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diff --git a/40372-0.txt b/40372-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d16492c --- /dev/null +++ b/40372-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8388 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40372 *** + +THE SECRET OF +THE SILVER CAR + + + + +WYNDHAM MARTYN +IS ALSO THE AUTHOR OF +"ANTHONY TRENT, MASTER CRIMINAL" +"ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING" +"THE MAN OUTSIDE" + + + + +THE SECRET OF +THE SILVER CAR + +FURTHER ADVENTURES OF ANTHONY +TRENT, MASTER CRIMINAL + + +BY +WYNDHAM MARTYN + +AUTHOR OF +THE MAN OUTSIDE; ALL THE WORLD TO NOTHING; +ANTHONY TRENT, MASTER CRIMINAL; ETC. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration] + + * * * * * + +NEW YORK +MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY +1920 + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1920 +BY MOFFAT, YARD & COMPANY + + + + +THEIR FATHER +DEDICATES THESE FURTHER +ADVENTURES OF ANTHONY TRENT TO +PHYLLIS AND CYNTHIA +BUT NOT WITHOUT A GUILTY FEELING THAT THERE +MUST HAVE BEEN SOMETHING +LACKING +IN THE ETHICAL TRAINING OF THESE +ESTIMABLE CHILDREN +SINCE THEY TAKE SUCH INTEREST IN THE +CAREER +OF A MASTER CRIMINAL + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + I THE PUZZLING PASSENGER 1 + II THE MAN IN THE DARK 14 + III THE BEGINNING OF THE SEARCH 25 + IV A LADY INTERRUPTS 63 + V THE MAN WHO DENIED 80 + VI FRESH FIELDS 101 + VII THE SENTENCE OF BANISHMENT 119 + VIII COUNT MICHÆL TEMESVAR 133 + IX PAULINE 146 + X THE GREATER GAME 174 + XI ANTHONY PLAYS HIS HAND 186 + XII SAINT ANTHONY 214 + XIII DOWN TO THE SEA 236 + XIV THE CABINET MEETING 266 + XV ANTHONY THE TRIUMPHANT 277 + + + + +CHAPTER ONE + +_THE PUZZLING PASSENGER_ + + +"Stop him," the second officer yelled, "he's going to jump overboard!" + +The man who dashed past him and through a group of passengers waving +hands at friends on the deck below, was too quick for those who sought +to stay him. He balanced himself for a moment on the rail and then +jumped ten feet down to the pier. + +The gangplanks had already been withdrawn and the great liner bound for +New York was too mighty a piece of momentum to pause now. Furthermore +her commander was going down the river on a favoring tide and nothing +short of a signal from the port authorities would have made him put back +for a passenger who had chosen such a singular moment for a leap into +the dark. + +An hour or so later in the smoking room the disappearance was discussed +with fervor. A collar manufacturer of Troy, named Colliver, was holding +his group for the reason he had been standing by the rail when the young +man jumped and had even sought to restrain him. + +"He was too quick for me," Colliver declared. "I surely thought he'd +hurt himself jumping ten feet down." + +"What did he do after he jumped?" a man demanded. + +"Picked himself up and looked around as if he expected to see someone. +The last I saw of him was going from group to group of people asking +something I couldn't hear." + +"Very mysterious," another passenger commented. "I don't believe he was +crazy. I believe he jumped off just at the right moment--for him. I +believe we shall find he took some loot with him. The purser is making +an investigation now." + +"I've got a theory," another smoker asserted. "I was just going to ask +him for a light when he began that run down the deck to the rail and +believe me he can sprint. Just as I was about to open my mouth I saw his +face suddenly change. Evidently he had seen or heard something that +frightened him." + +"So he ran away from danger?" Colliver added. "That might be. I tell you +on a big boat like this we are surrounded by crooks, male and female, +and they look on us as their lawful prey. He might have been a gambler +who spotted a victim he was afraid of." + +"Or a murderer," a Harvard theologian replied nervously. "I never feel +really safe on a great liner like this. We all have to take one another +on trust. I have been introduced to you gentlemen as a professor of +pastoral theology. I may be a professional murderer for all you know. +Mr. Colliver here isn't known to me personally and he may be a really +high class bank robber for all I can tell." + +Mr. Colliver took the suggestion sourly. + +"Everybody in Troy knows me," he replied with dignity. + +"Exactly," the theologian answered. "But Troy is not on the ship's +passenger lists to any such extent as to corroborate your statement. +There may be Harvard men on board who know me by name but for all they +know I may be made up to represent Professor Sedgely so as to gain your +confidence and rob you." + +"My collars encircle the necks of more men than those of any other +maker," said Colliver quoting one of his advertisements. "My name is +known everywhere. No man is perfectly dressed without my collars. I +presented a swimming pool to Troy and there isn't a man or woman in the +city but would resent any slur on me." + +"My dear sir," said the professor smiling, "I am not attacking your good +name or your city's fame. I am only saying that if you were crossing +with the idea of making a killing at games of chance I should not +benefit because you assumed the name of one who ornaments the cervical +vertebræ of perfectly dressed men. I only meant that anything can take +place on a ship such as this is and that this man who escaped tonight +may have done so to avoid capture and possible imprisonment or even +death." + +"The purser had a wireless sent to the company's office and no doubt +has a reply by this time," another passenger broke in. + +"He is probably in prison now," Professor Sedgely remarked. + +"You certainly have a cheerful mind," Colliver commented. + +"I read for mental relaxation the lightest forms of fiction," the +professor answered, "and I am prepared for anything. I maintain that +every passenger on a fast ship like this is regarded as a possible +victim by the cleverest criminals in existence. For myself I have +nothing of value, being poorly paid, but our friend there who has so +finely benefitted his home city wears a diamond pin of great value. +Furthermore there is a sapphire set in platinum on his finger which +might well tempt the professional robber." + +"Say," said Colliver a little uneasily, "you're observant all right. +Anything else you saw?" + +"That you have a gold cigar case with initials in emeralds. I have," the +professor said modestly, "trained my powers of observation. I do it to +protect myself." + +He rose from his chair and bowed a courteous goodnight to the immediate +group and then went on deck. + +"I don't trust that man," said the manufacturer. "I never trust any man +on a ship who wears smoked glasses. He wanted to conceal his eyes. I'll +bet he never saw Harvard except on a picture postal. Damn it!" Colliver +cried peevishly, "Why can't a man wear a passable ring and stickpin +without it attracting the attention of other people?" + +The Harvard theologian had sown seeds of suspicion. Colliver, as amiable +a manufacturer of collars as any in Troy, looked over at Myers Irving +who ran an advertising agency in New York and suspected him of being a +confidence man. + +"It's a pretty good looking ring," Irving said heartily. He wished he +had one like it. Now that he knew who Colliver was he thirsted after his +account. His overtures were accepted with marked reserve and a gloom +fell upon the party until the entrance of the genial purser. + +"Who was the mysterious man?" Colliver asked. + +"His name was Anthony Trent," said the purser. + +A man in the uniform of a captain in the United States army who had been +playing solitaire and had taken no part in this talk, looked up with +such sudden interest at the name that the purser turned to him. + +"Do you know Anthony Trent?" he demanded. + +"Yes," said Captain Sutton, "I do." + +"Can you think of any reason why he should jump ashore just as we were +starting for the Hudson River?" + +"He might have been saying goodbye to his best girl and taken no heed of +the warning to go ashore." + +"That won't do," the purser declared. "All his kit is in his stateroom +and he had already seen his table steward and arranged about his seat. +He went off on the impulse of the moment and I'd like to know what that +impulse was." + +"Has anyone missed anything?" Colliver asked. + +"Don't know," the purser said. "Haven't heard of anything so far. I +wirelessed the office and the pier superintendent and they have lost all +trace of him. The last they heard of him was that he was seen offering a +taxicab driver double fare to drive fast." + +"He saw someone on the ship he was afraid of," Colliver said with the +air of one called upon to solve a deep mystery. + +The purser was determined not to let Captain Sutton get back to his +solitaire. + +"I'm afraid I'll have to ask you more about your friend," he said +smiling, "the whole thing is so unusual that the old man wants a +thorough investigation. In confidence, is there anything fishy about +this Anthony Trent?" + +"In confidence, I may tell you," Captain Sutton answered, "but my +confidence will be in the captain's cabin and not here." + +"Do you think we'd say anything to anyone about it?" Colliver demanded. +He feared he was to be robbed of interesting details. + +"I'm a lawyer by profession," Captain Sutton returned, "and I know how +people talk even when they mean to be silent. Anthony Trent is a friend +of mine and I shall constitute myself his counsel. He served under me in +the war, was recommended for a commission, and won the _Croix de +Guerre_. He is an American with enough money to play golf and flyfish +for trout all he wants to. He was in a hospital in the Isle of Wight for +three months after being wounded and I had a letter from him saying he +would come over on this ship. I came by Liverpool just because I wanted +to see him; and when I didn't see him at dinner I thought he had changed +his plans. I can give no reason why he should have left the boat in the +manner he did but as a lawyer I can assure the company that it is his +affair and not theirs." + +The purser was skilled in the ways of human beings. He had not +straightened out difficulties for his company on half a thousand trips +across the Atlantic for nothing. He could see plainly enough that +Captain Sutton knew something about Anthony Trent that he would not tell +the captain or anyone else unless process of law compelled. There had +been a quick look of fear on his face when he realized Trent was the man +of whom the group about him had been speaking. Whether Captain Sutton +knew the reason why his friend had leapt from the ship's rail was +doubtful; but that the act had conjured up sudden fear gave the purser +food for thought. + +"The company certainly does not want to bring suit against a passenger +who has paid for a high priced state room and a number of excellent +meals and refuses to benefit by them. The old man was annoyed that +everyone was talking about it at his table and he wasn't able to get off +his little crop of chestnuts as usual. He'd appreciate it if you would +tell him what you know about Mr. Trent." + +"If I see him it will be as Mr. Trent's lawyer," Sutton retorted. + +The purser looked at him keenly. + +"So you admit," he said genially, "that this mysterious Anthony Trent +needs a defender?" + +"I admit nothing of the sort," Sutton replied quickly. But he felt he +had not conducted the affair with his usual skill. "There's been a lot +of hot air talked about crimes on board ship and I'm not going to have +my friend's name linked with that sort of thing." + +"Of course not," the purser agreed. "I can understand why you come to +the rescue; still there is bound to be some misunderstanding about a man +who leaves all his baggage behind and takes a desperate jump as he did." + +"He saw someone on this ship he was afraid of," Colliver insisted. "It +might have been you for all I know." + +"What do you mean by that?" Sutton demanded and flushed dusky red. + +Colliver was amazed at the sudden heat. The purser was more interested +than ever. He would have been even more amazed if he had known that +Captain Sutton honestly believed that it was because Anthony Trent had +seen him face to face that he had escaped. The letter of which he had +spoken was non-existent. He had lied because of the man whom he had, for +the first time, claimed as his friend. + +Sutton had been the officer; Trent the enlisted man and the discipline +of the service prevented a friendship that would have been possible in +other days and, now war was finished, might again become practicable. +The space of an hour was the time the officer had been with the man and +yet he was determined to fight for his interests. And he suddenly +realized that he had begun his fight by antagonizing a very shrewd +purser. + +"My dear sir," the purser said gently, "I am sure you are taking this +too much to heart. Nobody is accusing your client of anything more +serious than risking a broken leg which, after all, is more his affair +than even his counsel's. Captain Kingscote will ask you a few questions +which you must understand, as a lawyer, a ship's commander ought to ask. +There is such a thing as a log and it has to be written correctly. +Tomorrow morning perhaps? You will be offered an excellent cigar and a +drink that you can't get in all the length and breadth of your native +land." + +"Any time at all," Sutton answered with an effort to be as genial as the +purser. "I only resented the idle chatter that centred around a man who +fought very gallantly." + +"If you mean me by that reference," Colliver said angrily, "I'd like to +say that I have as much right to talk as anyone on board." + +"Certainly," said Myers Irving, "and I can't see why anyone wants to get +excited about it. It was that professor who began it. Mr. Colliver what +do you say to a little smile?" + +Colliver looked at the card Irving handed to him. He did not like +advertising men as a rule but he felt this debonair head of a big agency +was an exception. He had come to the aid of big business. + +"It must be the salt in the air," he confessed, "I don't mind if I do." + +Left to himself Sutton closed his eyes and lived over again those +moments in France when Anthony Trent had been brought before him as +adjutant on extraordinary charges. + +Once or twice he had seen Private Trent and had been vaguely reminded of +a forgotten face. It was only when Anthony Trent had been recommended +for promotion and had declined it that he remembered the name. Trent had +been the Dartmouth football captain in that historic year when Harvard +was humbled. Sutton, a graduate of ten years previously, had shouted +himself hoarse at the great run by which Trent had passed the crimson +score. + +Private Trent had been chosen on very dangerous business and the +adjutant had no chance to speak to him as he had determined to do. +Anthony Trent was one of those who volunteered to clean up machine gun +nests left behind to harass the advancing troops of the Allies. He had +done so well that Captain Sutton was proud of him for the sake of the +old college in Hanover. + +He remembered the shock he had when Lieutenant Devlin, a former +detective in New York and a man to whom he was not drawn, declared that +this same Anthony Trent was the most famous criminal of the day, a +master craftsman who had never been in police toils. + +Sutton laughed at the very suggestion. It was absurd. Devlin's answer to +this made the soldier-lawyer less confident. Devlin said that Dr. Trent +had left his son but a few hundred dollars and a rambling mortgaged home +among New Hampshire hills. Young Trent had come to New York and settled +down to writing detective and criminal stories for the lesser magazines. +Then, suddenly, an Australian relative had died and left him a fortune. +This was a lie, Devlin declared. There was no such relation. It was done +to explain his sudden giving up of writing and living in a far better +style. + +Trent owned, so the detective asserted, a beautiful camp on Kennebago +Lake in Maine, two automobiles and sundry other aids to a comfortable +existence which his writings would never have gained for him. + +Still disbelieving, Captain Sutton was shown the dying depositions of an +English soldier who had been butler to a New York millionaire whose +house had been robbed. Austin, the butler, had seen Trent and assumed +him to be a friend of his employer. He had recognized him when British +and American troops were brigaded side by side and had told only Devlin +a detective who had worked on the case. + +Evidence at last seemed conclusive. Devlin, dying in hospital wished for +the downfall of a man who had beaten him in three big cases. The +adjutant remembered well one case when the Dangerfield ruby worth almost +two hundred thousand dollars was taken. + +Private Trent seemed quite calm. He assured his officer that these +charges were preposterous. "What else could they be?" he had asked. + +"They might be the truth," Sutton had said gravely. + +He remembered the visit to the hospital where Devlin lay dying but eager +to sign the testimony he had woven about his enemy. The ending of the +incident was very curious. It made him like Devlin after all. When +Devlin knew his end was come and the last rites of his church had been +administered he had given up his plans for revenge. He had looked into +the fearless eyes of the master criminal and he had seen there an +unconquerable spirit which he admired. And so, with his last effort he +had torn up the written evidence and declared that Anthony Trent was not +the man; that it was all a mistake. + +Sutton remembered the relief with which he had put his hand on the +shoulder of the younger man and that he had said, "Trent, you were in +luck this time. Don't take a chance again." + +After the signing of peace he had determined to look up the old athlete +and see if he could not offer him such opportunities that he could go +straight. Sutton was a man of immense wealth and had mining properties +in South America which needed supervision. + +And now to find that Trent was aboard the ship and at the last moment +had risked a broken limb in order to escape. It was not likely that a +man who feared detection so much dare rely on the generosity of a man +who knew his secret. There were probably rewards for his capture which, +in the aggregate, offered immense inducement to deliver Anthony Trent +to justice. How was Trent to know that Sutton the adjutant was +financially secure enough to make the sacrifice? Undoubtedly he had seen +Sutton and made the desperate leap. + +Sutton determined to safeguard his interests. The baggage for instance, +that should not be searched. There might be in it evidence as damaging +as that which the brothers of Joseph put into the younger's sack. It +would be far better to see the captain and make a friend of him. Why had +not Trent been a better reader of character and recognized that in +Captain Sutton he had a friend? + +Sutton did not know that long ago Trent had seen that in the rich lawyer +there was one whom he need not fear. Few were more skilled than the +master criminal in the reading of those signs by which men reveal for a +second or so the depths of their natures. + +Anthony Trent had not jumped from the rails of the big ship because he +had seen Sutton. He had no idea his old adjutant was on board. He had +not jumped ashore because of any person on the liner. He took his +reckless leap because among those who waited on the pier he heard the +voice of the one man he feared, the man he had been trying to find since +that day in France when death seemed at last to have claimed him. + + + + +CHAPTER TWO + +_THE MAN IN THE DARK_ + + +One day late in October when the Allies were moving with such speed +against the enemy Private Trent had been struck with a piece of +shrapnel. There was the recognized noise of the flying fragments and +then a sudden flaming pain in his left arm followed by black +unconsciousness. + +He came back very slowly to the realization that he was not seriously +hurt. His wounded arm was bandaged. He was still rather weak and lay +back for some moments before opening his eyes. Then he opened them to +meet only a wall of unrelieved night. "I'm blind!" he thought. + +Groping about him he felt dank earth, the earth he had been accustomed +to in the trenches, slimy, sweating clay. With his undamaged hand he +felt the bandages that were about his head. There was no wound near his +eyes; but that would not be necessary, for he had seen so many cases of +blindness due to the bursting of high explosives. It might be temporary +blindness or it might be permanent. + +There was a great silence about him. Gone were the myriad sounds of war +that had enveloped him before his injury. Perhaps he was deaf, too. "My +God!" he groaned thinking of this new infliction and then grew a little +less miserable when he recognized the sound of his own voice. Well, +blindness was enough! Never again to see the green earth or the morning +sun stealing down the lake where his home was. At a little past thirty +to see only through the eyes of others. No more golf, no more hunting +and fishing trips, and of course no more of those taut-nerved nights +when he, a single human being, pitted his strength and intelligence +against the forces of organized society--and won. There was small +consolation in thinking that now, at all events, Anthony Trent, master +criminal would not be caught. He would go down in police history as the +most mysterious of those criminals who have set the detectives by the +heels. + +A little later he told himself he would rather be caught, sentenced to a +term of life imprisonment if only he might see a tiny ribbon of blue sky +from his cell window, than condemned to this eternal blackness. + +Then the miracle happened. A few yards from him came a scratching sound +and then a sudden flame. And in that moment he could see the profile of +a man bending over a cigarette. He was not blind! + +"Who are you?" Anthony Trent cried not yet able to comprehend this +lifting of what he felt was a sentence imposed. "Where am I?" + +The man who answered spoke with one of those cultivated English voices +which Trent had once believed to be the mark of decadence or +effeminacy, a belief the bloody fields of France had swept from him. + +"Well," said the man slowly, "I really don't see that it matters much +now to anyone what my name may be." + +"The only thing that matters to me," Trent cried with almost hysterical +fervor, "is that I'm not blind as I thought I was." + +The answer of the unknown man was singular; but Trent, who was not far +from hysteria on account of bodily pain and the mental anguish through +which he had been, did not take note of it. + +"I don't think that matters much either," the voice of the man in the +dark commented. + +"Then where are we?" Trent demanded. + +"There again I can't help you much," the unknown answered. "This _was_ a +common or garden dug-out." + +"_Was_," Trent repeated, "What is it now?" + +"A tomb," the stranger told him puffing at his cigarette. "I found you +bleeding to death and I bandaged your arm. I was knocked out myself and +your men and mine had gone on and there was never a Red Cross man or +anyone else in sight so I carried you into this dug-out. All of a sudden +some damned H. E. blocked up the opening. When the dust settled I +explored with my few matches. Our tomb is sealed up--absolutely. I've +often heard of it happening before. It looks as if a house had been +lifted up and planted right on this dug-out." + +"So that's why you said it didn't matter much if I could see or not?" + +"Does it?" the man asked shortly. + +"Have you another match?" Trent asked presently. "I'd like to explore." + +"No good," the other retorted. "I've been all round the damned place and +there isn't a chance, except that the thing may collapse and bury us." + +"Then we are to starve to death without an effort?" + +"We shall asphyxiate, we shan't starve. Don't you notice how heavy the +air is? Presently we shall get drowsy. Already I feel light headed and +inclined to talk." + +"Then talk," Trent said, "Anything is better than sitting here and +waiting. The air is heavy; I notice it now. I suppose I'm going to be +delirious. Talk, damn you, talk. Why not tell me your name? What +difference can it make to you now? Are you afraid? Have you done things +you're ashamed of? Why let that worry you since it only proves you're +human." + +"I'm not ashamed of what I've done," the other drawled, "it's my family +which persists in saying I've disgraced it." + +Anthony Trent was in a strange mood. Ordinarily secretive to a degree +and fearful always of dropping a hint that might draw suspicion to his +ways of life, he found himself laughing in a good humored way that this +English soldier should imagine he must conceal his name for fear of +disgrace. Why the man was a child, a pigmy compared with Anthony Trent. +He had perhaps disobeyed an autocrat father or possibly married a chorus +girl instead of a blue blooded maiden. + +"You've probably done nothing," said Trent. "It may be you were expelled +from school or university and that makes you think you are a desperate +character." + +There was silence for a moment or so. + +"As it happens," the unknown said, "I was expelled from Harrow and +kicked out of Trinity but it isn't for that. I'm known in the army as +Private William Smith of the 78th Battalion, City of London Regiment." + +"I thought you were an officer," Trent said. Private Smith had the kind +of voice which Trent associated with the aristocracy. + +"I'm just a plain private like you," Smith said, "although the lowly +rank is mine for probably far different reasons." + +"I'm not so sure of that," Trent said, a trifle nettled. "I could have +had a commission if I wanted it." + +"I did have one," Smith returned, "but I didn't mean what I said +offensively. I meant only that I dare not accept a commission." + +Anthony Trent waited a moment before he answered. + +"I'm not so sure of that," he said again. + +The reasons for which Trent declined his commission and thereby endured +certain hardships not unconnected with sleeping quarters and noisy +companionship were entirely to his credit. Always with the fear of +exposure before his eyes he did not want to place odium on the status of +the American officer as he would have done had screaming headlines in +the papers spoken of the capture by police authorities of Lieutenant +Anthony Trent the cleverest of modern crooks. But he could not bring +himself to speak of this even in his present unusual mood. + +"It doesn't matter now very much," Smith said laughing a little, "we +shall both be called missing and the prison camps will be searched for +us. In the end my family may revere my memory and yours call you its +chief glory." + +"I haven't a family," Trent said. "I used to be sorry for it. I'm glad +now." He stopped suddenly. "Do you know," he said later, "you were +laughing just now. You're either crazy or else you must have your nerve +with you still." + +"I may be crazy," returned Private Smith, "but I usually make my living +by having my nerve with me as you call it. It has been my downfall. If I +had been a good, moral child, amenable to discipline I might have +commanded a regiment instead of being a 'tommy' and I might be repenting +now. By the way you don't seem as depressed as one might expect. Why?" + +"After a year of this war one doesn't easily lose the habit of laughing +at death." + +"I've had four years of it," Smith said. "I was a ranker when it broke +out and saw the whole show from August 1914. On the whole what is +coming will be a rest. I don't know how they manage these things in +your country but in England when a man has been, well call it unwise, +there is always a chance of feeling a heavy hand on one's shoulder and +hearing a voice saying in one's ear, 'I arrest you in the King's name!' +Very dramatic and impressive and all that sort of thing, but wearing on +the nerves--very." Private Smith laughed gently, "I'm afraid you are +dying in rather bad company." + +"We have something in common perhaps," Trent said. He grinned to himself +in the covering blackness as he said it. "Tell me, did you ever hear of +Anthony Trent?" + +"Never," Private Smith returned quickly. "Sorry! I suppose I ought to +know all about him. What has he done?" + +"He wrote stories of super-crookdom for one thing." + +"That explains it," Smith asserted, "You see those stories rather bore +me. I read them when I was young and innocent but now I know how +extremely fictional they are; written for the greater part, I'm +informed, by blameless women in boarding houses. I like reading the real +thing." + +"What do you mean by that?" + +"Reports of actual crimes as set forth in the newspapers. +Cross-examinations of witnesses and all that, summing up of the judges +and coroners' inquests. Was this Trent person really good?" + +"You shall judge," said the American. "He wrote of crimes and criminals +from what such actual practitioners had told him. He was for a time a +police reporter on a big New York paper and had to hang around Mulberry +Street. After that he tried the magazines but as editors are so remote +as a rule from actual knowledge of the world's play and work, he didn't +make much money at it. Finally his pet editor--a man with some human +attributes--said in effect, 'I can't raise your rates; the publisher +won't stand for it. If I paid decent prices he couldn't buy champagne +and entertain his favorites.' This was in the era before prohibition. +The human editor went on giving advice and wound up by saying, 'Why +don't you do what your super-crook character does and relieve the +dishonest rich of their stolen bonds? Conway Parker gets away with it, +why shouldn't you?'" + +"Of course he was rotting?" Private Smith asked. + +"Yes," the American said, "He didn't really mean it but the thought +germs fell into the right sort of broth. Anthony Trent wasn't naturally +a crook but he hated having to live in a cheap boarding house and eat +badly cooked meals and play on a hard-mouthed, hired, upright piano. +Some ancestor had dowered him with a love of beautiful things, rugs, +pictures, pottery, bronzes, music and a rather secluded life. Also he +had dreams about being a great composer. He was a queer mixture. On the +whole rather unbalanced I suppose. His father died and left him almost +nothing. All he could do was newspaper work at first." + +"You mean he actually followed the editor's advice?" + +"Yes. He had certain natural gifts to aid him. He was a first rate +mimic. It's a sort of gift I suppose. He had gone in for amateur +theatricals at his college and done rather well. He pulled off his first +job successfully but the butler saw him and did not forget. That was the +trouble the butler remembered. It wasn't a big affair. It didn't make +any such stir as for example as when he took the Mount Aubyn Ruby." + +"I read of that," Smith returned eagerly. "He knocked out a millionaire +surrounded with detectives and got away in an airplane." + +"He got away but not in an airplane," replied Anthony Trent. "On the +whole the unknown aviator was rather useful to him but was absolutely +blameless. Then there was the case of the Apthorpe emerald. Did you hear +of that?" + +"Haven't I told you," Smith returned impatiently, "that I read all about +things of that sort? How could I have missed that even though I was in +the trenches when it happened. It was the delight of my hospital life to +read about it in Reynolds Journal. It was said a woman murdered old +Apthorpe for it." + +"She did," Trent admitted, "and she took the emerald but Anthony Trent +got it from her and fooled them all. His last big job before the United +States got into the war was getting the blue-white diamond that was +known as the Nizam's Diamond." + +"A hundred carat stone," Smith said reverently. "By Jove, what a master! +As I never heard of him of course he was never caught. They are all +caught in the end, though. His day will come." + +For a moment the thought that Anthony Trent's life was coming to an end +before many hours had passed took the narrator from his mood of triumph +into a state of depression. To have to give up everything and die in the +darkness. Exit Anthony Trent for all time! And as he thought of his +enemies the police toiling for the rich rewards that they would never +get for apprehending him his black mood passed and Smith heard him +chuckle. + +"They all get caught in the end," Smith repeated, "the best of them. The +doctrine of averages is against them. Your Anthony Trent is one lone man +fighting against so many. He may have the luck with him so far but +there's only one end to it. They got Captain Despard and he was a +top-hole marauder. They got our estimable Charles Peace and they +electrocuted Regan in your own country only last month and he was +clever, God knows. I think I'd back your Trent man against any single +opponent, but the odds are too great. The pack will pull him down and +break him up some day." + +Again Private Smith of the City of London regiment heard the man he had +rescued from danger to present him with death, laugh a curious +triumphant laugh. He had seen so much of war's terror that he supposed +the man was going mad. It would perhaps be a more merciful end. + +"No," said the American. "Anthony Trent will never be discovered. He +will be the one great criminal who will escape to the confusion of the +detectives of New York and London. _I am Anthony Trent._" + + + + +CHAPTER THREE + +_THE BEGINNING OF THE SEARCH_ + + +"You?" cried Private Smith. "Ye Gods! And I haven't even a match left so +I can see you before we go. I die in better company than I know." Trent +could hear that he raised himself slowly and painfully to his feet. Then +he heard the soldier's heels click smartly together. "Ave Cæsar--" he +began. But the immortal speech of those gladiators being about to die +was not finished. + +There broke on Trent's astonished gaze a flash of sunlight that made him +blink painfully. And the terrifying noise of high explosive hurt his +ears and that swift dreadful sucking of the air that followed such +explosions was about him again in its intensity. He had been dug out of +his tomb for what? + +The doctors thought him a very bad case. Of course he was delirious. He +stuck to a ridiculous story that he was imprisoned in a tomb with one +William Smith, a private in the 78th Battalion of the City of London +Regiment and that H. E. had mysteriously disinterred him. H. E. did +perform marvels that were seemingly against known natural laws but +Private Trent was obviously suffering from shell shock. + +When he was better and had been removed to a hospital far from the area +of fighting he still kept to his story. One of the doctors who liked him +explained that the delusion must be banished. He spoke very +convincingly. He explained by latest methods that the unreal becomes +real unless the patient gets a grip on himself. He said that Trent was +likely to go through life trying to find a non-existent friend and +ruining his prospects in the doing of it. "I'll admit," he said at the +end of his harangue, "that you choose your friend's name well." + +"Why do you say that?" Trent asked. + +"Because the muster roll of the 78th shows no fewer than twenty-seven +William Smiths and they're all of 'em dead. That battalion got into the +thick of every scrap that started." + +Trent said no more but made investigations on his own behalf. +Unfortunately there was none to help him. The ambulance that picked him +up was shelled and he had been taken from its bloody interior the only +living soul of the crew and passengers. None lived who could tell him +what became of his companion, the man to whom he had revealed his +identity, the man who possessed his secret to the full. + +When he was discharged from the service and was convalescing in +Bournemouth he satisfied himself that the unknown Smith had died. Again +luck was with Anthony Trent. The one man--with the exception of Sutton +whose lips he was sure were sealed--who could make a clear hundred +thousand dollars reward for his capture was removed from the chance of +doing it even as the knowledge was offered him. The words that he would +have spoken, "Hail Cæsar, I, being about to die, salute thee!" had come +true in that blinding flash that had brought Anthony Trent back to the +world. + +But even with this last narrow escape to sober him Trent was not certain +whether the old excitement would call and send him out to pit himself +against society. He had no grievance against wealthy men as such. What +he had wanted of theirs he had taken. He was now well enough off to +indulge in the life, as a writer, he had wanted. He had taken his part +in the great war as a patriot should and was returning to his native +land decorated by two governments. Again and again as he sat at the +balcony of his room at the Royal Bath Hotel and looked over the bay to +the cliffs of Swanage he asked himself this question--was he through +with the old life or not? He could not answer. But he noticed that when +he boarded the giant Cunarder he looked about him with the old keenness, +the professional scrutiny, the eagerness of other days. + +He tipped the head steward heavily and then consulted the passenger list +and elected to sit next to a Mrs. Colliver wife of a Troy millionaire. +She was a dull lady and one who lived to eat, but he had heard her +boasting to a friend on the boat train that her husband had purchased a +diamond tiara in Bond Street which would eclipse anything Troy had to +offer. Mrs. Colliver dreaded to think of the duty that would have to be +paid especially as during the war less collars were used than in normal +times. + +It was with a feeling of content that Anthony Trent paced the deck as +the liner began her voyage home. Two years was a long time to be away +and he felt that a long lazy month in his Maine camp would be the +nearest thing to the perfect state that he could dream of when he heard, +distinctly, without a chance of being mistaken, the voice of Private +William Smith shouting a goodbye from the pier. + +Trent had a curiously sensitive ear. He had never, for example, failed +to recognize a voice even distorted over telephone wires. William Smith +had one of those distinctive voices of the same timbre and inflection of +those of his caste but with a certain quality, that Trent could not now +stop to analyze, which stamped it as different. + +All Trent's old caution returned to him. It was possible that the man +whom he had supposed dead had come to see the Cunarder off without +knowing Anthony Trent was aboard. But the passenger lists could be +inspected and even now the law might have been set in motion that would +take him handcuffed from the vessel at quarantine to be locked up in a +prison. He was worth a hundred thousand dollars to any informant and he +could not doubt that the so-called Smith had gone wrong because of the +lust for money to pay his extravagances. It was inevitably the reason in +men of the class of Smith and Despard. + +He was obsessed with the determination to find out. He would track the +man he had known as Smith and find out without letting him be any the +wiser. A hundred ideas of disguise flashed across the quick-working +brain. He tried to tell himself that it was likely that the voice might +have proceeded from an utter stranger. But this was false comfort he +knew. It was Smith of the 78th City of London regiment who was on the +pier already growing inch by inch farther away. + +The second officer tried to stop him and a passenger grasped him by the +arm as he climbed the rails but they tried vainly. He dropped as lightly +as he could and picked himself up a little dazed and looked around. He +could see a hundred faces peering down at him from the moving decks +overhead. He could see a crowd of people streaming down the pier to the +city. And among them was the man he sought. + +"One moment, sir," said a policeman restraining him, "what's the meaning +of this?" + +"Just come ashore," Trent smiled. The policeman loomed over him huge, +stolid, ominous. The man looked from Trent in evening dress and without +hat or overcoat, to the shadowy ship now on her thousand league voyage +and he shook his head. It was an irregular procedure, he told himself +and as such open to grave suspicion. But he was courteous. Trent was a +gentleman and no look of fear came to his face when the officer spoke. +The man remained close to Trent when he approached the few groups of +people still on the pier. To every man in the groups the stranger +contrived to ask a question. Of one he asked the time, of another the +best hotel in Liverpool. + +"It may seem very strange," said Trent pleasantly to the perplexed +policeman, "but I did an unaccountable thing. I thought I saw a man who +was in the trenches with me in France during the war and saved my life +and I sprang over the side to find him and now he's gone." + +The policeman waved a white gloved hand to the people who had already +left the landing stage. + +"Your friend may be there, sir," he said. + +"You don't want to detain me, then?" Trent cried. + +"It's dark, sir," said the policeman, "and I could hardly be expected to +remember which way you went." + +At the end of the short pier was a taxicab stand and a space where +private machines might park. Anthony Trent arrived in time to see a huge +limousine driven by a liveried chauffeur with a footman by his side +begin to climb the step grade to the street. As it passed him he could +swear he heard Smith's voice from within, saying, "It's the most rotten +luck that I should be a younger son and not get the chances Geoffrey +does." + +Trent could not see the number plate of the big machine. He could note +only a coat of arms on the door surmounted by a coronet. He had no time +to ask if any of the dock laborers knew the occupants. He sprang into +the sole taxi that occupied the stand and commanded the driver to +overtake the larger car. So eager was the man to earn the double fare +that he was halted by a policeman outside the Atlantic Riverside +Station. The time taken up by explanations permitted the coronetted +limousine to escape. + +In so big a city as Liverpool a car could be lost easily but the +sanguine taxi driver, certain at least of getting his fare, persisted in +driving all over the city and its suburbs until he landed his passenger +tired and disappointed at the Midland Hotel. + +On the whole Anthony Trent had rarely spent such unprofitable hours. He +had paid a premium for his state room on a fast boat and was now +stranded in a strange city without baggage. And of course he was +worried. He had believed himself alone to have been rescued when the +high explosive had taken the roof from his tomb. Now it seemed probable +that the British soldier, Smith, had also made his escape. + +Although it was quite possible Trent was following a stranger whose +voice was like that of Private Smith, he had yet to find that stranger +and make sure of it. Trent was not one to run away from danger. + +As he sat in the easy chair before the window he told himself again and +again that it was probable the voice he identified with the unknown +Smith was like that of a thousand other men of his class. He had acted +stupidly in jumping from a ship's rails and risking his limbs. And how +much more unwisely had he acted in that black silence when he was led to +cast aside his habitual silence and talk freely to a stranger. In effect +he had put himself in the keeping of another man without receiving any +confidence in return. He blamed the wound, the shock and a thousand +physical causes for it but the fact was not to be banished by that. +Smith knew Anthony Trent as a master criminal while Anthony Trent only +knew that Smith has enlisted under another name because he had disgraced +his own. It might easily be that this unknown Smith was like a hundred +other "gentlemen rankers" who could only be accused of idleness and +instability. But Anthony Trent stirred uneasily when he recalled the +eagerness with which Smith spoke of some of those crimes Anthony Trent +had committed. Smith knew about them, admired the man who planned them. +Trent on thinking it over for the hundredth time believed Smith was +indeed a crook and as such dangerous to him. + +Few men believe in intuition, guess work or "hunches" as do those who +work outside the law. Again and again Anthony Trent had found his +"hunches" were correct. Once or twice he had saved himself by implicitly +acting on them in apparent defiance of reason. At the end of many hours +during which he tried to tell himself he was mistaken and this voice +owned by someone else, he gave it up. He knew it was Smith. + +To find out by what name the Smith of the dug-out went by in his own +country must be the first step. The second would be to shadow him, +observe his way of life and go through his papers. So far all he had to +go upon was a quick glance at an automobile of unknown make upon whose +panels a coat of arms was emblazoned surmounted by a crown. Had he +possessed a knowledge of heraldry he could have told at a glance whether +the coronet was that of a baron, viscount, earl, marquis or duke and so +narrowed down the search. And had he observed the coat of arms and motto +he could have made certain, for all armorial bearings are taxable and +registered. + +To try to comb the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire for the occupants +of an unknown car would take time and might lead to police interest in +his activities. + +Before he retired to his bed a courteous agent of the Cunard Company had +called upon him to inquire at what he was dissatisfied that he left the +ship so suddenly. To this agent he told the same story--the true +one--that he had told the policeman. + +The purser was able to inform the group in the smoking room ere it +retired. + +"I don't believe that for a moment," Colliver declared. + +"Why not?" asked the Harvard professor, "don't you know that truth in +the mouth of an habitual liar is often a potent and confounding weapon?" + +"Maybe," Colliver said dryly, "but I'm an honest man and I'd like to +know why you think that man Trent was an habitual liar." + +"I don't know," the professor answered amiably. "I always think in terms +of crime on board ship." + +"There's no need to on this ship," the purser said testily. + +"I hope not," said the professor, "but coming back from the far East +last year on another line I made friends with a man much of the build of +Mr. Colliver here. I did not like him very much. He had only prejudices +and no opinions. A typical successful man of business I presume." + +"Thank you," said Mr. Colliver finding one of his own neck adornments +growing tight. + +"He was murdered," the theologian went on, "because he carried some +diamonds for his wife in a pocket. Some thieves found it out." + +"What thieves?" Colliver demanded. + +"It is one of the undiscovered murders on the high seas," the professor +said placidly. + +"Mighty awkward for you," Colliver said, still angry. + +"Fortunately I had an alibi," said the other, "I was violently ill of +_mal de mer_." + +"Mighty convenient," Colliver commented. + +Later he asked the purser's private opinion of the professor. Myers +Irving joined with Colliver in resenting the professor's attack on +business men. + +"Ordinarily," Colliver said, "I don't like advertising men, but you're +different. They're like vultures after my account as a rule." + +"You'd have to force your account on me," said Myers Irving seriously. +"I'm not an ordinary business or advertising man. Primarily I'm a +business builder. I leave nothing to underlings. I direct everything +personally. I take few accounts. If my clients don't make good on their +end of it I give them up. I make money for my clients. I have no other +ambition. I believe in advertising. It might be that fellow Trent jumped +ashore for some publicity stunt. Supposing he said he did it because he +forgot to order some special dish at the Adelphi or Midland? Such a dish +would get more publicity than you could shake a stick at. But I'm not +here to talk shop." + +Colliver watched the trim advertising man saunter off. + +"A bright boy," commented the Troy magnate, "maybe he'll be surprised +before this trip is over. Maybe he'll have to talk shop." + +Captain Sutton listened to the purser's explanation as though they were +entirely reasonable. But all the time he said to himself, "why need he +have been afraid of me?" + + * * * * * + +Anthony Trent bought himself a suit of clothes in the city and set out +for London on the ten o'clock train. An Army List showed him the names +of the officers of the City of London Regiment. He decided to call upon +the adjutant, a Captain Edgell. It took him little time to find out that +Edgell had resumed his former occupation of stock broker and was living +with his family at Banstead in Surrey. + +Edgell was a golfer of distinction and before the war had been a scratch +man at the club on the Downs. Five years absence had sent his handicap +up a bit but he was engaged in pulling it down when a golfing stranger +from the United States giving the name of Trent who had the club's +privileges for the day asked him if he could introduce him to a member +for a round of golf. It so happened that most of the men waiting to play +were ruddy faced gentlemen with handicaps of from twelve up to +twenty-four. They did not excite Edgell. + +"Glad to," he said heartily. He had been brigaded with Americans and +liked them. "Do you play a strong game?" + +"I have a two handicap at Wykasol," Trent said. + +"Good business," cried Edgell, "we'll play together." + +They played. They became intimate during the game and Edgell learned +with regret that Trent was not one of the many American business men +engaged in their work in London. Trent beat the stockbroker on the +twenty-third hole. + +"If I could only putt like that," said Edgell, "I'd have a chance for +the open championship." + +"I wish I could drive a ball the length you do," Trent said not to be +outdone. + +"Of course you'll have dinner with us," the stockbroker said. "We don't +dress for it any more since the war so you've no excuse. I learned to +make cocktails from some of your fellows in France so you ought to feel +at home." + +"As home used to be," Trent corrected. "I'd love to come if I'm not +putting you out." + +Edgell's home was a half-timbered house standing in an acre of lawn and +flower garden. It was thoroughly comfortable. There seemed to be a +number of children but they did not obtrude. Trent could see them +playing in different parts of the garden, the little ones with their +nurse and the elder playing clock golf on a perfect green in front of +the house. Always the quiet secure atmosphere of a home such as this +brought to Anthony Trent a vision of what he had lost or rather of what +he could never obtain. + +Little six-year old Marjorie Edgell liked Trent on sight and liking him +announced it openly. She told him what a great man her father was and +how he had medals and things. Finally she asked the visitor whether he +would not like to have medals. It was the opportunity for which Trent +had been looking. Ordinarily averse to talking of himself, he wanted to +get on to the subject of the war with the late adjutant of the +seventy-eighth. + +"I have," he told little Marjorie. + +"Daddy," she shrieked in excitement, "Mr. Trent has medals too." + +"So you were in the big thing?" Edgell asked. "Honestly wouldn't you +rather play golf? I can get all the excitement I want on the Stock +Exchange to last me the rest of my life. I enlisted in a city regiment +as a private and I left it as adjutant after four years and I'm all for +the piping ways of peace. My battalion was the 78th and we always had +the luck with us. Whenever we got anywhere something started." + +"The seventy-eighth battalion," Trent commented, "I had a pal in your +battalion, a pal who saved my life. I'm going to look him up next week. +Curious that I should be talking to his adjutant. William Smith was his +name. I wonder if you knew him?" + +"I wonder if you know how many William Smiths and John Smiths are lying +in France and Flanders with little wooden crosses over them?" + +"This one came through all right," Trent said. + +"At least ten William Smiths came through," Edgell asserted. "I think I +remember them all. Which was your man? Describe him." + +Trent lighted his cigarette very deliberately. To be asked to describe a +man he had claimed as a pal and yet had never seen face to face was not +easy. + +"I think you would recognize my William Smith," Trent answered, "if I +told you he was not really William Smith at all but a man who had +assumed that name as a disguise." + +"I understand," Edgell exclaimed, "a slight blond man very erect and +rather supercilious with what the other men called a lah-de-dah voice. I +remember him well. I had him up before me for punishment many times. +Little infractions of discipline which he constantly committed. Used to +rile me by his superior airs. Quite a mysterious person. Saved your life +did he? Well, he had all the pluck a man need have." + +"I want to thank him for it," Trent said, "but I've only known him as +William Smith. The War Office people tell me he was demobilized three +months back and they have no address. If you'll tell me, in confidence, +his real name I can find him out." + +"But my dear chap," said Captain Edgell, "I don't know it. None of us +knew it. My sergeant-major swore he'd been a regular and an officer but +that's mere conjecture. He _was_ a regular now I come to think of it and +sent to us when his own regiment was wiped out in the Autumn of 1914." + +"Who would be able to tell me?" Trent asked eagerly. + +"The colonel knew," Edgell declared, "I sent him up to the old man for +punishment once. The colonel looked at him as if he could not believe +his eyes. 