eight. He'll call you then." - -The good Johnson went away, and I was left alone. My head ached, and I -felt disinclined for sleep at once. I undressed, however, and sat in -pyjamas as I smoked a final pipe. There was whisky, soda and a bowl of -ice, and I took a peg. I felt singularly low and dispirited. It was, I -supposed, the inevitable reaction of the nerves after all I had endured, -combined with the heavy pressure of the atmosphere and the electric -tension of the storm. At any rate, I remember feeling--as everyone does -at times--that the greatest triumphs and successes were worth very -little, after all, when once they were achieved. There is bitterness at -the bottom of every cup--_surgit amari aliquid_--and life was a poor -thing at best. And I fell to reflecting on the evil and misery that can -be wrought by one man. - -The gaunt spectre of Hawk Helzephron haunted my mind, and the long row -of dead men that must be laid to his account, the brave fellows of my -own service, the Transatlantic people--to say nothing of the black -scoundrels that he had made and tempted, who had been hurried into -eternity with their crimes unrepented.... - -It was a morbid train of thought, but I was worn out, and the dark hour -had its way with me, until I thought of Connie and her merciful -preservation from harm, my own rescue. Then, rather ashamed of myself, I -made an effort to banish these gloomy imaginings, said my prayers, and -got into bed. - -All the same, as I fell asleep, the stammer of the approaching thunder -and the white glare of lightning, which now and then flashed into the -darkened room, seemed like the growling of those awful dogs and the -glare of the advancing airship in the cave.... - -I think now that I must have had some unconscious premonition of the -tragedy which was racing towards me all the time. - -... I was awakened sharply and suddenly, at first I thought by a flash -of lightning. But it was not so. The electrics had been suddenly turned -on, and there were men in uniform round my bed. The wind had risen and -was whistling outside. A deluge of thunder rain was in progress, and -great sheets of water were flung against the window. - -I saw Superintendent Johnson. His face was white as linen. - -"What is it?" I shouted. - -He shouted in answer, and I heard his voice above the tumult of the -storm. - -"The prisoners, Sir John," he wailed. "They've got away. They picked -the lock of the cell somehow, got into the passage, and broke the bars -of the window at the end. We none of us heard a sound!" - -I leapt out of bed and began to bellow orders for pursuit--until I saw -Johnson's terrified face again, and knew that I had not heard all. - -"... They got down to the water somehow, sir. They must have climbed -down the lift rails. _And they swam to the ship...._" - -"Good God! _What_ ship?" - -"Their own ship, Sir John. Somehow or other they managed to get on -board; we've just heard...." - -"_Where are they?_" - -"They did for the two men on board, and must have managed to start the -engines--_the ship's gone_. The searchlights are all over the pool, and -there's no trace of her. They were seen, Sir John, I ..." - -He broke off short, the words drying up in his mouth. All the other men -shrank together in a frightened group as Danjuro came slowly into the -room. - -I have never seen a figure so awe-inspiring, or terrible. - -In moments of supreme emotion a European grows chalk-white, an Asiatic -grey. - -The Japanese was livid grey now, and his face seemed carved with -fantastic gashes--grey rubber slashed with a knife. He was like a man -who had slept a thousand years and wakened to find himself old, and in -hell. - -He came slowly up to me, moving like a thing on wheels drawn by a cord, -and when he was close, he spoke. - -I can never recall his voice without an almost physical state of fear. -Suppose that you could go with Dante to that gate over which is written, -"_Abandon hope all ye who enter here._" And suppose, as you stood there -and listened, you heard a well-known voice far down, saying, "I am -tormented in this flame...." - -Well, Danjuro's voice was like that. - -"During a lull in the storm," he said, as if repeating a lesson, "I went -up on the deck of the _May Flower_ for a breath of air. Mr. Van Adams -accompanied me. We were looking over the water to the Pirate Ship, when -I saw lights flashing up and down through the portholes of the fuselage. -It struck me as strange. We wondered what the two men in charge could be -doing. As we watched, we were just able to distinguish two men coming up -on deck. Then there came a vivid flash of lightning, and I saw -everything plainly. The