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diff --git a/old/707.txt b/old/707.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cef8064 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/707.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6541 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Raffles, by E. W. Hornung + +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: Raffles + Further Adventures of the Amateur Cracksman + +Author: E. W. Hornung + +Posting Date: September 27, 2008 [EBook #707] +Release Date: November, 1996 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAFFLES *** + + + + +Produced by Judith Boss. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + +RAFFLES + +FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE AMATEUR CRACKSMAN + + +BY + +E. W. HORNUNG + + + +CONTENTS + + + NO SINECURE + A JUBILEE PRESENT + THE FATE OF FAUSTINA + THE LAST LAUGH + TO CATCH A THIEF + AN OLD FLAME + THE WRONG HOUSE + THE KNEES OF THE GODS + + + + +RAFFLES + + + +NO SINECURE + + +I + +I am still uncertain which surprised me more, the telegram calling my +attention to the advertisement, or the advertisement itself. The +telegram is before me as I write. It would appear to have been handed +in at Vere Street at eight o'clock in the morning of May 11, 1897, and +received before half-past at Holloway B.O. And in that drab region it +duly found me, unwashen but at work before the day grew hot and my +attic insupportable. + +"See Mr. Maturin's advertisement Daily Mail might suit you earnestly +beg try will speak if necessary ---- ----" + +I transcribe the thing as I see it before me, all in one breath that +took away mine; but I leave out the initials at the end, which +completed the surprise. They stood very obviously for the knighted +specialist whose consulting-room is within a cab-whistle of Vere +Street, and who once called me kinsman for his sins. More recently he +had called me other names. I was a disgrace, qualified by an adjective +which seemed to me another. I had made my bed, and I could go and lie +and die in it. If I ever again had the insolence to show my nose in +that house, I should go out quicker than I came in. All this, and +more, my least distant relative could tell a poor devil to his face; +could ring for his man, and give him his brutal instructions on the +spot; and then relent to the tune of this telegram! I have no phrase +for my amazement. I literally could not believe my eyes. Yet their +evidence was more and more conclusive: a very epistle could not have +been more characteristic of its sender. Meanly elliptical, ludicrously +precise, saving half-pence at the expense of sense, yet paying like a +man for "Mr." Maturin, that was my distinguished relative from his +bald patch to his corns. Nor was all the rest unlike him, upon second +thoughts. He had a reputation for charity; he was going to live up to +it after all. Either that, or it was the sudden impulse of which the +most calculating are capable at times; the morning papers with the +early cup of tea, this advertisement seen by chance, and the rest upon +the spur of a guilty conscience. + +Well, I must see it for myself, and the sooner the better, though work +pressed. I was writing a series of articles upon prison life, and had +my nib into the whole System; a literary and philanthropical daily was +parading my "charges," the graver ones with the more gusto; and the +terms, if unhandsome for creative work, were temporary wealth to me. +It so happened that my first check had just arrived by the eight +o'clock post; and my position should be appreciated when I say that I +had to cash it to obtain a Daily Mail. + +Of the advertisement itself, what is to be said? It should speak for +itself if I could find it, but I cannot, and only remember that it was +a "male nurse and constant attendant" that was "wanted for an elderly +gentleman in feeble health." A male nurse! An absurd tag was +appended, offering "liberal salary to University or public-school man"; +and of a sudden I saw that I should get this thing if I applied for it. +What other "University or public-school man" would dream of doing so? +Was any other in such straits as I? And then my relenting relative; he +not only promised to speak for me, but was the very man to do so. +Could any recommendation compete with his in the matter of a male +nurse? And need the duties of such be necessarily loathsome and +repellent? Certainly the surroundings would be better than those of my +common lodging-house and own particular garret; and the food; and every +other condition of life that I could think of on my way back to that +unsavory asylum. So I dived into a pawnbroker's shop, where I was a +stranger only upon my present errand, and within the hour was airing a +decent if antiquated suit, but little corrupted by the pawnbroker's +moth, and a new straw hat, on the top of a tram. + +The address given in the advertisement was that of a flat at Earl's +Court, which cost me a cross-country journey, finishing with the +District Railway and a seven minutes' walk. It was now past mid-day, +and the tarry wood-pavement was good to smell as I strode up the Earl's +Court Road. It was great to walk the civilized world again. Here were +men with coats on their backs, and ladies in gloves. My only fear was +lest I might run up against one or other whom I had known of old. But +it was my lucky day. I felt it in my bones. I was going to get this +berth; and sometimes I should be able to smell the wood-pavement on the +old boy's errands; perhaps he would insist on skimming over it in his +bath-chair, with me behind. + +I felt quite nervous when I reached the flats. They were a small pile +in a side street, and I pitied the doctor whose plate I saw upon the +palings before the ground-floor windows; he must be in a very small +way, I thought. I rather pitied myself as well. I had indulged in +visions of better flats than these. There were no balconies. The +porter was out of livery. There was no lift, and my invalid on the +third floor! I trudged up, wishing I had never lived in Mount Street, +and brushed against a dejected individual coming down. A full-blooded +young fellow in a frock-coat flung the right door open at my summons. + +"Does Mr. Maturin live here?" I inquired. + +"That's right," said the full-blooded young man, grinning all over a +convivial countenance. + +"I--I've come about his advertisement in the Daily Mail." + +"You're the thirty-ninth," cried the blood; "that was the thirty-eighth +you met upon the stairs, and the day's still young. Excuse my staring +at you. Yes, you pass your prelim., and can come inside; you're one of +the few. We had most just after breakfast, but now the porter's +heading off the worst cases, and that last chap was the first for +twenty minutes. Come in here." + +And I was ushered into an empty room with a good bay-window, which +enabled my full-blooded friend to inspect me yet more critically in a +good light; this he did without the least false delicacy; then his +questions began. + +"'Varsity man?" + +"No." + +"Public school?" + +"Yes." + +"Which one?" + +I told him, and he sighed relief. + +"At last! You're the very first I've not had to argue with as to what +is and what is not a public school. Expelled?" + +"No," I said, after a moment's hesitation; "no, I was not expelled. +And I hope you won't expel me if I ask a question in my turn?" + +"Certainly not." + +"Are you Mr. Maturin's son?" + +"No, my name's Theobald. You may have seen it down below." + +"The doctor?" I said. + +"His doctor," said Theobald, with a satisfied eye. "Mr. Maturin's +doctor. He is having a male nurse and attendant by my advice, and he +wants a gentleman if he can get one. I rather think he'll see you, +though he's only seen two or three all day. There are certain questions +which he prefers to ask himself, and it's no good going over the same +ground twice. So perhaps I had better tell him about you before we get +any further." + +And he withdrew to a room still nearer the entrance, as I could hear, +for it was a very small flat indeed. But now two doors were shut +between us, and I had to rest content with murmurs through the wall +until the doctor returned to summon me. + +"I have persuaded my patient to see you," he whispered, "but I confess +I am not sanguine of the result. He is very difficult to please. You +must prepare yourself for a querulous invalid, and for no sinecure if +you get the billet." + +"May I ask what's the matter with him?" + +"By all means--when you've got the billet." + +Dr. Theobald then led the way, his professional dignity so thoroughly +intact that I could not but smile as I followed his swinging coat-tails +to the sick-room. I carried no smile across the threshold of a +darkened chamber which reeked of drugs and twinkled with medicine +bottles, and in the middle of which a gaunt figure lay abed in the +half-light. + +"Take him to the window, take him to the window," a thin voice snapped, +"and let's have a look at him. Open the blind a bit. Not as much as +that, damn you, not as much as that!" + +The doctor took the oath as though it had been a fee. I no longer +pitied him. It was now very clear to me that he had one patient who +was a little practice in himself. I determined there and then that he +should prove a little profession to me, if we could but keep him alive +between us. Mr. Maturin, however, had the whitest face that I have +ever seen, and his teeth gleamed out through the dusk as though the +withered lips no longer met about them; nor did they except in speech; +and anything ghastlier than the perpetual grin of his repose I defy you +to imagine. It was with this grin that he lay regarding me while the +doctor held the blind. + +"So you think you could look after me, do you?" + +"I'm certain I could, sir." + +"Single-handed, mind! I don't keep another soul. You would have to +cook your own grub and my slops. Do you think you could do all that?" + +"Yes, sir, I think so." + +"Why do you? Have you any experience of the kind?" + +"No, sir, none." + +"Then why do you pretend you have?" + +"I only meant that I would do my best." + +"Only meant, only meant! Have you done your best at everything else, +then?" + +I hung my head. This was a facer. And there was something in my +invalid which thrust the unspoken lie down my throat. + +"No, sir, I have not," I told him plainly. + +"He, he, he!" the old wretch tittered; "and you do well to own it; you +do well, sir, very well indeed. If you hadn't owned up, out you would +have gone, out neck-and-crop! You've saved your bacon. You may do +more. So you are a public-school boy, and a very good school yours is, +but you weren't at either University. Is that correct?" + +"Absolutely." + +"What did you do when you left school?" + +"I came in for money." + +"And then?" + +"I spent my money." + +"And since then?" + +I stood like a mule. + +"And since then, I say!" + +"A relative of mine will tell you if you ask him. He is an eminent +man, and he has promised to speak for me. I would rather say no more +myself." + +"But you shall, sir, but you shall! Do you suppose that I suppose a +public-school boy would apply for a berth like this if something or +other hadn't happened? What I want is a gentleman of sorts, and I +don't much care what sort; but you've got to tell me what did happen, +if you don't tell anybody else. Dr. Theobald, sir, you can go to the +devil if you won't take a hint. This man may do or he may not. You +have no more to say to it till I send him down to tell you one thing or +the other. Clear out, sir, clear out; and if you think you've anything +to complain of, you stick it down in the bill!" + +In the mild excitement of our interview the thin voice had gathered +strength, and the last shrill insult was screamed after the devoted +medico, as he retired in such order that I felt certain he was going to +take this trying patient at his word. The bedroom door closed, then +the outer one, and the doctor's heels went drumming down the common +stair. I was alone in the flat with this highly singular and rather +terrible old man. + +"And a damned good riddance!" croaked the invalid, raising himself on +one elbow without delay. "I may not have much body left to boast +about, but at least I've got a lost old soul to call my own. That's +why I want a gentleman of sorts about me. I've been too dependent on +that chap. He won't even let me smoke, and he's been in the flat all +day to see I didn't. You'll find the cigarettes behind the Madonna of +the Chair." + +It was a steel engraving of the great Raffaelle, and the frame was +tilted from the wall; at a touch a packet of cigarettes tumbled down +from behind. + +"Thanks; and now a light." + +I struck the match and held it, while the invalid inhaled with normal +lips; and suddenly I sighed. I was irresistibly reminded of my poor +dear old Raffles. A smoke-ring worthy of the great A. J. was floating +upward from the sick man's lips. + +"And now take one yourself. I have smoked more poisonous cigarettes. +But even these are not Sullivans!" + +I cannot repeat what I said. I have no idea what I did. I only +know--I only knew--that it was A. J. Raffles in the flesh! + + +II + +"Yes, Bunny, it was the very devil of a swim; but I defy you to sink +in the Mediterranean. That sunset saved me. The sea was on fire. I +hardly swam under water at all, but went all I knew for the sun +itself; when it set I must have been a mile away; until it did I was +the invisible man. I figured on that, and only hope it wasn't set +down as a case of suicide. I shall get outed quite soon enough, Bunny, +but I'd rather be dropped by the hangman than throw my own wicket away." + +"Oh, my dear old chap, to think of having you by the hand again! I feel +as though we were both aboard that German liner, and all that's +happened since a nightmare. I thought that time was the last!" + +"It looked rather like it, Bunny. It was taking all the risks, and +hitting at everything. But the game came off, and some day I'll tell +you how." + +"Oh, I'm in no hurry to hear. It's enough for me to see you lying +there. I don't want to know how you came there, or why, though I fear +you must be pretty bad. I must have a good look at you before I let +you speak another word!" + +I raised one of the blinds, I sat upon the bed, and I had that look. +It left me all unable to conjecture his true state of health, but quite +certain in my own mind that my dear Raffles was not and never would be +the man that he had been. He had aged twenty years; he looked fifty at +the very least. His hair was white; there was no trick about that; +and his face was another white. The lines about the corners of the +eyes and mouth were both many and deep. On the other hand, the eyes +themselves were alight and alert as ever; they were still keen and gray +and gleaming, like finely tempered steel. Even the mouth, with a +cigarette to close it, was the mouth of Raffles and no other: strong +and unscrupulous as the man himself. It was only the physical strength +which appeared to have departed; but that was quite sufficient to make +my heart bleed for the dear rascal who had cost me every tie I valued +but the tie between us two. + +"Think I look much older?" he asked at length. + +"A bit," I admitted. "But it is chiefly your hair." + +"Whereby hangs a tale for when we've talked ourselves out, though I +have often thought it was that long swim that started it. Still, the +Island of Elba is a rummy show, I can assure you. And Naples is a +rummier!" + +"You went there after all?" + +"Rather! It's the European paradise for such as our noble selves. But +there's no place that's a patch on little London as a non-conductor of +heat; it never need get too hot for a fellow here; if it does it's +his own fault. It's the kind of wicket you don't get out on, unless +you get yourself out. So here I am again, and have been for the last +six weeks. And I mean to have another knock." + +"But surely, old fellow, you're not awfully fit, are you?" + +"Fit? My dear Bunny, I'm dead--I'm at the bottom of the sea--and don't +you forget it for a minute." + +"But are you all right, or are you not?" + +"No, I'm half-poisoned by Theobald's