'You are down here as William Smith,' he said." + +"'That is my name, sir,' said Smith." + +"Then the colonel knew him?" Trent asked. + +"Undoubtedly. I was told to leave them alone. I should like to have +asked Colonel Langley but he is one of those men it's hard to approach. +Doesn't mean to be standoffish but gives that impression. One of those +very tall men who seem to be looking through you and taking no interest +whatsoever in the proceeding." + +"I want to find out," Trent said, "could you give me a letter of +introduction?" + +"Glad to," Edgell replied, "but he's like that native song bird of +yours, the clam. He is a silent fighter. The men respected him and went +to their deaths for him but they would have felt it disrespectful to +love him. He lives at a place called Dereham Old Hall in Norfolk. A +great county swell with magnificent shooting. One of those places +royalty stays every year for a week at the partridges. Always thought +it a funny thing he was given the command of a lot of cockneys +considering he was Sandhurst and Tenth Hussars till he married and +chucked the service, but he made good as you fellows say." + +While Captain Edgell was writing the letter Trent had leisure to reflect +that the identity of Private William Smith might remain permanently +veiled in obscurity if Colonel Langley refused to talk. If the colonel +was not to be lured to disclose what Trent needed to know, the American +would be left in a very unpleasant position. Until he knew whether his +"hunch" was right or wrong he could never again sleep in peace with the +name Anthony Trent as his own. He was in danger every minute. Smith +might have tracked him to the liner to have him arrested in America. +That he had left the boat might easily be known. Therefore in order to +win twenty thousand sovereigns English money, or a half million francs +in the coinage of the country where the two had spent weary months, +Smith had only to start the hue and cry in England. The ports would be +watched. In the end they would get him. + +There was no escape over the borders to Mexico or dash to safety over +the Canadian frontier as he had planned to do under similar conditions +of peril in his own country. Here on an island they had got him. He was +weaving evidence that could be used against him by making this display +of interest in Private Smith. Captain Edgell could give testimony that +would not help his case. + +"Here you are," said Edgell genially, "I've taken the liberty of calling +you an old golfing pal. I've done all I could but Colonel Langley is not +easy of approach. I'm not at all hopeful." + +"It isn't really serious," Trent explained after thanking him, "but I'd +like to see him again. He did undoubtedly save my life and carried me +into safety. Quite a physical feat for one of his weight. What do you +suppose he weighs?" + +"About ten stone seven," the other answered. + +That was one hundred and forty-seven pounds. Trent was gradually +building up a portrait of the man he feared. + +"And about five feet seven in height?" he hinted. + +"That's the man," Edgell asserted. "Quite a good looking chap, too, if +you care for the type. Rather too effeminate for me although, God knows, +he is a man." + +It was not easy to see Colonel Langley, D.S.O. Trent knew that county +magnates such as he was did not see everyone who desired an interview. +He stayed at a good hotel in Norwich and enclosed Captain Edgell's +letter in one of his own. + +The answer came back in the third person. It was favorable and +punctiliously polite. Colonel Langley would be happy to see Mr. Anthony +Trent at eleven o'clock on a certain morning. Dereham Old Hall was a +dozen miles from Norwich, city of gardens, city of Norman cathedrals and +many quaintly named parish churches. Trent hired a motor car and drove +through the leafy Norfolk lanes. + +Colonel Langley's residence was the work of Inigo Jones and a perfect +example of the Renaissance style. It stood at least a mile from the high +road. The lodge keeper telephoned to the house and Trent's driver was +permitted to drive through the deer park and pull up before the great +front doors. + +The room in which Anthony Trent waited for the colonel was evidently a +sort of smoking room. Trophies of the chase adorned the walls. It was +evident Langley was a hunter of great game and had shot in all parts of +the globe from Alaska to Africa. + +He was a man of six feet four in height, grizzled and wore a small +clipped military moustache. It was not a hard face, Trent noted, but +that of a man who had always been removed from pursuits or people who +wearied him. There was a sense of power in the face and that inevitable +keenness of eye which a man who commanded a regiment could not fail to +have acquired. + +He bowed his visitor to a seat. He did not offer to shake hands. + +"You have come," he said politely, "from my former adjutant to ask a +question concerning the regiment which he writes he could not tell you. +I can think of nothing to which this would apply. He had every thread of +the business in his hands." + +"Captain Edgell could not tell me the real name of one of his men who +enlisted under the name of William Smith." + +There was no change of expression on the rather cold face of the lord of +broad acres. + +"And what made Captain Edgell assume I could help you, sir?" + +"I don't know all the particulars but he was certain you knew his real +identity." + +"If I do," Colonel Langley returned, "I shall keep that knowledge to +myself. I regret that you have had this trouble for nothing." + +"William Smith," Trent told the other, "saved my life. I want to thank +him for it. Is there anything odd in that? You alone can help me so I +come to you. I want to help William Smith. I have money which I should +not have been able to enjoy but for him." + +"You imagine, then, that William Smith is penniless, is that it?" + +"He told me he was," Trent answered promptly. "I can offer him an +opportunity to make good money in New York." + +He looked at Colonel Langley as he said it. If Smith was indeed of a +great family the idea of being offered money and a job must amuse the +one who knew his real name and estate. Sure enough a flicker of a smile +passed over the landowner's face. + +"I am happy to inform you," he said, "that Mr. Smith is living at home +with his family financially secure enough not to need your aid." + +"That," said Trent deliberately, "is more than you can say." + +"I am not in the habit of hearing my word doubted," the older man said +acidly. + +"I am not doubting it," Trent said suavely, "I mean merely to remind +you that he may need my aid although it may not be monetary aid. You +will remember that there have been passages in Mr. Smith's life which +have not been entirely creditable." + +"Are you claiming to be friend or accomplice?" Langley snapped. + +"Let us say friend and confidant," Trent smiled. "Perhaps he made +certain confessions to me--" + +"To you also?" Langley cried. + +In that moment he had said too much. During that hour when Edgell left +the private alone with his commanding officer the officer had obtained +his confidence and very likely a confession. He saw the soldier throw a +quick glance at one of those old safes which disguised themselves as +necessary articles of furniture. Trent's eyes dwelt on it no longer than +the owner's did, but he saw enough. Colonel Langley had told him plainly +that the confession was locked in the safe which looked like a black oak +sideboard on which decanters and a humidor were arranged. + +"To me also," Trent repeated, "and it is because of it that I knew he +did what he did for the reason he needed more money than a younger son +could expect. Colonel Langley, I only want his real name. I want to help +him. That's why I spoke of offering him money." + +"You will be glad to know," the colonel answered, "that Mr. Smith is at +present in no need of money." + +"You mean," Trent said sharply, "that you will not give me his real name +and address?" + +"I cannot tell you," Colonel Langley answered. "If you like I will write +and say you have called and give him the opportunity to do as he +pleases." + +Trent reflected for a moment. If Smith were not already aware of his +presence in England it would be very unwise to advertise it. He was +beginning to see he had been less than cautious in calling upon Edgell +and Colonel Langley under his own name. + +"I need not trouble you to do that," he said, "if you wish to conceal +his name it is no doubt your privilege and he will do well enough +without my thanks." + + * * * * * + +He made his chauffeur drive home at a temperate speed. The man knew all +about the Langleys and was glad to tell the affable stranger. As they +passed through the gates several carriages laden with men and some +station carts filled with baggage passed into the gravelled drive. + +"Gentlemen come for the shooting," the chauffeur volunteered. "Tomorrow +is September the first when partridge shooting commences. The colonel is +a great shot and the King comes here often and the German Emperor has +shot over those turnips in the old days. This is supposed to be the best +partridge shoot in the kingdom and the birds are fine and strong this +year--not too much rain in the Spring." + +"I suppose there'll be a regular banquet tonight," said Trent. + +"Tomorrow night's the night," said the chauffeur grinning, "tonight +they all go to bed early so as to be up to an early breakfast and have +their shooting eyes. The colonel's terrible man if any of the guns only +wound their birds. They've got to shoot well tomorrow if they want to +come here again. I know because my uncle is one of the keepers." + +The man was surprised at the tip his American passenger handed him when +they reached the Maids' Head Hotel, and charmed with his affability. He +told his fellows that Trent was a real gentleman. He did not know that +his unsolicited confidence had given the American a hint upon which he +would be quick to act. + +As Trent had been driven along the Dereham Road approach to Norwich he +had seen a little cycle shop where gasoline was sold and repairs made. +The war had sent English people of moderate circumstances back to the +bicycle again and only the wealthy could keep cars or buy petrol at +seventy-five cents a gallon. In his drive he had seen several people of +seemingly good position pedalling cheerfully through the lanes. The +chauffeur had touched his hat to one and spoken of him as rector of a +nearby parish. Cycles were to be hired everywhere and the prevailing +rate seemed to be sixpence an hour or three and six for the day. + +After dinner Anthony Trent found his way back to the little shop in the +Dereham Road. "The Wensum Garage" it proudly called itself. Here he said +he wished to hire a bicycle for a day. As dusk fell he was pedalling +along to Dereham Old Hall. Few people were about and those he passed +evinced no curiosity. Avoiding the main road which passed in front of +the lodge and gates by which he had entered, he hid his wheel between +two hay stacks which almost touched. Then he made his way through the +kitchen gardens to the rear of the house. It was now ten o'clock and the +servants' part of the big house seemed deserted. Already the lights in +the upper stories were evidence that some guests were retiring to rest +well before the "glorious first." + +From the shelter of the rose garden he could see a half score of men and +women on the great terrace in front of the splendid house. He could see +that they were all in evening dress. In a mosquitoless country this +habit of walking up and down the long stone terraces was a common +practice after dinner. Trent came so near to the guests that he could +hear them talking. The conversation was mainly about to-morrow's +prospects. He learned there was little disease among the birds, that +they were phenomenally strong on the wing and hadn't been shot over to +any extent since 1914. Some guests deplored the fact that dancing was +taboo on this night of nights but it was the Langley tradition and they +must bend to it. + +"Think of it," he heard a woman say, laughing, "lights out at twelve! +How primitive and delightful." She yawned a little. "I'm looking forward +to it; we all stay up too late." + +"Good night, Duchess," he heard the man say. "Sleep well and pray I may +be in form." + +"Duchess!" In the old days Anthony Trent would have thrilled at the +title for it meant invariably jewels of price and the gathering of the +very rich. But he was waiting outside the masterpiece of Inigo Jones not +for any of those precious glittering stones for which he had sacrificed +all his prospects of fame and honor but for the documents which he +believed were hidden in the iron box, that ridiculous "pete" covered +with black English oak. It was another of the "hunches" which had come +to him. He had never been more excited about any of the many jobs he had +undertaken. + +As he sat among the roses waiting for time to pass he reflected that the +few failures that had been his had not been attended by any danger. He +had lost the pearls that were wont to encircle the throat of a great +opera singer because her maid had chosen an awkward hour to prosecute +her amour with a chauffeur. The diamonds of the Mexican millionaire's +lady were lost to him because the house took fire while he was examining +the combination of the safe. But they would wait. He would yet have them +both. The booty for which he had come tonight was more precious than +anything he had ever tried for. It was probably the key to safety that +he sought. Trent did not doubt that there was a document in the safe +which would enable him to hold something over the head of Private +William Smith. + +He waited until twelve had struck from the stable clock and the terrace +had been deserted a half-hour. To open the doors leading from the +terrace was simple. Anthony Trent always carried with him on business +bent two strips of tool steel with a key-blade at each end. With these +two "T" and "V" patterns he could open the world's locks. A nine inch +jimmy was easy to secrete. This was of the highest quality of steel and +looked to the uninitiated very much like a chisel. But it differed from +a chisel by having at its other end two brass plates set at right angles +to one another. These could be adjusted to what angles were needed by +turning countersunk screw bolts. It was the ideal tool for yale spring +locks. + +He did not need it here. The doors opened at will with the "V" pattern +skeleton key. Great oriental rugs deadened sound and the boards of the +house were old, seasoned and silent. He found his way to the room in +which the colonel had received him with little difficulty. First of all +he opened the window and saw that he could spring clear out of it at a +bound and land in a bed of flowers only three feet below. Then he came +to the antiquated safe. The combinations were ridiculously easy. His +trained ear caught the faint sounds as he turned the lever easily. These +told him exactly the secret of the combination. It was not two minutes +work to open the doors. An inner sheeting of steel confronted him but +was opened by his jimmy. It was not safe to turn on the electric lights. +In so big an establishment with so many outdoor servants there might be +many to remark an unexpected illumination. His little torch showed him +all he wanted to know. + +Colonel Langley had the soldiers' neatness. There were few valuables in +the safe. They would be presumably in his banker's strong boxes. There +were packets of letters tied up and one long envelope. On it was +inscribed, "Not to be Opened. In case of my death this must be destroyed +by my heir, Reginald Langley." On the envelope was the date, July 27, +1918, and the single word, "Ladigny." + +Ladigny was a little village in France forever memorable by the heroic +stand of the City of London regiment when it lost so terribly and +refused to retreat. Trent opened the envelope in such a way that no +trace of the operation was seen. Then for ten minutes he read steadily. +Almost a half hour was expended in copying part of it in a note book. +Then the envelope was resealed and the safe closed. As he had worn +gloves there was no fear of incriminating finger prints. He did not +think anyone would notice that a jimmy had been used. Then he closed the +safe and its outer doors of black oak. + +He permitted himself the luxury of a cigarette. He had done a good +night's work. If Private William Smith had sufficient evidence to place +Anthony Trent behind the bars the master criminal had sufficient certain +knowledge now to shut the mouth of the man he was tracking. Who would +have thought a man reared in such a family would have fallen so low! It +is a human failure to make comparisons whereby others invariably shine +with a very weak light, but Anthony Trent was saying no more than the +truth when he told himself that with Smith's opportunities he would +never have taken to his present calling. + +With Smith's opportunities he would be sitting in a big room like this +and sitting in it without fear of interruption. The strain of the last +few days had not been agreeable and this strain must grow in intensity +as he grew older. It was always in such peaceful surroundings as these +that Trent felt the bitterness of crime even when successful. + +He stopped suddenly short in his musing and crushed the bright tip of +his cigarette into blackness beneath his foot. Someone was fumbling with +the doorhandle, very quietly as though anxious not to disturb him. He +cursed the carelessness that had allowed him to leave it unlocked. He +had not behaved in a professional way at all. Very cautiously he rose to +his feet, meaning to leave by the open window when the door opened. +Trent sank back into the shadow of the big chair. To make a dash for the +window would mean certain detection. To stay motionless might mean he +could escape later. Similar immobility had saved him ere this. + +The intruder closed the door and his sharp ears told him it was locked. +Then a soft-treading form moved slowly through the dim light and closed +the window, shut off his avenue of escape, and pulled across it two +curtains which shut out all light. There were two other high windows in +the room and across each one was pulled the light-excluding curtains. +Then there was a click and the room sprang into brilliance. + +Anthony Trent saw the intruder at the same moment the intruder stared +into his face. + +It was a girl in evening dress, a beautiful girl with chestnut hair and +a delicious profile. She wore an elaborate evening gown of a delicate +blue and carried in her hand a fan made of a single long ostrich plume. +Her hair was elaborately coiffured. She was, in fine, a woman of the +_beau monde_, a fitting guest in such a house as this. But what was she +doing in this room at one o'clock at night when the rest of the +household had long been abed? + +The girl saw a slender but strongly built man of something over thirty +with a pale, clean-shaven face, shrewd almost hard eyes and a masterful +nose. He looked like a rising English barrister certain at some time to +be a judge or at the least a King's Counsel. He was dressed in a well +cut suit of dark blue with a pin stripe. He wore brown shoes and silk +socks. She noted he had long slender hands perfectly kept. + +He rose to his feet and smiled at her a little quizzically. + +"Really," he said, "you almost frightened me. I was sitting in the dark +making plans for the glorious 'first,' which has been here almost an +hour, when I heard you trying to open the door." + +There was no doubt in her mind but that he was one of the guests who had +arrived from London on the late train and had not changed to evening +dress. There was a train due at Thorpe station at half past ten and the +motor trip would take forty minutes more. + +"I had no idea anyone was here," she said truthfully, "or I shouldn't +have come. You see one can't sleep early even if one is sent to bed as +we all were tonight." She glanced at the clock. "I'm not shooting +tomorrow but if you are why don't you turn in? You know Colonel Langley +is a fearful martinet where the shooting is concerned and insists that +every bird is killed cleanly." + +It was plain that she wished to get rid of him. Trent was frankly +puzzled. The girl had shown no fear or nervousness. Ordinarily the +conventions would have had their innings and she would have hesitated at +the possibility of being found alone with a good looking man at such an +hour. She would have excused herself and left him in the belief that he +was a guest she would meet tomorrow at dinner and dance with after it. +But she showed no such intention. He knew enough about women to see that +she had no intention of waiting for the pleasure of a friendly chat. She +had rather a haughty type of face and spoke with that quick imperious +manner which he had observed in British women of rank or social +importance. + +"I have neuralgia," he said amiably, "and I prefer to sit here than go +to bed. Perhaps you left something here? Can I help you to find it?" + +"I came for a book. Colonel Langley was talking about some African +hunting story your Mr. Roosevelt wrote." + +So she knew him for an American. Well, she would find the American not +easily to be gulled. There came to him the memory of another night in +Fifth Avenue when a woman who seemed to be of fashion and position had +so completely fooled him and had been left in possession of a large sum +of currency. + +He moved toward a bookcase in which were a collection of books on +fishing and shooting. + +"'African Game Trails,'" he said, "here it is." + +There was no doubt in his mind that the look she threw at him was not +one of complete amiability. She wanted him to go. He asked himself why. +It would have been easy for her to go and leave him, and the best way +out of the difficulty, unless she had come for one specific purpose. If +she had come for something concealed in the room and needed it badly +enough she would try and wait until he went. Trent was certain she had +no suspicion as to his own mission. In so big a house as Dereham Old +Hall fifty guests could be entertained easily and it was unlikely she +should know even half of them. He had observed that it was not the +fashion in England to introduce indiscriminately as in his own country. +Guests were introduced to their immediate neighbors; but that appalling +custom whereby one unfortunate is expected to memorize the names of all +present at a gulp was not popular. Because she did not know him would +not lead to suspicion. He was in no danger. Even a servant coming in +would see in him only a friend of his employer. + +"Thank you," she said, taking the book with an appearance of interest. +"Do you know I never thought to see Americans at Dereham Old Hall with +the single exception of Reginald's old friend Conington Warren. Colonel +Langley is so conservative but the war has broadened everyone hasn't it +and stupid national prejudices are breaking down." + +"Conington Warren here?" he asked. + +"He lives in England now," she told him, "his physicians warned him that +prohibition would kill him so they simply prescribed a country where he +could still take this cocktail. You know him of course?" + +"A little," he said; she wondered why he smiled so curiously. He +wondered what this beautiful girl would say if she knew it was at +Conington Warren's mansion in Fifth avenue that he had started his +career as a criminal. So that great sportsman, owner of thoroughbreds +and undeniable shot, was in this very house! After all it was not a +strange coincidence. The well known Americans who love horse and hound +with the passion of the true sportsman are to be seen in the great +houses of England more readily than the mushroom financier. + +"What other people are there here you know?" she demanded. + +"I can't tell you till tomorrow," he returned, "I only said a word or +two to the Duchess. She deplored having to go to bed so early and was +disappointed at not being able to dance." + +"She is one of my dearest friends," the girl answered. + +"Which means you see her every fault," he laughed. + +"Isn't your neuralgia better?" she asked after a pause. + +Anthony Trent shook his head. + +"I shan't sleep all night," he said despondently. "Going to bed would +only make it worse." + +She was obviously put out at this statement. + +"Then you'll stop here all night?" + +"At all events until it gets light. It's only two o'clock now. If you +are keen on big game hunting you won't sleep if you begin that book." + +"You'll frighten the servants in the morning," she said later. + +"I'll tip them into confidence," he assured her. + +The girl was growing nervous. There were a hundred symptoms from the +tapping of her little feet on the rug to the fidgeting with the book and +the meaningless play with her fan. She started when a distant dog bayed +the moon and dropped her book. It rolled under a table and Trent picked +it up. But when he handed it back to her there was an air of excitement +about him, an atmosphere of triumph which puzzled her. + +"You look as though you enjoyed hunting for books under tables." + +"I enjoy any hunting when I get a reward for my trouble." + +"And what did you find?" she asked "a little mouse under the chair?" + +"I found a key," he said. + +"Someone must have dropped it," she said idly. + +"Not a door key," he returned, "but the key to a mystery. Being a woman +you are interested in mysteries that have a beautiful society girl as +their heroine of course?" + +"I really must disappoint you," she said rather coldly, "and I don't +quite understand why you are not quick to take the many hints I have +dropped. Can't you see I want to sit here alone and think? Your own room +will be just as comfortably furnished. In a sense this is a sort of +second home to me. Mrs. Langley and I are related and this room is an +old and favorite haunt when I'm depressed. Is it asking very much that +you leave me here alone?" + +"Under ordinary conditions no," he said suavely. + +"These are ordinary conditions," she persisted. + +"I'm not sure," he retorted. "Tell me this if you dare. Why have you the +combination to a safe written on a little piece of mauve paper and +concealed in the book on your lap?" + +She turned very pale and the look she gave him turned his suspicion into +a desire to protect her. The woman of the world air dropped from her and +she looked a frightened pathetic and extraordinarily lovely child. + +"What shall I do?" she cried helplessly. "You are a detective?" + +"Not yet," he said smiling, "although later I intend to be. But I'm not +here even as a great amateur. Consider me merely a notoriously good shot +suffering equally from neuralgia and curiosity. You have the combination +of a safe concealed in this room and you want me to go to bed so that +you may take out wads of bank notes and pay your bridge debts. Is that +right so far?" + +"You are absolutely wrong," she cried with spirit. "I need no money and +have no debts. There are no jewels in the safe." + +"Letters of course," he said easily. + +She did not speak for a moment. He could see she was wondering what she +dare tell him. She could not guess that he knew of the three packages of +letters each tied with green ribbon. It was, he supposed, the old story +of compromising letters. Innocent enough, but letters that would spell +evil tidings to the jealous fiancé. They might have been written to +Colonel Langley. Men of that heroic stamp often appealed to sentimental +school girls and the colonel was undeniably handsome in his cold +superior way. His heart ached for her. She was suffering. What had +seemed so easy was now become a task of the greatest difficulty. + +"Yes," she said deliberately, "letters. Letters I must have." + +"Do you suppose I can stand by and see my host robbed?" + +"If you have any generosity about you you can in this instance. I only +want to destroy one letter because if it should ever be discovered it +will hurt the man I love most in the world." + +Anthony Trent groaned. He had guessed aright. There was some man of her +own class and station who did not love her well enough to overlook some +little silly affectionate note sent to the _beau sabreur_ Langley +perhaps a half dozen years before. It was a rotten thing to keep such +letters. He looked at the girl again and cursed his luck that she was +already engaged. Then he sighed and remembered that even were she free +it could never be his lot to marry unless he confessed all. And he knew +that to a woman of the type he wanted to marry this confession would +mean the end of confidence the beginning of despair. + +"I shall not stop you," he said. + +She looked at him eagerly. + +"And you'll never tell?" + +"Not if they put me through the third degree." + +"But ... oughtn't you to tell?" she asked. + +"Of course," he admitted, "but I won't. I can see you are wondering why. +I'll tell you. I've been in just such a position--and I did what you are +going to do." + +Without another word she went swiftly to the concealed safe and began to +manipulate the lock. For five minutes she tried and then turned to him +miserably. + +"It won't open," she wailed. + +"I'll have a shot at it," he said gaily, and went down on his knees by +her side. He soon found out why it remained immovable. It was an old +combination. She did not understand his moves as he went through the +same procedure which had opened it before. She only saw that the doors +swung back. She did not see him pry the iron sheathing back with the +jimmy. It was miraculously easy. + +Then he crossed the room to his chair and lighted another cigarette. +"Help yourself," he cried and picked up the book which had held the +combination. + +The girl's back was to him and he could not see what she was doing. He +heard the scratch of a match being lighted and saw her stooping over the +stone fireplace. She was burning her past. Then he heard her sigh with +relief. + +"I shall never forget what you have done for me," she said holding out +her hand. + +"It was little enough," he said earnestly. + +"You don't know just how much it was," the girl returned, "or how +grateful I shall always be to you. If I hadn't got that letter! I +shouldn't have got it but for you. And to think that tomorrow we shall +be introduced as one stranger to another. I'm rather glad I don't know +your name or you mine. It will be rather fun won't it, being introduced +and pretending we've never met before. If you are not very careful the +Duchess will suspect we share some dreadful secret." + +"The Duchess is rather that way inclined, isn't she?" he said. + +He held the hand she offered him almost uncomfortably long a time. She +would look for him tomorrow in vain. He supposed she would begin by +asking if there were any other Americans there except Conington Warren. +After a time she would find he was not a guest of the Langleys. She +would come at last to know what he was. And with this knowledge there +would come contempt and a deliberate wiping his image from her mind. +Anthony Trent had no sentimental excuses to offer. He had chosen his own +line of country. + +He looked at her again. It would be the last time. Perhaps there was a +dangerously magnetic quality about his glance for the girl dropped her +eyes. + +"Faustus," he said abruptly, "sold his soul for a future. I think I'd be +willing to barter mine for a past." + +"_Au revoir_," she said softly. + +When she had closed the door he walked across the room to shut the safe. +What secrets of hers, he wondered, had been shut up there so long. He +found himself in a new and strange frame of mind. Why should he be +jealous of what she might have written in the letter that was now ashes? +She had probably thought hero-worship was love. She had a splendid face +he told himself. High courage, loyalty and breeding were mirrored in it. +He wondered what sort of a man it was who had won her. + +He looked at the neatly-tied bundle of letters. It seemed as though they +had hardly been touched. Suddenly he turned to the compartment where the +long letter had lain, the letter from which he had made so many +extracts, the letter it was imperative Colonel Langley should believe to +be intact. + +It was gone. In the hearth there were still some burned pages. He could +recognize the watermark. + +Anthony Trent had amiably assisted an unknown girl to destroy a letter +whose safety meant a great deal to him. If Colonel Langley were to +discover the loss it would be easy enough to put the blame upon the +bicycle-riding American who had pretended to be a friend of Private +William Smith. + +As he thought it over Anthony Trent saw that the girl in blue had not +lied to him, had not sought to entrap him by gaining his sympathy as the +"Countess" had succeeded in doing before another open safe in New York. +He had assumed one thing and she had meant another. + +What was William Smith to this unknown beauty? Trent gritted his teeth. +He was going to find out. At all events he now knew the real name of the +private soldier who had shared the dug-out with him. The next thing was +to find out where he lived. + + + + +CHAPTER FOUR + +_A LADY INTERRUPTS_ + + +Anthony Trent told the obliging manager of the Maids' Head Hotel that he +was interested mainly in the study of cathedral churches and since he +had now studied the magnificent Norwich cathedral would push on to Ely. + +He found England an exceedingly easy place to shake off pursuers despite +its small size. There were always junctions where he could change from +one line to another without incurring suspicion. He started for Ely but +was soon lost among the summer crowds which thronged the university city +of Cambridge. The convenient system of merely claiming one's baggage and +ordering a porter to take it to car or taxi rendered the tracking of it +by baggage checks almost impossible. + +While it was true he was not pursued, so far as he knew, he wanted to be +careful. It was not likely Langley would charge him with the theft of +the Ladigny confession but it was quite probable that the Colonel might +suspect the writer of the confession. He might think that Smith had +hired a clever American safe breaker to win for him what was very +necessary for his freedom of action. And Smith, if he did not already +know it, would find the man over whom he held many years in American +prisons almost within his clutches. + +It was necessary that Anthony Trent should see Smith first and make a +bargain with him. It was imperative that he meet the man alone and where +he could place the cards on the table and talk freely. + +In a room of the quaint half-timbered hostelry in Norwich Trent had come +across some useful books of reference. There were, for example, such +guides to knowledge as "Crockford's Clerical Directory"; "Hart's Army +List"; the "Court Directory of London" and "Lodge's Peerage and +Baronetage." The name for which Trent sought diligently was that of +Arthur Spencer Jerningham Grenvil. By these names Private William Smith +had the legal right to be known. By these names he had signed a +confession. + +A. S. J. Grenvil had admitted forging a check for two hundred pounds. +The signature he had skilfully imitated was that of Reginald Langley of +Dereham Old Hall in the county of Norfolk. + +There was a copy of a letter written by Colonel Langley to Grenvil dated +six years before. On the whole it was a letter which impressed Trent +favorably. It was written from rather a lofty altitude by a man to whom +family honor and the motto _noblesse oblige_ meant a whole code of +chivalry. + +"Until you went to Sandhurst you were a credit to your name and the +great family from which you spring," he read. "Suddenly, without any +warning, your habits altered and you became a gambler. Well, many of +your race have gambled, but at least they played fair and paid what they +owed. You did not even do that. It was with great difficulty that your +father was able to get you your commission in my old regiment. We hoped +you would feel that in the presence of so many men of birth and breeding +that you must alter your habits and wear with credit your sovereign's +uniform. And now you are a common forger. Of course the signature you +forged will be honored. But I require this of you: that you will confess +to me your guilt; that you will leave the regiment; that you will do +some honest work and re-establish yourself in my eyes. I will see to it +that work of a not unpleasing kind is found for you in Australia. On my +part I will undertake to keep your secret so long as you keep away from +England. Remember, Arthur, there are other discreditable things I could +bring to your notice if I chose. I am anxious that my kinsman, your +father, should not suffer any more from your escapades. On receipt of +this letter proceed to my lawyers whose address you know. They have +instructions what to do." + +It was plain that the father of the man he had known as William Smith +was of rank. The fact that he was a kinsman of Colonel Langley might be +explained by reference to the fifth book on the shelf at the Maids' +Head--"Debrett's Landed Gentry of Gt. Britain." + +He turned to Langley of Dereham Old Hall. Langley's mother, it seemed, +was the Lady Dorothea Grenvil daughter of the ninth, and sister of the +present Earl of Rosecarrel. Grenvil, therefore, was the family name of +the Earls of Rosecarrel. + +In the peerage all the particulars concerning the Grenvils were laid +bare. The tenth earl, who had been British Ambassador to Turkey, was a +Knight of the Garter, etc., etc., had married Elizabeth only daughter of +Admiral, Lord Arthur Jerningham and had issue: + +First the heir, Viscount St. Just, major in the Royal Horse Guards, +V.C.G.C.B. Second and third, two sons killed in the great war. Fourth, +Arthur Spencer Jerningham Grenvil of whom no particulars were given. +Fifth came the Lady Rhona Elizabeth Onslow married to the Duke of +Ontarlier in the peerage of France and last the Lady Daphne Villiers +Grenvil, unmarried. Trent reckoned out that she would be a girl of +twenty-one. Private Smith would be twenty-six. + +The town house of the Earls of Rosecarrel was in Grosvenor Place and +their country seats were Alderwood Hall in Cambridgeshire and Rosecarrel +Castle in Cornwall. + +Alderwood Hall was six miles from the university city and the house +could be seen on one of the small hills to the west of the town. A guide +book informed Trent that the house was thrown open to visitors on +Thursdays at a small fee which went to the local hospital. There were to +be seen some notable examples of the "Norwich School" works by Crome, +Cotman, Vincent and Stark. + +The butler was distressed by the heat of early September and dismissed +the visitors as soon as possible. But he regarded the American tourist +in a different light for Trent had slipped him a half sovereign. + +"I want to take my time," said Trent, "I like pictures and I want to +examine these more closely." + +"Certainly, sir," said the butler. "Anything I can do to help you I +shall be proud to do." + +Anthony Trent, who had a wide knowledge of paintings of the outdoors and +possessed one of the world's missing masterpieces, none other than _The +Venetian Masque_ of Giorgione which he had taken from a vulgar and +unappreciative millionaire, looked at the fresh, simple landscapes with +joy. + +"Is the family in residence?" he asked when he had finished. + +"The Earl always spends the summer at Rosecarrel," the man answered. "He +keeps his yacht in Fowey Harbour. I'm afraid his lordship is failing. +You see the loss of Master Gervase and Master Bevil was a terrible +shock. We lost seven out of our twelve gardeners here and two of them +that came back won't ever be much good." + +"What about Mr. Arthur Grenvil?" Trent asked idly. "I used to know him." + +"He's back," the butler said. But the look of affection which the old +family servant had shown when he spoke of the two who had fallen was +gone. "I'll say this for Master Arthur, he fought too and got wounded. +There's none that can say aught against his pluck." + +"He is cool enough," Trent said, and thought of the scene in the +dug-out when he and Arthur Grenvil waited for death and did not give way +to terror. "He's down in Cornwall with the Earl, I suppose?" + +"And Lady Daphne," the butler added. "Since the death of the Countess +she looks after everything." + +Trent visualized one of those managing domineering young women who rule +tenants relentlessly but after all exercise benevolent despotism in +bucolic matters. + +"Was he badly hurt?" Trent asked before he left. + +"I hardly knew him," the butler said. "I give you my word I was fair +shocked at the difference; isn't for the likes of me to question the +ways of Providence but why Mr. Arthur was left and the others taken I +don't understand." + +Anthony Trent wondered, too. It would have saved him a great deal of +worry if things had been reversed. On the whole this _mauvais sujet_, of +an ancient family was a consistent trouble maker. + + * * * * * + +A Bradshaw's time table showed Trent that as Lord Rosecarrel's yacht was +at Fowey he would be wise to make a trip to the Delectable Duchy, as a +Fowey author has termed Cornwall, and disguise himself as a tourist and +thus pave the way for a meeting with Private William Smith. + +He purchased a large scale automobile map of Cornwall and when he +reached the quaint seaport had a fair idea of the locality. Rosecarrel +Castle lay some ten miles away on the moorland. The local guidebook +told him all about it. It was the great house of the neighbourhood, a +granite built fastness which had suffered siege many times. The Grenvils +were a Cornish family of distinction and happier in their own West +Countree than on the Cambridge estates. + +Trent had always found the consultation of local newspapers a great help +toward knowledge of a community and he immediately solaced himself with +what Fowey had to offer. A perusal of the advertising columns gave him a +good idea of what he could do to pass his time in a manner that would +seem logical to the countryfolk. Since he was not a painter, and Fowey +had no golf links, his occupation in the absence of a sailing or power +boat was merely that of a sightseer and he felt out of his element in +this innocent guise. + +The local paper showed him that there were several "rough shootings" +that he might rent for the season. These were tracts of farm and +moorland where partridges, hares, woodcock and an occasional pheasant +might be found. One in the parish of St. Breward on the moors +particularly attracted him. The local agent commended him on his wisdom. +He did not know Anthony Trent had selected this desolate tract of +granite strewn moor because Rosecarrel Castle was but a half dozen miles +distant. + +Trent had been less than a week in Cornwall when he was installed in a +farmhouse, the owner of a spaniel of great local repute, and regarded +simply as one of those sportsmen who took the shooting every year and +as such was above suspicion. Mr. Nicholls, the loquacious agent who had +rented him the shooting and had driven him over to view it, talked a +great deal of the great Earl of Rosecarrel. He regretted that since the +death of the Countess few guests stayed within the castle. There had +been brave days a few years back when Lord St. Just the son and heir had +been master of the North Cornwall Foxhounds. + +"But there's only the Honourable Arthur Grenvil there now," said +Nicholls, "and Lady Daphne. Lord St. Just is military attaché at +Washington." + +"Since when?" Trent demanded. + +"Within a few weeks," said the agent. + +That was the reason why the younger brother had been to see him off at +Liverpool. It was quite likely that Private Smith assumed Anthony Trent +to be dead. Or he might have thought him boasting of another's deeds. +But Trent was going to find out if possible. This time he had materials +for a compromise. Suddenly Nicholls pointed out a figure on horseback +fully a half mile distant. + +"Like enough," said the agent, "that's the Honourable Arthur. He rides +about on the moors a lot. All this land as far as you can see belongs to +the Earl." + +Trent could see that the rider was cantering along narrow paths +inaccessible to vehicles. Well, the meeting would wait. Some morning he +would rein in