two men were Vargus and Gascoigne, and they were -carrying the body of a man in uniform, which they lowered into the -water." - -Inspector Johnson gave a quick gasp. Danjuro continued: - -"Without a moment's delay I got a couple of pistols, and Mr. Van Adams -and I jumped into the electric launch, which was moored alongside the -_May Flower_, though on the other side to that which faced the Pirate. -There was no time to summon help. We shot out into the pool just as the -storm began again with thunder-claps and a deluge of water. We were -within a few yards of the ship and making ready to board her, when Mr. -Van Adams flashed a powerful electric torch, and I saw Vargus with a -knife in his hand hacking at the mooring ropes. At the same time I -noticed that the lights in the pilot's cabin had been turned on. - -"I took a snap-shot at Vargus and missed him. Almost simultaneously he -fired directly at the light of the torch which Mr. Van Adams held. The -bullet went through Mr. Van Adams' heart, and he fell back dead in my -arms--I was steering the launch. I fired off all the cartridges in my -pistol, but the thunder drowned the noise. The Pirate Ship began to -move. I saw the lights in her side moving along--and then she lifted and -disappeared." - -The awful voice ceased, and all of us in that room stood like waxen -figures in a show. - - * * * * * - -For three days the Press and public were kept in entire ignorance of -what had happened during the storm. - -Upon the fourth, just as I was beginning to think that all my measures -were in vain and that the Pirate Ship had vanished utterly, the Head -Office in Whitehall received two long telegrams from the Prefect of -Finistère in France and the Chief of Police of Quimper, the old -cathedral city in Brittany. - -On one of the wild and lonely Breton moors a goat-herd had discovered -the wreckage of a large airship. By it was the body of a young man, but -only one body. The telegrams urgently asked me to come over at once. - -I did so, in my fastest patrol boat. Lying in a wild wilderness of gorse -and heather were the remains of the Pirate Ship. It had been destroyed -beyond possibility of reconstruction, and destroyed methodically and -deliberately while at rest upon the ground. There was no doubt about -that. The body I afterwards saw in the Morgue at Quimper was that of -Gascoigne. He had not met his death by any accidental means, but had -been stabbed in the back. - -He must have been dead for quite two days before the goat-herd made his -discovery, and of Vargus, living or dead, there was not a trace. - -I was back in London again that night, and just as I was going to bed -in Half Moon Street the bell of the flat rang. Thumbwood went to the -door and announced that Mr. Danjuro wished to see me. - -He was in evening dress, and quite his old self again to outward -appearances, except that his black hair had turned an iron grey. - -For a moment or two we discussed details of the inquest that had been -held _in camera_ upon poor Van Adams, arrangements made for the trial of -the three surviving pirates, and so on. Then I told him what I had seen -at Quimper. - -"Mr. Muir Lockhart told me of the telegrams from France," he said. "I -called at Whitehall, but you had already started for Quimper, Sir John. -I must apologize for such a late call, but I was anxious to hear your -news. Now I see my way clear." - -"I suppose, after your great loss, you will go back to America, or -perhaps Japan, and settle down?" - -He shook his head. - -"You know," I continued, "that if you cared for it, there is a -highly-paid and important position open to you with the Air Police? -Nothing would give me greater pleasure, as you know, than to have you as -a colleague." - -"I thank you, Sir John, but I have other work to do. I am a rich man, -but that only interests me, inasmuch as it is a means to an end. When -that end is reached ..." - -He made a curious gesture with his arm, which I did not understand. - -"May I ask what your work is?" - -He looked at me with surprise. - -"Vargus is still alive," he said simply. - -"He will be caught soon. The police of the world are looking for him, if -he is alive." - -"I think it will be a long pursuit, Sir John. He has got off with the -treasure, and I know one or two things about him which are not generally -known. I do not think that Mr. Vargus will fall into the hands of the -police." - -"Then you ...?" - -"It is my work. I owe the spirit of my patron this man's blood, and I -shall pay the debt. Were he to hide in the depths of the sea, sooner or -later I shall find him. There is no power strong enough in life to keep -us two apart." - -He had dropped