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diff --git a/40897-8.txt b/40897-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8d9b9f7..0000000 --- a/40897-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7116 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Burglars' Club, by Henry A. Hering - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Burglars' Club - A Romance in Twelve Chronicles - -Author: Henry A. Hering - -Illustrator: F. H. Townsend - -Release Date: September 30, 2012 [EBook #40897] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BURGLARS' CLUB *** - - - - -Produced by Emmy, Chuck Greif, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive. With gratitude to L.W. Curry, Inc. for -their gracious permission to use their image of the cover -of this edition.) - - - - - - - - - - - -THE BURGLARS' CLUB - - - - -[Illustration: "'MAY I ASK WHAT YOU EXPECT TO FIND HERE?'" - -(_p. 4._)] - - - - - -THE BURGLARS' CLUB - -A ROMANCE IN TWELVE CHRONICLES - - -BY HENRY A. HERING - - - _WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS - BY F. H. TOWNSEND_ - - B. W. DODGE AND COMPANY - NEW YORK - 1906 - - - - - COPYRIGHT 1905, 1906, - BY - HENRY A. HERING. - - - - -THE TWELVE CHRONICLES. - - - PAGE - I. SIR JOHN CARDER'S CIGARS 1 - II. THE BISHOP OF BISTER'S CROZIER 18 - III. THE LUCK OF THE ILLINGWORTHS 38 - IV. THE FELLMONGERS' GOBLET 63 - V. AN OUNCE OF RADIUM 87 - VI. THE BUNYAN MS. 109 - VII. THE GREAT SEAL 136 - VIII. THE LION AND THE SUN 158 - IX. THE HORSESHOE AND THE PEPPERCORN 184 - X. THE HOLBEIN MINIATURE 207 - XI. THE VICTORIA CROSS 233 - XII. THE LAST CHRONICLE 253 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - "'MAY I ASK WHAT YOU EXPECT TO FIND HERE?'" _Frontispiece_ - "MR. KASSALA HAD THEN THE PLEASURE OF INSPECTING - THE CROZIER" _Face p._ 26 - "HE SAW THE FIGURE PASS A WINDOW" 28 - "SHE HAD SHOWN HIM THE SECRET OF ITS HIDING-PLACE" 40 - "A CRY OF DESPAIR ESCAPED HIM" 50 - "'YOU ARE A THIEF'" 92 - "'I NEARLY BRUSHED AGAINST YOU'" 108 - "'HEY! BUT WHAT ABOUT THAT HOLE IN THE WINDOW?'" 134 - "'YOU MAY GO ON WITH YOUR MOST INTERESTING WORK'" 142 - "SUDDENLY HE ROSE, TOOK THE DRAFT OF THE TREATY, ETC." 174 - "INSTEAD OF THE DRAFT, THERE, ON A PURPLE VELVET - CUSHION, WAS THE GLITTERING ORDER OF THE LION - AND THE SUN" 178 - "'SOFTLY, MY LORD,' SAID CUNNINGHAM, 'I AM COVERING - YOU, YOU OBSERVE'" 192 - "THERE WAS THE UNMISTAKABLE SOUND OF AN APPROACHING - CAR" 198 - "LUCAS DROPPED IT CAREFULLY INTO THE POCKET OF HIS - NORFOLK JACKET" 218 - "HE WAS WALKING IN HIS SLEEP, CONSCIOUS OF NOTHING" 250 - "MR. MARVELL . . . THANKED THE COMPANY FOR THE GIFT, - WHICH HE WOULD TREASURE" 278 - - - - - "'HE'S one of us,' the burglar explained. 'You see, we - are men who have pretty well exhausted the pleasures - of life. We've all been in the Army or the Navy, all - of us are sportsmen, and we are bachelors; so there - isn't much excitement left for us. We've started a - Burglars' Club to help things on a bit. The entrance - fee is a town burglary, the subject to be set by our - president, and every other year each member has to - keep up his subscription by a provincial line.'" - - - - -THE BURGLARS' CLUB: - -A ROMANCE IN TWELVE CHRONICLES. - - - - -I. - -SIR JOHN CARDER'S CIGARS. - - -SIR JOHN CARDER, head of the well-known firm of Carder and Co., -merchants, of Manchester, sat in his warehouse. It was one o'clock in -the morning. Since half-past eight he had been alone in the building; -and there in his snug private office, before a cheery fire and beneath -electric light, Sir John prepared to meet what he conceived to be his -fate. - -He was insolvent. For some time past he had suspected that this was the -state of things. Now he was sure of it. The yearly balance sheet placed -in his hand the previous day by his cashier, together with sundry -figures from his own private ledger, placed the fact beyond the region -of dispute. Because he felt himself unequal to the situation, Sir John -had shut himself up in his office--and on the desk in front of him was a -loaded revolver. - -Sir John had strong antiquarian tastes. His bachelor home in Withington -was a positive museum of curiosities, from Phoenician pottery down to -files of English newspapers when the Georges were kings. In his office -he kept more personal relics of bygone times, and he was now sorting out -the drawers of a big bureau, full of them. - -He had been severely trained in method by the most orderly of fathers, -and had saved every written communication he had received since the age -of seventeen. It is therefore quite understandable why his accumulation -of letters was so large, and partially understandable how he came to -have before him four bulky parcels of them, respectively endorsed with -the names of Mary, Nell, Kitty, and Flip. The dates of these, be it at -once understood, were not contemporaneous, though a careful investigator -might have detected a little overlapping. The letters marked Flip, it -ought also to be stated, came first in point of time. - -Sir John lingered long over these bundles, and read many of the letters. -They interested him greatly, and in their perusal he almost forgot the -evening's ultimate objective. Connected with these particular letters -was a batch of photographs, on which he gazed with tender reminiscence. -Then there were other matters of more public character--a missive, for -instance, from the Prime Minister, informing him that his Majesty -intended to confer upon him the honour of knighthood, his Commission in -the Volunteers, and some I.O.U.'s from a member of the House of Lords. - -All these, and many others, Sir John threw on the desk in front, ready -for the final holocaust. With the feeling of a true collector he had not -the heart to destroy them singly. - -Then, from another drawer, he drew forth his balance sheets for twenty -years, and glanced them through with almost as much interest as he had -felt for his letters. Once, it seemed, he had been worth close on a -hundred thousand pounds. An infatuated belief in a South American -concession, followed by a succession of lean years in trading, had -frittered all this, and more, away. - -While he was gazing gloomily at these recording figures the door gently -opened, and a man stood on the threshold--a man with his coat buttoned -tightly up to the neck, with his cap brought down over his eyes, a man -with a lamp--in short, a burglar. Sir John stared at him dumbfounded. -Then he glanced at the revolver, but it was out of reach. The burglar -followed his look, and caught up the weapon. - -Now thoroughly aroused, the knight indignantly exclaimed: - -"You needn't add murder to your other crimes, my man." - -"Sir," replied the burglar, "it would grieve me to have to anticipate -your own intentions." - -Sir John was struck, as much by the melodious voice of the burglar as by -his answer. Nevertheless, in his most magisterial voice he demanded: -"What are you doing here?" - -"Watching an elderly gentleman in an interesting situation." - -"You are impertinent!" flared Sir John. - -"A thousand pardons. A burglar should, I believe, be merely brutal." - -"May I ask what you expect to find here?" continued the merchant. "We -rarely keep enough money on the premises to make it worth your while." - -"Postage stamps?" insinuated the other. - -Sir John ignored the suggestion. "Certainly not enough to make it worth -your while. It may be a matter of penal servitude for you." - -"You open up a wide philosophic question," said the burglar suavely. -"What is worth your while in this world? 'Uneasy is the head that wears -a crown.' You seem worried yourself, Sir John--going through your papers -at this time o' night, with a loaded pistol by you." - -The merchant was annoyed at the burglar's perspicacity, and he could not -think of an effective rejoinder. His visitor advanced to the bureau. The -photographs immediately engaged his attention. "Ha!" he exclaimed -approvingly. "But it really isn't fair. One, two, three, four. Greedy -man!" - -"Will you kindly leave my private matters alone?" said the incensed -knight. Then, with a sudden inspiration, he made a reckless dash for -freedom by grabbing at the telephone handle, turning briskly, and -shouting down the receiver, "Help! Thieves! Help!" But before he had -called again the burglar had raised his revolver and had severed the -connecting wire with a shot. "What an absurd idea," he said. "Why, the -operator isn't awake yet." - -Sir John sank back into his chair, feeling it was very likely that the -burglar would adopt some extremely unpleasant form of revenge for the -want of confidence he had just displayed. But his visitor did nothing of -the sort. He also seated himself, and addressed the knight in grave -reproof. - -"If that's a sample of your best business method I'm surprised you've -done so well in things," he said. Then without waiting for a reply, -"Where do you keep your cigars?" - -The merchant stretched out his hand and passed a box to him. The burglar -rolled one knowingly between his fingers, then replaced it, and gave the -box back. - -"I don't care for tenpenny whiffs, Sir John. I want your real -cigars--such as you keep for your most eminent visitors--such as you -should have offered me, as a matter of course." - -With a sigh Sir John rose, unlocked a cabinet, and produced a box marked -"TOPMANN. SUBLIMES. HABANA," which he handed to his visitor. - -The burglar examined it carefully before he expressed his satisfaction. -Then he took a cigar therefrom, inspected it with marked approval, lit -it, and then dropped the box into a capacious pocket. - -"Those are exceptionally fine cigars," the knight remarked, with a touch -of resentment in his voice. - -"I know it. I've come all the way from town to fetch 'em," the burglar -answered. - -Sir John was surprised. "It's a long way and a dangerous mission for -such an object." - -"Isn't it?" said the burglar, with provoking complacency. - -"And may I ask how you come to know of them?" asked Sir John, whose -curiosity was aroused. - -"I don't mind telling you, since I've got them safe. You opened this box -for a particular guest at the Chamber of Commerce dinner a month ago." - -"Lord Ribston?" - -"Yes; he spoke about them at the Burglars' Club. It was my turn, and -here I am--don't you see?" - -"The Burglars' Club!" exclaimed Sir John, in much surprise. "I've never -heard of such an institution. And pray what has Lord Ribston, an -ex-Cabinet Minister, to do with it?" - -"He's one of us," the burglar explained. "You see, we are men who've -pretty well exhausted the pleasures of life. We've all been in the Army -or the Navy, all of us are sportsmen, and we are bachelors; so there -isn't much excitement left for us. We've started a Burglars' Club to -help things on a bit. The entrance fee is a town burglary, the subject -to be set by our President, and every other year each member has to keep -up his subscription by a provincial line. 'Sir John Carder's prime -cigars by Wednesday,' was the item fixed for me at our club meeting last -week, and I've got 'em easy," said the burglar, with much professional -complacency. - -"You astonish me," Sir John said. "In fact, I've never heard a more -amazing thing in my life. But isn't it rather risky, telling me all -this?" - -"Not a bit. No one would believe you if you split on us, and you -wouldn't find our club if you wanted to. But you wouldn't split. A man -who smokes Topmann's Sublimes couldn't do such a thing if he tried." - -Sir John acknowledged this speech with a bow. "But I'm greatly surprised -Lord Ribston should belong to such a club," he said. "No offence to you -intended," he added hastily, feeling that his remark was hardly polite. - -"And no offence taken," said the burglar magnanimously. "Do you know, -Sir John, there are a good many things going on in town that would be -likely to astonish you a great deal more than this little club of ours -if you only knew of 'em?" Then, after a moment's pause, "As you've -helped me so nicely in this cigar business I shall be delighted to do -you a good turn. Can I be of any use to you?" - -In saying this the burglar's eyes travelled involuntarily to the pile of -papers on the desk. Sir John's did the same, and he sighed. - -"Well," he replied in an outburst of confidence that astonished himself, -"I'm in a hole." - -"I thought as much," said the other. "I've been in a good many myself in -my time, so perhaps I can help you to get out." - -The knight shook his head gloomily. "I don't think so. There's nothing -for it but a bullet." - -"Great Scott!" exclaimed the burglar. He plunged his hand into his -pocket, and produced the box of cigars. "Try one of these," he said, -offering them to Sir John. "I can recommend 'em for big occasions." - -The merchant smiled sadly, but took the consolation offered. "You see," -he explained, "it's my pay-day to-morrow. There's nine thousand pounds -in cash wanted, and I've nothing towards it." - -"Beastly awkward," said the burglar sympathetically. "I know what it -feels like. Tell 'em to call again." - -"I can't. If I don't pay I must file my petition." - -"File your banker!" exclaimed the other. "Don't you do anything rash. -There's many a man lived to regret ever dreaming of insolvency. I -suppose you've realised all your assets?" - -"Every one," said Sir John, "except things like these," and he pulled -out the I.O.U.'s from the pile of papers. - -The burglar looked at them. "Well?" he said inquiringly. "You've had -these three years. Why the blazes haven't you got your money?" - -"The Marquis of Chillingford hasn't got any money," replied the knight -sorrowfully. - -"I know he hasn't to-day, but he had yesterday, and he may have -to-morrow. Why, man, he scooped in a cool ten thou' when Tadpole won the -Derby." - -"You don't say so!" exclaimed Sir John. - -"But I do. If you will lend money to lords, why the blazes don't you -take in the sporting papers, and keep an eye on your friends? Tommy -Chillingford is far too busy a man to remember these bits of paper, but -I'm sure nothing would have pleased him more than to have paid you back -your money if you'd suggested it at the time. He's had a run of -confounded bad luck since then, but he'll bob up serenely one of these -days, and you take my tip and get in that time. What else have you in -this line?" - -The knight opened a drawer, and therefrom produced a bundle of -promissory notes and dishonoured cheques. - -"What a philanthropist you've been in your day!" said the burglar -admiringly, as he examined them. "I wish I'd known you earlier. Ah!" -and he pulled out a draft. "What's wrong with this?" - -"That's another impecunious peer," said Sir John. "He proposed me for -the Carlton," he added apologetically. - -"Then may I be impecunious," replied the burglar. "Dicky is a -millionaire in South America." - -"I've not come across his name in that light," said the merchant -dubiously. - -"He's changed it. Calls himself Thompson now. This thing is worth its -face value, and that's two thousand pounds. Why, man, you must tender it -at once for payment." - -For a moment the knight's face brightened. - -"But wait a bit," continued the burglar. "There's a six-years' limit for -presentation, isn't there? This was due March 12th, 1897, and it's -now--oh, Great Scott!--it's now March 18th, 1903! Too late by a week! -Old man, you are unlucky! Two thousand solid sovereigns missed by a -week, and you wantin' 'em all the time. It's beastly hard lines. Do have -a light." - -But Sir John was too limp to smoke. "A millionaire in South America!" he -gasped. "Why, he went out at my request to see if a concession I have -there was worth anything. He reported adversely, and I've heard nothing -about him since then." - -"What is your concession?" - -From the pile in front the knight found an imposing-looking parchment, -decorated with the signature of a President and the seal of a State. He -handed it to the burglar, who read it through carefully. Then he laid it -down. - -"Sir John Carder," he said gravely, as a judge addressing a prisoner, -"you are an unmitigated donkey. You must forgive the insult, but really -the provocation is simply awful. I've lived in the Argentine, and if -this concession of yours isn't the very one Mr. Thompson is now working -for his own benefit I'm a double-dyed Dutchman." - -Sir John gazed at him open-eyed. "I can't believe you," he said. - -"Don't, if it hurts you," the burglar replied; "but I'll make a -proposal, to show you I have no doubts about it myself. If you'll have -me as equal partner with you in this concession matter, and leave me to -manage it my own way, I'll take over your pay-day to-morrow, and be -jolly well pleased with the bargain." - -"You'll meet my payments to-morrow!" gasped Sir John, who for some -little time had been wondering whether he were awake or asleep, or in a -post-mortem delirium consequent on a revolver shot. "You'll meet my -payments!" - -Once more the burglar pulled out the cigar box. "Do have another," he -said persuasively. - -Sir John took one mechanically, but after trying in vain to light it he -put it down. - -"Oh, Dicky Thompson," soliloquised the burglar, "this explains a good -deal. We all marvelled at your luck, for we knew you didn't deserve it. -You once sold me a spavined mare. If this isn't retribution I don't know -what is. Now, Carder, let's get to bed. You must give me a shakedown -somewhere. We've to be very spry and early to-morrow. There's our -partnership to fix up first thing, and I've to show these cigars at the -Burglars' Club in the evening, and on Saturday I sail for South America -with this precious document and a sharp legal practitioner. And I'll -take your revolver with me in case the lawyer gets hoarse. Oh, I was -forgetting. A telegram form, please. Where do you bank? County and -City. Right. It's nine thousand you want, isn't it? Right again." The -burglar filled up the form, counted his words, took the necessary stamps -from his pocket book, and affixed them. "Now, we'll just drop this in -the first pillar-box we meet, and by the time we've signed our -partnership there'll be enough at the County and City to meet your -payments." - -Sir John looked at him admiringly. "Are there many as smart as you at -the Burglars' Club?" he asked. - -"Smarter," said the burglar modestly. "I'm about the clumsiest of the -lot. Some day I'll tell you how Ribston stole the Bishop of Bister's -crozier, and then you'll know why he is generally all there in the -House. But come along now. All right; you close up and put the lights -out. I'll take a short cut, and be waiting outside." - -It was fully five minutes before Sir John had locked up his papers and -had put on his coat. As he emerged from his warehouse door he was -promptly collared by a policeman, while another seized him firmly from -behind. A third was in possession of the handcuffed burglar, and an -inspector stood by with a box of cigars under his arm. - -"Pore old pard!" said the burglar, with ostentatious sympathy. "They've -nabbed us both at larst." - -"Now come along quietly, will you?" said the first policeman to the -struggling knight. - -"Leave go!" shouted his indignant charge. "I'm Sir John Carder." - -The policeman laughed derisively, but something in the voice made the -inspector flash his light on him. - -"Sir John it is," he gasped. - -The policemen released their hold, and gazed ruefully at their late -prisoner. - -"What do you mean by this, Markham?" demanded Sir John. - -"Very sorry, sir. Hope you'll overlook it. We caught this chap -red-handed, and he said he was working the job with a pal who was -tidying things up a bit." - -"Well, he was quite right. He is a friend of mine." - -The inspector was more astonished than ever. "He came through one of the -packing-room windows, Sir John," he expostulated, "and he had a boxful -of cigars in his pocket." - -"Not full, inspector," said the burglar, sadly. "I told you my friend -would explain matters, but you wouldn't listen." - -"Release him," said Sir John. - -The inspector unlocked the handcuffs, saluted stiffly, turned his men -round, and was marching off with them, when the burglar called out, "My -cigars, please." - -The inspector came back, handed the box over, saluted even more stiffly -than before, and retired. - -Sir John and the burglar watched the retreating escort out of sight. - -"It's been a narrow squeak for both of us to-night," said the burglar -reflectively. - -"It has," replied Sir John. - -Then they turned the corner together. - - - - -II. - -THE BISHOP OF BISTER'S CROZIER. - - -THE Bishop of Bister's dinner hour was eight o'clock. With unfailing -regularity, when at the palace, he entered the drawing-room at 7.58 in -order to collect his family and any guests. His annoyance may therefore -be understood when at 7.55 on the night in question a servant brought -him a card on which was written: - -"Georgiowitch Kassala, Mush, L. Van, Khurd., craves audience." - -"The gentleman is in the examination room, my lord," the servant added. - -"A very awkward time for calling," said the Bishop, consulting his watch -unnecessarily. Then, with a sigh, "Ask your mistress to keep dinner back -ten minutes." - -His lordship ambled to the examination room. A big man in a loose blue -cassock-like garb rose at his entrance--a big-limbed, red-bearded man, -with enormous eyebrows. He rose, bowed low, and sank on his knees, -caught hold of the prelate's hand, caressed it gently, and finally -kissed it. The Bishop was embarrassed. He preferred that sort of thing -to be done before an audience, when he would play his part with the best -of them, but with no spectators at all he felt uncomfortable. - -"Rise," he said gently. - -The red-bearded man obeyed. "I am--" he began. "I have come--ah, perhaps -I had better show you my papers. I have a letter from my Patriarch." -This in excellent English, with just a trace of a foreign accent. - -From his capacious pocket he drew out a bundle of papers. He abstracted -a letter therefrom, and handed it with evident pride to the Bishop. - -It was apparently Greek, yet it was not the language his lordship of -Bister had learnt at school and college. Here and there he saw a word he -almost knew, yet the next one to it was a perfect stranger. He glanced -at the end. There was a big seal, an extraordinary date, an impossible -name. - -His visitor seemed to appreciate the position. "Our Patriarch is old," -he said. "He is no longer facile to read. I sometimes have difficulty -myself, though I know his writing well. May I read it to you?" - -He did this with great fluency and emphasis; but the Bishop understood -nothing, though occasionally he thought he caught the sound of a -fleeting particle. - -The letter was finished. "And this," said the reader, producing a blue -document, "is more earthy." It was, being from Scotland Yard, informing -all and sundry that the bearer, Georgiowitch Kassala, a Christian -priest, was authorised to collect subscriptions for the church of Saint -Barnabas at Mush, in Khurdistan. - -"Ah!" said the Bishop, with perhaps a shade of disappointment in his -voice. "I hope you have been successful." - -"Your Grace, I have travelled far, and not without recompense. To all I -have said, 'If you give me money it is well, but if you do not it is -still well.' Some have replied, 'Then we'll leave it at that,' but many -have responded. See--here is my subscription book. I have begged from -Batoum to Bister. I have received money in fifteen different coinages, -of which the English is the finest and difficultest. Perhaps my most -interesting contribution is this--see, a kopeck from Lassitudino -Hospidar, the heathen cook of a Bulgarian wind-jammer, in memory of his -maternal uncle, who died from the bite of a mad dog at Varna. And now, -being in Bister, I thought, although it is late, I will at once call -upon his Grace the Bishop, whose fame has reached our little town of -Mush, whose name is known by the deep waters of Van." - -His lordship sighed. The west end of his cathedral was sinking below the -surface. At the present rate of subsidence the Dean had calculated that -only the gargoyles would be above ground in the year 3000. This had to -be stopped. There was a matter of underpinning for a start, but it costs -money to underpin the west end of a cathedral. And all the while the -usual subscription lists had to be headed from the Palace, and there was -more than the usual depression in agriculture. The Bishop felt that it -was a singularly inappropriate moment to contribute to a church in -Khurdistan, yet it would not do to discount his own fair fame in that -far distant land. He must think the matter over. Meantime he would offer -his guest such hospitality as would compensate for the smallness of his -contribution. - -"My friend," he said, "your Patriarch shall not appeal to me in vain, -although, as you may well believe, I have many calls upon my purse. But -we will speak again of this. You will, of course, spend the night under -my roof, and now, if you will join us at dinner I shall be very -pleased." - -The priest's face broke into smiles. "You are most kind," he replied. "I -shall be glad." Then he glanced doubtfully from the Bishop's evening -dress to his own raiment. - -"Tut, tut," said his lordship pleasantly. "'A wash and a brush up,' as -our saying is, and you'll be all right. Come along." - -It was 8.15 when they entered the drawing-room. "My dear," said the -Bishop appeasingly to his hungry wife, "I have brought a visitor from -Mush, in Asia Minor. Mr.--er--Kassala--Mrs. Dacre--my daughters." - -The visitor bowed low before the ladies. The Bishop thought he was going -to kneel, so restrained him with a gentle hand. "Here," he went on, "is -my chaplain, Mr. Jones, who will be greatly interested to hear of your -work at home. And this," he concluded, "is our friend, Mr. Marmaduke -Percy." - -Then they moved to the dining-room. - -At dinner Mr. Kassala conducted himself with ease, and spoke with great -fluency on many matters; so much so that Mr. Marmaduke Percy, no doubt -feeling that the Asiatic was monopolizing too much attention, asked him -somewhat abruptly where he had acquired his excellent English. - -"I had it from one of your countrymen, sir," replied Mr. Kassala -pleasantly. "He was engaged in the smuggling of aniline dyes into -Persia. Of course, I did not know his real occupation, or I should have -had nothing to do with him. He pretended to import chocolates and acid -drops and--barley-sugar, I think he called it--and such-like things; but -they were all filled with aniline colours. In return for language -lessons he got me to introduce him to the chief of the Persian frontier -Customs, whom he bribed for his purposes. He made a large fortune before -the Shah discovered that the colours of the Palace carpets were fading. -My friend, the chief of the frontier Customs, was beheaded, and three -dyers were put into plaster of Paris; but the Englishman escaped. His -name was Benjamin Watts. Do you happen to know him, sir?" - -The episcopal circle was justly shocked at this recital of their -countryman's perfidy, and Mr. Percy warmly repudiated any knowledge of -Mr. Watts. - -The Bishop found his guest profoundly interesting, and he twice made -notes in his pocket-book about Asiatic matters. The ladies left the room -regretfully. - -The chaplain, who was of an extremely bashful temperament, now put a -question that had been trembling on his tongue all the dinner hour. - -"Is not your village somewhere near Mount Ararat?" - -"Certainly. We can see its snow-capped summit quite plainly from Mush. -With a telescope we can even discern where the Ark rested after the -Flood." - -The Bishop looked at his guest reprovingly, for jokes on such matters -grieved him deeply. - -"I mean it, your Grace," said Kassala. "Surely you heard that the Ark -itself was discovered about three months ago?" - -"What?" exclaimed the Bishop and the chaplain together. "The Ark -discovered?" - -"Certainly," Kassala replied. "My venerable Patriarch had long suspected -that remnants might be found preserved in the perpetual ice, so he -sought the assistance of Professor Papineau, of Prague, who was -travelling in the East. After months of--what do you call -it?--pro--yes--prospecting--this gentleman discovered an enormous chunk -of ice bearing some resemblance in outline to the object of their -search. The only possible way to remove the ice was by blasting, and -Professor Papineau inserted a charge of dynamite. A fatal mistake was -made in the size of the charge, with the result that the whole enormous -chunk was blown to atoms. Embedded in the fragments were found what were -apparently portions of a leviathan ship, which my Patriarch and -Professor Papineau regard as being the veritable vessel built by Noah. -In no other way but by a universal deluge could it have got on Mount -Ararat. But for the mistake made in the size of the charge the structure -of the Ark might have been at any rate partially preserved. It was a -terrible misfortune, only to be compared to the destruction of the -Parthenon by the Venetians. Professor Papineau was for a long fortnight -ill in bed with remorse. He reads a paper on the whole incident at the -forthcoming Oriental Congress at Prague. - -"But perhaps I have been indiscreet. Evidently the news has not reached -your country, and the Professor may wish to be the first to give it to -the world. He might resent my telling you, and my Patriarch would be -grieved. I beg you to keep the information inviolate until you read of -Professor Papineau's paper at Prague." - -[Illustration: "MR. KASSALA HAD THEN THE PLEASURE OF INSPECTING THE -CROZIER." - -(_p. 27._)] - -The Bishop and the chaplain nodded their assent. They seemed to have no -words left in them. After breathing-space they both pulled out their -pocket-books, and made some memoranda. - -Later the conversation turned on vestments, and such matters. "Do you -know, your Grace," said Mr. Kassala, "I have heard that you are the only -bishop with a pastoral staff. Is that so?" - -"No. It's the other way about. I'm the only bishop who hasn't one. I -alone share with the archbishops the dignity of a crozier. The old -crozier of the see is now kept in our chapter house. It was too old for -use, so last year the ladies of the county presented me with a new one. -If you like, I will show it you. Mr. Jones, I wonder if you would mind -bringing my crozier from the library?" - -Five minutes later the chaplain re-appeared, bringing a long case with -him. This was duly opened, and Mr. Kassala had then the pleasure of -inspecting the crozier presented by the ladies of the county. It was of -ebony and gold, and was richly jewelled. It was a work of art well worth -the encomiums bestowed upon it by the Asiatic. - -"With your permission, your Grace," he said, "I should very much like to -make a water-colour sketch of it in order to show to my Patriarch, who -is deeply interested in such matters. He has a very fine crozier -himself. Would you allow me?" - -"By all means," said the Bishop. - -"Thank you. I will do it before breakfast in the morning. I am an early -riser. I suppose I may find it in this room?" - -The Bishop nodded, but Mr. Percy intervened. "Allow me to take care of -it over-night, Bishop. I don't think you ought to leave such a valuable -article about. There is always the possibility of burglars. I am told -there is a gang in the district just now." - -The Bishop smiled good-humouredly. "I don't think we need consider that -eventuality," he said. "But as you like. Now shall we join the ladies?" - -Perhaps Mr. Kassala was hardly as entertaining in the drawing-room as he -had previously been. He seemed a little preoccupied. At eleven the house -party retired to rest, Mr. Percy carefully carrying to his room the case -containing the crozier. - -[Illustration: "HE SAW THE FIGURE PASS A WINDOW." - -(_p. 28._)] - -The Reverend Arthur Jones, his lordship's chaplain, was a light sleeper -at best, and to-night the excitement of Mr. Kassala's visit kept him -particularly wide-awake. His thoughts were with the unhappy Professor -Papineau. He was wondering whether it would not be kind to send him a -letter of sympathy, when his attention was attracted by a noise outside -his room. He jumped out of bed and opened his door quietly. Someone was -stealthily walking along the corridor. He saw the figure pass a window, -and the moonlight fell upon Mr. Kassala. In great wonderment Mr. Jones -followed. A turn of the passage brought the Asiatic to the head of the -great staircase, and here he stopped so suddenly that the chaplain -almost ran into him. For two minutes Mr. Kassala paused in a state of -indecision. Then he advanced to a door, and gently opened it. Mr. Jones -was paralysed with horror. It was the Bishop's bedroom. What could -Mr. Kassala want there? Determined to save his beloved chief, Mr. Jones -followed. As he entered the room there was an exclamation from the -Bishop. Mr. Jones turned involuntarily. As he did so, Mr. Kassala -collided with him. The Bishop sprang out of bed, and switched on the -electric light. "Mr. Kassala!" he exclaimed. "And Mr. Jones! Pray, what -is the meaning of this?" - -"A thousand pardons, your Grace," said the Asiatic. "I have mistaken the -room. I wanted Mr. Percy." - -At this moment the next door opened, and Mr. Percy appeared. - -"What's the matter?" he asked. - -"That's what I should like to know," said the prelate. "Mr. Kassala says -he is looking for you." - -"Indeed! What for?" - -"I--er--was wondering if you had a camel-hair paint brush?" said Mr. -Kassala. - -"Well, you needn't wonder any longer. I haven't," Mr. Percy replied. - -"And what do you want, Mr. Jones?" asked the Bishop sternly. - -"Nothing, my lord, nothing," said the unhappy Jones. "I was only -following Mr. Kassala." - -"Then perhaps you'll follow him to bed," remarked the Bishop drily. "I -hope I shall have a more satisfactory explanation in the morning." - -Here, no doubt feeling that the situation was hardly in keeping with his -dignity, the Bishop closed his door. Mr. Percy did the same, while Mr. -Kassala and the shivering Jones returned to their corridor. - -Mr. Kassala seemed rather amused than otherwise at the situation, but -Mr. Jones was permeated with distress. "Cheer up," said the Asiatic, as -he turned into his room. "If you will meddle in other people's business -you're bound to suffer for it." - -There was no sleep for the unhappy chaplain that night. He was in love -with the eldest Miss Dacre, who, he had reason to believe, returned his -affection, and he had determined to see her father on the subject on the -morrow. But after the events of that night such an interview was highly -inadvisable. Yet he had acted from the best and most creditable of -motives. Only by hearsay was he acquainted with the habits and customs -of the East, but he felt sure that honest Asiatics would not be found -prowling about a palace in the midnight hours. What did Mr. Kassala -want in the Bishop's room? Was it theft or--something worse? Was this -self-styled priest the emissary of some Eastern organization bent upon -destroying the flower of the Western hierarchy? Was he a Thug? Mr. Jones -shuddered at the possibilities of the situation. - -Ha! What was that? Again a creak outside. For a moment he listened -breathlessly. Then he opened his door again. Good gracious! there was -Mr. Kassala once more slinking down the corridor. - -Hastily putting on his dressing-gown, Mr. Jones followed, with nerves -strung to their highest tension. This time the Asiatic walked with no -uncertain step. As he passed the Bishop's door the chaplain's heart gave -a bound of relief. He stopped at Mr. Percy's door, and tapped gently. -The light in the room was turned on, and the door opened by Mr. Percy -himself. Mr. Kassala entered, and the door closed noiselessly behind -him. - -For some minutes Mr. Jones stared at the door in blank amazement. Then -he turned round, and walked slowly back to his own room. In times of -great perplexity he was accustomed to look for guidance to Mr. Paley's -"Evidences." Mechanically he now took down the well-thumbed volume from -its shelf, and opened it. He sat for many hours staring at the print -without ever turning the page. - -"Where is Mr. Kassala?" were the Bishop's first words on entering the -breakfast-room the next morning. Although his lordship had betrayed no -consciousness of his existence Mr. Jones felt that the inquiry was -levelled at him. - -"I do not know, my lord," he answered. - -"John," said the Bishop to his butler, "will you inform Mr. Kassala that -breakfast is on the table?" - -In a few minutes John returned with the information that Mr. Kassala's -room was empty, that his bed had not been slept in, and that nobody had -seen him that morning. - -"This is very singular," said his lordship. Then, after a pause, "One -hardly likes to say so, but I must confess my confidence in the _bona -fides_ of Mr. Kassala has been shaken. You spoke about burglars last -night, Marmaduke, in reference to my crozier, which seemed to have a -peculiar attraction for Mr. Kassala. I hope it is safe." - -"I put the case on the top of my wardrobe last night, and it was there -five minutes ago," said Mr. Percy. - -"I wonder what his object could be in coming here, and then leaving us -in this extraordinary manner. Perhaps you can throw some light on that -very peculiar incident in the middle of the night, Mr. Jones?" - -"I heard a noise, my lord, and followed Mr. Kassala to see what he was -doing. I haven't the faintest idea why he went into your room, unless it -really was, as he said, that he had mistaken it for Mr. Percy's." - -"But what should he want with Mr. Percy?" asked Mrs. Dacre. - -"Perhaps Mr. Percy will answer that?" said the chaplain, with much -meaning in his voice. - -Mr. Percy