his horse beside that of Private Smith and see recognition +dawn in the eye of the man when the visitor announced himself as +Anthony Trent. Then covetousness would follow and the thought of rich +reward hearten the ex-private. Trent chuckled to himself as he thought +of how the man's face would fall when he outlined his past history and +showed him he was in possession of secrets which, once public, must +bring him into the clutches of the inexorable, passionless law of the +realm. + +"Where can I get a horse?" he asked Nicholls. + +"John Treleaven over to St. Kew has a good hunting horse he wants to +sell. It will be a bargain at sixty pounds Mr. Trent. I'll tell him to +ride it over tomorrow if you like." + +"All right," Trent said, "and I want saddle and bridle and so on." + +So Anthony Trent added Treleaven's stout horse to his possessions and +when he was not shooting, rode over the moorlands purple with Cornish +heather and yellow with gorse. + +Nearly always he rode near the castle of Rosecarrel and was often +annoyed to find his pilgrimage shared by archæologists and other +visitors. Rosecarrel Castle had begun as a fortress; when cannon +rendered masonry useless it had become a castellated mansion and now it +showed the slow changes of the long centuries and was a delightful +residence. The moat was a flower garden and the keeps were now green +with grass and bright with roses. + +Admission was by presentation of a visiting card on a certain day. It +was no part of Trent's purpose to send the name in which might remind +Arthur Grenvil of that memorable talk in the dark. When he disclosed +himself it would be man to man and he was not able yet to satisfy his +curiosity about the great building. + +He was gratified to find that the river Camel running through part of +the shooting he rented was a notable salmon and trout stream. The trout +were small but the sea-run salmon went as high as thirty pounds. In +Kennebago where his Maine camp was the land-locked variety seldom went +to more than seven pounds. Directly he had secured his license, and the +equipment he wired to London for had arrived, he clambered down the +steep hill side to the river. But he fished very little that afternoon +for as he climbed over one of the granite stiles he came face to face +with two other anglers, a man and girl. + +The girl was none other than the mysterious lady in blue for whom he had +opened Colonel Langley's safe. She came forward hand outstretched when +she saw him. + +That she was a little confused he was certain, and perhaps a trifle +fearful that he might make some allusion to the oddity of the +circumstances under which they had first met. The man was almost a +hundred feet from her. He was casting and too interested to look at +anything but the deep pool in which salmon were wont to lie. + +"I was never able to thank you for that, that night at Dereham," she +began, "but my father had one of his attacks and I had to leave the very +next day just before luncheon. I hope you had good sport." + +"Unusually good," he said. It was a great piece of luck that she still +assumed him to be of the house party. But what was she doing here? When +he asked she said, "We live near here." She looked around to see her +companion coming toward her and the stranger. + +"This is my brother," she said, "Arthur Grenvil. Arthur this gentleman +was staying at Dereham Old Hall when I was there. Mr.?" She looked at +him pleadingly, "I'm so stupid about names." + +The stranger seemed to be looking at her when he answered, but his eyes +were upon Arthur Grenvil. + +"Anthony Trent," he said urbanely. + +"How do you do," Grenvil said without betraying any emotion. "Had any +luck?" + +"Not yet," Anthony Trent said still looking hard at him. Things were +happening rather more quickly than he liked. Too many discoveries were +disconcerting. First this girl was of course Lady Daphne Grenvil. And +she had not any other motive in view in abstracting the confession than +of helping her renegade brother. Anthony Trent felt himself absurdly +pleased to know that. He had thought of her constantly and pitied her +because he assumed her to be under the domination of a handsome +heartless scamp like the Honourable Arthur. + +It was Grenvil's attitude which puzzled the American. The name had +apparently aroused no suspicion. It proved the man was more dangerous +than he supposed if he were able to master his emotions with such ease. +As they stood there chatting about flies and the size of the salmon +Anthony Trent had time to study Grenvil's appearance. Assuredly he +differed from the mental picture he had formed of him. + +To begin with there seemed nothing vicious about him. He was a very +handsome man with small regular features, finely formed nose and +engaging blue eyes. Anthony Trent thought of the confession he had seen +and remembered the talk in the dug-out. He called to mind the hints that +the Alderbrook butler had let drop and the lack of enthusiasm the agent +Nicholls had shown in speaking of him. From all accounts Arthur Spencer +Jerningham Grenvil should be a very highly polished scoundrel but +coarsened somewhat from his experiences in the ranks for so many years. + +And here he was with a sister he plainly adored, looking with a sort of +shy good nature at the stranger. + +"It's so jolly to meet another keen fisherman," he said amiably, "I know +the Camel so well that I can show you the best pools if you'd care about +it." + +"That would be very kind of you," Anthony Trent returned. He did not +know what to make of the man he had first known as Private Smith. There +might be a mistake and yet, if there had been, why should Lady Daphne +have risked disgrace in breaking open a safe for his sake. And the +voice, the unmistakable voice, was that of the man to whom he had +confided all his dangerous, deadly secrets. "I haven't fished the river +for almost seven years," the younger man went on. + +"My brother has been in the army for more than five years," the girl +said, "and he hadn't much chance then. He was badly wounded and we are +making him well again." + +"I'm being horribly spoiled, Mr. Trent," Grenvil smiled, "and I rather +like it. Did you get in the big show by any chance?" + +"As long as I could be after my country declared war," Trent said +looking at him hard. "We must exchange experiences." + +"Please don't," the girl begged, "Arthur's nerves can't stand it. The +doctors say he must live outdoors and forget everything." + +"And are you able to forget--everything?" Trent asked him. + +Arthur Grenvil frowned a little. It was as though the memory of +something unpleasing had lingered for a moment. + +"Most things," said the other. + +"Is it wise?" Trent demanded. This refusing even by a look or a smile to +acknowledge that he remembered the memorable talk was disturbing. + +"Perhaps not," Grenvil admitted, "but wisdom and I never got on very +well together." + +The sound of a motor horn broke the silence. + +"The car," said Arthur Grenvil to his sister. "We have to run away +because people are coming over from the barracks to lunch. I hope I +shall meet you again Mr. Trent." He nodded pleasantly. "Come on +Daphne." + +"Goodbye, Mr. Trent," she said brightly. "I hope you'll land a monster +fish." + +Anthony Trent flung himself on the grass at the edge of the pool and +lighted his pipe. Lordly salmon were no temptation to him at the moment. +Private William Smith had beaten him so far. Private Smith had looked as +innocent as a babe. He had been polite and gracious but had refused to +acknowledge any former acquaintance. Again and again in the few minutes +Trent had telegraphed to him plainly, "Well, here I am, the master +criminal you were proud to know, what are you going to do?" And every +time Private Smith had said, "I do not know you. I never saw you +before." It was well enough to postpone the conversation until they were +alone, but Trent resented the utter indifference of the younger man to +his appeal. A man dare only do that who had no fear. That must be the +reason. Grenvil had made only general statements in his half confession, +statements which could not convict him. He felt he held the whip hand +over the master. There would be a different expression on his face when +Trent dropped a hint as to the dangers of forging. + +At the farm house where he was living Trent had little difficulty in +getting side lights on the Grenvil family. He had never heard such +disapprobation showered on a single member of any family as was the case +with the farmer and his wife when they spoke of Arthur Grenvil. + +They said his scandalous life had killed his mother. It was all bad +companionship and drink, Mrs. Bassett the farmer's wife contended. He +was all right till he left school to go into the army. He was cruel to +animals and false to his friends. + +"He doesn't look it," Trent said slowly. + +"The devil gives his own a mask to fool the righteous," Mrs. Bassett +contended. She was a pious soul. "I ought to know. I was a nursemaid at +the castle before I married John Bassett." + +Never in all his career as a breaker of laws and an abstractor of the +valuable property of others had Trent been so apprehensive as he was in +quiet, beautiful Cornwall far from cities. In New York he had schooled +himself to look unconcerned at the police he met on every corner. Here +there seemed to be no police and yet he looked anxiously at every +stranger who passed by the moorland farm. He told himself it was the +effect of his war hardships, his wounds and shell shock. But he knew his +nerves were steady, his muscles strong as ever and his health +magnificent. He was forced to admit that he was on edge because of this +meeting with Arthur Grenvil. + +"This has got to end," he said after breakfast next morning, "I've had +enough uncertainty." + +A few minutes later he was on horseback and on his way to Rosecarrel +Castle. It might not be easy to see Grenvil in his home surrounded by +servants but he would make the attempt. He had no reasonable excuse for +infringing the etiquette of the occasion. He had not been invited to +call and he knew no common friends of the family. It would be a business +call. He would send in his card and say he desired to see Mr. Arthur +Grenvil on a matter of importance. + +He was within two miles of the castle when he saw the man he had come to +see mounted on a chestnut polo pony cantering along and driving a white +polo ball over the stretch of firm turf. + +Grenvil pulled up as he saw the American. + +"Trying to get my eye back," he said smiling. "Corking game, polo, ever +play it, Mr. Trent?" + +"I've had to work too hard," Trent snapped. + +"Much better for you I've no doubt," said Grenvil idly, "If one may ask +it, what sort of work did you do?" + +"You've no idea I suppose?" + +Grenvil looked at him mildly. + +"How can I have any idea?" he asked. + +Anthony Trent from his bigger horse looked down at the man on the polo +pony sourly. There was that bland look of irritating innocence that +would have convinced any judge and jury. But it did not sway him. + +In just such a pleasantly modulated voice, and with no doubt just such +an ingratiating smile Private Smith had feared Anthony Trent was dying +in very bad company. + +"You said you were not able to forget everything. I supposed that my +work might be one of the things you still remembered." + +At length Trent was able to observe that Arthur Grenvil looked less +confident. + +"I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you mean, Mr. Trent." + +"The name Anthony Trent calls nothing to mind?" + +"Sorry," Grenvil retorted, "I suppose I ought to know all about you." + +"That's what you said before!" Trent exclaimed. + +"Before?" There was no doubt now as to Grenvil's perturbation. + +"Cut that out," Trent commanded angrily. "You did it very well, but I'm +sick and tired of fencing. What are you going to do about it?" + +He was sure now that the other was frightened. That the emotion of fear +did not bring anger in its train amazed Trent. + +"Leave you to realize your mistake," Grenvil said after a pause. Then +with a sharp stroke he sent the willow root ball spinning in the +direction of the castle, and followed it on his swift mount. + +The horse that Trent had bought from John Treleaven the farmer was a +half bred, a good, weight-carrying nag, a fine jumper, but not equal to +the task of overtaking the chestnut thoroughbred. There was nothing to +do but pursue Grenvil into the castle grounds or give up the chase. +Angry because he could not judge in what degree of peril if any, he +stood, Anthony Trent rode back to the farm. + + + + +CHAPTER FIVE + +_THE MAN WHO DENIED_ + + +Thinking things over that night as he walked along the Camel banks and +disturbed the otters at play, Anthony Trent determined to call upon +Arthur Grenvil and force him to acknowledge that he had not forgotten +the conversation, the confidence that was so fully given, in the +dug-out. + +Footmen and a butler barred his ingress. They were polite and filled +with regrets but the facts remained that Mr. Arthur Grenvil by doctor's +orders saw none. The Lady Daphne was engaged. The men-servants could +offer him no hope. He was able to see at close range some advantages of +the many servants the rich were able to employ to hedge them about with +privacy. The Rosecarrel butler was less urbane than his brother at +Alderwood and the opportunity for private conversation was lacking. +Trent saw in this rebuff another move in the subtle game Private Arthur +Smith was playing. + +The next two days were spent in riding over the moors but not a glimpse +of Lady Daphne or her brother did he get. He was certain they were +avoiding him deliberately. The idea possessed Trent that Arthur Grenvil +was not satisfied to obtain merely the rewards that were offered for his +apprehension. If he followed the great thefts of the world he would +know that four of its most famous stones were still missing. And from +Trent's confession he would guess the master criminal still held them. +They were even now in Trent's Maine camp ornamenting a brass Benares +lamp as though they were merely the original pieces of glass that had +occupied the spaces when Trent purchased it. Trent could sell through +discreet sources the loot that was hidden in Kennebago for not less than +half a million dollars. If Arthur Grenvil chose to command him to do so +and share the proceeds what could he do? The hold he had on the other +man was slight. Langley might have extorted the confession more as a +warning than an instrument to use against a relative. In the two other +cases to which Arthur Grenvil had confessed his creditors were those who +had been his friends. He had embezzled the mess funds of his regiment. +It was unlikely that a cavalry regiment which had fought from Dettingen +to Mons would like a story of that sort to get abroad. + +On the morning of the third day after his rebuff at the hands of the +footmen Trent made up his mind. He would see Arthur Grenvil and see him +at once. "If he thinks he can keep me out," said Trent his mouth +tightening to a narrow line, "he holds me too cheap." + + * * * * * + +It happened that Arthur Grenvil knew nothing of the attempt of Anthony +Trent to see him. The doctors had indeed ordered him rest. Lady Daphne +when she heard of Trent's insistence said nothing but wondered why it +was that he should make the attempt. She still thought uneasily of that +night at Dereham when he had discovered her with the combination to her +host's safe. There was such a thing as blackmail and, after all what did +she know of the American except that he had been a guest of the +Langleys. In itself this should have been enough to vouch for his +position in life. + +She found herself more interested in Anthony Trent than in any man she +had ever met. And it was because of this concern that in a letter to +Alicia Langley she asked about him. + +Alicia's letter was astonishing. "I can't imagine, my dear Daphne to +whom you refer. There was no Anthony Trent here on the first. The only +American was Mr. Conington Warren who was wafted to our shores +permanently on the waves of prohibition. I think you knew personally +every other man except the Duke of Valladolida. He is, of course, a +grandee of Spain, short, slight and bald, but a first rate shot, +Reginald says, and plays polo for the Madrid team. Certainly there was +no tall, clean-shaven, good-looking man here whom you don't know quite +well." Alicia Langley invariably added postscripts. This time it +interested the reader more than the letter. "I showed your letter to +Reginald and he was almost excited. He said an Anthony Trent had motored +over from Norwich and wanted to learn particulars of a private in his +regiment. As the private in question was Arthur you may draw your own +inferences if you can. Reginald refused to speak so this Trent man of +yours doesn't know Arthur's _nom de guerre_ from anything he has learned +here. Reginald wants you to tell him where you met the man. Please do as +he seems to think it very serious." + +While Lady Daphne read this communication, not without agitation, her +brother was dressing for dinner. Some people were coming over from +Pencarrow. He occupied two splendid rooms facing west and was looking +over the moorland to the sea when the handle of the room leading to a +large upper hall was opened noiselessly and admitted Anthony Trent. When +Grenvil remembered he had not long to make the change from flannels into +evening dress, he turned about to see the American sitting in a +comfortable chair. + +"Please don't try and ring for the servants," Trent advised smoothly, +"because I am nearest to the bell and I shall not permit it." + +If he expected an outbreak of anger he was disappointed. Instead there +was that puzzled expression which could only arise from innocence of +Trent's identity or the most finished art. + +"Don't think I am a housebreaker," Trent went on equably, "I am not. +This is visitors day if you remember and after paying my shilling I +looked at the state rooms, pictures and autograph letters and fell +asleep. When I woke up I entered this room by mistake." + +"And you want to find your way out?" Grenvil returned. "If you will +ring the bell I will have you shown." + +"Not until I have had the opportunity of talking a little to you. In our +first conversation I was indiscreet. You will admit that, won't you?" + +"Were you?" Grenvil answered vaguely. "I really don't remember Mr. +Trent." + +"Then you deny ever having seen me until we met by the salmon pool a few +days ago?" Trent looked at him like a hawk. + +"I do," Grenvil retorted. + +"Then if you do, why don't you resent my butting in like this? Why don't +you call some men-servants and have me flung out for a damned nuisance? +Say I threatened you, say anything an innocent man could and would say. +Your attitude doesn't fool me in the least. You are playing a deep game +but I can play a deeper." + +Grenvil shrugged his shoulders with a gesture of weariness. "There are +many things I cannot explain," he said. + +"You are going to begin right now," Trent said. He was not in a mood to +be trifled with. He firmly believed that this man was planning to send +him to gaol for a period of years so long that he would come out a +whitehaired broken man. + +He looked round frowning as steps sounded along the corridor and a tap +came on the door. + +"Let me in Arthur," he heard Lady Daphne say, "I've had a most +extraordinary letter from Aunt Alicia. I must see you about it." + +She rattled the locked door impatiently. Her brother walked over to it. +Trent could offer no objection. He was confused and annoyed that at a +moment such as this the girl must interrupt. To Anthony Trent she was as +one above and apart. There was no use in concealing that he himself was +a crook no matter how differently he pursued the profession from the +lesser lights whom he despised. And Arthur Grenvil was as crooked as he +with less excuse for it. + +Lady Daphne stopped short when she saw Trent rise from his chair and +bow. Her greeting was so wholly different from the friendly manner she +had shown ere this, that he was at loss to understand it. He did not +know that Mrs. Langley was the Aunt Alicia. He could only suppose her +brother had hinted that he was not what he seemed. + +"I was not told you were here," she said. + +"I'm glad you've come," Arthur Grenvil said. Trent could see that he +only spoke the truth. From what did he expect his sister to protect him. +"Mr. Trent here has an idea I'm deliberately pretending not to know who +he is." + +"I assure Mr. Trent," she said haughtily, "that at all events I know +what _he_ is." + +Trent looked at her a little quizzically. + +"I wonder if you really do," he commented. + +"I shall be very glad to prove it," she answered, "but I am not anxious +that my brother should have to listen. I hoped you understood that he is +under the doctors' orders and must not be worried. As dinner is almost +ready and I have several things to do will you be kind enough to put +this discussion off until tomorrow morning?" + +"Just as you please," he said. "When and where?" + +"You are staying at the Bassetts I think. Very well I will drive over +there tomorrow at half past ten." + +He flushed. The inference was plain. He was not permitted to meet her +within the castle. The servant who showed him out seemed to feel +differently today. He felt outcast. + + * * * * * + +There was a little apple orchard behind the Bassetts' stone built barns +where each day Anthony Trent used to practise short approaches with a +favorite mashie. He held it as an axiom that if a golfer kept his hand +in with short mashie practise he would never be off his game. He was +industriously trying to approach over a tall spreading tree when he +heard the sound of wheels outside. It was not yet time for his +appointment with Lady Daphne but he could see from the higher ground of +the orchard that it was she. She was driving a dashing pair of chestnuts +to a mail phaeton. By her side sat a man with a powerful unscrupulous +face who was evidently amusing her by his conversation. Trent supposed +he was a guest at the castle, some man who had the right to meet her by +reason of being on the right side of the law. + +Almost jealously Anthony Trent saw him help her to alight. He was a +heavily built man but not an ungraceful one and he was exceedingly well +dressed. Trent judged him to be five and forty and used to dominating +men. He had noticed often that men most ruthless with their fellows have +the most charming ways with women. + +"I shan't be very long," Lady Daphne said laughing, "You will be able to +smoke just two cigarettes, Mr. Castoon." + +Castoon. Of course it was Rudolph Castoon the banker, the English born +member of the great continental firm of bankers and financiers. One of +the brothers was a leader among New York capitalists. It was said that +each Castoon was loyal to the country where it had been arranged he +should be born. + +It was in the sweet smelling sitting room of the Bassetts that Trent +found her. She was standing up and refused to be seated. Her enmity now +was hardly concealed. + +"I find," she began, "that you have deceived me. You claimed to be one +of the guns at Colonel Langley's shoot." + +"I permitted you to assume it," he corrected, "but that is not an +excuse." + +"Colonel Langley is very anxious to know where it was I saw you and +under what circumstances." + +"You will hardly inform him as to that," said Trent smiling. + +"If it becomes necessary I shall," she replied. "At all events I was in +the house of a relative while you were there--" + +"As a thief in the night. Thank you." + +"You were there as a detective." + +She had never seen him lose his calm before. He flushed red and a look +of hatred came over his face. + +"A detective! I? If you knew how I loathed them you would never suspect +me of being that." + +"If not why are you down here hounding my brother?" + +"Hasn't he told you?" + +"He says you persist in pretending to know him." + +"Lady Daphne," Trent said earnestly. "Was your brother a Private William +Smith, a gentleman ranker in the seventy-eighth battalion of the City of +London Regiment?" + +"Yes," she answered. + +"And wasn't this same man under his own name expelled from Harrow School +and Trinity College, Cambridge." + +"Then you are a detective!" she cried. + +"On my honor, no," he exclaimed. "Lady Daphne, your brother saved my +life, and when I wanted to speak about the very terrible and unusual +experience he denied knowing me." + +"You are not telling me everything," she said after a pause, "I am glad +you are not a detective even though you may be not what I thought you, +but is it reasonable you should try to force yourself on a man who quite +evidently wants to be alone with his thoughts just to thank him for +doing something every soldier was glad to do for any other allied +soldier?" + +"There was something else," he admitted. "I may as well tell you what. +We were, as we had every reason to think, dying. We told each other part +of our past lives. Why I don't pretend to understand. Nerves I suppose +and the feeling that nothing mattered in the least. I told him part of +my past which in effect put a club in his hand to use over me. When I +got better I assumed he was killed. I found he wasn't and followed him +here to ask what he was going to do with his knowledge. You wondered +what errand I had at Dereham Old Hall. It was to read through the +confession which you burned. I had read it and replaced it before you +came in." + +"Then you know all about him?" she gasped. + +"I know what was written there," he answered. "I wanted to know so that +I could tell him I, too, had a weapon with which to fight. I am not his +enemy, far from it." + +"You mean you don't want to threaten him or hold your knowledge of what +he did over us?" + +He looked at her gloomily. To think that this was the impression she had +of him hurt. + +"So that's what you think of me," he said slowly. + +"Indeed it isn't," she answered quickly. "I didn't think it in the +beginning and I don't want to do so now, but what was one to think?" + +"It was your brother's behaviour that puzzled me," he said, "and still +puzzles me. Don't you see I only want to be sure that he won't use what +I told him?" + +Lady Daphne looked at him curiously. Here was a man whose manners were +perfect, who seemed to have the same sports and occupation of the kind +of men she knew hinting that he had done things of whose consequence he +was afraid. She supposed there were many temptations into which a man +might fall, lapses of which he might repent and still go in fear of +discovery. + +"I don't wonder you were bewildered," she said presently, "and I +understand far better than you how it was. Mr. Trent you need never be +afraid that the man who was Private Smith will ever say a word to any +living souls of what you said to him." + +"How can I be certain?" he demanded. "You don't know the rewards that a +man might gain for speaking the truth about me." + +"Private William Smith and my brother Arthur are two different people." + +He looked at her in astonishment. Was the weary chase, the long +uncertainty to begin again? There was never a doubt in his mind but that +what she told him was true even if it was hard to be believed. + +"Then where is Private Smith?" he asked. "Where is the man who knows the +real me?" + +"At the castle," she said. + +He made a gesture of despair. + +"It is incomprehensible." + +"I am going to tell you about them--about the two utterly different +men." She said nothing for a full minute. Then she went to the door and +called Mrs. Bassett into the room. "Please tell Mr. Castoon I shall have +to keep him waiting rather longer than I thought." + +"Certainly, my Lady," Mrs. Bassett said. Later she told her husband that +Mr. Castoon looked very black at the news. "He's not the kind to like +being kept waiting," she explained. + +"Princes of the Blood ought to be glad to wait for Lady Daphne," the +tenant farmer cried. + +"You learned somehow that Arthur was expelled from Harrow. It is true. +He managed to get into Trinity but lasted only a term. Then came +Sandhurst and a commission finally and black disgrace. Mr. Rudolph +Castoon who is a friend of my eldest brother took pity on him and made +him one of his secretaries--he's in Parliament you know--but even he +couldn't do anything. Then a little while in Australia and failure +there. The last thing he did was to enlist just before the war broke +out. Colonel Langley was given the command of a London regiment and +found Arthur under the name you knew." + +"But you said he wasn't Private Smith," Trent broke in eagerly. + +"You will see later what I mean. How did you meet him?" + +Trent explained in a few words. But what confessions or boasts he had +been betrayed into making he said nothing about. + +"My brother was expelled from Harrow when he was eighteen. Until he was +seventeen he was one of the sweetest natured boys you could imagine. He +was full of fun and mischief but all his tutors loved him and there +wasn't a particle of vice in him. Suddenly he seemed possessed of +devils. He drank, he gambled--and cheated--he was insolent to his +teachers. It broke my mother's heart. It helped to make my father the +silent broken man he is today. It was the same when he went up to +Trinity and the same when he was at Sandhurst...." There was a long +pause. Trent could see she was struggling against tears. There welled up +in him an almost divine pity. He wanted to soothe her, comfort her and +let her cry on his shoulder. + +It was in this moment that Anthony Trent knew he loved her and would +always love her. Those passing affections of adolescence were pale, wan +emotions compared with this. And it was an hour of grief to him. He +realized that his ways of life had cut him off irremediably from +marriage with such a woman as this. + +"What happened," she said at last, "when you came to after being blown +from that dug-out?" + +"I was badly hurt," he answered, wonderingly, "those high explosives +play the strangest tricks with one." + +"This is what happened to my brother. He was unconscious for a very long +time and his head was fearfully mangled. When he came out of ether he +said very distinctly. 'Oh Bingo, how rottenly clumsy of you.'" + +"Who was Bingo?" Trent asked. + +"At the time nobody knew. Arthur's uniform was torn off in the explosion +and his regiment unknown." + +"He could have told them," Trent asserted. + +She shook her head. + +"You are mistaken. He could not tell them. They thought he was, what's +the word, malingering. They thought he wanted to be sent back and get +out of the fighting. Then he complained of the dreadful noise. By +degrees they found that he did not even know of the war. They thought of +course he was pretending. My father heard of the wound and although he +had disowned him he had him brought to our house in Grosvenor Place. We +had specialists, those new sorts of doctors who don't depend on +medicines. Arthur thought he was still at Harrow eight years or more +ago. Then I remembered a boy who shared a study with him there, a boy +who had stayed here, a son of Sir Willoughby Hosken who has a place near +Penzance. Bingo was somewhere in the Struma valley with his battery and +in answer to a letter said that the only act of clumsiness he could call +to mind was when he accidentally hit Arthur with an Indian club in the +gym at school. + +"One of the doctors went over to Harrow and found Arthur had been hit +like this and was in the infirmary for three days. Mr. Trent, it was +after that accident he altered entirely." + +"I've heard of such cases," Trent said quickly. "Pressure of some sort +on the brain they call it. There was quite an epidemic of such incidents +in America a few years ago. It was supposed to be a cure for bad boys. +Then you think--" + +"I know," she said emphatically. "He is now exactly as he was when he +was a boy, gentle, thoughtful and clean. Our specialists saw the army +surgeons and they supposed that in dressing his dreadful wounds they +removed the portions of depressed bone and so made this extraordinary +cure. They say the war has proved this sort of thing again and again." + +The news which spelled salvation to Anthony Trent seemed too tremendous +to believe. There was no miracle about it. It was a simple fact +demonstrated by surgery and accepted now by the laity. The years in +which Arthur Grenvil had sown wild oats and disrupted friendships and +relationships was wiped from his consciousness. Trent now understood the +half diffident, almost shy manner so inexplicable in a man of the type +William Smith had been. + +"My father thinks," the girl went on, "that as he will have to find out +some of the things he did it will be as well to prepare him for it and +shield him against consequences." + +"Consequences?" he hazarded. + +"I'm afraid," she said gravely, "that it will not be easy. His creditors +for example have learned that my father has forgiven him and they are +coming down on him. Fortunately my father can afford to pay but there is +always the dread of some adventurer turning up and letting us into some +dreadful secrets." + +"Men like me," he asked. + +"You know I didn't mean that," she said. "I think it most wonderful that +you are here, because you will be able to tell him something about the +good part of his life you know. He is always hoping that his memory will +come back but the doctors say it won't." She hesitated a little. "Poor +Arthur is very much depressed at times. Could you try and remember as +much about him as possible?" + +"Surely," said Anthony Trent. "As it happens I met a man out there who +knew him well and said he was a good soldier." + +"I wish my father could know that," she said. "I'm going to ask you to +luncheon tomorrow and to meet a man whose life Arthur saved would cheer +him enormously. We shall be alone." She frowned. "I'd forgotten Mr. +Castoon who is probably furious at being kept waiting. I promised him +I'd be back in two cigarettes time. I was going to drive in to Camelford +but I don't think I will. I feel almost that I want to cry." She held +out her hand impulsively. "Forgive me for what I thought about you and +come to luncheon at one tomorrow." + +"You don't know how I'd like to," he said wistfully, "but you have +forgotten about my past; and I had no such excuse as your brother." + +"You are exaggerating it," she said more brightly. "Anyhow it's all +over." + +Exaggerating! And even were it all over, which he doubted, a blacker +past remained than ever she dreamed of. + +"I don't want Mr. Castoon to see that I've got tears in my eyes. Please +tell him to wait a little longer while I talk to Mrs. Bassett. _Au +revoir._" + +Anthony Trent watched her go and then sighed. And he told himself that +had he met her ten years before he would have had the strength to win a +fortune honestly and not take the lower road. + +He went outside to where Rudolph Castoon was sitting in the phaeton. The +two horses were champing at their bits, a little groom at their heads +trying to soothe their high tempers. He approached the financier with no +personal feeling of any sort. In the beginning he expected to admire the +man as he did all such forceful characters. He often suspected there was +more kinship between him and the ruthless financier type that Castoon +represented than the world comprehended. + +Rudolph Castoon looked at him sourly. + +"Well?" he snapped. + +Anthony Trent looked at him and knew instantly that he would always +share the hate he saw in the capitalist's face. For a moment he was at a +loss to understand the reason. Then he saw that it was jealousy, +furious, dynamic jealousy. Lady Daphne had come to see Mrs. Bassett. +Instead Castoon found she had come to see a younger and better looking +man. Trent did not fall into the error of underrating Castoon. In the +event of a contest of any kind between them he would walk warily. But he +never expected to see the man again and his peremptory way of speaking +angered him. + +"Well?" Castoon demanded again. + +"Thank you," said Trent urbanely, "I find the air of these moorlands of +great benefit to me. Formerly I slept poorly but now I sleep as soon as +my head touches the pillow. And my appetite is better. I eat three eggs +for breakfast every morning. Do you sleep well?" + +"I did not come here to sleep," Castoon frowned. + +"But if you are here for long you must," Trent said pleasantly. + +"I am not in the least interested in your health or how many eggs you +can eat for breakfast." Castoon's manner was frankly rude. "I want to +know where Lady Daphne Grenvil is." + +"She said she had forgotten you," Trent answered, "she also said you +would probably be furious at being kept waiting." + +"I am," Castoon asserted. "Would it be too much to ask the reason?" + +"I expected you to," Trent said affably. The time he took to select a +cigarette from his case and the meticulous manner in which he lighted it +added to the other man's ill temper just as Anthony Trent intended it +should. + +"If you are quite finished, sir," Castoon cried, "I should be glad to +hear." + +"As an American," Trent began airily, "I like the old family servant +tradition. Lady Daphne is talking over her childhood days with Mrs. +Bassett. My mother was from the Southern states and I suppose I inherit +a liking for that sort of thing." + +"Will you come to the point, sir?" Castoon exclaimed. + +"I thought I told you that Lady Daphne was talking over nursery +reminisences with an old servant." + +"She may be doing that now, but what was she doing before? I'll tell +you; she was talking to you. Do you deny it?" + +"My dear man," Trent cried in apparent surprise, "Deny it? I boast about +it! It is the only thing I hope will be printed in my obituary notices." + +"I'm not sure I should be desolated at reading your obituary notices," +Castoon said keeping his temper back. He could say no more for Lady +Daphne came hurrying along the hydrangea-bordered path to the gate. + +"I'm dreadfully sorry, Mr. Castoon," she cried. + +"I can forget everything now that you are here," he returned gallantly, +"even the humour of this young man whose name I don't know." + +"Mr. Anthony Trent of New York," she told him. "You'll meet him at +luncheon tomorrow." + +"That will make it a very pleasant function," the financier said grimly. +He could say no more because the horses reared impatiently and for a +moment there was danger. + +"That off horse nearly came over backward," Castoon said when the team +had settled down a little and the farm was a half mile behind. + +"But it didn't," Lady Daphne said calmly, "so why worry?" + +"It would have been his fault," Castoon said venomously. + +"You don't seem to like him," she said smiling. + +"I hate any man who looks at you as he does." + +"How does he look?" she asked with an air of innocence. + +"He looks at you as if he was in love with you, and I hate any man to do +that." + +"You have no right to resent it Mr. Castoon," she said coldly. "I have +told you a hundred times that you concern yourself far too much with my +affairs." + +"I'm going to marry you," he said doggedly. "I never fail. Look at my +life history and see where I have been beaten. I know you don't care for +me yet. You'll have to later." + +"My father doesn't care for you either." + +Rudolph Castoon sniffed impatiently. + +"His type is dying out. He still remains ignorant that money has +displaced birth." + +"It's the one thing money won't buy, though," she reminded him. + +"Birth can't buy power," the financier said quickly, "and money means +power. Your father has had both. It would have been easier for me to +marry Daphne, daughter of the Earl of Rosecarrel, Viscount St. Just, +Baron Wadebridge, Knight of the Garter, and Ambassador to Turkey, and +all the rest of it, than it will be to marry you now your father has +abandoned his career." + +"That sounds merely silly to me," she exclaimed. + +"Someday I will explain to you how very sensible it is. You will +understand exactly." + +"Do you mean you are so inordinately vain you would rather marry an +ambassador's daughter than the daughter of a man who isn't a power +politically any more?" + +"At least I can say I don't mean that. I am vain, that's true, but I +wish you were one of the daughters of a tenant farmer on these purple +moors instead of being an earl's daughter." He sighed a little. Then the +recollection of Anthony Trent came back. "Who is this man Trent?" he +demanded. + +"A delightful man," she said, "an American who knows how to behave. I +met him at a houseparty somewhere or other. He used to know Arthur." + +Castoon could not keep back a sneer. + +"That vouches for him of course." + +"At least he wouldn't say anything as underbred as that," she cried +angrily, and touched one of her high-mettled chestnuts with a lash. +Castoon hung on to the seat as the pair tried to get away. + +"You'll kill yourself some day driving such horses as these," he said +later. He was not a coward; but unnecessary risk always seemed a +childish thing to create and he believed himself heir to a great +destiny. + + + + +CHAPTER SIX + +_FRESH FIELDS_ + + +If Anthony Trent thought he was to be the guest at a small luncheon +party where he could meet Arthur under friendlier circumstances and talk +to Daphne intimately, he was mistaken. + +Castoon was staying at the castle and a number of people motored over +from Falmouth as well as the owner of a big yacht lying for the time in +the Fowey river. + +Lord Rosecarrel was very amiable. He seemed intensely grateful that +Trent gave up a morning's shooting to attend a luncheon. There was no +trace of suspicion about him. He had been told that Mr. Trent, an +American of means, had been a guest at Dereham Old Hall. His daughter +had not informed him of Alicia Langley's letter. + +But he was most interested to know that his son had saved the visitor's +life. It was the one good act in the black years which had given him so +much sorrow. + +Also Daphne had told him that Arthur liked Trent and would be a good +companion. The physicians who were watching Arthur's case recommended +that he should be kept interested. They desired that the apathy which +threatened to take hold on him should be banished. The Earl was growing +more and more to leave things to the girl. The death of his two sons had +been a terrible blow and he was beginning to find in solitary yachting +and fishing trips a certain refreshing solace. + +From the deference that most of the people paid to Rudolph Castoon it +was evident that he was a man of great influence and promise. + +Trent sat next to a rather pretty dark girl, a Miss Barham, who had come +over from her father's yacht. + +"Everybody seems to hang on his words," he said. "Why?" + +"He's phenomenally rich," she answered, "and he has a career. He'll +probably be Chancellor of the Exchequer in the next cabinet. Finance is +bred in the bone of his sort. Hasn't he a brother in your country?" + +"A great power in Wall Street," Trent told her, "but we suspect a +capitalist; and while Rudolph may get a title and much honor, Alfred in +America couldn't get a job as dog catcher." + +"Of course you've seen he's simply mad about Daphne?" Miss Barham said +later. + +"I've seen his side of it," Trent said frowning a little, "but what +about Lady Daphne?" + +"Power is always attractive," Miss Barham said wisely, "and we English +women love politics. One can never tell. I think the earl would be +furious but Daphne always gets her way and after all Mr. Castoon is a +great catch whichever way you look at it. There's nothing financially +shady about him and if Daphne should ever get bitten with the idea of +making a _salon_, he's the man to marry." + +"What a brutal way to look at it," he said gloomily. + +"Are you young enough to believe in those delightful love matches, Mr. +Trent?" the girl asked. "I did till I was almost fifteen." + +Anthony Trent should have been amused to find himself on the side of the +angels. As a rule life had provoked cynicism in him and here he was +fighting for ideals. + +"I talked like that until I was fifteen," he smiled, "and I meant it." + +Ada Barham turned her dark brilliant eyes on him. She rather envied the +girl who had captured him. She felt it was a lover talking. + +"Of course you are in love," she retorted. "I always meet the really +nice men too late. Dare you confess it?" + +"I admit it," he said a little confused. + +"American girls are very charming," Miss Barham declared. "I stayed at +Newport a month last year. Of course you know Newport?" + +"Fairly well," he admitted. + +Oddly enough the recollection of his Newport triumphs was not as +pleasing as usual. He had made some of his richest hauls in the Rhode +Island city. + +What an amazing thing, he reflected, that he was here as a guests among +people on whom, as a class, he had looked as his lawful prey. Castoon +with his millions was the sort of man he would like to measure his wit +against. When Castoon looked across the table at him with a kind of +innocent stare he decided that it would be a delightful duel. + +He knew English women wore little jewelry during the day so he could not +estimate the value of what they owned at a luncheon, but he was certain +Miss Barham's mother, who was addressed as Lady Harriet, had family +jewels worth the risk of seeking to get. A woman whose husband owned a +two-hundred feet steam yacht was distinctly among those whom in former +days he had been professionally eager to meet. + +Before the luncheon Lady Daphne had explained that her brother would not +be at the table. The family was anxious that he should not be subjected +to the confusion of professing ignorance of some man or event which he +ought to know. By degrees he was getting his bearings and reading +through files of old newspapers the main events of the years that had +been wiped from his mind. + +Anthony Trent was taken to the big room by a footman, the same room he +had entered unannounced. + +"You must have thought me awfully rude," Arthur Grenvil said cordially, +"but my sister had told you the reason. She says I used to know you." +Grenvil looked at him wistfully, "I think she said I had saved your +life." + +"You did," Trent answered promptly. And then, because he was sorry for +the ex-"Tommy" but more because he loved the other's sister, he plunged +into a stirring account of the incident omitting the part of the +exchange of confidences. + +"Apparently," said Grenvil, "it was the only decent thing I did during +those dreadful forgotten years. If you knew the agony of not knowing +what I did and dreading every day to learn something more of my career +you'd pity me. I couldn't meet Castoon. They say I was a sort of +secretary to him for six months and he had to send me away. All I +remember of him is that he was my father's private secretary when I was +a small boy of ten and my father ambassador at Constantinople. I'm +afraid to see any of the people who come here." + +"That will pass," Trent said reassuringly, "you'll get a grip on +yourself as your health improves." + +"That's what Daphne says," Arthur answered, "Isn't she splendid?" + +"Indeed she is," Trent said not daring to put the fervor in his voice +that he felt. There was almost an uncanny feeling in talking with this +new Arthur Grenvil. As a judge of men, and as a man who had met a great +number of criminals and could estimate them accurately, Trent had known +even in the darkness of the dug-out that Private William Smith was bad. + +Despite the absence of coarseness from the speech of the unseen man +Trent had felt that he was evil and dangerous, a man to watch carefully. +And this same man stripped of his mantle of black deeds was now sitting +talking to him with the deferential air of the junior listening with +respect to his superior in years and his superior in knowledge. + +What a _rôle_ for Anthony Trent, master criminal! But he played it as +well as any of the parts he had set himself to enact. He became the +elder brother, the sage counsellor, the arbiter, the physical trainer +and the constant companion. In the beginning he cheerfully set out to +play the part in order to win Daphne's approval. Later he really liked +Arthur. He taught him to drive the high powered Lion car that was seldom +used by the earl's chauffeurs and discovered in him an aptitude for +mechanics which delighted his father. + +"You have done more for my son than I imagined could be done by anyone," +Lord Rosecarrel said gratefully. + +"I owe him no small debt," Anthony Trent retorted, "and it's a very +pleasant way of trying to pay it." + +It was not often that he saw the earl. Occasionally they played a game +of billiards after dinner but the elder man was constantly occupied with +reading when he was not aboard his boat. Since he had come to Cornwall, +Trent had discovered what an important personage Lord Rosecarrel had +been in the political life of his country until his sudden resignation a +year before the war. Every now and then Trent would see regret expressed +in a London paper or weekly review that he would not place his vast +knowledge of the near