prescriptions and putrid +cigarettes, and as weak as a cat from lying in bed." + +"Then why on earth lie in bed, Raffles?" + +"Because it's better than lying in gaol, as I am afraid YOU know, my +poor dear fellow. I tell you I am dead; and my one terror is of coming +to life again by accident. Can't you see? I simply dare not show my +nose out of doors--by day. You have no idea of the number of +perfectly innocent things a dead man daren't do. I can't even smoke +Sullivans, because no one man was ever so partial to them as I was in +my lifetime, and you never know when you may start a clew." + +"What brought you to these mansions?" + +"I fancied a flat, and a man recommended these on the boat; such a good +chap, Bunny; he was my reference when it came to signing the lease. +You see I landed on a stretcher--most pathetic case--old Australian +without a friend in old country--ordered Engadine as last chance--no +go--not an earthly--sentimental wish to die in London--that's the +history of Mr. Maturin. If it doesn't hit you hard, Bunny, you're the +first. But it hit friend Theobald hardest of all. I'm an income to +him. I believe he's going to marry on me." + +"Does he guess there's nothing wrong?" + +"Knows, bless you! But he doesn't know I know he knows, and there +isn't a disease in the dictionary that he hasn't treated me for since +he's had me in hand. To do him justice, I believe he thinks me a +hypochondriac of the first water; but that young man will go far if he +keeps on the wicket. He has spent half his nights up here, at guineas +apiece." + +"Guineas must be plentiful, old chap!" + +"They have been, Bunny. I can't say more. But I don't see why they +shouldn't be again." + +I was not going to inquire where the guineas came from. As if I cared! +But I did ask old Raffles how in the world he had got upon my tracks; +and thereby drew the sort of smile with which old gentlemen rub their +hands, and old ladies nod their noses. Raffles merely produced a +perfect oval of blue smoke before replying. + +"I was waiting for you to ask that, Bunny; it's a long time since I did +anything upon which I plume myself more. Of course, in the first +place, I spotted you at once by these prison articles; they were not +signed, but the fist was the fist of my sitting rabbit!" + +"But who gave you my address?" + +"I wheedled it out of your excellent editor; called on him at dead of +night, when I occasionally go afield like other ghosts, and wept it out +of him in five minutes. I was your only relative; your name was not +your own name; if he insisted I would give him mine. He didn't +insist, Bunny, and I danced down his stairs with your address in my +pocket." + +"Last night?" + +"No, last week." + +"And so the advertisement was yours, as well as the telegram!" + +I had, of course, forgotten both in the high excitement of the hour, or +I should scarcely have announced my belated discovery with such an air. +As it was I made Raffles look at me as I had known him look before, +and the droop of his eyelids began to sting. + +"Why all this subtlety?" I petulantly exclaimed. "Why couldn't you +come straight away to me in a cab?" + +He did not inform me that I was hopeless as ever. He did not address +me as his good rabbit. + +He was silent for a time, and then spoke in a tone which made me +ashamed of mine. + +"You see, there are two or three of me now, Bunny: one's at the bottom +of the Mediterranean, and one's an old Australian desirous of dying in +the old country, but in no immediate danger of dying anywhere. The +old Australian doesn't know a soul in town; he's got to be consistent, +or he's done. This sitter Theobald is his only friend, and has seen +rather too much of him; ordinary dust won't do for his eyes. Begin to +see? To pick you out of a crowd, that was the game; to let old +Theobald help to pick you, better still! To start with, he was dead +against my having anybody at all; wanted me all to himself, naturally; +but anything rather than kill the goose! So he is to have a fiver a +week while he keeps me alive, and he's going to be married next month. +That's a pity in some ways, but a good thing in others; he will want +more money than he foresees, and he may always be of use to us at a +pinch. Meanwhile he eats out of my hand." + +I complimented Raffles on the mere composition of his telegram, with +half the characteristics of my distinguished kinsman squeezed into a +dozen odd words; and let him know how the old ruffian had really +treated me. Raffles was not surprised; we had dined together at my +relative's in the old days, and filed for reference a professional +valuation of his household gods. I now learnt that the telegram had +been posted, with the hour marked for its despatch, at the pillar +nearest Vere Street, on the night before the advertisement was due to +appear in the Daily Mail. This also had been carefully prearranged; +and Raffles's only fear had been lest it might be held over despite his +explicit instructions, and so drive me to the doctor for an +explanation of his telegram. But the adverse chances had been weeded +out and weeded out to the irreducible minimum of risk. + +His greatest risk, according to Raffles, lay nearest home: bedridden +invalid that he was supposed to be, his nightly terror was of running +into Theobald's arms in the immediate neighborhood of the flat. But +Raffles had characteristic methods of minimizing even that danger, of +which something anon; meanwhile he recounted more than one of his +nocturnal adventures, all, however, of a singularly innocent type; and +one thing I noticed while he talked. His room was the first as you +entered the flat. The long inner wall divided the room not merely +from the passage but from the outer landing as well. Thus every step +upon the bare stone stairs could be heard by Raffles where he lay; and +he would never speak while one was ascending, until it had passed his +door. The afternoon brought more than one applicant for the post which +it was my duty to tell them that I had already obtained. Between three +and four, however, Raffles, suddenly looking at his watch, packed me +off in a hurry to the other end of London for my things. + +"I'm afraid you must be famishing, Bunny. It's a fact that I eat very +little, and that at odd hours, but I ought not to have forgotten you. +Get yourself a snack outside, but not a square meal if you can resist +one. We've got to celebrate this day this night!" + +"To-night?" I cried. + +"To-night at eleven, and Kellner's the place. You may well open your +eyes, but we didn't go there much, if you remember, and the staff seems +changed. Anyway we'll risk it for once. I was in last night, talking +like a stage American, and supper's ordered for eleven sharp." + +"You made as sure of me as all that!" + +"There was no harm in ordering supper. We shall have it in a private +room, but you may as well dress if you've got the duds." + +"They're at my only forgiving relative's." + +"How much will get them out, and square you up, and bring you back bag +and baggage in good time?" + +I had to calculate. + +"A tenner, easily." + +"I had one ready for you. Here it is, and I wouldn't lose any time if +I were you. On the way you might look up Theobald, tell him you've got +it and how long you'll be gone, and that I can't be left alone all the +time. And, by Jove, yes! You get me a stall for the Lyceum at the +nearest agent's; there are two or three in High Street; and say it was +given you when you come in. That young man shall be out of the way +to-night." + +I found our doctor in a minute consulting-room and his shirt-sleeves, a +tall tumbler at his elbow; at least I caught sight of the tumbler on +entering; thereafter he stood in front of it, with a futility which +had my sympathy. + +"So you've got the billet," said Dr. Theobald. "Well, as I told you +before, and as you have since probably discovered for yourself, you +won't find it exactly a sinecure. My own part of the business is by no +means that; indeed, there are those who would throw up the case, after +the kind of treatment that you have seen for yourself. But +professional considerations are not the only ones, and one cannot make +too many allowances in such a case." + +"But what is the case?" I asked him. "You said you would tell me if I +was successful." + +Dr. Theobald's shrug was worthy of the profession he seemed destined to +adorn; it was not incompatible with any construction which one chose to +put upon it. Next moment he had stiffened. I suppose I still spoke +more or less like a gentleman. Yet, after all, I was only the male +nurse. He seemed to remember this suddenly, and he took occasion to +remind me of the fact. + +"Ah," said he, "that was before I knew you were altogether without +experience; and I must say that I was surprised even at Mr. Maturin's +engaging you after that; but it will depend upon yourself how long I +allow him to persist in so curious an experiment. As for what is the +matter with him, my good fellow, it is no use my giving you an answer +which would be double Dutch to you; moreover, I have still to test your +discretionary powers. I may say, however, that that poor gentleman +presents at once the most complex and most troublesome case, which is +responsibility enough without certain features which make it all but +insupportable. Beyond this I must refuse to discuss my patient for the +present; but I shall certainly go up if I can find time." + +He went up within five minutes. I found him there on my return at +dusk. But he did not refuse my stall for the Lyceum, which Raffles +would not allow me to use myself, and presented to him off-hand without +my leave. + +"And don't you bother any more about me till to-morrow," snapped the +high thin voice as he was off. "I can send for you now when I want +you, and I'm hoping to have a decent night for once." + + +III + +It was half-past ten when we left the flat, in an interval of silence +on the noisy stairs. The silence was unbroken by our wary feet. Yet +for me a surprise was in store upon the very landing. Instead of going +downstairs, Raffles led me up two flights, and so out upon a perfectly +flat roof. + +"There are two entrances to these mansions," he explained between stars +and chimney-stacks: "one to our staircase, and another round the +corner. But there's only one porter, and he lives on the basement +underneath us, and affects the door nearest home. We miss him by using +the wrong stairs, and we run less risk of old Theobald. I got the tip +from the postmen, who come up one way and down the other. Now, follow +me, and look out!" + +There was indeed some necessity for caution, for each half of the +building had its L-shaped well dropping sheer to the base, the parapets +so low that one might easily have tripped over them into eternity. +However, we were soon upon the second staircase, which opened on the +roof like the first. And twenty minutes of the next twenty-five we +spent in an admirable hansom, skimming east. + +"Not much change in the old hole, Bunny. More of these magic-lantern +advertisements ... and absolutely the worst bit of taste in town, +though it's saying something, in that equestrian statue with the gilt +stirrups and fixings; why don't they black the buffer's boots and his +horse's hoofs while they are about it? ... More bicyclists, of course. +That was just beginning, if you remember. It might have been useful to +us.... And there's the old club, getting put into a crate for the +Jubilee; by Jove, Bunny, we ought to be there. I wouldn't lean forward +in Piccadilly, old chap. If you're seen I'm thought of, and we shall +have to be jolly careful at Kellner's.... Ah, there it is! Did I tell +you I was a low-down stage Yankee at Kellner's? You'd better be +another, while the waiter's in the room." + +We had the little room upstairs; and on the very threshold I, even I, +who knew my Raffles of old, was taken horribly aback. The table was +laid for three. I called his attention to it in a whisper. + +"Why, yep!" came through his nose. "Say, boy, the lady, she's not +comin', but you leave that tackle where 'tis. If I'm liable to pay, I +guess I'll have all there is to it." + +I have never been in America, and the American public is the last on +earth that I desire to insult; but idiom and intonation alike would +have imposed upon my inexperience. I had to look at Raffles to make +sure that it was he who spoke, and I had my own reasons for looking +hard. + +"Who on earth was the lady?" I inquired aghast at the first opportunity. + +"She isn't on earth. They don't like wasting this room on two, that's +all. Bunny--my Bunny--here's to us both!" + +And we clinked glasses swimming with the liquid gold of Steinberg, +1868; but of the rare delights of that supper I can scarcely trust +myself to write. It was no mere meal, it was no coarse orgy, but a +little feast for the fastidious gods, not unworthy of Lucullus at his +worst. And I who had bolted my skilly at Wormwood Scrubbs, and +tightened my belt in a Holloway attic, it was I who sat down to this +ineffable repast! Where the courses were few, but each a triumph of +its kind, it would be invidious to single out any one dish; but the +Jambon de Westphalie au Champagne tempts me sorely. And then the +champagne that we drank, not the quantity but the quality! Well, it +was Pol Roger, '84, and quite good enough for me; but even so it was +not more dry, nor did it sparkle more, than the merry rascal who had +dragged me thus far to the devil, but should lead me dancing the rest +of the way. I was beginning to tell him so. I had done my honest best +since my reappearance in the world; but the world had done its worst +by me. A further antithesis and my final intention were both upon my +tongue when the waiter with the Chateau Margaux cut me short; for he +was the bearer of more than that great wine; bringing also a card upon +a silver tray. + +"Show him up," said Raffles, laconically. + +"And who is this?" I cried when the man was gone. Raffles reached +across the table and gripped my arm in a vice. His eyes were steel +points fixed on mine. + +"Bunny, stand by me," said he in the old irresistible voice, a voice +both stern and winning. "Stand by me, Bunny--if there's a row!" + +And there was time for nothing more, the door flying open, and a dapper +person entering with a bow; a frock-coat on his back, gold pince-nez on +his nose; a shiny hat in one hand, and a black bag in the other. + +"Good-evening, gentlemen," said he, at home and smiling. + +"Sit down," drawled Raffles in casual response. "Say, let me introduce +you to Mr. Ezra B. Martin, of Shicawgo. Mr. Martin is my future +brother-in-law. This is Mr. Robinson, Ezra, manager to Sparks & +Company, the cellerbrated joolers on Re-gent Street." + +I pricked up my ears, but contented myself with a nod. I altogether +distrusted my ability to live up to my new name and address. + +"I figured on Miss Martin bein' right here, too," continued Raffles, +"but I regret to say she's not feelin' so good. We light out for +Parrus on the 9 A. M. train to-morrer mornin', and she guessed she'd +be too dead. Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Robinson; but you'll see I'm +advertisin' your wares." + +Raffles held his right hand under the electric light, and a diamond +ring flashed upon his little finger. I could have sworn it was not +there five minutes before. + +The tradesman had a disappointed face, but for a moment it brightened +as he expatiated on the value of that ring and on the price his people +had accepted for it. I was invited to guess the figure, but I shook a +discreet head. I have seldom been more taciturn in my life. + +"Forty-five pounds," cried the jeweller; "and it would be cheap at +fifty guineas." + +"That's right," assented Raffles. "That'd be dead cheap, I allow. But +then, my boy, you gotten ready cash, and don't you forget it." + +I do not dwell upon my own mystification in all this. I merely pause +to state that I was keenly enjoying that very element. Nothing could +have been more typical of Raffles and the past. It was only my own +attitude that was changed. + +It appeared that the mythical lady, my sister, had just become engaged +to Raffles, who seemed all anxiety to pin her down with gifts of +price. I could not quite gather whose gift to whom was the diamond +ring; but it had evidently been paid for; and I voyaged to the moon, +wondering when and how. I was recalled to this planet by a deluge of +gems from the jeweller's bag. They lay alight in their cases like the +electric lamps above. We all three put our heads together over them, +myself without the slightest clew as to what was coming, but not +unprepared for violent crime. One does not do eighteen months for +nothing. + +"Right away," Raffles was saying. "We'll choose for her, and you'll +change anything she don't like. Is that the idea?" + +"That was my suggestion, sir." + +"Then come on, Ezra. I guess you know Sadie's taste. You help me +choose." + +And we chose--lord! What did we not choose? There was her ring, a +diamond half-hoop. It cost L95, and there was no attempt to get it for +L90. Then there was a diamond necklet--two hundred guineas, but +pounds accepted. That was to be the gift of the bridegroom. The +wedding was evidently imminent. It behooved me to play a brotherly +part. I therefore rose to the occasion; calculated she would like a +diamond star (L116), but reckoned it was more than I could afford; and +sustained a vicious kick under the table for either verb. I was afraid +to open my mouth on finally obtaining the star for the round hundred. +And then the fat fell in the fire; for pay we could not; though a +remittance (said Raffles) was "overdo from Noo York." + +"But I don't know you, gentlemen," the jeweller exclaimed. "I haven't +even the name of your hotel!" + +"I told you we was stoppin' with friends," said Raffles, who was not +angry, though thwarted and crushed. "But that's right, sir! Oh, that's +dead right, and I'm the last man to ask you to take Quixotic risks. +I'm tryin' to figure a way out. Yes, SIR, that's what I'm tryin' to +do." + +"I wish you could, sir," the jeweller said, with feeling. "It isn't as +if we hadn't seen the color of your money. But certain rules I'm +sworn to observe; it isn't as if I was in business for myself; and--you +say you start for Paris in the morning!" + +"On the 9 A. M. train," mused Raffles; "and I've heard no-end yarns +about the joolers' stores in Parrus. But that ain't fair; don't you +take no notice o' that. I'm tryin' to figure a way out. Yes, SIR!" + +He was smoking cigarettes out of a twenty-five box; the tradesman and I +had cigars. Raffles sat frowning with a pregnant eye, and it was only +too clear to me that his plans had miscarried. I could not help +thinking, however, that they deserved to do so, if he had counted upon +buying credit for all but L400 by a single payment of some ten per +cent. That again seemed unworthy of Raffles, and I, for my part, still +sat prepared to spring any moment at our visitor's throat. + +"We could mail you the money from Parrus," drawled Raffles at length. +"But how should we know you'd hold up your end of the string, and mail +us the same articles we've selected to-night?" + +The visitor stiffened in his chair. The name of his firm should be +sufficient guarantee for that. + +"I guess I'm no better acquainted with their name than they are with +mine," remarked Raffles, laughing. "See here, though! I got a scheme. +You pack 'em in this!" + +He turned the cigarettes out of the tin box, while the jeweller and I +joined wondering eyes. + +"Pack 'em in this," repeated Raffles, "the three things we want, and +never mind the boxes; you can pack 'em in cotton-wool. Then we'll ring +for string and sealing wax, seal up the lot right here, and you can +take 'em away in your grip. Within three days we'll have our +remittance, and mail you the money, and you'll mail us this darned box +with my seal unbroken! It's no use you lookin' so sick, Mr. Jooler; +you won't trust us any, and yet we're goin' to trust you some. Ring +the bell, Ezra, and we'll see if they've gotten any sealing-wax and +string." + +They had; and the thing was done. The tradesman did not like it; the +precaution was absolutely unnecessary; but since he was taking all his +goods away with him, the sold with the unsold, his sentimental +objections soon fell to the ground. He packed necklet, ring, and star, +with his own hands, in cotton-wool; and the cigarette-box held them so +easily that at the last moment, when the box was closed, and the string +ready, Raffles very nearly added a diamond bee-brooch at L51 10s. This +temptation, however, he ultimately overcame, to the other's chagrin. +The cigarette-box was tied up, and the string sealed, oddly enough, +with the diamond of the ring that had been bought and paid for. + +"I'll chance you having another ring in the store the dead spit of +mine," laughed Raffles, as he relinquished the box, and it disappeared +into the tradesman's bag. "And now, Mr. Robinson, I hope you'll +appreciate my true hospitality in not offering you any thing to drink +while business was in progress. That's Chateau Margaux, sir, and I +should judge it's what you'd call an eighteen-carat article." + +In the cab which we took to the vicinity of the flat, I was instantly +snubbed for asking questions which the driver might easily overhear, +and took the repulse just a little to heart. I could make neither +head nor tail of Raffles's dealings with the man from Regent Street, +and was naturally inquisitive as to the meaning of it all. But I held +my tongue until we had regained the flat in the cautious manner of our +exit, and even there until Raffles rallied me with a hand on either +shoulder and an old smile upon his face. + +"You rabbit!" said he. "Why couldn't you wait till we got home?" + +"Why couldn't you tell me what you were going to do?" I retorted as of +yore. + +"Because your dear old phiz is still worth its weight in innocence, and +because you never could act for nuts! You looked as puzzled as the +other poor devil; but you wouldn't if you had known what my game really +was." + +"And pray what was it?" + +"That," said Raffles, and he smacked the cigarette-box down upon the +mantelpiece. It was not tied. It was not sealed. It flew open from +the force of the impact. And the diamond ring that cost L95, the +necklet for L200, and my flaming star at another L100, all three lay +safe and snug in the jeweller's own cotton-wool! + +"Duplicate boxes!" I cried. + +"Duplicate boxes, my brainy Bunny. One was already packed and +weighted, and in my pocket. I don't know whether you noticed me +weighing the three things together in my hand? I know that neither of +you saw me change the boxes, for I did it when I was nearest buying the +bee-brooch at the end, and you were too puzzled, and the other Johnny +too keen. It was the cheapest shot in the game; the dear ones were +sending old Theobald to Southampton on a fool's errand yesterday +afternoon, and showing one's own nose down Regent Street in broad +daylight while he was gone; but some things are worth paying for, and +certain risks one must always take. Nice boxes, aren't they? I only +wished they contained a better cigarette; but a notorious brand was +essential; a box of Sullivans would have brought me to life to-morrow." + +"But they oughtn't to open it to-morrow." + +"Nor will they, as a matter of fact. Meanwhile, Bunny, I may call upon +you to dispose of the boodle." + +"I'm on for any mortal thing!" + +My voice rang true, I swear, but it was the way of Raffles to take the +evidence of as many senses as possible. I felt the cold steel of his +eyes through mine and through my brain. But what he saw seemed to +satisfy him no less than what he heard, for his hand found my hand, and +pressed it with a fervor foreign to the man. + +"I know you are, and I knew you would be. Only remember, Bunny, it's +my turn next to pay the shot!" + +You shall hear how he paid it when the time came. + + + +A JUBILEE PRESENT + +The Room of Gold, in the British Museum, is probably well enough known +to the inquiring alien and the travelled American. A true Londoner, +however, I myself had never heard of it until Raffles casually proposed +a raid. + +"The older I grow, Bunny, the less I think of your so-called precious +stones. When did they ever bring in half their market value in L.s.d. +There was the first little crib we ever cracked together--you with +your innocent eyes shut. A thousand pounds that stuff was worth; but +how many hundreds did it actually fetch. The Ardagh emeralds weren't +much better; old Lady Melrose's necklace was far worse; but that little +lot the other night has about finished me. A cool hundred for goods +priced well over four; and L35 to come off for bait, since we only got +a tenner for the ring I bought and paid for like an ass. I'll be shot +if I ever touch a diamond again! Not if it was the Koh-I-noor; those +few whacking stones are too well known, and to cut them up is to +decrease their value by arithmetical retrogression. Besides, that +brings you up against the Fence once more, and I'm done with the +beggars for good and all. You talk about your editors and publishers, +you literary swine. Barabbas was neither a robber nor a publisher, but +a six-barred, barbed-wired, spike-topped Fence. What we really want is +an Incorporated Society of Thieves, with some public-spirited old +forger to run it for us on business lines." + +Raffles uttered these blasphemies under his breath, not, I am afraid, +out of any respect for my one redeeming profession, but because we were +taking a midnight airing on the roof, after a whole day of June in the +little flat below. The stars shone overhead, the lights of London +underneath, and between the lips of Raffles a cigarette of the old and +only brand. I had sent in secret for a box of the best; the boon had +arrived that night; and the foregoing speech was the first result. I +could afford to ignore the insolent asides, however, where the apparent +contention was so manifestly unsound. + +"And how are you going to get rid of your gold?" said I, pertinently. + +"Nothing easier, my dear rabbit." + +"Is your Room of Gold a roomful of sovereigns?" + +Raffles laughed softly at my scorn. + +"No, Bunny, it's principally in the shape of archaic ornaments, whose +value, I admit, is largely extrinsic. But gold is gold, from +Phoenicia to Klondike, and if we cleared the room we should eventually +do very well." + +"How?" + +"I should melt it down into a nugget, and bring it home from the U.S.A. +to-morrow." + +"And then?" + +"Make them pay up in hard cash across the counter of the Bank of +England. And you CAN make them." + +That I knew, and so said nothing for a time, remaining a hostile though +a silent critic, while we paced the cool black leads with our bare +feet, softly as cats. + +"And how do you propose to get enough away," at length I asked, "to +make it worth while?" + +"Ah, there you have it," said Raffles. "I only propose to reconnoitre +the ground, to see what we can see. We might find some hiding-place +for a night; that, I am afraid, would be our only chance." + +"Have you ever been there before?" + +"Not since they got the one good, portable piece which I believe that +they exhibit now. It's a long time since I read of it--I can't +remember where--but I know they have got a gold cup of sorts worth +several thousands. A number of the immorally rich clubbed together +and presented it to the nation; and two of the richly immoral intend to +snaffle it for themselves. At any rate we might go and have a look at +it, Bunny, don't you think?" + +Think! I seized his arm. + +"When? When? When?" I asked, like a quick-firing gun. + +"The sooner the better, while old Theobald's away on his honeymoon." + +Our medico had married the week before, nor was any fellow-practitioner +taking his work--at least not that considerable branch of it which +consisted of Raffles--during his brief absence from town. There were +reasons, delightfully obvious to us, why such a plan would have been +highly unwise in Dr. Theobald. I, however, was sending him daily +screeds, and both matutinal and nocturnal telegrams, the composition of +which afforded Raffles not a little enjoyment. + +"Well, then, when--when?" I began to repeat. + +"To-morrow, if you like." + +"Only to look?" + +The limitation was my one regret. + +"We must do so, Bunny, before we leap." + +"Very well," I sighed. "But to-morrow it is!" + +And the morrow it really was. + +I saw the porter that night, and, I still think, bought his absolute +allegiance for the second coin of the realm. My story, however, +invented by Raffles, was sufficiently specious in itself. That sick +gentleman, Mr. Maturin (as I had to remember to call him), was really, +or apparently, sickening for fresh air. Dr. Theobald would allow him +none; he was pestering me for just one day in the country while the +glorious weather lasted. I was myself convinced that no possible harm +could come of the experiment. Would the porter help me in so innocent +and meritorious an intrigue? The man hesitated. I produced my +half-sovereign. The man was lost. And at half-past eight next +morning--before the heat of the day--Raffles and I drove to Kew Gardens +in a hired landau which was to call for us at mid-day and wait until we +came. The porter had assisted me to carry my invalid downstairs, in a +carrying-chair hired (like the landau) from Harrod's Stores for the +occasion. + +It was little after nine when we crawled together into the gardens; by +half-past my invalid had had enough, and out he tottered on my arm; a +cab, a message to our coachman, a timely train to Baker Street, +another cab, and we were at the British Museum--brisk pedestrians +now--not very many minutes after the opening hour of 10 A.M. + +It was one of those glowing days which will not be forgotten by many +who were in town at the time. The Diamond Jubilee was upon us, and +Queen's weather had already set in. Raffles, indeed, declared it was +as hot as Italy and Australia put together; and certainly the short +summer nights gave the channels of wood and asphalt and the continents +of brick and mortar but little time to cool. At the British Museum the +pigeons were crooning among the shadows of the grimy colonnade, and the +stalwart janitors looked less stalwart than usual, as though their +medals were too heavy for them. I recognized some habitual Readers +going to their labor underneath the dome; of mere visitors we seemed +among the first. + +"That's the room," said Raffles, who had bought the two-penny guide, as +we studied it openly on the nearest bench; "number 43, upstairs and +sharp round to the right. Come on, Bunny!" + +And he led the way in silence, but with a long methodical stride which +I could not understand until we came to the corridor leading to the +Room of Gold, when he turned to me for a moment. + +"A hundred and thirty-nine yards from this to the open street," said +Raffles, "not counting the stairs. I suppose we COULD do it in twenty +seconds, but if we did we should have to jump the gates. No, you must +remember to loaf out at slow march, Bunny, whether you like it or not." + +"But you talked about a hiding-place for a night?" + +"Quite so--for all night. We should have to get back, go on lying low, +and saunter out with the crowd next day--after doing the whole show +thoroughly." + +"What! With gold in our pockets--" + +"And gold in our boots, and gold up the sleeves and legs of our suits! +You leave that to me, Bunny, and wait till you've tried two pairs of +trousers sewn together at the foot! This is only a preliminary +reconnoitre. And here we are." + +It is none of my business to describe the so-called Room of Gold, with +which I, for one, was not a little disappointed. The glass cases, +which both fill and line it, may contain unique examples of the +goldsmith's art in times and places of which one heard quite enough in +the course of one's classical education; but, from a professional point +of view, I would as lief have the ransacking of a single window in the +West End as the pick of all those spoils of Etruria and of ancient +Greece. The gold may not be so soft as it appears, but it certainly +looks as though you could bite off the business ends of the spoons, and +stop your own teeth in doing so. Nor should I care to be seen wearing +one of the rings; but