fixed the eyeglass and looked coolly at the chaplain. "How on -earth should I know, Jones?" he said. With this oracular remark he -returned to his egg. - -The chaplain was bursting with indignation at Mr. Percy's concealment of -his midnight interview with Mr. Kassala. He longed to expose him, but -shrank from the necessity of a painful scene. - -"Mildred," said Mrs. Dacre suddenly, "let us look through the -drawing-room silver at once. I hope the equestrian statuette of your -father is safe." - -While the ladies were ticking off their household gods, Mr. Percy went -to his room to pack, and Mr. Jones followed. - -"May I have his lordship's crozier?" asked the chaplain. - -"Certainly. Here you are. But you do look unhappy, Jones! Whatever is -the matter?" - -Mr. Jones took the case without replying. "The key was in the lock last -night," he remarked. - -"Was it? Then it must have dropped out somewhere. Perhaps it's on the -floor." But it did not seem to be there, although both Mr. Percy and the -chaplain looked very carefully for it. - -"Never mind," said the former, after five minutes' fruitless search. "It -will probably turn up after I've gone. Remember, that I'll be -responsible for any damage." - -The chaplain was very pale. "Mr. Percy," he said, "I know of your -midnight interview with Mr. Kassala." - -Once more Mr. Percy fixed his monocle. "Do you, old man?" he replied. -"Then I won't be the one to get you into trouble over it. You may rely -on me. If you don't say anything, I shan't. Now good-bye. It'll take me -all my time to get my things together. My man's ill, and I'm out of -practice." - -Mr. Jones left the room more bewildered than ever. His lordship, after -leaving stringent instructions regarding Mr. Kassala, should he again -appear, went by the noon train to town with Mr. Percy. - -Mr. Jones appeared singularly distracted that day, and Miss Dacre gazed -at him with much concern. He spent the evening alone with Paley, and -about eleven o'clock, with firm determination on his face, he forced the -lock of the crozier case. His worst fears were realised. In place of the -crozier of ebony, gold, and jewels, the present of the ladies of the -county, there reposed in the purple velvet lining a common bedroom -poker! - -At that very moment the Bishop of Bister's crozier lay on the table of a -London mansion. Twelve men were gathered round it, complimenting their -host upon it. Their host, by the way, was lately his Majesty's Secretary -of State for Egypt. He was now attired in a long blue cassock-like garb, -such as Asiatic priests may wear. - -"By the burglary of the Bishop of Bister's crozier Lord Ribston's -subscription has been paid for the next two years," said one of the men, -making a cypher note in a book. - -"Hear, hear! Bravo! Good for the Ribston Pippin!" was the general -chorus. - -"Gentlemen," said the man in the priestly garb, rising to his feet -amidst applause, "I am proud once more to have been able to fulfil the -mandate of our Club. With your permission, I will now pack up the bauble -so that it may be returned by the midnight express in order to ease the -mind of a most worthy man, his lordship's chaplain. But before I do so I -wish to propose a new member--Mr. Marmaduke Percy. You will recollect -that his name was brought forward twelve months or so ago, but he was -not considered equal to the demands that are occasionally made upon the -members of this honourable fraternity. I have reason to believe that we -did Mr. Percy an injustice. Yesterday, at any rate, he saw through my -disguise, and divined my purpose. He could easily have betrayed me. But -he behaved in a sportsmanlike way, and for that reason I now propose -that he should become one of us. Major Armytage is seconding. You will -have an opportunity of voting for Mr. Percy at our next meeting. Is -there any further business before us, Mr. Secretary?" - -The Secretary consulted his book. "I note that Mr. Danby Travers' -subscription is due," he said. - -"Good old Danby! Pile it on! Make it thick enough!" was the varied cry. - -"Gentlemen," said the Secretary, "we meet on Tuesday next, and Mr. Danby -Travers will then be asked for the Black Pearl of Agni, the property of -the Illingworths." - - - - -III. - -THE LUCK OF THE ILLINGWORTHS. - - -DANBY TRAVERS was annoyed. He was one of the founders of the Burglars' -Club. His entrance fee had been the temporary abstraction from the Crown -Jewels of the Koh-i-noor itself. Two years ago he had kept up his -membership by the burglary of the Duchess of Guiseley's emeralds; and -now, by the unkindness of Fate or the simple cussedness of his -committee, he could only renew his subscription by purloining the Black -Pearl of Agni. It showed the folly of becoming the champion jewel -burglar of the club. - -Of course it was pure coincidence, for only four people knew that he was -in love with Mary Illingworth. Mary knew it, because he had told her; -Lord and Lady Illingworth, because they had been fatuously consulted in -the matter; and he, Danby Travers, because of a stuffy, despairing -feeling somewhere in his chest from the moment of awakening in the -morning down to the last gleam of consciousness at night. But the -Burglars' Club did not know it, nor did they know that Lord Illingworth -had told him that in future he was not to cross the baronial threshold; -and all because, despite his brilliant record in India and at -Hurlingham, he, Danby Travers, was as poor as a chapel mouse. - -Therefore he received the mandate of the club with something less than -his usual urbanity. But reflection brought a Mephistophelean suggestion -of comfort. He had been unable to rob Lord Illingworth of his fairest -daughter. He would at any rate purloin his most valued jewel. - -The Black Pearl of Agni was world-renowned. During the military -operations in the Western Deccan in 1803 it had been looted by a certain -Major Illingworth, of the Bengal Native Infantry, from a rich temple -dedicated to the Hindoo God of Fire. From that day his fortunes had -prospered amazingly. Promotion came for the asking; wealth by marriage -and bequest. Influence, social and political, had followed, and a title. -Succeeding generations had added to the score. Two descendants of the -sepoy major had attained Cabinet rank, and the present peer had won the -Derby. The Luck of the Illingworths had become proverbial. - -[Illustration: "SHE . . . HAD SHOWN HIM THE SECRET OF ITS HIDING-PLACE." - -(_p. 40._)] - -The jewel was kept at Knowlesworth. Travers knew the place well. He had -spent a fortnight there, and there he had made love to Mary Illingworth. -She had shown him the Pearl; and, because he was to be her husband, had -shown him the secret of its hiding-place. Little did he think at the -time that the next occasion on which he entered that room would be as a -burglar--an amateur one, it is true, but still a burglar. - -No wonder that Danby Travers was annoyed. The only justification for his -conduct that he could think of was that the temporary loss of the Pearl -would probably have a beneficial effect on Lord Illingworth's character. - -He had received the secretary's intimation on the Friday morning. He had -to show the Pearl at the next meeting of the club--on the following -Tuesday night. That gave him four days for the business. - -Knowlesworth was sure to be full of visitors, for Lord Illingworth had -succeeded a late Master of Balliol in entertaining the most -distinguished week-end parties in the country. Travers turned to the -_Post_, certain to find the list. Ah! here it was: - -"Lord and Lady Illingworth are having a large party at Knowlesworth, -entertaining the Bohemian Ambassador and Countess Polsky, the Duke of -Strathpeffer, the Marquess and Marchioness of Bridlington, the Dean of -Penzance, Professor Rawson, and others." - -"What a crew!" thought Travers. "Wouldn't Strathpeffer be pleased if I -came a cropper! I wonder he can go there after Mary's last refusal. I'll -wait till they thin a bit. Some are sure to go on Monday, so Monday -night is my best time for the job. Now for Bradshaw." - -On the following Monday night, Travers took a second-class ticket at -Charing Cross in order to minimise the chance of running against -friends. From sheer curiosity he chose a compartment in which two -singular-looking men were already seated. The weather was by no means -cold, yet they were swathed in winter clothing. Thick mufflers were -round their necks. Their faces were partly hidden by the wraps, and -partly shaded by the broad brims of silk hats built about the time of -the Crimean War. But their race was unmistakable--to Travers at least. -They were Hindoos--the tall one probably a man of caste, the podgy -person possibly a Baboo. - -In his interest at coming across these strange people Travers forgot his -ultimate objective. He settled himself in his corner, prepared either to -join in conversation with, or merely to watch, his quaint -fellow-travellers. - -On his entrance they had turned their eyes upon him, but they had -resumed their conversation. As the train got on its way they raised -their voices, and, confident of not being understood, they spoke with -absolute unrestraint. Travers, with knowledge derived from ten years' -service in the Madras and Indian Staff Corps, was easily able to follow -their talk. - -"At last," said the tall man, as the train moved out of the station. - -"At last," repeated the other. "Buck up. Now is the conclusion of your -spacious quest." - -"Say rather the beginning. So far it has been easy, despite the horror -of mingling with these barbarians. To lose caste was foreseen, but now -we enter upon the unknown." - -"Nevertheless, I take the liberty of emphasising the necessity of -bucking up. To-morrow you will be a thrice happy man, and I will weave a -garland of marigolds for your honourable head. Gosh!" This as the train -entered a tunnel with a hideous shriek. "It is a taste of the -underworld," he added. - -The tall man shuddered, and remained silent. As the train emerged his -companion gave a very creditable imitation of the whistle and the -tunnel. - -The tall man smiled sadly. - -"Ramma Lal," he said, "I envy you your merry disposition. It was in a -good moment that I met thee in Bombay, _baboo-jee_. You have served me -well in guiding me hither, and in enlivening me on the long journey." - -"Your honour is pleased to be excessively gracious," said the Baboo with -absurd complacency. "Indeed, my tip-top spirits have been of much -service to myself and many other honourable gentlemen, and have been -extraordinarily admired by English ladies." He pulled out his watch. "In -the space of half an hour we shall have arrived at our long-intended -destination." - -"So soon? Show me the plan again to refresh my memory." - -The Baboo produced a piece of paper, over which they bent their heads. - -"Here is the railway station at which we shall dismount. This pink -streak is the highway-road along which we shall travel, eventually -reaching the big brass gates belonging to ancestral home. A little -beyond is a diminutive wall, which we ascend and descend. Then we step -across the park and round the lake. Here and here. This sepia mark is -water. Now we are in the pleasure garden. This is the hinder part of the -house. Here is the right wing. The fifth window in the second row. That -is your bull's eye." - -"Go on," said his companion, gloomily. - -"Your honour will divest yourself of polished hat and other garments, -which you will transfer to my care in summer house. Here, behold it, -painted in vermilion. You will climb up to the window. Inferior but -friendly servant has arranged that it shall open easily. Once in the -room the deed is as good as accomplished. You know the hiding-place of -the jewel." - -Travers started. "The hiding-place of the jewel!" - -"Yes," said the gloomy Hindoo; "I know it. But Krishna Bürkut knew it -twenty-five years ago, and the Swâmi Râm Nâth knew it fifty years ago, -and yet another Swâmi seventy-five years ago, but none of these restored -it to the Temple of Agni. All failed in their quest, and never regained -their caste. I too shall fail." - -"Allow me to have the felicity of indicating at least one point of -difference between your honour and gentlemen mentioned," replied the -Baboo. "Your honour has intelligent assistant, while enumerated -catalogue had not. Have the kindness to point out fly in our ointment. -It is distinguished by its absence. The jewel is yours." - -"Perish the jewel!" cried the other Hindoo in a sudden outburst of fury. -"Why couldn't the _Huzoor_ have left it alone, or have taken another -jewel? Why should he have singled out the one above all others necessary -to the happiness of Agni? And why should I, of all the priests of the -Temple, be chosen to restore the sacred stone? Here, with five thousand -miles of space between us, I declare to you, Ramma Lal, I do not fear -the wrath of Agni. I call him humbug. I read Shakespeare. I write him an -ass. I am doubtful even of Vishnu and Siva." - -Travers paid no attention to Ramma Lal's reproachful reply. He was lost -in amazement. Here, on the very night he had chosen for purloining the -jewel, two other men were on the same errand. Stop. There was a reason -for their date. They had mentioned twenty-five, fifty, and seventy-five -years. It was evidently an anniversary. Every twenty-five years an -attempt had to be made to restore the jewel to the Temple of Agni. Three -attempts had already been made in vain, and now, on the hundredth -anniversary of the theft by Major Illingworth, another attempt was in -progress. - -At any rate, he was forewarned. The house was a mile and a half away -from the station by the main road on which the Hindoos were going. He -knew a cut across the fields which shortened the distance by half a -mile. He would gain ten minutes. In that ten minutes he had to obtain -the Pearl. - -The train pulled up at Knowlesworth station. The two Hindoos stepped -out. Travers followed. He watched them start along the road; then he -briskly cut across country. - -The church clock struck eight as he reached the terrace in front of the -hall. From the beginning he had matured only one plan of campaign. He -knew the rules of the house, and he would take advantage of them. From -eight to nine the men-servants were busy in the dining-room. Anyone -could open the main outer door and enter. He might, of course, be seen, -and in this eventuality Travers relied upon his being known to allay -suspicion. He was in evening dress, and temporarily, at any rate, would -strike a servant as being one of the guests. - -The nominal dinner-hour was eight. It had been his intention to enter at -8.20 in order to allow for any delay either on the part of the kitchen -or the guests. Dinners at Knowlesworth were notoriously unpunctual, and -if he entered now he might run into the house party or meet stragglers -on the stairs. He must wait. But the Hindoos were marching down the -road. Each instant brought them nearer. In ten--no, in eight -minutes--they would be in the garden. Yet he dare not enter. - -He waited impatiently in the shadow of the great portico. It was now -8.10. He would make an attempt. - -He slowly pushed back the heavy door, and entered the vestibule. This -was cut off from the hall by big glass doors, and then by heavy -curtains. Still more carefully he opened the inner door, and then -quickly closed it again. Through the opening had come the sound of -voices and laughter. They were gathered in the hall before the fire, -waiting for the summons to dinner. So there he stayed, cursing the -unpunctuality of the house, and unquietly reflecting that a casual -remark as to the present state of the weather might lead to the glass -door being opened and himself ignominiously disclosed. - -And Mary would witness his humiliation. Nay, she might even be the -innocent cause of it. She was within half a dozen yards of him now, -separated only by some glass and a curtain. Yet he could not speak to -her--could not even see her. Ah! that was her laugh. And that -Strathpeffer's raucous voice. Hang Strathpeffer! - -It was now 8.15. The Hindoos were in the garden. The situation was -distracting. At any moment they might enter the Temple room. - -Ah! there was the sound of movement within. The guests trooped past the -door. Their voices died away. All was still. - -It was nineteen minutes past eight. Travers hesitated no longer. He -unbuttoned his top-coat, and, with cap in hand as though he were a guest -just come in from a stroll before dinner, he opened the hall door. - -No one was in sight. He crossed the hall, and stepped lightly up the -stairs. At their head he passed a maid. She certainly took him for a -guest. - -He went straight down the great corridor, and then branched to the left. -It was the third door ahead. He pulled back the panel as Mary had shown -him, undid the bolt from within, and entered. The room was in darkness. -He struck a light, half expecting to find the Hindoo disclosed. No, he -was alone, and the Pearl still there. - -It was a room without furniture. In the centre was a replica of the -great idol of Agni at the temple from which the Pearl had been looted. -The god sat there, smug, cross-legged, and hideous. The eyes fascinated -the beholder. The left one was of marble; the right made of a stone -worth a prince's ransom--the one known throughout the world as the Black -Pearl of Agni. At the god's knees, their holders resting on the floor, -were two gigantic candles. Travers lit them. - -[Illustration: "A CRY OF DESPAIR ESCAPED HIM." - -(_p. 51._)] - -Then he stepped quickly to the idol, and sought the left hand of the -god. He pressed the nail of the fourth finger. The god's right eyelid -lifted, and the complete stone was disclosed. Travers quickly abstracted -it, released the lid, and put the Pearl in his pocket. - -His object was accomplished. But what was that? Listen. - -There was a sound at the window. The Hindoo was there--beaten by half a -minute. - -Travers turned to the door. Then, impelled by an overpowering curiosity -to see the end of the drama, he slipped to another window, and got -behind the curtain. - -There was a faint whistle from below. Hang it, what a fool he'd been! -The Baboo had seen the momentary disarrangement of the curtain, and had -observed his figure against the light, and now he was alarming his -friend. But the latter heeded not. Perhaps he was too excited to -understand, or even to hear him. - -The sash was raised, the curtain pulled back, and the Hindoo stepped -into the room. He was almost naked, and his bare limbs shone with a -coating of oil. He took one step forward, and looked up eagerly into the -idol's face. Then a cry of despair escaped him. The stone for which he -had travelled five thousand miles was not there. He had lost his caste. -It could never be regained, since he had failed in his quest. Never -again could he see his native land. Under the crushing blow he sank, a -comatose heap, on the floor. - -The minutes passed, and Travers shifted uneasily behind the curtain. -There were sounds from the garden--then approaching footsteps in the -corridor. The door was flung open, and Lord Illingworth burst into the -room, revolver in hand. The Duke of Strathpeffer followed with other -guests, and some footmen. The Hindoo stared dully at them, but did not -move. He was promptly seized. - -"The Pearl--where is it?" demanded Lord Illingworth. - -The Hindoo did not reply. - -Lord Illingworth pointed to the empty socket, and repeated the question, -but the Hindoo merely shook his head. - -"Search him," said Lord Illingworth. - -He was searched, but, of course, nothing was found. - -Lord Illingworth stood over him. - -"Where is the Pearl?" he thundered, but again the Hindoo shook his head. - -"Bring in the other man," said Lord Illingworth. - -The Baboo entered, limp and crestfallen, in charge of two stablemen. A -boy carried a silk hat and some winter clothing. - -"Ask him what he has done with the Pearl," said the peer. - -Ramma Lal put the question. - -"I have not got it. It was not here when I came." - -The Baboo repeated this to Lord Illingworth. - -"It is a lie," he replied. "It was here an hour ago. I saw it myself." - -"The _sahib_ knows that thou liest," said Ramma Lal to his friend. "Tell -him a finer tale." - -But the Hindoo only protested his innocence. - -"What does he say?" demanded Lord Illingworth. - -"He says," replied the facile Baboo, "that no sooner had he taken the -Pearl than there was the flash of fire and much smoke. When it cleared -away the stone had vanished. Doubtless Agni the god had come for his -own." - -Lord Illingworth blazed with fury. - -"He has swallowed it," he said. "We shall have to cut him open." - -Ramma Lal translated this terrific threat. The Hindoo gave a yell. -Despair lent him strength. With a serpentine twist he slid from the -grasp of one of his captors and knocked up the arm of the other. The -window was still open. He sprang through it into the darkness of the -night. - -Lord Illingworth ran to the window, fired blindly, and then rushed from -the room. The others followed. Only the Baboo, his two captors, and the -boy with the clothes remained. - -"Come along," said one of the grooms. - -"Stay for one moment, I beseech you," said Ramma Lal, "and let me -worship Agni the god." - -"None of yer blarney," returned the man. But the other, who was of a -romantic temperament, said, "Wot's the odds? Let the heathen do it if he -wants." - -"You see, gentlemen," said the Baboo eagerly, "it is my very last -opportunity. I shall be lifelong imprisoned for the inauspicious event -of this evening. It is positively my last appearance in the open. Let me -worship Agni as I do in my own land. No Englishman has yet witnessed the -entire ceremony. It shall not take long. I will compress my -supplications. Five minutes will be ample dispensation." - -The grooms looked at each other. Their curiosity settled the matter. - -"We'll give you four minutes, so look sharp," said one. - -"Thank you," replied Ramma Lal gratefully. "Agni will bless you for your -beneficence." - -The men released their hold. One closed the window, the other shut the -door, and placed himself before it. - -Ramma Lal took off his silk hat, muffler, and coat. He advanced to the -idol and salaamed low three times. Then he raised his eyes and sang. - -Travers knew the song. It was a ribald ditty of the bazaars, and it had -as much to do with the worship of Agni as with the laws of gravitation. - -He watched the Baboo with increasing interest. He had evidently some -ulterior object in view, but what was it? Ah! - -Ramma Lal had gradually approached the idol. Still singing, he had bowed -his head till it had almost touched Agni's knees. Travers hardly saw the -movement of the hands. Only an Oriental could have done it so swiftly. -The two candles were suddenly extinguished, and the room was in absolute -darkness. - -With loud imprecations the two grooms rushed to where the Baboo had -been--to collide with each other, and incidentally bring down the huge -candlesticks. Then recovering, they dashed about the room in search of -their prisoner, only to seize the boy who had the clothes. Finally one -of them struck a light. - -They were alone with the boy. The window was again wide open. - -The men leaned out. There was no moon. The lights of the searchers -flashed in the distance. They turned blankly to each other. - -"There'll be pop to pay for this," said the boy, who was still suffering -from rough usage in the dark. "You'll both jolly well get sacked." - -"All your blamed fault for lis'nin' to his tommy rot," said the one man -savagely to his companion. - -"Who'd have thought he was so cunnin'?" rejoined the other. "Wot's the -good of talkin' here? Come out an' look for him. He may have broke his -neck," he added hopefully. - -Again the lights flashed in the garden, and then gradually extended -beyond. Travers waited until he was sure there was no one below. Then he -emerged from his recess, and followed the Indians through the window. -Leaving the park to the searchers, he kept to the main avenue, and soon -gained the high road. A ten-mile walk brought him to Dorton junction, -where he just missed the last train to town. - -The sun was high when Danby Travers reached his rooms, and it was late -in the afternoon when he awoke. The morning papers and his letters were -at his bedside. He at once opened one of the former, curious to see if -there was any reference to the events of the previous night. - -Good heavens! What was this? - - "BURGLARY AND FIRE AT KNOWLESWORTH. - - THE ILLINGWORTH PEARL STOLEN. - - THE HALL GUTTED. - - "Knowlesworth Hall, the historic seat of the - Illingworths, was last night the scene of two - extraordinary events. - - "Lord and Lady Illingworth were entertaining one of - their famous week-end parties at dinner when a daring - and successful attempt was made to steal the - celebrated Pearl of Agni, the largest known black - pearl in the world. - - "A native Indian was found in a summer house in the - Italian garden by a servant. As several determined - attempts to steal the Pearl had already been made, the - safety of this remarkable jewel was at once called - into question. Lord Illingworth and his guests hurried - to the Temple room, where the great Pearl was kept, - and there found another native, who was promptly - secured. The Pearl was missing, and the strictest - search failed to bring it to light. It is believed - that the thief has swallowed it, a fact which it is to - be hoped that the X-rays will be able to demonstrate. - - "Owing to gross mismanagement somewhere, the two - natives escaped from custody, and it was midnight - before they were again apprehended--one of them at - Dorton, in a state of collapse from fear and cold; the - other at Lingfield, defiant, but suffering from a - sprained ankle. They will be brought up to-morrow at - the Dorton Petty Sessions. - - "Scarcely had Lord Illingworth and his guests retired - to rest after an exciting evening than they were again - alarmed, this time by an outbreak of fire in the - Temple room. Its cause is unknown, but the flames, - assisted by a high wind, spread with extraordinary - rapidity, in spite of the prompt measures taken by the - Hall fire brigade. Engines quickly arrived from - Lingfield and Dorton, but the supply of water was - totally inadequate, and it soon became evident that - the whole structure was doomed. At the moment of - telegraphing, the fire was raging furiously, but all - sleeping in the house had been rescued without injury. - - "In one night Lord Illingworth has lost his great - family jewel and his ancestral seat. The 'Luck of the - Illingworths' seems to have deserted him. - - "It is a remarkable coincidence that a fire consumed - the Hindu Temple of Agni the night that the Pearl was - taken from it by Major Illingworth in 1803. - - "Agni is the Hindu God of Fire." - -"Thank Heaven, Mary's safe!" ejaculated Travers. "I hope she hasn't had -a great fright." Then, after a pause, "And Ramma Lal caught, after all! -He deserved a better fate. What an uncommon good thing I got the Pearl! -If I hadn't taken it, the Indians would have been well on the way to -Bombay with it by now, and if neither of us had taken it, the stone -might have been burnt up. Would it, though? There mightn't have been a -fire at all. Rummy notion that Agni should blaze the whole show in -revenge for my desecration! It shan't interfere with my feelings of -satisfaction. I'm a public benefactor--an Illingworth benefactor, -anyway. I shall explain this to my lord at an early date. Hullo, what's -this? A lawyer's letter. I can tell 'em by the smell. What's he -threatenin' this time?" - -But it wasn't a threat. It was simply an intimation that under the will -of Colonel Thomas Archer, a distant relative lately deceased, he, Danby -Travers, succeeded to the whole estate, a bequest made "on account of -intrepidity shown in the recent Iráwadi campaign." The income therefrom, -the solicitor added, was estimated at about £3,000 per annum, and he -would be pleased to have an expression of Mr. Danby Travers's wishes -with respect to the same. - -£3,000 a year! Travers jumped out of bed and executed a series of -gyrations. £3,000 a year! That meant Mary. But did it? It was a fortune -to him, but how would Lord Illingworth view it? Well, if he didn't like -it he needn't. Mary and he were now independent of everybody. - -He made his way to the Burglars' meeting in a blur of happiness. He was -rather late. Other men were there already, and they one and all -congratulated him. - -"Aren't you rather premature?" he asked. "You haven't seen the Pearl -yet." - -"Bother the Pearl," said Altamont. "We mean the title." - -"What the deuce are you drivin' at?" - -"Haven't you seen the papers?" - -"Crowds of 'em, and lawyers' letters too. My head's buzzin' with 'em. -What is it this time?" - -"Your cousin tumbled down some stone steps in Vienna last night, and you -are Lord Travers now--that's all!" - -Danby sat down. This final stroke of fortune was too much for him. - -"I can't say I'm sorry," he blurted at length. "Bertram wouldn't have -been sorry if it had been me. And I'm glad about the title because -of----. Here, I say, you fellows, what's come over the world since last -night?" - -"The Black Pearl of the Illingworths has changed hands, we hope," said -the Secretary, who wanted to start the business of the evening. - -"The Black Pearl has, and the Luck of the Illingworths went with it. -They've had a fire, and I've got a bequest and a title. Perhaps you -fellows'll be more superstitious in future. That's what brought my luck, -anyway." Saying which, he produced the Black Pearl of Agni. - -To his unbounded joy and immense surprise Lord Illingworth received the -missing stone from London during the course of the next day. - -The Indians had been remanded for a week, pending further inquiries, and -as they had obviously not stolen the jewel after all, Lord Illingworth -declined to prosecute, and they were released from custody. An unknown -friend interested himself in the natives. One of them, a Baboo, was sent -back to Bombay by an early steamer. The other, who refused to return to -India, thanks to the same unknown benefactor, was put in the way of -earning his living by teaching Hindustani. He has since gone over to the -Mohammedan faith. - -With repossession of the Pearl, good fortune came once more to the -Illingworths. In making excavations consequent on rebuilding the Hall, a -coal seam was discovered, which eventually doubled the family wealth. - -The Black Pearl of Agni is now protected from burglars by many quaint -electrical conceits. When the next anniversary comes round any Indian -visitors will have a very lively time of it. - -Later on in the year a marriage took place between Mary, younger -daughter of Lord and Lady Illingworth, and Danby, ninth Baron Travers, a -nobleman who had been mentioned in despatches in the Iráwadi campaign, -and who was not unknown at Hurlingham. His clubs were the Marlborough, -Brooks's, and the Burglars'. - - - - -IV. - -THE FELLMONGERS' GOBLET. - - -"MR. SEPTIMUS TOFT,--Sir," the letter ran. "The 'tecs are on the scent. -If you want any further information meet me at the Blue Lion, Monument, -at nine-thirty to-morrow evening without fail.--Yours, etc., J. DRIVER." - -Mr. Toft stared at the letter with much disgust and more alarm. It was -certainly a regrettable communication for a commercial magnate, a -magistrate, and a pillar of society to be obliged to attend to. It would -have troubled him had it come before Bowker had absconded, but now it -was much worse. Bowker would have shared the anxiety, and interviewed -"J. Driver." He could have guessed on what particular scent the -detectives were engaged, and his fertile ingenuity would have suggested -an obvious way of circumventing them, whereas Mr. Toft's unaided vision -saw none. - -"Nine-thirty to-morrow evening." Mr. Toft smiled feebly at the humour of -the situation. To-morrow evening at eight o'clock he was advertised to -take the chair at a Young Men's Mutual Improvement meeting, and the -gentleman who was to deliver the evening's lecture occupied the post of -his Majesty's Solicitor-General. "He will probably have to prosecute me -on behalf of the Crown," thought Toft; so he determined to propitiate -him by special attention to his discourse and by frequent applause. - -On the following evening Mr. Toft made his way to the Blue Lion. The -lecture had not been a success as far as he was concerned. Try as he -might, he could not concentrate his thoughts on the subject. He had -applauded at wrong places. Once a titter from the audience had resulted, -and the Solicitor-General had turned on him a look of pained surprise. -In the agony of the moment he had pulled the table-cloth, and the glass -of water thereon had upset, incidentally splashing the lecturer. The -titter developed into a laugh, through which a legal glare had petrified -him. - -At nine o'clock the lecture was over. The Solicitor-General listened in -silence to Mr. Toft's apologies, and then bowed coldly. Mr. Toft felt -that he was lost indeed if it came to the Law Courts, and hurried away -to his appointment in a state of feverish anxiety. He had come to the -lecture in a soft wide-awake hat and the oldest top-coat in his -wardrobe. He now donned a woollen muffler, and put on a pair of smoked -glass spectacles. This was his idea of disguise. It was simple, but -ineffective; for the highly-respectable mutton-chop whiskers, the weak -mouth, and cut-away chin were as noticeable as ever. His most casual -acquaintance would have recognised him, and would merely have concluded -that he was engaged in something disreputable. - -At the Monument he dismissed his cab, and made his way to the Blue Lion -Inn. It was a fifth-rate house in a fourth-rate street. Mr. Toft had -never been in such an unpleasant place in his life, and he groaned as he -thought that the exigences of commerce had driven him there in his old -age without even the excuse of foreign competition. - -It was 9.45 when he entered the inn, and he hoped that the quarter-hour -he was late would impress J. Driver with the conviction that he, Toft, -was not at all particular about keeping the appointment. Apparently it -did strike Mr. Driver in this way, for as the be-muffled and -be-spectacled gentleman in the soft hat entered the tap-room a sarcastic -voice loudly expressed the hope that he hadn't permanently injured his -constitution by running. Mr. Toft was grieved at the publicity given to -this remark. He sat down by the speaker, and murmured excuses; but Mr. -Driver, if it were he, would have none of them. "When I says 9.30 I mean -9.30, and not 9.50, nor 9.60, nor yet 9.70. If my time won't suit you, -yours won't suit me. I'm off," he said. - -Mr. Toft was alarmed. "Sit down, please," he said, clutching the rising -figure. "I'm sure I'm very sorry. I had made an engagement before your -letter came, and I couldn't very well put it off. What will you have to -drink?" he added adroitly. - -"Gin and bitters," was the prompt response, and Mr. Driver sat down. - -Mr. Toft now had leisure to take stock of his surroundings. J. Driver -was a dark-haired man with a bold, clean-shaven chin. His voice was deep -and emphatic, and his eye was piercing. He was broad and muscular, and -would probably be a good boxer, thought Mr. Toft. He glanced at the -drinkers at the other tables, but finding their eyes were fixed stolidly -on him he looked elsewhere. He had noticed eyes and noses--that was all. - -"Now to business," said Mr. Driver. "You know my name, and I know yours. -That's where we're equal. You're in a beastly hole, and I aren't. That's -where the difference comes in." - -"I don't understand," said Mr. Toft. "In fact, I haven't the faintest -idea what you are alluding to." - -"Garn," said J. Driver, with a dig in the ribs that made him jump. -"Garn! you old dodger. What about Government contracts?" - -"What about them?" asked Mr. Toft, shrinking from his familiarity. - -"What about them?" echoed the other. "What about work you never did, for -which you've got false receipts? What about contracts executed with -inferior stuff? What about commissions to officials, tips to men, and -plunder all round?" - -Mr. Toft paled at this catalogue of his business achievements. "You are -misinformed," he said. "My firm does not do such things." - -J. Driver thrust his tongue into his cheek. "Then how did you get your -contracts, Septimus?" he asked. - -"By honest competition in the open market," replied Mr. Toft loftily. - -Mr. Driver laughed derisively. "Lord!" he said at last, "I wish I had -your artless style. Stick to it, Mister, in the prisoner's dock. It may -pull you through." - -"I presume you haven't asked me here simply for the purpose of insulting -me?" said Mr. Toft, with some dignity. - -"What a man you are!" Mr. Driver replied, with unstinted admiration. -"You must be a thought-reader, Septimus--a bloomin' thought-reader. -You're quite right; I haven't. I've come for the loan of a key, and one -of your visitin' cards." - -"A key?" said Mr. Toft, relieved, though much surprised. - -"The key of the plate chest of the Fellmongers' Company." - -Mr. Toft raised his eyebrows. "You're joking," he said. - -"Do I look like a joker?" replied his companion fiercely. "Do I look -like a joker?" he repeated loudly, banging his fist on the table so that -all turned their eyes in the direction of the noise. Mr. Toft implored -him to restrain his feelings. - -"Don't rouse 'em then!" said the man. "Have you got the key on you?" - -"Er--yes," responded Mr. Toft. - -"Then hand it over." - -"My dear sir," began the unhappy Septimus. - -"I'm not your dear anything," said the other; "so don't you pretend that -I am. I'm as meek