East at his country's disposal. + +There was still considerable trouble centering about the Balkans; and +since the earl had been minister or ambassador at Belgrade, Bucharest +and Constantinople he knew the country as few could hope to do without +his experience. + +The prime minister himself, snatching a few days of golf at Newquay, +motored over to the castle to lunch and asked his host personally to +come from his retirement. It happened that Trent was lunching at the +castle and heard the earl's decision not to leave private life. There +was an incident in connection with this which made a curious impression +on the American. + +When he had declined to represent his country finally, Lord Rosecarrel +looked over the table at his son who was talking gaily and did not +observe the glance. It was a look almost of hate that the earl flashed +at him. Then it passed and was succeeded by the melancholy which the old +aristocrat's face habitually wore. Trent was certain none had seen but +he and he had never seen an evidence of it before. + +He reflected that Arthur was never wholly at ease in his father's +company. Again and again he had caught a certain shamed look when the +earl was speaking. Of course it was the knowledge of how in the +forgotten years he had disgraced an honored name. That was +understandable. But why should the father who knew all and had forgiven +suddenly throw this look of hate over the table at the unconscious son? + +"Arthur," said Trent one day to Lady Daphne, "looks as if he were still +begging forgiveness. Why?" + +"It must be fancy on your part," she said and changed the subject +instantly. + +He supposed it was some other skeleton, from that full closet, whose +rattling bones had not been buried yet. There was something which still +rankled in the earl's memory. He knew he would never find its origin +from Daphne. + +His intimacy with the Grenvils began to alarm him. It was a fellowship +which must sooner or later come to an end. He was utterly without vanity +when it came to his relationship with Lady Daphne; but his love for her +gave him such an insight and sympathy with her that he could not but be +conscious that of late a softer mood had come to her when they were +alone together. + +He knew that she looked for his presence where before she had been +indifferent. Sometimes when they touched hands at parting there was the +faint, lingering hold which said more than looks or spoken words. It +distressed him to hear that she had defended him valiantly when the wife +of a nearby landowner had referred to him as an American adventurer and +fortune hunter. Daphne had sprung to his rescue in a flash. Half the +country gossiped about it. It was very loyal of her, he felt, but also +very unwise. + +The earl had heard of it and was displeased. But he trusted his daughter +and Trent was working amazing changes with Arthur. It was only when the +prime minister spoke of the American that Lord Rosecarrel knew he must +not ignore the thing any longer. + +"And who is the good looking lad upon whose words your daughter hangs?" + +"A delightful fellow," the earl said, "I don't know what Arthur would +have done without him. He is reconstructing the poor boy." + +And indeed the earl was fond of the stranger. But his daughter must +marry into her own station in life. His other girl's home was in France +and he wanted Daphne to remain in England. It occurred to him as very +strange that he had made so few inquiries into Trent's antecedents. He +supposed it was the man's personal charm and the fact that he was +himself not in good health that had allowed him to be careless. One day +at a dinner that came in the week after the prime minister's visit, a +dinner to which Trent alone was bidden, he said: + +"We shall miss you very much when you have to go, Mr. Trent, but I +suppose your affairs in America call you imperatively." + +Anthony Trent made no answer for the moment. It was as though sentence +of death had been passed upon him. He could only admit that this was the +logical if long-delayed end to the pleasantest days of his life. He had +brought it on himself by his own weakness. For all his strength he was +in some ways deplorably weak. He had been weak to leave the ways of +honest men. Primarily he had none of those grudges against organized +society which drive some men to crime. He had fallen because he was +tired of narrow ways of life and a toil which offered few high rewards. + +And, more than all, he had been weak in that he had encouraged an +intimacy with a family of this type. The Lady Daphne was not for him. He +called to mind a phrase that Miss Barham had said about Castoon at this +very table. She had said there was nothing financially shady about him +which might prevent marriage between him and Daphne. No matter how much +Anthony Trent sought to deceive himself about his way of crime and +comfort himself with the reflection he never despoiled the poor or +worthy but inevitably set himself against the rich and undeserving, he +knew he stood condemned in the eyes of decent men and women. He was +aware that Daphne and Arthur were listening for his answer. Daphne's +face was white. + +"I shall miss you all, sir," he said, "more than I can say." + +"You are not really going?" Arthur cried. + +"I must," he said. "My affairs at home need looking after and I have +lingered on here forgetting everything." + +Lady Daphne said nothing. He did not dare to look at her. He knew she +was thinking that but for her father's mention of his leaving she might +not have known until he chose to tell; and he had told another first. + +Because he was grateful that Trent had been quick to take the hint the +Earl of Rosecarrel was particularly gracious to his guest and proposed +a game of billiards. + +It was while the old nobleman was making a break that Daphne dropped +into a chair at Trent's side. + +"Are you really going?" she asked. + +"I ought never to have stayed so long," he answered. + +"Do you want to go?" + +"You know I don't," he said passionately. + +"And is your business so important?" + +"Wait," he said rising to his feet when his opponent had finished a +break of fifty-three. "It's my turn." + +"I have never," said the earl, chalking his cue, "seen you miss that +particular shot before." + +Anthony Trent came to the girl's side. + +"We can't talk here," he whispered. "The hounds meet at Michaelstowe +tomorrow and draw the Trenewth covers. Will you be out?" + +"Yes," she said, "but what chance shall we have to talk there?" + +"We can lose the field," he said, "and ride back over the moors alone." + + * * * * * + +Arthur Grenvil had taken the mastership of the North Cornwall Foxhounds +and persuaded Trent to follow them. The American had added a couple of +better-bred faster horses to his hack and now enjoyed the gallop after a +fox as much as any hardened foxhunter of them all. + +A fox was discovered almost immediately when the Trenewth covers were +drawn and got well away making in a westerly direction for the +Wadebridge road. Daphne and Trent made a pretense of following but soon +drew apart from the rest. The music of hounds became fainter and they +turned back to the moors. + +"You might have told me," she said reproachfully. + +"I didn't know," he answered, "I only realized when your father spoke +that it was more or less a command." + +"My father may be the lord-lieutenant of the county," she said, "but he +has no power to send a man away if the man doesn't want to go." + +"Can you think I want to go?" he demanded. + +"I only know you are not going to stay." + +She touched her horse lightly on the shoulder and put him to a canter. +Trent saw that she was heading for Rough Tor, one of the two mountains +guarding the moorlands. Once or twice they had ridden to its rocky top +and looked at the hamlets through whose chimneys the peat smoke rose, +and those strange hut circles of a prehistoric people. The path along +which she went was too narrow to permit him to ride by her side and he +was forced to ride in silence for almost an hour. + +When she dismounted at Rough Tor and he tethered the horses to a short +wind shorn tree he could see she was not the same cheerful girl of +yesterday. + +"Why did you stay here so long?" she asked presently. + +"Because I love you," he answered. + +"Why do you go away?" + +"Because I love you better than I knew." + +She looked at him with a faint smile. + +"That is very hard to understand, Tony." + +It was the first time she had ever called him by the name her brother +used. He took one of her gauntleted hands and kissed it. + +"My dear," he said tenderly, "it is crucifixion for me." + +She looked at him still with the little wistful smile on her face. + +"And are you the only one to suffer?" + +The knowledge that she cared as much as he did brought a look of misery +to his face where only triumph should have reigned. + +"Ada Barham told me about the girl in America," she continued. "Of +course I imagined there would be a girl somewhere whom you cared for but +I think you might have confided in me. Weren't we good friends enough +for that?" + +"There is no girl anywhere," he said. "I told Miss Barham that because I +didn't want her to suspect it was you." + +"Then why must you go away?" There was almost a wail in her voice. + +"I have told you," he answered, trying desperately to keep his voice +even, "I must go because I love you better than anything else in life." + +She laughed a little bitterly. + +"And so that is how men behave when they are in love!" + +"When a man really loves a girl he should think first of her happiness." + +She looked at him simply. There was none of the false shame that lesser +natures might feel in avowing love. + +"Don't you understand," she said in a low voice, "that you are my +happiness?" + +For a moment the devil tempted him even as the Son of Man had been +tempted upon a mountain top. Why should he think of the future when +today was so sweet? In the big Lion car in the castle garage he could +make Southampton in time enough for the White Star liner which went out +tomorrow. They could be married on board or at any rate directly they +reached America. Then with the money he had saved they could be happy. +She was the woman he wanted, the woman he worshipped. + +Then the other side of the picture presented itself. He saw them married +on board and radiantly happy as they approached the land that was to be +her home. Then the hard-faced men who showed official badges and +informed him he was wanted for a series of crimes which would keep him +away from wife and home and liberty until she was an old woman. One +ending to the trip was just as likely as the other. Situated as he was +he could never be certain of safety. This period in quiet Cornwall was +the first time since he had taken to crime that he had become almost +careless. He would break Daphne's heart for she was of the kind who +would never love another man. And the disgrace he would bring upon this +kindly family of hers which had suffered enough already. The screeching +headlines in the press of the earl's daughter who married a crook. It +was not to be thought of. + +"Dear," he said softly, "if there were any obstacles which could be +removed by human effort I should not say goodbye like this. Please don't +ask me to tell you anything more." + +"You said at Dereham that you felt you could sell your soul for a past. +Is that it?" + +"That is the irrevocable thing," he told her. + +"Pasts can be lived down," she whispered. + +"Not mine," he said dismally. "Daphne I have not been here all this time +without knowing you and the sort of people from whom you spring. It is +because of your tradition of honor that you felt Arthur's misfortunes so +much. I can bring upon you and yours a greater disgrace than he could." + +"I won't believe it," she cried. + +"I don't want you to," he said gratefully. "I remember the thing said +about your family, 'the Grenvils for Loyalty' and I love you for it, but +Lady Polruan was right when she called me an unknown adventurer from +America. The other countrymen of mine you meet here, like Conington +Warren for instance, have their place at home. I haven't. I am without +the pale. They don't know me and I can't know them. There is that great +gulf fixed which you can never understand. I want to go away leaving you +still my friend. If you ask me questions about myself and I answer them +truly I may have to carry away with me the picture of your scorn. Be +kind, Daphne and don't ask any more." + +"I should never scorn you," she cried. + +He put his arms about her and kissed her. + +"My dear," he whispered, "my sweet, believe always that there is +something God himself could not alter or I would never give you up like +this." + +"It is very hard," she said presently, "to have found love and then to +know it must only be a little dream that passes." + +"It is my just punishment," he answered. + +"When do you go?" + +"Tomorrow." + +She put her arms about his neck and looked him full in the eyes. + +"Darling," she said, "I shall never love anybody but you. Girls always +say that, I know, but I have always been a little afraid of love and its +exactions and the sorrow it brings. You see I was right in being afraid +for directly I find you I must lose you." She leaned forward, one elbow +on her knee, and looked at the countryside spread out at her feet. "I +shall probably live here to be an old woman and look after other old +women and see they have tea and warm wraps for the bad weather, and give +the old men tobacco. That's all I look forward to. Tony, Tony, why is it +one can't die on the day when one is killed?" + +He sat in silence. Bitterly as he regretted his past which had risen to +prevent happiness, he regretted his staying here in Cornwall even more. +If he alone had suffered it were well enough, part indeed of the +punishment he merited. But to have dragged this girl into it and to have +made her love a man who could never marry her was the blackest of all. +Perhaps she suspected it for she turned to him and put her hand on his. + +"Poor Tony," she said caressingly, "it's no good blaming yourself. It +had to be. I think I've always loved you. Before it is too late and you +are gone away, are you sure this thing that stands between us cannot be +banished or atoned or paid for in money? You know I have a large fortune +of my own and it is all yours if you need it. Don't let any little thing +stand between us. Where one loves wholly one can forgive all. I shall +not ask you again; but, my dear, if any human agency can give you to me +let me know." + +Anthony Trent thought of the view he once had of a great penitentiary in +which a man he used to know was serving a life sentence. The prison was +set among arid country in sandy plains. Along the top of the stone walls +sentries were placed at intervals, men with sawed-off shot guns waiting +the opportunity to kill such as sought to escape the dreary days and +dreadful nights. His friend made the desperate attempt and died as +warders crowded about him and congratulated the guard on his +markmanship. It was this place which might at any moment receive the +person of Anthony Trent. + +He could not think of the law as a human agency. That was one of the +differences between the Anthony Trent, writer and Anthony Trent, crook. +The writer regarded the law and its officers with a certain meed of +respect but the criminal hated them. + +"There is nothing that can help me," he said. + +There was silence for a little; then she rose to her feet and pointed +out scarlet coated men in the distance and galloping horses. Arthur's +hounds had lost their fox in Tregenna woods and had found another stout +dog fox headed for his earth on the moors. + +"We can follow after all," she said, with an attempt to be cheerful. + +They kissed silently and then remounted the impatient hunters. By +devious ways they joined the field again. The moorland was a dangerous +country to ride. Great stone walls divided small fields and there were +sunken roads and paths by which, thousands of years before, the +Phoenicians had taken their way. + +It was observed with what recklessness the American rode. + +"He'll break his neck if he isn't careful," said a rosy faced old +"hunting parson," as Trent set his horse at a great granite barrier. + +He was not to know that Anthony Trent would have welcomed just such an +end. + + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN + +_THE SENTENCE OF BANISHMENT_ + + +Lord Rosecarrel who was out with the hounds that day was riding ahead of +his daughter when she and her escort joined the field. He was a finely +built man and looked exceedingly well in hunting costume. He wore a +closely trimmed beard, now almost white, and seemed, so Trent thought, +more than his sixty-five years. It was a fine, sensitive face, and the +earl had all his days until this strange retirement mixed with the great +of the earth and taken part in the councils of nations. This mystery +connected with his withdrawal from public affairs intrigued the +American. He believed Daphne knew. He was wondering what it was when the +earl reined in his horse. + +"I am told you leave no later than tomorrow, Mr. Trent, I hope you will +dine with us tonight." + +Anthony Trent hesitated a moment before answering. + +"Thank you," he said, "I should like to." + +He knew it would only reopen old wounds but the temptation to see Daphne +again was not to be resisted. + +It would have been a dull dinner but for the earl. Whether or not he saw +Daphne's depression, the disappointment of his son and the +disinclination of the visitor to talk, he was entertaining and witty. He +asked a number of questions about the United States where his son and +heir was. While he played billiards with Arthur, Trent and the girl +watched them. In truth they paid little attention to the scores or +strokes. + +It was not easy to get back to the intimacy of the morning. There was a +certain reserve in the girl's manner, and a look of sadness that +immeasurably distressed Trent. + +"Ours is a tragic family," she said, when he tried to bring her to a +brighter mood. "We used to be so happy. My mother was wonderful. She is +gone, my two brothers are dead, St. Just is away and my father simply +pining away of a dreadful thing that wasn't his fault." + +"I wish you would tell me what it is," he said. + +"Impossible," she said decisively. "It poisons his whole life." + +"It was Arthur's fault, wasn't it?" he demanded. + +"What makes you say that?" she returned. + +"I know it," he said emphatically, "and whatever he did can be undone +and if it's humanly possible I can do it. Is someone blackmailing him?" + +He could see she was startled. He must have hit on something not far +removed from the truth. + +"Not that," she said, looking at where her father was standing +apprehensively. "And I'm sure you could do nothing." + +"I can try," he said earnestly. "Listen to me, Daphne. I feel that +there is nothing in life for me but the memory of you. I want more than +anything else to do something for you to prove my love. I have nothing +in all life to lose. I have no relations, no friends to speak of. My +life has been made up of," he hesitated, "of adventures where I pitted +myself against the world and won." + +She thought of that night in Dereham. Was that one of his adventures? +Certainly he had given her the impression of great strength and +resolution. Of all the men she met Rudolph Castoon and Anthony Trent +most radiated this uncommon quality. + +She looked across the big room to her father. Arthur was making a big +break and the earl was not watching him; she knew he was not thinking of +the game. He was thinking of that insuperable obstacle which barred him +from the work he loved, the work in which he was needed. He looked a +sad, broken man and reminded Trent of the portrait of Julius the second, +by Raphael, which he had seen in Florence. + +"I dare not tell," she said. "It touches big things and would involve +many names and would lead you into great peril." + +"It would not be the peril for me that you think," he insisted. "I shall +know when my hour is to strike. Darling, let me try to do something for +the woman I love, for the family where I found such happiness and such +sorrow. I have brought so much trouble on you that I want to feel I did +something to atone." + +He felt for a fleeting moment the warm clasp of her hand. + +"You have often been in danger?" she asked. + +"It has been my life," he said simply. + +"I am afraid to tell my father," she confessed. + +"Must he know?" Trent asked. + +"Yes. I know the whole hideous thing only in the barest outline." + +"I shall broach the subject," he said confidently, "after all I have +nothing to lose. I go tomorrow anyway." + +She hesitated a moment. + +"My father may think you are doing it at a price." + +"Instead of which I am offering to help you as atonement." + +The light died from her eyes and the hope left her heart. Nothing could +alter his decision, nothing apparently blot out the past that held them +asunder. + +The Earl of Rosecarrel heard Anthony Trent's request for a private +interview with a rather troubled mind. He had no doubt it had to do with +his daughter. He told himself he had been very careless. + +"By all means my dear fellow," he said cordially, "come to my library +where we shall be quite alone." + +Never had Trent been bidden to this great book lined chamber. It was +open neither to those who came on visitors' day nor to the casual guest. +It was here the earl and the prime minister were closeted for several +hours. + +"My lord," Trent began, "I am going to say something that will first of +all astonish you and then probably make you angry at what seems +presumption." + +"I hardly think you will do that," the other said urbanely. He was sure +now it had to do with Lady Daphne. + +"You have said," Trent went on, "that you are grateful to me for my help +to your son, Arthur." + +"I am profoundly grateful," the earl said quickly, "you have made a new +man of him." + +"Then promise me you will not interrupt me by ringing for a servant to +show me out." + +"I will promise that blindly," smiled the nobleman. + +"I owe a debt to your family. Arthur saved my life and I am still a +debtor. Since I have been here I have found out a great deal about your +life work. I found out also that at a moment when the Empire most needed +you you retired. I know at the present moment your name is being +mentioned everywhere as the most suitable for one of the highest offices +under the crown. I know the prime minister made a golfing trip to +Newquay the excuse to call on you personally. I know that in this very +room you refused a request from your sovereign." + +There was no doubting the agitation this statement produced in the +ex-ambassador. But he was mindful of his promise. + +"I know," the inexorable Trent went on, "that your refusal has something +to do with what your son did when he was irresponsible. I saw you throw +a terrible glance at him during the prime minister's talk over the +luncheon table. It told me plainly that remotely or not it was because +of something he did that you remain here eating your heart out. +Afterwards you were especially kind to him. It was as though you +repented your momentary anger. My lord, am I right so far?" + +"I do not pretend to understand how you have learned these facts," the +earl said slowly, "but you have made no error. What happened is over, +dead and done with." + +"I'm not so sure," Trent cried. "Perhaps because there was a day when I +wrote stories of a rather lurid type I can think of half a hundred +things that might seem final to you but which would yield to my type of +mind. Nothing is final to us Americans." + +Lord Rosecarrel looked at him shrewdly. + +"What you say is preposterous, Mr. Trent, but nevertheless it interests +me. What causes could this fertile mind of yours suggest?" + +"Blackmail first of all," Trent said. Lord Rosecarrel did not give any +indication whether the shot told or not. "Blackmail can be sub-divided +into many heads." + +"And is there a remedy for blackmail, then?" the earl asked blandly. + +"A remedy can always be found for things," Trent said confidently. + +"It amounts to this," the diplomat continued calmly as though he were +discussing an interesting phase in another man's life, "that you suppose +I am held inactive here because of the hold some man or government has +on me. Admitting for a moment that this is true, do you not suppose that +I should have strained every nerve, called upon my every resource to +remove the obstacle which you admit has a remedy?" + +"I think you have tried and failed," Trent said. + +"It is curious," said the earl still impersonally, "how fiction of the +type you used to write has taken possession of the public mind." + +"I should not fail," Trent said steadily. + +"You still persist in making the imaginary real," the earl said good +humouredly. + +"Why do you fence with me at a time like this?" Trent said making a +gesture of despair. "Can't you see I am in earnest?" + +"You rate your powers so highly then?" + +"You employed amateurs, my lord, I am a professional adventurer." + +"What are you doing in my house?" + +"Living honest hours and learning that a past can't be undone. I know +very well that you thought I wanted to see you because I love your +daughter. It is true. I do love her. And it is because I love her that I +am going. And it is because I want to prove that I am only truthful when +I say that, I offer to undertake anything that may help you." + +"But the reward?" + +"To have done something for her is the reward." + +The earl was silent for a minute. Then he paced the room. Trent watched +his tall, bent form wondering what was to be the outcome. + +"Mr. Trent," said the earl pausing before him, "you are either a +scoundrel or else the most chivalrous gentleman I have ever known. For +the moment I hardly know what to think, or say, or do. If I give you my +confidence and you abuse it the public will share the knowledge of a +disgrace which now only my enemy knows. If you set me free from my +bondage you put me under an obligation that I can never pay. If I let +you make the attempt in which two men have given their lives and you +fail I shall never forgive myself." + +"But my lord," Trent reminded him, "I am a professional. I have never +failed. I detest a brawl but I love danger, and life means less to me +than you might suppose. If I fail you will never be compromised. I shall +want no help nor send any plea for assistance. I work alone--always." + +The earl did not answer him directly. + +"The hounds met at Michaelstowe this morning," he said, "and I took the +opportunity of sending off a wire in reply to this post card which came +last night." + +Trent looked at it. It was in a language unknown to him. + +"It is in Hungarian," Lord Rosecarrel told him, "and it says, 'Please +let me know that the report in today's Times that you have accepted +office is incorrect.' The telegram I sent to the writer said: 'The +report is wrong. I have refused.' There you have my secret. The man who +sent the post card, in effect, threatened me with exposure if I came out +of retirement." + +"Then it is blackmail," Trent breathed. + +"I am going to trust you," the earl said suddenly. "I am going to think +of you as the chivalrous gentleman. The man who wrote the post card is a +very big figure in the politics of what used to be called _mittel +Europa_. Our interests clashed. He was on one side and I on the other. +It happened that I was usually able to out manoeuvre him because my +training had been such that no man in public life knew the Balkans as I +did, and do still, the wheels within wheels, the inner hidden things +that make national sentiment so dangerous at times or so valuable as the +case may be. In time he came to think me the one man who could +comprehend his activities and check them. He set out to ruin me. He +believed his ends justified other methods than I used. I was shot at on +the _Ferencz Jozsef rakpart_ for example and a companion killed." + +"Do you still seem a menace to him?" Trent asked. + +"More than ever if I take the position offered me in the near East. You +see the rumour in the Times brings instant recognition. I knew he was in +London." + +Trent looked at the speaker and wondered what it could be which kept him +from the work his country demanded of him. Assuredly it was not lack of +courage. + +"He was in London when he obtained the hold over me that keeps me buried +here. Arthur was at the moment a secretary of Rudolph Castoon. One +night he opened a strong box of mine and took some bank notes to pay a +racing debt. It was a terrible blow to think he had fallen so low, but I +was more alarmed to find a tentative draft of a treaty which was never +made effective, a document in my own writing, had disappeared. At the +time it might have incensed a country since allied with us almost to the +point of a declaration of war. Arthur told me it was gibberish to him +and he had thrown it on the fire. A month later I was summoned to a +cabinet meeting. A friend told me I was to be asked to produce the +treaty draft. I called Arthur to see me. I told him my honor was +involved and that if he had not destroyed it or was holding it to sell +another power I must know. He gave me his solemn word of honor, uttered +in the most convincing manner, that he had thrown it into the open fire. + +"When the prime minister asked for the draft I told him I had destroyed +it thinking its value gone and fearful of the danger of having it at my +house in Grosvenor Place. At the moment I was absolutely convinced that +my son had been honest with me. It was obvious I could not tell the +cabinet I had caught him stealing money or that he had torn up the +draft. I gave the cabinet my word of honor that it was destroyed and I +allowed them to assume that I did it. It was a lie and I do not justify +its use, but first and foremost my son's protection seemed necessary. It +was less than three months later that I received a visit from the man +who wrote that post card. + +"It was in Paris where I was staying with my daughter. He said that at +last he had a weapon which would wound me. Arthur had sold him the +draft. He had it concealed where none could get it. Unless I retired +from public life and activities he would show it to the same cabinet +which had heard me swear I had destroyed it with my own hands. The +inference would be that I had sold it. It was known that I had lost +money through the failure of a London bank. No matter what the cabinet +thought my honor was smirched and I should rightly be considered unfit +for high office. There, Mr. Trent, is the real reason." + +"Do you know where the draft of the treaty is hidden?" + +"In his almost inaccessible castle in Croatia." + +"You are certain?" + +"Two men have died so that the knowledge might be mine." + +"I should imagine he would keep it in the deposit box of a bank where he +could get at it quickly." + +"Banks can be broken into easier far than his strong room. He lives, +despite the changes wrought by the war, in a style almost feudal. He +owns and controls twenty square miles of the country where his home is. +What chance, I ask you, has a stranger of getting near without incurring +suspicion. There are many men who can speak German or French like +natives but Hungarian is a different matter, a non-Aryan tongue." + +"It should be done from the inside," Trent mused. + +"One of them was," the earl told him, "the man who tried was skillful, +adroit and courageous. He had flirted with death a hundred times, just +as you have done Mr. Trent, but they set a trap for him there which a +fool would have passed by; a trap so skillfully baited that only a +clever man would have tried to use it to further his cause. Yet he +failed. You have no idea of the household at that fantastic castle in +the mountains. You have no idea of the imperious temper and power of the +man who owns it, the multitude of servitors who would kill did he but +suggest it, the motley company he entertains there." + +This mention of many visitors interested Trent. + +"He entertains a great deal then?" + +"Only those he knows, men and women. The life there as reported to me +reads like a chronicle of medieval days." + +"The other man who failed--what did he go as?" + +"A steeple chase jockey. The count kept a great stud and raced all over +Continental Europe. He owned Daliborka the great horse which won the +_Grand Prix_." + +"The horse that was stolen?" + +"Exactly. Daliborka and three other thoroughbreds were missing from the +stables. The man who pretended to be a jockey and was instead a man of +lineage and wealth secreted the horses at intervals along the forest +road that runs from the castle to the coast. It was his idea when he had +obtained the draft to make his way by relays to the nearest harbour. +The poor fellows never had the opportunity to throw a leg across any of +them. You see, Mr. Trent, there is no chance at all." + +"I will make one," the American said confidently, "I am going to enjoy +this." + +"After what I have said you still persist?" + +"Because of it," laughed Anthony Trent. He had forgotten everything but +the prospect of coming danger, the duel that was to be fought between +him and this fabulous magnate. It was characteristic of Trent that he +swept aside all other possible inmates of the lonely castle as beneath +his notice. His business was with the superior. + +"How do you know he is still in London?" Trent demanded. + +"I keep myself informed," the earl said. "A newspaper clipping concern +sends me every notice of him." + +"I want them," the younger man observed, "I want everything that will +help me." + +He read through the brief notices eagerly and wished English papers +discussed personalities with the detail American periodicals employed. +The only item that interested him deeply was a notice that Count Michæl +Temesvar had visited the automobile show at the Crystal Palace and +seemed interested in the new twelve cylinder Lion car. + +"Rather humorous in its way," the earl said smiling, "since I own a +great deal of stock in that company. That's why I have that +inordinately high powered car in the garage which you and Arthur seem +to like." + +"Humorous!" Trent repeated, "I don't know that it isn't more humorous +than you know. Do you think he has any idea you are interested in the +company?" + +"Few know it," the earl said, "and I don't see why he should when even +my friends are ignorant." + +"How much of it do you own?" Trent asked eagerly. + +"More probably than any one stockholder." + +"And a letter from you to the manager would make me solid." He explained +the slang, "I mean if you wrote a letter to the manager asking that I be +given certain powers would he honor it?" + +"Most certainly," the earl answered. "There can be no doubt about it." + + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT + +_COUNT MICHÆL TEMESVAR_ + + +Count Michæl Temesvar, when he left behind him the great estate where he +ruled as absolute and tyrannical master and came to the fashionable, +pleasure-loving London, was a different man. + +In London he paid due regard to the conventions and was entertained at +great houses and in return offered very splendid receptions to his +hosts. Meanwhile he kept a skilled finger on the hardening arteries of +new international affairs. + +He knew very well that he was suspected of intriguing for monarchial +restoration and the confusion of the country where he was so pleasantly +entertained, by such men as the Earl of Rosecarrel. But for the main +part England still clung to her habit of disbelieving that a man who +could be so charming in society would commit the _betise_ of plotting +where he had played. + +He was particularly interested in the Spring Automobile Show at the +Crystal Palace. He had heard a great deal of late of the Lion motor and +he wanted one. On his first visit to the show he told the manager that +the silver model there exhibited was the one that he would buy. He was +annoyed that the firm's representative would not allow it to be taken +away until the show finished. + +On his second visit he was irritated to find that the manager raised +objections about selling it at all. + +"You see, sir," said the manager, "a car like this demands careful +driving and constant attention. Our ordinary model would suit you +better." + +"I want this because it is said to be the fastest car in the world," +Count Michæl returned. "To me the price is nothing." + +"It isn't that at all, sir," the manager said. "In confidence it +wouldn't do us any good if your own mechanics got it in such a condition +it couldn't do its best work. Bad advertisement you understand." + +"You think I should have a special chauffeur then? Good. Send me one. +Send three if necessary but send me a man who has the nerve to drive +along my mountain roads by day or night at any speed I choose." + +"That's a tall order, sir," the manager returned. + +"But I pay. I always pay better than others because I want better work." + +Count Michæl Temesvar beheld a blue-clad mechanic working under a car. +He struck him a sharp blow on the leg with his cane. A grimy-faced man +emerged rubbing the bruised limb. + +"You," said the count peremptorily, "can you drive a car like this +Lion?" + +The man grinned. The idea seemed to tickle him. He spoke with the +cockney accent of his kind. + +"Me drive a Lion?" he said. "Ask Mr. King 'ere what I can do." + +"I couldn't let him go," said Mr. King quickly. "He is my best +demonstrator and a wonder at tuning up an engine." + +Count Michæl ignored the protesting manager. + +"What is your wage?" + +"I get five pound a week." + +"I give you ten. You are my man. You leave for my place in Croatia when +the show is over. My secretary will see you are looked after. Serve me +well and you will never regret it. I am generous, when I am pleased." He +turned to his companion. "See that all arrangements are made. If he has +a wife and children bring them if he desires it. If he will be happier +without them let them remain here. I must have him. He has intelligence +and industry. Look you, he has gone back to his work. He loves his +engine as a good groom does his horse." + +The mechanic had indeed crawled again under the huge car. The count +could have added that he was cautious for he drew his legs well into +cover. + +The count and the secretary went off. The secretary was to call at the +office next day and arrange things. The manager was deferential, but +when they had left the glass-roofed hall he permitted himself to laugh. +Then he crossed to the car and bent down. + +"It's all right, Mr. Trent," he said, "they've gone now; you can come +out." + +Anthony Trent looked up at him and grinned. + +"You can always get a job as an actor," he said. + +"Your accent is a bit of all right," the manager returned, gratified. + +"If it's etiquette for a manager to have a drink with a mere oil-stained +mechanic as I am, lead on to the nearest place." + +"Well," said the manager later, "what do you think of him?" + +Anthony Trent rubbed his leg. + +"He struck me," said Trent in a curious, musing way. There was something +in his tone which made the manager look at him quickly. Anthony Trent's +face was grim and set. + +"I don't think he meant it that way," Mr. King replied. He had visions +of assault and battery. + +"Some day I shall give him the opportunity to apologize," said the +American. + +Mr. King had received personal instructions from the chairman of the +Lion Motor, Ltd., to obey Mr. Anthony Trent in every particular. Mr. +Trent was to be allowed to have the run of the shops and the most expert +mechanics in the firm were to put all they knew at his disposal. + +Anthony Trent started by giving the manager the best dinner he had ever +eaten. Then he coached him in the _rôle_ of a manager anxious not to +lose his best demonstrator. King was delighted that Count Michæl walked +into the trap set for him eagerly. He liked Trent but thought poorly of +his chances in a tussle with this big girthed foreigner. + +"Must be fifty inches round the chest," he observed, sipping his drink +delicately, "and most of it muscle. One of the most powerful men I've +ever laid eyes on, Mr. Trent. Built like a wrestler. About five feet +ten I judge, a couple of inches less than you but five stone heavier." + +"What was the big car on the aisle opposite us at the show?" Trent +asked, as King thought, irrelevantly. + +"The 'Amazon,'" King answered scornfully. "All varnish and silver plate +and upholstery with a motor that isn't worth a tinker's dam." + +"That's like the count," Trent smiled, "champagne, high living and +general dissipation have made a shell of him. He looks well enough to +the eye, like that Amazon car, but call on the motor and you'll see 'em +both hang out distress signals." + +"Maybe," King conceded, "I'll put my bet on the Lion," he smiled in a +friendly fashion at the other, "and the Eagle." + +They fell to talking technicalities and kept it up till the hour when +Michæl, Count Temesvar went to dine at a house in Bruton street. He told +his host that as a compliment to this country, his second home, he had +just bought an English car and engaged an English chauffeur. The other +guests thought it so broad-minded of him. He further endeared himself to +his company by deploring the retirement of his old adversary, that +eminent diplomat, the Earl of Rosecarrel. + +His old adversary's occupation at the moment would have surprised him. +The earl was devising an ingenious cipher code having, it would seem to +the uninitiated, the various parts of a Lion motor which might need +replacing by telegram to the London factory. Anthony Trent would take a +copy with him, carefully concealed, and any telegram sent by him to the +works would instantly be forwarded to the code's inventor. + +"What makes you so cheerful?" his daughter asked as she bade him +goodnight. + +"That amazing American of yours," he answered. + +"'Of mine,'" she repeated. But even in the grip of her unhappiness she +was not sure that the dim future did not hold some alleviation. + + * * * * * + +Few people were more careful of appearances than Anthony Trent. He was +always dressed with quiet distinction. In the early days of a profession +where it is not well to be too prominent, he chafed at this restraint. +Later he saw that it was the sign of sartorial eminence. + +On assuming the name and characteristics of Alfred Anthony he also had +to dress the part and talk the part. From the men in the Lion shop he +had, with his mimic's cleverness, taken on their peculiar intonations +and slang until he certainly could deceive a foreigner. And since he was +thorough he forced himself to smoke the part. + +He accompanied his great silver car across the channel to Ostend dressed +as the men in the shop dressed. And he moved with their brisk, perky +quickness and he alternated between shag in a bull-dog pipe and Woodbine +cigarettes. He was glad that Mr. Hentzi, the count's secretary observed +his altercation at the Belgian port with a customs official who made +him pay duty on an excess number of cigarettes. + +"Ah," said Mr. Hentzi with condescension, "the cigarette of the Briteesh +Tommee!" + +At Ostend, Trent superintended the despatch of his charge by fast +freight and then took the trans-continental express to Budapest. He was +to wait for the car and drive it to its new home. During the few days he +was forced to idle in the Hungarian capital he deplored the fact that +new status prevented him from going to the Bristol or the Grand Hotel +Royal. He stayed, instead, at an hotel of the second class and +encountered little friendliness. English or Americans, it seemed, were +still regarded as enemies. + +He was saved from any violence by Hentzi's announcement that he must be +fitted for the Temesvar livery. It was no use to rebel. With incredible +swiftness the tailor turned it out. Trent looked at himself in the glass +with the utmost distaste. The color scheme was maroon and canary yellow. +He likened himself to those who stood before the fashionable stores on +Fifth avenue and opened limousine doors. + +"With that livery," Hentzi said impressively, "you will be safe; you +will be respected." + +Anthony Trent was too much overwhelmed to answer him. Certainly the +Anthony Trent who stared back at him from the mirror was a stranger. He +was wearing his hair longer than usual and a small moustache was already +sprouting. The hawklike look was not evident. He wore, instead, an air +of innocence that was Chaplinesque. Hentzi took this look of scrutiny to +be one of pride. + +"You must have your photograph taken and send it to your best girl," he +laughed, "she will make all the other ones jealous." + +"Yes," said the man who suddenly remembered he was Alfred Anthony of +Vauxhall Bridge Road, "she'll be fair crazy about it. Just like me." + +But he did not wear it much. He preferred the chance of a row with the +populace to his unwished for splendor. The days of delay gave him +leisure to think over coming difficulties. He conceded he had been led +away by emotion and enthusiasm when he was betrayed into boasting of his +prowess. The two men who had failed had been good men no doubt and they +were dead. + +Such a man as Temesvar must know that the brain who originated the +attempt at recovery of the draft was still scheming. The count must +constantly be on the watch. And if so, why had he engaged Alfred Anthony +with so little investigation? Like most high grade criminals, Anthony +Trent was apt to suspect simple actions when performed by men of the +Temesvar type and impute to them subtle motives. He wished he had been +able to take a longer look at the count instead of his momentary talk. + +He reminded Trent very much of the celebrated painting of Francis the +First, that sensual monarch who was devoted to the chase, masquerades, +jewelry and the pursuit of the fair. But Francis, for all his +accomplishments, was weak and frivolous while Temesvar was ruthless and +a power, if Lord Rosecarrel was to be believed. + +Before he left London Trent had secured what road maps he could of +Hungary and particularly the Adriatic coast of Dalmatia and Croatia. At +his hotel he spread them out on the table and spent hours poring over +them. + +He ventured to ask Mr. Hentzi some particulars of the place, and why +Count Michæl had gone to the expense of importing the chauffeur and the +car when he had many machines in his garage and so many men at his +command. + +Hentzi told him the count needed a clear-eyed, temperate man who could +make great speed and make it safely. + +"Most of our men," Hentzi declared, "drink _shlivovitza_, a brandy made +of plums, and there are people who visit the count whose lives must not +be imperilled by recklessness." + +"What about the roads?" Trent asked thinking of the weight of the Lion +and its tremendous wheel-base. + +"From Karlstadt to Fiume runs the Maria Louise road which is superb. It +is one over which you will pass many times. Then there is the Josephina +road from Zengg and many fine highways built not for the Croatian +peasants but for strategic purposes. You have seen in this war which is +passed what good roads mean, eh?" + +"You 'it it on the 'ed, Guv'ner," Trent said cheerfully. "What do I go +down to Fiume for?" + +"To meet passengers from the steamers or from the count's yacht. It is +one hundred and twenty miles from Fiume to Radna Castle. What could you +do that distance in? The road down the mountain to Karlstadt is good but +narrow." + +Alfred Anthony spat meditatively. + +"The old girl will do it in three hours," he said, "she'll shake 'em up +a bit inside but if there aren't no traffic cops or big towns I can do +it in three hours or bit more." + +"No. No," Hentzi cried nervously, "that is suicide. We have been +satisfied to take six hours." + +"With 'orses?" Alfred Anthony demanded, "pretty good time with 'orses, +but this is a Lion." + +Hentzi sat on the front seat during the long drive and pointed out the +path. On the whole he was a good natured man but he did not permit the +count's chauffeur to forget that he was talking to the count's +secretary. Hentzi had formerly been a clerk in the estate office of the +Temesvar family and had been promoted to his present position because he +was faithful and a good linguist. + +He was afraid of the count. Trent could detect a fear of him whenever +the name was mentioned. When Hentzi warned the new chauffeur to be +careful if his employer was in an angry mood the American demanded the +reason. + +"If I do my duty," said the pseudo mechanic, "he can't hurt me." + +"You talk as a child talks," Hentzi laughed. "He will do as he likes and +as the devils that are in him at the moment. He fears neither God, man, +nor devil. Pauline only may mock when he rages." + +"Who is Pauline?" Trent asked, "the missus?" + +"The Countess," Hentzi said with dignity, "is in perpetual retreat with +the Ursuline sisters near Vienna." + +"Is Pauline the daughter?" + +"His daughters are married." Hentzi laughed, "Castle Radna is not a +place where it is wise to ask questions. You think because his +excellency was cheerful when you last saw him he is like that always? I +tell you if Pauline has been unkind he may visit it on you. I prefer +that he does. I am tired of his humours and you are younger and +stronger." + +"You don't mean he might hit me?" Trent cried. + +Hentzi seemed to find Trent's anxious manner amusing. + +"Most certainly he will," the secretary assured him, "but you need not +be alarmed. He will fling you gold when his temper has spent itself." + +"I'm not going to let any man strike me," Trent said doggedly. "It would +raise the devil in me and I might be sorry for it." + +"You would," Hentzi said thinking that the chauffeur meant he might lose +his job. + +Anthony Trent, instead, was thinking that he might, in order to succeed +in his venture, have to submit to indignities that would be torture to +one of his temperament. It would not be wise to let the secretary know +this so he turned the subject to the woman who dare laugh when the count +was angry. + +"Who is Pauline?" he asked. + +"She was a skater from the Winter Palace in Berlin. She is beautiful or +she would not be at Castle Radna; she is clever or she could not control +Count Michæl who has broken many women's hearts. She is bad or she would +not have driven the countess from her home. For myself I hate her and +the men and women with whom she fills the place." + +"So they keep a lot of company up there?" + +"Company!" Hentzi replied, "there is no such castle in Europe. I have +seen life in Buda and Vienna but up there! You may be sure when the +master drinks champagne the servants will drink _shlivovitza_. But do +not think they are all Pauline's friends. No. No. The great of the world +come there too and Pauline's friends are banished. You will drive great +personages up from Fiume and you will not know who they are or what +their errand." + +"Is the count a politician?" + +Hentzi laughed with good natured contempt at such a naïve query. Not to +know Michæl, Count Temesvar's reputation in the field of world politics +was to admit ignorance of all the troubled currents which worried kings +and presidents. + +He was rudely brought back from his lofty attitude by the sudden +stopping of the car. He was almost thrown from his seat. + +"Look!" Trent cried, pointing to a piece of close cropped turf, "a golf +green as I live." + +"What of it?" Hentzi snapped, "what do you know of golf?" + +"I used to be a caddie," Trent lied glibly. "Who plays there?" + +"The count because his doctor tells him to. I because I hate it, and +Pauline that her figure may remain seductive. Thank God there are but +nine holes! It encourages our master to have one man who always plays +worse than he. Look, that is the castle." + +Almost under the shadows of Mount Sljeme the rugged building lay. Around +it, nestling at its gates were many other lesser stone buildings which +Hentzi told him were stables, dwellings and out-houses. It was situated +in the _Zagorje_ or land beyond the hills and had, despite its fine +gardens and the green turf of the links a forbidding air. + +When the Lion was run into its garage Hentzi introduced the new +chauffeur to the man with whom he was to live, a man who with his wife +had one of the cottages outside the castle wall. Peter Sissek, the man, +was unfriendly from the start. He resented the importation of a +chauffeur with the new car as a slight to his own skill. But as he spoke +only Croatian and Hungarian, and Trent understood neither tongue, his +grievances were not voluble. + + + + +CHAPTER NINE + +_PAULINE_ + + +Anthony Trent met Pauline in rather a curious way. He had been a week at +Castle Radna and had not been commanded to drive the count. Then Hentzi +had informed him Count Michæl was sick of a bad cold. Sissek by virtue +of being senior in the Temesvar service tried to get the new man to help +him with his own cars but Trent absolutely declined. + +He had assumed a certain post in order to carry out a design but his +duties lay with the Lion car and he left the Croatian grumbling and set +out for a tour of inspection. Naturally his steps led him to the little +golf course a mile distant. There were no long holes and the course was +hardly trapped at all. It was just the kind of place elderly men, who +played a weak game, would revel in. + +By the first tee was a little rustic pavilion. Through the windows Trent +could see three or four golf bags. The temptation was too strong to +resist. He picked the locks with the blade of a pocket knife and found +himself in a comfortable room. The count's golf bag contained excellent +clubs and plenty of balls. He looked at the balls and knew the count's +game instantly. They were bitten into by the irons of a strong man. +Trent shuddered at the gashes and then, selecting a new ball and a +putter and driver went out on the nearby green. It was sheltered from +all observation and he putted for a few minutes. + +In the distance he could see the first green. It looked to be a little +under three hundred yards distant; and it lay beneath, sweetly tempting +to a long driver. + +Anthony Trent had for some years now lived a life in which he denied +himself nothing. He had reached out for such treasures as only a +millionaire may buy. The question of right or wrong in the matter of +using his employer's clubs bothered him little. He did not want to be +observed in case the privilege were denied him. + +He teed up his ball, made a few preliminary swings and then struck the +white sphere with perfectly timed strength. He watched it rise, fall and +roll almost to the edge of the green. He would certainly make it in +three. + +Then he turned round to look into the astonished face of a very +beautiful woman. There was something in the general effect, quickly +seen, which reminded him of Lady Daphne; but as he looked he saw this +girl was older. He doubted the genuineness of the golden hair and he saw +that art had aided nature in the facial make-up. But she was no more +than eight and twenty and her figure differed from Daphne's slim, almost +boyish slightness. She was dressed in a curious shade of green. It was a +tint he thought he had never seen before until he looked into her eyes +and saw it there reflected. + +Pauline had known the count had engaged a chauffeur from London but she +assumed him to be of the usual type. She had no idea that the man who +had just made such a superb drive was he. Pauline had been used to much +social enjoyment of a sort and while Count Michæl had been away she had +to behave circumspectly. She was dull and she was bored; and now, as +though an answer to prayer, Fate had sent her a handsome young man who +stood like a bronze statue as he followed the flight of the ball. + +Since the count had given permission for the families of the +neighbouring landowners to use his course she imagined it to be one of +these or perhaps a guest at some local mansion. + +Anthony Trent was never one who made a habit of the pursuit of the fair. +His profession had taught him caution. Almost always the feminine +element had brought the great criminals to peril. There had been one or +two harmless flirtations but his love for Daphne was the great affair of +his life. He groaned when he looked into Pauline's bold eyes and saw +admiration looking from them. Other women had looked at him like that. +Pauline was absolute at Castle Radna. Her enmity might be very harmful. +Her friendship might be ruinous. + +He assumed the bearing of Alfred Anthony which he had abandoned +unconsciously. He even touched his cap to the lady as a servant who +habitually wears livery should do. She frowned as he did so. + +"Who are you?" she said in German. + +"I'm the new chauffeur, miss," he returned in English. + +"What are you doing here, then?" + +"Having a bit of a game," he said with an air of timidity. "I hope you +won't tell the guv'nor." + +"The guv'nor?" she repeated. + +"The count," he said, "the old toff with the beard." + +Trent produced a Woodbine and lighted it luxuriously. He had all the +quick nervous gestures of the cockney. + +"Where did you learn to play golf like that?" she asked, looking at the +white speck almost three hundred yards distant. + +"Anyone can make a fluky drive," he said, "one drive doesn't make a +golfer, Miss. I used to be a caddie at the Royal Surrey Club." + +"Then you can carry my clubs," she said. She looked at him with a frown. +"How is it the door is open?" + +"Someone must have forgot to shut it," Trent said simply. "I just walked +in." + +All his excuses to get back to his garage were ineffectual. + +"You will understand later," she said imperiously, "that if I order a +servant to obey me he must do so. I wish you to teach me to play better +golf. I shall pay you." + +"I'll be glad to have a little extra money to send the mis'sus," said +Trent cheerfully. + +"That means you are married, eh?" she said. + +"You've 'it it," he smiled. + +He misjudged Pauline if he thought this would have any effect upon her. +She was a specialist in husbands, an expert in emotional reactions. + +Pauline played a very fair game. She had not been properly taught. But +she was strong and lithe and although she had begun the game in order to +keep her figure she played it now because she liked it. When she had +performed professionally in London and big provincial cities she had +seen that efficiency in some sport or another was _de rigueur_ among +women of importance and she hankered after the social recognition that +unusual skill at sports often brought with it. + +"Make another such drive," she commanded after she had driven only a +hundred yards. "Not like mine, but like your first." + +Trent having committed himself to a term of caddiedom at a great club +where caddies have risen to the heights as professionals, he was not +compelled to play a bad game. Pauline had never seen such golf and she +worshipped bodily skill at games or sports more than any mental +attainments. His short approaches amazed her. The skill with which at a +hundred yards he could drop on a green and remain there with the back +spin on the ball seemed miraculous. + +"I shall play every day," she decided, "and you shall tell me how to +become a great player." + +"What about me and my motor?" he objected, "I came to drive a car and +not a golf ball." + +"I shall arrange it," she said, "Peter Sissek can drive." + +"Not my car," he cried, "I'm not going to have no blooming mucker like +him drive my Lion." + +Her green eyes were narrowed when she looked at him. + +"There are a hundred men who would give all they had for such an +opportunity," she said slowly. + +"Let 'em," he said quickly, "I'm a chauffeur and mechanic." + +At the last hole she made a poor topped drive and the ball landed in a +bad lie. It was an awkward stroke and he corrected her stance and even +showed her how to grip the club when suddenly he was struck a tremendous +blow on the back of the head. He was thrown off his balance but was up +like a cat, dazed a little but anxious to see what had hit him. He +thought it was a golf ball. It was Count Michæl instead. He looked more +like Francis the First than ever. His eyes were blazing with anger. He +had stolen upon them unaware at a moment when Trent's hand was holding +the white hand of Pauline as he tried to explain the grip. + +The count was too angry to understand the look that Trent threw at him +or to realize how nearly the pseudo-chauffeur lost control of himself. +But Trent pulled himself together, dissembled his wrath, remembered his +mission, and even presented a rueful but free from resentment +appearance. + +"'Ere guv'nor," he cried, "steady on! I 'aven't done anythink." + +"It is you I blame," the count said to Pauline. He spoke in German and +ignored Alfred Anthony. "Why is it unknown to me you bring my servant to +play with you?" + +Certainly Pauline had no fear of the magnate. + +"Because he has been a professional caddie and plays so well I can learn +the game. Since your game is contemptible with whom can I play here?" + +"I beat Hentzi every time," stormed the Count. + +"Hentzi," she laughed, "he is afraid of you. I am not. This man is +useful. I have told him he is to carry my clubs when I play. Do you +object to that?" + +"By no means," the count said becoming more amiable. "I see no +objection; but as he has two arms he can carry mine also. He is a _beau +garçon_ Pauline and I do not permit his filthy fingers to touch the hand +I kiss." He turned to Trent. "How is it you are here and not at your +work?" + +"I took a bit of a walk," Trent answered. + +"And finding him near the pavilion I told him to carry my clubs," +Pauline added in English. "What is strange in that?" + +Sissek with a Fiat car was waiting by the pavilion. He had driven his +master down and took Pauline back as well. He did not understand why the +new man was carrying golf clubs. He brightened when the count spoke to +him in rapid Croatian. + +"I am telling him," the count said, "that there is plenty of work for +you to do. He will find it if you cannot. And as Peter is very strong +and as short tempered as his lord I bid you be careful." + +Trent's temper was not sufficiently under control to keep a sneer from +his face. + +His grin was superbly insolent. He forgot his cockney accent and his +acquired vocabulary. + +"I'm afraid," he said, "you are not as good a judge of men as you are of +women." + +"What is this you say?" the count demanded frowning. + +"I mean that if your fool-faced Peter there can make me do anything +against my will he shall have _my_ salary as well as his own. You came +behind me when I wasn't looking and hit me. I can't resent that--yet, +but warn him if he tries anything on me like that I'll--" He paused +conscious of having said too much and aware that Pauline was gazing at +him with vivid interest. "I'll make him sorry." Trent felt it was a weak +ending. + +"He is funny, this new chauffeur from London is he not Pauline?" + +But Pauline had a mischievous idea. She spoke to Peter Sissek, that +powerful and jealous servant, and he flashed a look of hatred at Trent. +He thoroughly believed that the new man had indeed made the insulting +remarks Pauline ascribed to him. + +"Michæl," said Pauline caressingly, "let us see what this bold man would +do if Peter threatened him. We will not let Peter hurt him but it will +be a lesson." Pauline knew men and she saw in Trent one who could not +easily be forced to do anything. + +Poor Peter Sissek urged by his master to avenge himself upon this hated +alien rushed to his fate. In a way Trent was sorry. He had no real +grievance against the man. But Peter was immensely strong and spurred on +by a lively hatred. It was his idea to get his long arms about the +slenderer man and throw him to the ground and there beat his sneering +face in. He was stopped in his rush by a stinging left jab which caught +him square on an eye. While he stood still in amazement another blow +fell, this time on his nose. + +The big man paused in angry amazement that one built so much more +slenderly than he could hit with this terrific force. Pauline leaned +forward her lips parted and the red flush of excitement victor over +art's rouge. She was a woman of violent loves and hates and had urged +many a love sick swain into unequal contest for amusement's sake. +Although Trent had attracted her she was not sure that she did not want +to see Sissek punish him. He had paid as little attention to her charms +as though he thought she was old and ugly. + +As she looked at the foreigner she noted that his face had changed. He +looked keen, hawklike, dangerous. It would have been wiser for Anthony +Trent had he allowed Peter Sissek to triumph. + +Then, suddenly, Peter made a rush. He put down his bullet head and +jumped at his man. Anthony Trent saw the opportunity for as pretty an +upper-cut as one might need. For Peter Sissek it was the whole starry +firmament in its splendor that showed itself, and then the night came +down. + +"He has killed Peter!" the count roared. + +"That is not death," Pauline said clapping her hands. + +For an uneasy moment the count remembered that not many minutes earlier +he had buffetted this quiet, grim fighter, this same man who hit his +opponent at will and evaded his enemy's blows with practised ease. These +English speaking peoples with their odd notions of independence and +their skill with their brutal fists were dangerous. It might well be +that even he, Michæl Temesvar had best remember his new chauffeur was +not docile like Peter Sissek and the others. + +"This is murder!" the count said still angrily. + +"He'll come to," Trent said carelessly. "Shall I drive you back?" + +"No," said the count. He looked coldly at the man who had charge of the +Lion. But Trent knew very well that the anger in his face was not from +any sympathy with Peter Sissek. It was the thought that Pauline had +deceived him and that this young man was too skillful in too many ways +that annoyed the aristocrat. + +"I will send a car back," Count Michæl asserted, "meanwhile stay with +the man you have so cruelly assaulted." + +Peter Sissek awoke to consciousness a few seconds later and looked with +difficulty on the world. His nose was cut, an eye was closed and his car +was gone. He made strange outcries and became so excited that Trent with +a black look bade him be silent. Sissek knew what was meant and started +at a run along the road. + +Trent was not so sure he had done well that morning. He had angered the +count. Well, such anger would probably pass under ordinary conditions. +He had interested that magnificent animal Pauline, reigning favorite, +and autocrat, and Pauline was not discreet. Sooner or later the count +would see the way she looked at his chauffeur and then the game would be +up. He would be sent back to London his mission a failure. To get +Pauline's enmity would be fatal, too. She would not hesitate to ruin a +man she hated and the count would always believe her word against that +of Alfred Anthony. The American sat on the edge of the first tee and +cursed all irregularly run establishments. He looked up presently to see +the car returning. It was driven by Hentzi. + +"What is this I hear?" Hentzi said severely. + +"I don't give a damn what you have heard," Trent said crossly. + +"What? You talk like this to me?" + +"To you or anyone else," Trent retorted. "Look here, my little man, I +came here to look after a high powered car and risk my neck on mountain +passes. All right. I'm agreeable. But if you or anyone else thinks I'm a +golf caddie or a footman or a servile beast like Sissek you're all +mistaken. I'm a good mechanic and I can drive a car against almost +anyone but I'm not going to stand for oppression. The count hit me." +Anthony Trent patted himself on the chest as the enormity of the offence +grew larger, "he hit _me_!" + +"You talk as though you were a gentleman," Hentzi said coldly. "My +friend you are of the people and you have read too much. You probably +think you are my equal. It is an honor to serve a Temesvar but if you +are anxious to go to your own country I have no doubt your company can +send another man." + +"There's no need for that," Trent said less irascibly, "but what makes +Pauline think I'm going to carry her clubs around when I've got my own +work to do?" + +"So that was it," Hentzi commented. "That was why Count Michæl stormed +at me so. My good Alfred, you are young and life is sweet. I counsel you +to remember that always while you are at Radna. The Temesvars have +always been hot headed. You see that steep cliff yonder?" + +Trent looked above him to where the side of a mountain was cut so +sharply that a drop of four hundred feet would be the lot of one +stepping from the edge. + +"That has been the scene of many tragedies," Hentzi said, "many men have +stepped into space." + +"Murdered?" Trent demanded. + +"Accidents," Hentzi assured him, "unfortunate accidents. There was one +lamentable occurrence not many years ago and he was a fellow countryman +of yours by the way. A man of great personal distinction. But these are +not for you, these reminiscences of high life. What will interest you is +that the count says you can no longer live with the Sisseks. He does +not want two valuable servants to kill one another. Room will be made +for you at the Castle. That pleases you, eh?" + +"Yes," Trent said, conscious that his look of triumph had puzzled +Hentzi. "I do not like Mrs. Sissek's cooking." + +In reality he was delighted. Here he was to be taken into the Castle +without having to make an effort. It was the first step. It would be +strange if one as skilled and silent as he could not soon have every +detail of the house at his command. He knew the servants drank their +native spirits, brandies, made of cherries, apricots and plums. This +assured sound sleep and unlimited opportunities. The count was a great +drinker, too, and his guests feasted well. + +As if in conspiracy against him the major domo, chief of the indoor +servants, put him in the least desirable of rooms, a rat-ridden chamber +away from the sleeping apartments of the rest of the help. In the heat +of summer it would be unbearable. There was fortunately a great bolt +which barred the door from intruders. The one long, deep window opened +inwards. An old square copper pipe used to drain the roof far above +passed his window. He took hold of it and found it immovable. It would +easily support his weight. The ground lay twenty feet below. It was the +windows that this copper pipe passed which most interested Trent. If +they had catches similar to his own he could open them with a hair pin. +He was eager for night to fall. And because he was now assured of action +he became much more docile. He allowed Hentzi to lecture him severely +on his brutal behaviour. + +During the next week he was worked so hard that he had little +opportunity, apart from his long journeys to Fiume, to do aught else +than make a mental plan of the windows on his side of the castle. There +were four apertures similar to that which gave light and air to his +room. The heavy copper pipe passed by them all. To a gymnast with a +clear head they were all within reach. The climb was probably less +difficult than it would seem to an observer looking up from the ground. +There was risk, of course, but Anthony Trent was always ready to take +it. + +In the daily life of the servants' hall he noticed that the place had an +enormous number of retainers, young and old, many more than seemed +necessary. They were with a few exceptions sons and daughters of the +Temesvar family, servants proud of their caste and the man they served. +The major domo spoke German and French. He was a pompous person who +ruled absolutely below stairs. He did not like the stranger but he had +been commanded not to allow any brawls and he saw to it the chauffeur +was let alone. There was much to eat and to drink. Count Michæl owned +herds of swine which grazed in the miles of oak and beech forests +surrounding Castle Radna and the heady drinks that abounded were made +from his own fruits by his own people. + +As a rule the lower servants went early to bed. Those who remained up +later were the major domo and such of his men as waited upon the +count's table. There came a dark cloudy night when Anthony Trent +wearing black sneakers and a dark suit free from white collar or cuffs +crawled out of his dungeon-like window and up the twelve feet of piping +that intervened between his own and the next window above. He found +himself looking down into what he supposed was the great entrance hall +of the castle. Just below him was a great seat raised above the hall +level on a platform of stone at the base of the fine sweep of stairway. + +It was the official seat of the major domo. He could see the portly +servant in a sort of antique evening dress, white gloves on podgy hands +and a gilt chain of office about his thick neck. Below were three or +four footmen in the maroon and canary of the Temesvars. They were +yawning as though weary of inactivity. Plainly Trent could not emerge a +few feet above the major domo's head and in full view of the footmen. + +A climb to the next embrasure revealed what at first seemed a checkmate +to observation. He found on investigation that some great article of +furniture was backed against the window. It was immovable. Another climb +and he was able to step through the easily opened window to a dark +corridor. Anthony Trent in a great silent house where danger and +disgrace would attend his discovery was in his element. He moved +silently, surely, and seemed possessed of a seventh sense. He had never +before professionally worked in such a vast rambling place as Castle +Radna. It was not easy even for one trained as he to keep the plan of +the place in mind. He found himself on a floor of bedrooms few of which +were occupied. + +He bent over one slumberer whose breath was strong with plum brandy and +found he had discovered Hentzi's bedroom. He, did not need to be very +quiet here. Underneath him was the floor where the main bedrooms would +be and he had an idea the count might keep his valuables there. It was +necessary that he should be able to enter from the outside since the +stairway leading down was brilliantly lighted from the main hall and +stone stairway where the men servants seemed permanently stationed. + +Trent had the ability to snatch sleep when he desired it. It was now +only eleven o'clock. He crawled under Hentzi's bed and slumbered until +one. There was no danger of discovery. He did not snore and the man in +the upper berth would not wake till morning. Anthony Trent had made a +profound study of the value of snores in the determination of the +tenacity with which the snorer clung to sleep. + +When he shut Hentzi's door and stepped out into the corridor he saw that +the lights had been extinguished below and he was free now to make his +way to the floor beneath. He tried no doors but went at once to the +aperture covered by the article of furniture. It was a huge ebony +_armoire_ inlaid with panels of tortoise-shell and ornamented by +intricate designs of brass and ormolu. It was probably put in this spot +for the purposes of decoration and he picked the lock to prove himself +right. It was empty and there was space enough to stand upright in. + +He felt it vandalism to break the back panel and feared once the loud +cracking of wood might arouse the house. But there were few in Castle +Radna who went without a nightcap. It took him almost two hours to hack +an aperture that would admit him easily. + +Then he slid down the pipe and went to bed. It was not easy to sleep. He +had done very well so far. He was free of the house. With luck he could +come and go at will during the still night hours. But the first step was +easy. Next to find where the count kept Lord Rosecarrel's treaty and +then to take it. And finally to get away with his treasure. He was not +so much inclined to belittle the abilities of those other two who had +planned and failed as he had been when he talked to the earl. He had +taken due notice of Hentzi's reference to the death of an Englishman a +few years ago who had met his fate at the base of the steep cliff-side. +He felt almost certain that this was one of the men the earl had spoken +of. + +Lord Rosecarrel had said they set a trap for him into which none but a +clever man would fall. He wished now he had asked particulars of it. So +far Anthony Trent had escaped snares and the nets of hunters because he +had outguessed his opponents. Sometimes he told himself that in the end +the deadly law of averages would make him its victim. The pitcher would +go once too often to the well. These reflections while they made him +more than ever cautious did not lessen his zeal. Plainly it would be +easier to work a remote castle in Croatia than a New York mansion +protected by burglar alarms, night watchmen and detectives. Yet he had +always succeeded so far in the face of these obstacles. But the address +and nerve which had carried him through many a tight pinch in New York +would not avail him here. + +More than once, clad in evening dress, he had joined excited groups of +guests and tried to capture himself. He had calmly taken his hat and +cane from a footman and been bowed out of a house he had pillaged and +once Inspector McWalsh had carried to the door some priceless antiques +he had taken from the very collection the Inspector and his men were +guarding. + +Reflection showed him that Count Michæl Temesvar was far too shrewd to +trust the document that meant so much to him to insecure shelter. +Despite the fact that the castle seemed filled with idle, drinking, +overfed lackeys and he himself was unwatched, there must be some +precaution taken which would defeat him unless he trod warily. + +It was his experience that rich men knew little of the vulnerability of +the safes to which they entrusted their valuables. Again and again he +had been able to open such with ludicrous ease. Count Michæl probably +had an antique which would send a "peteman" into ecstacies of mirth. +Trent's job was to locate it. + +Next day he was commanded to accompany Pauline and the count to the golf +links. Pauline hardly looked at him but Count Michæl watched him +continually. He was relieved at the girl's attitude. She was beaten by +her opponent and angry at it. The count was not a sportsman. He putted +over the easy bunkers and more than once he lifted his ball to a better +lie. The victory made him good humoured. His heavy bearded face was +wreathed with smiles. Trent had the opportunity to observe him more +closely than ever before. It was a bad, crafty face but it was not +merely the face of a pleasure loving fool. If rumor spoke rightly he +was, more than any other man, the prime mover in activities aimed +against the English speaking peoples. From this same Castle of Radna had +issued many plots and subtle schemes all directed by this man who moved +a golf ball with his foot when he thought none was looking. + +Hentzi had told him that every European and American newspaper of note +was to be found in the count's library. It was odd that such a man would +not make some great city his home. He mentioned this once to Hentzi who +made the astonishing answer that the count dreaded assassination by +political enemies. Fearing perhaps he had said too much the secretary +added that Count Michæl had long ago abandoned politics for the life of +a great landowner and that such a fear was without foundation. + +"It wouldn't be easy for a stranger to get in here, would it?" Trent +demanded carelessly. + +The question seemed a most provoking one. + +"Let such a one try," he returned smiling, "and he will see how we +welcome him here in Radna. You who are of another world would not +understand." + +"I suppose not," Trent said and talked of other things. But he was not +reassured. He set himself to master the roads that led to safety. There +might be the need to know them. He had not yet been down to Fiume alone. +He wanted to find several places in the big port. There might be a time +when he would have to send an order to the Lion works for spare parts. +His code was elaborate and framed to meet all contingencies. + +When he asked Hentzi why so few people stayed at the castle the +secretary's reply amazed him. Hentzi rather liked to impress this +amiable cockney. He was not without a sense of the melodramatic. + +"My friend," he said with condescension, "there are more who take their +dinner in the big dining hall than you know. If it were your lot to be +an indoor servant you would know what I mean. Castle Radna is at one +time a prison, a sanctuary and the abode of hospitality." + +"I never understand what you're driving at Mr. Hentzi," Trent told him. +"I don't get your meaning half the time." + +"I do not intend that you shall," Hentzi remarked. "And I do not advise +you to seem curious. As it is you have displeased your master." + +"Sissek started it," Trent reminded him. + +"Sissek is a clod, a peasant, a man of no importance. I am not thinking +of Peter Sissek. I am thinking of Madame Pauline." + +"That blond woman," Trent said with assumed carelessness. "What about +her?" + +"She has praised your face and figure before one who, when he is +jealous, kills." + +"Me?" cried Trent with an air of astonishment, "why I only told her she +was a rotten golfer." + +He groaned in spirit. His stay at Castle Radna was going to be very +difficult. Hentzi watching him closely only saw a face which expressed +little interest. He was used now to sudden questioning by this volatile +cockney. + +"What do you mean by the castle being a prison?" + +"I should have said that it has held many prisoners in bygone years, and +sheltered many of the great. This is not like your English castles where +the lord has no power. Look you, not a year ago we stayed, the count and +I, at such a place. The owner struck a careless servant and was obliged +to pay a fine before a judge. Think of it! An English lord haled into +court by his own footman and fined. There is nothing like that here so +when you are struck again do not think of an English policeman and a +fine. I wish you to stay. When Sissek drives down the mountain I am +always alarmed. You go twice as fast and I have no fear. Count Michæl +desires you to stay." + +"I haven't said anything about going have I?" Trent retorted. He +supposed Hentzi was trying to warn him not to look covetously at the +handsome Pauline. The warning troubled him. He was of a physical type to +which blonds of the Pauline type were invariably attracted. + +"Many have died for her," Hentzi went on, "the young officers who +flocked to see her skate. There were scandals. She was sent away from +Berlin. She was in America, in England and Petrograd. She is cruel. I am +afraid of her." + +"I'm only a blooming chauffeur," Trent said carelessly, "and I wish I +had never carried clubs at the Royal Surrey." + +"You are also good looking," Hentzi said, "and of a superior type. +Furthermore you are young and she has seen you play better than any man +she has met and she has seen you fight. I warn you." + +"I've got a girl of my own in London," Trent said confidentially, "who +is a fair knock out. My girl has the real gold on her sweet little head +and the roses on her cheeks owe nothing to a bottle and her eyes are +sometimes violet and sometimes dark blue and she is slim and has those +long white hands one wants to kiss." + +"Love has made you a poet," Hentzi said affably. It was well that he did +not notice that the cockney accent was for the moment abandoned. Hentzi +was not a very close observer. He had only two profound emotions. The +one a fear of his employer, the other admiration for himself. He +considered Trent to be much impressed by his superior knowledge and, +here a little and there a little, imparted much valuable information as +to the castle, its inhabitants and their method of life. He +considerately pointed out the count's library, the room into which no +strangers had ever been bidden. + +Anthony Trent, therefore, at one-thirty A.M. the next morning was better +equipped for exploration than on his previous venture. Hentzi had told +him that so long as the count remained up a servant waited to attend on +him, old Ferencz by name. Trent remembered him at the servants' table as +a surly old man who was silent and reserved and unpopular even among his +fellows. He was liable to meet this man at any time. Trent was glad the +Temesvar men servants had not the same silent ways of the Rosecarrel +men. The men at Castle Radna walked heavily, lacking the thin shoes of +the earl's servants, and talked loudly. There was little of the perfect +discipline and service of the great English houses. It was due no doubt +to the fact that the men were almost feudal retainers and not highly +trained servants going from country estate to town house with the +seasons. + +Almost the moment he stepped from his tall ebony _armoire_ Trent heard +steps coming toward him. He was at the moment passing a door. His pass +key opened it instantly and he stepped into darkness and shut the door +carefully. But he knew he was not alone. There was a heavy unrhythmic +snoring of a man far gone in sleep. As his eyes grew accustomed to the +darkness Trent saw the outlines of a big bed. + +He passed the foot of it on hands and knees. The professional always +takes this precaution. A man waked from sleep by hearing a stranger at +the foot of his bed invariably aims at a man supposed to be standing up. +Although the sounds Trent detected were genuine sleep induced snores he +could not be sure that another watchful occupant of the bed was not +listening breathlessly and even now reaching for a weapon. + +When he assured himself everything was quiet he looked about the room +with the light of his electric torch. The sleeping man was a stranger to +him. He was a red faced man of middle age and on a chair nearby was the +undress uniform of an officer of high rank, a light blue uniform with +silver facings. Accustomed as he was to khaki uniform alone Trent had no +idea to what European service the sleeper belonged. He remembered +Hentzi's remark that there were more people at the dinner table than one +might suppose. Trent was certain he had never seen this officer about +the castle grounds and had never driven him. + +From the bedroom a door led evidently to a room _en suite_. This was +unlocked and Trent entered noiselessly. It was a room twice the size of +the adjoining apartment and furnished magnificently. So vast and +splendid was the chamber he thought it must be that of Count Michæl, the +room where perchance the treaty lay concealed for which he had risked so +much. But it was not Count Michæl who lay stertorously slumbering. It +was instead a prince of a great and lately reigning family who had +strangely disappeared from the world a few months earlier and had been, +so report ran, drowned in escaping from exile. + +Anthony Trent was looking at one, worthless in character and devoid of +ability but nevertheless a man who might by reason of his name rally +about him an army which could start again the dreadful struggle whose +scars were yet fresh. A great ceremony had been made of the funeral and +a society of his former officers had been organized to perpetuate his +memory by embarrassing his opponents. Trent remembered, dimly, reading +an article in a London paper which spoke of the prince as being as +dangerous dead as when leading his dissolute life. + +Anthony Trent looked at the weak, passion-lined face of the man who had +sought Count Michæl's shelter and smiled. He had long ago been intrigued +by the idea of mixing himself in high politics. Here, possibly, was an +excellent beginning. But the prince could wait a little while. The time +was not yet ripe for his resurrection. + +Looking across the room Trent saw two long French windows lighting it. +One was open. Instead of the balcony upon which the intruder assumed +these windows opened, they led into a large courtyard some eighty feet +long and forty feet wide. He did not understand how it was this great +open space should have its being in the middle of the castle. There +seemed no reason why it existed in a building of this sort. He was to +find later that its origin was accidental. What was now a paved and +open courtyard had been the magazine of the castle during the Turkish +occupation of Croatia. The castle itself had never given in to the +Ottoman conqueror. It had been shelled in the Reformation uprising in +1607 and a ball shot had exploded the ammunition. The chamber had never +been rebuilt but a century later was turned into a pleasant garden. + +Trent stepped through the open window and down three steps into the +courtyard. It was plainly much used. There were lounges and chairs and +tables. Pausing at one of them he saw London and New York papers which +he had brought up from Fiume earlier in the week. There were French +novels and bon-bons and a feather fan. Evidently the prince was not +without his feminine companionship. In one of these big chairs Trent sat +down and looked about him. The room from which he had come faced due +east. To the north and south were plain solid walls without windows. +Only to the West at the other end of the space could he see that the +walls were pierced with French windows. As he looked these were suddenly +illuminated. He made no motion. He felt reasonably certain that he was +in such a position as to be unobserved. + +But he grew less calm when the count's unmistakable figure passed up and +down before the two windows and finally opening one stepped out into the +courtyard. Behind him came Hentzi who should have been in bed long ago. +The two passed so close he could have touched them. They were speaking +rapidly and in what he supposed must be the Croatian tongue. Twice he +heard his name mentioned. The count always called him by the assumed +name of Alfred pronouncing it "Arlfrit." + +It was not pleasant hearing. They might be, for all he knew, discussing +his already discovered absence from his room. It was true he had bolted +the door but someone from the outside might have detected the dark-clad +climber making his unlawful ascent. Already a search might be in +progress which would eventually claim him as the third failure. Count +Michæl was often so excited about trivial things that the listener was +not able to guess whether his present mood was the outcome of some small +irritation or of something far more sinister. There recurred frequently +the name of Pauline and once or twice the count pointed to the windows +where slept the man whom his people had mourned as dead. + +There was one moment of dreadful anticipation for the American. He +noticed that Hentzi was permitting himself to argue with his master. +Suddenly as the twain passed by Trent's refuge the count buffetted his +secretary on the head. It was Count Michæl's favorite expression of +annoyance. Trent himself had suffered thus on the golf links. Hentzi +ducked in time to receive merely a glancing blow but he gripped the arm +of Trent's chair to steady himself. If he had taken his eyes off the +count's still upraised hand he could not have failed to see the +intruder. + +For a full half hour Anthony Trent sat quiet. Then the count and Hentzi +left him alone. Now that immediate risk of detection seemed past Trent +assured himself that his evening had been well spent. Undoubtedly Count +Michæl's rooms, the rooms he wanted to investigate--were those through +whose windows the two had come and gone. He memorized as well as he +could the position in the corridors the doors would occupy. The +discovery of this courtyard three floors in depth helped him to +understand what had baffled him in his explorations of the corridors +many of which came to abrupt meaningless ends. In other days they had +continued across the space that had once been arsenal, magazine and +strong room. + +He made his way through the open window and past the sleeping men +without mishap. In the corner of a panel in the _armoire_ he bored two +small holes and blew away the dust that fell from them. He descended the +copper pipe prepared to find his room invaded by vengeful servants. But +it was as he had left it. It was not for his arrest that the count had +dragged Arlfrit into his conversation. + + + + +CHAPTER TEN + +_THE GREATER GAME_ + + +Trent was annoyed next morning to learn from Hentzi that he was to +accompany Pauline and the count to the links. The only redeeming thing +about the expedition was that he himself could get a few strokes in the +demonstration. + +The count was in high good spirits and gracious to them all. + +"Ah, Arlfrit," he cried, "this is my last game for two weeks. Yes, I +shall be too busy playing another and a greater game. And you, too, will +be busy. Tell me you know the roads to Fiume, Zengg and Agram well?" + +"I could set them to music," Trent said forgetting that it was Alfred +Anthony who was answering his august employer. He waited until the count +drove. He saw that the autocrat broke every rule of the many which go to +make a perfect drive yet sent his ball every inch of two hundred yards. +Never had Count Michæl done such a thing before. + +"Let us see you beat that," he said dramatically. + +Trent pressed. He wanted to outdrive the other by fifty yards and +ordinarily would have done so. He took too much earth and sent a +rocketting ball skyward which dropped full fifty yards behind the +other. + +"That was very tactful of you," Pauline whispered. "His Excellency will +be in a good temper the whole day." + +"Do you think I tried to do that?" he asked. + +"Why not?" she asked, "I only know you are of a timid disposition. I +hate timid men." + +"I can't help being timid," he said grinning genially, "it's my nature." + +So gratified was the count by his unusual showing at the game that he +did not notice how close Pauline kept to Alfred Anthony. It was nervous +work for Anthony and he answered the girl abruptly trying to keep her +attention on the game. + +"You are two men," she said presently when Hentzi and his employer were +a little ahead of them. For a moment Trent was thoroughly alarmed. What +did she know? + +He had always known that it was a fallacy to assume because he had seen +none on his midnight wanderings that he had been unobserved. In a vast +house such as Castle Radna there were nooks and crannies where +frightened servants or timid guests might hide from him momentarily only +to denounce him later. + +"What do you mean?" he asked teeing up her ball. He had not answered her +immediately. + +"That you are two men. There may be three of you but I have seen two +already. There is the timid, servile creature accepting a coin or a blow +and eating with the servants as among his equals. I hate that man. The +other is a creature that every now and then looks out of your eyes like +a bird of prey. It is the man who drives the great car over the mountain +passes as though it were on a smooth boulevard. It is the man who beat +big Peter Sissek to the earth with tight lips and eyes that flashed. +That is a man I could love." + +He could feel her arm brush against his own. There was a caressing +tenderness in her voice. + +"Tell me, which is the real you?" + +Anthony Trent looked straight ahead of him. + +"If you slice your ball," he said, "you'll get into the rough. Golf, +like other things is largely a matter of self control." + +"I could kill you," she said, her eyes blazing. + +"Think of my wife and children," he answered with a grin. + +"That is why," she retorted. "The count is right. One should have only +contempt for lackeys. I honor you too much as it is." + +"Fine!" Trent observed, "suits me all right. How many quarterings of +nobility have you Mademoiselle Pauline?" + +"I at least am an _artiste_," she flung back at him. "To be the most +graceful skater in the world and to have earned more in a week than you +in a year is something which puts me as far above you as Count Michæl +Temesvar." + +"Absolutely," Trent agreed, "take your mashie here and go back slowly +and don't look up for three seconds after hitting the ball." + +Pauline was certainly a splendidly athletic woman. She held herself +magnificently and was at her best this morning but merely to be with her +bored the pseudo-chauffeur who had thoughts only for Daphne. Daphne +could have given her two strokes a hole and a beating, he reflected. +Gloom seized on him as he wondered if ever again he would see her. He +was in peril in Castle Radna even as an honest worker. Peter Sissek had +sworn to pay him for the beating. Half of Trent's energies were consumed +in going over his car to make sure the bolts and nuts were tight and had +not been loosened maliciously. + +And in his position as an emissary of the Earl of Rosecarrel he was in +danger of the most vivid kind. He was a spy in a house which sheltered a +princeling who might yet force Europe into war. If it were discovered he +possessed this secret nothing could save him. It was a sinister, dour +pile of stone, this Castle Radna utterly unlike the Cornish castle with +its rose gardens, its fountains and the charm of country life. He could +well believe that in his present dwelling tragedies has been enacted of +which no knowledge had filtered through to the larger world. Oddly +enough it was during the day when he was peacefully employed as Alfred +Anthony that he was most obsessed by despondency. When the servants were +long abed and asleep and the silences of the early hours hung about the +great corridors and halls Anthony Trent came into his own. His +rubbershod feet were noiseless in the stone passages and his two pass +keys opened every locked door. He was possessed of all secrets it seemed +to him. Here he was free to wander like a ghost in banquet hall and +corridor. None walked so silently as he. + +Pauline did not talk to him any more that morning but the count was +affable. + +"Ah, Arlfrit," he cried, "tomorrow your work commences. Yes. You leave +for Fiume at daybreak and meet the Ungarisch-Kroatische boat. This time +you will go alone as you will have a passenger beside you as you return. +You will wait at the _Hotel de l'Europe_. The boat gets to her dock at +eleven and my guests will drive