his voice. The words hissed like a knife upon a strop. - -"I wish you good luck," I said at length, and was about to say more, to -express my gratitude again, when he cut me short. - -"I am leaving for Paris in half an hour," he said, "and must bid you -farewell, Sir John. Convey my humble compliments to Miss Shepherd," and -with a low bow and a frigid handshake he was gone. - -Six weeks afterwards, on the day before my wedding, I received a -magnificent Japanese vase of the old Satsuma enamel, but the card -enclosed bore no address. - -I did not see this extraordinary being again for nearly two years. Of -that meeting I shall write in the following short epilogue. - - - - -EPILOGUE - - -In the winter of 19-- I was at Monte Carlo for three weeks, taking a -short holiday alone, and also looking out for a villa at Roquebrune or -Mentone for my wife, who was to come out with the baby as soon as the -house had been secured. - -Now and again I went into the "Rooms" and staked a louis or two upon an -even chance or a _transversale_ at roulette; but, speaking generally, -the Casino bored me. The cosmopolitan crowd of smart people--like -champagne corks floating on a cesspool--the professional gamblers, with -their veil of decorous indifference concealing a fierce greed for money -which they have not earned--a sprinkling of wood-ash over a glowing -fire--presented little interest, and I much preferred long walks and -drives in the earthly paradise of Les Alpes Maritimes. - -I stayed at the Métropole Hotel, making it the base of my excursions, -and one evening, after dinner, I paid one of my rare visits to the -Casino. I wandered about the gilded, stuffy saloons, with their -illuminations of oil-lamps--so that no enterprising gentleman may cut -the electric wires and make off with the money on the tables!--the low -voices and almost sanctimonious manner of the players, the over-dressed -demi-mondaines who glide about with their hard, evil eyes. The place was -very full. All the chairs round the roulette tables were occupied, and -people were standing behind the chairs as well. As I am tall, I was able -to reach over and place my stakes, and I did so several times. When I -had lost four louis with monotonous regularity, I decided that it was -not worth while, and thought I would go and smoke, for, contrary to the -usual pictures in the magazines, smoking is _not_ allowed in the -roulette or trente-et-quarante rooms. - -So I went out into the Atrium, the great pillared entrance hall, which -looks like an important provincial corn exchange, and lit a cigarette. -The place was fairly full of people, walking up and down, or reading the -latest telegrams, which are fixed up upon a green-baize screen, and I -was watching them idly when, coming round the corner from the -cloak-room, I saw--Danjuro! - -My heart gave a sudden leap, the sight of him was so utterly unexpected -and recalled so much. To tell the truth, he seemed to belong to a long -past and forgotten dream, for Connie and I, by mutual consent, hardly -ever spoke of the days of the pirates. - -Danjuro was about fifteen yards away. I saw his face distinctly, and was -certain that I was not mistaken. Then he looked up, and I could swear -that he saw and recognized me. - -Be that as it may, he turned and slipped round the corner like a weasel, -and when I got there he had vanished. I made a search, of course, though -I knew how futile it would be if he wished to avoid me, and the result -was as I expected. There wasn't a trace of him anywhere, and none of the -attendants or door-keepers had seen a Japanese gentleman anywhere. - -I went for a walk on the terrace in the moonlight, and then returned to -the hotel and sought my bed. For a long time I could not sleep. The -sight of Danjuro had made me restless. A legion of memories trooped -through the brain, and curiosity marshalled the procession. What was -that enigmatic and sinister being doing here? Was he still upon his -ruthless quest, moving through the panorama of European life like some -wandering Jew of vengeance? Nothing had ever been heard of Vargus again. -For my part, I shared the opinion of the police bureaux of the -Continent, that the soft-voiced and malignant scoundrel was dead. - -It was pathetic to think of Danjuro prowling through life to avenge his -patron, wasting his magnificent powers upon a hopeless quest. Pathetic, -yes--so ran my thoughts--but one can't think of Danjuro as an ordinary -human being. He was simply a single idea, clothed in flesh, a marvellous -machine designed for one operation only, a specialist so perfect that he -became a monomaniac. - -Poor Van Adams, to protect and serve him had