the greatest fraud of all (from the aforesaid +standpoint) is assuredly that very cup of which Raffles had spoken. +Moreover, he felt this himself. + +"Why, it's as thin as paper," said he, "and enamelled like a +middle-aged lady of quality! But, by Jove, it's one of the most +beautiful things I ever saw in my life, Bunny. I should like to have +it for its own sake, by all my gods!" + +The thing had a little square case of plate-glass all to itself at one +end of the room. It may have been the thing of beauty that Raffles +affected to consider it, but I for my part was in no mood to look at it +in that light. Underneath were the names of the plutocrats who had +subscribed for this national gewgaw, and I fell to wondering where +their L8,000 came in, while Raffles devoured his two-penny guide-book +as greedily as a school-girl with a zeal for culture. + +"Those are scenes from the martyrdom of St. Agnes," said he ... +"'translucent on relief ... one of the finest specimens of its kind.' +I should think it was! Bunny, you Philistine, why can't you admire the +thing for its own sake? It would be worth having only to live up to! +There never was such rich enamelling on such thin gold; and what a good +scheme to hang the lid up over it, so that you can see how thin it is. +I wonder if we could lift it, Bunny, by hook or crook?" + +"You'd better try, sir," said a dry voice at his elbow. + +The madman seemed to think we had the room to ourselves. I knew +better, but, like another madman, had let him ramble on unchecked. And +here was a stolid constable confronting us, in the short tunic that +they wear in summer, his whistle on its chain, but no truncheon at his +side. Heavens! how I see him now: a man of medium size, with a +broad, good-humored, perspiring face, and a limp moustache. He looked +sternly at Raffles, and Raffles looked merrily at him. + +"Going to run me in, officer?" said he. "That WOULD be a joke--my hat!" + +"I didn't say as I was, sir," replied the policeman. "But that's queer +talk for a gentleman like you, sir, in the British Museum!" And he +wagged his helmet at my invalid, who had taken his airing in +frock-coat and top-hat, the more readily to assume his present part. + +"What!" cried Raffles, "simply saying to my friend that I'd like to +lift the gold cup? Why, so I should, officer, so I should! I don't +mind who hears me say so. It's one of the most beautiful things I ever +saw in all my life." + +The constable's face had already relaxed, and now a grin peeped under +the limp moustache. "I daresay there's many as feels like that, sir," +said he. + +"Exactly; and I say what I feel, that's all," said Raffles airily. +"But seriously, officer, is a valuable thing like this quite safe in a +case like that?" + +"Safe enough as long as I'm here," replied the other, between grim jest +and stout earnest. Raffles studied his face; he was still watching +Raffles; and I kept an eye on them both without putting in my word. + +"You appear to be single-handed," observed Raffles. "Is that wise?" + +The note of anxiety was capitally caught; it was at once personal and +public-spirited, that of the enthusiastic savant, afraid for a national +treasure which few appreciated as he did himself. And, to be sure, the +three of us now had this treasury to ourselves; one or two others had +been there when we entered; but now they were gone. + +"I'm not single-handed," said the officer, comfortably. "See that seat +by the door? One of the attendants sits there all day long." + +"Then where is he now?" + +"Talking to another attendant just outside. If you listen you'll hear +them for yourself." + +We listened, and we did hear them, but not just outside. In my own +mind I even questioned whether they were in the corridor through which +we had come; to me it sounded as though they were just outside the +corridor. + +"You mean the fellow with the billiard-cue who was here when we came +in?" pursued Raffles. + +"That wasn't a billiard-cue! It was a pointer," the intelligent +officer explained. + +"It ought to be a javelin," said Raffles, nervously. "It ought to be a +poleaxe! The public treasure ought to be better guarded than this. I +shall write to the Times about it--you see if I don't!" + +All at once, yet somehow not so suddenly as to excite suspicion, +Raffles had become the elderly busybody with nerves; why, I could not +for the life of me imagine; and the policeman seemed equally at sea. + +"Lor' bless you, sir," said he, "I'm all right; don't you bother your +head about ME." + +"But you haven't even got a truncheon!" + +"Not likely to want one either. You see, sir, it's early as yet; in a +few minutes these here rooms will fill up; and there's safety in +numbers, as they say." + +"Oh, it will fill up soon, will it?" + +"Any minute now, sir." + +"Ah!" + +"It isn't often empty as long as this, sir. It's the Jubilee, I +suppose." + +"Meanwhile, what if my friend and I had been professional thieves? +Why, we could have over-powered you in an instant, my good fellow!" + +"That you couldn't; leastways, not without bringing the whole place +about your ears." + +"Well, I shall write to the Times, all the same. I'm a connoisseur in +all this sort of thing, and I won't have unnecessary risks run with the +nation's property. You said there was an attendant just outside, but +he sounds to me as though he were at the other end of the corridor. I +shall write to-day!" + +For an instant we all three listened; and Raffles was right. Then I saw +two things in one glance. Raffles had stepped a few inches backward, +and stood poised upon the ball of each foot, his arms half raised, a +light in his eyes. And another kind of light was breaking over the +crass features of our friend the constable. + +"Then shall I tell you what I'LL do?" he cried, with a sudden clutch at +the whistle-chain on his chest. The whistle flew out, but it never +reached his lips. There were a couple of sharp smacks, like double +barrels discharged all but simultaneously, and the man reeled against +me so that I could not help catching him as he fell. + +"Well done, Bunny! I've knocked him out--I've knocked him out! Run you +to the door and see if the attendants have heard anything, and take +them on if they have." + +Mechanically I did as I was told. There was no time for thought, still +less for remonstrance or reproach, though my surprise must have been +even more complete than that of the constable before Raffles knocked +the sense out of him. Even in my utter bewilderment, however, the +instinctive caution of the real criminal did not desert me. I ran to +the door, but I sauntered through it, to plant myself before a +Pompeiian fresco in the corridor; and there were the two attendants +still gossiping outside the further door; nor did they hear the dull +crash which I heard even as I watched them out of the corner of each +eye. + +It was hot weather, as I have said, but the perspiration on my body +seemed already to have turned into a skin of ice. Then I caught the +faint reflection of my own face in the casing of the fresco, and it +frightened me into some semblance of myself as Raffles joined me with +his hands in his pockets. But my fear and indignation were redoubled +at the sight of him, when a single glance convinced me that his +pockets were as empty as his hands, and his mad outrage the most wanton +and reckless of his whole career. + +"Ah, very interesting, very interesting, but nothing to what they have +in the museum at Naples or in Pompeii itself. You must go there some +day, Bunny. I've a good mind to take you myself. Meanwhile--slow +march! The beggar hasn't moved an eyelid. We may swing for him if you +show indecent haste!" + +"We!" I whispered. "We!" + +And my knees knocked together as we came up to the chatting attendants. +But Raffles must needs interrupt them to ask the way to the Prehistoric +Saloon. + +"At the top of the stairs." + +"Thank you. Then we'll work round that way to the Egyptian part." + +And we left them resuming their providential chat. + +"I believe you're mad," I said bitterly as we went. + +"I believe I was," admitted Raffles; "but I'm not now, and I'll see you +through. A hundred and thirty-nine yards, wasn't it? Then it can't be +more than a hundred and twenty now--not as much. Steady, Bunny, for +God's sake. It's SLOW march--for our lives." + +There was this much management. The rest was our colossal luck. A +hansom was being paid off at the foot of the steps outside, and in we +jumped, Raffles shouting "Charing Cross!" for all Bloomsbury to hear. + +We had turned into Bloomsbury Street without exchanging a syllable when +he struck the trap-door with his fist. + +"Where the devil are you driving us?" + +"Charing Cross, sir." + +"I said King's Cross! Round you spin, and drive like blazes, or we +miss our train! There's one to York at 10:35," added Raffles as the +trap-door slammed; "we'll book there, Bunny, and then we'll slope +through the subway to the Metropolitan, and so to ground via Baker +Street and Earl's Court." + +And actually in half an hour he was seated once more in the hired +carrying chair, while the porter and I staggered upstairs with my +decrepit charge, for whose shattered strength even one hour in Kew +Gardens had proved too much! Then, and not until then, when we had got +rid of the porter and were alone at last, did I tell Raffles, in the +most nervous English at my command, frankly and exactly what I thought +of him and of his latest deed. Once started, moreover, I spoke as I +have seldom spoken to living man; and Raffles, of all men, stood my +abuse without a murmur; or rather he sat it out, too astounded even to +take off his hat, though I thought his eyebrows would have lifted it +from his head. + +"But it always was your infernal way," I was savagely concluding. +"You make one plan, and yet you tell me another--" + +"Not to-day, Bunny, I swear!" + +"You mean to tell me you really did start with the bare idea of finding +a place to hide in for a night?" + +"Of course I did." + +"It was to be the mere reconnoitre you pretended?" + +"There was no pretence about it, Bunny." + +"Then why on earth go and do what you did?" + +"The reason would be obvious to anyone but you," said Raffles, still +with no unkindly scorn. "It was the temptation of a minute--the final +impulse of the fraction of a second, when Roberto saw that I was +tempted, and let me see that he saw it. It's not a thing I care to do, +and I sha'n't be happy till the papers tell me the poor devil is alive. +But a knock-out shot was the only chance for us then." + +"Why? You don't get run in for being tempted, nor yet for showing that +you are!" + +"But I should have deserved running in if I hadn't yielded to such a +temptation as that, Bunny. It was a chance in a hundred thousand! We +might go there every day of our lives, and never again be the only +outsiders in the room, with the billiard-marking Johnnie practically +out of ear-shot at one and the same time. It was a gift from the gods; +not to have taken it would have been flying in the face of Providence." + +"But you didn't take it," said I. "You went and left it behind." + +I wish I had had a Kodak for the little smile with which Raffles shook +his head, for it was one that he kept for those great moments of which +our vocation is not devoid. All this time he had been wearing his hat, +tilted a little over eyebrows no longer raised. And now at last I knew +where the gold cup was. + +It stood for days upon his chimney-piece, this costly trophy whose +ancient history and final fate filled newspaper columns even in these +days of Jubilee, and for which the flower of Scotland Yard was said to +be seeking high and low. Our constable, we learnt, had been stunned +only, and, from the moment that I brought him an evening paper with the +news, Raffles's spirits rose to a height inconsistent with his equable +temperament, and as unusual in him as the sudden impulse upon which he +had acted with such effect. The cup itself appealed to me no more than +it had done before. Exquisite it might be, handsome it was, but so +light in the hand that the mere gold of it would scarcely have poured +three figures out of melting-pot. And what said Raffles but that he +would never melt it at all! + +"Taking it was an offence against the laws of the land, Bunny. That is +nothing. But destroying it would be a crime against God and Art, and +may I be spitted on the vane of St. Mary Abbot's if I commit it!" + +Talk such as this was unanswerable; indeed, the whole affair had passed +the pale of useful comment; and the one course left to a practical +person was to shrug his shoulders and enjoy the joke. This was not a +little enhanced by the newspaper reports, which described Raffles as a +handsome youth, and his unwilling accomplice as an older man of +blackguardly appearance and low type. + +"Hits us both off rather neatly, Bunny," said he. "But what none of +them do justice to is my dear cup. Look at it; only look at it, man! +Was ever anything so rich and yet so chaste? St. Agnes must have had a +pretty bad time, but it would be almost worth it to go down to +posterity in such enamel upon such gold. And then the history of the +thing. Do you realize that it's five hundred years old and has +belonged to Henry the Eighth and to Elizabeth among others? Bunny, +when you have me cremated, you can put my ashes in yonder cup, and lay +us in the deep-delved earth together!" + +"And meanwhile?" + +"It is the joy of my heart, the light of my life, the delight of mine +eye." + +"And suppose other eyes catch sight of it?" + +"They never must; they never shall." + +Raffles would have been too absurd had he not been thoroughly alive to +his own absurdity; there was nevertheless an underlying sincerity in +his appreciation of any and every form of beauty, which all his +nonsense could not conceal. And his infatuation for the cup was, as he +declared, a very pure passion, since the circumstances debarred him +from the chief joy of the average collector, that of showing his +treasure to his friends. At last, however, and at the height of his +craze, Raffles and reason seemed to come together again as suddenly as +they had parted company in the Room of Gold. + +"Bunny," he cried, flinging his newspaper across the room, "I've got an +idea after your own heart. I know where I can place it after all!" + +"Do you mean the cup?" + +"I do." + +"Then I congratulate you." + +"Thanks." + +"Upon the recovery of your senses." + +"Thanks galore. But you've been confoundedly unsympathetic about this +thing, Bunny, and I don't think I shall tell you my scheme till I've +carried it out." + +"Quite time enough," said I. + +"It will mean your letting me loose for an hour or two under cloud of +this very night. To-morrow's Sunday, the Jubilee's on Tuesday, and old +Theobald's coming back for it." + +"It doesn't much matter whether he's back or not if you go late enough." + +"I mustn't be late. They don't keep open. No, it's no use your asking +any questions. Go out and buy me a big box of Huntley & Palmer's +biscuits; any sort you like, only they must be theirs, and absolutely +the biggest box they sell." + +"My dear man!" + +"No questions, Bunny; you do your part and I'll do mine." + +Subtlety and success were in his face. It was enough for me, and I had +done his extraordinary bidding within a quarter of an hour. In another +minute Raffles had opened the box and tumbled all the biscuits into the +nearest chair. + +"Now newspapers!" + +I fetched a pile. He bid the cup of gold a ridiculous farewell, +wrapped it up in newspaper after newspaper, and finally packed it in +the empty biscuit-box. + +"Now some brown paper. I don't want to be taken for the grocer's young +man." + +A neat enough parcel it made, when the string had been tied and the +ends cut close; what was more difficult was to wrap up Raffles himself +in such a way that even the porter should not recognize him if they +came face to face at the corner. And the sun was still up. But +Raffles would go, and when he did I should not have known him myself. + +He may have been an hour away. It was barely dusk when he returned, +and my first question referred to our dangerous ally, the porter. +Raffles had passed