and pleasant as a cow to those that treat me fair and -square, but when I'm irritated I'm a roarin' bull. Hand me the key." - -"I can't." - -"You can't. Right'o!" said Mr. Driver, rising. "At present the Admiralty -only suspect. To-morrow they'll know, and you'll know too, Septimus -Toft, when you get five years without the option of a fine." - -"Please, please don't speak so loudly," begged Mr. Toft, beside himself -with fears and anxieties. Then, to put on time whilst he collected his -scattering thoughts, "What do you want to do with the key?" - -"Wear it with my medals, of course," said the man sarcastically. "If you -want further pertic'lers you won't get 'em, but I promise to return the -key within forty-eight hours, and all your plate'll be there." - -"It's a very extraordinary idea," said Mr. Toft incredulously. - -"It is; and I'm a very extraordinary man, and you're a bloomin' ordinary -one. Will you let me have the key and a visitin' card, or not?" - -"If anyone asks how you got them what will you say?" - -"Say I took 'em from you while you were asleep in an opium den, or when -we met in a tunnel--any blessed thing you like." - -Mr. Toft scarcely heard him. He was thinking over the pros and cons of -the situation as rapidly as his nervous system would allow. He was -Treasurer of the Fellmongers' Company, and he alone had the key of the -plate safe. In the ordinary course of events he would be elected Prime -Warden next year, but if there were any trouble about the plate he might -not be. Better that, though, than a public exposure of his business -methods. The key might have been stolen from him. Everyone lost keys now -and then. Of course no one could think that the theft was to his -advantage, and it would save him from all bother at the Admiralty--but -would it? - -"If I let you have the key," he asked, "how do I know that you won't -come in a similar way again?" - -"Give it up," said Mr. Driver. "Never was good at riddles, and I didn't -come here to be asked 'em neither. What the blazes do I care about what -you'll know or what you won't know? I know what I know, and that's -enough to account for your hair bein' so thin on top. If you don't hand -me that key without any more rottin' I'll just drop this in the first -pillar-box I come across." He pulled out a fat blue envelope and -flourished it in front of Mr. Toft's blinking eyes. It was addressed to -the Financial Secretary of the Admiralty, and was marked on one side -"Important," and on the other "Private and Urgent." There was an immense -seal with the impression of a five-shilling piece. - -"Your death-knell's inside," said Mr. Driver. "Hear it rattle," and he -shook the envelope in Mr. Toft's ear. "But it wants a stamp, or the -Government might not take it in. On such trifles do our destinies -depend, Septimus. Have you got a stamp?" He put an anticipatory penny -on the table. - -Mr. Toft hesitated no longer. From one end of his watch-chain he -detached a gold key, which he handed covertly to Driver. - -"Now your visitin' card." - -Mr. Toft produced one, and handed it over. "You'll give me that letter -now," he pleaded. - -J. Driver shook his head, tore up the packet, and put it into the fire. -"Better there," he said oracularly. "Now, Toft, my boy, don't worry. -You'll have that key back by Friday, and all your spoons'll be in the -box. If you don't interfere you'll never hear of me again, and the -Admiralty won't either; but if you take one step behind my back I'll do -all I've threatened, and a lot more, and you'll be building Portland -Breakwater on Christmas Day. By-bye, Septimus." - -With this Mr. Driver rose, and stalked out of the room. After a modest -interval Mr. Toft followed. - -At 9 a.m. on the following morning the bell of the Fellmongers' Company -pealed vigorously. The porter hurried to answer it, and found a lady on -the doorstep. She was neatly dressed, and was strikingly handsome. She -might be twenty-five years old. A boy carrying a portfolio and a -strapped-up easel stood behind. - -"Is this the Fellmongers' Hall?" she asked. - -"It is, Miss." - -"I want to know if you will be good enough to allow me to copy a -painting you have on your walls? I do not know if it is necessary to -have any written permission, or where to apply for it." - -"The 'All is open to the public under my supervision," said the porter -pompously. "Come inside, please." - -"Thank you," replied the lady. "Put those things down, Johnnie. That's -right. I'll let you know when to come for them. Good-morning." - -"We don't often 'ave hartists 'ere, miss," remarked the porter, "and I -sometimes thinks as pictures is wasted on gentlemen dinin' with City -Companies. They ain't runnin' pertic'ler strong on hart just then. Which -one is it you want?" - -"I don't know the title," replied the artist, "but I shall know the -picture when I see it. It's a portrait." - -"P'raps Nicholas Tiffany," the porter suggested, "the first warden of -the company, painted by 'Olbein. Born 1455. Lived to the ripe age of -ninety-four, and died regretted by his sovereign and his country. His -estates were seized by his creditors. Here he is, miss." - -The man opened the door of the Livery Room, the walls of which were hung -with many pictures. "This is Tiffany," he said, pointing to a -disreputable-looking portrait. - -The lady looked at it doubtfully. "The painting I want is the one -nearest to the door of the plate room," she said. - -"Then it's a good bit away from it, miss. The plate room is off the -Banqueting 'All, and they are all windows on that side. The pictures are -opposite." - -"Dear me," said the lady. "How very stupidly I have been informed. -Please show me the room." - -The porter led the way, and threw open the door with pardonable pride. -"The Banqueting 'All of the Honourable Company of Fellmongers!" he -exclaimed. It was the famous hall in which heads of City Companies and -ruling sovereigns are intermittently entertained. Down one wall were -ranged portraits of eminent fellmongers. The other three were pierced -by doors and windows. - -"Which is the plate room?" asked the lady. - -"This is the door of the plate room," the porter replied. "Anyone -enterin' without authority, day or night, sets in action two peals of -electric bells, and aut'matic'ly discharges a revolver shot through the -sky-light." - -"How very interesting!" the lady remarked. "Now I must find my picture." -She looked round the room, and finally selected one. - -"Jeremiah Crumpet," said the porter. "A haberdasher by birth, but -eventually Junior Warden of our Company. Painted by Merillo. Never -gettin' beyond pot'ooks 'imself, he founded the Company's Schools at -Ashby de la Zouch." - -"I'm sure that's the man," said the artist. "I'll bring my things in if -I may. Is there a Mrs. ----? Jeckell, thank you. I should like to see -her about some water for my paints." - -"I'll tell you what, Maria," said Mr. Jeckell some hours later. "If -she's a hartist I ought to be President of the Royal Academy. I never -saw such drawin' in my life. She can't get his face square nohow. He's -smilin' in the picture, but she's made him lockjawed an' moonstruck. She -says if she can't get him right she'll have to turn him into a -shipwreck. She must be what the papers call an himpressionist. She spoke -twice about the plate room, so I've wheeled my chair into the 'all to -keep my eye on her. I'll go back now and see what she's hup to." - -Mr. Jeckell would have wondered less at her drawing if he could have -seen the note the lady had referred to in his absence: - -"An attempt will be made during the next three days to steal a cup from -the plate chest at the Fellmongers' Hall. For certain reasons warning of -this must not come to the authorities from without. Apply for permission -to copy painting or to sketch interior, and watch. Should any other than -the Company's servant enter the plate room suggest doubt as to his -credentials, and do all you can to secure his arrest. Another agent will -watch the premises from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m." - -While Mr. Jeckell was on his way to his chair there came another peal -from the front-entrance bell. A man in a bowler hat, and carrying a -handbag, was outside. - -"Mr. Toft has sent me for the Nelson Goblet," he said. - -The porter was surprised. "Got a note?" he asked. - -"The guv'ner gave me this," said the man, handing a card, "and the key." - -"What does he want it for?" Mr. Jeckell asked. - -"Got a big guzzle on at 'ome. Wants to cut an extra dash in -centre-pieces." - -Mr. Jeckell shook his head gravely, but made no remark. "Come along," he -said shortly. - -He led the way across the vestibule into the Banqueting Hall, where, -behind her easel, a lady was evidently busy with her picture. He stopped -at a door, which he unlocked, and both men passed through. Barely had -they done so when the artist ran from behind her easel into the outer -hall. "Mrs. Jeckell! Mrs. Jeckell!" she called out. - -The porter's wife appeared. - -"A man has gone into the plate room with your husband. I'm sure he is a -thief. Warn Mr. Jeckell to get full authority before he does what this -man wants." - -"Gracious me!" cried the alarmed Mrs. Jeckell. "A thief! He may be -murderin' Samuel!" - -She rushed across to the plate room, and in a minute a storm of voices -proceeded therefrom. Finally the three emerged, two hot and flurried, -and the stranger, looking cool and determined, carrying a bag in one -hand and a gold cup in the other. The porter hung on to his arm. - -The artist was in front of the door. When she saw the man with the bag -and cup she gave a little gasp of surprise, and a wave of colour -overspread her face. - -The man seemed equally astonished. "You!" he said at last. - -"They're both thieves," whispered Mrs. Jeckell to her husband. "They're -acting in collision. I'll shout for the perlice while you keep 'em." And -she ran from the room. - -"You are in danger," said the artist rapidly in French. "Put the cup in -your pocket. Give me the bag, and knock the porter down." - -The man obeyed with the promptitude of a soldier. Leaving Mr. Jeckell -prostrate on the floor, they hurried from the Hall. At the street door -was Mrs. Jeckell, wildly beckoning to a distant policeman. - -"You take down there," said the artist. "Good-bye." She ran off in the -opposite direction, still holding the bag, and dived down a side street. - -Mrs. Jeckell grew frantically insistent to the policeman, who now came -up. "Which one?" he puffed. - -"The man. No, it's in the bag. Both of 'em," she cried. - -At this moment her husband appeared at the door, with blood streaming -from his nose. "They've killed Samuel," cried his horrified wife, -running to him; but the policeman, though he wore the badge of St. John -of Jerusalem on his arm, dashed down the street after the lady. - -By the time he returned, after a fruitless pursuit, Mr. Jeckell's nose -had stopped bleeding. "Did you hever?" said the porter. "What the blazes -did she mean by first givin' the alarm and then aidin' and abettin'? And -she looked so innercent-like, too. The first hartist as I've ever -encouraged, and the larst. Whatever will Mr. Toft say, Maria? It's as -much as my place is worth. After all these years of faithful service, -too!" - -But Mr. Toft was less demonstrative than might have been expected. - -The next gathering of the Burglars' Club proved the most important in -the history of the Club since its foundation. Every detail of it is -firmly impressed on the memory of each member present; yet they never by -any chance refer to that meeting. One and all would like to forget -it--if they could. - -It was held at Marmaduke Percy's rooms, his Grace of Dorchester, the -President of the year, being in the chair. - -The Secretary read the minutes, and concluded: "The business of the -evening is the payment of an entrance fee--the Nelson Goblet of the -Fellmongers' Company--by Martin Legendre Craven, fourth Baron Horton, a -cadet member of the Club." - -Lord Horton entered, bowed, and amidst general applause, placed on the -table a richly-chased goblet of gold. - -"Lord Horton's entrance fee being paid," said the President, "I now move -that he be enrolled as a full member." Carried unanimously. - -"My lord, you are one of us." - -Lord Horton advanced to the table and looked round with calm -deliberation. He was a notable man--the best amateur low comedian of -his day, a traveller who had pressed far into Thibet, a diplomatist at -the mention of whose name the Turk shifted uneasily in his seat and -fixed his eyes despondently on the floor. He had won his V.C. in China. -He had done many things. - -"Your Grace, my lords and gentlemen," he said. "I thank you. In -accordance with the usual custom of your Club I will explain how I have -been able to fulfil my appointed duty. I received an intimation that the -Nelson Goblet of the Fellmongers' Company was my entrance fee, and at -once took steps to procure it. The matter was hardly difficult. A list -of the Company showed me that the treasurer and plate-keeper was a -certain Mr. Toft. The directory informed me that he was a steam-tug -owner and a contractor to the Admiralty. Inquiry there told me he was -under suspicion of bribery and corruption. I played on this little -weakness of his, and, if I am not mistaken, I frightened him into the -paths of virtue for the rest of his days. In return, he lent me the key -of the plate safe of his Company. In broad daylight I proceeded for my -booty. To my surprise, I found that I was expected. Someone had placed -an agent on the spot to warn the custodian of the building of my -intention. An alarm was raised. My lords and gentlemen, at whose -instigation was that alarm raised?" - -Lord Horton paused. Members looked at each other in mystified amazement. -What on earth was he driving at? Was he waiting for a reply? - -The silence grew painful. "Who instigated that alarm?" again the speaker -asked. - -A voice replied, "Presumably Mr. Toft." - -"'Presumably Mr. Toft.' Sir Francis Marwood, I thank you for the -suggestion. To continue. An alarm was raised by the agent of someone -unknown. This agent was a lady who did not know that she was betraying -an old friend. A minute later we were face to face. Instantly she -pierced through my disguise, and by her presence of mind and fertility -of resource alone did I escape." - -"Like Sir Francis Marwood, I thought my betrayer was Mr. Toft, and I -hastened to interview that gentleman. I found him in a state of extreme -nervous prostration, but I left him convinced that it was not he who had -betrayed me. So your suggestion, Sir Francis Marwood, is wrong. Can you -give me another clue?" - -Sir Francis did not reply. He looked uncomfortable at the attention -bestowed upon his remark. - -"My next step was to trace the lady who had helped me. That also was not -difficult. I did not know she was in England, but being here I concluded -that the Foreign Office would have her address. I was not mistaken. I -found my friend, and learnt that she had her instructions to raise an -alarm from--mark the name well, gentlemen--from Sir Francis Marwood, a -member of this Club." - -Had a live shell fallen into their midst it would probably have caused -less consternation than did this announcement. There was an involuntary -exclamation from everyone. For a moment all eyes were fixed on Sir -Francis. Then each man drew himself up and stared blankly into space. - -"The fame of your Club had reached me, and the novelty of its membership -appealed to me." Again Lord Horton was speaking. "I felt that its risks -would give a pleasing zest to civilian life, but I did not know that -members were allowed to pay off old scores on each other through its -medium. Last year I considered it my duty to advise against Sir Francis -Marwood's appointment to Lisbon. This was his revenge. I was prepared to -run any and all risks from without, but did not anticipate betrayal from -within. Gentlemen, you have done me the honour to elect me as a member -of your Club. I have paid my subscription. Now I beg to tender my -resignation." - -"No, no!" responded on all sides. Then cries of "Marwood! Marwood!" - -"Order!" called the Duke. "Sir Francis Marwood, we are waiting." - -Sir Francis rose. He was a man of some distinction in the diplomatic -world. - -"Gentlemen," he said, making a desperate attempt to speak his words -lightly; "I really did not anticipate the matter would be taken up in -this serious way. I do not dispute the accuracy of Lord Horton's -statement, though I absolutely deny the motive he has ascribed to me. -The reason of my action was simple. This Club was formed by us, not -merely for passing time, but for keeping up our wits in degenerate days. -To such a man as Lord Horton I felt that the purloining of the -Fellmongers' Goblet must fall flat indeed. I have read the marvellous -account of his adventures in Thibet, and I felt that some further spice -of danger in this particular affair was necessary to make it worthy of -Lord Horton's reputation. I took the liberty of supplying it, though -perhaps in so doing I exceeded my rights. If so, I tender my regrets." - -Sir Francis resumed his seat amidst loudly expressed disapprobation. - -The President rose. "Gentlemen," he said, "you have heard Lord Horton's -charge and Sir Francis Marwood's reply. Our Club can exist only as long -as there is absolute good faith between its members, and I never dreamt -of anything less than this being possible. Two duties are obviously -mine. The first, Sir Francis Marwood, is to inform you that you are no -longer a member of the Club. The second is to express our sincere -regrets to Lord Horton, and our earnest hope that he will reconsider his -resignation." - -Sir Francis rose, pale and defiant. "So be it, Duke. Some day you may -regret this. Horton, you and I have a big score to wipe out now." Then, -with an ugly sneer, "It is hardly necessary to say that the F.O. will no -longer require the services of a lady who cannot be depended upon; but -Lord Horton's interest will no doubt find her another situation." - -"Stop!" thundered Horton. "A lady has been mentioned. Two years ago this -same lady saved my life in Russia. I asked her to marry me, and she -refused, because, absurdly enough, she thought it would spoil my career. -We did not meet again till yesterday. Marwood, instead of an injury, you -did me the greatest service in the world. - -"A week ago I was offered the post of British Agent at Kabul. It was a -post after my own heart, but single-handed I should have failed in it. -With this lady as my wife anything would be possible. Yesterday I begged -her to reconsider her decision, and to help me in my career. I am proud -to say she consented. We are to be married at once. Because bachelors -alone are eligible as members of your Club, I am forced to confirm my -resignation. Gentlemen, and Sir Francis Marwood, good-evening." - -Thus did Lord Horton leave the Burglars' Club for married life, -happiness, and his brilliant after-career. - - - - -V. - -AN OUNCE OF RADIUM. - - -"IT seems likely," said the President, with singular irrelevance, "that -there will be a slump in radium." - -"All South Africans are down," remarked Chillingford gloomily. "What in -the world are you fellows laughing at?" - -"It isn't a mine, Tommy. It's a horse. Won the Nobel Stakes," Marmaduke -Percy called out. - -"Order, gentlemen, if you please," continued the President. "I was -remarking on the probability of a slump in radium. This is what to-day's -paper says: - -"'£896,000 was recently quoted as the market price for a single pound of -radium. We suggest that it would be advisable for any holder to realise -promptly, as Professor Blyth has discovered a method of obtaining this -remarkable element from a substance other than pitch-blende. He has -already isolated one ounce avoirdupois--at yesterday's price worth -£56,000--which has been exhibited to a select number of scientists at -his laboratory at Harlesden Green. - -"'It seems likely that radium will no longer remain the toy of the -conversazione, but that it will take its place among the great forces of -civilisation. As a moderate-sized cube of it is sufficient to warm the -dining-room of an average ratepayer for something like two thousand -years, we shall no doubt find in this element the motive power of the -future. The smoke nuisance of our great towns will disappear, ocean -coaling stations will no longer be necessary, and incidentally about a -million workers in the coal trade will be thrown out of employment.' - -"This, gentlemen, is from the _Daily Argus_ of to-day." - -"Take your word for it, old man," "Carried _nem. con._," and sundry -other similar cries greeted the speaker. - -The Duke waved his hand disparagingly. "Our secretary informs me," he -went on, "that the subscription of Major Everett Anstruther is now due. -It is suggested that he should produce this £56,000 worth of radium at -our next meeting in payment thereof; although I believe that is -something less than the value of membership of our Club." - -That is why, on April 4th last, Major Everett Anstruther climbed the -wall at the back of Professor Blyth's house at Harlesden. - -His methods were those of the average burglar. He forced back the catch -of one of the windows, drew up the sash, and stepped gently down from -the window-sill into the room. - -He was in the Professor's laboratory, a one-storeyed building joined to -the dwelling-house by a corridor. - -Anstruther turned on his portable electric light, and took his bearings. -He was in an ordinary scientific laboratory, surrounded by induction -coils, Crookes' tubes, balances, prismatic and optical instruments, and -other and more complicated apparatus, the use of which he could not -guess. - -He walked slowly round, observing every corner. Where was the radium? He -had read up the subject, and had learnt of its power to penetrate almost -any substance, and now he turned off his light, hoping to see its rays. - -There was nothing but absolute darkness. - -He resolved to explore further. He opened the door gently. In front of -him was the passage leading to the house. At his left another door--wide -open. - -He stopped before it in mute surprise and admiration. - -On a table in the middle of the room was a luminous mass. The wall -behind was aglow with a dancing, scintillating light. The rest of the -room was in darkness, save for the dim light cast by the glowing mass -and the phosphorescent screen behind. - -It was the radium! How could the Professor leave it in so exposed a -place? No doubt it was there that it had been exhibited to the -scientists--but £56,000 worth left on a table for anyone to handle! It -was absurd. Only a professor would have done it. - -But it wasn't for him to grumble at the peculiar methods of learned men, -and with a cheerful heart Anstruther stepped lightly into the room. - -As he did so the door closed behind him with a click. The Major paused. -"That's queer," he thought. "I didn't feel a draught, and I didn't touch -the door." - -Luckily the laboratory was isolated from the rest of the house, so the -slight noise would not have been heard. He waited for some minutes to -reassure himself; then he stepped back to the door and gently turned the -knob, without result. He pushed; pulled and pushed; lifted and pushed; -pressed down and pushed; tried in every way he could think of, but the -door would not open. - -He examined it carefully. Save for its knob its surface was absolutely -plain. There was no keyhole or latch. - -"Trapped, by Jove!" Anstruther exclaimed under his breath; and as his -unpleasant situation dawned upon him he felt more uncomfortable than he -had ever done in his life before. In fact, he felt physically ill. - -"Confound it!" he thought. "It's deuced annoying, but it isn't as bad as -all that. I don't know why it should bowl me over. Perhaps there's -another way out of this den." - -He walked round the room, feeling the wall for some shutter, even -searching the floor for a trap-door. There was none. Save for a -telephone and the table, he encountered nothing but plain surface. - -"Of all the infernal holes to be in," he muttered. "Trapped like this, -and all through my own carelessness." And then it occurred to him that -he, Everett Anstruther, late a major of his Majesty's Horse Guards Blue, -and now member of Parliament for Helston, would in a few hours be haled -away to prison on a charge of attempted burglary. A pleasant situation, -truly! - -He felt ill--worse than before. His head ached, and his temples -throbbed. What on earth did it mean? He had been in tight places -before--once in Italy, when his life wasn't worth a moment's purchase, -and then he was absolutely cool. But now---- - -[Illustration: "'YOU ARE A THIEF.'" - -(_p. 93._)] - -He started as if a pistol had been fired. A bell had rung behind him--an -electric bell. It was the telephone bell, and it was still ringing. He -watched it in dismay. It would rouse the whole house. Lift down the -receiver, of course. He did so. The bell stopped. He put the receiver to -his ear. - -"Are you there?" a voice asked. - -He did not reply. There was no need. While the receiver was off the bell -wouldn't ring. - -"If you don't answer I shall wake the house," came the voice, as if in -answer to his thoughts. - -The Major groaned inwardly. "Yes, I'm here," he replied. - -"Good. How do you feel?" - -"Oh, pretty tollollish," he answered. "Must be the doctor," he thought. - -"What is your name?" - -"Smithers," said the Major, with a sudden inspiration. "John -Smithers." - -"John Smithers," came the slow response. "Thank you. Your age last -birthday?" - -"It seems to me he has been examining Blyth's factotum for life -insurance," thought the Major. "Lucky I caught on so well. But what an -extraordinary idea to collect these statistics at something after -midnight." - -"Age last birthday, please," came down the wire again. - -"Thirty-five," replied the Major. "Nothing like the truth in an -emergency," he added to himself. - -"John Smithers, aged thirty-five," was repeated. "Late occupation?" - -"Soldier." - -"Good. Very good. Late occupation, soldier. Any pension?" - -"Yes." - -"What a fool you are to risk it for a bit of radium." - -The Major stepped back in sheer amazement. "What did you say?" he asked. - -"Whatever made you risk your pension for a bit of radium?" - -"Don't know what you mean." - -"Then I'll explain. You are a thief, locked up in Professor Blyth's dark -room. Isn't that so?" - -"Who are you?" asked the Major in dismay. - -"Professor Blyth." - -"The devil!" Anstruther ejaculated. - -"No, sir--Professor Blyth," came the response. - -"Where are you?" asked the Major. - -"I am in the room at the end of the corridor. I can observe the door of -your room from where I stand, and I have a loaded revolver in my hand." - -"What are you going to do?" - -"That depends upon you. I can either send for the police, and give you -in charge, or I can take scientific observations with your -assistance--whichever you prefer." - -"What do you mean by scientific observations?" - -"You are locked up in a room twelve feet square with an ounce of -radium." - -"Well?" - -"You are the first man in the world who has been locked up with an ounce -of radium in a room twelve feet square, and your sensations would be of -scientific value. If you care to describe them to me by telephone so -long as you are conscious, I will not prosecute; otherwise I will place -the matter in the hands of the police. Which do you prefer to do?" - -"You are remarkably kind to offer me the alternative. I think I prefer -to describe my sensations." - -"Thank you. I am really very much obliged to you, John Smithers; but I -ought to warn you beforehand that you will be put to great personal -inconvenience. If you decide to try the experiment I shall not release -you for some hours. I shall certainly not break off in the middle, -however ill you feel." - -"I have told you my choice," said Anstruther curtly. - -"Right. Stop, though. What sort of a heart have you?" - -"Strong." - -"Good. You'll need it. Got a watch?" - -"Yes." - -"Can you take your pulse?" - -"Yes." - -"You are a real treasure, John Smithers. I'm glad you called. You've -been fifteen minutes in the room. What is your pulse?" - -"Seventy-three." - -"Thank you. Can you read a clinical thermometer?" - -"Yes." - -"On the ledge of the telephone, where the paper is, you will find a -tube. Got it? There's a thermometer inside. Please take it out, and read -it carefully." - -"Ninety-seven," said the Major. - -"Thank you. I had no idea the army was so intelligent. How the papers do -deceive us! Now put the thermometer under your tongue for two minutes, -and then let me know what it registers." - -"Ninety-nine," came the eventual response. - -"Thank you. Horse or foot soldier, Smithers?" - -"Horse." - -"Horse. Thank you. Married?" - -"No." - -"Good again, Smithers. No one dependent upon you, I hope? Have you a -headache?" - -"It's enough to give me one, answering all your questions." - -"Please describe symptoms, and not attempt to diagnose them. Have you a -headache?" - -"Yes." - -"How's your heart?" - -"Beats irregularly." - -"Probably it will. Respiration?" - -"It's rather choky here. Can't you let me have a breath of fresh air?" - -"On no account, Smithers--on no account. I'm surprised at your -suggesting such a thing. That will do for the present. I'll ring up -again shortly, and I'm always here if you want me. You might take a -little gentle exercise now." - -The major hung up his receiver. The room seemed to be much lighter now. -The radium glowed more brightly, and the scintillations on the wall -behind had increased in intensity. He advanced towards the radium, and -was immediately conscious that his discomfort increased. There was a -smarting sensation on the front of his body, as if it were exposed to -fire. His breathing became more difficult, his headache increased. He -drew back to the wall, and the symptoms became less marked. - -The bell rang again. "I ought to inform you, Smithers," said the voice, -"that no good at all would result from your attempting to destroy the -radium. As a matter of fact, if you broke or crushed it you would feel -very much worse. The particles would fly all over, and you would inhale -them. The symptoms would be intensely interesting if you would care to -experience them, but I won't answer for the consequences. I just want -you to understand that you can't possibly escape from this important new -element when once you are imprisoned in a room with it, especially when -the room is only twelve feet square." - -The major did not reply. He hung up his receiver in silence. - -At the other end of the telephone was Robert Blyth, F.R.S., D.Sc., etc., -etc., a little red-haired man, whose researches on the Mutilation and -Redintegration of Crystals are of world-renown. - -He was a grave little man as a rule. Only when on the verge of some -discovery, or when watching the successful progress of an experiment, -did he wax cheerful. He did this now as he surveyed his notes of the -report of John Smithers, a horse-soldier, in durance vile in the -adjoining room. - -"Pulse, 73; temperature, 99; heart, irregular. Good. Respiration -difficult. Well, that's understandable. He's been in there thirty-one -minutes. Thanks to a strong constitution, he's scarcely felt anything -yet; but now he'll have trouble. John Smithers, you are going to have -an exceedingly bad time of it. If you weren't a criminal I should -hesitate in giving it you. As it is, you must suffer for the cause of -science. Your experience will, no doubt, make you hesitate before you -attempt another crime." - -The professor tilted back his chair. "Strange," he mused, "how brain -controls matter to the end. Here's John Smithers in the next room--a -strong man admittedly--cribbed, cabined, and confined by a man he could -probably crumple up with one hand. It was a stroke of genius to -advertise my discovery in the papers. The criminal classes all read them -now, and I thought I should probably attract a thief. I placed the -radium in the middle of the room, and painted the wall behind with -sulphide of zinc so that he couldn't possibly miss it. I easily -constructed a threshold that closed the door when stepped upon. And then -I had only to wait." - -Here the bell rang. "Aha, Smithers, you are growing impatient. Well?" - -"Are you a Christian?" came the reply. - -"I hope so. Why?" - -"Do you call this Christian conduct, to imprison me here with this -infernal block of fire? I tell you, man, it's poisoning me. It's choking -me. It's getting to my brain. If you are a Christian, come down and let -me out." - -"None of that hysterical sort of talk, Smithers," said the Professor -sternly. "It's no good appealing for mercy. You are a thief, and you've -got to be punished. Pull yourself together, and show what you are made -of. You don't know what a lot of good your sufferings may do to -humanity. I shall publish a full account of them in the _British Medical -Journal_, and I am sure your family will be proud of you when they read -it." - -"I haven't got a family, and if I had they shouldn't read your -jibberings. I tell you that if you don't let me out I shall do something -desperate!" - -"You can't," said the Professor. "There's nothing in the room except the -radium and the telephone. If you knock the radium about you'll only make -things worse for yourself, and if you damage the telephone you cut off -your only link with the outside world. Be a man, Smithers. You've read -of the Black Hole of Calcutta. The sufferings of the prisoners there -were far worse than yours." - -"You are a scientific vampire--a howling chemical bounder!" came the -response. - -"Tut, tut!" said the Professor serenely. "Do try and be calm. Take a -stroll round. You might put the thermometer under your tongue again, and -let me have the record. Nothing like filling your leisure moments with -useful occupation." - -"Poor beggar!" he said to himself. "He's just beginning to realise -things. Five centigrammes of radium chloride killed eight mice in three -days; how long will it take an ounce of radium bromide to render a -strong man insensible? That's the problem in rule of three, and it's -high time that someone worked out the answer. - -"Well?" in reply to the bell. - -"Temperature, 102; pulse, 100. Look here, Blyth, I'm going dotty. If you -won't have pity on me as a Christian, I appeal to you as a family man. -Your people wouldn't like to hear of this, I'm sure." - -"Pulse 100," repeated the Professor. "Jerky, I suppose?" - -"Did you hear my appeal to you as a family man?" - -"Now, Smithers, you agreed to help me with my scientific observations, -and I wish you'd keep to the letter of the agreement. Is your pulse -jerky?" - -"It is, and my hands are fairly itching to close round your throat, and -my toes would like to kick you into eternity. Blyth, if I die, I'll -haunt you and your family to the fifth generation. If you don't end up -in a madhouse it won't be my fault. You scoundrel! You contemptible----" - -Again the Professor hung up the receiver. "Strange," he soliloquised, -"how mentally unbalanced these common men are! I can't imagine myself -giving way to such ravings, whatever situation I was in. That's the -advantage of birth and education. Yet, judging from the way in which -Smithers expresses himself, he must be a man of very fair education. -It's birth alone that tells in the long run," and the Professor stroked -his stubble chin complacently. - -The minutes passed. "He ought to be feeling it now. I'll ring him up." -The Professor did so, but there was no reply. "He can't have collapsed -already--a horse-soldier of thirty-five." Once more he rang. This time -there was a slow response. - -"Why didn't you come before?" said the Professor irately. - -"I'm not your servant. I was thinking how I'd like to chop you into -mincemeat, Blyth, and scatter you to the crows. My head's -splitting--splitting, do you hear? I shall go dotty, looking at this -infernal heap of fire. Those moving specks of light behind are all -alive, Blyth. They're grinning at me. They're choking me. And there you -sit like a scientific panjandrum with a little round button on top. And -you call yourself a Christian and a respectable family man. You are a -disgrace to your country. Come down and let me out. Send for the police. -I don't care." - -"Smithers," said the Professor, "I'm ashamed of you. A horse soldier -going on like a nurserymaid! I shall not send for the police. You agreed -to this experiment, and you've got to see it through. Please remember -that. How's your pulse?" - -"Blyth, it's 120! It's ticking like a clock. I believe it's going to -strike." - -"Keep cool, Smithers. Have your hands a bluish tinge?" - -"They seem to be green." - -"Green? Preposterous!" - -"They may be blue really. I'm colour blind." - -"Colour blind, Smithers, and a soldier? I'm surprised at you. I suspect -they're only dirty. Do you feel a tingling at the finger tips?" - -"Yes, and at my toe-tips too." - -"Excellent! And your temperature?" - -"One hundred and three. Man, I'm in a fever. I can't breathe. My head's -on fire." - -"You've only been in there an hour and a quarter. You're just beginning -to get acclimatised, Smithers," said Professor Blyth callously, as he -hung up the receiver. - -"I wish Cantrip were here," he soliloquised. "'Deoxygenation of the -blood corpuscles, followed by coma.' Bah! Radium acts on the nerve -centres, and will ultimately produce paralysis. Cantrip is an ass. I -always told him so." - -The bell rang. "Blyth," said the prisoner, "listen to me. If you don't -let me out, I'll swallow the radium. It can't make me feel worse, and it -may finish me off quicker." - -"Nonsense, Smithers, don't talk like a fool. It would only add to -any--er--inconvenience you are now experiencing." - -"I don't care what it would do. I----" - -The Professor cut him off impatiently. "I'm disappointed in John -Smithers," he thought. "He has no stamina. A man of low birth, -evidently. A mere mountain of muscle. I know the species." - -For a while he paced the room. Then he rang the bell, but this time -there was no coherent response. The gasps sounded like, "Sit on her -head, Blyth--keep her down, man. Whoa, mare!