been Danjuro's whole life. -Every faculty of mind and body had been devoted to that one end. And yet -he must have loved the American to have served him so? And if he could -love he was human! - -I wrestled with the problem till dawn, and got no nearer a solution. I -knew that, despite our companionship in peril and the extraordinary -adventures we had gone through together, if Van Adams had lived and for -any reason had told Danjuro to put me out of the way, the little man -would have executed the job with neatness, dispatch, and an entire -absence of compunction. - -I decided that Danjuro, as a subject of psychological analysis, was -quite beyond me, and did my best to forget the incident. With an effort -I managed to do so, and got a few hours' sleep before Thumbwood called -me. I said nothing to him of having seen Danjuro, for he also is -unwilling to talk much of the days of terror--perhaps because his wife, -Wilson, that was, and is still, Connie's handmaid--so strenuously -objects to it. - -About half-past eleven I left the hotel and strolled to the foot of the -funicular railway which hauls one up from the narrow ledge of land on -which Monte Carlo stands to the heights of La Turbie. I designed to -lunch at the excellent hotel at the top in the clear mountain air, and -then to walk along the Upper Corniche towards Roquebrune, Eze, and the -mountains above Mentone. There is much to explore in these high -regions--ruins of Roman and medieval forts, built as a defence against -the raiding Moors of the Mediterranean, and here and there delightful -villas among pine-woods and olive groves, far from the haunts of men. - -It was a house of this description, a mountain hermitage, that I wished -to find and take for six months. I knew that they were occasionally to -be let, but somewhat difficult to come across upon the books of the -agents. In Monte Carlo I had been assured that personal exploration was -the best and quickest way. - -I lunched at La Turbie on a magnificent _bouillabaisse_ and -_riz-de-veau_, and after an interval set out upon my walk. It was a -magnificent afternoon, the air golden clear. Far away out to sea Corsica -lay like a dim cloud. The mountain side fell in terrace after terrace -of olives to groups of painted houses looking like toys. Away to the -right were the red roofs and gleaming white buildings of the Monte Carlo -palaces, and the promontory of the Tête du Chien was perfectly outlined -in the azure of the sea. - -"Yes," I thought, "upon this great height is the place to live when one -comes to the Côte d'Azur, and I won't go home to-night until I have -found something...." And I began to climb by a by-path. - -The afternoon was hot. After a mile or two I rested in the shade of a -great rock and fell asleep. When I awoke the sun, which sets early in -winter, even on the Riviera, was declining. I was not quite sure of my -direction, but thought that I could make Roquebrune by an oblique path -over the spur of the mountain, and from there easily descend to Cap -Martin and get a carriage, and take the tram which crawls along the -cliff to Monte Carlo. So I set out. - -The path, however, did not prove to be the right one, and it was -twilight, or that extremely short interval which does duty for it in the -south, before I came to three or four stone huts fronting a plateau with -an enclosure full of goats. I explained my predicament to a swarthy -woman who sat knitting at a door, and she gave me directions. She also -said, in mingled French and Italian, for the frontier was not five -miles away, that there would be a small empty villa to be let a mile -onwards--at least, she believed so. - -"Can you tell me the name of the owner, madame?" I asked. - -"But, no, m'sieu. It is a new gentleman. He has bought the villa and the -larger one, which is close to it but higher up the hill. He is a scholar -of some sort, and lives quite alone, so he cannot want the smaller house -on the road. It was, moreover, always let in the time of the last owner, -M. Visguis, of Nice." - -I thanked the good dame, refused a cup of goats' milk, gave her a -five-franc piece and started on my way again rejoicing. My luck was in. -This mountain châlet would be just the thing, and I made up my mind to -interview the recluse on my way home. - -The sun sank, and night came up with a rush out of the Mediterranean. -Everything was dead still. There are no birds in these solitudes, and -the hum of day insects was over. Although the moon rose almost at once -and gave sufficient light to steer by, the place was eerie. Immense -rocks threw ashen shadows. The stone pines stood like silent sentinels, -and the huge coronet of