him unsuspected in going, but had managed to avoid +him altogether on the return journey, which he had completed by way of +the other entrance and the roof. I breathed again. + +"And what have you done with the cup?" + +"Placed it!" + +"How much for? How much for?" + +"Let me think. I had a couple of cabs, and the postage was a tanner, +with another twopence for registration. Yes, it cost me exactly +five-and-eight." + +"IT cost YOU! But what did you GET for it, Raffles?" + +"Nothing, my boy." + +"Nothing!" + +"Not a crimson cent." + +"I am not surprised. I never thought it had a market value. I told +you so in the beginning," I said, irritably. "But what on earth have +you done with the thing?" + +"Sent it to the Queen." + +"You haven't!" + +Rogue is a word with various meanings, and Raffles had been one sort of +rogue ever since I had known him; but now, for once, he was the +innocent variety, a great gray-haired child, running over with +merriment and mischief. + +"Well, I've sent it to Sir Arthur Bigge, to present to her Majesty, +with the loyal respects of the thief, if that will do for you," said +Raffles. "I thought they might take too much stock of me at the G.P.O. +if I addressed it to the Sovereign her-self. Yes, I drove over to St. +Martin's-le-Grand with it, and I registered the box into the bargain. +Do a thing properly if you do it at all." + +"But why on earth," I groaned, "do such a thing at all?" + +"My dear Bunny, we have been reigned over for sixty years by infinitely +the finest monarch the world has ever seen. The world is taking the +present opportunity of signifying the fact for all it is worth. Every +nation is laying of its best at her royal feet; every class in the +community is doing its little level--except ours. All I have done is +to remove one reproach from our fraternity." + +At this I came round, was infected with his spirit, called him the +sportsman he always was and would be, and shook his daredevil hand in +mine; but, at the same time, I still had my qualms. + +"Supposing they trace it to us?" said I. + +"There's not much to catch hold of in a biscuit-box by Huntley & +Palmer," replied Raffles; "that was why I sent you for one. And I +didn't write a word upon a sheet of paper which could possibly be +traced. I simply printed two or three on a virginal post-card--another +half-penny to the bad--which might have been bought at any post-office +in the kingdom. No, old chap, the G.P.O. was the one real danger; +there was one detective I spotted for myself; and the sight of him has +left me with a thirst. Whisky and Sullivans for two, Bunny, if you +please." + +Raffles was soon clinking his glass against mine. + +"The Queen," said he. "God bless her!" + + + +THE FATE OF FAUSTINA + + "Mar--ga--ri, + e perzo a Salvatore! Mar--ga--ri, + Ma l'ommo e cacciatore! Mar--ga--ri, + Nun ce aje corpa tu! + Chello ch' e fatto, e fatto, un ne parlammo cchieu!" + +A piano-organ was pouring the metallic music through our open windows, +while a voice of brass brayed the words, which I have since obtained, +and print above for identification by such as know their Italy better +than I. They will not thank me for reminding them of a tune so lately +epidemic in that land of aloes and blue skies; but at least it is +unlikely to run in their heads as the ribald accompaniment to a +tragedy; and it does in mine. + +It was in the early heat of August, and the hour that of the lawful and +necessary siesta for such as turn night into day. I was therefore +shutting my window in a rage, and wondering whether I should not do +the same for Raffles, when he appeared in the silk pajamas to which the +chronic solicitude of Dr. Theobald confined him from morning to night. + +"Don't do that, Bunny," said he. "I rather like that thing, and want +to listen. What sort of fellows are they to look at, by the way?" + +I put my head out to see, it being a primary rule of our quaint +establishment that Raffles must never show himself at any of the +windows. I remember now how hot the sill was to my elbows, as I leant +upon it and looked down, in order to satisfy a curiosity in which I +could see no point. + +"Dirty-looking beggars," said I over my shoulder: "dark as dark; blue +chins, oleaginous curls, and ear-rings; ragged as they make them, but +nothing picturesque in their rags." + +"Neapolitans all over," murmured Raffles behind me; "and that's a +characteristic touch, the one fellow singing while the other grinds; +they always have that out there." + +"He's rather a fine chap, the singer," said I, as the song ended. "My +hat, what teeth! He's looking up here, and grinning all round his +head; shall I chuck him anything?" + +"Well, I have no reason to love the Neapolitans; but it takes me +back--it takes me back! Yes, here you are, one each." + +It was a couple of half-crowns that Raffles put into my hand, but I had +thrown them into the street for pennies before I saw what they were. +Thereupon I left the Italians bowing to the mud, as well they might, +and I turned to protest against such wanton waste. But Raffles was +walking up and down, his head bent, his eyes troubled; and his one +excuse disarmed remonstrance. + +"They took me back," he repeated. "My God, how they took me back!" + +Suddenly he stopped in his stride. + +"You don't understand, Bunny, old chap; but if you like you shall. I +always meant to tell you some day, but never felt worked up to it +before, and it's not the kind of thing one talks about for talking's +sake. It isn't a nursery story, Bunny, and there isn't a laugh in it +from start to finish; on the contrary, you have often asked me what +turned my hair gray, and now you are going to hear." + +This was promising, but Raffles's manner was something more. It was +unique in my memory of the man. His fine face softened and set hard by +turns. I never knew it so hard. I never knew it so soft. And the +same might be said of his voice, now tender as any woman's, now flying +to the other extreme of equally unwonted ferocity. But this was toward +the end of his tale; the beginning he treated characteristically +enough, though I could have wished for a less cavalier account of the +island of Elba, where, upon his own showing, he had met with much +humanity. + +"Deadly, my dear Bunny, is not the word for that glorified snag, or for +the mollusks, its inhabitants. But they started by wounding my vanity, +so perhaps I am prejudiced, after all. I sprung myself upon them as a +shipwrecked sailor--a sole survivor--stripped in the sea and landed +without a stitch--yet they took no more interest in me than you do in +Italian organ-grinders. They were decent enough. I didn't have to +pick and steal for a square meal and a pair of trousers; it would have +been more exciting if I had. But what a place! Napoleon couldn't +stand it, you remember, but he held on longer than I did. I put in a +few weeks in their infernal mines, simply to pick up a smattering of +Italian; then got across to the mainland in a little wooden +timber-tramp; and ungratefully glad I was to leave Elba blazing in just +such another sunset as the one you won't forget. + +"The tramp was bound for Naples, but first it touched at Baiae, where I +carefully deserted in the night. There are too many English in Naples +itself, though I thought it would make a first happy hunting-ground +when I knew the language better and had altered myself a bit more. +Meanwhile I got a billet of several sorts on one of the loveliest spots +that ever I struck on all my travels. The place was a vineyard, but it +overhung the sea, and I got taken on as tame sailorman and emergency +bottle-washer. The wages were the noble figure of a lira and a half, +which is just over a bob, a day, but there were lashings of sound wine +for one and all, and better wine to bathe in. And for eight whole +months, my boy, I was an absolutely honest man. The luxury of it, +Bunny! I out-heroded Herod, wouldn't touch a grape, and went in the +most delicious danger of being knifed for my principles by the thieving +crew I had joined. + +"It was the kind of place where every prospect pleases--and all the +rest of it--especially all the rest. But may I see it in my dreams +till I die--as it was in the beginning--before anything began to +happen. It was a wedge of rock sticking out into the bay, thatched +with vines, and with the rummiest old house on the very edge of all, a +devil of a height above the sea: you might have sat at the windows and +dropped your Sullivan-ends plumb into blue water a hundred and fifty +feet below. + +"From the garden behind the house--such a garden, Bunny--oleanders and +mimosa, myrtles, rosemarys and red tangles of fiery, untamed +flowers--in a corner of this garden was the top of a subterranean stair +down to the sea; at least there were nearly two hundred steps tunnelled +through the solid rock; then an iron gate, and another eighty steps in +the open air; and last of all a cave fit for pirates, +a-penny-plain-and-two-pence-colored. This cave gave upon the sweetest +little thing in coves, all deep blue water and honest rocks; and here I +looked after the vineyard shipping, a pot-bellied tub with a brown +sail, and a sort of dingy. The tub took the wine to Naples, and the +dingy was the tub's tender. + +"The house above was said to be on the identical site of a suburban +retreat of the admirable Tiberius; there was the old sinner's private +theatre with the tiers cut clean to this day, the well where he used to +fatten his lampreys on his slaves, and a ruined temple of those +ripping old Roman bricks, shallow as dominoes and ruddier than the +cherry. I never was much of an antiquary, but I could have become one +there if I'd had nothing else to do; but I had lots. When I wasn't +busy with the boats I had to trim the vines, or gather the grapes, or +even help make the wine itself in a cool, dark, musty vault underneath +the temple, that I can see and smell as I jaw. And can't I hear it and +feel it too! Squish, squash, bubble; squash, squish, guggle; and your +feet as though you had been wading through slaughter to a throne. Yes, +Bunny, you mightn't think it, but this good right foot, that never was +on the wrong side of the crease when the ball left my hand, has also +been known to + + 'crush the lees of pleasure + From sanguine grapes of pain.'" + +He made a sudden pause, as though he had stumbled on the truth in jest. +His face filled with lines. We were sitting in the room that had been +bare when first I saw it; there were basket-chairs and a table in it +now, all meant ostensibly for me; and hence Raffles would slip to his +bed, with schoolboy relish, at every tinkle of the bell. This +afternoon we felt fairly safe, for Theobald had called in the morning, +and Mrs. Theobald still took up much of his time. Through the open +window we could hear the piano-organ and "Mar--gar--ri" a few hundred +yards further on. I fancied Raffles was listening to it while he +paused. He shook his head abstractedly when I handed him the +cigarettes; and his tone hereafter was never just what it had been. + +"I don't know, Bunny, whether you're a believer in transmigration of +souls. I have often thought it easier to believe than lots of other +things, and I have been pretty near believing in it myself since I had +my being on that villa of Tiberius. The brute who had it in my day, if +he isn't still running it with a whole skin, was or is as cold-blooded +a blackguard as the worst of the emperors, but I have often thought he +had a lot in common with Tiberius. He had the great high sensual Roman +nose, eyes that were sinks of iniquity in themselves, and that swelled +with fatness, like the rest of him, so that he wheezed if he walked a +yard; otherwise rather a fine beast to look at, with a huge gray +moustache, like a flying gull, and the most courteous manners even to +his men; but one of the worst, Bunny, one of the worst that ever was. +It was said that the vineyard was only his hobby; if so, he did his +best to make his hobby pay. He used to come out from Naples for the +week-ends--in the tub when it wasn't too rough for his nerves--and he +didn't always come alone. His very name sounded unhealthy--Corbucci. +I suppose I ought to add that he was a Count, though Counts are +two-a-penny in Naples, and in season all the year round. + +"He had a little English, and liked to air it upon me, much to my +disgust; if I could not hope to conceal my nationality as yet, I at +least did not want to have it advertised; and the swine had English +friends. When he heard that I was bathing in November, when the bay is +still as warm as new milk, he would shake his wicked old head and say, +'You are very audashuss--you are very audashuss!' and put on no end of +side before his Italians. By God, he had pitched upon the right word +unawares, and I let him know it in the end! + +"But that bathing, Bunny; it was absolutely the best I ever had +anywhere. I said just now the water was like wine; in my own mind I +used to call it blue champagne, and was rather annoyed that I had no +one to admire the phrase. Otherwise I assure you that I missed my own +particular kind very little indeed, though I often wished that YOU were +there, old chap; particularly when I went for my lonesome swim; first +thing in the morning, when the Bay was all rose-leaves, and last thing +at night, when your body caught phosphorescent fire! Ah, yes, it was a +good enough life for a change; a perfect paradise to lie low in; +another Eden until ... + +"My poor Eve!" + +And he fetched a sigh that took away his words; then his jaws snapped +together, and his eyes spoke terribly while he conquered his emotion. +I pen the last word advisedly. I fancy it is one which I have never +used before in writing of A. J. Raffles, for I cannot at the moment +recall any other occasion upon which its use would have been justified. +On resuming, however, he was not only calm, but cold; and this flying +for safety to the other extreme is the single instance of self-distrust +which the present Achates can record to the credit of his impious +AEneas. + +"I called the girl Eve," said he. "Her real name was Faustina, and she +was one of a vast family who hung out in a hovel on the inland border +of the vineyard. And Aphrodite rising from the sea was less wonderful +and not more beautiful than Aphrodite emerging from that hole! + +"It was the most exquisite face I ever saw or shall see in this life. +Absolutely perfect features; a skin that reminded you of old gold, so +delicate was its bronze; magnificent hair, not black but nearly; and +such eyes and teeth as would have made the fortune of a face without +another point. I tell you, Bunny, London would go mad about a girl +like that. But I don't believe there's such another in the world. +And there she was wasting her sweetness upon that lovely but desolate +little corner of it! Well, she did not waste it upon me. I would have +married her, and lived happily ever after in such a hovel as her +people's--with her. Only to look at her--only to look at her for the +rest of my days--I could have lain low and remained dead even to you! +And that's all I'm going to tell you about that, Bunny; cursed be he +who tells more! Yet don't run away with the idea that this poor +Faustina was the only woman I ever cared about. I don't believe in all +that 'only' rot; nevertheless I tell you that she was the one being who +ever entirely satisfied my sense of beauty; and I honestly believe I +could have chucked the world and been true to Faustina for that alone. + +"We met sometimes in the little temple I told you about, sometimes +among the vines; now by honest accident, now by flagrant design; and +found a ready-made rendezvous, romantic as one could wish, in the cave +down all those subterranean steps. Then the sea would call us--my blue +champagne--my sparkling cobalt--and there was the dingy ready to our +hand. Oh, those nights! I never knew which I liked best, the moonlit +ones when you sculled through silver and could see for miles, or the +dark nights when the fishermen's torches stood for the sea, and a red +zig-zag in the sky for old Vesuvius. We were happy. I don't mind +owning it. We seemed not to have a care between us. My mates took no +interest in my affairs, and Faustina's family did not appear to bother +about her. The Count was in Naples five nights of the seven; the other +two we sighed apart. + +"At first it was the oldest story in literature--Eden plus Eve. The +place had been a heaven on earth before, but now it was heaven itself. +So for a little; then one night, a Monday night, Faustina burst out +crying in the boat; and sobbed her story as we drifted without mishap +by the mercy of the Lord. And that was almost as old a story as the +other. + +"She was engaged--what! Had I never heard of it? Did I mean to upset +the boat? What was her engagement beside our love? 