--mind that fencing--snow -again--what ho! she bumps--all down the road and round the corner----" - -"For heaven's sake, keep cool, Smithers," cried the Professor. "I want -some more observations. Don't lose your head yet. You've all the night -in front of you." - -"Squadron, right wheel! Draw swords! Charge! Down with 'em! Boers, Japs, -and Russians. Get home, lads! Give it 'em hot! Hurrah! I've killed a -sergeant-major." Then indistinct mumbling and cackling laughter came -through the telephone. - -The Professor was disturbed. The end had come sooner than he had -expected, for John Smithers had only been there an hour and a half, and -he had calculated on a much longer time. But the symptoms were, on the -whole, what he had expected. Green hands, though. What if the -extremities were blue after all, and Cantrip right? - -He rang the bell. There was no response. Once more, and yet again. Still -there was silence. - -The Professor hung up the receiver gloomily. "I'm afraid I shall have to -go to him. He's unconscious, and continued exposure might be serious." - -He went down the corridor, pulled back the bolts, and opened the door. -The room was in absolute darkness. The Professor was intensely -surprised. "What on earth has he done with the radium?" he thought. -"Good heavens! Surely he hasn't really swallowed it!" - -He stepped carefully across the threshold towards the electric pendant -in the centre of the room. He started. The door had closed behind him -with a loud click. He switched on the light, and peered round the floor -for John Smithers. He was alone. Neither Smithers nor the radium was -there! - -At that moment the telephone rang. - -"Are you there?" came a voice. - -"Is that you, Smithers?" said the Professor, in blank amazement. - -"It is, Blyth. How's your temperature? You'll find the thermometer on -the telephone where you left it." - -"You scoundrel! You consummate scoundrel! How did you get out?" - -"For goodness' sake, Blyth, keep cool." - -"If you don't release me immediately I'll hand you over to the police." - -"You can't get 'em, old man. You can only talk to me." - -"What have you done with the radium?" - -"Got it here, Blyth; and I'm taking ever such a lot of care of it. I -read all about it before I came, and I know just what it fancies. I -brought a nice quarter-inch thick lead case, with a smaller one fixed -inside, and the half-inch of intervening space made up with quicksilver. -I've had the radium in the inner case most of the time, and it's as -quiet as a lamb, nicely bottled up with its rays. In fact, I think it's -gone to sleep. I've had quite a cheerful time with you to talk to, -Blyth. You don't know how amusing you've been." - -"Smithers," stuttered the Professor, "you are an insolent fellow as well -as a consummate scoundrel." - -"Tut, tut, Blyth! Do keep cool. Think how humanity will benefit from -your present inconvenience. I'll look out for your article in the -_British Medical Journal_, and I won't contradict it, though my pulse -never went above seventy-three nor my temperature over ninety-nine, and -wouldn't have done that if I'd bottled the radium at once instead of -stopping to chatter with you. But you really ought to have kept a -smarter look-out as you went in. I nearly brushed against you as I -closed the door behind me. Well, bye-bye, old man, and many thanks for -the radium. It will help my pension out nicely. I'll leave the receiver -off the telephone, so that you don't disturb your family. I wouldn't -worry, Blyth. Think of the Black Hole of Calcutta, and be a man!" - -[Illustration: "'I NEARLY BRUSHED AGAINST YOU.'" - -(_p. 108._)] - -Before Anstruther had reached the laboratory the Professor was hammering -on the wall, and shouting at the top of his voice. The Major hurried -through the window, climbed the garden wall, and had found his bicycle -before the prisoner was released. By the time that the police were -informed, he was well on his way to town. - -And that is how Major Everett Anstruther was able to renew his -subscription to the Burglars' Club. - - - - -VI. - -THE BUNYAN MS. - - -ANSTRUTHER sat down amidst vociferous applause. - -"Gentlemen," said the Duke, "I think we may heartily congratulate Major -Anstruther on the foresight and ingenuity displayed in renewing his -subscription. I am sorry we cannot keep the radium as a memento, but, -according to our rule, it has to be returned to Professor Blyth at once. -This particular burglary has been so satisfactory that I think we may -with advantage again turn to the daily Press for our next item. I read -yesterday---- Let me see--where is it? I cut out the paragraph. Ah! here -it is:-- - -"'Yet another priceless possession is leaving the Eastern hemisphere. -Thirty pages of 'The Pilgrim's Progress,' all that is left of that -immortal work in the handwriting of John Bunyan, has been waiting for -offers at Messrs. Christie's rooms since November last. The highest bid -from the United Kingdom was £45 10s., at which price the precious -manuscript did not change hands. We now hear that £2,000 has been -offered and accepted. The purchaser is Mr. John Pilgrim, the Logwood -King, of New York. At the present rate of denudation it seems likely -that fifty years hence the original of Magna Charta will be the only -historical manuscript left in the country.'" - -"Shame--shame!" greeted the reading of the paragraph. - -"I am glad that you agree with the newspaper," said the Duke blandly. "I -read that paragraph at breakfast yesterday, and since then I have learnt -that Lord Roker's subscription is due. It seems to me more than a -coincidence that these two matters should come together. It is a -national disgrace that the manuscript of that remarkable, I believe -unparalleled--er--effort of Mr. Bunyan should leave the country. For one -night longer, at any rate, it must remain in the possession of -Englishmen. My lord of Roker, you will kindly produce the Bunyan MS. at -our next meeting, on the 23rd inst., in settlement of your -subscription." - -At 5 p.m. on Monday, April 18th last, a new arrival registered himself -in the visitors' book at the Ilkley Hydropathic Establishment as James -Roker, Jermyn Street, S.W. He was a good-looking, straight-built man of -thirty or thereabouts. He was of an unobtrusive disposition, but was -obviously well-informed, for in the smoke-room after dinner, when in a -discussion on the internal resources of Japan, the date of Queen Anne's -death came up, the new arrival gave it authoritatively as 1745, and so -settled the matter. - -The next morning brought letters addressed to Lord Roker. Five minutes -after the arrival of the post the news spread, and at breakfast he was -the cynosure of all eyes. - -It was the first time that a nobleman had stayed at the Hydro, excepting -the doubtful instance of Count Spiegeleisen in 1893, but to provide for -possible emergencies the management had thoughtfully placed a Peerage on -the bookshelves. This volume was now thoroughly investigated, and it was -learnt that James, Lord Roker, was heir to the Earldom of Challoner, and -that he was born on April 25th, 1870. His birthday obviously would occur -the following week, and an enterprising lady suggested the propriety of -arranging for a concert and a representation of Mrs. Jarley's waxworks -in honour of the occasion. - -The only person in the place who seemed annoyed by his arrival was Mr. -John Pilgrim, a gentleman from New York. - -"That's why he was so darned civil to me last night," he thought. "He -knows how fond Fifth Avenue girls are of the British peerage, and he -thinks he's only got to drop his handkerchief for Marion to pick it up. -I call it a bit thick of him. I'm glad she's away for the day. I asked -him to look round this evenin', so reckon I'll have to be civil; but -I'll stand no nonsense. If he tries his sawder on me durin' the day I'll -let him know." - -There was no occasion--or, indeed, opportunity--to let Lord Roker know -anything during the day, for he went to Rylstone the first thing after -breakfast, and only re-appeared at dinner-time. - -The toilettes of at least eighteen ladies were more elaborate than usual -that evening, but they were lost on Lord Roker, who, after half an hour -in the smoke-room, tapped on Mr. Pilgrim's door at 8.30. - -"Good-evenin', my lord," said Mr. Pilgrim, with studied politeness. -"Will you sit there? Cigar, sir? I can recommend these. I hope you had a -pleasant day. How do you like the Hydro?" - -"Thank you," said Lord Roker, as he took the Bock, and settled himself -in the chair indicated. "I have been away in the country all day, so I -haven't seen much of the Hydro yet. It seems all right. At any rate, you -have got pretty snug quarters." - -"Yes," said Mr. Pilgrim, with some complacency. "You see, I'm samplin' -the British Isles, gettin' the best I can lay hands on, and am storin' -my purchases here. This room is furnished with Heppendale an' -Chipplewhite's masterpieces, collected by my daughter. Paintin's by -Jones an' Rossetti. In the nex' cabin I've got those historical sundries -I mentioned. But before we look at them I want you to give me some -information." - -"I shall be delighted to do so, if I have it." - -"You have it, sir. I may as well explain what I want. I have come over -to see Europe for the first time, but I wanter know more about it than -Americans do as a gen'ral rule. I'm not content to visit Shakespeare's -tomb an' see over Windsor Castle, and then think I've done the old -country. I wanter know the people who inhabit her to-day, and you can't -get to know them on board trains. That's why I've come to this Hydro. I -get here what my secretary calls a symposium of the whole nation. So I'm -studyin' people here with the idea of writin' a book on my return. What -are your views on things in gen'ral, my lord?" - -"My dear sir, that's a big order. But I may say I'm pretty well -satisfied with things in general." - -"You are an hereditary legislator, I believe," said Mr. Pilgrim. - -"I may be some day," replied Lord Roker; "but at present I am not." - -"Then what is your pertic'ler line in life?" - -"If you mean business or profession, I have none. I'm a drone." - -"A drone, sir! I'm delighted," exclaimed Mr. Pilgrim, with marked -interest. Then, "Hello, Marion. Back again." - -Roker turned, and there, framed in the doorway, was a living Romney -picture--a radiant girl. - -She came forward, the light playing on her red-brown hair. - -"Lord Roker--my daughter," said Mr. Pilgrim. - -The girl smiled and shook hands. - -"I hope I'm not interrupting a very serious deliberation," she said, -half hesitating. - -"Indeed not," Lord Roker hastened to assure her, fearful lest this -delectable vision should vanish. - -She took the chair he offered. - -"Well, what have you gotten at York?" inquired Mr. Pilgrim. - -"You'd neither of you guess. Three grandfather's clocks." - -"Three!" exclaimed Mr. Pilgrim. "Sheraton?" he added. - -"No; just grandfather's clocks, and the dearest ones you ever saw." - -"I could bet on that," said her father. "Are they genuine?" - -"They are all dated, and Mr. Tullitt got pedigrees with each of them. -One of them tells the moon, and one the day of the month. We shall have -to hire an astrologer to regulate them and start them fair. Mr. Tullitt -says he works best on board your railroad car, as noise suits him, so I -shall fix the three clocks up in his den here to keep him happy. I -reckon he'll know when it's lunch time, anyway. But what have you been -doing, dad?" - -"Makin' a few notes. At present I'm gettin' some valu'ble information. -Lord Roker says he's a drone." - -"Then I'm sure that Lord Roker does himself an injustice," she said, -turning her smiling eyes upon him. - -Roker shook his head. - -"I toil not, neither do I spin." - -"What do you do all the time?" she asked. - -"I shoot and fish and hunt, and--er--once a year I see the Eton and -Harrow cricket match." - -"Gosh!" exclaimed Mr. Pilgrim. "He shoots and fishes and hunts, and once -a year he goes to a cricket match." - -"I said the Eton and Harrow match." - -"Cert'nly. They must give it some name, I reckon. An' what do you do -when you can't shoot, an' fish, an' hunt?" - -"I add up my lists of kills and catches." - -"This is downright interestin'," said Mr. Pilgrim. "What do you shoot -an' hunt?" - -"Birds and foxes." - -"You seem to fancy small fry, sir. Did you never hanker after -elephants?" - -"Never. If I had a Maxim or a Gatling gun I might turn my attention to -elephants, but I'm not going to buy one for the purpose." - -Mr. Pilgrim looked hard at his guest, but Lord Roker bore the scrutiny -impassibly. - -"May I ask how you get your dollars?" the American continued. - -"I have an income from my father. I don't mind telling you the -amount--three thousand a year." - -"Dollars?" - -"No; pounds sterling." - -"That's a tidy figure; but did you never wanter make that three thousand -into thirty thousand?" - -"I have suggested an increase to my father, but not such a big one as -that. I asked him to make it five, but he would not. Some day perhaps he -may, but thirty thousand is out of the question." - -"I should suppose it was. I didn't mean an increase in your allowance. -Did you never think of dippin' into trade, and increasin' it that way?" - -"Never." - -"Doesn't fancy elephants or trade," Mr. Pilgrim soliloquised. "Well, I -reckon it takes all sorts of swallows to make a summer. Your father must -have been in a good way of business." - -"Not a bit of it. He inherited all he has from his ancestors." - -"And how did the original ancestor make his pile?" - -"In war, in the time of Edward III. He had the good fortune to capture a -Royal Prince, two dukes, and a marshal of France. We are still living on -the ransoms he got." - -"I'd like to have known the original ancestor," said Mr. Pilgrim. -"Reckon he'd have tackled elephants if he'd only got a pea-shooter." - -"Father," broke in Miss Pilgrim, "I'm sure Lord Roker is tired of -answering questions. Don't you think it's our turn to do something now?" - -"That's so," said Mr. Pilgrim, who long since had forgotten his unkind -suspicions of his visitor's intentions. "I hope I haven't worried you -too much, my lord. It isn't every day that I get the chance of -interviewin' a future hereditary legislator. I promised last night to -show you some historical curiosities. We'll just go an' rout out my -secretary, Tullitt, who has the keepin' of 'em." - -They adjourned to the next room, and found Mr. Tullitt busy at his desk. -He opened various cabinets and drawers for them. - -"This," said Mr. Pilgrim, "is the original warrant signed by Henry -VIII., consignin' his sixth wife to the Tower of London for beheadin' -purposes. He had it penned in Latin to frighten her more. The writ was -never served, as Henry changed his mind, an' decided to keep her on the -throne. - -"Here, sir, is my last purchase--thirty pages of 'The Pilgrim's -Progress,' written by John Bunyan in Bedford Jail. I paid ten thousand -dollars for that, an' I'd have paid twenty before missin' it. You see, -my name is John Pilgrim, an' it seemed to me that I have a sort of claim -on that book--a kind of relationship. Anyway, there's my two names on -the title-page. - -"Moreover, I've got on so well since I started life in a Chicago -stock-yard that 'Pilgrim's Progress' would best describe my record. If -it wasn't irreverent, I'd have called the autobiography I'm writin' by -the name of that book; but as I can't do so, I've bought the original -manuscript. You'll handle it carefully; it's not in first-rate repair." - -Mr. Pilgrim showed his guest other historical treasures, and would have -gone on indefinitely had not his daughter compassionately intervened. -The rest of the evening was spent in conversation, and in listening to -coon songs witchingly sung by Miss Pilgrim to her accompaniment on a -harpsichord, once the property of Mrs. Thrale of Streatham, a friend of -the immortal Dr. Johnson. - -"Good-night, my lord," said Mr. Pilgrim at eleven o'clock. "P'raps -you'll be kind enough to look round in the mornin'. I shall make a few -notes of the information you've given me, and my secretary will lick -them into shape." - -"Right," said Lord Roker, with his eyes beyond Mr. Pilgrim, fixed on an -enchanting vision of brown and gold, seated in the basket chair before -the fire. - -On the following morning Lord Roker found Mr. Pilgrim's secretary before -a typewriter which he seemed to be working against time. A pile of -correspondence lay around him. He finished the sheet on which he was -engaged, and then, with a sigh of relief, he turned to his visitor. - -"Mornin', my lord; I have this ready for you." - -He handed a type-written sheet to Lord Roker, who sat down and read: - - "Some day I may be an hereditary legislator. At - present I'm a drone. I fish, shoot birds, and hunt - foxes, and once a year I attend a cricket match. Birds - are more suited to the bore of my gun than elephants. - If I had a Maxim I might tackle elephants. I am in - receipt of an income of three thousand pounds sterling - a year from my father, who refuses to increase the - amount. I am otherwise well satisfied with the - universe. - - "My record last year was: - Birds............ - Fishes........... - Foxes ..........." - -"I've left space for the mortality returns, and any note you may wish to -add," said the secretary courteously. "Kindly fill in the figures, and -initial the sheet if you find it correct. Your name will not appear if -Mr. Pilgrim makes use of the information." - -Lord Roker referred to his pocket-book for statistics, and then inserted -the figures required. The note he added was: "_De mortuis nil nisi -bonum._" - -"Good kills, all of 'em," he explained. - -The secretary took the sheet and placed it methodically in a folio -labelled "Britishers." - -"Is Mr. Pilgrim anywhere about?" Lord Roker asked. "Or Miss Pilgrim?" - -"I believe that Miss Pilgrim is in the grounds, but Mr. Pilgrim has gone -across the moors in his motor to shed a tear at the residence of the -late Charlotte Brontë. A wonderful man is the boss, my lord. It takes me -all my time to file the information he gathers. It will be midnight -before I have fixed Charlotte up." - -"Your hours are long," said Lord Roker, sympathetically. - -"They are; and they are getting longer. Your country is just waking up -to the fact that John Pilgrim is here. We had a big mail to-day. Outside -proper business there were twenty begging letters from tramps and -prodigals, eighteen asking for subscriptions, and two which we could not -decipher. Four town councils mixed us up with Andrew Carnegie and wrote -demanding Free Libraries. I reply to them all." - -"Then I won't trespass any longer on your time." - -Mr. Tullitt pulled out his watch. - -"Snakes!" he exclaimed. "I always have fifteen minutes' dumb-bell -exercise now to keep me in form. Good-mornin', my lord." His visitor -left him standing in position with his dumb-bells. - -Now when Lord Roker turned in his chair and first saw Miss Marion -Pilgrim he was confounded. When she spoke--and to her beauty there was -added an infinite charm of frankness and joy of life--he fell hopelessly -in love. Only once before had this happened to him, and, singularly -enough, she also was an American--a dark-eyed Boston girl he met in -Rome. He had been refused because his position and his prospects -rendered the match an impossibility--to her father; for he was not at -that time heir to an earldom. Since then he had gone unscathed through -the perils of many seasons in many capitals, only to be finally routed -while in pursuit of the commonplace profession of a burglar. - -That he had aroused any interest in her heart he did not for a moment -suppose, but perhaps there might be a remote chance of winning her. If -there were, how could he imperil his hope of success by running the -risks attendant on the burglary? If she could give him the slightest -hope he would resign his membership of the Burglars' forthwith. It was -ridiculous to have to rush matters, but he had to know his fate at once. -He could not even put it off till to-morrow, for he knew she was going -to Knaresborough for the day with her father. - -He met her on the golf links. They played in a foursome in the morning. -In the afternoon they had a round together. - -She was in capital form. Her splendid health and energy were a delight -to the eye. Perhaps it was owing to this distraction that he foozled -some of his drives, and twice got badly bunkered. His play went steadily -from bad to worse, and she won by three up and two to play. - -"I don't think you were playing your best game," she said as they -returned. "It strikes me that you were thinking about something else all -the time." - -"You are quite right. I never played worse, and I was thinking about -something else." - -"Something very serious, I reckon." - -"Very." - -"Is it anything I could help you in?" - -"You are very kind, Miss Pilgrim. All day, and most of last night, I -have been deliberating on an important step." - -"What sort of a step?" - -"Whether I ought not to resign my membership of a certain club." - -"Is that all?" - -"You see, I was one of the founders, and I like it. But sometimes the -conditions of membership seem impossible. At any rate, I have felt them -so since last evening." - -"What are the conditions?" - -"I can't tell you them all, but one is that you have to be a bachelor--a -confirmed bachelor." - -"Well, you are one, aren't you?" she asked gently. - -"I don't know. At any rate, I may not always be. In fact, I----" - -"Don't you be in a hurry to change," said Miss Pilgrim. "Don't imitate -that king of yours. Judging from the document dad showed you, Henry the -Eighth wanted to be a bachelor again, and then decided to remain a -married man, all in one day. You Britishers are so variable." - -"It may seem very absurd, Miss Pilgrim, but I have to make up my mind -without delay. And you can help me in the matter. May I--dare I----" - -"One minute, Lord Roker," she interrupted quickly. "You ought to be very -careful before you think of changing your state. Teddy Robson waited -twelve months before I promised to marry him." - -"Teddy Robson!" exclaimed Lord Roker. - -"Yes; this is his picture." She pulled a locket from her dress, and -showed him the miniature of a nice, clean-looking lad. "He's the son of -Josh. K. Robson, the Fustic King," she explained. - -"Fustic?" repeated Lord Roker, with intense gloom. - -"It's a wood that dyes yellow. Dad is the Logwood King, you know. -Logwood dyes black. When I marry Teddy, the two firms will amalgamate, -and we shall pretty well control the output of the West Indies." - -"I see," said Lord Roker; "or, rather, I hear." - -"That'll be in the fall. If ever you come over to the States mind you -look us up. Teddy will give you some big game shooting. I guess you like -it, whatever you told dad. You've done things. Mrs. Stilton told me at -breakfast this morning that you had got a decoration for distinguishing -yourself in action." - -"Oh, that was years ago." - -"Not more than a hundred," she said gravely. "And I reckon you don't let -the flies settle much. Gracious! but it's six o'clock, and I've letters -to mail. I must run. But don't you be in a hurry about retiring from -that club." - -"That's the second," said Lord Roker enigmatically, as he watched her -vanish, "the second--and the last." - -Lord Roker made no attempt to purloin the Bunyan MS. that night. He -thought it possible that the indefatigable Mr. Tullitt might prolong his -labours on Charlotte Brontë into the early hours of the morning, and, -being of a thoughtful temperament, he was unwilling to interrupt them. -He had still two nights at his disposal. The next day he spent chiefly -on the links. He did not allow his thoughts to linger regretfully on his -hopeless love. He gave his whole attention to the game, and retrieved -his reputation by beating the professional's record. In the evening he -played his part in progressive bridge with marked success: and then at -1.30 a.m., when the whole establishment was presumably fast asleep, he -descended from his bedroom window by a stout rope, and made his way to -the wing occupied by Mr. Pilgrim. He found the window of Mr. Tullitt's -room, and was busily engaged for the next half-hour in opening it. - -He then dropped into the room, and turned on his light. - -Three grandfather's clocks were solemnly ticking in three separate -corners. The fire was still flickering in the grate. A pile of letters, -addressed and stamped, was ready for the post. A batch of correspondence -was docketed and endorsed. The waste-paper basket was full to -overflowing. - -Lord Roker gave one glance round, and then tried the door. It was, as he -expected, locked on the outside. He placed some chairs and other -obstacles in front of it to impede progress should an alarm be raised, -and lit the gas in order to add to Mr. Tullitt's reputation for -over-work. Then he turned to the drawer in which the Bunyan MS. was -kept. It was locked. He produced a bundle of keys, and finally opened -it. There was a document inside, but instead of being time-stained, -foxed, and torn, it was modern and neat. Moreover, it was type-written, -and endorsed, "Notes on the late C. Brontë, Haworth, Eng., 1904." - -Lord Roker turned this out in disgust, hoping to find the Bunyan MS. -below; but he was disappointed. The manuscript was not there. - -He replaced the Notes in the drawer and turned his attention elsewhere. -He opened every drawer and portfolio, looked on every shelf and in every -corner, but in vain. There was no sign of the Bunyan MS. - -Determined not to be baffled--for his credit as a burglar was at -stake--Lord Roker resumed his search, and again went over the ground. -Three times at least was he disturbed--when the grandfather's clocks -went off at the hour and the half-hour with alarming wheezes and groans. -When they had finished with 3.30 he had to admit himself beaten. The -manuscript had no doubt been removed to another room. It was desperately -annoying, but he had still twenty-four hours to find out where it was, -and to get it. He gave up the search reluctantly, made his way through -the window, and up the rope to his bedroom. - -Soon after breakfast that morning word went round the Hydro that the -Bunyan MS. had been stolen from Mr. Pilgrim's rooms--the manuscript for -which he had just paid £2,000. - -A hole cut in one of the window-panes pointed to the method by which -entry had been made, but no clue to the thief had been left behind. The -police had been informed, and a detective was coming. - -Only the Bunyan MS. was missing--that alone of the many portable and -valuable treasures in Mr. Pilgrim's possession. It showed a literary -instinct in the thief which was as surprising as it was unusual, for it -would be impossible for him to make any profitable use of his booty -without certain discovery. The more one reflected about it the more -perplexing it was. - -To Lord Roker it was humiliating in the extreme. To fail in his mission -was exasperating; but the annoyance was increased tenfold with the -knowledge that he had been forestalled. Someone else--a professional, no -doubt--had been on the same errand. He had not dallied over the -enterprise, and he had won the stakes for which he played, and now he, -Lord Roker, would have to appear empty-handed at the Burglars'--he, a -founder of the Club, would be the first man who had to resign through -incapacity to carry out the terms of his membership; it was galling -indeed. Even the neat hole he had made in the window had been placed to -the credit of the other burglar. - -At 6 p.m. he went upstairs to dress. The evenings were chilly, and he -occasionally had a fire. He sat down before it now to finish his -cigarette, and moodily watched the flames while his thoughts turned on -the unsatisfactory nature of all earthly affairs. - -Suddenly he gave an exclamation of extreme surprise, jumped out of his -chair, and caught hold of a bit of half-burnt paper projecting from the -grate. It was perhaps three inches long, and two across. Half of it was -ash that fell away as he touched it. On the scant margin left was -written, in stiff, archaic English, "Ye Slough of Desp----" - -"Amazing!" he cried. For the fragment he held in his hand was part of -the missing MS.! - -In another instant he had seized his water-jug and emptied the contents -on the fire, putting it out, and deluging the hearth. Then he rang the -bell, and sent an urgent message for Mr. Pilgrim. - -Five minutes later the American entered. Roker handed him the fragment, -and pointed out where he had found it. - -"Seems a pretty expensive way of li'tin' fires," said Mr. Pilgrim, -grimly. "Allow me to ring for the help." - -"Did you lay this fire?" he asked the maid who responded. - -"No, sir. That's Jenny's work." - -"Send Jenny up, then," said Mr. Pilgrim, now on his knees searching the -grate for more traces of the MS., but searching in vain. - -In a few minutes Jenny entered. - -"Did you lay this fire?" Mr. Pilgrim asked again. - -"Yes, sir." - -"What sort of paper did you use for it?" - -"Newspaper. Oh, I know! I laid it yesterday morning with some old -rubbishy stuff I found on your floor, sir." - -"Old rubbishy stuff you found on my floor!" cried Mr. Pilgrim. "What do -you mean, girl?" - -"I was lighting your fire yesterday morning, sir, and found I'd used up -all my paper, so I got some out of your waste basket. There was a dirty -lot of rubbishy paper lying on the floor beside it, so I took that as -well, and used it up for my morning fires." - -"How many fires did you lay with it altogether?" - -"Your two, sir, this one, and the one in the hall." - -"Then this is the only one of the lot that wasn't lit yesterday?" - -"Yes, sir. I hope it wasn't anythink important that I used." - -Mr. Pilgrim sat down. - -"Important! Not a bit, my girl. It just cost me ten thousand -dollars--that's all." - -"It wasn't what they say you've lost, sir, was it?" said the girl. "Oh, -sir, I'm that sorry. But all I can say, sir, is that it was on the -floor, and it didn't look fit for wrapping sossingers in." - -"Go!" shouted Mr. Pilgrim. "You're a born fool." Then, after a long -pause, he added, "I'm much obliged to you, Roker. Now come along. I must -see my secretary. I suspect he's another mortal fool in disguise." - -Mr. Pilgrim's secretary was busy, as usual--this time taking down a -letter from Miss Pilgrim's dictation. - -[Illustration: "HEY! BUT WHAT ABOUT THAT HOLE IN THE WINDOW?" - -(_p. 135._)] - -"Excuse me a minute, Marion," said Mr. Pilgrim. Then to his secretary, -"You said you were readin' that blamed Bunyan MS. the night before last. -Just describe when you got it out, and what followed." - -"I'd finished my transcript of your notes on Miss Brontë, sir, about -11.30, and, having half an hour to spare, I thought I'd just run over -that old manuscript again. John Bunyan had his own notions about -caligraphy, and he was a bit freer in his spelling than any man I'd come -across, so I rather fancied him. While I was reading, you may remember -calling me to your room to take down that cable to Boston and the letter -of confirmation. It was 12.30 when I left you, and I'd clean forgotten -about the manuscript. I turned the light out, and went to bed. A quarter -of an hour afterwards I remembered I'd left Bunyan out, so I came back -here. I couldn't find the matches, but just felt round for the MS., and -put it back in the drawer, and locked it." - -"You derned hayseed!" burst in Mr. Pilgrim. "You have your p'ints, but -at this pertic'ler moment I think you're more suited for raisin' -cabbages than for secretary work. If you can't tell the difference in -the handle of a Bunyan MS. and your notes on Charlotte Brontë in the -dark, you might know a banana from a potato in daylight. -You're--you're---- Man, you put the Brontë notes in the drawer, and left -Bunyan out--brushed him on the floor in the dark, an' the help lit the -fire with him. Gor!" - -The secretary collapsed. - -"Never mind, Mr. Tullitt," said Miss Pilgrim. "It was entirely a -mistake. I might have done it myself. It comes of working so late. Dad, -I guess there's plenty more old manuscripts in the British Isles waiting -for dollars to fetch them." - -"I reckon there's only one Bunyan MS.," said Mr. Pilgrim, solemnly, "and -that's gone to light Hydropathic fires because my secretary doesn't -carry wax vestas in his pyjamas. Hey! But what about that hole in the -window?" - -Mr. and Miss Pilgrim, the secretary, and Lord Roker stared blankly at -it. - - * * * * * - -And that is why Lord Roker was not able to show the Bunyan MS. at the -next meeting of the Burglars' Club. - - - - -VII. - -THE GREAT SEAL. - - -THE Hon. Richard Hilton stared at the type-written letter with distinct -feelings of pleasure. This is what he read:-- - - SIR,--I have the honour to inform you of your election - as a member of the Club, conditional upon your - attendance on the 5th proximo with the Great Seal of - the United Kingdom, procured in the usual way.--Yours - faithfully, - - THE HON. SECRETARY. - -"That's good," he ejaculated. "Ribston's a trump. But what on earth's -the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, and where is it to be found?" - -Mr. Hilton's library was chiefly devoted to sport and fiction, and he -could find no reference to it therein. He had therefore to make -inquiries outside, when he learnt that the Great Seal of the United -Kingdom was the property of the Lord Chancellor for the time being, that -it was a very important object indeed, its impression being requisite at -the foot of the highest documents of State; and, consequently, that its -unexpected absence might very well upset the nation's affairs and -incidentally bring serious trouble upon anyone who had tampered with it. - -Mr. Hilton's sporting instincts were roused. "It seems to me," he -thought, "that this is going to be the best thing I have had on since I -walked across Thibet disguised as a second-class Mahatma. But where does -the Chancellor keep the thing?" - -He skimmed through many biographies of Lord Chancellors with very little -result. One of them, it appeared, kept the Great Seal with his silver, -another always carried it about with him in a special pocket, and slept -with it under his pillow; while a third stored it at the Bank of -England. History was discreetly silent as to how the other hundred and -one keepers of the Great Seal guarded their property. - -Mr. Richard Hilton contemplated his notes with disgust. "I never could -rely on books," he said. "There's nothing for it but to find out for -myself. The present man probably keeps it where any other common-sense -fellow would. He'll have a library, so it may be there. He's a good -liver, so it may be in a secret bin in his wine cellar; he's a -sportsman, so it may be in a gun-case under his bed. I shall have to -look round and find out. Where does he live?" - -His lordship's town residence was Shipley House, Kensington Gore. Hilton -took a walk in that direction. The house looked as unpromising and -unsympathetic a subject for robbery as a metropolitan magistrate could -have wished. The spiked railings in front and the high wall at the back -would have suggested to most people the impossibility of the enterprise; -but Mr. Hilton simply noted these items with interest, and then -adjourned to a light lunch at his club to think the matter out. - -It was one o'clock in the morning when Mr. Hilton scaled the wall at the -rear of the Lord Chancellor's house. Though it was nine feet high, it -presented no difficulties to an ex-lieutenant in the navy; but he got -over carefully, for he was in evening dress, believing that to be the -safest disguise for a general burglar. He dropped lightly on the turf, -and then made his way across to the house and commenced a careful -inspection of the basement windows. To his intense surprise, he found -the lower sash of one of them to be open. This astonishing piece of good -luck meant the saving of at least an hour. With a cheerful heart he -entered the house, finding his way by the electric flashlight which he -carried. - -His passage to the great hall upstairs was easy. Here he halted to take -his bearings. He was at the foot of the marble stairs for which Shipley -House was famous. Once they had stood in front of Nero's villa at -Antium; but, oblivious of his historic surroundings, Mr. Richard Hilton -stood wondering which of the four doors on his left led to the library. -One after another he cautiously opened them, only to find living or -reception rooms. He crossed the hall, and got into the billiard-room. -Where on earth was the Lord Chancellor's den? Ah! those heavy curtains -under the staircase. He passed through them. There was a short passage, -with a door at the end. Hush! what was that? He listened intently. It -was nothing--merely nervous fancy. He turned the handle of the door, and -entered. - -He was in the Lord Chancellor's library. But, Heavens! he was not there -alone. - -For a moment he drew back in dismay; but the singularity of the other -man's occupation arrested him. - -He was kneeling on the floor before the wall at the far end of the room. -He had a lamp or candle by his side. What on earth was he doing? Had he -surprised the Lord High Chancellor, the keeper of the King of England's -conscience, worshipping by stealth at some pagan shrine? - -What were the rites he was performing? Curiosity impelled Mr. Hilton -forward. As he drew nearer, the situation unfolded itself. He had done -the Lord Chancellor an injustice. It was not he. - -A man was kneeling before a safe built into the wall. He was drilling -holes into the door by the light of a lamp. - -He was a real burglar! - -The humour of the situation struck Mr. Hilton so keenly that he nearly -laughed. For some time he watched the operation, expecting each moment -to be discovered. Then, as the man continued absorbed in his work, Mr. -Hilton sank noiselessly into an easy chair behind him. To prepare for -contingencies, his hand had stolen to his coat pocket, and now held a -small revolver. - -For half an hour longer he continued to admire the businesslike methods -of the burglar. The door of the safe had now been pierced through all -round the lock. The man turned to reach another tool. In so doing his -eye caught sight of a patent leather boot and a trouser leg, where -before there had been empty space. The phenomenon fascinated him. He -slowly turned his head, following the clue upward until his eyes were -level with the barrel of Mr. Hilton's revolver. His jaw fell, and he -stiffened. - -"Please keep as you are for a minute," said a low voice from behind the -weapon. "I wish you to understand the situation. There is no immediate -cause for anxiety. I am--er--a friend in disguise. You may go on with -your most interesting work. I shall give no alarm. Do you understand?" - -"Who the blazes are you?" asked the burglar. - -"Your curiosity is natural. I am in your own noble profession--a -top-sawyer or a swell mobsman, I forget which; but I have the -certificate at home." - -"None of yer gammon," said the burglar. "Can't you put that thing down -an' say wot yer game is." - -"William," Mr. Hilton replied, "I wish you clearly to understand that -you have nothing at all to do with my game. You go on drilling those -nice little holes. When you've got that door open we'll discuss matters -further. Please proceed." - -[Illustration: "'YOU MAY GO ON WITH YOUR MOST INTERESTING WORK.'" - -(_p. 141._)] - -"D'you take me for a mug?" asked the burglar defiantly. - -"I shall, if you don't go on with your work. This instrument goes off on -the slightest provocation, and the wound it makes is very painful." - -The burglar turned, and resumed his work; but he did not seem to have -much heart in it, nor to derive much encouragement from Mr. Hilton's -occasional promptings. Every now and then he looked round suspiciously. -Another half-hour passed before he had prized the bolts back, and the -door was open. - -For the moment the two men forgot everything but their curiosity, and -both looked anxiously inside. Every shelf and pigeon-hole was rummaged, -but there was nothing but letters and documents. There were two drawers -below. The locks of these had to be picked. In the last one the burglar -pounced on a bag of money and some notes. - -"Got 'im!" he cried triumphantly. - -"What?" - -"Two 'underd an' fifty quid. 