jewels--topaz against black velvet--that was -Monte Carlo seemed a hundred miles away. - -Following my directions, I came at length to the garden wall of a -fairly large villa, painted all along the sides, with gigantic and -melancholy trees, and the moonlight shed a ghostly radiance upon it. -This, I knew, was the house in occupation. The one that might be let was -lower down the slope and on the other side of the road--to my right. I -could just see the roof of it as I peered over the parapet. - -Pushing open a wooden gate, I went up the garden path towards the Villa -Turquoise--that I had discovered was its name. Tree frogs were croaking -round the house, but as it was winter, there were no friendly fireflies; -once or twice the fans of a palm clicked with a dry, rustling noise. - -It was difficult to find the door as I came up to the villa, but after a -moment, I saw a broad band of yellow light coming from the side, and -turned towards it. I walked upon the turf of a little lawn, and threaded -my way between orange and pepper trees, with here and there a bush of -Cape gooseberries. - -And up to that moment I never had a suspicion or a qualm. Indeed, I felt -at peace with myself and all the world, washed and purified by the sweet -Alpine air and all the loveliness my eyes had looked upon that day. Then -I heard, clear, strong and sudden, a chord of music on a piano. - -I stopped dead still. - -Again that crash of sound, and then a smooth and mellow arpeggio, as -masterly fingers ran up and down the keys of a magnificent instrument. - -I grew cold, suddenly and horribly cold. - -I could see nothing but a long French window glowing orange with light -in the dark side of the house. I had heard nothing but some chords upon -a grand piano. - -But in that moment, though subconsciously, I _knew_. - -I moved forward in little automatic jerks, listening with a dreadful -fear, a sick certainty. The second before I came to the window and -looked inside, it began. - -Played by a master hand, I heard the opening notes of the Third Ballade -of Chopin.... - -Another step, and, in the darkness myself, I could see into the room. - -The musician was Mr. Vargus. - -He had grown a little moustache, which was waxed at the ends, and a -small black imperial on his chin. He was also much fatter than when I -had seen him last, and he wore a smoking jacket of purple velvet. On one -finger was a diamond ring, which flashed in the lamplight as the firm, -powerful hands rose and fell. - -There was a soft smile in the sly eyes as he interpreted the beautiful, -fantastic music. - -I am going to tell you what happened without comment or any reference -whatever to my own feelings. - -The melody progressed to that marvellous passage which Beardsley saw in -line as a white horse ambling through a dark wood of pines, ridden by a -lady in a dress of black velvet. - -At the opening chords of the theme a door behind the player opened -quietly. He heard nothing. - -An awful and august figure entered. - -It was Danjuro, but not the Danjuro I had ever known. - -He wore a robe of yellow silk with wide kimono sleeves, and a sash of -purple round his waist. Into the sash was thrust the long scabbard of an -ancient Japanese sword--a scabbard of tortoise-shell and silver. His -hair was differently arranged, his lips compressed into a single line. -The eyes, which seemed curiously elongated, glittered like black lacquer -in a high light. - -He crept forward and touched Vargus on the shoulder. - -The man in the velvet coat leapt up with a short, sharp cry. Then he -whipped round and came face to face with Danjuro. - -They remained, staring into each other's eyes for several seconds. - -I saw a ghostly change beginning in the pirate's face. Inch by inch -something crept over it like a veil as life ebbed away. Then he fell in -a crumpled heap upon the carpet. - -The Japanese looked down at him without a change in his dreadful stony -glare. Then he bent down and pulled the limp form out straight, turning -it with its face downwards. He drew the sword and lifted it high above -his head. - -As it gleamed I shut my eyes.... - -When I looked again, sick with the sickness of death itself, the figure -in the yellow robe had raised both arms above its head. The sleeves had -slipped away and the coils of muscle stood out upon the brown flesh. - -Danjuro's lips were parted. He seemed to be speaking rapidly to -something above him. His whole face was irradiated with joy, and the -sword in his right hand shone like a tall flame. - -He remained there for some little time. Then he lowered his arms, and -taking a square of purple silk from his breast, he cleansed the sword, -and I