immediately to the motor. Make speed +back for you must go to Agram and back before dinner." + +"That will be going some!" Trent commented. + +"For what reason do you suppose I buy a Lion car and a chauffeur if not +to do what my other automobiles and chauffeurs cannot do? Why do you +imagine I introduce a Londoner into my servants hall, a brawling man who +assaults good Peter Sissek if not because he must travel fast and +safely?" + +But the count was not angry. He was in that good humor which comes to +all men who having been in the habit of taking seven for a last hole +make it in four. Pauline had taken six and he had not permitted his +record to be clouded by allowing Trent (as Pauline suggested) to see +what he could do it in. + +Anthony Trent started on his trip when it was as yet hardly light. He +was singularly carefree. The repulsive Sissek was not at his side and +he was free to wander about the seaport town, locate the cable offices +and make certain arrangements that might contribute to future safety. +That he was invariably able to make such good time was due mainly to the +absence of traffic along the Maria Louisa road. Not yet had the old +prosperity come back to Europe and there were more automobiles in +Allenhurst, New Jersey, than all Croatia. + +He was bound to admit that the group of people he took from the _Hotel +de l'Europe_ lived up to all the traditions of mysterious fiction. There +were two men, middle aged and plainly used to power, and a very pretty +vivacious dark woman of five and thirty to whom her escorts paid +profound attention. The seat beside Trent was occupied by the lady's +maid. The black morocco dressing case she held inexorably upon her knees +was marked with a coronet. The woman was hard-faced, elderly and +uncommunicative. Trent noticed that her mistress was in that deep +mourning which European women affect. + +Trent tried the maid in English but she made no answer at all. He +strained his ears to catch what language was being talked behind him but +the Lion was a car of tremendous wheel base and the passengers were +removed too far from him. + +Once or twice in the old days, particularly in the case of the Sinn Fein +plot Anthony Trent had found his lack of knowledge of German a handicap. +This linguistic failing was now remedied. He had studied the tongue +carefully; and as languages were easily acquired by him had some fair +proficiency in it. + +He was not certain whether it was a trap or a genuine desire to know +that made the woman after a whispered talk with the lady in black say to +him suddenly, "_Wenn wir nur nicht unwerfen; die Strassen sind nicht +besonders hier zu Lande._" + +It was his first impulse to tell her that she would not be upset and +that they would soon get on to the better roads. Then he remembered +Alfred Anthony knew but little of any tongue but his own. He smiled at +her and shrugged his shoulders. + +"Try it in English," he commanded smiling. "No speak Dutch." + +She did not take the trouble to answer. It was, he decided, a trap to +find if he understood. Perhaps it was counted in his favor, this +ignorance of continental tongues. + +At Agram he fetched six other people. He found that Sissek and another +chauffeur had been busy also. Hentzi, always desirous of impressing +those beneath him in rank, told Trent he was to be guest tonight at a +table which would hold some of the great ones of the country. + +"Will Pauline be among those present?" Trent asked. + +"Pauline!" Hentzi sneered, "there will be gracious, high-born ladies at +the table and among these our Pauline has no part. She knows that." + +"What time do you dine?" Trent asked. It was now seven o'clock and +Hentzi was not in evening dress. + +"At half past eight. There is one among us who likes the late dinners of +the English and his likings must be obeyed even by Count Michæl." + +"An Englishman?" Trent queried. + +"My friend," Hentzi said impressively, "if he could take all the British +and all the Americans and sink them in mid-ocean he would be entirely +happy. I do not think you understand world politics, eh?" + +"I follow the racing and footer news," Trent confessed. "I'm not so much +on politics. A set of grafters if you ask me." + +Trent spent an hour on his car. He filled the tanks with gasoline and +saw that his spare tires were ready and made the little adjustments that +only sensitive fingers may perform. As a rule he drove the car straight +into the garage and backed out. Tonight he backed into it. There might +be the sudden need to utilize every moment. + +Hentzi's news was good. A dinner of state commencing at half past eight +would be continued long after dark. Of necessity the count would be +there and undoubtedly the officer and his royal master would grace the +board. Entrance could easily be made through their room and over the +courtyard to the Count Michæl's apartment. There would be time for a +thorough search. + +The kitchens were full of bustling maids assisting the cooks. There was +so much confusion that Trent helped himself amply to what food he +desired and strolled out to the garage to eat it. More than half was +stowed away in his car. If he were able to get away that night, as he +hoped, it might come in handily for breakfast. + +His plan was to place the treaty draft in an envelope already addressed +and stamped and mail it at Fiume. After that he would take the car into +Italy if possible and make for Venice whence he could come easily to +England. + +The servants saw him take a candle and walk wearily to his room. They +remembered he had been up before dawn broke. Not one of them had any +suspicions that he was aught but what he represented himself to be. + +At half past ten Anthony Trent, looking through the carved oaken +musicians gallery twenty feet above the floor of the banqueting hall, +beheld a notable company assembled. When he saw that the prince had at +his side the vivacious dark lady, he remembered that the weekly +pictorial papers had often presented her to their readers. She was the +daughter of a royal house lately at war with his country. To her +diplomatic skill and love of intrigue was due many checks to allied +plans. It was said she ruled her husband absolutely and loved him +little. + +Trent recognized the two men he had brought with him. They were in +evening dress as was Count Michæl and decorated with many orders, of St. +Stephen of Hungary among others. The military attaché bristled with +medals and there were others in brilliant uniforms. + +No other woman was present but the princess. Her jewels made Trent's +mouth water. No doubt the maid had carried them at his side for several +hours and would, for all he had to do with it, carry them back. Not for +a moment dare he think of taking them. It was obvious that the count +would make no outcry about the loss of the draft if that alone were +taken. He would piece things together and understand the riddle of +Alfred Anthony. But were the valuables of his guests taken it might be a +police matter. + +So great was the buzz of conversation that Trent could catch no +memorable phrase. Here and there was a name he had heard of but that was +all. He noticed that Hentzi was not a guest despite his boasting. This +in itself was awkward for the secretary might be even now in the big +room to which the master criminal was bound. He was relieved presently +to observe Hentzi hovering on the outskirts of the room directing the +servants, a sort of super-major-domo. + +It was exactly eleven when he crossed the dark courtyard and opened one +of the long French windows of Count Michæl's room. It was in darkness. A +little water driven power plant supplied some of the chief rooms of +Castle Radna with electric light and he was able, after screening the +windows to flood the room with light. It was an apartment the +counterpart in size and decoration of the one occupied by the prince, +across the courtyard. + +Almost the first thing Anthony Trent saw was the safe. And as he looked +on it he knew his hopes were in vain and the draft of the treaty could +remain there indefinitely for all his skill availed or all the knowledge +of the greatest "petemen" would aid, had he possessed it. + +Count Michæl Temesvar was not one of those who entrusted precious things +to insecure keeping. It was a Chubbwood burglar proof safe of a type +Trent had heard of but never before seen. The double-dialled cannon ball +safe of the American maker was the nearest approach to this gleaming +mocking thing which faced him. There was no chance that any forcing +screw or wedge could damage the bolts. The locks were so protected that +drilling was impossible and no nitro-glycerine could be used. The +oxy-acetylene blowpipe, high explosives or electric arc were useless +here. It was the last word of a safemaking firm which had been in the +business for more than a century. Trent did not doubt, as he gazed at +it, that there would be developed by the need of it craftsmen who could +open even this. But the time was not yet. + +Count Michæl Temesvar had been wise in buying the only safe in the world +whose patent had been extended by the Privy Council of Great Britain. +With his gloved hands Trent touched the thing lightly. The millionth +chance that it might not be locked was against him. He was wasting his +time. Quickly he made a methodical search of the room but found nothing +that interested him. + +On his own bed he sat for an hour wondering what to do. He had been so +certain when speaking to Lord Rosecarrel that his professional skill +would accomplish what others had failed to do that this disappointment +was bitter indeed. + +He had wondered why the count had taken so little caution in permitting +a foreigner of the same supposed nationality as Lord Rosecarrel to live +in Castle Radna. It was, plainly, because the count knew perfectly well +that the Chubbwood safe preserved his treasures inviolate. + +Probably no living crook could break into it even though he had a year +in which to work. It was undrillable, unscathed by fire and could repose +at the bottom of the sea without its contents becoming damaged. + +Trent's first thought of compelling the count to give up the combination +by force promised an unhappy ending. Surrounded by servants and friends +he would assuredly be interrupted before he could be forced to give up +his secret. + +Hentzi would never be entrusted with the combination. None would know it +but Count Michæl. For a moment he wondered if Pauline might be dragged +into it to exercise her Delilah arts on her protector. + +"There must be some way out of it," Trent murmured a hundred times as he +sat on his bed's edge. + +Dawn was breaking as he closed his eyes. His expression was calm and +untroubled. He had found his solution. + + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN + +_ANTHONY PLAYS HIS HAND_ + + +Lord Rosecarrel opened his town house in Grosvenor Place at the +beginning of May for the London season. Lady Daphne observed that he had +shaken off the gloom and apathy which had engulfed him for the last few +years. He began to take a more vivid interest in the international +situations which grew out of the Peace Conference. He began to talk to +the girl again about the aims of nations with respect to Persia and +indirectly with the future of India. + +The earl was waiting impatiently for her one night when she came back +from an opera party given in her honor by Rudolph Castoon. + +"Daphne," he began abruptly, "Do you believe absolutely in the _bona +fides_ of Anthony Trent?" + +The girl felt herself coloring. + +"Absolutely," she said steadily, "Why?" + +"I have had a long cable from him," he returned. "A cable so +extraordinary that I can hardly believe he sent it. Here it is. It is +only partly in cipher for the reason the cipher code I made was not +intended for a message such as this. What you would not understand I +have decoded." + +The girl took the slip of paper eagerly. + + "At once," she read, "allow papers to announce you have decided to + come from retirement and accept public office. If Temesvar wires + for confirmation persist in your statement. If he threatens tell + him he has not got treaty. Tell him if he has it to bring it to + the prime minister. Follow these instructions implicitly otherwise + I can never succeed." + +"And will you?" Daphne demanded breathlessly. + +"I don't know," the earl said slowly. "It seems rather a desperate thing +to do. You must have heard rumors that I have been offered the +enormously important position of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs +in the cabinet that will be formed when the present government goes out +of office. There will be two men there who are my enemies. There is, for +instance, Rudolph Castoon whose guest you have been tonight and Buchanan +who will be Home Secretary. Castoon knows I do not trust him wholly. +There is always a danger in making a man of his kind Chancellor of the +Exchequer. He has a brother in every great country and some of them have +been our bitter enemies in the past. Buchanan, of course, exercises +enormous influence through his newspapers and seems to feel a personal +grievance against me." + +"It was because you never would invite him here or to the castle," she +answered, "although he was forever spelling for an invitation. Those +_nouveaux riches_ are very sensitive." + +"If I accepted office," the earl went on slowly, "I should have these +two men against me. And if by any ill chance it should become known that +I did not destroy the draft of a treaty which was entrusted to me +Buchanan would see his opportunity and use his wretched papers to the +full. I should be forced out of public life. I have always been +intolerant of breaches of faith and that would be remembered against me +as a mark of hypocrisy." + +"But Mr. Trent says Count Michæl Temesvar hasn't got the treaty," she +cried, "and that means _he_ has it." + +Her father shook his head. + +"That's just what it doesn't mean," he returned. "Mr. Trent says I am to +tell Count Michæl he has not the treaty. If Trent had it he would have +told me so. I am to do this risky thing in order that he may ultimately +succeed. You see, Daphne, my statement to the press that I have decided +to take office is part of a move in the game that another man is +playing." + +"But he's playing it for you," she cried. + +The earl smiled. + +"Is he?" he returned, "I'll admit at all events that I am the one most +to be benefited if he succeeds." + +"But he will succeed," she persisted. "Does he look like the kind of man +to be beaten?" + +"Did Captain Hardcastle look the kind of man either?" Lord Rosecarrel +asked. "And you remember poor Piers Edgcomb the best fencer in Europe, +a man with nerves of steel? I firmly believe some of the count's men +killed him." + +It cost the girl an effort to say what she did. + +"But, dad," she reminded him, "they had no experience at, at that sort +of thing." + +"And this one has? That, alone, comforts me. But the odds are so +tremendously against him." + +"He went there knowing it." + +"I am not sure that it would not be safer for you for Arthur and for me +if I did go back permanently to private life. If Mr. Trent should +fail--" + +"You won't be implicated," she reminded him. "He has gone just as a +cockney chauffeur." + +"But don't you see," the earl said patiently, "that I am here invited to +throw down the gauntlet to the man who has in his power what can +disgrace me? Hardcastle and Sir Piers failed but their failure did not +drag me into it as this scheme will do." + +"Who will be foreign secretary if you refuse it?" Daphne asked. + +"That impossible nonconformist person Muir who has never been farther +afield than Paris and has no knowledge of Eastern affairs at all. He +will undo everything I have striven for. He will play into Count +Michæl's hands as a child might." + +"Then isn't the chance worth taking?" Daphne asked, pointing to the +cable. + +"I've taken it already," the earl said, "I wanted you to reassure me. I +felt a confidence utterly without logical foundation as to the ability +of your Anthony Trent." + +"That's splendid," she cried. + +"I am not so sure," her father returned, "Daphne, you know what I mean +when I say I hope Arthur's action in saving his life was not like those +other actions of the poor lad which have brought dire trouble to us all. +You must know that there can be no attachment between you and him." + +"You'd better know it," she said quietly, "but there is what you call an +attachment. As to marriage--he says like you it is impossible so I +suppose it is. That's all over." She patted his gray hair +affectionately. "I'm not going to marry anyone. I shall have my hands +full in looking after the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs." + +"My dear," he said, "you are taking this wonderfully well. I'm grateful. +I ought never to have let the thing drift along as I did. I blame +myself." + +"I'm glad," she whispered, "You couldn't possibly understand it, but +even if I never see him again I shall always be thankful to have known +him." + +The earl looked at her and sighed. His daughter was one of the loveliest +girls in England, highly accomplished, allied to some of the great +families of her own land and continental Europe and had been sought +after since her coming out ball. He had hoped to see her married to some +honorable man of her own class and instead she had fallen in love with +an adventurer whose past--according to his own admission--made a +marriage impossible. + +Of late he had suffered much. The death of his wife, the loss of two +sons, the many troubles Arthur's past had brought, his enforced +retirement and now Daphne's hopeless attachment. The only thing that +offered him any relaxation was the possibility of getting into harness +again. And that would only be attainable if Anthony Trent, that +mysterious American he had grown to like, succeeded in a forlorn hope. +At least he must do his part. A little wearily he took up the telephone +and called a number in Downing Street where was the official residence +of the prime minister, the man primarily in charge of the destinies of a +great empire. + + * * * * * + +There was no telephone in Castle Radna. Every morning some one of Count +Michæl's men went to Agram and brought back letters and telegrams. It +fell to Anthony Trent to fetch the mail that came twenty-four hours +after the conversation over the telephone with the prime minister. Among +the many pieces which the postmaster placed in the double locked mail +bag was a trans-continental telegram. It was the function of this big +letter pouch to guard its contents from the inquisitive by locks to +which only the postmaster and Hentzi had keys. + +When once Trent had established this he came by night to the room where +the secretary snored and made impressions of the keys and so was able to +open the pouch without any forcing of the locks. + +Instead of going on to Radna direct Trent turned his car into a byroad +of the oak forest and steamed open the wire. It was as he feared, in +code which he might be able to decipher after long study. But if the +language should be Croatian or Hungarian he would still be in the dark. + +It chanced that the count was near the garage as he drove in. It was a +frequent habit of Count Michæl's to walk over to the great stables where +formerly his thoroughbreds had been housed and now only a few riding +horses remained. He greeted "Arlfrit" with the manner that proved him to +be in a good temper. Hentzi was at his side and opened the mail pouch. +Instantly he passed the telegram to his master. Tinkering at some +pretended indisposition of his engines Trent watched the count's face as +he read. + +The man fell into a sudden and roaring rage. He gesticulated, he swore +and he pummelled the cringing Hentzi. His talk was in Croatian but his +meaning was plain. Suddenly he turned on Trent. + +"Do not put your car away," he ordered him, "You must return to Agram." + +No mail was ever entrusted to the Temesvar servants. Even what was sent +to Agram was sealed so that the post master alone or his assistant could +unlock the bag. + +In the same secluded dell of the forest Trent opened the bag a second +time and read the message addressed to the Earl of Rosecarrel. "I am +informed," it said, "that you have accepted office. Deny this rumor +instantly. Affirmation means danger to you. Michæl Temesvar." + +Trent chuckled. Things were beginning to move. Of late he had found his +occupation boring. It seemed he was always acting as a mail carrier +chosen over Sissek because he made so much better time. He had no chance +at golf. Pauline was away. Hentzi told him so one day when he had driven +three ladies up from Fiume and learned they were all high-born and that +for a time the company at the castle was distinguished. + +"You would not understand what I meant," Hentzi said, loftily, "if I +told you many important things are going on. When our guests have gone +there may be those of Pauline's sort you may drive from Fiume. Then the +air is different. For myself I prefer such company as we have at +present." + +"The lords and ladies?" Trent said remembering that he had seen Hentzi +acting as a sort of upper servant at such a dinner. + +"Exactly," Hentzi agreed. "Pauline had been ill advised enough to +disobey the count. There is a guest who admired her." + +"Why didn't the guv'nor biff him one same as he does you when he's mad?" +Trent demanded. + +"There are some to whom even Count Michæl may offer no violence," Hentzi +returned in a shocked voice. "But you would not understand." + +On the whole Anthony Trent was glad that the prince had been the cause +of the temporary removal of Pauline. She was a menace to him. Also he +rejoiced to think that the arbitrary Michæl Temesvar had his own uneasy +moments. + +Because Anthony Trent was more concerned in the successful outcome of +his present design than any other of his adventurous career he denied +himself the pleasure of those nocturnal wanderings in the castle +corridors and rooms. So that he might make Daphne happy by delivering +her father from bondage he decided to take no risks which might lead to +his capture. Particularly he wanted to secrete himself among the trees +in green tubs and flowers of the courtyard. Although it was not to his +immediate advantage to learn of the plotting which was going on under +the roof which sheltered him a knowledge of it promised some interesting +developments in the future. + +But now that the exchange of telegrams commenced between the two old +adversaries he found excitement enough in going to Agram and opening the +wires. Lord Rosecarrel, he found, had acted on his instructions. He +affirmed his intention to take office and when he received another more +threatening telegram from Count Michæl declared that he knew the treaty +was not in his possession. + +Count Michæl's anger was reflected in the face of each scurrying servant +of the many with whom Trent came into contact. Hentzi visited it +vicariously upon one Alfred Anthony until that bellicose chauffeur +reminded him that the fate of Peter Sissek was his for the asking. Later +Hentzi grew confidential. He had the impression that this humble member +of a dominant people looked up to him for his world knowledge and in +order to impress Alfred Anthony the more made indiscreet revelations +which were duly stored in the careful retentive memory of Anthony +Trent. + +It was from Hentzi that Trent learned of the sudden trip of their common +employer to London. + +"It is most inconvenient for us both," said the secretary. "For the +count that he should have to leave his guests and for me that I should +have to entertain them in his absence." + +"I thought you liked the company of lords and ladies," Alfred Anthony +said in simple tribute to his companion's parts. + +"There is responsibility you could not comprehend," Hentzi returned, and +left Trent to think over his plans. + +So far things had travelled evenly. The test was now to come. He was +reasonably certain that when Count Michæl set out for London he would +have in his possession the draft of the treaty. With this he would +confront a prime minister and possibly the entire cabinet. He knew well +of Buchanan's dislike of Lord Rosecarrel. Had Anthony Trent been in the +count's place he would never have committed the error of taking so +important a document with him. Trent invariably mailed what he had taken +to himself and breathed freer when the responsibility was on another's +shoulders. This, of course, only when a long journey was to be made. +When he had stolen the Mount Aubyn ruby in San Francisco he had mailed +it to his camp in Maine and thus confounded detectives who had searched +his apartment. + +That Count Michæl had not adopted this plan he knew because for the past +week he alone had fetched and carried mail matter. The time he had +taken in opening the mails had to be made up by faster travelling and +the Lion engine never failed him. The peasants used to point out the +racing car with pride and give him road room gladly. On those tablets of +memory he inscribed many interesting details that occurred in letters +written by other than the count. He could read in French, German, +Italian and Spanish and the letters which most interested him were in +German. + +Sometimes in the lonely night he wondered whether or not this knowledge +might not be sufficiently important to at least three governments to win +him a pardon should he ever be found out for crimes of other days. And +if there should come a time when he were free from the ever haunting +fear of arrest might there not be the fulfilment of his dearest wishes? +He was sure Daphne would drop her title if he thought it best. + +Then he put the thought from him resolutely. That was in the future and +he was immediately concerned with the success of this thing he had sworn +to accomplish. + +Hentzi told him that Count Michæl would travel by night to Fiume there +to board a Venice bound boat and catch the continental express for +Paris. As none but he drove the Lion and the count preferred it and its +driver the assumption was that Alfred Anthony would take him. It was on +this hypothesis that the success of Trent's scheme depended. He would +probably be alone. At most some servant or valet would be chosen to +travel with his master and he would of course sit next to the +chauffeur. + +Trent had long ago picked out a suitable spot where such a luckless +person could be dumped. There was a steep grassy bank some twenty miles +along the road where a man hit sufficiently deftly would roll out of +reach with small possibility of injury. A little stream ran at the +bottom which would revive him if stunned or drown him as the fates saw +best. Stored in the Lion car was a change of apparel, some food and +other necessaries. + +It was Hentzi who broke the bad news. The secretary came upon the eager +mechanic tuning up his engine lovingly. So engrossed was he that he +neither saw Hentzi nor noticed that Peter Sissek was polishing the brass +work on his Panhard. + +"Getting things shipshape and Bristol fashion," Trent said, when he saw +Hentzi. + +"It is Peter who takes the count," the secretary said idly, "You are to +go to Budapesth tomorrow. You see what it is to be considered so +skillful that Count Michæl offers you to his guests and goes more slowly +himself." + +Then Trent noticed the grinning and triumphant Sissek. It was a black +moment for him. + +"Yes, Peter takes the count," Hentzi repeated. + +"I think he'll have to," Trent said slowly, "for the second time." + +This alteration in the schedule which for the moment promised utter +disruption to his plans might have been brought about by reasons other +than those suggested by Hentzi. It was curious that at just this +critical moment Sissek should be entrusted with his master's safety and +Trent given a mission which Peter Sissek with his wider knowledge of the +country could better have filled. + +But it was time wasting to ponder on this now. In three hours Trent +would have started with his Lion. Sissek a slower driver and using an +older and less speedy car must get away earlier. Almost frightened out +of his accustomed calm Trent learned that the count was leaving in a +little over an hour, just as the darkness would set in. What plans he +could make must be made instantly. Failure was now almost at his side. + +Failure! Anthony Trent groaned at thought of it; Lord Rosecarrel would +be publicly humiliated. Daphne would blame him for it. With what +assurance and headstrong confidence he had plunged into an adventure +which had brought death to those other men! He could never face her if +he failed and failure was in sight. + +For a moment he thought of forcing a quarrel on Peter Sissek. Before +Hentzi or others could intervene he could with his boxer's skill most +certainly damage one eye if not two of a man who, to drive down dark and +dangerous roads, must possess unclouded vision. + +But he hesitated. If Count Michæl had chosen Sissek because Alfred +Anthony was under suspicion an assault on the Croatian at the present +moment might tend to confirm these doubts and he might find himself +overpowered and under guards he could not overwhelm. To put the car out +of commission was hardly possible with Sissek guarding it and another +man cleaning it. And these two, it seemed to Trent, were watching +suspiciously. + +By some trick of fate it was Sissek himself who contributed to Trent's +success. Peter was arrogant now and motioned to Trent to aid him in +lifting some baggage to the top of the Panhard limousine. Like most of +the continental cars it had a deep luggage rail around the top on which +trunks or lesser baggage could be carried. There was a cabin trunk, a +bundle of rugs and a dressing bag. Peter Sissek was astonished when +Trent cheerfully obeyed him and even helped to strap the cabin trunk +securely. + +Hentzi was amazed at the sudden change that had taken place in the +English chauffeur's attitude. He was now lively who had been gloomy, and +loquacious when he had been taciturn. + +"Why do you laugh," he asked. + +"At the idea of Peter taking the count," said Trent. "Someday you'll +know what that means." + +"I know now," Hentzi insisted, "I speak perfectly and my English +vocabulary is wider than could be that of a man of your position." + + * * * * * + +As Peter Sissek unaccompanied by valet or assistant drove down the hill, +after leaving the pavilion at the first tee on his left, he was +horrified to find a tree across his path. He dismounted, moved it aside +with difficulty and proceeded on his way. + +But this time he carried two passengers. + +The motor had come to an abrupt stop under a big oak tree whose +spreading arms reached across the mountain road. + +Lying along one of those rigid oak limbs Anthony Trent, after nicely +adjusting the fallen tree so that Peter Sissek's eyes would see it at +the proper moment, had waited anxiously for the approach of the Panhard. + +He was not sure that the powerful headlights would not pierce his leafy +shelter and discover him to the watchful driver. He could imagine +vividly the chauffeur warning his employer. And as Count Michæl always +went armed and might even now be suspicious of his cockney servant he +would very likely have no hesitation in picking him off the boughs as +Anthony Trent, years before in his New Hampshire hills, had shot +squirrels. If by any chance he could get to the ground, only twelve feet +beneath, before he was aimed at he would have to trust to the moment's +inspiration for his next move. He knew almost certainly that Count +Michæl carried the document he wanted in a flat leather case which +fitted into his breast pocket. + +If by any chance the men did not see him and the car passed him on its +seaward way his errand would be unaccomplished, his boasts vain and the +humiliation of his friends certain. He had determined if this happened +to send a telegram to the earl admitting defeat, and warning of the +count's visit. + +The Panhard came to a grinding stop a foot from the barrier. Sissek +removed it as quickly as he could but it was heavy enough to have taxed +Anthony Trent's superior strength! and the count grew so impatient at +the time taken that he sprang down to the road and urged his man to +greater activities. + +The two were jabbering in Croatian when Anthony Trent lowered himself to +the top of the limousine and nestled down in the shadow of the baggage. + +Trent had often been incensed in reading newspaper accounts of his +exploits to find that their success was so often ascribed to mere luck. +He supposed it would be so this time if it were known. People would say +that owing to two boulders in the side of the road Sissek pulled up so +that Trent could drop directly down on to the car. In most cases the +greatest luck comes to the best player and Anthony Trent had placed the +rocks on the road with the same care that he would play a stroke in golf +or cast along the edge of lily pads where the big trout lay in graceful +ease. There was only one place where Sissek could halt his machine. + +It was while the car travelled along a poor and rough section of the +route before reaching the Marie Louise road that Trent unstrapped a +bundle and selected a dark travelling-rug to cover him from observant +eyes in the infrequent towns through which they must pass. + +Half a hundred schemes raced through his quick, fertile brain only to be +rejected. He wondered, for instance, if it were possible to cut through +the top of the car and get at the count who was certain to be sleeping a +goodly portion of the journey. He decided that to lean over the rails +and try to peer through the oval glass window in the rear would also be +unwise. At most he would only catch a glimpse of the count and might +just as easily be seen himself. Then he wondered if it might not be +possible to drop down on Peter Sissek's shoulders and strangle him into +quietness. + +But Peter Sissek was taking his car along at a steady rate of +twenty-five miles the hour and with his hands off the steering wheel--a +certain contingency if Trent's strong fingers closed around his +throat--a bad accident was inevitable. A precipice on one side and a +wall of rock on the other, he would be between the deep sea and the +devil. + +He saw that Sissek must be eliminated at all costs. A match for either +of them singly Trent would certainly be overpowered in a tussle with +both; although they lacked the cat-like quickness of the American they +were both of uncommon strength. The immediate problem was to get rid of +Sissek and leave his master none the wiser. + +There was a part of the road through which they must presently pass +which promised aid to the schemer. It was a gentle rise through a very +dense section of beech forest and Peter would go slowly fearing that the +uneven surface would jolt his lord into unwelcome anger. + +Peter Sissek, straining his eyes to see that his way was clear, was +startled when one of the pieces of baggage on the top of the car was +jolted off. It fell on the Panhard's bonnet and then bounded into the +side of the road. He had run past it fifty yards before he brought his +machine to a stop. + +When he backed up to the fallen bag Count Michæl was aroused from +slumber and ascribed the accident to Peter's carelessness. In the +chauffeur's apology Anthony Trent heard his assumed name brought in. +Plainly Peter was making him the culprit. He had pitched the bundle from +the roof with some skill. It bounded far into the shadow. Finally Peter +Sissek stumbled over it. And as he stooped to retrieve it, Alfred +Anthony swung at him. For the second time Peter had taken the count. To +hit a defenceless, unsuspecting man was not a thing to give Trent any +pleasure, but it was not a moment in which to hesitate. With Peter's +livery cap and duster on, Trent took the bundle on his shoulder and +carried it at such an angle that in case of scrutiny his face would be +shielded from gaze. + +A quick backward glance a few minutes later on showed the new driver +that the count had resumed his broken slumbers. So well indeed did the +lord of Castle Radna sleep that he did not know the Panhard had left the +main road or that any danger threatened him until he was suddenly hauled +from his springy seat to look into the clear, hard eyes of Alfred +Anthony. + +Then he realized that his revolver was in the cockney's hand and the +precious wallet gone from his pocket. Count Michæl was no coward and he +thought quickly with that intriguing, plotting brain of his. A great +diamond still sparkled upon his finger and the money in another pocket +was untouched. + +"I should have been wiser," he commented. "I thought my lord Rosecarrel +had become suddenly mad. Now I see that he was saner than I. First +Captain the Honourable Oswald Hardcastle, then Sir Piers Edgcomb and now +you. May I ask your name and rank? You have been my servant and +succeeded so far where they failed?" + +Anthony Trent was not expecting this attitude. He had been so used to +seeing the count fly into stupendous rages that this calm, collected +manner was disturbing. It might be the man's natural attitude in moments +of real peril or it might merely mean he knew he was ultimately to be +the victor. + +It was a curious scene. The Panhard had come to rest in a clearing of +the woods and a brilliant moon gave the place almost the clarity of day. + +Count Michæl sat down on a log and lighted a cigarette. Almost he was +usurping Trent's _rôle_ under such circumstances. + +"This interests me," said Count Michæl, "let us discuss it." + +"I've no time," Trent said smiling. "I am due at Fiume or Trieste or +Zara as the case may be at a certain hour and as I haven't the Lion here +I must push on." + +"Have you thought that I shall certainly pursue you and assuredly +capture you?" + +"You may pursue later when you are found but by that time I shall be +gone." + +"You can never escape me," the count said. "I have a long arm and I do +not forget. And my vengeance is a bad thing for those against whom it is +directed." + +"It's not altogether healthy to have me for an enemy," Trent reminded +him. "I have my own likes and dislikes." + +The count sneered. + +"You," he cried, "Who are you? What have you done that men should fear +you? For a moment you have a little luck, the little luck that will +bring you blindly to greater danger." + +"I'm strictly _incognito_," Trent answered. "Once I was unwise enough to +answer such a challenge, but you may believe me that I, too, have a +name. Now count, it won't help you a bit to put up a fight. It will save +you trouble if you'll back up against that tree and let me tie you up." + +"You would put this outrage on me?" the other cried, his calm leaving +him, the veins standing out on an empurpled forehead like raised livid +ridges. + +"Get up!" Anthony Trent snapped. + +"It is because you have a pistol," the count said. "Put that down if you +are a man and then see what you can make me do." + +"You may believe it or not," Trent retorted, "but it hurts me to have to +decline the offer. If I dared take time I would return several little +tendernesses of yours. As it is I can't, having a weapon, strike a man +who hasn't one. You are luckier than you know. Back up there and do it +damned quick." + +Trent was certain that Count Temesvar could never unfasten his bonds. +And as he was gagged he could not cry for help. Some swineherd or +peasant would discover him later. Meanwhile the discipline would be +good. + +"Good-by," said Trent genially, "Give my love to your guest the prince +and all his high born companions." + +If Count Michæl had looked angry before his face now was doubly hideous +with rage. His hold over Lord Rosecarrel was gone and he could not doubt +but this stranger who had posed as a chauffeur had learned somehow of +the presence of the prince. If it were known in the chancelleries of +Europe all his carefully matured plans would go for naught. Unless +Alfred Anthony were captured Michæl, Count Temesvar could never again +make his pleasant little trips to the great houses of England, France +and Italy. There he was known as one who had abandoned all political +ambitions to become merely the country magnate interested in cattle and +crops. Never again could he gather useful information over friendly +dinner tables or hobnob with prime ministers over golf or auction bridge +if it were known he was giving sanctuary to one who threatened the world +peace. + +When Anthony Trent had satisfied himself that the document he had taken +was the one Arthur stole from his father, he knew, in order to be +absolutely safe, it should be destroyed. Its destruction would give the +earl immunity. But Trent hesitated. Once already Lord Rosecarrel had +believed it was demolished and had suffered terribly for his trust. +Inevitably there would be a seed of suspicion if a comparative stranger, +confessedly one who had profited by unlawful operations, should ask him +to take as true that the treaty had again been destroyed. + +A man in Trent's position was doubly sensitive in a matter of this sort. +He had no long and honorable record to back his assertions; and although +in the present instance he was actuated by no motives of +self-aggrandizement he was not sure others--Daphne alone excepted--would +believe him. He thanked God that with her it was different. + +So he put the paper in an envelope already stamped and addressed and +placed it in his pocket. Then he started for a port of safety. + +It seemed impossible that he should miss the way in the bright moonlight +but he realized a few minutes later that he was only circling around the +clearing where the count was tied to a tree. His headlights showed him +innumerable roads like those by which he had come but there was no +distinctive sign to guide him to the road to the coast. A group of +peasants going incredibly early to their work could not understand him. +He repeated the word Fiume but even that did not help. Their little life +was bounded by the confines of a few square miles; and the troop trains +which had taken them to the battle lines of a year or so back had only +confused them as to topography. + +Among the big oaks and beeches Trent could not easily find one tall +enough to bear his weight on branches that would let him see over the +tops of the others. When dawn came he was in no better plight. + +The position in which Anthony Trent found himself was by far the most +serious of his career. Hitherto he had faced imprisonment at most. Now +capture meant without doubt--death. He had, without thinking of the +folly of his utterance, told Count Michæl that he knew of the presence +of the guests unsuspected by the great powers. + +Count Michæl had probably staged the supposed escape of the prince and +supplied a convenient corpse for his interment. Unrest was in every +portion of what had once been the dual monarchy. Beggars on horseback +were riding to a fall and the Balkan volcano was near eruption. And +Anthony Trent, alone of those opposed to Count Michæl's party, knew +where was hidden the man whom the count was coaching for his big _rôle_. +His escape would mean disaster. By this time no doubt passing countrymen +had recognized their overlord and released him. But for lack of a +compass Anthony Trent should even now have been at a port where he could +escape to a friendly vessel. + +He remembered what Lord Rosecarrel had told him of Count Michæl's +character and autocratic power. Although theoretically shorn of his +former absolutism it was unlikely that peasants who worked on his lands +and still felt their dependence upon him should question Count Michæl's +actions. World news which spreads rapidly among the herded workers in +factories crept slowly among these land tillers. They had enough to eat +and drink and were grateful for that after their years of fighting. + +Now that capture was imminent Trent knew that the document must be +destroyed. But even in this he delayed hoping his usual luck might cling +to him and make the sacrifice unnecessary. + +He abandoned the automobile. Its wheels were embedded in black viscid +mud and to extricate them the engine would have to run on low speed and +announce the car's position to such as might already be seeking him. If +he could pass the day uncaptured he might at night be able to free the +car of its imprisoning mud and make his escape. He had woodcraft enough +to be able to mark down the spot where the Panhard was hidden. + +It was high noon when Anthony Trent came in sight of a farm. A big dog +came toward him with sharp, staccato inquiring barks. He had a way of +making dogs his friends and soon the animal was wagging a welcoming +tail. Trent satisfied his hunger and thirst with a meal of early plums +and lighted his last Woodbine. The Croatian farmers of the district in +which he found himself were horsebreeders to a man. It was an industry +which the government had always approved and encouraged. Without a doubt +in the distant barns there was some favorite animal which might bear +Trent to safety if his car had been discovered. The watch dog, now +satisfied that the stranger was one to be adored, would prove no +obstacle. + +Trent nestled back in some drying hay, well out of sight, he supposed, +of observers and dropped into a profound sleep. It was the unusual +spectacle of the watch dog sitting by the mound of hay that attracted +the notice of the farmer. He supposed that the animal--part hound and +part draft dog--had run some animal to earth. When the farmer saw that +the stranger slept there for whom he had, under Count Michæl's +direction, scoured the forest since dawn, he wisely brought assistance. +Thus it was that Anthony Trent, rudely brought back to an unsympathetic +earth, found himself seized, bruised and bound before he had time to +recover his senses or put up a fight. + +Peter Sissek it was who carried him to the recovered Panhard and threw +him violently to the floor. And for every blow that Trent had struck +Sissek in fair fight the Croatian returned with interest now that his +conqueror was bound and hopeless. One of Peter's assistants sat on the +seat brandishing the revolver which had been the count's. He talked +incessantly, threatening no doubt and insulting the captive, and +punctuating his invective with kicks that bruised the American's ribs +sorely. + +He was carried past a mob of jeering servants when the castle was +reached and put in a room which had been used as a dungeon for five +hundred years. As he looked about the stone walled cell with its narrow +windows through which his body could scarcely pass even though the heavy +bars were sawn through, he knew his professional skill would avail him +nothing. + +There was one safeguard for gaolers which he sighed to see. Inside the +door was a cage of iron where a keeper might stand and be protected from +the sudden onslaught of a waiting prisoner. Thus the most usual form of +escape was taken from him. + +Hentzi was his first visitor, poor rotund, posing Hentzi who had liked +Alfred Anthony largely because he supposed it was a semi-educated London +cockney who listened to his worldly wisdom. When he had learned from his +master that this pretended chauffeur was the third of the Rosecarrel +adherents who had made desperate attempts he supposed him to be of high +degree. With amusement Anthony Trent saw the change in his manner. +Although disgraced and in prison Hentzi paid the respect that he +invariably accorded to birth. He told himself that it was because he +noted the instincts of blue blood that he had found pleasure in talking +with Alfred Anthony. Trent's careless manner which had sometimes seemed +overbold in a chauffeur was now explained. + +"I grieve very much to see the marks of violence inflicted upon you by a +clod like Peter Sissek," he began. + +"I knocked the same clod out when he wasn't looking," Trent returned, +"so he had a kick coming. You didn't come to be merely polite Hentzi, +what is it? Torture? Boiling oil?" + +"It will not be boiling oil," Hentzi answered seriously. + +Anthony Trent looked at him searchingly. Of course Hentzi had his +purpose in coming here; and that he did not deny the possibility of a +Croatian third degree convinced the American that the danger he +anticipated was real and near. So far as Count Michæl's power went in +his own castle of Radna his prisoner might be in medieval times. Trent +was a danger to be nullified and a single life was hardly worthy of +consideration in the game the count was playing. + +To lose his life was bitter enough; but to lose it after failing and so +be denied another chance to make good was agonizing. Hentzi gathered +nothing from his scrutiny of the other man's battered face. He saw that +the forced and rather vacuous grin which Anthony Trent had worn when he +lived another part was gone. Only the powerful, brooding, hawklike look +which he had occasionally seen for a flash now remained. He did not +doubt but that this was the true character of the man a great English +noble had chosen for a dangerous mission. + +"You will remain here until the count returns," Hentzi announced. + +"How long?" Trent snapped. + +"A week