'Niente, niente,' +crooned Faustina, sighing yet smiling through her tears. No, but what +did matter was that the man had threatened to stab her to the +heart--and would do it as soon as look at her--that I knew. + +"I knew it merely from my knowledge of the Neapolitans, for I had no +idea who the man might be. I knew it, and yet I took this detail +better than the fact of the engagement, though now I began to laugh at +both. As if I was going to let her marry anybody else! As if a hair +of her lovely head should be touched while I lived to protect her! I +had a great mind to row away to blazes with her that very night, and +never go near the vineyard again, or let her either. But we had not a +lira between us at the time, and only the rags in which we sat barefoot +in the boat. Besides, I had to know the name of the animal who had +threatened a woman, and such a woman as this. + +"For a long time she refused to tell me, with splendid obduracy; but I +was as determined as she; so at last she made conditions. I was not to +go and get put in prison for sticking a knife into him--he wasn't worth +it--and I did promise not to stab him in the back. Faustina seemed +quite satisfied, though a little puzzled by my manner, having herself +the racial tolerance for cold steel; and next moment she had taken away +my breath. 'It is Stefano,' she whispered, and hung her head. + +"And well she might, poor thing! Stefano, of all creatures on God's +earth--for her! + +"Bunny, he was a miserable little undersized +wretch--ill-favored--servile--surly--and second only to his master in +bestial cunning and hypocrisy. His face was enough for me; that was +what I read in it, and I don't often make mistakes. He was Corbucci's +own confidential body-servant, and that alone was enough to damn him in +decent eyes: always came out first on the Saturday with the spese, to +have all ready for his master and current mistress, and stayed behind +on the Monday to clear and lock up. Stefano! That worm! I could +well understand his threatening a woman with a knife; what beat me was +how any woman could ever have listened to him; above all, that Faustina +should be the one! It passed my comprehension. But I questioned her +as gently as I could; and her explanation was largely the thread-bare +one you would expect. Her parents were so poor. They were so many in +family. Some of them begged--would I promise never to tell? Then +some of them stole--sometimes--and all knew the pains of actual want. +She looked after the cows, but there were only two of them, and +brought the milk to the vineyard and elsewhere; but that was not +employment for more than one; and there were countless sisters waiting +to take her place. Then he was so rich, Stefano. + +"'Rich!' I echoed. 'Stefano?' + +"'Si, Arturo mio.' + +"Yes, I played the game on that vineyard, Bunny, even to going my own +first name. + +"'And how comes he to be rich?' I asked, suspiciously. + +"She did not know; but he had given her such beautiful jewels; the +family had lived on them for months, she pretending an avocat had taken +charge of them for her against her marriage. But I cared nothing about +all that. + +"'Jewels! Stefano!' I could only mutter. + +"'Perhaps the Count has paid for some of them. He is very kind.' + +"'To you, is he?' + +"'Oh, yes, very kind.' + +"'And you would live in his house afterwards?' + +"'Not now, mia cara--not now!' + +"'No, by God you don't!' said I in English. 'But you would have done +so, eh?' + +"'Of course. That was arranged. The Count is really very kind.' + +"'Do you see anything of him when he comes here?' + +"Yes, he had sometimes brought her little presents, sweetmeats, +ribbons, and the like; but the offering had always been made through +this toad of a Stefano. Knowing the men, I now knew all. But +Faustina, she had the pure and simple heart, and the white soul, by the +God who made it, and for all her kindness to a tattered scapegrace who +made love to her in broken Italian between the ripples and the stars. +She was not to know what I was, remember; and beside Corbucci and his +henchman I was the Archangel Gabriel come down to earth. + +"Well, as I lay awake that night, two more lines of Swinburne came into +my head, and came to stay: + + "God said 'Let him who wins her take + And keep Faustine.' + +"On that couplet I slept at last, and it was my text and watchword when +I awoke in the morning. I forget how well you know your Swinburne, +Bunny; but don't you run away with the idea that there was anything +else in common between his Faustine and mine. For the last time let me +tell you that poor Faustina was the whitest and the best I ever knew. + +"Well, I was strung up for trouble when the next Saturday came, and +I'll tell you what I had done. I had broken the pledge and burgled +Corbucci's villa in my best manner during his absence in Naples. Not +that it gave me the slightest trouble; but no human being could have +told that I had been in, when I came out. And I had stolen nothing, +mark you, but only borrowed a revolver from a drawer in the Count's +desk, with one or two trifling accessories; for by this time I had the +measure of these damned Neapolitans. They are spry enough with a +knife, but you show them the business end of a shooting-iron, and +they'll streak like rabbits for the nearest hole. But the revolver +wasn't for my own use. It was for Faustina, and I taught her how to +use it in the cave down there by the sea, shooting at candles stuck +upon the rock. The noise in the cave was something frightful, but high +up above it couldn't be heard at all, as we proved to each other's +satisfaction pretty early in the proceedings. So now Faustina was +armed with munitions of self-defence; and I knew enough of her +character to entertain no doubt as to their spirited use upon occasion. +Between the two of us, in fact, our friend Stefano seemed tolerably +certain of a warm week-end. + +"But the Saturday brought word that the Count was not coming this week, +being in Rome on business, and unable to return in time; so for a whole +Sunday we were promised peace; and made bold plans accordingly. There +was no further merit in hushing this thing up. 'Let him who wins her +take and keep Faustine.' Yes, but let him win her openly, or lose her +and be damned to him! So on the Sunday I was going to have it out with +her people--with the Count and Stefano as soon as they showed their +noses. I had no inducement, remember, ever to return to surreptitious +life within a cab-fare of Wormwood Scrubbs. Faustina and the Bay of +Naples were quite good enough for me. And the prehistoric man in me +rather exulted in the idea of fighting for my desire. + +"On the Saturday, however, we were able to meet for the last time as +heretofore--just once more in secret--down there in the cave--as soon +as might be after dark. Neither of us minded if we were kept for +hours; each knew in the end that the other would come; and there was a +charm of its own even in waiting with such knowledge. But that night I +did lose patience: not in the cave, but up above, where first on one +pretext and then on another the direttore kept me going until I smelt a +rat. He was not given to exacting overtime, this direttore, whose only +fault was his servile subjection to our common boss. It seemed pretty +obvious, therefore, that he was acting upon some secret instructions +from Corbucci himself, and, the moment I suspected this, I asked him to +his face if it was not the case. And it was; he admitted it with many +shrugs, being a conveniently weak person, whom one felt almost ashamed +of bullying as the occasion demanded. + +"The fact was, however, that the Count had sent for him on finding he +had to go to Rome, and had said he was very sorry to go just then, as +among other things he intended to speak to me about Faustina. Stefano +had told him all about his row with her, and moreover that it was on my +account, which Faustina had never told me, though I had guessed as much +for myself. Well, the Count was going to take his jackal's part for +all he was worth, which was just exactly what I had expected him to do. +He intended going for me on his return, but meanwhile I was not to make +hay in his absence, and so this tool of a direttore had orders to keep +me at it night and day. I undertook not to give the poor beast away, +but at the same time told him I had not the faintest intention of doing +another stroke of work that night. + +"It was very dark, and I remember knocking my head against the oranges +as I ran up the long, shallow steps which ended the journey between the +direttore's lodge and the villa itself. But at the back of the villa +was the garden I spoke about, and also a bare chunk of the cliff where +it was bored by that subterranean stair. So I saw the stars close +overhead, and the fishermen's torches far below, the coastwise lights +and the crimson hieroglyph that spelt Vesuvius, before I plunged into +the darkness of the shaft. And that was the last time I appreciated +the unique and peaceful charm of this outlandish spot. + +"The stair was in two long flights, with an air-hole or two at the top +of the upper one, but not another pin-prick till you came to the iron +gate at the bottom of the lower. As you may read of an infinitely +lighter place, in a finer work of fiction than you are ever likely to +write, Bunny, it was 'gloomy at noon, dark as midnight at dusk, and +black as the ninth plague of Egypt at midnight.' I won't swear to my +quotation, but I will to those stairs. They were as black that night +as the inside of the safest safe in the strongest strong-room in the +Chancery Lane Deposit. Yet I had not got far down them with my bare +feet before I heard somebody else coming up in boots. You may imagine +what a turn that gave me! It could not be Faustina, who went barefoot +three seasons of the four, and yet there was Faustina waiting for me +down below. What a fright she must have had! And all at once my own +blood ran cold: for the man sang like a kettle as he plodded up and up. +It was, it must be, the short-winded Count himself, whom we all +supposed to be in Rome! + +"Higher he came and nearer, nearer, slowly yet hurriedly, now stopping +to cough and gasp, now taking a few steps by elephantine assault. I +should have enjoyed the situation if it had not been for poor Faustina +in the cave; as it was I was filled with nameless fears. But I could +not resist giving that grampus Corbucci one bad moment on account. A +crazy hand-rail ran up one wall, so I carefully flattened myself +against the other, and he passed within six inches of me, puffing and +wheezing like a brass band. I let him go a few steps higher, and then +I let him have it with both lungs. + +"Buona sera, eccellenza, signori!' I roared after him. And a scream +came down in answer--such a scream! A dozen different terrors were in +it; and the wheezing had stopped, with the old scoundrel's heart. + +"'Chi sta la?' he squeaked at last, gibbering and whimpering like a +whipped monkey, so that I could not bear to miss his face, and got a +match all ready to strike. + +"'Arturo, signori.' + +"He didn't repeat my name, nor did he damn me in heaps. He did nothing +but wheeze for a good minute, and when he spoke it was with insinuating +civility, in his best English. + +"'Come nearer, Arturo. You are in the lower regions down there. I want +to speak with you.' + +"'No, thanks. I'm in a hurry,' I said, and dropped that match back +into my pocket. He might be armed, and I was not. + +"'So you are in a 'urry!' and he wheezed amusement. 'And you thought I +was still in Rome, no doubt; and so I was until this afternoon, when I +caught train at the eleventh moment, and then another train from Naples +to Pozzuoli. I have been rowed here now by a fisherman of Pozzuoli. I +had not time to stop anywhere in Naples, but only to drive from station +to station. So I am without Stefano, Arturo, I am without Stefano.' + +"His sly voice sounded preternaturally sly in the absolute darkness, +but even through that impenetrable veil I knew it for a sham. I had +laid hold of the hand-rail. It shook violently in my hand; he also was +holding it where he stood. And these suppressed tremors, or rather +their detection in this way, struck a strange chill to my heart, just +as I was beginning to pluck it up. + +"'It is lucky for Stefano,' said I, grim as death. + +"'Ah, but you must not be too 'ard on 'im,' remonstrated the Count. +'You have stole his girl, he speak with me about it, and I wish to +speak with you. It is very audashuss, Arturo, very audashuss! Perhaps +you are even going to meet her now, eh?'" + +I told him straight that I was. + +"'Then there is no 'urry, for she is not there.' + +"'You didn't see her in the cave?' I cried, too delighted at the +thought to keep it to myself. + +"'I had no such fortune,' the old devil said. + +"'She is there, all the same.' + +"'I only wish I 'ad known.' + +"'And I've kept her long enough!' + +"In fact I threw this over my shoulder as I turned and went running +down. + +"'I 'ope you will find her!' his malicious voice came croaking after +me. 'I 'ope you will--I 'ope so.' + +"And find her I did." + +Raffles had been on his feet some time, unable to sit still or to +stand, moving excitedly about the room. But now he stood still enough, +his elbows on the cast-iron mantelpiece, his head between his hands. + +"Dead?" I whispered. + +And he nodded to the wall. + +"There was not a sound in the cave. There was no answer to my voice. +Then I went in, and my foot touched hers, and it was colder than the +rock ... Bunny, they had stabbed her to the heart. She had fought +them, and they had stabbed her to the heart!" + +"You say 'they,'" I said gently, as he stood in heavy silence, his back +still turned. "I thought Stefano had been left behind?" + +Raffles was round in a flash, his face white-hot, his eyes dancing +death. + +"He was in the cave!" he shouted. "I saw him--I spotted him--it was +broad twilight after those stairs--and I went for him with my bare +hands. Not fists, Bunny; not fists for a thing like that; I meant +getting my fingers into his vile little heart and tearing it out by the +roots. I was stark mad. But he had the revolver--hers. He blazed it +at arm's length, and missed. And that steadied me. I had smashed his +funny-bone against the rock before he could blaze again; the revolver +fell with a rattle, but without going off; in an instant I had it +tight, and the little swine at my mercy at last." + +"You didn't show him any?" + +"Mercy? With Faustina dead at my feet? I should have deserved none in +the next world if I had shown him any in this! No, I just stood over +him, with the revolver in both hands, feeling the chambers with my +thumb; and as I stood he stabbed at me; but I stepped back to that one, +and brought him down with a bullet in his guts. + +"'And I can spare you two or three more,' I said, for my poor girl +could not have fired a shot. 