knew what he was going to do. - -He placed the jewelled hilt upon the carpet and adjusted the point at -his waist, steadying the blade with his left hand. Then, with a loud -cry, as if of exaltation, he fell heavily forward.... - -He had gone to his own place in the way appointed to the Heroes of Old -Japan. - - -THE END - - -PRINTED AT - -THE CHAPEL RIVER PRESS - -KINGSTON, SURREY. - - -PATERNOSTER HOUSE, -PATERNOSTER ROW, -LONDON, E.C. -_July, 1919_. - - - - -ADVERTISEMENTS - - -Messrs. HURST & BLACKETT'S - -ANNOUNCEMENTS - -OF - -NEW BOOKS _FOR THE AUTUMN OF 1919_ - - -An Important Book - -By HARRY FURNISS - -My Bohemian Days - -With over 120 illustrations from original and characteristic drawings by -this famous artist. - -_In one volume, demy cloth_, +16s.+ _net_. - -As a famous caricaturist and humorous artist the author has intimate -knowledge of the life of which he writes. He knew Bohemia from the -inside, and was closely associated with many of the interesting people -who are introduced into his book. He carries his humour into his -writing, and there are numbers of good stories to help him. The book not -only makes enjoyable reading, but it also throws a good deal of light on -a number of well-known characters in the world of Bohemia and the -atmosphere in which they lived. The many drawings by the author which -illustrate the book are a special feature, and greatly add to its -interest. - - -_A New Volume of the famous_ - -Memoirs of William Hickey - -Edited by ALFRED SPENCER - -_In demy 8vo, cloth gilt_, +15s.+ _net_. - -This third volume continues the memoirs from 1782, and will be found as -fascinating as those which have already been published. It contains much -interesting matter concerning East India in the old Colonial days, and a -number of interesting letters arising out of the retention of Hickey and -his companion, Charlotte Barry, as prisoners by the French on their way -out to Calcutta. It is possible that the work may be completed with this -volume, but a fourth volume may perhaps be necessary. The price of the -present volume has, owing to increased costs of production, been -advanced to 15s. net, and the price of the first two volumes has also -had to be increased. - - _Reprints are now ready of Vol. I. (the Third Edition) and Vol. II. - (the Second Edition) (1749 to 1782), each in demy 8vo, cloth gilt, - 15s. net. Vol. II. contains photogravure portraits._ - -A few short extracts from scores of columns of Reviews: - - _The Athenæum_: "One of the most interesting eighteenth-century - documents that have appeared for some time." - - _The Times_: "Fascinating for its honesty and vividness; it is - difficult to give any idea of the spontaneous vivacity of the - narration; it is of remarkable interest." - - _The Spectator_: "Deserves, both for its human and historical - interest, to be widely studied." - - _Daily Telegraph_: "A 'find' of really important interest, likely - to take an important place among eighteenth-century documents." - - _Manchester Guardian_: "For colour and zest these memoirs would be - hard to beat; were they fiction they would be called 'unmatchable - pictures of the time.'" - - _The Globe_: "A glorious book. Its period is a little later than - Tom Jones, but the splendid rollicking spirit is the same. No lover - of English literature can fail to enjoy to the utmost the virile - jolly picture it represents." - - _Daily Express_: "One of the most absorbingly interesting books of - recent times." - - -_A delightful volume_ - -By LADY CATHERINE MILNES GASKELL - -A Woman's Soul - -By the Author of "Friends Round the Wrekin," "A Shropshire Lass and -Lad," etc. - -_In demy, cloth_, +16s.+ _net_. - -Under a thin guise of fiction Lady Catherine Milnes Gaskell has written -a most sympathetic and entertaining account of her experiences during -the war, and those of her friends and neighbours. Like many other ladies -of position she threw herself heart and soul into the every-day drudgery -of hospital work and the numerous duties of those who undertook the -responsibilities of large country estates in the absence of their -owners; and she gives us in a most delightful story a very true insight -into the activities, thoughts and feelings of a class which did a great -deal of war work, and said very little about it. - -Her previous books have already established her as a close observer of -human nature and a writer with a wide, tolerant outlook and a style of -unusual distinction. - -Some Press opinions on the Author's work: - - "The book, fresh and alive, reads as if it were an actual record of - her life."