certainly; more likely two." + +"What will happen then?" + +Hentzi sighed. His master's violence often frightened him. He came of a +peaceloving family. + +"That I cannot say." + +"I can't go without a daily shave," Trent said yawning. "And I need +cigarettes and the London papers. You can get them for me?" + +"The razor I dare not," Hentzi said. "The rest you shall have." + +"Afraid I shall commit suicide? You ought to be glad if I did. It would +save Count Michæl a lot of trouble. That cage there prevents my slitting +the throat of a keeper. A child with a gun could poke the barrel through +the bars and put me out of business. Come Hentzi, be human. I will not +live with whiskers. I swear to do myself no damage or anyone else +either." + +"You give me the word of a man of noble birth?" Hentzi inquired +anxiously. "You cannot conceal your origin from me. You may not wish it +known but I know." + +Anthony Trent kept a straight face. Hentzi had always amused him. + +"Hentzi," he said seriously, "I must preserve my _incognito_ at all +costs. That you appreciate, but if it will make you more comfortable I +will tell you that in my own country there is not a man who has the +right to call himself my superior or go in to dinner before me." + +Hentzi's bow was most profound. He had known it all along. This was +assuredly the venturesome holder of an ancient title, a man of high +birth and born to great honor. Hentzi's own Sheffield blades were at his +disposal. + + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE + +_SAINT ANTHONY_ + + +Count Michæl returned to his castle after Trent had been for fifteen +days a prisoner. + +The prince and his suite were now safely hidden in a far Carpathian +retreat and there was no evidence in Castle Radna of their occupancy. It +had been a dreadful moment when Count Temesvar found himself tied to a +tree and his plans in danger of disclosure to his enemies. He had no +opportunity of knowing as yet to what use Alfred Anthony had put his +knowledge. + +The London papers told him only that Lord Rosecarrel was the new +Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and was already making friends +with the Balkans and cementing an ancient alliance with Greece. That was +bad enough in all conscience. But if it were known that he had hidden a +prince whose only use to him would be the furtherance of his political +ambitions he would be denounced by the government under which he lived. + +The easy going, pleasure loving and almost amiable side of Count +Michæl's nature was for the moment put aside. The man who took pride in +his swift travelling Lion and his occasional long drive at golf was +banished by the need of the moment for possessing certain and wholly +accurate knowledge of what Alfred Anthony was and what he had done. + +Anthony Trent when he was brought before the count saw this at a glance. +He was Francis the First in his arbitrary moods, the mood that made that +versatile monarch sweep friends to destruction and visit wrath on them +who had offended. + +He was led, manacled, between Peter Sissek and old Ferencz and brought +to the big room in which the Chubbwood safe was placed. Hentzi hovered +nervously in the background. + +"I have sent for you," Count Michæl said, "so that you may have the +opportunity of making a confession." + +"It is thoughtful of you," Trent told him, "but I have no confession to +make. I have some complaints however. I dislike my present quarters. +They are verminous and draughty." + +"Is it possible," the count said slowly, "that you fail to understand +your position?" + +"What is my position?" Anthony Trent countered. + +"You are a nameless prisoner absolutely in my power. There is none in +the outer world to help you. Those other two who came told me as much. +They were sworn not to ask mercy of me or help of my lord Rosecarrel." + +"The cases are not parallel," Trent returned equably, "They asked no +mercy of you. I don't either. They did not expect help of--what was the +name you mentioned?" + +"The man for whom you risk death is the Earl of Rosecarrel. He cannot +aid you." + +Trent shook his head. + +"Never heard of him. I wonder what put it into your brain that I had any +definite plans in coming here except to get a position which you forced +on me." + +"Why did you take a certain document from my pocket and leave much +money? No, no. It is idle to fence. I have learnt from London that you +were only in the Lion factory a few days and that previously nothing was +known of you. You are not a mechanic; that is plain. You came for a +certain political document worth in money--nothing. You took it. Now, +sir, where is it?" + +There was no doubting the count's eagerness or Anthony Trent's +astonishment. The count had not recovered the treaty. So far as Trent +remembered the envelope was in his coat pocket, the same coat he had +taken off among the hay and made a pillow for his head. He assumed, +naturally, that when he was roughly dragged from slumber his clothes +were searched. A light of triumph came into his eyes at the thought that +it did not repose behind those inviolate doors of steel. But it was +amazing that the heap of hay had not been disturbed. He supposed it was +because of the week of almost continuous rain. + +"Where is it?" Count Michæl repeated. + +"When I saw it was of no value," Trent said, sticking to his chauffeur +rôle, "I burned it." + +"For the moment we will assume that you speak the truth. Now, how is it +you made the mistake of supposing that I had here certain guests of high +degree?" + +"Just a guess," Trent said calmly, "Wasn't I right? Remember I had to +bring them up from Fiume. I saw coronets on dressing cases and from the +way Hentzi bowed and scraped I imagined they were at least royalties in +disguise." + +"You said," Count Michæl insisted, "'Give my love to the prince.' You +could only have meant one particular personage. You did not speak in +generalities you particularized. You said 'The prince.' I warn you you +do not help yourself by denials. I am not a patient man. The world knows +that. Here in my castle of Radna I am supreme. I have not chosen my +servants idly. They are committed to me and my cause absolutely. Old +Ferencz there would die for me or mine. It is the tradition of loyalty +born in him. So with the others. You are surrounded here with those who +regard you as my enemy. How can I chide them if, knowing their lord is +in peril, they seek to remove it?" + +"First and second murderers," Trent commented. + +"Executioners," the count corrected. + +"It makes no difference what you call them," Trent exclaimed. + +"I am glad you look at it in that light," Count Michæl said, "It does +not make any difference as you will see. I shall convince you of that by +relating the sad accident which befell your friend Captain the +Honourable Oswald Hardcastle, formerly of the Royal Dragoons." + +"My friend?" Trent exclaimed. + +"Certainly," the count returned, "Lord Rosecarrel's military attaché at +Constantinople. Your innocence amuses me. You no doubt know that I owned +that great horse Daliborka a winner of the Grand Prix. I was +dissatisfied with my trainer and asked friends at the Jockey Club in +Paris to recommend me someone. Captain Hardcastle disguised himself much +as you have done. He was no longer an aristocrat, an officer of a great +regiment, but a trainer who was an ex-jockey. He was a good trainer and +a great horseman. Daliborka's time trials were marvelous. I entered him +for the great races in England. My new trainer was so jealous of his +horse he would have no strangers near and none was allowed to follow him +in his rides through the grass meadows." Count Michæl laughed softly, +"Yes, I was deceived, made a fool of, as you have it but I can confess +it as I do in your case with the satisfaction that the last laugh, the +last trick will be mine. It was my laugh at the last with Captain +Hardcastle. You are interested?" + +"I was in Paris when Daliborka won," Trent said. "I made money on him. +Most certainly I'm interested." + +"Captain Hardcastle wished for the document which you say you have +destroyed. He obtained it. He did not seek to escape as you have done +down the main roads. No. No. He had studied the country profoundly with +all the topographical knowledge gained at the Staff College. He had such +complete charge of my large stables that none questioned his right to do +as he chose and I was too busy at the time even to see him. He planned +his route carefully. He found out a path to the sea where there would +wait him a yacht. It was, oddly enough, the same steam yacht in which my +lord Rosecarrel makes his cruises. At intervals he placed my horses, +horses he had trained for steeple chases. But the first stretch of the +journey, ten miles of velvet turf he had planned to ride Daliborka. It +is sufficient to tell you that we knew his plans in time. He was to +start at midnight. It happened that I passed his quarters at half past +eleven and detained him in talk, talk that gave him no uneasiness." + +"Then, thinking I was safely here he rushed to the little outbuilding +where my great black horse was saddled. He sprang to its back quickly. +And as he did so we lit a torch so that he might see how we laughed +last. It was a black horse indeed, but a work horse, a slow placid beast +which we had substituted. I have never seen real despair seize on a +brave man as it did when he saw he had failed. I enjoyed it very much +Arlfrit. + +"The stable hands who had always resented his iron discipline, the +discipline of the soldier, took their vengeance of him in my absence. +They are rough, these brave fellows of mine, and do not know their +strength." + +"You mean," Trent snapped, "you let them murder a man who was probably +tied as I am tied now?" + +Count Michæl shrugged his shoulders. + +"A man who puts his head in the lion's den must not complain if the lion +be hungry. This is my house and I do not welcome thieves. Then there was +Sir Piers Edgcomb. I was never sure of him. A big man, slow of movement +and who spoke German so well I believed him to be of Bavaria. He was my +butler. These country bred servants of mine do well enough in most +things but the niceties of table service as I see in your own country +are beyond them. + +"A butler who has to take charge of much valuable plate and old, +precious glass should at least be able to clean them. This man--he +called himself Peters knew nothing of these things. So I set traps for +him. He had a wolf's cunning. But a wise hunter can snare a wolf and I +snared him. I did not bring you here to tell you of them so that you +might be entertained. I brought you here to tell you that they who +plotted, failed and died for their cause. You, who have succeeded and +have injured me are my captive just as they were." + +"Well?" Anthony Trent said, "What of it?" + +"Simply this. You say you have burned the document. That might be true +or untrue. It is possible you have concealed it in some place where I +could recover it only after long search. I shall give you a day to make +up your mind to speak the whole truth." + +"And after that?" + +"You will be glad to tell what you know," Count Michæl said grimly. +"Your death will be but a poor triumph to me; that I am willing to +admit, but it is the greatest loss that can befall you." + +"You are trying to make a bargain with me?" + +"Perhaps. I will say at least that if the document is procured Alfred +Anthony would be free to return to London on one condition." + +"Which is?" + +"That he gave me his word of honor to forget every face and name he had +seen or heard in Castle Radna. Under the circumstances I could allow +myself to be so generous but I should require the most solemn of oaths." +The count leaned forward a little and spoke impressively. "Remember +again, that your death will be but poor consolation for me yet it is the +most terrible thing that can happen to you." + +"I'm not so sure," Anthony Trent muttered. + +In that moment there was stripped from him the cunning and audacity that +success in crime had brought. Often he had seen himself in a +melodramatic almost heroic light, laughing at the nice distinctions of +wrong and right, stretching out his hand to take what he wanted and +caring nothing for the judgments of men. With the egocentricity of the +successful criminal he had felt himself superior to all his opponents +and had seen himself in future performing such exploits as none had +dared to do. + +His months at Castle Radna had been very dull. The plentiful food was +coarse; his companions boors; of music he had heard not a note. He was +anxious to be back again among people he liked. Such a chance was +offered him now. He believed if he gave his solemn word that the +count--in order to retain his hold on Lord Rosecarrel--would give him +safe conduct to Fiume. + +Yet he was amazed to find that he would not accept Count Michæl's offer. +Rather than tell him the truth about the document and so bring disaster +again on the family of the woman he loved he was content to give up his +life. Perhaps there was another reason which brought him to this way of +thinking also. Daphne was not for him. That, long ago, he had realized. +Life without Daphne! Dreary days that would hold no joy lengthening into +months and years of heart hunger and at last into dissatisfied old age. +He was brought back from his thoughts by the count's voice. + +"Of what are you not sure? That I shall not keep my word?" + +"I'm not sure that I shall give mine," Trent answered. + +"You will have a day and a night to think it over. I shall find you in a +more reasonable mood when I see you again. But remember this. After +tomorrow there will be no other opportunity. I am not a patient man and +I am holding back my anger with difficulty. I do not relish being sick +of chagrin." + +Anthony Trent held up his manacled hands. + +"This is a sporting way of doing things, isn't it?" he exclaimed. + +"Until tomorrow," Count Michæl smiled. + +It was dark when the prisoner reached his cell. An oil lamp lit the bare +room. It was hung on a nail in the little cage out of reach of any +occupant of the stone chamber. + +Peter Sissek and old Ferencz had brought him to his prison. They offered +him no violence. Evidently they were acting under orders. The count had +made no comment on the bruises that still discoloured the American's +face. + +He had been sitting an hour on the edge of his cot when the outer door +opened. Trent did not even look up. It was at this hour unappetizing +food was brought and thrust under the cage, food he could pick at +clumsily with his hands in iron bracelets. + +Hearing no grating sound of heavy plate being pushed over the uneven +floor he looked up. Pauline stood in the cage with Hentzi. The latter +was obviously nervous and alarmed. He looked about him in dread and +listened unhappily for sounds that might indicate the coming of others +along the flagged passage. + +"Open the gate," Pauline commanded, pointing to the steel barrier. + +"If the count should hear of it!" he wailed. + +"I will bear the blame," she said. "Be quick." + +"You must be but five minutes," he insisted. + +"I shall take ten," she retorted. + +Wringing his hands Hentzi, the prey of many apprehensions, left her +alone with the prisoner. It chanced that Pauline was aware of some petty +thefts on the secretary's part, defalcations which would destroy Count +Michæl's faith in his probity. It was a threat of exposure which forced +him to bring her here. + +Trent rose when she came in and offered his visitor the single rush +bottomed chair the cell contained. + +He looked at her warily as one antagonist gazes at another before a +struggle. Always she had called up in him this need for caution. Her +violent and passionate nature were graven on the face which had brought +so many men to folly and disgrace. Hentzi had told him many stories of +the life she had lived in great cities and the tragedies which had come +to those who had loved her. + +She was dressed tonight very splendidly. Jewels that should have +belonged to the poor countess who was passing her days in retreat were +about her neck. An emerald necklace which in other days would have set +Anthony Trent's eyes glittering matched her strange almond eyes. There +was a certain tiger grace about the woman which would have attracted +men's notice and women's from wherever she might have gone. Did she, he +wondered, come in peace or in war? He was on his guard. + +"You are surprised to see me?" she began. + +"I cannot choose my visitors," he reminded her. + +"You have never liked me," she returned, "Why?" + +"You were a danger to my enterprise," he answered. + +"A danger now removed," she said quickly. "What are those marks on your +face?" she cried as he turned his head from the shadow to where the dim +lamp light showed him more dearly. "Who has dared to strike you?" + +"That is nothing," he cried impatiently. "Certainly the least of my +troubles. I am very weary; there may be very unpleasant hours before me +and I need sleep. It cannot be such a great triumph to see me in this +cell?" + +"Why do you stay here?" she demanded. "I know what Count Michæl has told +you. I know you have only to give him that piece of paper and your word +of honor as a gentleman and you are free to go. It is very fortunate for +you. Those two friends who also came are dead." + +"Did he send you here?" Trent asked. + +"He would be furious if he knew," she said quickly. "Certainly it would +do you no good if he learned of it. You know," and Pauline looked at him +through lowered lashes, "he has always been jealous of you." + +"He has had no reason to be," Trent reminded her coldly. + +"I know," she said, bitterness in her tone, "but he will not believe +that. And now he knows you are noble and were masquerading as a +chauffeur he will be all the more jealous." + +"I'm not a nobleman," he said almost angrily. He resented her presence. + +"You cannot deceive me," she said tenderly. + +"If you did not come here to speak for Count Michæl, may I ask then for +what purpose?" + +"I want to warn you not to keep that paper from him." + +"It was burned long ago," he answered. "If he can collect the ashes he +is welcome to them." + +"At present he is trying to collect your coat," she told him and noted +with a smile his start of alarm. "When they took you you were coatless. +He thinks somewhere in the forest they will find it and when they find +it the paper will be there and perhaps other things of your own which +will be interesting." + +"I fear he will be disappointed," Trent said calmly, "but if he will +return a favorite pipe in one of the pockets I shall be obliged." + +She looked at him steadily. Hers was not always an easy face to read. + +"I pray that they will find the coat," she said. + +"Thank you," he exclaimed. "At least you make no pretence of wanting me +to win." + +"You don't understand," she cried, "it is because they will force you to +tell if they cannot find it. I am speaking no more than the truth. +Cannot you see that you have mixed yourself in high matters and are a +menace to Count Michæl? He must know and he will know." + +She saw his mouth tighten. + +"Men just as strong and brave as you have broken down and told all." + +"That may be," he answered, "but I am not going to alter my story about +burning the paper and I am not going to weaken under any punishment they +think of trying on me." + +He was not going to tell her that in a few days he would be able to make +his way out of this very cell if they kept handcuffs from him a little +longer. Kicked out of sight among the dust on the floor was one of his +most useful tools. It was a strip of highly tempered steel spring with a +saw edge--forty teeth to the inch--and could bite its way through the +barred window. When first he entered his prison he thought the opening +too small for exit but he had revised his calculations and was now +certain he could wriggle through it. + +"It is for a woman you do this," Pauline said. "It is because of a woman +you are cold and ask no help of me." + +"I can't prevent your wild guesses," he answered. There was no mistaking +his distaste of her meddling. + +"I do not give up easily," he told her. "I used to think that in a duel +between love and duty love should always win. It doesn't seem to work +out that way always. And I used to think that a man who had not been +worthy of a woman should be given a chance to rebuild his life if he +really loved her." He shook his head. "It isn't the right idea. +Sentimental nonsense the world calls it. The wedding gift a man offers +his bride is his past." He shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't qualify." + +Anthony Trent looked at the rough wall and saw only those dancing days +of happiness and love in another castle. And instead of Pauline with her +world weary face, her knowledge of every art to hold men, he saw his +slim and lovely Daphne. He knew that both of them loved him. Vaguely he +understood that Pauline had come to offer to save him but he had kept +her from telling him so yet. There might conceivably be a future with +her in which he would find eventually his old ambitions stirring and his +pride in his hazardous work revive. There might even be years that were +almost happy; reckless, passionate, quarrelling years. But the thought +of it was nauseating. He swept it aside. He remembered the phrase of +Private Smith in the dug-out that he was dying in better company than he +knew. Well, Anthony Trent if the worst came would die better than he had +lived. + +To Pauline, who loved him, the idea of a violent ending to one of his +ability and address was tragic. + +An Austrian by birth, Pauline had been taken to Berlin then blossoming +into extravagant and vulgar night life by a mother who was a dancer. +Vain, ambitious and jealous of the success of others, Pauline offered no +objection to anything whereby she might become widely known. Later, when +she had attained international fame as a skater she grew more selective +in her affairs. She was the rage for several years and but for the +suicide of a Serene Highness would never have been banished from Berlin. + +Count Michæl Temesvar was an old admirer. The war swept away Pauline's +possessions and there was no manager to engage her at a living wage. + +At twenty-eight she had known many capitals, enjoyed great success and +never been really in love. Then she saw Anthony Trent on the golf links +and never passed a moment but was filled with thoughts of him. His +consistent repulsing of her threw her into moods of anger which she +visited mainly on her protector. And when she summoned scorn and anger +to her aid in dealing with this Alfred Anthony, she found them only +ministers to her infatuation. + +She looked around as Hentzi came into the cell. + +"It is ten minutes," he whispered. + +"Another five," she said. "I shall come with you then." + +Hentzi withdrew nervous and expostulating. Trent noticed that her manner +was different when she spoke. There was a certain timidity about her, an +air of unhappiness almost of hopelessness. + +"Have you thought what difference it will make to me?" she asked. + +Gone from her face were those meretricious smiles, those little ways +cultivated through intimate association with her world of warring sex. +The Pauline who looked at him now was a woman stripped of artifice, a +woman who suffered and loved. + +There was an uncomfortable silence, the awkwardness of the man in the +avowed affection of the undesired woman. + +"Let there be no deception between us," she said quietly. "I see that it +is someone else who claims your heart. I did not think there were men +like you who would be steadfast and loyal in a moment such as this. I +know only that we--you and I--are alike in one thing. We both love where +there is no hope. I came here to offer you freedom at a price most men +would be glad to pay. I will not insult you by saying what it was. I +have known few good men and I know you are good." + +"No, no," he cried, embarrassed by her manner, "Indeed if you only +knew." + +She would not listen. + +"Love can redeem all," she said. "I pray the good God whom I have +neglected," she smiled a little ruefully, "to redeem me. I feel that my +life is over. I have had everything I wanted and am wearied of the +taste. Everything I wanted until now. There comes a time when one is no +longer so eager to live. It is so with me." She looked at him wistfully. +"Can you believe me when I tell you I want to help you?" + +"I do believe it," he said gratefully. "I am glad enough to have a +friend in this dismal place." + +"Then let me help you," she said eagerly. "Something tells me you have +hidden that paper. I warn you if it is still in existence, it will be +found. Can I get it for you?" + +Anthony Trent did not answer for a moment. The thought that there yet +might be a way of getting the treaty draft to Lord Rosecarrel almost +made speech an effort. If that were done with what energy and hope might +he not bend his skill to means of escape! + +"I should be putting my honor in your keeping," he said slowly. + +Her face fell. + +"And you dare not trust me?" + +It was caution which had saved Anthony Trent a hundred times before and +he hesitated just a moment now. Then he looked at Pauline again and was +convinced of her sincerity. And, after all, no better way presented +itself. + +"I will trust you," he said, "but can you find out the place where they +captured me?" + +"I know it already," she said, "it is the farm of Zencsi and lies no +more than thirty miles away." + +"Thirty!" he cried, "I thought it was twice that distance." + +"You went miles out of your reckoning." + +"Have you a pencil?" he cried. "I want to draw a plan of it." + +"Alas, no," she exclaimed, "but Hentzi will be here and he shall get +one." + +The five minutes were up and the count's secretary entered entreating +Pauline by fear of discovery to come with him. + +"A pencil," she snapped, "and paper. A leaf from that little red +memorandum book where you keep account of what money you have saved by +cheating your master." + +She waved him away. + +"Three more minutes," she commanded. + +"I hid in a mound of hay quite close to the farm house. It was the one +nearest a tree recently struck by lightning. It was a plum and the fruit +was still red and unwrinkled. I hid my coat there primarily with the +idea of it being a pillow. When they dragged me out I kicked it down and +out of sight. Three things may have happened. One, that owing to the +rain they have not canted the hay. Second, that a farm hand found the +coat and took the money in it and destroyed everything else. The third +contingency is that the document may have been undisturbed. In this case +it will be returned when the count inquires broadcast for stray +garments." + +"Yes, yes," Pauline said, excitement in her voice, "but tell me exactly +what to do." + +"Can you motor to this Zencsi farm without being found out?" + +"It will not be easy but it shall be done." + +Her air of assurance heartened him. + +"You can only find the blasted tree by day light," he said thoughtfully, +"and in day light you may be seen. Can you be there at dawn before the +farmer himself is up." + +"But that is easiest of all," she cried, "Listen to me. I shall wait +until everyone here is asleep. Then I shall take the Fiat and get to +Zencsi in a little more than an hour. I can hide the car in the forest +and make my search. If I find it I can be back here before any man or +maid is stirring." Her face fell. "But what am I to do with it? I dare +not give it to you who may be searched." + +"It ought to be destroyed," he answered, "but I've sworn to give it to +the man who sent me here. I've got it. Put it in the tool box of the +Lion, among the cotton waste. Can you get into the garage?" + +"Hentzi has all keys, as you should remember," she said. "What keys he +has are mine. And then?" + +"You will find at the bottom of the big tool box a couple of keys. They +are punched out of two thin steel bars. Really there are four keys. It +is most important that you bring them to me. You will not forget?" + +"When your life hangs on it? What else? We must be quick. I do not fear +Hentzi but his master must not find me here." + +"If the coat has been removed you must go to the farm house. There is a +watch dog who barks but he pines for affection and you can win him +easily. Find out who has the coat. If it isn't in the hay someone on the +farm has it. If the document is handed to you look at it eagerly to make +sure it is what I want and if it is, tell them the thing is worthless +and not what the count wants. And if you find the paper in the breast +pocket do the same thing." + +"Why?" she demanded. + +"If you show them it is what you came for the count who will certainly +hear of it will want to get it. What would happen if he knew you had +given it to me?" + +"Why think of that now?" she returned. But he noticed that a shade of +fear passed over her face at the thought of it. + +"If you get it and put it in the tool box he will only think how well +you have served his interests in coat hunting while his lazy varlets +were abed. Of course if they don't hand it to you at the farm and it +isn't in the coat it may be destroyed. I'm afraid you'll have to do some +bullying and threatening to get at the truth but the truth I must have." + +She rose from the rush bottomed chair with a sigh. + +"You believe that there are those who can read fate?" + +Anthony Trent hesitated. Men of his profession were usually +superstitious attaching unwarranted importance to fortuitous things, +watching for signs and portents and abandoning planned enterprises at +times because of some sign of misfortune which had met them. + +"I don't believe it," he admitted, "but that sort of thing influences +me. Why?" + +"There is a woman nearby who can tell," Pauline replied, "Yesterday I +gave her money. She said--can you think of it--that I should die happy." + +"I hope you do," he said. + +"But it is impossible," she cried. "None clings to life as I do. I am +tired of this life. I love the life of cities, the restaurants, the +crowds. I am city bred. In a year when conditions are better I shall go +back. I shall appear in Berlin again, Petrograd, perhaps and of course +in London and they want me in New York. I shall hate to die. But I did +not mean to speak of myself. She told me that the man I loved would be +successful. Fate makes no mistake. Keep up your courage for you will win +and I shall die happy. What more could we want?" + +But there were tears in her eyes as she said it. + +He took both her hands in his. + +"What a splendid woman you are!" he said with conviction. + +"My dear," she answered, her voice a little uneven, "do not tell that to +the woman you love. She would hate me and I want to live a little in +your heart without anyone else to share it. Promise me that?" + +There was in his mind to tell her Daphne was different. That Daphne +would love her too, but he said nothing. Her intuition told her more +than his hope could foretell. + +"I promise," he answered, "and I promise that I shall never forget." + +Hentzi's agitated voice disturbed them. + +"Not one moment longer," he whispered. "I dare not." + + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN + +_DOWN TO THE SEA_ + + +When Pauline had gone Trent was immeasurably happier in the hope she had +given him. Until her visit his only chance of escape had been centered +in the expectation that when once his hands were freed he might file the +bars. There was now a scheme in his head worth many of that. + +Half an hour after she had left two men entered guided by the now +assured Hentzi. + +"You have complained of the dirt here," the secretary explained, "and it +will be removed." + +The tiny spring saw was swept up unobserved. Trent saw it disappear now +with a smile where before it would have been black tragedy to him. + +He slept well that night and shaved himself next morning in high +spirits. It was not easy, shaving with handcuffs on, but it was +possible. Then he waited for some message from Pauline. + +Hentzi came into the cell at five. + +"Count Michæl will see you at ten tonight. My friend, I warn you to be +wise and acknowledge defeat." + +"That's not my idea of wisdom," Trent grinned so cheerfully that Hentzi +was vaguely disturbed. + +"You are more foolish even than the others," Hentzi said, shaking his +head. "Brave men, all three. For my part I would be reasonable. I would +say, 'I have fought a good fight and the odds were against me. How much +can I save from the wreck?' That is the way to talk, my lord." + +Suddenly he took a book from his pocket, a book tied with string and +sealed but not enveloped in paper. He handed it to the American. + +"This is from a friend," he announced. "I bring danger on myself in +giving it to you but I can rely on your silence, eh?" + +"Certainly," Trent said carelessly and betrayed no interest in the gift. +"At ten o'clock tonight? Is that it?" + +"It is wise to acknowledge defeat," Hentzi said earnestly. + +"We'll see when the time comes," Trent returned. "It's largely a matter +of holding trumps my good Hentzi." + + * * * * * + +Anthony Trent tore the string from the book eagerly. In the middle, +placed carefully in a space hollowed among the leaves were the bar keys +which might, with luck, open the doors to safety. About them was wrapped +a half sheet of scented, green note paper. On it was scrawled very +faintly in pencil, "I have put it where you told me to." + +"Thank God!" cried Anthony Trent. + +Then with some difficulty he managed to put the two thin steel bars in a +special pocket long ago prepared for them. + +The hours seemed very long until Hentzi, with Sissek and Ferencz, came +for him. The two servants carried their big service revolvers. + +The anxious moment was at hand, the moment that was to tell Trent +whether he was to be utterly defeated or to stand a chance of escape. + +"Take these off," he said holding out his manacled hands. + +"No. No." Sissek and Ferencz cried together. + +"The count said so," Trent frowned. + +"I have had no orders," Hentzi assured him, "and that is one key I have +not got." + +For one desperate moment Anthony Trent thought of bringing down his iron +ringed wrists on Sissek's head and attempting to escape. But he put the +thought from him as futile. There was still another trump to play. + +They led him, as he hoped, to the great room where the safe was, the +room he had searched so carefully. + +In a carved oak chair at the head of a table sat Count Michæl. Pauline +was there sitting in a chaise longue smoking a cigarette in a very long +amber and gold holder. She did not turn her face from the count to the +prisoner until he had stood there silent for a full minute. Then she +looked at him coldly, sneeringly, and said something to Count Michæl +which brought a peal of laughter from him. + +It seemed to Trent that he had never seen the two on such wholly +affectionate terms. + +There were two doors to the room. At one stood Peter Sissek, revolver +in hand. At the other old Ferencz watched in armed vigilance. On the +table before the count was a .38 automatic pistol. Shades were drawn +over the long narrow French windows. In a chair before one of them +Hentzi sat nervous as ever in the presence of his violent employer. +Before the other window was a big bronze statue of the dying Gaul. The +stage was set very comfortably for all but the manacled Anthony Trent. + +"You said I could have these off," Trent began, "these damned steel +bangles that I've worn so long." + +"It is for yourself to remove them," the count said suavely. "I am about +to give you the opportunity. You see I am generous. Others would blame +me for it." + +"You are not generous," Trent snapped. "A coward never is." + +The count's face lost some of its suavity. + +"Who dares call me a coward?" he cried. + +"I do," Trent returned promptly. "You are a coward. Here am I, an +unarmed man among three with guns. The doors are locked and yet you keep +me here handcuffed. Generous! Brave!" All his contempt was poured out as +he said it. + +"If I take them off will you give me your _parole d'honneur_ to make no +effort to escape?" + +Anthony Trent turned to Pauline. + +"Madame," he said, as though to a stranger, "I cannot congratulate you +on the courage of your friend. So afraid is he of one single man that he +wishes me to give my word I will not try to escape. He forgets I am +unarmed, in a strange and vast house filled with his servants, with +death threatening me at any suspicious move. Are all your noblemen of +Croatia as cautious as he?" + +Pauline did not reply to him. Instead she spoke to the count in German. + +"Pay no attention to him," she counselled. "I know that you are brave, +my Michæl. Let him laugh at you for a coward if he wishes. I would not +have him hurt you or frighten you for the world." + +"Frighten _me_!" cried the count, "Hurt _me_!" He flung a little key +across the table to Hentzi. "Take them off," he commanded. + +Trent examined his reddened wrists with a frown. + +"This should never have been done," he declared. Then he turned to +Hentzi. "I need a cigarette." + +"I did not bring you here to smoke," Count Michæl said acidly. "I +brought you here to interrogate you. Remember that." + +"I have been without a decent smoke for nearly two weeks," Trent +returned. "And I want one. Unless I have some I shall not answer any one +of your interrogations. Think it over, count." + +Hentzi looked at the American reproachfully. He had supplied his +prisoner with the best of tobacco. That he had done so surreptitiously +robbed him of the privilege of recrimination. The two guards not +understanding a word of the conversation could not deny Trent's +statements. + +Count Michæl Temesvar looked closely at his former chauffeur. He was +standing on the rich red rug between the two windows. He was biting his +lips; his face twitched and his fingers worked nervously. It was plain +that he suffered as drug takers do when deprived of their poisons. + +There was a cedar lined silver box of cigarettes on the little table by +Pauline's chair. This Hentzi was commanded to place before the prisoner. +Anthony Trent's symptoms were admirably assumed. He inhaled and exhaled +in silent delight and his face grew more peaceful. But he was still +unsettled and nervous. The count, remembering his iron-nerved driver, +attributed the change as much to imprisonment and fear as to lack of +tobacco. In a sense it was a tribute to his power over the man who had +thwarted him. He watched Trent stride up and down by the two windows and +ascribed it to a growing sense of the ordeal about to be undergone. + +"I've got to keep moving," Trent said, "I've been tied up in a kennel +for two weeks." + +"If you must I shall permit it," the other answered. "But I warn you +that the length of this table must be your limit. Otherwise my faithful +men may have to shoot. You understand?" + +"Perfectly," Trent said growing more affable. "I even give you my +_parole d'honneur_ not to go near the doors. Why rush on certain death?" + +"You are growing sensible," Count Michæl said smiling. "I knew it would +come. As you say, why rush on certain death? It is foolish. More, it is +unnecessary and to do so wastes one's energy. I have not yet had time to +learn your name and rank but I am treating with you as an equal." + +"Thank you!" Trent retorted. "If you call locking me up in a verminous, +rat-haunted cell treating me as an equal I'm hardly grateful." + +"I dare take no risks," the count assured him. "You men who came here +for my lord Rosecarrel are different from others. I have not forgotten +that Sir Piers Edgcomb killed three of my honest lads before he died. +There are others who would have treated you less well than I. Now, where +is the paper you stole from me and say you burned?" + +"What is the fate of ashes tossed to the four winds?" + +"It was never burned," the other snapped. "Somewhere it exists in your +pocket where I saw you place it. Remember this before you answer. If by +your aid alone I find it you may leave this castle." + +"How?" Trent demanded. "To walk into ambush outside?" + +"There will be twenty square miles of country where none dare touch you. +Do you need more than that, you, who cast aspersions on the courage of +others? Is it possible you are afraid?" + +"What is the other alternative?" + +"To join your friends." The count laughed cordially. The idea seemed to +amuse him. "To make the third grave. First the trainer, then the butler +and last the chauffeur. I wonder what your chief will send me next." + +"He will have no need to send anyone else," Trent said affably. By this +time his nervousness had disappeared and he was cool and calm as ever. + +"You mean he will give up the attempt?" + +"Why should there be another when I have already succeeded?" + +"This is bravado," the count cried. It was his turn to be nervous now. +The importance he attached to the possession of the paper seemed out of +all proportion to its value. Trent knew little of the great eternal +European game of politics. For a few moments in Paris the New World had +its glance at the complicated working but forgot it when booming trade +held sway and salesmen took the place of diplomats. The elimination of +the new Foreign Secretary meant a great deal to Count Michæl. The other +knowledge which Trent stored in his mind was equally dangerous but there +were others who could attend to that. No matter what part Anthony Trent +played the count had assigned him the rôle of the defeated. + +"It happens to be the truth," Trent returned. + +He could see that Pauline was now listening intently. Her pose of +antagonism to the stranger was swept away by her anxiety for his safety. +Her heart thrilled to see him standing there, debonair, smiling, +dominating. It seemed madness to her, this avowal of success. + +"You are learning wisdom," Count Michæl commented. + +"We may define the term differently," Trent smiled. "I did not burn the +paper." + +"Ah!" the count breathed excitedly. "Now we have it." + +"I preferred to keep it so that I could assure the Right Honourable the +Earl of Rosecarrel, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, that I had +indeed succeeded. You will understand my feelings. Perhaps it was +bravado but none seems to believe that such papers ever do get burned. +You, count, seemed to doubt it." + +"Where is it?" the count snapped. "Your life depends on your truth." + +"I have put it in a safe place," Trent said, resuming his pacing of the +room. + +The count's excitement banished the air of toleration he had with +difficulty affected toward one he hated. + +"Where is it?" he bellowed. + +Anthony Trent was smiling and his eyes were bright. It was one of his +moments. + +"I am going to fetch it," he said urbanely. + +Long ago he had made a careful survey of the possibilities of the room +in which he stood. He had thoroughly scrutinized windows and doors as +likely aids to future needs. + +Every pair of eyes in that great room was turned on him. Sissek and +Ferencz understanding no word only saw that he was unmoved, unruffled, +almost joyous in the presence of the great Count Michæl. They could not +understand it at all. They only hated him the more. + +Hentzi was rather thrilled with the spectacle. Here was a young and +handsome man of a type he had longed to be, no doubt the bearer of an +historic title, who in the presence of great peril dared to laugh at +the head of all the Temesvars. + +Count Michæl felt the constricting collar that now almost choked him. +These other two who had preceded Alfred Anthony met death bravely but +they acknowledged failure. But this man was different. It was almost as +though he thought himself the victor. What else would have nerved him to +bandy words with his gaoler? + +But of them all it was Pauline who watched him most eagerly, and most +feared for his safety. He seemed incredibly rash to antagonize the count +still further. Few guessed the cruelties to which he could sink when his +_amour propre_ was wounded. She had made up her mind that the man she +loved so wholly should not suffer. So far the count had no reason to +suspect her interest in the stranger. His first jealousy had passed when +she protested how needless it was. He trusted women with few of his +political secrets but she knew Trent was a marked man because he had +stumbled on the identity of the princely guest. Therefore he would +suffer unless her woman's wit could aid him. Knowing the count's vanity +so well she perceived that every moment of this unperturbed attitude +added to the severity of the punishment his prisoner would receive. + +"You are going to fetch it!" Count Michæl said thickly. "Is it permitted +to ask how and when?" + +"By all means," Trent said graciously. "I am going to fetch it now and +thus." + +He made a lightning quick leap toward the window where Hentzi was +sitting in a low chair and then a dive over the secretary's shoulder. +Through the small panes of glass he went like a hurled rock. The shade +torn from its roller wrapped itself about his head and shielded him from +flying glass and piercing splinters. + +Two shots rang out and he heard Hentzi's voice raised in a shriek of +agony. There were other sounds which drowned even this. The count's +voice bellowed forth instructions. He could hear Peter Sissek and +Ferencz shouting and then, as another shot followed him into the +courtyard Pauline's cry rang high above all other sounds. + +Trent landed on his shoulder, bruised but not seriously hurt. When he +pulled the enveloping window shade from his face he was amazed to see +that the room from which he had come was now in darkness. He could hear +the men thrashing about it in a fury of rage at being unable to find the +way of pursuit. Whether failure of the current was the cause or someone +had pressed the button, the delay was of incalculable value. + +Trent raced across the paved courtyard and pried open the door of what +had been the prince's apartment. It was unoccupied as was that of the +adjoining room where the military aide had slept. + +At the bedroom door leading to the corridor he listened carefully but +heard no sound. He opened it quietly to come upon a servant passing by. +It was an unmannerly fellow who had often jeered at him when they used +the common table, a tall, awkward, stooping creature with a malicious +face. His eyes opened wide when he saw it was the detested English +chauffeur. Visions of reward darted across his brain and he made a +movement as to apprehend the foreigner. + +He was instantly gripped with a hold, which agonized him as he sought to +break it, and forced into the bedroom from which Trent had just come. +Then the door was locked and he was a prisoner. When, a minute later his +master and the others came bursting through he supposed them to be other +than they were and hid under a bed where the redoubtable Sissek pursued +him and beat him soundly until his identity was established. + +Leaving him in the room Trent made his way carefully to the _armoire_, +that rock of refuge in a weary land, and entered it noiselessly. + +It was established that no stranger could have left the castle by any of +its exits. Such as were not barred had servants near them. It was clear +that Alfred Anthony was concealed somewhere in the vast building. His +capture was only the matter of time, the result of careful searching. + +This search was gone about systematically Count Michæl directing his men +personally. It was the count's theory that one of his bullets, the first +shot at which Hentzi had screamed because of its nearness to his head, +had wounded the fleeing man, and that he would sooner or later be traced +by a trail of blood. + +Hardly had plans been made for the disposition of the searchers than an +agitated footman reported Peter Sissek's wife with dire news. She was +brought before her employer trembling with excitement. + +"Excellency," she cried, "He has escaped in the English car." + +Pauline at the count's side clutched his arm. + +"Thank God!" she breathed. + +"They shall suffer who let him pass," the count roared, "Swine, children +of swine, spawn of the devil." + +"Let me go after him Excellency," Peter Sissek pleaded. "I will bring +him back to you dead or alive as you command." + +"Fool," the count shouted, "Who are you to do this, you who have not his +skill nor so fast a car! Get you to Agram. I will telegraph to Fiume and +Zara and Trieste and have him stopped for a thief." + +"But," Pauline protested, "how dare you let it be known that it is the +paper he has stolen? Dare you invite notice of it?" + +The count looked at her very oddly. Never had he looked so coldly. + +"Is it also his car?" he asked. "Have I no right to that?" + + * * * * * + +Weeks before Anthony Trent had hidden a spare key to the garage in a +secret place. From the moment of closing the door of the _armoire_ +behind him, climbing down the copper pipe and starting his engine, +Anthony Trent had not consumed more than four minutes. As he drove it +out of the yard he saw Mrs. Sissek running toward him. Soon they would +be on his track again. He did not care. He