'Take that one to hell with you--and +that--and that!' + +"Then I started coughing and wheezing like the Count himself, for the +place was full of smoke. When it cleared my man was very dead, and I +tipped him into the sea, to defile that rather than Faustina's cave. +And then--and then--we were alone for the last time, she and I, in our +own pet haunt; and I could scarcely see her, yet I would not strike a +match, for I knew she would not have me see her as she was. I could +say good-by to her without that. I said it; and I left her like a man, +and up the first open-air steps with my head in the air and the stars +all sharp in the sky; then suddenly they swam, and back I went like a +lunatic, to see if she was really dead, to bring her back to life ... +Bunny, I can't tell you any more." + +"Not of the Count?" I murmured at last. + +"Not even of the Count," said Raffles, turning round with a sigh. "I +left him pretty sorry for himself; but what was the good of that? I +had taken blood for blood, and it was not Corbucci who had killed +Faustina. No, the plan was his, but that was not part of the plan. +They had found out about our meetings in the cave: nothing simpler than +to have me kept hard at it overhead and to carry off Faustina by brute +force in the boat. It was their only chance, for she had said more to +Stefano than she had admitted to me, and more than I am going to repeat +about myself. No persuasion would have induced her to listen to him +again; so they tried force; and she drew Corbucci's revolver on them, +but they had taken her by surprise, and Stefano stabbed her before she +could fire." + +"But how do you know all that?" I asked Raffles, for his tale was going +to pieces in the telling, and the tragic end of poor Faustina was no +ending for me. + +"Oh," said he, "I had it from Corbucci at his own revolver's point. He +was waiting at his window, and I could have potted him at my ease where +he stood against the light listening hard enough but not seeing a +thing. So he asked whether it was Stefano, and I whispered, 'Si, +signore'; and then whether he had finished Arturo, and I brought the +same shot off again. He had let me in before he knew who was finished +and who was not." + +"And did you finish him?" + +"No; that was too good for Corbucci. But I bound and gagged him about +as tight as man was ever gagged or bound, and I left him in his room +with the shutters shut and the house locked up. The shutters of that +old place were six inches thick, and the walls nearly six feet; that +was on the Saturday night, and the Count wasn't expected at the +vineyard before the following Saturday. Meanwhile he was supposed to be +in Rome. But the dead would doubtless be discovered next day, and I am +afraid this would lead to his own discovery with the life still in him. +I believe he figured on that himself, for he sat threatening me gamely +till the last. You never saw such a sight as he was, with his head +split in two by a ruler tied at the back of it, and his great moustache +pushed up into his bulging eyes. But I locked him up in the dark +without a qualm, and I wished and still wish him every torment of the +damned." + +"And then?" + +"The night was still young, and within ten miles there was the best of +ports in a storm, and hundreds of holds for the humble stowaway to +choose from. But I didn't want to go further than Genoa, for by this +time my Italian would wash, so I chose the old Norddeutscher Lloyd, and +had an excellent voyage in one of the boats slung in-board over the +bridge. That's better than any hold, Bunny, and I did splendidly on +oranges brought from the vineyard." + +"And at Genoa?" + +"At Genoa I took to my wits once more, and have been living on nothing +else ever since. But there I had to begin all over again, and at the +very bottom of the ladder. I slept in the streets. I begged. I did +all manner of terrible things, rather hoping for a bad end, but never +coming to one. Then one day I saw a white-headed old chap looking at +me through a shop-window--a window I had designs upon--and when I +stared at him he stared at me--and we wore the same rags. So I had +come to that! But one reflection makes many. I had not recognized +myself; who on earth would recognize me? London called me--and here I +am. Italy had broken my heart--and there it stays." + +Flippant as a schoolboy one moment, playful even in the bitterness of +the next, and now no longer giving way to the feeling which had spoilt +the climax of his tale, Raffles needed knowing as I alone knew him for +a right appreciation of those last words. That they were no mere words +I know full well. That, but for the tragedy of his Italian life, that +life would have sufficed him for years, if not for ever, I did and do +still believe. But I alone see him as I saw him then, the lines upon +his face, and the pain behind the lines; how they came to disappear, +and what removed them, you will never guess. It was the one thing you +would have expected to have the opposite effect, the thing indeed that +had forced his confidence, the organ and the voice once more beneath +our very windows: + + "Margarita de Parete, + era a' sarta d' e' signore; + se pugneva sempe e ddete + pe penzare a Salvatore! + "Mar--ga--ri, + e perzo e Salvatore! + Mar--ga--ri, + Ma l'ommo e cacciatore! + Mar--ga--ri, + Nun ce aje corpa tu! + Chello ch' e fatto, e fatto, un ne parlammo cchieu!" + +I simply stared at Raffles. Instead of deepening, his lines had +vanished. He looked years younger, mischievous and merry and alert as +I remembered him of old in the breathless crisis of some madcap +escapade. He was holding up his finger; he was stealing to the window; +he was peeping through the blind as though our side street were +Scotland Yard itself; he was stealing back again, all revelry, +excitement, and suspense. + +"I half thought they were after me before," said he. "That was why I +made you look. I daren't take a proper look myself, but what a jest if +they were! What a jest!" + +"Do you mean the police?" said I. + +"The police! Bunny, do you know them and me so little that you can +look me in the face and ask such a question? My boy, I'm dead to +them--off their books--a good deal deader than being off the hooks! +Why, if I went to Scotland Yard this minute, to give myself up, they'd +chuck me out for a harmless lunatic. No, I fear an enemy nowadays, and +I go in terror of the sometime friend, but I have the utmost confidence +in the dear police." + +"Then whom do you mean?" + +"The Camorra!" + +I repeated the word with a different intonation. Not that I had never +heard of that most powerful and sinister of secret societies; but I +failed to see on what grounds Raffles should jump to the conclusion +that these everyday organ-grinders belonged to it. + +"It was one of Corbucci's threats," said he. "If I killed him the +Camorra would certainly kill me; he kept on telling me so; it was like +his cunning not to say that he would put them on my tracks whether or +no." + +"He is probably a member himself!" + +"Obviously, from what he said." + +"But why on earth should you think that these fellows are?" I demanded, +as that brazen voice came rasping through a second verse. + +"I don't think. It was only an idea. That thing is so thoroughly +Neapolitan, and I never heard it on a London organ before. Then again, +what should bring them back here?" + +I peeped through the blind in my turn; and, to be sure, there was the +fellow with the blue chin and the white teeth watching our windows, +and ours only, as he bawled. + +"And why?" cried Raffles, his eyes dancing when I told him. + +"Why should they come sneaking back to us? Doesn't that look +suspicious, Bunny; doesn't that promise a lark?" + +"Not to me," I said, having the smile for once. "How many people, +should you imagine, toss them five shilling for as many minutes of +their infernal row? You seem to forget that's what you did an hour +ago!" + +Raffles had forgotten. His blank face confessed the fact. Then +suddenly he burst outlaughing at himself. + +"Bunny," said he, "you've no imagination, and I never knew I had so +much! Of course you're right. I only wish you were not, for there's +nothing I should enjoy more than taking on another Neapolitan or two. +You see, I owe them something still! I didn't settle in full. I owe +them more than ever I shall pay them on this side Styx!" + +He had hardened even as he spoke: the lines and the years had come +again, and his eyes were flint and steel, with an honest grief behind +the glitter. + + + +THE LAST LAUGH + +As I have had occasion to remark elsewhere, the pick of our exploits, +from a frankly criminal point of view, are of least use for the +comparatively pure purposes of these papers. They might be appreciated +in a trade journal (if only that want could be supplied), by skilled +manipulators of the jemmy and the large light bunch; but, as records of +unbroken yet insignificant success, they would be found at once too +trivial and too technical, if not sordid and unprofitable into the +bargain. The latter epithets, and worse, have indeed already been +applied, if not to Raffles and all his works, at least to mine upon +Raffles, by more than one worthy wielder of a virtuous pen. I need not +say how heartily I disagree with that truly pious opinion. So far +from admitting a single word of it, I maintain it is the liveliest +warning that I am giving to the world. Raffles was a genius, and he +could not make it pay! Raffles had invention, resource, incomparable +audacity, and a nerve in ten thousand. He was both strategian and +tactician, and we all now know the difference between the two. Yet for +months he had been hiding like a rat in a hole, unable to show even his +altered face by night or day without risk, unless another risk were +courted by three inches of conspicuous crepe. Then thus far our +rewards had oftener than not been no reward at all. Altogether it was +a very different story from the old festive, unsuspected, club and +cricket days, with their noctes ambrosianae at the Albany. + +And now, in addition to the eternal peril of recognition, there was yet +another menace of which I knew nothing. I thought no more of our +Neapolitan organ-grinders, though I did often think of the moving page +that they had torn for me out of my friend's strange life in Italy. +Raffles never alluded to the subject again, and for my part I had +entirely forgotten his wild ideas connecting the organ-grinders with +the Camorra, and imagining them upon his own tracks. I heard no more +of it, and thought as little, as I say. Then one night in the +autumn--I shrink from shocking the susceptible for nothing--but there +was a certain house in Palace Gardens, and when we got there Raffles +would pass on. I could see no soul in sight, no glimmer in the +windows. But Raffles had my arm, and on we went without talking about +it. Sharp to the left on the Notting Hill side, sharper still up +Silver Street, a little tacking west and south, a plunge across High +Street, and presently we were home. + +"Pyjamas first," said Raffles, with as much authority as though it +mattered. It was a warm night, however, though September, and I did +not mind until I came in clad as he commanded to find the autocrat +himself still booted and capped. He was peeping through the blind, and +the gas was still turned down. But he said that I could turn it up, as +he helped himself to a cigarette and nothing with it. + +"May I mix you one?" said I. + +"No, thanks." + +"What's the trouble?" + +"We were followed." + +"Never!" + +"You never saw it." + +"But YOU never looked round." + +"I have an eye at the back of each ear, Bunny." + +I helped myself and I fear with less moderation than might have been +the case a minute before. + +"So that was why--" + +"That was why," said Raffles, nodding; but he did not smile, and I put +down my glass untouched. + +"They were following us then!" + +"All up Palace Gardens." + +"I thought you wound about coming back over the hill." + +"Nevertheless, one of them's in the street below at this moment." + +No, he was not fooling me. He was very grim. And he had not taken off +a thing; perhaps he did not think it worth while. + +"Plain clothes?" I sighed, following the sartorial train of thought, +even to the loathly arrows that had decorated my person once already +for a little aeon. Next time they would give me double. The skilly +was in my stomach when I saw Raffles's face. + +"Who said it was the police, Bunny?" said he. "It's the Italians. +They're only after me; they won't hurt a hair of YOUR head, let alone +cropping it! Have a drink, and don't mind me. I shall score them off +before I'm done." + +"And I'll help you!" + +"No, old chap, you won't. This is my own little show. I've known +about it for weeks. I first tumbled to it the day those Neapolitans +came back with their organs, though I didn't seriously suspect things +then; they never came again, those two, they had done their part. +That's the Camorra all over, from all accounts. The Count I told you +about is pretty high up in it, by the way he spoke, but there will be +grades and grades between him and the organ-grinders. I shouldn't be +surprised if he had every low-down Neapolitan ice-creamer in the town +upon my tracks! The organization's incredible. Then do you remember +the superior foreigner who came to the door a few days afterwards? You +said he had velvet eyes." + +"I never connected him with those two!" + +"Of course you didn't, Bunny, so you threatened to kick the fellow +downstairs, and only made them keener on the scent. It was too late to +say anything when you told me. But the very next time I showed my nose +outside I heard a camera click as I passed, and the fiend was a person +with velvet eyes. Then there was a lull--that happened weeks ago. +They had sent me to Italy for identification by Count Corbucci." + +"But this is all theory," I exclaimed. "How on earth can you know?" + +"I don't know," said Raffles, "but I should like to bet. Our friend +the bloodhound is hanging about the corner near the pillar-box; look +through my window, it's dark in there, and tell me who he is." + +The man was too far away for me to swear to his face, but he wore a +covert-coat of un-English length, and the lamp across the road played +steadily on his boots; they were very yellow, and they made no noise +when he took a turn. I strained my eyes, and all at once I remembered +the thin-soled, low-heeled, splay yellow boots of the insidious +foreigner, with the soft eyes and the brown-paper face, whom I had +turned from the door as a palpable fraud. The ring at the bell was the +first I had heard of him, there had been no warning step upon the +stairs, and my suspicious eye had searched his feet for rubber soles. + +"It's the fellow," I said, returning to Raffles, and I described his +boots. + +Raffles was delighted. + +"Well done, Bunny; you're coming on," said he. "Now I wonder if he's +been over here all the time, or if they sent him over expressly? You +did better than you think in spotting those boots, for they can only +have been made in Italy, and that looks like the special envoy. But +it's no use speculating. I must find out." + +"How can you?" + +"He won't stay there all night." + +"Well?" + +"When he gets tired of it I shall return the compliment and follow HIM." + +"Not alone," said I, firmly. + +"Well, we'll see. We'll see at once," said Raffles, rising. "Out with +the gas, Bunny, while I take a look. Thank you. Now wait a bit ... yes! +He's chucked it; he's off already; and so am I!" + +But I slipped to our outer door, and held the passage. + +"I don't let you go alone, you know." + +"You can't come with me in pyjamas." + +"Now I see why you made me put them on!" + +"Bunny, if you don't shift I shall have to shift you. This is my very +own private one-man show. But I'll be back in an hour--there!" + +"You swear?" + +"By all my gods." + +I gave in. How could I help giving in? He did not look the man that +he had been, but you never knew with Raffles, and I could not have him +lay a hand on me. I let him go with a shrug and my blessing, then ran +into his room to see the last of him from the window. + +The creature in the coat and boots had reached the end of our little +street, where he appeared to have hesitated, so that Raffles was just +in time to see which way he turned. And Raffles was after him at an +easy pace, and had himself almost reached the corner when my attention +was distracted from the alert nonchalance of his gait. I was +marvelling that it alone had not long ago betrayed him, for nothing +about him was so unconsciously characteristic, when suddenly I realized +that Raffles was not the only person in the little lonely street. +Another pedestrian had entered from the other end, a man heavily built +and