'E gets it on the fust of ev'ry month to -pay 'is washin' bill." - -"How did you know that?" - -"From a pal at the bank. I've 'ad this in my eye for a year or more, but -I've mos'ly been a-doin' time since I----" He stopped short suddenly, -evidently regretting his outburst of confidence. - -"Now put that money back," said Mr. Hilton. - -"Wot for?" - -"Because I tell you." - -"Arfter all the trouble I've 'ad? No bloomin' fear." - -"Put it back. You shan't lose by it." - -"Wot d'ye mean?" - -"I'm looking for something myself. It isn't in the safe, but it may be -in some other drawer in the room. If I find it I'll give you £250 -myself." - -"Name o'Morgan, or am I speakin' to Lord Rothschild?" said the burglar -sarcastically. "You don't 'appen to 'ave the chink on you?" - -"I haven't; but see, you can have this watch and chain, and my sovereign -purse, and these links, and I think--yes, here's a tenner. You can have -this lot till I give you the money." - -The burglar was impressed. - -"Cap'n," he said, "you've a free an' easy way in 'andlin' walubles wot -soots me down to the ground. I wish we could 'ave met sooner. It would -'ave saved my ole woman many a weary six months. But wot's the need to -leave the chink? S'pose we takes the bag, an' leaves the notes?" - -"You've got to leave the lot, William," said Mr. Hilton decisively. - -The burglar turned thoughtfully away from the safe. "Wot is it you're -lookin' for?" he asked. "'As the guv'n'r cut you orf with a bob, an' are -you a-goin' to alter the ole bloke's will?" - -"I'm looking for a seal." - -"Stuffed?" asked William, with a sportsman's interest. - -"No. A seal for stamping wax. It's a big one, made of silver, and about -six inches across. Let's try these drawers in the desk." - -There were six of them. Four were open, the other two locked. It took -some time to open these. They were full of legal matter. Then they -turned their attention to a set below some bookshelves. While the -burglar was busy with the locks Hilton turned over the papers on the -desk. The first was headed, "House of Lords: Gibbins _v._ Gibbins. -Judgment of Lord Ravy." Another read, "Gibbins _v._ Gibbins. Judgment of -Lord McTaughtun." Beside them was the half-written judgment of the Lord -Chancellor himself. - -Mr. Richard Hilton looked at these legal feats without interest. -Mechanically he lifted the lid of the desk. A large leather case fitted -exactly into the compartment below. He pulled it out. It was stamped -with the royal arms. - -"Here. Cut this, please." - -The flap was cut, and Hilton drew out a richly embroidered and -betasselled silk purse. - -He looked eagerly inside. - -"Hurrah!" he cried in his excitement. For it was the Great Seal of the -United Kingdom. - -The burglar examined it critically, and then felt its weight. "Five -quid," he said, putting it down contemptuously. - -Hilton dropped it carefully into his pocket. - -At this moment the electric light was suddenly switched on, and the -whole place was brilliantly illuminated. They both turned sharply -towards the door. There in his dressing-gown stood an old gentleman. -Hilton had often seen those classic features in photographs or the -illustrated papers. He recognised them at once. It was the Lord -Chancellor. - -"What are you doing here?" came the stern judicial voice. - -"We are--er--we are making the Home Circuit, my lord," said Hilton -deferentially. "May I ask your lordship to be good enough to lower your -voice. You perceive that I am armed." - -"You would dare to fire on me, sir?" said the Lord Chancellor. - -"I hope it will not be necessary; for in that case your lordship would -not hunt next season with the Bister Vale. Will you please take that -seat?" - -His lordship sank into the chair. "You are a bold man," he said, after a -pause. - -"A bold, bad man, I fear, my lord. And so is my partner, Mr. William -Sikes here. Aren't you, William?" - -William did not reply. He was gazing intently at the Lord Chancellor. - -"Ain't yer name 'Ardy?" he asked. "'Enery 'Ardy?" - -"It used to be," replied his lordship. - -"I thought so," said Mr. Sikes. "Then I says to yer face you're a -bloomin', footlin' rotter." - -"'Gently, brother, gently, pray,'" said Hilton. - -"A bloomin', footlin' rotter," repeated Mr. Sikes with the earnestness -of conviction. "An' I've waited five-an'-twenty year to tell you so." - -"Ah," said the Lord Chancellor, with some interest. "How is that?" - -"I once paid you to defend me at the Dawchester 'Sizes respectin' a mare -wot 'ad follered me inter 'Ampshire. A sickenin' 'ash you made of it. -You got two quid fer the job, an' I got two year. I b'lieve you woz -boozed." - -"Pray forgive William, my lord," said Hilton. "He forgets himself -strangely when he's excited. We have a lot of trouble with him at home." - -William glared at him. "I ain't forgot that bloke's ugly mug, any'ow. I -swore I'd be quits with 'im one day, an', holy Moses, it's my go now." -Saying this, he clutched his jemmy, and advanced threateningly towards -his lordship. - -"Stay, you fool!" Hilton cried. "If you dare to touch him I'll shoot -you. Get back." - -William hesitated. - -"If you don't get back before I count three I'll lame you for life. -One--two----" - -William retired sullenly. - -"My lord," said Hilton, "I must draw this painful interview to a close. -Your presence excites William, and he's always dangerous when excited. -We will retire. Before I go, I wish to give you my word of honour that -anything we may take away with us to-night will be again in your -possession within forty-eight hours." - -"Your word of honour, sir!" repeated his lordship with withering -contempt. - -"You are ungenerous, my lord. You force me to remind you that but for my -interference William would undoubtedly have had his revenge upon you -to-night, and the Woolsack have lost its brightest ornament. In return, -I ask your lordship to give me your own assurance that you will not -raise any alarm for the next half-hour. If you do not we shall have to -bind and gag you." - -"Don't you be such a fool as to trust 'im," said William. "I'll do the -gaggin'," he added, with enthusiasm. - -"Shut up, William," said Mr. Hilton. "If his lordship gives his word you -may be sure he will keep it--even with thieves. The age of chivalry is -not yet past, although you are still alive. My lord, do you agree?" - -"I am in your hands. I promise." - -Hilton bowed. He pointed to the door to his companion. - -"My tools," said William, going round the desk to collect them. A minute -later the two had left the room. In five minutes they had scaled the -outside wall, and within the half-hour were in Richard Hilton's rooms. - -Mr. William Sikes looked round him admiringly. - -"I understand your feelings, William," said Mr. Hilton, "but my windows -and doors are every night connected with a burglar-alarm, and my man, -who was once a noted bruiser, is close at hand. I don't really think it -would be safe for you to call again. Now you want your money. I will -write a cheque out, payable to bearer, and give it you. If you make -yourself nice and tidy they will cash it for you in the morning over the -counter at my bank." - -"I don't like cashin' cheques at banks," said William. "I never was any -good at it," he added pensively. "Ain't you got any rhino in this 'ere -shanty?" - -"Let me see. You have a tenner of mine in your pocket. Perhaps I can -give you some more." Hilton opened a bureau, and produced a cash-box. -"You see where I keep it, William," he remarked pleasantly. "I shall -have to find another place for it in future--you are so very impulsive. -Ah, here we are. Three fivers and two--four--six in gold. That makes -twenty-one. And where's the sovereign purse I gave you? Thank you. Here -are four more: that makes twenty-five; and you have ten: that is -thirty-five. Now I'll make a cheque out for the balance--what is it? -Yes; two hundred and fifteen pounds. . . . Here it is. Perhaps your -friend at the Lord Chancellor's bank will present it for you before -three o'clock this afternoon, when I shall suddenly find that I have -lost the cheque, and shall stop payment." - -"Wot do you do that for?" asked William suspiciously. - -"I must do it for my own protection, William, as I'm afraid it wouldn't -be wise for me to have any direct transactions with you. But until three -o'clock the game is in your hands. Now it's time for you to have your -beauty sleep. I am much obliged for your assistance. Good-night. Oh, by -the way, let me have my watch, please--and the links. William, I'm -afraid you were forgetting them." - -"Blow me, but I was," said William frankly, as he dived into his -capacious pockets. "My mem'ry ain't wot it used to be, an' I knows it. -Wot with work an' worry, an' worry an' work, it don't 'ave a fair -chance. 'Ere you are, Cap'n." And William placed the jewellery in Mr. -Hilton's hands with obvious regret. Then his host showed him off the -premises. - -It was now four o'clock. Hilton pulled out the Great Seal, and locked it -up in a secret drawer in his bureau. Then he retired to rest, in the -happy consciousness of a night well spent. - -He rose late that morning, and it was one o'clock before he left his -rooms. In Piccadilly, on the news posters: - - "THE - GREAT SEAL - OF - ENGLAND - STOLEN," - -at once caught his eye. He bought a paper, and turned to the column with -curious interest. - - "A daring robbery was perpetrated in the early hours - of this morning at Shipley House, Kensington Gore, the - residence of the Lord Chancellor. His lordship, being - unable to sleep, came downstairs about two o'clock, - intending to complete an important judgment. In the - library he found two burglars, who succeeded in - decamping before his lordship could obtain assistance. - - "The Great Seal of England, and £250 in gold and notes - are missing. - - "This is probably the most audacious burglary of - modern times, for the Lord Chancellor is the head of - the judicial system of the country, and, after - Royalty, is only second in importance to the - Archbishop of Canterbury. - - "England is to-day without a Great Seal of State, a - position unparalleled since it was stolen from Lord - Thurlow's residence in 1784. Only once before had it - been missing--when James II. threw it into the Thames - at Lambeth. - - "Great inconvenience has already been caused by its - absence, as the treaty between England and Korea was - to have been signed to-morrow, and the Great Seal - affixed thereto. We understand that the Privy Council - will meet in the morning at Buckingham Palace in order - to deal with the situation thus created. - - "We are informed that the police have an important - clue which will lead to the apprehension of at least - one of the criminals. We do not know whether any - special penalty is attached to the theft of the Great - Seal, but a century ago the perpetrator of the crime - would undoubtedly have been hanged." - -Richard Hilton stared at this in blank amazement. The pains and -penalties did not disturb him, but "£250 in gold and notes missing" held -him spellbound. Suddenly light dawned upon him, and he burst out with -"Done! And by William! That was when he collected his tools, and I -wasn't watching. The scoundrel! Hi! hansom! . . . Cox's Bank. Sharp!" - -Ten minutes later he was at the bank counter. - -"I have lost a cheque for £215, payable to bearer, made out to self and -endorsed. Please stop payment," he said. - -"Very sorry, Mr. Hilton," replied the teller. "It was presented first -thing this morning, and I cashed it in gold." - -That evening the meeting of the Burglars' Club was held at the house of -Lord Altamont, an ex-colonel of the Welsh Guards. There was a record -attendance. The robbery of the Great Seal had excited general interest, -but to members of the Club the accompanying details were of the gravest -importance. - -After the usual opening formalities had been gone through, Lord Ribston -rose. - -"Mr. President, I crave leave for Mr. Richard Hilton, a cadet member of -this club, to speak." - -Assent was given by the general silence, which was maintained when -Hilton entered. - -"Mr. President, my lords and gentlemen," he began, "I regret exceedingly -that I have to make my first appearance in your midst with an apology. I -take it that you have all seen the paragraph in the papers stating that -the Great Seal is missing from the Lord Chancellor's House, and, in -addition to that, £250 in notes and gold. No explanation is needed as to -the absence of the Great Seal, for that resulted from the mandate of -your club. The other item calls for a clear and explicit statement of -the facts of the case." - -Here Hilton gave an account of the robbery from his first meeting the -burglar to his parting from him, concluding, "So now, gentlemen, I -suggest that I deserve your sympathy rather than your blame; for not -only has Mr. Sikes relieved me of £250, but I have promised the Lord -Chancellor to return anything we took away with us. I shall, therefore, -have to send him a further like sum. I do not grudge the loss of £500, -since I have been enabled to qualify as a member of your club, but I do -most sincerely regret that my bungling has led to even a temporary -suspicion that the taint of professionalism has been brought into your -midst. My lords and gentlemen, I am in your hands. Here, at any rate, is -the Great Seal of the United Kingdom." - -The last words were lost in tumultuous applause. Each member rose to his -feet and acclaimed the speaker, and then they crowded round him and -shook hands. - -"Gentlemen," said the President, when order had been restored, "I move -that Mr. Richard Hilton be now formally enrolled as a member of the -Club, and in your name I welcome him as one who has already added lustre -to our annals. The circumstances of his entry are so unusual that, as a -mark of our appreciation, I beg to move that the provincial line due -from him in the usual course of things in two years' time be hereby -excused, and that, as an exception to our rule, Mr. Hilton be elected -for a term of four years." - -The proposition was carried by acclamation. - -"Your Grace and gentlemen, I thank you," said the beaming Richard -Hilton. - - * * * * * - -The Privy Council met at ten on the following morning, and ordered a new -seal to be engraved; but at noon a postal packet was delivered at -Shipley House, which, on being opened, disclosed an old biscuit tin, -then tissue paper, then cotton-wool, and finally the Great Seal of the -United Kingdom. - -The treaty between England and Korea was signed with the usual -formalities at three in the afternoon. - -Later in the day the Lord Chancellor received from five different -quarters registered parcels, each weighing about a pound avoirdupois. -Each packet contained fifty sovereigns. - -Thus within forty-eight hours his lordship had received all the stolen -property. In consideration thereof he cancelled his instructions to -Scotland Yard to follow up a clue which Mr. William Sikes had -incautiously given about a Dorset horse robbery in the late 'seventies. - -His lordship also advertised his acknowledgments in the agony column of -the _Times_, and asked for the favour of an explanation of the whole -incident. This was not forthcoming, and the matter remained for some -time the one unsolved riddle of his lordship's life. - -Mr. William Sikes, with the £500 so ingeniously obtained, retired from -the burglary profession, and bought a little public house known as the -"Goat and Compasses." For some reason or other he altered the name to -"Seal and Compasses," thereby causing much mystification to future -antiquarians in that particular district. - -In recalling his conduct on the night in question, Mr. Sikes spends some -of the happiest hours of his life. - -To Mr. Richard Hilton the events of that night were also eminently -satisfactory. He was the only loser, but he had gained more than he had -lost, for the laurels of the Burglars' Club were his. - - - - -VIII. - -THE LION AND THE SUN. - - -THE visit of His Royal Highness Ali Azim Mirza, nephew of the Shah, -accompanied by the Grand Vizier, Hasan Kuli, is fresh in our memories. -The mission of the Prince was to invest a distinguished personage with -the insignia of the Lion and the Sun in order to mark the Persian -monarch's appreciation of the Garter which had been recently conferred -upon him. The Mission duly returned with its object accomplished. -Outwardly everything happened as was anticipated, and there are but few -who know how nearly we approached to a war with Russia as a consequence -of the visit, while still fewer are aware that such a calamity was -averted by a cadet member of the Burglars' Club. - -In the unwritten annals of the Club the incident stands out prominently. -It is well that it should be recorded before it is forgotten. - -The special Mission was due to arrive in London on the 10th of the -month. It was to leave on the 16th. Lord Denton had placed his town -house at the disposal of the Prince and his retinue during their stay. - -On the 4th, Mr. Birket Rivers, a cadet member of the Burglars' Club, -received an intimation that his entrance fee could be paid on the 13th -by the production of the insignia of the Order which the Prince was -bringing with him. - -On the evening of the 8th, John Parker, a footman in the employ of Lord -Denton, called by request on Mr. Rivers at his rooms in the Albany. - -"You wished to see me, sir?" - -"Ah, Parker, how are you getting on?" - -"Very well, thank you, sir." - -"You are going to have great times, Parker. When does Lord Denton -leave?" - -"To-morrow, sir." - -"Are all the servants staying behind?" - -"Only about half of us, sir. The Persians bring their own cooks and -men." - -"Quite so. Are you remaining?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Good. I want you to let me take your place." - -Parker opened his eyes very wide. "Beg pardon, sir," he said, feeling -sure he had misunderstood the last remark. - -"I want to take your place as footman in Denton House while the Persians -are there. If you will help me to do so, Parker, there's ten pounds for -you." - -Parker scratched his head. "I should like the ten pounds, sir; but I -don't see how I'm to get it. They'd never mistake you for me, sir, -though we are about the same build. Mr. Bradshaw would spot the -difference at once." - -"Who is Mr. Bradshaw?" - -"The butler, sir. He's pretty well left in charge of the house." - -"Listen, Parker. The Prince comes the day after to-morrow. At eleven -o'clock in the morning of that day you've got to be taken ill. Tell -Bradshaw you can't work, and you think it's something infectious. Tell -him that your cousin, James Finny, who is only staying on with me till -he hears of a place, would jump at the job. Send me word, and I will -turn up at once." - -"Mr. Bradshaw might know you, sir." - -"I don't think so. I've never been at the house. Besides, I shall shave -off my moustache. Anyway, Parker, I'll take care you lose nothing by it, -even if I should be found out." - -John Parker left a quarter of an hour later, ten pounds richer than he -came. In his pocket he carried a letter which eventually reached Mr. -Rivers by special messenger at noon on the 10th. It ran: - - DEAR JAMES,--Come immediately. I am ill, and Mr. - Bradshaw says you can take my place.--Your loving - cousin, - - JOHN PARKER. - -With his moustache shaved off, and attired in a painfully respectable -ready-made suit, Rivers presented himself at Denton House at one -o'clock. He found Mr. Bradshaw in a highly-wrought condition. - -"So you're Parker's cousin? A pretty mess he's landed me in!" - -"I hope he's not very bad, sir." - -"I hope he is. I hope he'll die," said Mr. Bradshaw vengefully. "You've -lived with Mr. Rivers?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Can you announce visitors?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Go to that door, and announce the Lord Mayor." - -Rivers--or, rather, James Finny--flung open the door, and announced in -stentorian accents, "His Worship the Lord Mayor of London." - -"You hass!" shouted Mr. Bradshaw. "You only worship him when you're in -the prisoners' box. I 'spect that's where you met him. Call him 'his -Lordship' when he's a-wisitin'. Now again." - -James obeyed. - -"Bravo--that's better!" said another voice. It proceeded from a mite of -a man who had approached noiselessly, and who now stood rubbing his -hands approvingly. "But it's rather late for rehearsals, Mr. Bradshaw, -isn't it?" he added. - -"Parker's taken ill," said Mr. Bradshaw savagely. "He's sent this screw -to take his place." - -"So thoughtful of Parker," murmured the little man. "What's your name, -and where do you come from?" addressing the candidate for office. - -"James Finny, sir--from Mr. Birket Rivers." - -"Mr. Birket Rivers," reflected the other. "Ah, to be sure--Mr. Birket -Rivers, the young millionaire. Drives a team of spanking bays at the -Four-in-Hand meets. Attaché at Constantinople, or something. Came into -money and left the Service. Wishes he'd stopped in it, I believe. A -very active young gentleman. Oh, yes, I've heard of your master--your -late master, James Finny." - -The little man was studying him intently all the time. Then he fixed his -eyes on Rivers' hands. He lifted the right one, looked at it, and passed -on. - -There was a loud ring, and a footman entered with "Please, Mr. Bradshaw, -there's the gentlemen come from the hembassy." - -The butler bustled to the door. "Go up to Parker's room, and change into -his things at once, and then come down to me in the 'all," he said to -Rivers. - -"Yes, sir," Rivers replied. "Beg pardon, Mr. Bradshaw, who was that -small gentleman wot just left us?" - -"That small gentleman," said Mr. Bradshaw, with swelling dignity, "is -Mr. Marvell, from Scotland Yard; so you'd better be careful, Finny." - -Prince Ali Azim, accompanied by the Vizier and a numerous suite, arrived -that afternoon, and the whole household was thenceforth kept busy -attending to the wants, numerous and peculiar, of the Persians. Rivers' -chief duties were to attend to the hall door, and to help to wait at -meals. He did his work to the satisfaction of Mr. Bradshaw, and never a -day passed without Mr. Marvell, who was installed as the protecting -angel of the establishment, staring fixedly at him, and then passing -some word of commendation in a tone that brought the blood to his face. - -"A shocking habit you have of blushing, James Finny," the little man -would say as he toddled away. - -And all the time the new footman was trying to find out where the Order -of the Lion and the Sun was kept. - -It was the 12th before he ascertained that it was in one of three -despatch boxes kept in a bookcase in the library. - -The Burglars' meeting took place on the 13th. He must purloin it before -then--that very night, if possible. - -At five o'clock the Vizier was taken ill. - -"Some of Parker's leavin's, I'll be bound," said Mr. Bradshaw. "Same -symtims. Looks all right, and talks despairin' of pains an' shivers. -Won't have a doctor, neither. If the Wizzer pipes out, Finny, your -preshus cousin'll be responsible." - -At 8 p.m. the Prince and his suite, with the exception of the invalid -Vizier, set out for the Alhambra and supper at the Carlton. Mr. -Marvell, as usual, followed closely in their wake. - -At nine o'clock James Finny was off duty. "Now or never," he thought. He -watched his opportunity, and then, unperceived, entered the library, and -there hid himself behind a curtain, intending to wait till the household -was asleep, and then to open the despatch box from his bunch of skeleton -keys. He had been there perhaps half an hour when the door opened, and, -to his amazement, the Vizier entered. He was followed by a servant -bringing coffee and cigarettes. There were cups for two. - -The minutes passed slowly. The Vizier looked impatiently at the clock, -then strode up to one of the windows, pulled back the heavy curtain, -raised the blind, and looked out. Rivers' pulses quickened. What if the -Vizier were to come to his window? - -"Ha!" exclaimed the Persian, replacing the curtain, and resuming his -seat. - -The door opened, and a bemuffled object made its appearance. The Vizier -rose. The servant withdrew, and the object emerged from its wraps. -Rivers knew the man at once. He had met him at Constantinople. It was -Count Moranoff. - -The Vizier bowed. - -The newcomer responded, and then gave a sigh of relief. - -"_Peste!_ but it was warm, Vizier," he said. "I am delighted at last to -have the honour and the supreme pleasure of meeting you." - -"Your Excellency," replied the Vizier, "the fame of Count Moranoff has -for long inspired me with an intense wish that we should meet. Allah has -at last granted the desire of my life. Will your Excellency seat -yourself? Here is coffee _alla Turca_." - -The count drew up his chair, and took the proffered cup. As he lit a -cigarette, his eyes travelled appreciatively over the portraits of a -dozen Dentons, famous in the service of their country. "It is fitting we -should meet here," he said, "surrounded by these illustrious gentlemen, -who look on, but cannot move. It is prophetic." - -"It is Kismet," said the Vizier gravely. - -"Kismet, assisted by two statesmen," returned the Count. "Exactly. But I -mustn't lose time, Vizier, as our moments are precious." He put his hand -into his breast pocket, and produced a document. "Here is the draft of -our understanding, arranged so far as is possible with three thousand -versts between us. Now we must discuss the final details. I have -indicated my suggestions, and if they meet with your approval it will be -possible for us to sign before you leave London." - -The Persian watched the smoke rings float upward. "There is no haste," -he said. "'Fruit ripens slowly under grey skies,' as our poet sings." - -"Quite so--quite so," said the Russian, conscious of an error. "This -year--the next will do. Our treasury has many drains upon it. We are not -anxious to add to the number." - -The Vizier smoked imperturbably. "The skies are grey here," he said at -length, "but this London holds some wonderful men. One I met -yesterday--an American. He is young. His hair is still flaxen. Yet he -spoke of money as though it grew on rose trees. Half a million roubles -are as nothing to him. He gave that sum for an Italian picture--an old, -shabby-looking thing such as my master would not place in his anterooms. -He owns oil mines, railways, banks. Allah! what does that flaxen-haired -youth not own? My heart ached at the number of his possessions." - -"These Americans talk," replied the Count. "Half they say is false, half -exaggeration." - -"Sometimes, no doubt," said the Vizier, "but not always. I know this man -is rich. He is one of the new kings of the earth. We have already had a -transaction together," and he sighed contentedly. - -"There are kings and kings," replied the Russian. "There are also -emperors. Your Excellency is now in negotiation with one who controls -the destinies of countless millions--men and roubles. When last I saw -his Majesty he said, 'Tell his Excellency the Grand Vizier that I would -his wisdom could be added to that of my counsellors. When the wishes of -my heart respecting the new treaty are consummated he will honour me by -accepting half a million roubles.'" - -The Persian gazed reflectively into space. "Your master is great," he -said, "and he is generous. His rewards make glad the hearts of poets. He -is the joy of the poor. Would that I were a poet or poor. So should my -voice praise him also." - -The Russian's eye gleamed, but he continued suavely: - -"So said my royal master, 'Half a million roubles shall be his when the -treaty is signed; five hundred thousand more when the Russian flag -floats in the Persian Gulf.'" - -The Persian leaned back resignedly. - -"Great is the power of your master," he said. "As Russia is bigger than -America, so does his power exceed that of the flaxen-haired gentleman I -met yesterday. The Americans are numbered by tens, your master's -subjects by hundreds of millions. Besides, it is always more agreeable -to deal with a first-class diplomatist. Let me look at the draft." - -Count Moranoff handed over the document. The Vizier read it slowly. The -terms were fairly comprehensive. Behind his curtain Rivers breathed hard -at their audacity, and his blood tingled at the thought that it rested -with him to checkmate this daring move. The statesmen discoursed -frankly, and there was no disguise of the object in view. India was -eventually to be attacked by Russia, who was prepared to pay for -facilities granted. The north-eastern province of Persia was a necessary -factor of the scheme, and a railway was to be commenced at once from -Astrabad to Meshed. But the most striking part of the plan was the -acquisition by Russia of a port in the Persian Gulf. The Isle of Kishm -was to be ceded to her. The only discussion between the two statesmen -was with regard to the Island of Ashurada in the Caspian. The Vizier -demanded its evacuation by Russia in partial payment for Kishm, but more -particularly as a sop to the Persian people. After much demur this was -finally agreed to by Moranoff, in addition to the annuity of two million -roubles granted to the Shah. - -The Vizier folded up the document. - -"My secretary shall transcribe this to-morrow," he said, "and we can -sign after our return from Windsor. Strange, is it not," he -soliloquised, "that our former negotiations came to a head when the -English Mission brought the Garter, and our new one is to be consummated -while we are in the act of returning the compliment? These English are -fated to be hoodwinked." - -"When men such as you and I get together, my dear Vizier----" began the -Russian sententiously. Then he stopped short, for the door had suddenly -opened. - -The Persian turned angrily, and then rose to his feet as a tall, -richly-dressed man entered. It was the Prince Ali Azim. - -"Vizier," said the Prince abruptly, "whom have you here? Your -physician?" - -The Vizier's face had assumed a bland smile, and instinctively he -endeavoured to cover the treaty. But the Prince saw the movement. - -"Why hide the prescription, Vizier?" he said. - -The Russian's face grew livid, but the Vizier regained his usual -composure. - -"Your Royal Highness," he said, "permit me to present his Excellency -Count Moranoff." - -"Ten thousand pardons, Count," said the Prince, slightly returning the -Count's profound inclination. "You will, perhaps, understand my mistake -when I tell you that the Vizier is far from well. He has, no doubt, -concealed the fact from you, but he was too ill to accompany me this -evening to the hall of music. Hence my surprise at finding him here. I -fear that his extraordinary zeal for affairs has led him prematurely -from his bed. I am sure that you would not wish him to trespass unduly -on his strength." - -"Your Royal Highness's surmise is correct," said Moranoff. "It would, -indeed, be an international calamity were the Vizier to break down. I -hope I have not hastened that end." He again bowed profoundly to the -Prince, refused the Vizier's offer of assistance with his wraps, and -then, with a cold adieu to him, left the room. - -"Now, Hasan Kuli," thundered the Prince when they were alone, "what -intrigue is this?" - -"Your Royal Highness's suspicions are uncalled for. Moranoff and I are -old friends by correspondence. We had never met personally, and he -naturally seized this opportunity." - -"I did not know he was in England," said the Prince. "The Russian -Ambassador incidentally referred to him to-day as being in Petersburg. I -left you in bed, full of toothache and indigestion. I return -unexpectedly, and find you deliberating with a Russian who is supposed -to be five hundred _farsakhs_ away. Give me that paper." - -The Vizier reluctantly produced it, and the Prince read it through. - -"Ah," he said, as he refolded it. "I see you are making a cat's-paw of -me again. My mission here is to do away with any ill-effects consequent -on our treaty with Russia. You will remember that when we were fooling -the English Mission in Teheran I knew nothing of the treaty just -concluded with Russia. My uncle and you delighted to keep me in the -dark; yet all the time it was I who did the work. Was it his Majesty the -Shah who played at billiards and cards with the English? Was it you who -fought them at lawn tennis. Bah! I laugh at the thought. But I played at -all. I lost my money at cards and billiards, and I suffered defeat at -lawn tennis till the perspiration rolled down me, and my legs gave way. -And you smoked and laughed, and got all the profit. I, who worked, got -none. Now I have come over land and sea with the Order of the Lion and -the Sun. Again I do the work--again I know nothing. I find you -intriguing behind my back. You treat me as a child; but you forget that -some day I may be Shah. You play with fire, Vizier." - -"Your Royal Highness, I beg you to believe that I have acted for what I -thought was the benefit of our country." - -"And your own pocket," added the Prince. "How much plunder do you get -out of this?" - -The Vizier held up his hands in horror. "Your Royal Highness," he said, -"is nothing ever done disinterestedly--from pure patriotism?" - -[Illustration: "SUDDENLY HE ROSE, TOOK THE DRAFT OF THE TREATY, WENT TO -THE DESPATCH BOXES, AND PLACED IT IN ONE OF THEM." - -(_p. 175._)] - -"Not by Hasan Kuli," sneered the Prince. "Please save yourself useless -declamation. You may as well know my terms at once. The price of my -acquiescence in this matter is one million roubles." - -The Vizier gasped. - -"One million roubles!" he exclaimed. "Does money grow?" - -"So far as I know, it does not," replied the Prince acidly. "But you may -as well spare yourself unnecessary questions. These are my terms. -Arrange with Moranoff to-morrow, or take it from your own profit--I care -not which; but unless a portion of the money is forthcoming before we -leave this cursed land I will----" - -"You will betray us?" - -"I do not explain my intentions to Viziers," replied the young man -haughtily. "You understand me, I hope. Here is your treaty." He tossed -the document on the table and left. - -The Vizier threw himself on a sofa, and groaned aloud. He lay there -long--so long that Rivers, behind the curtain, was stiff and weary. And -there was the Vizier, now apparently dozing at intervals--perhaps -going to make a night of it. - -Suddenly he rose, took the draft of the treaty, went to the despatch -boxes, and placed it in one of them. His body intervened between Rivers' -view of them, but the watcher followed his movements as best he could. -Then the Vizier turned to the door, and clicked out the light as he -passed through. - -Rivers stretched himself, but