knew there was never a driver +in all Europe who could hope to catch him between Castle Radna and +Fiume. + +A quick glance had assured him all was well with his Lion. Two extra +wheels were carried which could be put on in three minutes. There was +gasoline in his tanks and the purring hum of the motor was like a +Beethoven symphony to his ears. And he knew that somewhere in the +toolbox was concealed the little scrap of paper which had cost two lives +already and might take his own as toll were he not careful. He prayed +that the gods of chance might give him no less than an even break. + +Down the mountain side he went singing. At night there was little or no +traffic. The peasants were early abed and the way would be deserted +until he struck the Marie Louise road. + +Anthony Trent knew that not a car in the garage would pursue him with +any chance of success. They would probably send a telegram from Agram +but that contingency did not worry him very much. It had taken no more +than a minute of his time to do damage that would take a hundred times +as long to remedy. He smiled to think of the savage Sissek trying to +start his Panhard. Then they would attempt to get the Fiat going and +finally, the old and tricky Mercedes. And they would all balk because +that skilled mechanic Alfred Anthony had had his finger in the pie. + +At the roar of his engines, magnified in the night silences, peasants +turned over and went to sleep again. It was their lord or one of his +exalted guests who passed. Sometimes one of them would hear, floating +out for a moment, the sound of his singing. + +It was a night of triumph and hope for Anthony Trent. He had succeeded +where others had failed. The hours brought him nearer to a sight of the +woman he loved and he could not put away from him the hope that +somewhere happiness and content might wait for them. + +There was not an untoward incident in his journey until he reached the +high land overlooking the harbor of Fiume. Day would break in less than +an hour. Stopping his motor he took the rain stained document from its +shelter. Pauline had not failed him. She showed her thoughtfulness by +placing sandwiches and a flask of wine in the tool box. He thought of +her with a flood of gratitude. Until this reminder he had forgotten her +very existence in the thought of the other woman. + +Trent had not come idly to Fiume with the bare hope of being able to +make his escape. He knew that there were in port several British +destroyers that lay off a certain breakwater which he had observed on +many occasions. Tied up at this stone pier were a number of rowboats. It +would be an easy task to pull off to a destroyer and climb aboard. No +commander would deny him the privilege he sought and there was not a gun +in Fiume which dare be trained on a British or American vessel. + +It was Anthony Trent's way to look for opposition in his ventures and be +a little uneasy if he met none. So far things had gone almost too +smoothly. + +He had threaded his way through the narrow streets of Fiume without +other than a few laborers when he was suddenly halted by a policeman. +The policeman stood before the Lion and waved his sword. It was plain he +labored under stress of great excitement. Three others of his kind came +running from a side alley. It seemed to the policeman that the great +automobile made a vicious jump at him. He leapt aside with marvelous +agility as the accelerated Lion passed him on its way to the pier. + +There was just sufficient light for Trent to see the destroyer lying at +her anchorage. Everything would have been comfortably done but for the +cries of the pursuing police. + +A groom of Count Michæl's had ridden a fast horse into Agram and the +Fiume authorities were bidden apprehend a thieving chauffeur driving a +blue and silver Lion. There was so liberal a reward that the police +force was almost disorganized in contemplating it. Pursuers among +civilian laborers and sailors joined in the chase. + +Trent's heart sank to see the little cove where the boats were tied was +not empty at this early hour as he expected. There was a group of seven +or eight fishermen getting their nets ready. Their quick ears caught +sounds of the disturbance and saw that the man in the motor was to be +caught. They seized a two inch hawser and stood across the pier barring +the motor's way. Four men holding to one end and three, to another. + +Trent took the situation in at a glance. Stupidly enough the fishermen +supposed themselves to be able to stop the car of their own strength. +Had they fastened the hawser around the cleats at their side Anthony +Trent would have gone down to defeat. It was plain that he could not +carry out his plan of rowing to the destroyer with these men at his +heels. + +There was one last desperate thing to do. + +The great car responded to the accelerator and by the time it had +reached the men holding the rope it was going at fifty miles an hour +over the smooth stone breakwater. Two of the men were jerked clear into +the water. They were all thrown down and one had an arm broken. +Fascinated they watched the great car racing down the pier straight to +destruction as they supposed. Then they looked, horrified, as it seemed +to hurl itself from the jetty, hurtle through the air and disappear in a +tomb of foam. + +When police and fishermen strained their eyes and could see no trace of +the chauffeur they naturally assumed he had been caught in the car. + +"He has killed himself!" the sergeant cried. + +"He was mad!" said another. + +Anthony Trent had no difficulty in freeing himself from the sinking +Lion. It was his wish to swim under water as far as possible and so +elude those who watched for him in the faint light. + +There was a strong current running and the destroyer lay a couple of +cable lengths distant. It was a hard swim, clothes encumbered as he was, +and he dare not discard the garment that held the paper. There was a +despairing moment when he thought he could never make headway against +the tide which would take him back into the harbor. + +It was an astonished marine who saw the dripping exhausted man clamber +aboard and fall to the deck. + +"I must see your commander at once," Trent cried, when his breathing was +easier. + +Lieutenant Maitland awaked from his sleep was not inclined to see him. + +"What's he like and the devil is it all about?" he demanded crossly. + +"He's about knocked out," the marine answered, "and he says he won't +tell his business to anyone but you." + +Lieutenant Maitland put on a bath robe and interviewed the stranger. He +was instantly taken by the man's face and manner. He saw, too that he +was dealing with one of his own class. + +"I have important despatches for Lord Rosecarrel the Foreign Secretary +which I must get to him at once." + +"Yes?" Maitland said interrogatively. + +"I want you to take them and me," Anthony Trent said. + +"I'm afraid that's impossible," said the officer. "You see that is a +little out of my beat. Even if your papers were for the First Lord of +the Admiralty I could not proceed to a home port without instructions. +I am bound for Malta and weigh anchor in a little while." + +Anthony Trent was silent for a moment. He knew that private matters +concerning Lord Rosecarrel and his son had nothing to do with the +government directly. He knew, too, that to commandeer a destroyer for a +private errand was inadmissable. But he was determined to get back and +had no appetite for Fiume. There was a trump card which he had yet to +play. + +"Why does a squadron of destroyers stay so long in Fiume?" he asked. + +"Admiralty orders," Lieutenant Maitland said briefly. + +"They are here because trouble may break out at any moment. The +information I carry is necessary for the interests of your country and +my own. I'm an American as I supposed you guessed. You will be thanked +by the prime minister for taking me and my information back." + +"Why not cable it?" Maitland suggested, "I'll wireless it for you in +code." + +"I dare not trust it," Trent said emphatically, "and they wouldn't +believe it anyhow. Mine is a preposterous story but it's one that your +government needs to know. Can't Malta get on without you a little? It +won't take long. You fellows travel at forty miles an hour." + +"Who is to judge of the importance of the information?" Maitland +demanded, "I have to think of that. If you are spoofing me I run the +certainty of court martial. Really I think I must beg you to be +decently careful in asking this of me." + +"That's only fair," Trent agreed. "Does the name of William, Prince of +Misselbach, mean anything to you?" + +"Only that I went to his funeral when he escaped from that island prison +of his and was drowned. I was on the port guard ship at the time. I +understand the allied powers breathed a sigh of relief that he had +chosen to drown himself." + +Anthony Trent pointed to a group of boats at the end of the pier from +which he had taken his leap. They were growing distinct in the light. + +"Those fellows," said Anthony Trent, accepting one of the officer's +cigarettes, "are grappling for my body. They believe I'm dead. Drowned +as deep as ever Prince William of Misselbach ever was. You have just as +much right to think the prince dead. I've seen him. I know where he's +been staying since his escape and I know who is behind the plot to put +him on the throne of Hungary. Now, Lieutenant, do we steam back to +England or shall I cable it?" + +"I'll take a chance and slip back to Portsmouth. What you need is a hot +bath and some hotter coffee. By the time you've fed and got into some of +my togs we shall be on our way back to fame or court martial." + +The lieutenant grinned cheerfully. He was still a boy for all the stern +years he had witnessed disaster by sea and land. Also he liked Trent. +It was rather a lark, he thought. + +"By the way," said Trent suddenly, "if they wig-wagged you from shore +that you were harbouring a man supposed to have stolen a Lion automobile +from Count Michæl Temesvar the man who is at the bottom of the plot +would you feel bound to deliver him up to justice? I ask because I think +some sort of police are on the way here now." + +"My dear man," said Lieutenant Maitland, "you have the good fortune to +be aboard the fastest destroyer on God's wide waters. Also steam is up +and we shall have started before the harbour authorities can get aboard. +If they can overhaul my old dear you may ask me that question again." + + * * * * * + +When it was certain that Trent had made good his escape the black rage +that took hold of Count Michæl plunged his household into a distress +that showed itself on every troubled face except that of Pauline. + +She was not easily able to conceal her joy in Anthony Trent's good +fortune. The prophecy of the gipsy that he would escape was fulfilled. + +She knew that rage must be eating at the count's heart, a rage compared +with which all his other frenzied outbursts were as nothing. As a rule +he made Pauline his _confidante_, desiring only that she approve of his +behaviour. Twice she had tried to get Hentzi aside and learn what news, +if any, had come of the masquerader. Hentzi sullenly turned away from +her. She supposed he had been so upset over his master's temper that he +was nursing a grievance himself. + +She was in her room that night, about to take a gorgeous necklace from +her firm white throat, when there was a knock upon the door. + +"It is Mr. Hentzi," said her maid. + +"Tell him I will not see him," Pauline yawned. + +"He has an important message from Count Michæl," said the girl. + +"Which will wait until tomorrow," Pauline said lazily. + +Hentzi's voice made itself heard through the partly opened door. + +"I must beg you madame, to come at once. It is imperative. The count +must have your advice on matters of importance." + +Pauline decided to go. After the silence of the day the count would tell +her everything, and she was anxious to be reassured of Anthony Trent's +safety. + +"Where are you taking me?" she demanded as Hentzi guided her past the +big room where Trent had been arraigned, the room from which he had made +his escape. + +"His Excellency cannot remain in a room with an entire window torn out. +It would but be to invite a flock of bats to enter." + +Pauline climbed two little flights of steps which led to the topmost +floor of the castle. + +"I have never been here before," she commented. + +"Few strangers have," he said, locking it behind her. + +"Strangers!" she repeated, "since when have I been a stranger?" + +She found nothing strange in his silence. Hentzi was constantly a prey +to the fear he might by some over zealous action provoke the wrath of +the man he served. Probably he had not heard her question. + +She found Count Michæl in a big bare room, octagonal in shape and knew +it must be the tower which stood out boldly on the western corner of the +castle. + +"Why bring me here?" she said petulantly. + +She had no fear of the man who ruled his people as an autocrat. It is +not in the nature of such women as Pauline to eliminate a certain +feeling of contempt for the power of men whom they can sway by whim and +artifice. Michæl, Count Temesvar, was terrible to such as he hated, and +a political force of sinister strength, but to the green eyed woman who +looked at him mockingly he was one of the weak and pliable pawns on +life's board. + +"Sit down," he said suavely. There was no sudden look of affection as he +gazed at her. He spoke, she reflected, very much as he had done to +Anthony Trent. But the ex-chauffeur had been a prisoner. She looked +about her and saw that this was almost a prison. + +"About this Alfred Anthony," he began. "I am told, although I do not +believe it, that you were much concerned for his safety." + +"Who told you that?" she demanded. + +"What matters that? It is untrue?" + +"Naturally," she answered, trying to fathom what lay behind his smiling +face. + +"Tell me this Pauline," he said leaning forward, "when the Sissek woman +informed us that he had escaped I thought I heard you say 'Thank God.' +Why did you thank God when my enemy escaped?" + +Pauline was not so easily to be trapped. She remembered breathing her +prayer almost at his ear but she hoped in the excitement he had not +heard. + +"You are dreaming Michæl," she exclaimed. "Why should I say that?" + +"Another thing," the count went on. "This man would hardly have escaped +if the electric lights had not gone out." Abruptly the count turned to +Hentzi. "Tell me, did you see the engineer about this?" + +"Yes, Excellency," Hentzi assured him, "He tells me in technical terms +which I do not comprehend that sometimes the light goes off for a few +moments. It was the thunder storm or some atmospherical condition. I do +not remember." + +"Heaven seems to fight for him," Count Michæl commented. "First the +lights extinguished and then someone in this house of mine who gives him +keys and aids his escape. The garage door opens itself to him and lo, he +disappears." + +"He has an accomplice you think, Excellency?" Hentzi stammered. He was +fearful that his master had learned of his carrying the book to the +prisoner. Out of this slender fact the wrathful count might be weaving +plot enough to engulf his faithful secretary. "I assure your +Excellency," Hentzi cried, "that I am entirely loyal." + +Pauline was still not to be frightened by this changed mood of the count +and the agitation expressed on his secretary's face. She had been victor +over him in a hundred violent scenes and Pauline loved violence and the +raising of voices. + +"A curious thing," said the count meditatively, "is that the lights went +out only in my room. A well trained thunder storm Hentzi, eh?" + +"Your excellence means that someone turned them off. I was on guard at +the window as you remember." + +"I know that you were. Ferencz was at the north door, Peter at the +other. The thief could not be suspected and I was a dozen feet distant +sitting in my chair. And yet, Hentzi, when I pressed the button light +again flooded the room." + +"I suppose you are hinting that I did it?" Pauline said calmly. + +When the count smiled, it was another man looking at her, a man to whom +she was a stranger. For the first time a thrill of uneasiness took hold +of her. + +"Is hinting the right word?" Count Michæl retorted. + +"I might have done it," Pauline admitted, "I remember when I heard the +crash of the broken glass jumping up. I probably put my hand out to +steady myself and touched the knob without noticing it. How +unfortunate!" + +"Again," said the count, "I must question your right use of words. You +said 'unfortunate,' did you not?" + +"There is one other thing which has puzzled me," Count Michæl went on. +"Peter Sissek's wife thinks she saw you come back to the garage two +mornings back soon after sunrise. She was wrong?" + +"She was right," Pauline replied, "I could not sleep so I went out to +try and find the missing coat." + +"What loyal helpers surround me," the count murmured. "Before you retire +to your well earned night's rest one other question." + +"As many as you please," said Pauline, some of her burden of anxiety +lifted. "What is it?" + +"This thief knew of the presence here of certain exalted personages. He +had never been anywhere but in the kitchen quarters and his own room. No +servant of mine would have told him anything. There were many hours when +I was busy and you played golf that you could have told him. I want your +word that the information did not come from you." + +"You have it," she said lightly. "Now as that is all I shall go to my +room. This hideous place chills me." + +"Pauline," Count Michæl said sternly, "I have given you every chance to +tell the truth. You have lied. It is in your nature to lie but I thought +that one of your training would know when the time came to speak the +truth. Such an hour is at hand. The man was your lover. You helped him +to escape. That I am certain of. You have betrayed me and my cause--and +your cause too--because you are a light of love, a thing who will accept +a purchase price and then play false." + +"My poor Michæl," she said commiseratingly, "you drink too much of your +own plum brandy. Tonight you are crazy. Tomorrow I shall have you +begging for a smile from me. As it is I find you tedious. Hentzi, open +the door." + +The secretary made no move to obey her. + +She shrugged her shoulders. Neither of the men judged from her manner +the fear that began to enwrap her. + +"Yours will be a cold smile tomorrow," Count Michæl said, "and I, for +one, shall not envy it. You have betrayed me but in the end I have +triumphed. They have caught him Pauline. They are bringing him back to +you. Do you think you will be there to aid him when he is my prisoner +again?" + +If Count Michæl wished for tribute to his victory it was his now. + +The confidence left her face. She was white and smileless. The courage +and bold carriage of her splendid body seemed taken from her. She leaned +heavily on the bare table. Hentzi, a prey always to emotion, could have +wept for her forgetting she was his master's enemy. + +To Count Michæl her attitude had the effect of whipping into white heat +his repressed and savage rage. He had tried to believe that he still +stood first in her affection. It was the vanity of the successful man +whose desire has outlived his fascination. + +No woman could be stricken to the earth by news of the capture of a man +unless he were unutterably dear to her. It was clear confession of the +victory of Lord Rosecarrel's agent. What desire for mercy had been in +the count's heart died down. There came in its place the craving for +instant and brutal revenge. + +"So you did help him?" he said in a low harsh voice. + +"Yes," she answered. "I thought I had helped him to succeed." + +"And you admit you told him of the presence here of the prince?" + +"If you like," she said wearily, "If I denied it you would not believe +me." + +"Take note of that, Hentzi," the count commanded him. "It is important, +this admission of guilt." + +Pauline hardly heard him. The shock of learning that the man she adored +had been recaptured overwhelmed her. She tried to shut out the thought +of what punishment would be meted to him now. + +"I will talk more tomorrow," she said brokenly. + +"Do you not understand that for you there will be no tomorrow?" She +could see now that the count hated her. Jealousy had swept from him all +memory of past affection. He could only think of himself as one betrayed +by the man he hated. In vain she might look for mercy here. + +"I am to be murdered?" she said looking from one to the other of the +two. + +"You are to be executed," he said. "You took your oath to support this +movement and you have betrayed it. I have given you your chance to +confess and instead you perjured yourself." He raised a service revolver +from his table. + +It was Hentzi who in this last black scene rose above his fears to plead +for her. The count waved his protests aside. The woman did not move. + +"Madame," Hentzi cried almost hysterically. "You must not believe what +his excellency tells you." + +"Silence," the count cried angrily. + +But Hentzi would not be stayed. At heart he was generous and in a dumb, +hopeless fashion he had long cherished an affection for Pauline. + +"He escaped," Hentzi continued, "We have just learned that they did not +capture him. Already he is on a fast war ship of his country far from +fear of pursuit." + +It was as though a miracle had happened. + +The color came again into Pauline's cheeks and the drooping, broken +figure grew tall, erect and commanding. + +"So you lied to me, Michæl," she said slowly. "You were ashamed to admit +that he had beaten you. But I should not have lost my faith in him so +easily." She turned to Hentzi. "Thank you my friend. You have made me +happy." + +"Silence," the count cried. "Prepare yourself." + +"You cannot hurt me now, Michæl," she laughed. Hentzi thought she looked +like a young girl, splendid and triumphant with the wine of youth. "At +most you can take my life. As I can never have him whom I love I do not +mind. Perhaps I am a little grateful to you. Why does your hand tremble, +Michæl?" + +She held herself at this last moment with a brave insolence. Her head +was carried high and the count knew she was laughing at him for having +failed. He knew that her words were not idly spoken when she said she +would die happy because her lover had escaped. + +She stood there flouting him, jeering at him, this woman through whose +actions his own safety was imperilled, the woman whose fascination had +so long enthralled him. And he realized that although it would be his +hands which would strike her to the dust yet she would be the victor. + +Untrembling she looked into the black mouth of the revolver. + +"Why do your hands shake?" she repeated. "Are you afraid he will come +back and rescue me?" + +Hentzi covered his eyes as the spurt of flame jumped at her. It was his +shriek which rang out. Pauline met her death, triumphant, smiling, +unafraid. + + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN + +_THE CABINET MEETING_ + + +A fast destroyer is a wet and uncomfortable craft but Anthony Trent had +never enjoyed a voyage so much. Life in Castle Radna had been a greater +strain than he knew. He felt the need for relaxation. The trout stream +called him, the golf links tempted him. He felt very much as he had done +years before at Dartmouth when the rigors of the training period were +finished with. He was safe. He was free; and he was speeding northward +ho with the paper in his pocket which had seemed impossible of +attainment. + +"I dare not run into Portsmouth," Maitland confided in him, "as I'd have +to report to the Admiral commanding and this news of yours is not for +his ears yet." + +"Can't you get nearer London than Portsmouth?" Trent asked. + +"We're headed for Sheerness at the mouth of the Thames. I can lie +quietly off Canvey Island and then train it to town. Later on when my +irregular proceedings are dilated upon I can get the First Lord of the +Admiralty to back me up. By the way," he said later, "Do you know the +Grenvils well?" + +"Very well," Anthony Trent answered, "Why?" + +"Then you probably know Rudolph Castoon. One of my sisters who knows +Lady Daphne says an engagement is rumoured between them." + +"Nothing to it," Anthony Trent said confidently. "She doesn't even like +him as a friend. Does your sister know her well?" + +"Next door neighbours in Cornwall," Maitland answered. "She married Lord +Polruan." + +So it was Maitland's sister who had dubbed him an American adventurer +and indirectly warned the earl against the danger of having him on such +intimate terms! And this unassuming young naval officer was of course a +son of an earl, and would rightly be described as the Honourable +Willoughby Maitland. Anthony Trent smiled. He could not help thinking +how gratified his old housekeeper in Kennebago would be to think he +moved in such company. + +The two men reached Liverpool Street station at ten o'clock at night and +taxied westward to Lord Rosecarrel's town house in Grosvenor Place. + +The butler, that stern functionary who disapproved of democracy and the +ambitions of the new rich, beamed a welcome when he beheld Anthony +Trent. In a sense he felt the young American was one of the family. His +greeting to Trent's friend as the son of an earl was respectful, but to +Anthony he vouchsafed especial courtesy. It was very grateful to the +wanderer. It was like coming home to a man who has no abiding place. + +"His Lordship is attending a cabinet meeting," he said. "Her Ladyship +is at an Albert Hall concert and Mr. Arthur is out of town." + +It was plain from his manner that he expected Anthony Trent to make his +quarters in the Rosecarrel town house. + +"I must see his lordship instantly," Trent said. "Tell one of your men +to whistle for a taxi." + +"You seem to be very popular with old Barlow," Maitland said. + +"I have spent the happiest hours of my life at Rosecarrel Castle," +Anthony Trent said, Maitland thought with some little reserve. + +At Downing Street the prime minister's butler could not conceive of such +a thing as an interrupted cabinet meeting. + +"It is business of state," Anthony Trent said loftily. "If you feel you +have a right to dictate terms very well. But," he continued +impressively, "I will promise you one thing. From tomorrow on, you will +buttle for someone else." + +It happened that the cabinet meeting, which had to do with domestic +finance, was already ended. + +The prime minister glanced at the card sent in, and turned to the +private secretary of the Earl of Rosecarrel who had just entered the +room. + +"That splendid young man Willoughby Maitland who did so well at +Zeebrugge is demanding an audience. I am rather tired. Do you mind +seeing if it is of importance?" + +"Certainly not, sir," said Colonel Langley. + +He stopped short when he saw who accompanied the naval officer, and +learned that it was Anthony Trent who had business with the premier. + +"The last time I saw you," he said stiffly, "was under circumstances +which give you no right to expect me to plead your cause." + +"That may be," Trent said equably, "but I am here not to converse with +you but your superiors. By the way who is prime minister now?" + +"Llewellyn Morgan," Maitland said. "His third term." + +It was Llewellyn Morgan Trent had met in Cornwall. Things looked +brighter. "The premier knows me," he said to Colonel Langley, "and you +are no doubt aware I am privileged to call Lord Rosecarrel my friend." + +When the two reached the simply furnished room Lord Rosecarrel looked at +the American with wide open eyes. + +"My dear boy," he said affectionately, gripping both his hands. "I do +not think you can believe how glad I am to see you." + +"Isn't this the young man who had the presumption to outdrive me forty +yards every time we stepped to a tee?" + +The Right Honourable Llewellyn Morgan greeted him in so friendly a +fashion that Colonel Langley was astounded. But there was another man, +of cabinet rank, who scowled when he beheld it. Rudolph Castoon had +attained his desire. He was now Chancellor of the Exchequer. And Castoon +knew in his heart that it was because of Anthony Trent Lady Daphne +Grenvil had refused him. + +"Do I understand," he said, with a show of friendliness, "that you have +news of such importance that it justifies, shall I say breaking in upon +us here?" + +"It is for the premier to decide," Trent said. Then he looked at Colonel +Langley and took his revenge. Trent addressed the pleasant and amiable +personage who sat at the head of the table. "Have I your word for it +that this gentleman is entirely to be trusted?" + +"He is my private secretary," Lord Rosecarrel said quickly. + +"By all means let him remain," the premier decided. + +Lord Rosecarrel was vaguely disturbed. So far as he knew there was +nothing Trent could have learned at Castle Radna which justified this. +To tell the assembled members of the cabinet of his errand and its +success would spell disaster to the one who had sent him. + +"Briefly it is this," Trent began, "Prince William, of Misselbach, was +not drowned although a real corpse was buried. He is at the present time +hiding and Count Michæl Temesvar is planning to put him upon the throne +of Hungary. I have seen him with my own eyes a dozen times although he +was not aware of it. I had the luck to get a list of names of the prime +movers in it. I could not keep the paper so I memorized them and wrote +them down while on the destroyer which brought me from Fiume." + +Trent passed it across the table to the prime minister. + +"This is exceedingly important," he declared after reading it quickly. +"Mr. Trent you have performed a service to this government and your own +which entitles you to a reward of no mean character. Now have the +goodness to answer these questions." + +They were fired at him quickly and embraced a variety of subjects. It +was only because of his retentive memory and trained powers of +observation that he was able to satisfy the premier. + +"It is unfortunate," said Rudolph Castoon, "that Mr. Trent was not able +to bring us the original document. One's memory, even when one's +intentions are of the best, can play off tricks." + +He said it so obviously to discredit the American that Trent flushed and +disclosed something that he had not meant publicly to announce. + +"Do you know Baron Adolf Castoon?" he asked. + +"Naturally," Castoon answered, "One does not easily forget to know one's +eldest brother." + +"Then I have news of your eldest brother which will cause you infinite +concern," Trent said, with sympathy in his voice. "Baron Adolf is +financing this revolutionary movement. I brought him up from Fiume one +day and being assured I did not understand a word of German he was +indiscreet enough to talk about it." + +"It is a lie," Rudolph Castoon cried. "Adolf is loyal to the interests +of the Allies. His public speeches are evidence of it." + +"But I am speaking of private speeches," Trent said smiling. + +"What were you doing that you came to drive him?" + +"Acting as chauffeur," Trent replied. "I stored many interesting facts +in my brain during that four hour ride." + +"Of course," Castoon said turning to his chief, "you do not believe this +sir?" + +"I can only say that Baron Adolf's printed speeches, a copy of which you +sent me, did not interest me greatly. I am much more eager to hear what +he said in private." + +"First of all," Castoon said, "may I ask why it was this young man went +to the trouble of acting as chauffeur. It may be, of course, that it is +his profession." + +"That's interesting," Colonel Langley commented, "Why did he go there at +all?" + +"I went," said Anthony Trent, "because Lord Rosecarrel, who knows Count +Michæl and mistrusts him, asked me to go. He had an idea that I might be +useful. I went and I think I can assure him I have succeeded in what he +desired me to do." + +Lord Rosecarrel breathed a sigh of relief. So, after all, this +mysterious American had freed him from bondage. + +Mr. Llewellyn Morgan looked at his friend reproachfully. + +"And to have kept it from me," he said. + +"The credit belongs to Mr. Trent and not to me," said Lord Rosecarrel. +"To give merely a hint and have it followed to successful conclusion by +another is not the lot of many. For my part I can never cease to feel +under obligation to him." + +"What we have heard," said the premier, "is under the seal of the most +absolute secrecy." He turned to Castoon. "I am sorry for the news you +have heard but it was not a matter of surprise to me. I have long heard +unpleasing rumours as to the baron's sympathies. You understand that he +must not be apprised in any way of this?" + +"Certainly sir," Castoon returned stiffly. "I can hardly see the +necessity of reminding me of it." + +When the meeting had broken up Anthony Trent was amazed to see Colonel +Langley's outstretched hand. + +"I must apologize," he said frankly, "I did not know that you were +working for my chief or that he regarded you so highly. You shoot I +suppose?" + +"Crazy over it," Anthony Trent admitted. + +"I wish you would be one of the guns next September the first. My place +is at Dereham Old Hall in Norfolk. You have never been to that part of +the world I imagine?" + +Anthony Trent looked at the tall colonel and understood. + +"Never," he said, "but I shall be delighted to come." + + * * * * * + +Maitland remained after the others left. It was necessary that the +premier should endorse his conduct with his own chief. British +destroyers are not designed as passenger boats. + +"Of course you are going to make your headquarters with us?" Lord +Rosecarrel said and pointed to his waiting limousine. + +"I think not," Trent returned. He had not forgotten that when he planned +to go to Castle Radna he gave his word that he would seek no reward. To +go back to Grosvenor Place would seem as though he had forgotten this. + +"But I insist," the earl said. + +"You are asking me to put myself in torment," he returned. + +"Fiddlesticks!" the other cried, "How youth exaggerates." + +Anthony Trent felt it was weak of him but he climbed into the car. The +thought of seeing Daphne again was intoxicating. He was grateful that +there was silence during the five minute ride. + +The butler informed his master that Lady Daphne had come in and was now +in bed. + +"Did she know I was here?" Trent asked him. + +"No, sir," said the man, "I did not see her ladyship." + +The earl pushed a silver cigarette box over the table of his library. + +"I don't want to talk of politics," he said, "until tomorrow." + +"Nor I," Trent answered and passed the draft of the treaty to the other. + +The earl held it in his fingers until the flame reached them. The paper +was now ashes and a memory. + +"Anthony Trent," said the earl, "No matter what you have done or what +things have conspired to make your life unfortunate, you are a +chivalrous gentleman. Let me smoke in silence for a little. My heart is +too full for speech." + +"Now," he said later, "Let me tell you about Arthur. He is splendid. He +is my own lad again. The years that the locusts have eaten are still +blotted from him. He has confidence in himself. He is marrying one of +the dearest of girls next month. You are back in time. It is no secret +that you are to be his best man." + +"That's good news indeed," Trent said heartily. + +"It has made me very happy," the earl said slowly, "and incidentally +made me examine my conduct rather more severely than I had ever thought +of doing." + +"I'm afraid I don't see what you mean sir," the younger man said during +the long pause. + +"I will tell you. Here was the girl. Young, beautiful, of a great +family. She had everything to offer and my son loved her. Here was the +problem. Had I the right to let her marry him when there lay behind him +those misspent years? I wondered whether I was not bound to tell her +father of what he had done. It was true he was not responsible but +nevertheless he had done them. In the end I persuaded myself that where +love existed as it did between my son and the woman he is to marry, +pasts counted for little." + +Anthony Trent looked at him for a long time in silence. + +"Had you any especial reason for telling me this?" he asked. + +Lord Rosecarrel smiled. + +"I am tired and must sleep," he said, "and my wits may be +wool-gathering; but you know me well enough, I hope, to be sure that I +have my reasons for making confidences." + +"I am afraid to say what I think," stammered Anthony Trent. + +"Then put it off until tomorrow," the earl laughed, "Go and sleep, my +dear boy, even though it may be in torment. We breakfast rather later +here than in the country. I don't suppose Daphne will be down until ten. +We keep such late hours." + + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN + +_ANTHONY THE TRIUMPHANT_ + + +The butler tapped upon Trent's door before nine next morning. + +"I've just taken a telephone message for you, Mr. Anthony, very +important if I may judge." + +"Come in and tell me about it," the American said. He could not imagine +who knew his whereabouts. It must be Maitland, he supposed, who had +promised to see him before he joined his destroyer again if it were +possible. + +"It's from the American Embassy," the butler informed him. + +"What?" Trent demanded. "Are you sure?" + +The American Embassy! What had he to do with that? Once behind the doors +he was on American soil and subject to her jurisdiction. + +"It was a message saying that the ambassador must see you at once. I +took the liberty of saying I thought you could get there by half past +nine. A motor will be waiting when you have dressed." + +Anthony Trent sat on the edge of his bed and saw all his high hopes +dashed to earth. Someone must have told the ambassador of this young +fellow countryman of his who was on intimate terms with a cabinet +minister. And the ambassador with the aid of his intelligence +department must have run him to earth. + +For a moment he wondered whether it would not be wiser to make a run for +it. Maitland now assured of his _bona fides_ would not hesitate to take +him with him and land him at some lonely spot on the Italian coast by +night. He had money and his wits. It would be beginning life over again +but it would be better than disgrace here in London. + +Then his fighting side asserted itself. He would not be frightened into +flight before he was convinced flight was necessary. + +There was another visitor in the American ambassador's waiting room, a +man of middle age who smoked an excellent cigar. He turned as Trent +entered. + +"Morning," said Trent morosely. He was annoyed to find that he had to +speak. It was the publisher of a chain of magazines for one of which +Trent used to write when engaged in the manufacture of light fiction. He +had often smoked one of the millionaire's celebrated cigars. + +"Good morning," said the publisher graciously. "It's a long time since I +saw you." + +"The ambassador keeps extraordinary hours," Trent commented. + +"He's a business man," the other explained, "Not bred to the old time +diplomacy, just a plain, business man." + +"What have you done that he sent for you?" + +"You don't seem to understand," the publisher said mildly. + +"I only understand," Trent said, still irritably, "that I'm being kept +waiting. He was to see me at nine thirty and it's now twenty minutes to +breakfast." + +"He was on the minute," the other laughed, "Where have you been not to +know I'm the ambassador?" + +"You!" said Trent in amazement. + +"And I'm making a damned good one," the diplomat said, "even if I do get +up hours before the rest of 'em." + +"What am I here for?" Trent demanded. + +"Congratulations mainly," said the ambassador. "I was waked out of sleep +at after midnight by the prime minister. He wanted to know if I had +heard of an American called Anthony Trent. I said 'Sure. He used to +write for me. Anthony Trent is all right.' The way these Londoners keep +up half the night is something shocking." + +"I still don't see why you've sent for me, Mr. Hill." + +"I'll explain," said the ambassador. His manner was serious, so serious +indeed that Anthony Trent was infinitely perturbed. "You may not know it +but you've rendered your country a considerable service. Over here in +the Birthday or New Year honours list you'll find decorations awarded +men the public knows nothing about. Trent, sometimes they are given for +work like you have done. We don't give orders or decorations or grants +of money. If we did you'd have one coming to you. What you've done won't +even come before Congress. You'll be a mute inglorious Milton, but--if +the day comes when you need help, if you should ever be in a tight +place, remember you've got something to trade with. I'm not going to +mention this again but you bear it in mind." + +"I certainly will," Trent said gratefully. Then he spoke a little +hesitatingly. "Be frank with me, Mr. Hill. I ask this as a personal +favor. Had you anything at the back of your mind when you spoke about my +being in a tight place or needing help?" + +"No," the ambassador said after a mental reaction which could be +measured in seconds. "But you've made enemies here. Some of 'em have +sent in asking what you do for your livelihood. Of course I remembered +that Australian uncle. He certainly must have cut up rich." + +"He did," Anthony Trent said sombrely. He had invented an Australian +uncle years before to account for possession of the large sums of money +his professional work netted him. Oddly enough the memory gave him +little pleasure now. + +"I was able to assure the inquisitive," the diplomat declared, "that I +had known you for years." + +Enemies! Castoon perhaps, who hated him on sight, and possibly the +Colonel Langley who was now his friend. What others unknown to him might +there not be! And there was Lady Polruan sister of Willoughby Maitland. +She probably would be influenced by her favorite brother and receive +him on a friendly footing if they met again. These people he knew. But +it was the unknowns who bothered him. + +"Was Rudolph Castoon one of them?" he inquired. + +"The Chancellor of the Exchequer?" Hill laughed. "My boy you have +certainly got right into the top-hole set here. The inquisitive ones +were your own countryfolk who were jealous that a man not even in the +Social Register got in on intimate terms with the great families. Maybe +they wanted to get your formula. Nothing serious. I've got a busy +morning. Lunch with me at one tomorrow?" + +"Gladly," Anthony Trent returned, his manner brighter. Never had he +shaken hands so heartily with his old publisher. + +"It's done me good to see you," he exclaimed. + + * * * * * + +The friendly butler informed Trent in confidence that Lady Daphne was +not yet down. His lordship was already riding in the Row. + +"Her ladyship has not been informed of your arrival," said the butler. +"She is expected down in a few minutes. I have ordered kidneys and bacon +_en brochette_ for you, sir." + +"This feels like being really at home," the American said. "I have +wanted that for breakfast every morning I've been away and never once +had the luck to get it." + +Below stairs the butler informed the housekeeper, who later retailed it +to maids, that Mr. Anthony seemed very nervous. A footman openly +rejoiced when he overheard the butler's conversation with the +housekeeper that his duties would enable him to witness the meeting of +his mistress and the American. + +"There will be nobody in the breakfast room when her ladyship enters but +Mr. Anthony," his superior said firmly. "Haven't you got any romance in +you, Simpkins?" + +"Yes," answered the footman simply, "that's why I want to see them." + +Anthony Trent was sitting in a big winged chair by the fire when Daphne +entered. She walked to the table and picked up some letters without +seeing him. At every mail she expected to hear from him and now was +another of these continual disappointments. Invitations, letters from +friends and relatives, but never a one from the man she loved. + +Watching her Anthony Trent was a victim to many emotions. The rumor +which he had confidently disputed that she was engaged to Rudolph +Castoon now assumed a guise of probability. Why not? He had left her +expecting never to see her again. He had convinced her of the +unsurmountable barrier between them, a barrier which still existed. What +a fool he had been to twist the earl's statement about Arthur into +something that spelled hope when none was intended. + +That he was here was due to the feeling on Lord Rosecarrel's part that +he deserved courtesy at the hands of the Grenvils. Before leaving for +Croatia he had assured the elder man that he would not claim a reward. +And here he was within a few feet of Daphne. What he should have done +was to call and greet her in a friendly fashion, a fashion which would +have told her that he realized there could no longer be any pretence of +intimacy between them. Instead he was hiding in a deep chair and must +presently disclose himself. + +He noticed anxiously that she was looking frail and tired. There was a +sadness on her face which he had not seen there before. It was, he +decided, a hopelessness, a lack of the vivacity which had always +distinguished her. + +It was when the butler had decided time enough had elapsed for greeting +that Simpkins was allowed to bear in silver dishes of food. + +It was the footman's entrance which made the girl look up from her +unopened collection of letters. She did not see Simpkins. She saw only +the man in the chair, the tall, slim man who rose almost awkwardly when +he met her wide-open eyes. + +Ordinarily self possessed, never at a loss for a word or embarrassed, +Anthony Trent stood there dumb and looked at her. + +"Oh Tony, Tony!" she cried. + +Immensely gratified, Simpkins beheld the American gather her to him. +Honest Simpkins had tears in his eyes. He went from the room blindly, +his mission unaccomplished. He had seen Love so near to him that he was +dazzled. + +It was in Daphne's own sitting room facing St. James' Park that they +were able to talk coherently. "Why do you suddenly look so grave on this +morning of all mornings in my life?" she asked tenderly. + +"Darling," he said, "I can't keep on living in this doubt any longer. +You know what I said in Cornwall?" + +"That's so long ago. I forget. Exactly what did my wise Tony say? I only +remember that he said he loved me." + +"I shall always say that," he said softly. "Daphne, I must not go on +deluding myself any longer. I ought not to have seen you. It was only +because your father was courteous and I was weak that I came." + +"You have seen father?" she cried. + +"Last night," he told her. "I was with him for an hour. He was very +kind." + +"Did he tell you about Arthur?" + +"He said he was going to be married." + +She looked at her Tony with a smile he could not understand. There was +certainty in it content, assurance. It was as though there were no +barriers that kept him from her. + +"My wise Tony," she said, "there is much for you to learn. Let us leave +Grosvenor Place and go to Australia in the first place." + +"Australia?" he cried uneasily. For the second time within a few hours +the island continent had arisen to confound him. + +"Yes, Australia," she said. "You remember that my father bought a place +there for Arthur?" + +He had often heard of it. It was a magnificent property of a hundred +thousand acres. Great flocks of sheep and cattle grazed on it and there +were hundreds of horses. There were lakes on it where the rainbow trout +grew to fifteen pounds in weight. He had seen photographs of the big +house with its tennis courts, its outside swimming pool, its walled +gardens. It was administered, he knew, by intelligent superintendents +and capable of even greater development. + +"A wonderful place," he said. "Yes, I remember. Your father wanted to +sell it." + +"He has given it away instead." + +"Given away a place like that?" + +"Perhaps I ought not to say given away," she smiled. "He has given it in +exchange for what business people call collateral. He has given it to +you, Tony, subject to certain conditions." + +"Me?" he cried, "Oh no! Impossible. I couldn't take it." + +"But you haven't even heard the conditions," she said. "I go with it. It +must be kept in the family." + +Anthony Trent had a vision of the future. He saw himself a clean man +again, a man with hard work before him and great responsibilities. He +remembered his country's ambassador and the cryptic utterances which +might mean so much. The new life in the new country where none knew him. +The realization of those dreams of children who need never be ashamed of +their parentage. And all this was offered him. + +Daphne looking at him saw that the eyes which she had sometimes thought +were hard were softened now. None but she had ever seen tears in the +eyes of Anthony Trent who had once been the Master Criminal. + +"Oh Daphne," he said brokenly. "Daphne." + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Secret of the Silver Car, by Wyndham Martyn + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40372 *** |