--_Times._ - - "It is the real thing that interests this pleasant author, the real - aspect of nature, the real romance of the countryside, the real - meaning of life."--_Daily Telegraph._ - - "All those who have read and liked her previous books will find the - same fragrance the same chatty friendliness, the same easy - niceness."--_Observer._ - - "All that she writes she invests with an air of delicate - distinction."--_Spectator._ - - -Just Ready - -_A TIMELY AND IMPORTANT BOOK_ - -The New Traffic (Aircraft) - -By W. H. BERRY - -Editor of _The Car_ and _Aviation_ and Author of "Aircraft in War and -Commerce," "Fighting Aeroplanes," &c. - -_In cr. 8vo, bound with frontispiece and a wrapper in colours, +3s.+ +6d.+ -net._ - -One of the greatest problems of the day is to determine how aircraft can -be turned to the best advantage in the service of the country. The war -is over, but the days for the use of aircraft in the carrying of -passengers, goods, and mails, and for the convenience and pleasure of -the private user have only just begun. Mr. Berry's book deals with the -last year or two of aviation, the present position and what may be -expected in the future. Already passenger and mail services are being -established, and it will probably not be long before many men will be -using aeroplanes in the way they now use cars, only they will be able to -go where cars cannot, and at a much quicker pace. Mr. Berry's book is -for the general reader. He tells him what he will want to know, takes -him through actual flights, explains engines, controls, construction, -cross country and overseas flying, laws, rules and traffic regulations, -what cost of services will be, and how mail services already established -are working. Everything that a man wants to know who expects to fly on -his own account or who hopes to be taken up as a passenger will be found -here. The book is particularly timely in view of the enormous interest -now being taken by the press in the subject of the future uses of -aircraft. - - -_Just Published_ - -Elizabethan Ulster - -By LORD ERNEST HAMILTON - -Author of "The First Seven Divisions" (21st Edition), "The Soul of -Ulster," etc. - -_In demy 8vo, cloth, +16s.+ net._ - - "A very full and detailed story of the beginnings of Ulster he has - made a history, very lively and entertaining without sacrificing - anything of the seriousness with which it deserves to be - treated."--_Westminster Gazette._ - - "A detailed account of the amazingly complex affairs of Ulster - during Elizabeth's reign.... The book is a just picture of a - quaking bog of seething hatreds."--_Morning Post._ - - "A picturesque story of lawless chiefs, unruly clans, ruthless - soldiers, and crafty but bewildered statesmen."--_Athenæum._ - - "This history is studiously impartial ... a valuable and important - contribution to Irish history."--_Scotsman._ - - -NEW NOVELS - -For the AUTUMN, 1919. - -_Each in crown 8vo, cloth_, +6s. 9d.+ _net_. - - -Sanity Jane - -By COUNTESS BARCYNSKA - -Author of "The Honey Pot" (60th Thousand), "Love Maggy," etc. - -This novel is almost certain to be in very great demand. It is a live -book, and Sanity is a very real girl. The book is distinctive, and a -most intriguing situation is created when the man Sanity loves believes -her to be the woman--a stranger to him--who is to provide the -compromising circumstances necessary for his wife to obtain, "by -arrangement," her divorce. The author, in taking Sanity through her very -interesting career, deals in her characteristic manner with life and -people as one finds them to-day. - - -The Death Drum - -By MARGARET PETERSON - -Author of "To Love," "Butterfly Wings," "The Lure of the Little Drum," -etc. - -As in her last novel, "The Sword Points of Love," Miss Peterson has -chosen East Africa as the background for her new story. It is based on a -native superstition that very few white people know anything about, but -which may in time cause trouble. It has, at any rate, provided the -author with a fine idea for her novel, and she has made the best -possible use of it. The book is absorbingly interesting, full of -thrilling incident and adventure, and with many touches of native life -that are particularly effective, coming as they do from one who is -living among them. - - -Panther - -A Comedy of Morals - -By R. A. FOSTER-MELLIAR - -Author of "Blindstone," "And Betty Too," etc. - -A novel of country life, in which there is a good mixture of -love-making, hunting, intrigue, and almost murder. Two well-contrasted -and charming girls divide the honours as heroines, and uncertainty as to -what will happen to them is well kept up. There are some very -interesting characters capitally portrayed, and, above all, there is a -really good story