he did not venture to stir from behind the -curtain for some time. At length he stepped out, turned on his portable -electric light, crossed the room, and stood before the despatch boxes. - -There were three, all exactly alike. One held the insignia of the Lion -and the Sun. That was--yes, that was the bottom one. The treaty was in -the middle one. The top one was unimportant. Rivers lifted out the -middle one, and essayed to open it with his keys, but in vain. Then he -tried the bottom one--that containing the Persian Order--but with no -better success. The box would have to be forced open elsewhere. Yet he -dare not carry it across the hall. Other means had to be found for -getting it out of the room, and the way had occurred to him as he stood -behind the curtain. - -One box he might pass safely through this instrumentality, but only one. -Two would court defeat. Which box was he to take--the one that held the -Order of the Lion and the Sun, the object of all his scheming, or the -other, in which lay the treaty? - -Rivers' mind had taken its resolve at the instant he had seen the draft -placed therein. Since Moranoff had appeared, he had lost all immediate -interest in the Burglars' Club. Whether he became a member or not was of -little moment, but it was a matter of national importance that the -Foreign Secretary should see the draft of the treaty. The Earl of -Ancoats was hard to convince of anyone's dishonesty. His own honour was -so untarnished that he refused to believe less of others. He had -declined to take hints about the former treaty between Russia and -Persia, and now, with the Shah's Mission at his door, he would probably -refuse to believe that this was but another blind, covering a further -and bolder intrigue. Lord Ancoats must see the treaty. - -Rivers took the middle box across to the window, then drew up the blind -and waited. The red-coated sentry passed. Could he manage it before the -soldier was round again? - -Ah! here was his chance. - -He opened the window gently. "Hi!" he called out to the passing hansom. -The man pulled up, got down, and came to the window. - -"I want you to take this box straight to Lord Ancoats. He lives in Eaton -Square. Tell him Mr. Birket Rivers sent it, and he must open it at once. -I will see him in the morning about it. Here's a sovereign. If Lord -Ancoats gets it within an hour, I'll give you another sovereign -to-morrow. Here you are. Cut along. Drive like blazes." - -As the man mounted his seat, the sentry came round the corner. Rivers -cautiously closed the window, and drew the blind. He then pulled a chair -behind the curtain, and went to sleep on it till four o'clock, when he -made his way to his own room. - -First thing in the morning he sent a message to John Parker, who turned -up in good health at ten o'clock, and claimed his post back. - -Half an hour later Rivers left, assured of Mr. Bradshaw's offer of the -next vacancy in the household. He drove straight to the Albany, and then -to Eaton Square. The Earl was at the Foreign Office. Within the hour his -lordship received him. - -"Well, Mr. Rivers," said Lord Ancoats, producing the despatch box from a -safe. "What is the meaning of this?" - -[Illustration: "INSTEAD OF THE DRAFT, THERE, ON A PURPLE VELVET CUSHION, -WAS THE GLITTERING ORDER OF THE LION AND THE SUN." - -(_p. 178._)] - -"It explains itself, my lord." - -"Indeed," said the statesman drily. "What do you think it contains?" - -"The draft of a new treaty between Russia and Persia." - -"Open it." - -Rivers did so, and, instead of the draft, there on a purple velvet -cushion was the glittering Order of the Lion and the Sun! - -Rivers was stupefied. - -"Was there nothing else?" he asked in bewilderment. - -"No, sir; and perhaps you will now explain how you came into possession -of this, and why you sent it to me. It is surely the property of the -Persian Mission." - -Lord Ancoats' demeanour was not reassuring, but Rivers plunged boldly -into the matter. - -"Last night, at Denton House, Count Moranoff visited the Persian -Vizier," he commenced. - -"How do you know that?" - -"I saw him. I was present at the interview--unknown, of course. He -brought with him the draft of a treaty supplementing the last one. It -had chiefly reference to the acquisition of a Russian port in the -Persian Gulf." - -"Ah!" said Lord Ancoats, "that's a bold move. Go on, please." - -"The Vizier placed the draft in one of three despatch boxes like this. I -thought this was the one, and I sent it here so that your lordship could -read the treaty for yourself. I deeply regret that I made a mistake in -the box, but I can give the gist of the treaty from memory." - -"Please do so now." - -Rivers' memory was good, and the words of the treaty had burnt -themselves on his brain. He recited the terms without hesitation. The -minister heard him in silence, making notes. - -"Thank you, Rivers," he said at the end. "You will please let me have -that in writing in time for to-morrow's Cabinet." Then he got up and -paced the room. "It is an unfortunate situation. I think we shall be -able to meet the political side of it, but the investiture takes place -at Windsor to-morrow, and this discovery is, to say the least, -embarrassing. However, we have to thank you for being forewarned. You -evidently anticipated this move." - -"I'm afraid not, sir. It was as much luck as anything else on my part." - -"But you were at Denton House?" - -"I was there on other business," said Rivers frankly. - -Lord Ancoats looked grave. "Well, Mr. Rivers," he said, "I will not -inquire too closely what that other business was. You have rendered a -service to the State which will not be forgotten. Now, what about this?" -pointing to the box. - -"I will see that the Vizier gets it." - -"At once?" - -Rivers hesitated. Only then did he remember he now had in his possession -what he wanted. He could pay his entrance fee. - -"I will see that it is at Denton House by the morning," he said. - -Lord Ancoats watched him intently. - -"Does the Burglars' Club meet to-night?" he said quietly. - -"I--I beg your pardon," stammered Rivers. - -Lord Ancoats laid a kindly hand on his shoulder. "I was only told of -that institution within the hour," he said, "and till a moment ago I -didn't believe the information. Take my advice, Rivers, and leave it. -Its existence, you see, is known to some of the outside world. As a -friend I warn you that you will be watched to-night. Don't spoil your -career. Why did you leave the Service? Oh, I remember; but you're not -satisfied with merely killing time, are you? Will you come back to us? -The First Secretaryship at Vienna is vacant. Would you take it?" - -Rivers' face beamed. "I'd jump at it, my lord." - -"Then be ready to start in a week. Never mind thanks. I am still your -debtor. Now about this box? You might be unable to restore it. We must -adopt other means." - -Lord Ancoats opened the door of an adjoining room with, "Come forward, -please." And the little detective whom Rivers had last seen at Denton -House that very morning entered briskly. - -"I believe you have met before?" said Lord Ancoats. - -Rivers was too astonished to reply. - -"Yes, I have met James Finny--I beg pardon--Mr. Birket Rivers," said the -detective drily. - -"Mr. Rivers has explained the mystery very satisfactorily, Marvell," -said Lord Ancoats. "The box should be restored without delay. Will you -do this, please?" - -Mr. Marvell tried to look pleased, but signally failed in the attempt. - -"Certainly, my lord," he replied. - -There was a knock at the door, and a clerk appeared with a card in his -hand. - -"I must leave you now," said the Minister. "Rivers, next week, remember. -I am much obliged for your assistance, Mr. Marvell." - -With this the Secretary for Foreign Affairs left the room. - -The detective took up the box. - -"How on earth did you come into this matter, Mr. Marvell?" asked Rivers. - -"Very simply, sir. When Lord Ancoats got the box he telephoned to -Scotland Yard, and I was sent for at once. As a matter of fact, I opened -the box for his lordship. You're sure you wouldn't like to restore it -yourself? The Vizier is ill in bed, and it won't be wanted till -to-morrow." - -"Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Marvell," Rivers laughed; "but I'm sure -it's safer in your hands." - -Mr. Marvell nodded grimly. "Sooner or later, sir. Sooner or later," he -said, as he walked to the door; "but don't try to be a footman next -time." - -With these enigmatical remarks the interview terminated. - - * * * * * - -On the following day the investiture of the Lion and the Sun took place -at Windsor. After the ceremony Prince Ali Azim and the Vizier had a -private interview with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. It -was noted at the time that the Persians emerged looking singularly -subdued. - -That evening, in reply to a friendly question addressed by the Leader of -the Opposition, Lord Ancoats took the opportunity to assure the House -that the paramount influence of England in the Persian Gulf would be -maintained at any cost, and a month later the Union Jack floated by the -side of the Arab Sultan's flag on the castle towers of Muscat. - -This was the answer given to the Russian intrigue. That it was so -effective and complete was owing to the action of Mr. Birket Rivers, -sometime a cadet member of the Burglars' Club. - - - - -IX. - -THE HORSESHOE AND THE PEPPERCORN. - - -THE President rose and read: "'March 29th is the anniversary of the -Battle of Towton. For valour on that desperate field John de Mallaby -received from Edward IV. the Barony of Tadcaster, and an appropriate -grant of land in Yorkshire, at a yearly rental of a peppercorn and a -golden horseshoe. That rent is still paid by the Barons--now Earls--of -Tadcaster. His late lordship used to bring his annual acknowledgment to -town in a state coach with outriders, but the present peer takes it to -his Sovereign by motor-car, attended only by a chauffeur.' - -"In this paragraph, my lords and gentlemen," continued the Duke, "we see -indicated the quest of our distinguished fellow member Captain Prescott -Cunningham, whose subscription is now due." - -"What is the quest, Mr. President?" inquired Cunningham. "Am I to -capture the peer or the motor-car?" - -"Neither, sir," replied his Grace of Dorchester. "You will kindly -produce the horseshoe and the peppercorn intended for the King on the -29th. Our meeting is arranged for the 28th, so that we may return the -trophies in question, and enable his lordship of Tadcaster to continue -in possession of his remarkably low-rented estate." - -The Right Honourable John de Mallaby, D.L., F.R.S., M.A., Eighteenth -Baron and Seventh Earl of Tadcaster, lived chiefly at his Westmorland -seat, Kirkdale Castle, which an ancestress in the time of George the -First had obligingly brought into the family in addition to her own good -looks. - - * * * * * - -A certain Mr. Shaw arrived one day of March last at the Golden Lion Inn, -Kirkdale, and there spent a few days, talking much with the landlord and -frequenters of the inn, and taking walks in the neighbourhood of the -Castle. On the latter occasions he might have been seen gazing somewhat -disconsolately at the battlemented walls which had several times defied -an army. - -Once when he was so occupied, a thin, grizzly, stooping gentleman had -passed, and with him a handsome dark-eyed girl. He learnt that this was -the Earl himself, a scientific and somewhat eccentric widower, and his -only child Eva, a _débutante_ of last season. - -Prescott Cunningham--for so was this Mr. Shaw designated in the more -accurate books of the Registrar-General--soon gave up any idea of -entering the Castle in his quest of the peppercorn and horseshoe. The -task of finding them there was too big. He had learnt that on these -annual occasions Lord Tadcaster, accompanied by his chauffeur, left the -castle in his motor-car four days before the King received him. He also -learnt full particulars of the route followed and of the halting places, -and it was his final plan of campaign to waylay his lordship on the -road, and, unashamed, to rob him of the articles desired. - -Having spent three days in coming to this conclusion, Cunningham moved -on to Bolton Abbey, through which village he knew that his lordship -would pass on his way to Harrogate, where he would spend the night of -the 25th. - -At five o'clock on the day in question, the Tadcaster Panhard drew up at -the Devonshire Arms at Bolton Abbey, and Cunningham saw to his -amazement that, instead of the Earl and his chauffeur, it contained his -lordship and a lady--his daughter. - -Cunningham groaned in spirit. To tackle two men single-handed might be -counted sporting, but a woman--hang it all! - -Mine host hurried to the door to assist his guests. - -"Has your lordship lost Mr. Ackill?" he asked. - -"I hope not," replied the Earl. "Achille hurt his hand with a backfire -this morning, and I sent him on by train to Harrogate to have it -attended to. You got my note? Dinner at six?" - -"To the minute, my lord." - -The intervening time was chiefly spent by the Earl in confidential -communion with his motor, through the intermediary of a spanner and an -oil can. - -While he was so engaged, and Cunningham was lounging near the door, -reflecting on his bad luck, another car drove up, and two loudly-dressed -men emerged from their wraps. They entered the hotel, drank thirstily, -and talked without restraint. - -Lady Eva de Mallaby passed through the hall soon afterwards. Struck by -her beauty, one of the motorists, with the comradeship of one sportsman -to another, addressed some remark to her, with a generous smile and a -casual hat-lift. - -Lady Eva, showing a trace of surprise, stared icily at the man and -passed on. - -"Hoity, toity," said the motorist, without any sign of shame. "But I'd -like to have the breaking-in of you, Miss. Wouldn't you, Sammy?" -addressing his companion. - -"Too expensive," said Sammy. "Give me a four-year-old, like I bought -to-day from Sir William, an' I'm 'appy." - -"You're a bloomin' materialist, that's what you are, Sammy," retorted -the other--"a bloomin' materialist." He lingered lovingly over the -rounded phrase, and drained his glass again. - -Twenty minutes later the sound of a gramophone percolated the house. - -Lord Tadcaster was at dinner. - -It was his daily custom to dine to the accompaniment of music. When at -home his private band officiated; when he was on his travels a -musical-box or gramophone supplied the necessary melody. - -This was an eccentricity of the peer, who had decided, after long and -recondite diagnosis, that music assists the digestion, and that certain -music is more suited to a particular food than another. Therefore he -swallowed his soup to a dreamy prelude, his fish to a fugue. The -_entrée_ was expedited by Beethoven, the joint disappeared to a -triumphal march. Sweets demanded a waltz, cheese nothing more than a -negro melody; but with wine and dessert were combined all the -possibilities of Grand Opera. - -Cunningham had learnt particulars of all this when at Kirkdale, and now -he listened to the programme emanating from the private dining-room. No -doubt owing to the absence of Achille, the music occasionally gave out, -but by the intermittent tunes Cunningham was still able to gauge the -progress of the meal. The omission of a sonata denoted limitation of the -repast, and when the strains of "Lucia di Lammermoor" throbbed on the -air Cunningham mounted his motor-cycle, and took the road that led -through Blubber-houses. - -A run of three-quarters of an hour brought him to the confines of -Haverah Park, almost within sight of Harrogate. It was here that he had -decided to waylay the motor-car. - -It was a lonely spot indeed. Moorland, grim pasture land, lean fir -trees, stone walls and limestone road, was all that met the eye. All was -cold and stern. Cold and stern was his business that night; and there, -close to the wood granted by John o' Gaunt to one Haverah, and tenanted -since Doomsday by the winds of the centuries, he waited. - -The air was springlike, but the wait was long and weary. The only -satisfactory thing about it was that he had time to note the small -amount of traffic on the road. A solitary dogcart was all that passed in -an hour. - -The moon rose in cold splendour. The stars appeared. Cunningham knew -only one of them by name--Betelgeuse, a red star, the apex of a triangle -of which three stars formed the base. The name had struck him as -remarkable, and he once had called a bull pup after it. For a moment he -thought of his dog's untimely end. - -But was the Panhard never coming? Perhaps there had been a puncture, and -in the absence of a chauffeur Lord Tadcaster was stranded. Possibly he -had returned to Bolton Abbey, or taken train forward, or, since he was -short-handed, he might have altered his route and gone by the easier -road through Otley. In that case, he, Prescott Cunningham, was lost to -the Burglars' Club. - -Ah! There was the toot of a motor in the far distance, again repeated. -It was the Tadcaster toot--a base twentieth century substitute for the -cry that on the field of Towton in 1461 led another John de Mallaby to a -barony and an estate. - -Cunningham recovered his cycle, be-straddled it, and gently mounted the -rise in front. The Panhard dashed up the hill, its acetylene lamps -glaring like man-o'-war searchlights. - -Cunningham advanced his spark. The motor responded, and sprang eagerly -after the car. They were leaving him behind. He slowly opened his -throttle valve. Now he was making pace. He was gaining on them yard by -yard, hand over fist. He was only a hundred yards behind -now--fifty--twenty-five. Could he do it? The psychological moment had -come. - -He drew his revolver and aimed at the near back tyre of the car in -front. Ah! he had missed. He hit it with his second shot. It split with -a rousing bang. The car listed and dragged. It swerved across the road -in violent curves, but Cunningham saw by the slowing of the speed that -the driver had thrown out his clutch. At last it stopped. - -[Illustration: "'SOFTLY, MY LORD,' SAID CUNNINGHAM; 'I AM COVERING YOU, -YOU OBSERVE.'" - -(_p. 192._)] - -"What's the meaning of this outrage, you scoundrel?" cried the -infuriated motorist. - -"Softly, my lord," said Cunningham, now on his feet, and advancing with -revolver in hand. "I am covering you, you observe!" - -"A highwayman, by George!" exclaimed the peer. "And Edward VII. on the -throne. A highwayman on castors!" - -"Your lordship evidently recognises the situation," said Cunningham. -"This will save time and trouble, I hope." - -"I suppose you want my purse?" replied the peer. "This comes of -travelling without my chauffeur," he added plaintively. "By George, if -Achille were here, he'd worry you. If I were ten years younger I'd -tackle you myself." - -"Regrets are futile, my lord," said Cunningham, "but a purse will not -satisfy me." - -"Oh, you want two, do you? Eva, I'm afraid you'll have to give him yours -as well. Shockin' luck for this to happen the first time we've -travelled alone. I oughtn't to have let you come." - -"Don't worry, dad, please," said Lady Eva. "I'm sorry I haven't got a -purse, highwayman," she continued contemptuously, throwing back her -thick veil to see what manner of man this could be, "but the few loose -sixpences I have in my pocket are quite at your service." - -"You may keep them, madam," Cunningham replied, with as much dignity as -the occasion would permit. "I do not ask for money. I simply want the -loan of a peppercorn and golden horseshoe until the 29th." - -"By George, he must be an antiquarian highwayman or a curio-collector -gone mad," said his lordship. "D'ye think, sir, I'll give you what I'm -taking to the King?" - -"His Majesty shall have them, and from your hands, on the proper day. I -simply ask for the loan of them till then." - -"You must think that I'm a fool," said the Earl. In an instant he had -grabbed the hoop of one of the heavy acetylene lamps, and pulled it from -its socket. "Take that, you blackguard!" he yelled, flinging it with all -his force at the cyclist. - -Cunningham dodged the missile, which crashed to the ground with light -extinguished. - -"Hands up, my lord," he shouted, "or I fire." - -The discomfited peer obeyed him. - -"You are quite at my mercy," said Cunningham sternly. "The peppercorn -and horseshoe at once, if you please, or I shall have to use force. I -trust you will avoid a scene before your daughter. You may lower your -right hand to your pocket." - -The Earl did as he was bid, drew out the precious packet, and handed it -to Cunningham. - -"Thank you, my lord," he replied. "You are wise. I promise you they -shall be returned on the morning of the 29th. To what address?" - -"I don't believe you," retorted the peer. "But I stay at Claridge's. -Now, if you've anything of a sportsman about you, you'll go on to the -Queen Hotel at Harrogate and tell my chauffeur, Achille Petibon, to come -with a repairer at once. We can't spend the night here. I've got a spare -cover and tube in the tonneau, but I can no more fit them than fly. My -finger-nails are far too brittle." - -"I will convey your message with the greatest pleasure, my lord," -replied Cunningham. "I sincerely regret the inconvenience I have caused, -though you may not think so." - -For a moment there was a pause, and Cunningham could have gone. Yet he -hesitated. - -The moon shone down upon a desolate moorland glade, lighting up the -green sward by the trees. The excitement of the adventure, the flush of -victory, a pair of bright eyes, and the memory of some half-forgotten -romance stirred his blood. - -"One final favour, my lord," he said. - -"No more, sir. By George, if I were ten years younger----" - -"You carry a gramophone with you." - -"You are remarkably well informed as to my luggage, sir. I do, but it's -too bulky for you to carry away. They're cheap enough. A man of taste -like yourself ought to be able to afford one of his own." - -"I don't want to take it away, my lord. I simply want the favour of a -dance tune and a lady's hand." - -For a moment the Earl looked puzzled. Then he exclaimed: "By George! -Claude Duval up to date! No, sir, I'll be hanged if----" His lordship -stopped suddenly. He was keen of hearing, and as he spoke he had heard, -or thought he heard, a distant car. Even if it meant a dance with his -daughter, he would detain the man until assistance arrived. In a moment -he had altered his voice. - -"On second thoughts, sir," he said, "I don't know. After all, it's a -tradition of your--er--profession. Perhaps you will oblige the -gentleman, Eva." As he spoke he pressed the girl's hand so that she -might know that something lay behind his words. "Where's the -gramophone?" he asked. While searching for the instrument his lordship -actually started whistling, lest the highwayman should also hear the -car. - -"Ah, here it is," he said aloud. Then, in a whisper to his daughter, -"Car coming. Distract his attention." In his anxiety his lordship even -hummed as he hurriedly manipulated the instrument, inserting the first -record that came to hand. - -He wound up the toy, and a baritone voice sang raucously:-- - - "Egypt! my Cleopatra! I ain't no flatt'rer, - But dis is true, - (I'm a-goin' to tell her) - Egypt! if you don't want me. . . . - -In a trice Lady Eva had found a more suitable record, and after a -momentary pause the instrument struck up "The Darkie Cake Walk," as -played by the New York Municipal Band, at Manhattan Beach, Long Island, -U.S.A. - -"May I have the honour?" asked Cunningham, hat in hand, with a low bow. - -Lady Eva inclined coldly, and took off her wraps. The man was certainly -polite. He led her as though she were a princess, and any misgivings -were soon at rest. - -It was a quaint scene. It is doubtful if Betelgeuse had ever looked down -upon a quainter. The firs formed a sombre background. The moon -illuminated the green sward in front, and on it a highwayman and a lady -motorist stepped to a catching dance tune, emanating from a gramophone -on a Panhard motor, controlled by a peer of the realm. The light of an -acetylene lamp shone like a gigantic foot-light illuminating the front -of the green stage. - -The floor was not an ideal one, though cattle had cropped it close and -the winds had swept it dry, but the pair were accomplished dancers. -Thrice had they paced the length of the floor. Now they turned again, -hand in hand, with heads thrown back, and uplifted feet. There was the -unmistakable sound of an approaching car. Cunningham must have heard it, -but recklessly he continued the dance. - -[Illustration: "THERE WAS THE UNMISTAKABLE SOUND OF AN APPROACHING CAR." - -(_p. 198._)] - -With a toot it hove into sight, and Lord Tadcaster turned his own horn -into a prolonged howl, signifying unimaginable trouble. This, and the -unusual scene at the side, brought up the oncoming car to a smart halt. -They backed abreast of the Panhard. - -"Robbery! Help!" cried the Earl. - -The two occupants of the new car hardly heard him. They were lost in -astonishment. As the dancers reached the verge of the road in the full -flare of the light, they were greeted with a round of applause. With a -snap Lord Tadcaster turned off the gramophone. - -"Well, I'm jiggered!" said one of the newcomers. "If it ain't little -Hoity Toity!" - -The peer had jumped from the Panhard. "Help me to secure this -highwayman," he said, pointing to Cunningham. "He has robbed me." - -The man who had just spoken also got down, but his companion remained on -the car, stolidly surveying the scene. - -"Come along," said the peer to his recruit. "I think we can manage -him between us." - -"Stow it, old man," said the motorist. "You collar the highwayman, and -I'll look after the lady." - -He brushed past the Earl, and, with proffered arm, smirked, "May I have -the next dance, Miss?" - -Lady Eva drew back. The man came still nearer. Instinctively she touched -Cunningham's arm for protection. - -"Stand back, sir!" he commanded. - -"Who the juggins are you?" sneered the man. "This old buffer says you're -a highwayman, but you seem to think you're a bloomin' bobby. You git, -and let me have my partner for the high-kick lancers." - -"If you come one step nearer I'll thrash you," said Cunningham. - -The man needed no further encouragement. He even dared to touch the -lady's arm. A second later he measured his length on the turf. - -His friend tumbled from his seat with anxious chivalry. - -"'Ere, you leave my pal alone," he said, rolling up to Cunningham. - -"Shut up, Sammy," said the other, rising slowly to his feet. "Now, look -you here, Mr. Highwayman," he continued vindictively. "You've had your -score, now I'll have mine. Either this lady has a hop with me to my own -time and tune, and gives me a kiss at the end, or----" - -"Or what?" - -"Or I ride on to Harrogate, and give the police information of highway -robbery." - -"There's your car," said Cunningham. "Ride on." - -"He's not likely to wait for the arrival of the police," said the Earl -ruefully, yet anxious for the departure of these impossible helpers. - -"I shall be back with a bobby in twenty minutes," the man rejoined, "and -we'll telephone to every town in the district so that he can't escape. -I'm not in fightin' form myself to-night, so I'd rather do it in proper -legal style. I'll bring a solicitor if I can find one. Now, young -feller," he continued, "you'd better consider well. It'll be a twelve -months' touch for you for robbery and six for 'sault and battery. Are -you going to let your friend sacrifice himself on the altar of nonsense, -Miss? I think our steps 'ud soot each other amazing." - -Cunningham advanced on him threateningly. "If you dare to speak another -word to the lady you'll find yourself on the ground again," he said. - -The man retreated before him, and Sammy fled. "Right 'o," said the -former. "You've had your choice. It's plank and skilly for you now. Get -up, Sammy." He bundled his friend into his seat, himself followed, let -in the clutch, and they disappeared. - -"Oh, I'm so sorry," said the girl. - -"Please don't worry about it," replied Cunningham. "The whole thing is -the result of my own folly. It serves me jolly well right if I suffer -for it." - -"Hadn't you better try to escape now?" she asked, only remembering his -protection of her. - -Cunningham shook his head. "I think not," he replied. "It's probably all -a ruse on his part to get me away. Then he might return and--and annoy -you." - -Lady Eva was silent. - -"By George, sir," said the Earl, "I like your spirit. What the deuce do -you want with that peppercorn and shoe? Give me 'em back and I'll say no -more about it all." - -Cunningham smiled a little sadly. "I'm afraid I can't. But you shall -have them on the morning of the 29th without fail. Perhaps you'll -believe me now." Then, after a pause, he added: "I'll make a dash for it -if they aren't back in a quarter of an hour. In that case, I shall -conclude that they really have gone to give the alarm." - -The minutes passed. Lady Eva bit her lips in thought. Cunningham looked -alternately from her to Betelgeuse and the moon. The peer stared -stolidly into space. - -"Look here," said Cunningham suddenly. "Aren't we wasting time? Why wait -for assistance? I think I can put on a new tyre, if you will allow me. -Where are your spare tubes and covers, and your jack?" - -His lordship accepted the offer with alacrity, and the two men were soon -busy round the wheel. - -Cunningham ceased work for a moment to take Lady Eva her furs, and -assist her into them. She sat down on a tree stump, holding the -remaining lamp, and turning its light on the work. - -She did this mechanically. All the while she was thinking gravely. -Suddenly a smile passed over her face, and she nodded approvingly. - -The men were so busy that they did not pause at the sound of the -returning car. Sammy's friend was better than his word. They had barely -been gone fifteen minutes. - -"That's the highwayman--that young feller. Arrest him for robbery!" -shouted the motorist, as he brought his car to a standstill, and a -policeman sprang down. - -"Is that the charge, sir?" said the policeman to Lord Tadcaster. - -What the Earl would have replied is uncertain, for before he could -answer Lady Eva had intervened. - -"Robbery! What in the world do you mean?" she cried, standing up, and -flashing the light on the policeman. - -"That gentleman has taken me off my beat to arrest a man for highway -robbery." - -"That gentleman is mistaken," replied the girl. "We've had a breakdown. -Surely that is the person who promised to send assistance from -Harrogate. We want a repairer, not a policeman." - -"Don't you believe her!" cried the motorist. "Ask the old 'un." - -"Is that so, sir?" inquired the officer. - -"You have heard my daughter," replied the Earl, astonished but loyal. -"Of course it is so." - -The motorist's mouth opened, but no words came forth. He was absolutely -speechless at this change of front. - -"Anyway, there's an assault an' battery," said his friend hopefully. "'E -knocked 'im down," pointing to the protagonists of the drama. - -"For insulting a lady, I think," said Cunningham. - -"Gor!" snorted the driver, recovering his speech. "Sold again, Sammy!" -And with a frightful hoot they passed into the night. - -"Well, I'm blowed!" exclaimed the policeman, with intense disgust. "And -'ere I am, miles off my beat." - -"My friends won't be long before they are ready to start again, -officer," said Cunningham, "and they'll no doubt give you a lift to -Harrogate. In the meantime you might relieve the lady of the trouble of -directing the light. Thank you," he whispered to Lady Eva, as he took -the lamp from her. Her eyes met his and smiled. - -The new tyre was at last adjusted. The Earl, Lady Eva, and the policeman -got on board and sped away, Cunningham accompanying them on his -motor-cycle. - -In the outskirts of Harrogate the policeman resumed his interrupted -beat, the richer by an unusual experience and a sovereign. - -At the town itself Cunningham said his adieus. - -"A thousand thanks for your generosity, my lord," he added. "You will -not find it misplaced," and with a low bow to Lady Eva he took the road -to the right. - -The Earl watched him go regretfully, for after all he had the horseshoe -and peppercorn. What Lady Eva's feelings were she could not have stated -precisely. - -The Earl of Tadcaster and his daughter arrived at their hotel in time to -stop a relief expedition, organised by the anxious Achille; and under -his care they resumed their journey the next day. - -On the evening of the 28th, Captain Prescott Cunningham renewed his -subscription to the Burglars' Club; and at 9 a.m. on the 29th there was -delivered at Claridge's Hotel a registered packet containing a -peppercorn and a golden horseshoe, which the eighteenth Baron Tadcaster -presented to his sovereign that afternoon at Buckingham Palace. - -Later on in the day a couple of new tyres, "With Mr. Duval's compliments -and apologies," also reached the peer. - -Here the story ends--for the present. This happened last March. -Cunningham now attends every possible dance, dinner, and reception, -hoping that some day Lady Eva and he may meet again; and as for Lady -Eva, does she not dream daily of witching moonlight, a greensward dance, -and a brave and gallant partner? - - - - -X. - -THE HOLBEIN MINIATURE. - - -MR. ADOLPH MEYER, the friend of nations, the associate of kings, and the -hope of the impecunious, had built himself a house on St. George's -Island, off the coast of Hampshire. - -As Mr. Meyer's origin was German, and the country of his adoption was -England, it was perhaps natural that he should have gone to Tuscany for -the architecture of his marine residence. Its boldly projecting -cornices, its rusticated base and quoins, the consoles of its upper -windows, all betrayed its Florentine birth; but the lower windows, -reaching to the ground, were such as we associate with the name of -France, and were doubtless intended as a compliment to the great and gay -nation living directly across the water. - -To the south, a terrace, bounded by a low wall set with dogs, apparently -petrified by their own ugliness, separated the villa from the beach. - -To the west were the orchid houses. To the north, before the front of -the house, lay the bowling green; beyond it a wood, through which ran -the path leading to the landing-stage and the neighbouring island of -Great Britain. - -A spiral staircase at the east end of the house led to the observatory -containing the powerful equatorial telescope through which, as -opportunity offered, Mr. Meyer was wont to gaze thoughtfully at the -satellites of Jupiter, the canals on Mars, and other eccentricities of -the heavens. - -There was, of course, a fountain--between the bowling green and the -cypress trees. There was also a sundial bearing a sentence of cryptic -import; and in the woods, at the least expected places, stood marble -columns, broken and ivy-wreathed, or supporting busts of Socrates, -Pallas, Homer, and other appropriate notabilities. - -Inside the house were treasures that had cost the ransom of a -millionaire. - -Meyer was a bachelor, and here he spent his week-ends, absorbing ozone -enough to see him through till the following Saturday, and maturing -Titanic schemes for the Federation of the World and the confounding of -rival financiers. - -Once only had he brought a guest with him--an African Pro-Consul--who -had with much difficulty, though with ultimate success, joined his -outward-bound ship from Meyer's electric launch. - -Each year a local mayor called, admired, wondered, and retired. -Occasionally some venturesome tourist was captured and turned back. -Other visitors were rare; and their reception depended on the mood of -the lord of the island. - -One day last April a stranger with a camera rowed across from England. -At the landing-stage he informed the man in charge that he had business -with Mr. Meyer. This was telephoned to the house. - -"What business?" came the reply. - -"Particular business," said the newcomer. - -"What particular business?" - -"Pictures," was the answer. - -This was transmitted, and the reply taken. - -"You can go," said the man, hanging up the receiver. "Straight up the -path, and through the woods. Turn to the left at the busk of 'Omer." - -Ten minutes later the visitor was shown into a room facing the sea, in -which Mr. Meyer was seated by the open window, reading from a gigantic -folio. - -He was a short, podgy man, with black curly hair, a rounded nose, and -bright eyes. His moustache and imperial did not conceal the -extraordinary firmness of his mouth and jaw. - -He rose as his visitor entered. He was, as usual, attired in a -frock-coat and grey trousers. Once he had been in flannels when an -emergency had arisen demanding City attire, which was not immediately -forthcoming. Mr. Meyer had lost an opportunity in life through -carelessness. Therefore on land he ever afterwards wore a frock-coat, -except when in evening dress or pyjamas. The occasion should never again -find him wanting. - -"You wished to see me on business?" he asked. "What is it?" - -His visitor, who was cast in a finer, less decided mould--a -good-looking, clean-shaven man of something over thirty--replied: - -"I came to ask for permission to photograph the inside of your place." - -"You are not from Mr. Holzmann, den?" said Meyer, curtly. - -"No." - -"You said your business was imbortant." - -"So it is--to myself." - -Meyer looked sharply at him. "Why do you want to photokraph my place?" - -"For insertion in a magazine." - -"Which makkazine?" - -"Any that will take the article--I am not proud. It is important that I -should make some money. I have seen many interesting reproductions of -interiors of the stately homes of England in the periodicals, but never -one of your house. Hence my appearance. I hope I may have your -permission." - -"Why should I krant you bermission?" said Meyer. "I live here in -solitude. I do not bring visitors. I do not want dem. Your intrusion is -imbertinent." - -His visitor flushed. "Sorry if I have annoyed you," he said; "but it did -not seem such a great favour to ask. Most people are glad to have -pictures of themselves and their houses in the papers." - -"Most people are fools, as Dommas Carlyle said. Have you a family?" - -"I am not married." - -"Dere is no excuse for a sinkle man taking pictures of people's -interiors. It is not de work for a man like you. I shall not encourage -such tomfoolery. No, I do not give you bermission. But stay. Dere is an -orkit from de mittle of Africa of which I should like to have a -picture--de _Cypripedium Meyeri_--a new species which I have had de -satisfaction to detect. Berhaps you would be kind enough to photokraph -it for me, and your journey would not be altokedder lost. Come along. -What is your name, please?" - -His visitor handed him a card on which was printed "John Lucas, 140, -Brixton Gardens, London, W." - -"You have come a long way," Mr. Meyer observed. - -"A very long way, sir. Perhaps you wouldn't mind letting me look round -your house, even if I may not photograph it. I am interested in domestic -architecture and--er--curios." - -Mr. Meyer looked intently at his visitor. - -"Yes, Mr. Lucas," he said slowly, "I will also show you round my house, -since you have come so far, and are interested in domestic architecture -and curios. I have blenty of both. Den we will photokraph de orkit." - -Mr. Meyer led the photographer through his villa, pointing out its -architectural beauties, and indicating the various treasures which it -contained. - -Mr. Lucas was profuse in his expressions of appreciation. "Are you not -afraid of burglars?" he asked. - -"I am afraid of noding," replied Mr. Meyer. "Odderwise I should not be -here to-day in dis Tuscan Villa. I have gone into de question of dieves, -and tink I should be able to meet de situation." - -They had made a tour of the rooms, had ascended the heights of the -observatory and inspected the electric plant at its base. - -"Is dere anyting else you would like to see?" asked Mr. Meyer politely. - -"I believe that you collect miniatures. Might I look at them?" - -"Come dis way." - -In a corner of the marble hall there was a cabinet facing a window. -Meyer stood before it. "See," he said; "I bress dis button, and it -releases de trawers. So." - -The shutter flew back, and the drawers were free. Meyer opened them, one -by one, and indicated their contents. "Dey are all choice examples of de -best masters. Dese are Gosways. Dis is an Engleheart," and so on. He -went through the collection till he had shown the last drawer but one. -He was about to close the cabinet when Mr. Lucas asked: "Have you any -Holbeins?" - -"One," replied Meyer, "and dere was I necklecting to show it to you. Dis -last trawer is de most imbortant of de lot." He opened it and drew forth -a small square frame. "Here is de latest addition to my collection. A -krand Holbein. You notice de blue backkround, characteristic of dat -kreat master, and de wonderful thin bainting. You can almost see through -it. It is a bortrait of Meyer of Basle, berhaps a relation of mine, -berhaps not. It does not matter. It is a fine picture. Don't you tink -so?" - -Lucas handed it back. "I envy you," he said. - -"Dere is no need," Mr. Meyer responded, as he closed the cabinet. "'Enfy -no man till he is dead,' said de old Kreek philosopher, and I am very -much alife. Now come to de orkit house, and photokraph de _Cypripedium -Meyeri_." - -An hour later, after taking photographs of the rare exotic from every -point of the compass, Mr. Lucas made his way to the landing-stage, and -from thence he rowed thoughtfully across to Bournemouth. - -On the following Monday night a boat with a solitary oarsman put off -from the mainland, and after several changes of route was successfully -beached on the south shore of St. George's Island. Under the protection -of the trees its occupant--none other, indeed, than Mr. John -Lucas--stealthily approached the Tuscan Villa, which stood out in bold -relief in the vivid moonlight. - -He gained the terrace, and, keeping as much as possible within the -shadow of the balustrade and dogs, he crept to the fourth window, the -one at which Mr. Meyer was sitting on the preceding Saturday. - -There is no use disguising the fact any longer. Mr. Lucas was a burglar, -and he now proceeded to act after the manner of his craft. After -affixing some adhesive material to the pane, he began to cut out a -square of the window. The glass was thick, so the process was long, but -Mr. Lucas toiled at it with a patience and perseverance worthy of a -better cause. Only once did he desist--to follow the suggestion of a -sudden impulse, and try all the windows of the house. But each was -fastened, and Mr. Lucas resumed his original labour. - -It was fully an hour before he drew out the square of glass which -enabled him to undo the catch inside. Then nearly as long passed before -the removal of a second square at the foot allowed him to unscrew the -bottom fastening. - -The window was open at last, and Lucas stepped inside. - -It was the second burglary of his life, and he reflected that so far all -that had happened was greatly to the credit of his professional -abilities. A moment afterwards he was chilled by the later thought that -nothing in particular had happened so far, and that the possibilities of -the near future were very great indeed. - -With his stealthy entry into Mr. Meyer's villa the personality of that -gentleman had suddenly oppressed him. At Bournemouth all that day, with -the sun shining, and the band playing popular airs, Mr. Meyer had -occurred to him merely as an eccentric German gentleman; but now, at -something after midnight, in the deathly stillness of his villa, Mr. -Lucas only remembered the Teuton's sharp, decisive utterances, his -piercing glances, and his large general reputation for unpleasantness as -an enemy. Perhaps it was the sight of Mr. Meyer's empty chair that had -brought this train of thought to his mind. The big folio he had been -reading was still at its side. Lucas flashed his electric pocket light -on the open page. "Love's Labour's Lost" met his eyes. This struck him -as ominous. - -Lucas pulled himself together. What had he to do with empty chairs, and -old folios, and omens? He was a burglar, out for the night on urgent -business. Let him attend to it, and keep his dreams and soliloquies for -the daytime. He walked across the polished floor, his rubber soles being -absolutely noiseless. He raised the heavy curtain, and passed beneath it -through the archway. - -There in front of him was the marble hall, bathed in coloured moonlight. -The fountain played softly to the tones of gold, azure and red cast from -the stained-glass window. If Mr. Lucas had been conversant with Keats he -would doubtless have thought of St. Agnes' Eve; but presumably Mr. Lucas -did not, for, keeping well to the wall, he stole quickly across to -where stood the case containing the miniatures. - -[Illustration: "LUCAS DROPPED IT CAREFULLY INTO THE POCKET OF HIS -NORFOLK JACKET." - -(_p. 218._)] - -"You bress de button, and it releases de trawers. So." He smiled as Mr. -Meyer's pronunciation came back to him. He followed the instructions, -and the drawers were free. - -Cosway and Engleheart did not detain him to-night. He opened the bottom -drawer. There lay the Holbein for which Mr. Meyer had recently paid -three thousand guineas. Lucas dropped it carefully into the pocket of -his Norfolk jacket, shut the drawer, and closed the case. - -So far all was well--very well indeed. Only a few yards, a curtain, and -a few yards more, lay between him and freedom. Then again there fell -upon him a sense of Mr. Meyer's personality. What had that man not done? -He had browbeaten an Emperor, hoodwinked a couple of wily Chancellors, -and decimated the ranks of rival practitioners. Was he, John Lucas, a -mere tyro in the burglary profession, able to outwit the smartest man of -the day? Had he only to break a window, step across a floor, seize a -treasure, and depart? - -No--it was impossible. The very ease with which everything had been -accomplished was the worst sign of all. "I have gone into de question of -dieves, and tink I should be able to meet de situation." Meyer's words -came back to him now. He himself was in town--Lucas had seen him depart -that morning, to make it absolutely certain--but his myrmidons were -doubtless hidden around. An electric shock would suddenly hold him fast, -and Meyer's butler or stage manager, or whatever he was called, would -appear and wing him--unless the servants were asleep in their master's -absence. But nothing was ever left to chance in Mr. Meyer's life or his -house. The very silence was eloquent of impending catastrophe. - -Again Mr. Lucas reproached himself with nervous folly. "It is only my -second burglary," he reflected apologetically. He stepped across the -hall, and once more raised the curtain. - -"Ah!" - -The room, which ten minutes ago was dark and empty, was now brilliantly -illuminated, and there was Mr. Adolph Meyer, seated in his chair! - -Meyer rose and came forward. "Ah, Mr. Lucas," he said, "dis is indeed a -pleasure. Not altokedder unexbected, I admit; but it is always -satisfactory to find one's conclusions brove correct. I taught you would -have to return to make some final notes on my domestic architecture and -my curios. You have seen my place by day. Now you visit me by night. Dat -is charming." - -Lucas stood by the curtain, overwhelmed with confusion. Not by a word -did Mr. Meyer betray any resentment at his presence, but there was a -thinly disguised vein of banter in his speech that made the burglar's -pulses quicken. - -"Berhaps you have not noticed de view I have here, Mr. Lucas," said -Meyer. "Come and look." - -He threw open the window wide. The moon was playing on the waters of the -Channel. Clouds were scurrying across the sky. A lighthouse flashed in -the far distance. - -"I like dis view," said Meyer. "De sea is always de same--deep and -treacherous. One always knows what to exbect, but man you never know. -How do you look upon de sea, Mr. Lucas?" - -"Good for boating, and--er--bathing," responded Lucas desperately. - -"Goot for boating and bading," repeated Meyer. "Dat is so. You are -practical. Dat is where you islanders have the advantage over us -treamers. But somehow the treams have a habit of outlasting de practice. -I do not tink of boating and bading when I look on de sea. I tink of all -dat is above it, and below it. On de top, ships carrying men and women -and children to continents; below de waves, dead men and women and -children, dose who have died by de way, floating by de cables which are -carrying words dat make and unmake nations and men. Life and death are -dere togedder. Did you never tink of de sea in dat way, Mr. Lucas, when -you was not studying domestic architecture and curios?" - -"I can't say that I have," said Lucas, trying vainly to rise to the -situation. A man with a weapon he could have met and fought any day, at -a moment's notice, but smooth words and soliloquies, how could he meet -them, though there was a hidden meaning in every phrase, a subtle danger -indicated in every intonation? - -"I should practise it den, Mr. Lucas," said Meyer gravely. "A little -more tinking and a little less action is de new brescription de doctors -are giving to dis country." He turned away from the window, after -closing it. He did not appear to notice the two great holes in the glass -which stared him in the face. - -"Den I shut my window tight, for fear of dieves, Mr. Lucas," he went on, -"and go to my observatory, where we went de odder day. I go up dose -steps to my delescope, and bring de stars widdin speaking distance. Have -you ever spoken wid de stars, Mr. Lucas?" - -"No," replied the burglar curtly. - -"Ah, I taught not. Somehow you did not give me dat imbression. You -should study de moon for a bekinning, Mr. Lucas. It is a poor worn-out -star of a sort. What does it tell of? Of life run down, as many men's -are. But after all, de moon had its day. It was not cut off in its -prime, like some men's lives are, Mr. Lucas, because of a comet-like -taught, or a meteor suggestion of evil. A kreat science is astronomy, -Mr. Lucas. Do you not tink so?" - -Mr. Lucas did not reply. - -"Why do I speak of dese things, Mr. Lucas?" said Meyer with increasing -earnestness. "Because you are young, very young, dough you are nearly -so old as me. I speak of dem because you are wasting your life entering -my house in de mittle of de night to take photokraphs, when de stars are -singing outside, and de world is calling for de man who, as Dommas -Carlyle says, is not dere. What would Dommas Carlyle have said if he had -known dat you were here all de time, taking photokraphs in Mr. Adolph -Meyer's villa--robbing Mr. Meyer, widout de excuse of necessity?" - -Lucas made an attempt to speak, but Meyer stopped him. The little man's -voice rose, his eyes gleamed, his very stature seemed to swell. The room -was full of him. - -"Be silent, sare," he said, with a gesture of an emperor. "I am -speaking! Listen! I know what you will say: It is for sport dat you do -dis--sport dat eats up your race, and makes men like me your master. You -take your gun and kill. See," pointing through the window at a -problematical object. "Dat bird--dat beautiful white gull. It is -flying--seeking for food or its mate. You shoot it----" - -"Never!" shouted Lucas indignantly. - -"You do. I know you do. You take dat wonderful ding we call life--for -sport. You rob me. Dat is a smaller ding, but it is sport also. Mein -Gott! but you shall rob and kill no more." - -He struck a bell. Lucas backed to the wall to be ready for emergencies. -A little sharp-featured man entered. - -"Here he is, Mr. Marvell," said Meyer. "I have got him red-handed and -cold-souled." - -"That's right, sir," said the little man briskly, producing a pair of -handcuffs. "I'll take him across to Bournemouth, and we'll have him up -at the police court in the morning." - -Mr. Meyer did not appear to have heard him. "Strange, is it not?" he -resumed, "dat you and I and Mr. Marvell, de clever detective, should be -here, Mr. Lucas? No, I will call you by your broper name. Sir Rubert -Inkledree, I ask you to listen." - -He took up a red volume from the table. - -"Dis is a useful book," he said, as he opened it. "We are all entered up -here, all our public appearances, dat is--not our midnight -photokraphings. Ah, here it is: - -"'Sir Rubert Inkledree, seventh baronet, born 1868, only son of sixth -baronet and Mary, daughter of Viscount Morecambe. Educated Eton and -Christ Church, Oxford. Owns twenty tousand acres. Address: Inkledree -Castle, Leicestershire; 57, Brook Street, W. Clubs: Bachelor's, -Boodle's, Turf.' - -"Dat is fine--for a bekinning," continued Meyer; "but what an end, Sir -Rubert, in dis room wid Mr. Meyer whom you have robbed, and a detective, -and de Bournemouth Police Court in de morning. Dat is not very fine. Now -listen akain." - -He turned over the leaves and read:-- - -"'Adolph Meyer, born 1864. Financier. Son of Jacob Meyer of Düsseldorf. -M.A. London University, Commander of de Victorian Order, Chevalier of de -Legion of Honour. Address: 16, Lombard Street, E.C., and St. George's -Island, Bournemouth.' Dat is all. Dere are no clubs and no acres. I have -de orders because I did service to England and France. I am M.A. of -London University because, when I was a young man behind de counter in -de bank all day, I worked for my dekree by night; and now I am here, and -you are where I like to put you, Sir Rubert Inkledree." - -"Bournemouth Police Station," suggested Mr. Marvell, who was aching to -get to business. - -"Bournemouth Police Station?" repeated Mr. Meyer slowly. "No, Mr. -Marvell; I tink not. I am Master of Arts of London University and reader -of Blato, letting alone de odder dings. He shall go free, and Mr. -Marvell, you will blease forket de incident. I telekraft for you on -Saturday. You came, but dere was noding. Dat is what you will report, -please, at Scotland Yard. - -"But you, Sir Rubert, you will not forket. You will remember. You will -neider kill nor rob akain, because it is de wish of Mr. Adolph Meyer, -who makes you free instead of sending you to de Police Station. - -"Also, Sir Rubert, I suchest dat you give up dat Club dat Mr. Marvell -speaks of. See, you have my Holbein in your pocket. Take it, since you -want it. Show it to your friends, and say dat Mr. Meyer, who is M.A. of -London University, Commander, Chevalier and tcheneral treamer, says dat -dey had better disbant, for de stars are singing, and Mr. Marvell is -watching." - -Mr. Marvell folded up his handcuffs methodically, and replaced them in -his pocket. He was too well trained to show the intense disgust he felt -at the turn the proceedings had taken. - -Again the burglar endeavoured to speak, but once more Mr. Meyer -commanded silence. - -"Mr. Marvell will see you to your boat, Sir Rubert," he said. "I drust -dat you will weigh my words well. It is not often dat I say so many, and -dey have caused me some inconvenience to speak, as I am not accustomed -to spend Monday nights in my marine villa. To be here I had dis -afternoon to postpone an interview wid de Turkish Ambassador, which I -have since learnt by telekram from Constantinople has been misconstrued. -De Sultan will not sleep much to-night, and in de morning newspapers -dere will be talk of drouble in de Balkan States. Some peoples will be -fearing war, Sir Rubert, and all on account of you and your midnight -photokraphings. I wonder what Dommas Carlyle would say to a mess like -dat. Goot night." - -Mr. Meyer turned abruptly on his heels, and left the room. - -"Come along, Sir Rupert, please," said Mr. Marvell. In the brilliant -moonshine they went along the terrace by the stone dogs, and down the -steps to the beach. They found the boat by the trees. - -"How did Mr. Meyer come to suspect my errand?" said Ingletree suddenly. - -The detective smiled a wan smile. - -"Well, sir," he replied, "I wasn't present when you saw him on Saturday, -but I think that Mr. Meyer read you through as if you were a -book--printed in pretty big letters, too. It was a rather thin tale, -that about the magazine article, and when you asked to see round the -house Mr. Meyer was certain that you had some special object in view. -When you inquired after the miniatures he knew what you were after, as -the papers had lately been full of the Holbein. To make sure on the -point he didn't show it to you, and of course you asked to see it. Then -he telegraphed to Scotland Yard, and they sent me." - -"How did you find out who I was, and why I wanted the miniature?" - -"Ah," said Mr. Marvell drily, "I'll tell you that some day later on, Sir -Rupert. We shall probably meet again." - -Then the baronet put out to sea, and the detective went back to the -Tuscan Villa. - - * * * * * - -On the following evening, at the meeting of the Burglars' Club, the -Secretary produced the Holbein miniature, and read a letter from Sir -Rupert Ingletree which accompanied it. Then the President rose. - -"My lords and gentlemen," he said, "we have just heard the singular -adventure which has befallen one of our members. The Holbein miniature -is here, but only owing to the goodwill of its owner. Sir Rupert -Ingletree is at liberty owing to the forbearance of the same gentleman. -Under the circumstances I think we have no option but to accept the -resignation of Sir Rupert, who does not appear to have acted with the -adroitness which is a necessary qualification of our members. It may -well be that you or I would have done no better under similar -circumstances, but I need hardly remind you that in this club we judge -only by results, and the results in this instance are not satisfactory. - -"There is a further matter to consider--a message from Mr. Meyer, which -demands a reply. Colonel Altamont, as the _doyen_ of our club, we look -to your premature grey hairs for guidance." - -Altamont rose amidst general applause. - -"Your Grace, my lords and gentlemen," he began. "It is surely -unnecessary to ask for my opinion on the situation. Our existence is -now known to the outside world. Twice has this detective, Marvell, been -within reach of us. Someone has betrayed us, and I for one do not intend -to rest until I have traced that traitor. But this is not the matter -before us now. - -"Though Mr. Meyer objects to sport, he has behaved like a perfect -sportsman. (Hear, hear.) For his courtesy we wish to express our hearty -thanks and appreciation; but for his suggestion that we should disband -we surely have one answer only, and that is: Never, never, never." - -The words were re-echoed on all sides. - -"Our club would indeed have fallen on degenerate days," continued -Altamont, when quiet was restored, "if the fact of its existence being -known were promptly to bring about its end. Surely the fact that we are -watched should give an added zest to our proceedings, which have been -all too monotonously serene. The knowledge that Scotland Yard is acting, -and that we carry our personal liberty in our hands, should spur us on -to the Homeric deeds for the perpetration of which we exist. - -"Ingletree's postscript is pathetic, and vividly shows the present -unbalanced state of his mind. He asks whether we consider that under Mr. -Meyer's terms he is at liberty to fish. My own feeling is that I would -have suffered a long period of incarceration rather than have -surrendered my right to act as a free and independent Englishman; but -Ingletree, having accepted his liberty on Mr. Meyer's stupendous terms, -has surely forfeited his right to again take life in any form. If he so -much as nets a minnow he has no option but to surrender himself -forthwith at the Bournemouth Police Station. - -"We all regret the loss of our once brilliant member, but it is obvious -from Ingletree's behaviour during the last few days that he is not the -man he was when he paid his entrance fee by the production of--what was -it, Mr. Secretary?--the Mace of the House of Commons?" - -"No, sir," replied the Secretary. "That was Mr. Henderson's fee. Sir -Rupert Ingletree entered with the Portland Vase, from the British -Museum." - -"Ah, quite so. Thank you. And a very smart bit of work it was, I -remember. It is regrettable that Sir Rupert could not be here in person -this evening to advance any extenuating circumstances; but as he is -probably under the surveillance of Scotland Yard we appreciate his -reason for adopting the medium of the Postmaster-General for -communicating with us. I therefore propose that Sir Rupert Ingletree's -resignation be accepted, and that, with the Holbein picture, which we at -once return to its owner in accordance with our rule, we send a letter -expressing our appreciation of Mr. Meyer's magnanimity, and our regret -that we are unable to disband. We can leave it to our Secretary to couch -this in the neat epigrammatic style for which he is famed in the -Chancelleries of Europe." - - - - -XI. - -THE VICTORIA CROSS. - - -"IT seems to me," said his Grace of Dorchester, "that the Army has been -abominably neglected by us. On looking through our archives, I do not -come across the record of a single military achievement. In the Church -and in the State, in Diplomacy and Commerce, in Science, Art, and -Literature, our activities are marked, but we have unaccountably left -the Services alone. Our enemies--if such there be--might unkindly -suggest that we have purposely refrained from interfering with the most -vigorous portion of the community. To avoid this reproach, and to make -good the omission, I therefore propose a series of three military raids, -the first to be immediately undertaken by Mr. Maxwell-Pitt, who will -have the opportunity of renewing his subscription at our next meeting by -the production of the last Victoria Cross bestowed by His Majesty." - -As the result of inquiries, Mr. Maxwell-Pitt learned that the last -Victoria Cross had been given to Captain Sefton Richards, who had -rescued a wounded soldier from the Somali, and, single-handed, had kept -the enemy at bay till support arrived. - -"H'm!" reflected Maxwell-Pitt. "He'll be a tough customer to tackle. It -strikes me that if I pull this off I shall have earned the Blue Riband -of the Club. I wonder where the beggar is stationed?" - -Further inquiries elicited the fact that Captain Richards was at present -spending his well-earned leave with his sister, who lived at Bamburn, in -Lincolnshire. - -The next meeting of the Club had been fixed for the 22nd of the month. -On the 19th Maxwell-Pitt set out for Bamburn. - -It was an ancient country town. Once it had been an ecclesiastical -centre--as its minster still bore witness--but now it was given up to -the sale of sheep and the manufacture of chocolate. In its outskirts was -a number of highly eligible residences, and in one of these, the bequest -of an uncle who was the inventor of chocolate caramels, lived Miss -Richards. - -Maxwell-Pitt learnt some of this from the local directory, and some from -the waiter at the inn, the night of his arrival; and on the following -morning he made his way to the neighbourhood of Burgoyne Lodge--so Miss -Richards' house was styled--and sat down on a seat thoughtfully provided -by the local district council. He waited there a long time, apparently -deeply absorbed in the columns of a sporting paper, but in reality -rarely taking his eyes from the house. - -At eleven o'clock his patience was rewarded. The gate opened, and two -people came out. The man--tall, straight, and bronzed--was obviously -Captain Richards, the lady probably his sister. Mr. Maxwell-Pitt saw -them disappear along the road in the direction of the town, and then he -approached the house to take in its bearings. It was the last building -on the road, and it was closely surrounded by a belt of trees; behind -the trees were thick bushes. This screen effectually concealed the house -from the road--for the inventor of chocolate caramels had been a recluse -by nature--so, in order to obtain a better view of it, Maxwell-Pitt got -over the wall, and peered through the bushes. - -It was a solid Georgian dwelling, with two windows on each side of the -door. Which window should he attempt to force? The end ones would be -farthest from the hall, and perhaps the safest. Or would it be better to -try the back? Confound it! - -His eyes had been so intently fixed on the house that he had omitted to -notice an occupant of the garden, but now he was aware that a trimly and -plainly gowned little woman who was engaged in cutting flowers had -stopped in her work, and was watching him. The position was ridiculous. -What excuse could he offer? He turned round, got over the wall again, -and walked quickly away, with the conviction that he had made a blunder, -criminal in a professional, and unpardonable even for an amateur. - -During the afternoon, while he was walking down the main street of the -town, wondering at the number of sheep the land contained--for it was -market day--he came face to face with the same good-looking, dapper -little person he had seen in the grounds of Burgoyne Lodge. She had -appeared from a side street, and no escape was open to him. He fixed his -eyes on the celebrated Perpendicular architecture of the minster tower, -hoping to escape her attention, but, to his surprise, she stopped him. - -"Pardon me, I think we have seen one another before," she said slowly, -and with a marked foreign intonation. - -"Of course we have," he replied, as he took off his hat. "I remember the -occasion perfectly. How do you do?" Then he added, unblushingly, "And -how is your sister?" - -"I thank you," she answered. "My sister would, no doubt, be quite well -if I had one. But please do not make romances. I saw you this morning at -Burgoyne Lodge. I know what you want." - -"The dickens you do!" he exclaimed in blank amazement. "And pray what is -it?" - -"I think it is something that does not belong to you," she said, her -dark eyes looking steadily at him. - -"Indeed! And how do you know that?" - -She shrugged her shoulders expressively. "_Cela n'importe_," she -answered. "If you please, let us walk on so that we do not draw -attention. Yes, I know what you want, and I think that I can assist you -a little." - -"It's very good of you to suggest it," said Maxwell-Pitt as they walked -along the street; "and I'm sure I'm much obliged to you. I'm not -accustomed to this sort of business, you know." - -"You have made the same business once before," she said. - -"You are really remarkably well informed," he replied. "The least you -can do is to tell me how you come to know these things." - -"Do not waste the time," she said impatiently. "I am Adèle, Miss -Richards' maid. She is in town with her brother, the captain. They must -not see us together. When do you intend to--to----" She hesitated. - -"To pick mushrooms, shall we call it?" he answered. - -"To--pick--mushrooms?" she repeated, with a puzzled look. Then she -smiled. "Ah, I understand. Yes, when do you intend to pick the fine -mushrooms?" - -"As soon as I know where they are, and how to get them. If you assist me -it will, of course, make matters easy for me." - -"To-night?" - -"Mademoiselle, you are a thought-reader. You anticipate my wishes. -To-night, by all means." - -"Then I will see that one of the windows is left unlatched. _Mon Dieu!_ -Meet me here at this place at nine o'clock." With this she turned -abruptly round the corner they were passing, and disappeared into a -shop. - -Maxwell-Pitt glanced ahead, and saw Captain and Miss Richards -approaching. They might not have seen him with the maid, for they were -in earnest conversation. Captain Richards only glanced casually at him -in passing. - -"Well, this is what I call remarkable--simply re-markable," said -Maxwell-Pitt to himself as he walked to his hotel. "How on earth should -she know of the V.C. business, and, what is more, that I had to pay my -entrance fee by a previous burglary? Who could have told her? I wonder -why any member should be so extremely anxious to assist me. . . . Stop! -Was it really a member? There's that man Marvell--the detective. He has -been present at two former burglaries--called in by accident, certainly, -but he has his eye on us, and perhaps he now has some means of finding -out in advance the task set to members. The remarkably obliging Adèle -may be merely a female detective. She may assist me to get into the -house, and show me where the V.C. is, and then, when I get it, her -friend Marvell will appear. In that case Richards and his sister are in -the know, and this apparently casual meeting just now, and Adèle's -annoyance, was pre-arranged to throw me off the scent. It seems to me, -Maxwell-Pitt, that you'll have to be very careful what you are about, or -you'll be landed to-night, and by a woman." - -That evening he kept his appointment at the street-corner. The maid was -late. The clocks had chimed the quarter before she came, hot and -breathless--not her cool, nonchalant self of the morning. - -"It has been so difficult to leave," she explained. "Miss Richards would -have me to read to her after the dinner. Walter Scott! And me dying all -the time to be here, Mr.---- What shall I call you?" - -"Jones," said Maxwell-Pitt, "is a dreamy, romantic name, very suitable -for a mushroom picker." - -"Yes; Jones is a beautiful name," she replied. "Have you decided to pick -to-night, Mr. Jones?" - -"I should like to." - -"You wish me to leave that window open?" - -"If you will." - -"And what do you give me, if you please?" - -"I beg your pardon?" - -"What am I going to have of it all?" - -"'All.' That is rather a big word for the little mushroom I shall take -away; but if you would like some memento of the occasion, what shall it -be? A bracelet?" - -"A bracelet? _Comment!_ Absurd! With my help, _m'sieu_, it will not be a -little mushroom, _point du tout_. For me myself I demand fifty pounds." - -Maxwell-Pitt stared at her blankly. - -"What is it now?" she cried angrily. "_Mais_, you are too stupid--more -stupid than the ordinary Englishman. Miss Richards has some fine pearls, -and her diamonds are _magnifiques_, and I can give them to you. This is -not to be another Wedderburn mistake." - -"Ah, quite so--quite so," replied Maxwell-Pitt, who was absolutely -nonplussed by the turn the conversation had taken. Then he drew his bow -at a venture. "Wedderburn made a bit of a mistake, didn't he?" he said. - -She looked at him sharply. "'He.' Who's 'he'? You know precisely that I -speak of the burglary at Wedderburn 'Ouse last week, where you were not -very clever." - -"Oh, of course, of course. I understand," said Maxwell-Pitt. - -"Of course you do understand. Why do you so pretend to me? I knew it was -you when I saw you seeking round our 'ouse. I saw you were big and dark, -with a long moustache, like the butler at Wedderburn 'Ouse said. How -else did you think I could have known you were a burglar? You are to -look at only like a gentleman?" - -"Ah, I see--I see," said Maxwell-Pitt, the light at last breaking in -upon him. "It seems that I have done friend Marvell an injustice." - -"I do not know who your friend is, nor what you talk about," said -Mademoiselle Adèle. "I must return at once. Is it to be a bargain or -not? Fifty pounds is little compared to your share." - -"Mademoiselle," said Maxwell-Pitt, "you are not only an accomplished -thought-reader, but you appear to have the business instinct strongly -developed as well. You can quite understand that when I planned -this--er--botanical expedition I did not anticipate such a drain on my -resources. In plain words, I haven't fifty pounds on me." - -"You can get it, and come to-morrow night instead." - -"There will still be time," said Maxwell-Pitt thoughtfully. - -"Of course there will. Now I go. It is settled?" - -"Yes; I'll come to-morrow night and bring fifty pounds with me." - -"In gold sovereigns, please." - -"In gold, if you wish it." - -"Good. And I'll have the jewellery ready. The pearl necklace cost more -than a thousand sovereigns. There will be no need to take anything else, -I hope. That big mushroom should satisfy you enough." - -"Amply. I don't want any more jewels, but where does Captain Richards -keep his decorations--his Victoria Cross, for instance?" - -"You don't want that?" - -"I do." - -"It is only worth a few centimes--not half a franc, they tell me." - -"Never mind its value. I am a collector of such trifles, and want this -specimen particularly." - -"He won it in battle. It would be cruel--abominable--to take it. You -cannot have it." - -"Mademoiselle Adèle, your scruples do you credit; but, after all, are -mushroom-pickers the people to talk about scruples? Here you are -planning what is, in plain English, the robbery of your employer, so why -stick at a trifle like that?" - -"_Écoutez_, Mr. Jones. You are only a burglar, so your opinion is no -matter, but I shall tell you why I do this thing. I come to your country -to get riches. I am clever, but there are no riches, even for clever -people, in my own valley of the Durance. First I was maid to one lady -with a title so long," and she extended her arms to their full width. "I -was 'appy. Then I met an aëronaut--you understand, one who makes -ascensions in a balloon--who talked my language like myself. He -persuades me to leave my place and marry him. I was idiot to do so. Then -one day he goes up in his balloon at--what you call it?