well told in uncommonly good writing. - - -The Air Pirate - -By C. RANGER-GULL - -Author of "The Snare of the Fowler," etc. - -The author dates his story forward, when rapid transit and transport -will be carried on by air. One of the great points about it is that the -author is the first in the field with his idea. The Air Pirate, a -mysterious figure, who had been a daring airman in the Great War, has -his lair in Cornwall, and raids the Atlantic with a wonderful airship. -There is a love story, in which a young English baronet of the -Government Air Police is the hero and a beautiful young actress the -heroine. She is carried off to Cornwall by the pirate, who is in love -with her, in his airship, and then follow many thrilling adventures in -the efforts of her young lover to discover her. One sensation follows -another rapidly, and the reader is kept in breathless suspense all -through. It is the best thing the author has yet done. - - -Love and the Cardinal - -By J. H. SYMONS - -Author of "The Supreme Mystery" - -A story of the days of Cardinal Wolsey and the Court of Henry VIII. It -will appeal to all who like a good historical romance. The hero, a young -esquire, finds Wolsey, when he was but a poor parish priest, in the -village pillory and sets him free. When next they meet, Wolsey is the -powerful Cardinal, and the hero has been condemned to torture for trying -to save the Duke of Buckingham, whose daughter he worships. Wolsey helps -the hero and brings him to Court. There are plottings and jealousies and -narrow escapes, but in the end Love is triumphant. - - -Spade Work - -By Mrs. HENRY DUDENEY - -Author of "Candlelight," etc. - -Another of the Author's stories of Sussex - -Caroline Beech and her mother, with the airs of a duchess who has had to -do the work of a cook, and Enoch Wood, the musician who demands fame -above all things, and Juniper Sadgrove, with her glorious voice, are the -characters whose interplay form the plot of Mrs. Dudeney's latest novel. -She has set the scene in her loved Sussex, and her description of the -old-world village and its inhabitants is most delightful. Enoch's career -is the rock on which the ship of his love may be wrecked, but the -development of the story will hold the reader's attention to the last -page. - - -The Green Shoes of April - -By RACHEL SWETE MACNAMARA - -Author of "Morning Joy," "Lark's Gate," etc. - -An Irish love story out of the common, and with many ups and downs, but -with a happy ending. It is, as one expects from Miss Macnamara, -unusually well written with excellent character drawing. Jasper Lysaght -made a mistaken marriage with an actress when he was very young. They -hold together but a little while, when he meets his true mate, but a -maliciously interfering grandmother and wounded pride separate them. -They come together again and marry, Jasper believing himself free, but -his first wife reappears. All, however, comes right in the end. - - -Shooting Stars - -By SOPHIE KERR - -An intensely dramatic novel of married life--the story of Harleth -Crossey ("as self-willed as a shooting star and about as uncomfortable -around the house"), and his wife Marcia--she made all the concessions, -all the adjustments and all the compromises until--something happened. - -You might have called it a rebellion; it was a startling, if cruel -awakening as well. - - -The Master Mind - -By FERGUS HUME - -Author of "The Mystery of A Hansom Cab," "Heart of Ice." etc. - -In the working out of the plot and the discovery of the master mind of a -gang of thieves the author keeps the reader's attention firmly fixed. -The book is written carefully; there are no great improbabilities; the -characters are human, not too good and not impossibly wicked; the -heroine is a charming natural girl, the hero a nice boy. There is a -mystery surrounding a murder and theft, and it might all have happened. -A good readable story. - - -A Whirlwind of Passion - -By EDNA WORTHLEY UNDERWOOD - -The publishers have pleasure in introducing the author with this novel. -It is perhaps not too much to say that since "Quo Vadis," no more -powerful historical romance has been produced. The story is most -dramatic, and the central figure is the great Catherine. The reader is -given a clear insight into the Russian Court and its intrigues. The time -of the story is the dramatic moment when the reign of the Empress -Elizabeth was drawing to a close, and the throne was hanging in the -balance. The author has seized on this tense situation, and told a -wonderful story of love, of passion, of plotting and ruthless power, of -murder and sudden death. 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