--Birmingham, for -a brief voyage. But he disappears in the clouds. He sends me postcard -from Ostend to tell me that he is landed all-right. Then I never found -him again." - -She paused dramatically. Maxwell-Pitt felt that something was demanded -of him, and hastened to murmur some words of sympathy, but she did not -listen. - -"Then I took a place again as lady's maid," she went on. "There was -trouble over some jewels. They blamed me. Bah! I was innocent. But they -say 'No,' and 'You go at once,' and 'No character.' So I am alone in -England, with no money and _mon mari_ gone. I come here, and I think -this lady so kind to take me without a character written. Then I find -the ones who have the characters written will not stay with her--not one -month--so that is why she takes me. She is black slave-driver, and her -temper--_mon Dieu_, it is dis-graceful! It is a horrible time here. Then -there is Alphonse, who is waiter at the Élysée Palace, who wants me to -marry him and assist him to found a restaurant, and I must continually -tell him 'Wait.' - -"When I see you, Mr. Jones, I see my way to escape from it all. It came -at one jump--the thought, 'I will help him, and he will give me fifty -gold sovereigns, and I shall go to Belgium at once. My 'usband is either -dead, or I find him and tell him what I think of him, and get a -divorce, and then return and marry the good Alphonse, who adores me.' So -you see that I am no common thief. Bah! As for madame's jewellery, _ça -ne fait rien_. She is rich. I shall be glad to have annoyed her. But at -once I tell you, you shall not have the Victoria Medal. That is not to -be. Captain Richards is the only man in this miserable country who has -been kind to me. And he is a brave soldier. I shall not permit that you -annoy him." - -"I promise to return it." - -"Then for why do you take it?" - -"That is my affair. I will bring the fifty pounds to-morrow night, but I -must have the cross whether you help me to get it or not. Where does he -keep it?" - -"Keep it? _Attendez._ Oh, I know. In the strong box locked in his -bedroom. He is a man to shoot certain, and he always has his pistol to -hand. You will give me the money instantly you are in the 'ouse, for if -you go upstairs you will be a dead man at once. I tell you so myself." - -"That is an extremely unpleasant prospect. I must see my lawyer--my -_notaire_, mademoiselle--in the morning, and arrange my affairs. Which -window will you unlatch for me?" - -"The one at the front, the nearest to where you stood when I saw you. If -you will come at one o'clock I will be in the room with the beautiful -pearls. Now I must fly. _Bon soir, cher_ Mr. Jones." - -On the following morning Maxwell-Pitt paid his hotel bill and went up to -town. In the evening he returned with his bicycle, getting out at the -station beyond Bamburn. At a few minutes to one o'clock he entered the -grounds of Burgoyne Lodge, and made his way stealthily to the window -fixed on. It open noiselessly, and he clambered through. Mademoiselle -Adèle was not there. Perhaps she was reading Sir Walter Scott to Miss -Richards. He would wait for half an hour, at any rate, before making any -move. Perhaps Adèle had thought better of her determination about the -cross, and would bring it with her rather than risk trouble. - -He sat down and mused. A queer life, that of a burglar. Reminiscences of -detective tales came back to him. He thought of Sherlock Holmes. The -doings of the Burglars' Club would have puzzled him at first. Then there -was his great predecessor, Poe's Dupin, the detective of The Murders in -the Rue Morgue, of The Mystery of Marie Rogêt, and The Purloined Letter. -Ah, The Purloined Letter! They were searching for that all over, probing -every inch of space in the house for it, and there it was all the time, -underneath their noses, hanging in a card-rack beneath the mantelpiece. -Maxwell-Pitt rose and flashed his light over the mantelpiece. There was -the usual assortment of odds and ends, but the V.C. was not there. No; -it was too much to expect. Where did Richards keep it? Adèle had -hesitated before replying that it was in the strong box in his bedroom. -It might be--or it might not. Here, at any rate, were obvious traces of -its owner--his letters and pipe on a side table, his service magazines -on the chair. If the V.C. wasn't on the mantelpiece, it might be -elsewhere in the room. - -There was a bookcase with a cupboard and drawers. He opened the -bookcase, but closed it quickly at the sight of the serried ranks of the -"Encyclopædia Britannica." He had no better luck in the cupboard, but in -the first drawer he pulled out, his eye was at once caught by two small -cases. He eagerly opened one, to find the South African Medal, but in -the second--ye gods! It was the Victoria Cross! - -Maxwell-Pitt's fingers closed over it. At this moment the door opened -gently. - -"Who is there?" whispered a voice. - -By this time he had moved to the table. He turned his light on again. - -Adèle was there--pale and excited. From a pocket which she must have -specially constructed she produced a large case. She opened it, -disclosing a necklace of large pearls. - -"Here it is," she whispered. "Where are the fifty sovereigns?" - -Maxwell-Pitt drew out a bag and gave it to her. She opened it, and -looked at the contents, then put it in her pocket. - -"Now go," she said. "_Vite!_" - -Maxwell-Pitt moved towards the window. "I don't want this," he said, -pointing to the case. - -"You don't want it?" she exclaimed in astonishment. For a moment they -stood there facing one another. Then a sudden thought struck her. She -went to the bookcase, opened the drawer, and saw only one case there. - -"You are more clever than I thought," she said. "I wished to take these -away upstairs to-night, but the Captain he remained here late, and then -madame wanted me. You have got the medal, but you shall not go away with -it. Give it back to me." - -[Illustration: "HE WAS WALKING IN HIS SLEEP, CONSCIOUS OF NOTHING." - -(_p. 250._)] - -Maxwell-Pitt shook his head. - -Her eyes blazed in anger. "You will not? _Mon Dieu!_ then I sound the -alarm." - -"How will you account for this?" said Maxwell-Pitt, pointing to the case -on the table. - -"I do not know. I do not care," she answered. "Give me the medal, or I -ring." - -Her hand clutched the bell rope. "Shall I ring or not?" she demanded. - -Again there was a sound at the door. Once more he turned off his light. -The door opened wide, and Captain Richards entered, carrying a lighted -candle in his hand. - -Maxwell-Pitt and Adèle stood there transfixed. The light shone full on -them, but Captain Richards took no heed of them. His eyes were fixed, -staring into space. He was walking in his sleep, conscious of nothing -that was going on around him. He placed his candle on the side table, -sat down in his easy chair, drew the book-rest towards him, and -leaned back, staring vacantly at the pages of the open book. - -Adèle released the bell rope and held a warning finger to her lips. She -stepped lightly to Maxwell-Pitt. "Sh! it is dangerous to awaken him," -she whispered. "Once they awakened my cousin suddenly when he walked -like that in his sleep. He was never the same here again," and she -tapped her forehead. "Now go at once, but softly." - -He clambered out, and then looked back through the window into the room. - -Adèle picked up the jewel case and put it into her pocket. There she -touched the bag of gold. She pulled it out, looked at it for a moment, -then stepped hastily to the window and flung it from her into the -garden. She leaned out, and whispered, vindictively, "Take your money. I -shall help the police. They shall catch you before the clock is round." - -Then she stepped gently to the door. It closed behind her, and the -sleep-walker was alone in the room. - -Maxwell-Pitt picked up the bag of gold, and then cycled thirty miles. He -caught an early train to London, and that evening he renewed his -subscription to the Burglars' Club by exhibiting the Victoria Cross -lately bestowed on Captain Sefton Richards by His Majesty. - -On the following day, to his great astonishment, Captain Richards -received the cross in a registered postal packet, with no word to -explain the reason of its temporary absence; and a few days later a -larger postal packet came for Mademoiselle Adèle, which, on being -opened, disclosed to her enraptured eyes fifty sovereigns. - -Thus did Maxwell-Pitt attempt to atone for the burglary he had -perpetrated. "After all," he thought, "the only person who will have -been seriously inconvenienced by the transaction is the balloonist in -Belgium--and he deserves it." - - - - -XII. - -THE LAST CHRONICLE. - - -GILBERT BROWN, second Baron Lothersdale, was generally regarded as being -the best business man in the country. His talent for affairs was -doubtless hereditary, as his father had successfully kept a big emporium -before seeking the parliamentary honours which led to higher things. His -son, in his turn, entered Parliament, and quickly ran the gamut of two -under-secretaryships and the Cabinet. The Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland -and the Governor-Generalship of India would undoubtedly have been his, -but for the impossibility of associating Brown's Bayswater Bazaar with -those regal positions. - -When, therefore, the last of six successive schemes for the -reorganisation of the British Army had fallen to the parliamentary floor -and broken in pieces, it was felt that there was only one man who could -tackle the matter, and bring it to a successful issue. Lord -Lothersdale's tenure of the Postmaster-Generalship was remembered with -pride by a grateful nation. Under his management the reply-postcard -business, which had hitherto dragged and lost money, had become a -popular and remunerative department, while his penny-in-the-slot form of -application for Government annuities was an innovation as brilliant in -conception as it was profitable in results. - -When the country learnt that to Lord Lothersdale had been entrusted the -task of reforming the Army it heaved a sigh of content, for it knew that -the work was now as good as done; and when the news reached the -Continent the officers of the Great General Staff of the German Army -were noticed to wear a sad and pensive look unusual to them. - -To accomplish the work that in the past twenty years alone had cost -thousands of lives and millions of money, besides incidentally -destroying six first-class parliamentary reputations, Lord Lothersdale -retired to Moors, his Berkshire seat, and there, in his study -overlooking the deer park, he accumulated his evidence and dictated his -Report. - -From time to time paragraphs appeared in the papers that Lord -Lothersdale was busy at his work, or that he was making progress -therein, and at last word went round that he was now putting the final -touches to his Report, which would be laid before the Cabinet the -following week. - -Then it was that his Grace of Dorchester decided that Mr. Drummond Eyre -must show the same Report at the next meeting of the Burglars' Club, if -he wished to continue his membership thereof. - -George Drummond Eyre was a Leicestershire man, an ex-guardsman, and a -shooter of big game. He received the news of his mission without -comment, and proceeded to make himself acquainted with the habits of his -lordship of Lothersdale. He was still pursuing these investigations when -he read in the _Morning Mail_:-- - - "Lord Lothersdale is just completing his work of - reorganising the British Army on paper with the - thoroughness which we associate with his name. Not - content with revising the duties attached to the - highest offices, with altering the length of service, - and the pay of officer and private, his lordship is - actually winding up with suggestions for a new - full-dress uniform for our soldiers. The traditional - red is to be discarded, and hues more in keeping with - the aesthetic taste of the age will supplant it, in - the hope of attracting a superior class of men to the - army. We hear that Mr. Bower, the eminent tailor, was - last week at Moors, and that to-day a member of his - staff will arrive there with sample uniforms for his - lordship's inspection. History is in making at Moors." - -"Good!" said Eyre, with obvious satisfaction, as he read this paragraph. -"This fits in well. I'm in luck's way." - -That was at nine o'clock in the morning. At ten o'clock he drove up to -Mr. Bower's well-known establishment, and sent in a card on which was -printed in unostentatious letters, "Mr. Luke Sinnott," and in the bottom -corner "Criminal Investigation Dept., New Scotland Yard." - -In a few minutes he was shown into Mr. Bower's private room. - -Mr. Bower was a ponderous gentleman. In a higher station of life he -would have been a Dean. - -"What can I do for you, Mr. Sinnott?" he inquired, eyeing his visitor -over the top of his gold-rimmed glasses. - -"I have come on important business, sir," said the pseudo-Sinnott. He -went back to the door, and closed it cautiously, then deposited his hat -and gloves on the table with a precision which impressed the tailor -with a sense of deep mystery. - -"I think you have just been to Moors," he said, after these -preliminaries. - -"That is so," replied the tailor, with unnatural indifference. - -"And one of your people is going there to-day with some sample -uniforms?" - -"I am going there to-day with a sample uniform." - -"Quite so. You are aware that Lord Lothersdale is working on a very -important report?" - -"Of course I am." - -Mr. Sinnott came a step nearer to the tailor, and dropped his voice to -an impressive whisper. - -"What I am going to tell you," he continued, "is in the strictest -confidence. A Continental Power that shall be nameless, but whose -identity you, as a man of the world, will be able to guess, is moving -heaven and earth to get to know what that report contains. It is certain -that whatever Lord Lothersdale suggests will be carried out by our -government, and this will immediately influence the military policy of -the Power in question. Moreover, there are some secret portions of this -report which will never be made public. Therefore this foreign power is -striving to get sight of it before it leaves Lord Lothersdale's hands. - -"One spy has already been detected and warned off by our man who is -established in the village, but we have just learnt that another agent -has obtained admission to the house itself, by taking service as a -footman. On a previous occasion we alarmed Lord Lothersdale, without any -real grounds, as it eventually turned out, and we should not care to -repeat the incident. It is therefore essential that I, who know this -man, should have the opportunity of seeing if he really is there, -without anyone--not even his lordship--knowing who I am. With your -assistance this will be possible; and I have come from Scotland Yard to -ask you to allow me to go with you to Moors to-day, ostensibly as -connected with your firm. If you will assist us in this matter you will -not find us ungrateful. Scotland Yard does not forget, and some day it -may be in our power to be of use to you. In the meantime, you will have -done your country a great service." - -Mr. Bower was considerably impressed by this speech. He had come back -from Moors full of importance. He was most certainly assisting in -preserving the integrity of the empire, and it was quite in keeping with -this feeling that he should take part in the international complication -outlined by his visitor. He appeared to weigh the matter judicially for -a few minutes. Then he said solemnly, "We will give you our co-operation -in this affair, Mr. Sinnott." - -"Thank you, Mr. Bower," said the "detective." - -So at one o'clock that afternoon Mr. Bower, accompanied by his new -assistant, took train for Moors. In another compartment travelled a -sample corporal of the British Army, who was to show off the uniform -which Mr. Bower had designed under Lord Lothersdale's instructions. - -It was a two-hours' journey, but Mr. Sinnott found it all too short in -Mr. Bower's improving society, for that gentleman expounded views on -life from a new standpoint. - -"No, sir," he said, "things are not what they used to be. -Gentlemen--noblemen, especially, I regret to state--do not display that -intelligent attention to dress which they used to, even within my own -recollection Lord Lothersdale is a notable exception, but enumerate any -other statesmen you like, and if left to their own unaided judgment--I -say it with all due deference--they would go to pieces. I assure you, -upon my honour, at the end of six months you would be liable to mistake -any one of them for a foreigner. You would scarcely think it, Mr. -Sinnott, but no less than five members of the present Government are too -busy to give a thought to their dress at all." - -"You don't say so!" exclaimed Mr. Sinnott. - -"I do. 'Bower,' they say, 'keep your eye on us, and whenever you think -that we are gettin' shabby make us some new clothes, and we will wear -them. We leave it all to you.' It is flatterin', sir, I suppose, to have -such reliance placed in your judgment, but it demonstrates the absence -of--shall I term it proper self-respect?--which is deplorable, -absolutely deplorable. It has made me a firm believer in the -degeneration of the race. - -"Of course, to keep the Cabinet well-dressed is the principal object of -my existence, and I flatter myself that under my superintendence the -present Cabinet will compare favourably in taste and style with any -previous one. But it is anxious, even harassin' work to decide what -particular cut, colour, and texture will most suitably harmonise with -each individual temperament. They cannot afford the time for interviews, -so I have to anticipate the movements of ministers, and go out of my way -to meet them. I track them down, as it were, and make my observations in -the street, as best I can. Would you believe it, Mr. Sinnott, I was one -day actually arrested for suspiciously followin' the Secretary of State -for India? His trousers were positively baggin' at the knees. I couldn't -take my eyes off them, and one of your smart young constables took me to -Bow Street. Most humiliatin', I call it; and all because of my devotion -to duty and the honour of the nation." - -"Shocking," said Mr. Sinnott. "I sympathise with you, Mr. Bower. I -should like to know the name of that constable." - -"His name was Simpson--Archibald Simpson," replied the tailor. - -Mr. Sinnott made a note of the name, and Mr. Bower continued: - -"But, as I previously observed, Lord Lothersdale is a horse of another -colour, if I may make use of such an expression. It is an inspiration to -meet him. He is the busiest gentleman in England--bar none--but he is -never too busy for a try-on or for a consultation. He is gifted, sir. He -has ideas that would amaze you. The single-breasted frock-coat was his -creation. What do you think of that?" - -"You do astonish me, Mr. Bower. I had no idea of it." - -"I knew you had not--that is where the greatness of the man comes in. It -is his conception, and he is fully aware that the credit of it is -attributed to me--but he does not mind. There is no petty jealousy of -the profession about him. Then, silk breeches for evenin' wear. That is -another of his grand ideas. You must have silk breeches if you visit at -Moors, or you do not receive a second invitation. He is drastic in his -methods, is my lord--a regular Roman. Mark my words, Mr. Sinnott, if the -fashion takes it will be owin' to the influence of Lord Lothersdale, and -once get the nation into silk breeches, and you do not know to what -heights it may attain. It will be the beginnin' of a new era, the like -of which no man livin' has known. I only hope I shall be here to -witness its dawn." - -Mr. Bower's eyes glistened, and his cheeks flushed in anticipation. Even -Mr. Sinnott caught a little of his enthusiasm. - -It was half-past three when they reached Moors. Lord Lothersdale could -not see them until after dinner. At that moment a Japanese -Surgeon-General was with him, explaining how they managed their field -hospitals in the Far East. He had come by special permission of the -Mikado, and had to return to the seat of war by the six o'clock train. - -At nine o'clock the corporal was arrayed in the proposed new uniform for -the Line--a taking arrangement in heliotrope, the outcome of Lord -Lothersdale's creative genius and Mr. Bower's executive ability. - -At nine-thirty they were admitted into Lord Lothersdale's study. The -great man was in a genial mood, the result, no doubt, of an instructive -afternoon and a good dinner. - -He walked round the corporal, and inspected him critically. - -"By Jove! Bower," he said at last, "you've done the trick. Capital! And -your idea of primrose facings was quite right, after all." - -"I am glad that you approve of it, my lord," said the beaming tailor. - -"I do. And the country will, too. There'll be some recruiting when this -gets out." Then he knitted his brows. "I think the cuffs are a shade too -deep, though. I'm sure they are. But half-an-inch--no, a quarter--will -put it right." - -"A quarter-of-an-inch off the cuff facin's. Make a note of that," said -Mr. Bower to his assistant, who had his pocket-book ready. - -"You'll have it done by breakfast time, please," said Lord Lothersdale, -"so that I can see how it looks by daylight. A photographer will be -here, as I want some coloured prints for the Appendix." - -Then the little deputation withdrew. The whole interview had not -occupied more than five minutes, and most of that time the tailor's -assistant had been taking his bearings, and trying to locate the report. -That was surely it--a business-like foolscap volume on the desk. The -secretary was writing in it when they entered, and later on he had -carefully put it in the top left-hand drawer. The assistant manoeuvred -round to the desk during the interview, and after taking particulars of -the alterations required, he laid down his notebook, and deliberately -left it there. - -At two o'clock in the morning, when the whole household was presumably -fast asleep, Mr. Bower's assistant suddenly remembered that he had left -his notebook downstairs, and decided to recover it at once rather than -wait till morning. He therefore made his way cautiously to Lord -Lothersdale's study. He accomplished the return journey without any -untoward event happening; but he brought back with him, in addition to -the notebook, a manuscript volume, which he deposited in his handbag. - -The alterations in the cuff facings were duly made by breakfast time. At -nine o'clock Lord Lothersdale approved of the result. By nine-fifteen -the corporal had been photographed in several attitudes--one of which -now adorns the recruiting posters--and by nine-thirty the party was -driving to the railway station, incidentally meeting a troop of Hussars -on the march to Moors for purposes of the Appendix. - -"That is what I call business," said Mr. Bower, as they took their seats -in the train at the last moment. "No time is lost in dealin' with Lord -Lothersdale. I hope that you got to know all you wanted." - -"All," replied Mr. Sinnott. "We have evidently been misinformed, for the -man I wanted is not there. If we'd made a fuss about it to Lord -Lothersdale we should have been sorry. As it is, we are very much -obliged to you, Mr. Bower, and we shan't forget it." - - * * * * * - -"The next business," said the Hon. Sec. at the Burglars' Club meeting -that same evening, "is the payment by Mr. Drummond Eyre of his -subscription for the next two years by the production of Lord -Lothersdale's Report on the Army." - -"Here it is," said Eyre, producing a manuscript volume. - -A subdued murmur of applause ran round. - -The President took up the book and glanced at it. "This seems to be in -order," he said, turning to the end. "Lothersdale signs----" - -He broke off suddenly. The door had opened without any warning, and a -little sharp-featured individual entered, followed by half a dozen other -men. - -"In the name of the King," said the first comer, "I arrest George -Drummond Eyre for feloniously stealing, taking, and carrying away -certain papers, namely a Report, the property of the Right Honourable -Gilbert Brown, Baron Lothersdale, and I arrest all others present as -accessories." - -Members rose to their feet, and simultaneously made a move towards the -door, with the evident intention of resisting the intrusion. - -Mr. Marvell--for it was he--held up his hand warningly. "There are more -men outside," he said. "Resistance is useless." - -"Where's your authority for all this?" demanded the Secretary. - -"Here, sir," said Marvell, pulling out a bundle of papers from a -capacious pocket. "Here are the warrants. 'Mr. George Drummond Eyre,'" -he called out, reading from the pile. "Here you are, sir. 'The Duke of -Dorchester.' Here, your Grace. 'The Earl of Ribston.' Here, my lord. -'Mr. Hilton,' 'Major Anstruther,'" and so on through the list of -members. "You will find these quite in order, I think. Now, gentlemen, -if you please. I have concluded that you would prefer to ride. Thompson, -fetch the hansoms round." - -"Stop!" called out Ribston. "What are you going to do with us?" - -"Take you to Vine Street Station." - -"Nonsense. We're not criminals." - -"You can argue that out with the magistrate to-morrow, my lord," said -the detective. "Here are the warrants, and I'm going to execute them. If -the proceedings are not in order, you can claim reparation in the usual -way. Now, gentlemen, please. If you will give your word to come quietly -you will save time and trouble." - -"Does the Home Secretary know of this?" asked the Duke. - -"We don't report police court details to the Home Secretary," said -Marvell, acidly. "No, sir, he doesn't." - -"Then I demand to see him before these warrants are executed," said -Dorchester. - -"Impossible, your Grace," said Marvell, who twice before had been -defrauded of his legitimate prey. Not again was he going to run the risk -of undue favour staying the hand of Justice. He had now in his -possession a batch of prisoners so notable that next day his name would -ring from one end of the world to the other. "Impossible," was the -obvious reply. - -"May I write a letter?" asked the Duke. - -"No, your Grace, you may not," replied Marvell firmly. "You are now a -prisoner, and you will please come with me without more delay. Now, -gentlemen, will you pass your words to come quietly? You can cause -trouble if you like, but we are more than equal to you in numbers, so -there could only be one end to the matter." - -Dorchester consulted Ribston and the Secretary. The others nodded -reluctant consent. Word was given, and they passed out. The house doors -were flung open, and they filed into the street, where a dozen hansoms -were in line, a dozen policemen in waiting, and a small but inevitable -crowd had collected. - -"Ask Colonel Altamont to see the Home Secretary at once," said -Dorchester to his butler, as he was helped into his coat. - -The old man stood there petrified by the horror of the proceedings. He -had been in the family for generations. Three Dukes of Dorchester had he -known in all their glory. Kings, Queens, and Potentates had flitted in -and out of the ducal mansion with his masters, and now he had lived to -see the last of the line taken away like a thief, for some terrible -crime. He heard the Duke's words to him, but they conveyed no impression -to his brain. He did not reply. The police, the bustle in the hall, the -crowd outside, the driving away of the prisoners, all was as a horrible -nightmare to him. - -"His Grace said you were to tell Colonel Altamont to go at once to the -Home Secretary, Mr. Bolton," said the footman, who had held the Duke's -coat. - -"Ha!" said Bolton, waking from his stupor. He caught hold of a hat, and -ran out of the house. - -Altamont had not been able to be present that evening. Business of -importance had detained him, and he had only just got back to his rooms -when Bolton turned up. He started off at once to the Home Secretary, and -after exasperating interviews with a footman, a butler, and a private -secretary, was at length admitted to the presence of that high -personage, who was in his dressing gown, and considerably annoyed at -this interruption to his slumbers. - -The Colonel explained the situation. - -"Is that all?" asked the Home Secretary when he had finished. - -"All, sir!" cried the indignant Colonel. "Dorchester, Ribston, -Anstruther, and a dozen others, arrested by your policemen, and you ask -'Is that all?'" - -"Colonel," said the Minister, emphasising his remarks with his -forefinger in Old Bailey style, "Dorchester, Ribston, and the whole lot -should have known better--very much better. They've had their sport, and -now they've got to pay for it. I can't interfere. If the jury recommend -them to mercy I'll give them the benefit of any doubt, and will save -them from hanging; but that's all I can promise. Now have a whiskey and -soda, and go to bed." - -Altamont declined the whiskey and soda, and left the Minister -indignantly. On his doorstep he was promptly arrested by Marvell, who -had a couple of warrants left over after depositing his prisoners at -Vine Street. The last warrant could not be served that night, as the -member in question happened to be visiting a friend in Nova Zembla. - -Mr. Marvell took good care that the news of the arrest of the Duke of -Dorchester, the Earl of Ribston, and the other more or less -distinguished members of the Burglars' Club, should be at once -communicated to the Press in case some influential friend should -intervene at the last moment, and once more defraud him of his due. The -morning's papers were full of the news, with the result that the -Marlborough Street Police Court was filled to overflowing long before -the proceedings commenced. The Peerage, the Diplomatic Service, the -Commons, the Army and the Navy, the Stage and Sport, were well -represented. Every inch of space, including the bench itself, was -filled, and fair women and brave men were turned away. - -Half a dozen ordinary cases were quickly disposed of. Then the -extraordinary case was called, and the spectators involuntarily rose to -their feet as the Burglars filed into the dock, and took their stand two -deep behind the brass rail. A murmur of sympathy went round as they -stood there--some of them obviously interested in the proceedings, -others apparently bored by them--all well-groomed, straight set-up men, -though their evening dress looked incongruous enough in the daylight, -and their crumpled shirt-fronts did not show to advantage. - -One by one the prisoners' names were called. One by one the prisoners -answered. - -Then counsel for the Crown stood up, and having stated that the charge -against the prisoners was that of stealing a Report, the property of -Lord Lothersdale, he opened his case and called the first witness--Mr. -Bower. - -Mr. Bower entered the box, and adjusted his pince-nez with extreme -nicety. Under counsel's lead he detailed how the so-called Sinnott had -introduced himself. - -"I had no doubt at all as to his _bona fides_," said the tailor, -lingering lovingly over the Latin words; "but immediately afterwards I -had a wire from Moors asking me to postpone my visit to his lordship. I -rang up Scotland Yard to inform Mr. Sinnott of the alteration, and -learnt that he was unknown there. Then I informed the authorities of the -whole matter, with the result that our original intention was followed, -and every facility allowed to Mr. Sinnott for carry out his plans." - -"Done! By Jove!" gasped Eyre. - -Lord Lothersdale's secretary then gave evidence that the Report now -produced in court was the property of his lordship. - -"Of course," he added smilingly, "the real Report is still at Moors. -This one, though signed for the present purpose by Lord Lothersdale, has -no value. It was drawn up three years ago by a former Secretary of State -for War," he explained. - -Then there was formal evidence of the arrest from Mr. Marvell, who was -allowed to speak at length. - -"For some time past, your worship," he said, "we have been aware of the -existence of what is called 'The Burglars' Club,' composed of noblemen -and gentlemen such as your worship sees before you. Our information was -derived in the first instance from a discharged servant of one of the -members. In revenge for his dismissal he told us of proceedings he had -witnessed at his master's house on one occasion, when he was concealed -behind a curtain in the room. - -"He furnished us with a list of members, and ever since then we have had -them under observation. These gentlemen amuse themselves by stealing -articles of great value or of public interest. We know for a fact that -at one time and another they have obtained unlawful possession of the -Koh-i-noor Diamond, the Mace of the House of Commons, Lord -Illingworth's Black Pearl, an ounce of Radium from Professor Blyth's -laboratory, and even the Great Seal of the United Kingdom itself." - -"Good old burglars!" called out an admiring listener at the back of the -court. - -"Silence!" shouted an indignant usher. - -"We have waited, your worship, until we could interfere successfully, -knowing that it was only a question of time for us to do so. I have -twice been called in on the occasion of a burglary committed by a member -of the club, and in each case--of course against my wishes--no charge -was made. In this particular instance the member walked straight into -the trap." - -This closed the case for the Crown, and counsel proceeded to urge the -seriousness of the offence, and the necessity for a severe sentence, not -only as a just punishment, but as an example. - -Counsel for the prisoners now rose. He was the famous Mr. Spiller, who -had earned the well-deserved sobriquet of "The prisoner's pal." - -He stood up with a twinkle in his eye, and an air of confidence that -gladdened the hearts of the ladies on the bench. - -"Your worship," he began, "I shall not detain the Court more than a very -few minutes, for I admit all the evidence that has been tendered. The -last witness gave a list of articles illegally taken by my clients. If -he wishes, I will add to the list another half-dozen instances of equal -importance." - -"Bravo! Go it, Spiller!" called out the sympathiser at the back, whose -sporting instincts were too strong for him. This time he was surrounded -by ushers and ejected. - -"But, sir," continued counsel, when quiet had again been restored, "I -must emphasize a point which has been completely and unaccountably lost -sight of by the prosecution. Not one of the articles taken by my clients -has been retained by them for longer than twenty-four hours. Within that -period every article has been restored to its owner. Restitution has -always been made, and compensation given whenever compensation was -necessary. - -"We in this court have many times had occasion to admire the abilities -of Mr. Marvell as a detective, but I would now suggest that he should go -through a course of Stephen's 'Commentaries' in order to obtain a little -knowledge of the law which he is in the constant habit of putting into -force. I cannot too strongly denounce the unwarrantable action of -Scotland Yard in submitting my clients to the indignity of an arrest and -these proceedings upon the evidence in their possession. They must -know--or their office-boy or charwoman is capable of instructing them in -the fact--that by English law no person can be guilty of larceny who -does not intend permanently to deprive its owner of the article of which -he has gained possession. Mere conversion, though accompanied by -trespass, is nothing more than a civil wrong, for which possibly my -clients might be liable to a farthing damages. - -"Surely," concluded Mr. Spiller, "life is dull and prosaic enough -without this high-handed and unwarranted attempt of Scotland Yard to -extinguish an original, if not laudable, effort on the part of my -clients to add to the dexterity and the gaiety of the nation. Your -worship, I submit there is no evidence against my clients, and ask for -the immediate discharge of the prisoners." - -As Mr. Spiller spoke, the countenance of the prosecuting counsel was -observed to become exceedingly gloomy, while Mr. Marvell's complexion -turned distinctly green. - -[Illustration: "MR. MARVELL . . . THANKED THE COMPANY FOR THE GIFT, -WHICH HE WOULD TREASURE." - -(_p. 280_)] - -Then the magistrate spoke. He began with the usual reprimand to the -spectators, and the usual threat to have the place cleared if the -ordinary decencies of a Court of Justice were not maintained. Then he -turned to the prisoners, and said: - -"I am sorry to see men of your social position in the dock before me, -but you have only yourselves to thank for it. Your counsel has spoken of -your laudable and original effort to add to the gaiety of the nation. -People's idea of humour varies, and, personally, I see nothing very -funny in what you have done. I certainly think that your efforts might -have been more worthily engaged. Some of you are members of the Houses -of Parliament, and I really do not know how you reconcile this club with -your position as the law-makers of the land; but of course it may be -that this is part of the humour to which your counsel referred. With -regard to the legal aspect of the matter, it is clear that no criminal -offence has been committed, though if Lord Lothersdale desires, you may -have to answer elsewhere a claim for damages. You are discharged." - -It was in vain that the ushers tried to stop the cheers that went up as -the magistrate concluded, and as the doors of the dock opened and the -prisoners came forth. But one little man crept away from the well of the -court, unnoticed and unrejoicing. - -Two days later a special meeting of the Club was held, at which it was -proposed by Colonel Altamont and seconded by the President:-- - -"That, as according to the decision of the Marlborough Street Police -Court magistrate, the proceedings of the Burglars' Club are neither -criminal nor humorous, and its members run no danger of suffering -personal inconvenience, it is hereby resolved that the Club has no -connection with Sport, and therefore no reason for existence, and that -it be disbanded forthwith." - -A fortnight later the disbanding of the Club was celebrated by a dinner, -the guest of the evening being Mr. Marvell. After dessert the detective -was presented with the minute-book of the Club, which had been kept in -cipher by the Hon. Sec., who alone had the key to it. The ex-President, -in making the presentation, expressed the hope that Mr. Marvell would -spend many happy and profitable years in endeavouring to decipher it. - -Mr. Marvell, in reply, thanked the company for their kind reception of -him, and for the gift, which he would treasure. He would certainly -follow his Grace's suggestion and endeavour to decipher the minutes, and -he still hoped that with this additional evidence and a more intimate -acquaintance with the "Commentaries" of Mr. Stephen, he would before -long be enabled to return their hospitality at His Majesty's expense. - -Mr. Marvell's speech was received with acclamation; but his hopes have -not been realised. - -This is the last chronicle of the Burglars' Club. - - - PRINTED BY CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD., LA BELLE SAUVAGE, E.C. - 10.500 - - * * * * * - -Transcriber's Note: - -Obvious punctuation errors repaired. - -Page 87, the first word was placed in small capitals in the HTML version -and all capitals in the text version to conform to the rest of the book. - -Page 207, "Adolf" changed to "Adolph" (MR. ADOLPH MEYER, the friend) - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Burglars' Club, by Henry A. 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