clad, with an astrakhan collar to his coat on this warm night, and +a black slouch hat that hid his features from my bird's-eye view. His +steps were the short and shuffling ones of a man advanced in years and +in fatty degeneration, but of a sudden they stopped beneath my very +eyes. I could have dropped a marble into the dinted crown of the +black felt hat. Then, at the same moment, Raffles turned the corner +without looking round, and the big man below raised both his hands and +his face. Of the latter I saw only the huge white moustache, like a +flying gull, as Raffles had described it; for at a glance I divined +that this was his arch-enemy, the Count Corbucci himself. + +I did not stop to consider the subtleties of the system by which the +real hunter lagged behind while his subordinate pointed the quarry like +a sporting dog. I left the Count shuffling onward faster than before, +and I jumped into some clothes as though the flats were on fire. If +the Count was going to follow Raffles in his turn, then I would follow +the Count in mine, and there would be a midnight procession of us +through the town. But I found no sign of him in the empty street, and +no sign in the Earl's Court Road, that looked as empty for all its +length, save for a natural enemy standing like a waxwork figure with a +glimmer at his belt. + +"Officer," I gasped, "have you seen anything of an old gentleman with a +big white mustache?" + +The unlicked cub of a common constable seemed to eye me the more +suspiciously for the flattering form of my address. + +"Took a hansom," said he at length. + +A hansom! Then he was not following the others on foot; there was no +guessing his game. But something must be said or done. + +"He's a friend of mine," I explained, "and I want to overtake him. Did +you hear where he told the fellow to drive?" + +A curt negative was the policeman's reply to that; and if ever I take +part in a night assault-at-arms, revolver versus baton, in the back +kitchen, I know which member of the Metropolitan Police Force I should +like for my opponent. + +If there was no overtaking the Count, however, it should be a +comparatively simple matter in the case of the couple on foot, and I +wildly hailed the first hansom that crawled into my ken. I must tell +Raffles who it was that I had seen; the Earl's Court Road was long, and +the time since he vanished in it but a few short minutes. I drove down +the length of that useful thoroughfare, with an eye apiece on either +pavement, sweeping each as with a brush, but never a Raffles came into +the pan. Then I tried the Fulham Road, first to the west, then to the +east, and in the end drove home to the flat as bold as brass. I did +not realize my indiscretion until I had paid the man and was on the +stairs. Raffles never dreamt of driving all the way back; but I was +hoping now to find him waiting up above. He had said an hour. I had +remembered it suddenly. And now the hour was more than up. But the +flat was as empty as I had left it; the very light that had encouraged +me, pale though it was, as I turned the corner in my hansom, was but +the light that I myself had left burning in the desolate passage. + +I can give you no conception of the night that I spent. Most of it I +hung across the sill, throwing a wide net with my ears, catching every +footstep afar off, every hansom bell farther still, only to gather in +some alien whom I seldom even landed in our street. Then I would +listen at the door. + +He might come over the roof; and eventually some one did; but now it +was broad daylight, and I flung the door open in the milkman's face, +which whitened at the shock as though I had ducked him in his own +pail. + +"You're late," I thundered as the first excuse for my excitement. + +"Beg your pardon," said he, indignantly, "but I'm half an hour before +my usual time." + +"Then I beg yours," said I; "but the fact is, Mr. Maturin has had one +of his bad nights, and I seem to have been waiting hours for milk to +make him a cup of tea." + +This little fib (ready enough for Raffles, though I say it) earned me +not only forgiveness but that obliging sympathy which is a branch of +the business of the man at the door. The good fellow said that he +could see I had been sitting up all night, and he left me pluming +myself upon the accidental art with which I had told my very necessary +tarra-diddle. On reflection I gave the credit to instinct, not +accident, and then sighed afresh as I realized how the influence of the +master was sinking into me, and he Heaven knew where! But my +punishment was swift to follow, for within the hour the bell rang +imperiously twice, and there was Dr. Theobald on our mat; in a yellow +Jaeger suit, with a chin as yellow jutting over the flaps that he had +turned up to hide his pyjamas. + +"What's this about a bad night?" said he. + +"He couldn't sleep, and he wouldn't let me," I whispered, never +loosening my grasp of the door, and standing tight against the other +wall. "But he's sleeping like a baby now." + +"I must see him." + +"He gave strict orders that you should not." + +"I'm his medical man, and I--" + +"You know what he is," I said, shrugging; "the least thing wakes him, +and you will if you insist on seeing him now. It will be the last +time, I warn you! I know what he said, and you don't." + +The doctor cursed me under his fiery moustache. + +"I shall come up during the course of the morning," he snarled. + +"And I shall tie up the bell," I said, "and if it doesn't ring he'll be +sleeping still, but I will not risk waking him by coming to the door +again." + +And with that I shut it in his face. I was improving, as Raffles had +said; but what would it profit me if some evil had befallen him? And +now I was prepared for the worst. A boy came up whistling and leaving +papers on the mats; it was getting on for eight o'clock, and the +whiskey and soda of half-past twelve stood untouched and stagnant in +the tumbler. If the worst had happened to Raffles, I felt that I would +either never drink again, or else seldom do anything else. + +Meanwhile I could not even break my fast, but roamed the flat in a +misery not to be described, my very linen still unchanged, my cheeks +and chin now tawny from the unwholesome night. How long would it go +on? I wondered for a time. Then I changed my tune: how long could I +endure it? + +It went on actually until the forenoon only, but my endurance cannot be +measured by the time, for to me every hour of it was an arctic night. +Yet it cannot have been much after eleven when the ring came at the +bell, which I had forgotten to tie up after all. But this was not the +doctor; neither, too well I knew, was it the wanderer returned. Our +bell was the pneumatic one that tells you if the touch be light or +heavy; the hand upon it now was tentative and shy. + +The owner of the hand I had never seen before. He was young and +ragged, with one eye blank, but the other ablaze with some fell +excitement. And straightway he burst into a low torrent of words, of +which all I knew was that they were Italian, and therefore news of +Raffles, if only I had known the language! But dumb-show might help us +somewhat, and in I dragged him, though against his will, a new alarm in +his one wild eye. + +"Non capite?" he cried when I had him inside and had withstood the +torrent. + +"No, I'm bothered if I do!" I answered, guessing his question from his +tone. + +"Vostro amico," he repeated over and over again; and then, "Poco tempo, +poco tempo, poco tempo!" + +For once in my life the classical education of my public-school days +was of real value. "My pal, my pal, and no time to be lost!" I +translated freely, and flew for my hat. + +"Ecco, signore!" cried the fellow, snatching the watch from my +waistcoat pocket, and putting one black thumb-nail on the long hand, +the other on he numeral twelve. "Mezzogiorno--poco tempo--poco +tempo!" And again I seized his meaning, that it was twenty past +eleven, and we must be there by twelve. But where, but where? It was +maddening to be summoned like this, and not to know what had happened, +nor to have any means of finding out. But my presence of mind stood by +me still, I was improving by seven-league strides, and I crammed my +handkerchief between the drum and hammer of the bell before leaving. +The doctor could ring now till he was black in the face, but I was not +coming, and he need not think it. + +I half expected to find a hansom waiting, but there was none, and we +had gone some distance down the Earl's Court Road before we got one; in +fact, we had to run to the stand. Opposite is the church with the +clock upon it, as everybody knows, and at sight of the dial my +companion had wrung his hands; it was close upon the half-hour. + +"Poco tempo--pochissimo!" he wailed. "Bloom-buree Ske-warr," he then +cried to the cabman--"numero trentotto!" + +"Bloomsbury Square," I roared on my own account, "I'll show you the +house when we get there, only drive like be-damned!" + +My companion lay back gasping in his corner. The small glass told me +that my own face was pretty red. + +"A nice show!" I cried; "and not a word can you tell me. Didn't you +bring me a note?" + +I might have known by this time that he had not, still I went through +the pantomime of writing with my finger on my cuff. But he shrugged +and shook his head. + +"Niente," said he. "Una quistione di vita, di vita!" + +"What's that?" I snapped, my early training come in again. "Say it +slowly--andante--rallentando." + +Thank Italy for the stage instructions in the songs one used to murder! +The fellow actually understood. + +"Una--quistione--di--vita." + +"Or mors, eh?" I shouted, and up went the trap-door over our heads. + +"Avanti, avanti, avanti!" cried the Italian, turning up his one-eyed +face. + +"Hell-to-leather," I translated, "and double fare if you do it by +twelve o'clock." + +But in the streets of London how is one to know the time? In the +Earl's Court Road it had not been half-past, and at Barker's in High +Street it was but a minute later. A long half-mile a minute, that was +going like the wind, and indeed we had done much of it at a gallop. +But the next hundred yards took us five minutes by the next clock, and +which was one to believe? I fell back upon my own old watch (it was my +own), which made it eighteen minutes to the hour as we swung across the +Serpentine bridge, and by the quarter we were in the Bayswater +Road--not up for once. + +"Presto, presto," my pale guide murmured. "Affretatevi--avanti!" + +"Ten bob if you do it," I cried through the trap, without the slightest +notion of what we were to do. But it was "una quistione di vita," and +"vostro amico" must and could only be my miserable Raffles. + +What a very godsend is the perfect hansom to the man or woman in a +hurry! It had been our great good fortune to jump into a perfect +hansom; there was no choice, we had to take the first upon the rank, +but it must have deserved its place with the rest nowhere. New tires, +superb springs, a horse in a thousand, and a driver up to every trick +of his trade! In and out we went like a fast half-back at the Rugby +game, yet where the traffic was thinnest, there were we. And how he +knew his way! At the Marble Arch he slipped out of the main stream, +and so into Wigmore Street, then up and in and out and on until I saw +the gold tips of the Museum palisade gleaming between the horse's ears +in the sun. Plop, plop, plop; ting, ling, ling; bell and horse-shoes, +horse-shoes and bell, until the colossal figure of C. J. Fox in a grimy +toga spelt Bloomsbury Square with my watch still wanting three minutes +to the hour. + +"What number?" cried the good fellow over-head. + +"Trentotto, trentotto," said my guide, but he was looking to the right, +and I bundled him out to show the house on foot. I had not +half-a-sovereign after all, but I flung our dear driver a whole one +instead, and only wish that it had been a hundred. + +Already the Italian had his latch-key in the door of 38, and in another +moment we were rushing up the narrow stairs of as dingy a London house +as prejudiced countryman can conceive. It was panelled, but it was +dark and evil-smelling, and how we should have found our way even to +the stairs but for an unwholesome jet of yellow gas in the hall, I +cannot myself imagine. However, up we went pell-mell, to the +right-about on the half-landing, and so like a whirlwind into the +drawing-room a few steps higher. There the gas was also burning behind +closed shutters, and the scene is photographed upon my brain, though I +cannot have looked upon it for a whole instant as I sprang in at my +leader's heels. + +This room also was panelled, and in the middle of the wall on our left, +his hands lashed to a ring-bolt high above his head, his toes barely +touching the floor, his neck pinioned by a strap passing through +smaller ring-bolts under either ear, and every inch of him secured on +the same principle, stood, or rather hung, all that was left of +Raffles, for at the first glance I believed him dead. A black ruler +gagged him, the ends lashed behind his neck, the blood upon it caked to +bronze in the gaslight. And in front of him, ticking like a +sledge-hammer, its only hand upon the stroke of twelve, stood a +simple, old-fashioned, grandfather's clock--but not for half an instant +longer--only until my guide could hurl himself upon it and send the +whole thing crashing into the corner. An ear-splitting report +accompanied the crash, a white cloud lifted from the fallen clock, and +I saw a revolver smoking in a vice screwed below the dial, an +arrangement of wires sprouting from the dial itself, and the single +hand at once at its zenith and in contact with these. + +"Tumble to it, Bunny?" + +He was alive; these were his first words; the Italian had the +blood-caked ruler in his hand, and with his knife was reaching up to +cut the thongs that lashed the hands. He was not tall enough, I seized +him and lifted him up, then fell to work with my own knife upon the +straps. And Raffles smiled faintly upon us through his blood-stains. + +"I want you to tumble to it," he whispered; "the neatest thing in +revenge I ever knew, and another minute would have fixed it. I've been +waiting for it twelve hours, watching the clock round, death at the end +of the lap! Electric connection. Simple enough. Hour-hand only--O +Lord!" + +We had cut the last strap. He could not stand. We supported him +between us to a horsehair sofa, for the room was furnished, and I +begged him not to speak, while his one-eyed deliverer was at the door +before Raffles recalled him with a sharp word in Italian. + +"He wants to get me a drink, but that can wait," said he, in firmer +voice; "I shall enjoy it the more when I've told you what happened. +Don't let him go, Bunny; put your back against the door. He's a +decent soul, and it's lucky for me I got a word with him before they +trussed me up. I've promised to set him up in life, and I will, but I +don't want him out of my sight for the moment." + +"If you squared him last night," I exclaimed, "why the blazes didn't he +come to me till the eleventh hour?" + +"Ah, I knew he'd have to cut it fine though I hoped not quite so fine +as all that. But all's well that ends well, and I declare I don't feel +so much the worse. I shall be sore about the gills for a bit--and what +do you think?" + +He pointed to the long black ruler with the bronze stain; it lay upon +the floor; he held out his hand for it, and I gave it to him. + + +"The same one I gagged him with," said Raffles, with his still ghastly +smile; "he was a bit of an artist, old Corbucci, after all!" + +"Now let's hear how you fell into his clutches," said I, briskly, for I +was as anxious to hear as he seemed to tell me, only for my part I +could have waited until we were safe in the flat. + +"I do want to get it off my chest, Bunny," old Raffles admitted, "and +yet I hardly can tell you after all. I followed your friend with the +velvet eyes. I followed him all the way here. Of course I came up to +have a good look at the house when he'd let himself in, and damme if he +hadn't left the door ajar! Who could resist that? I had pushed it +half open and had just one foot on the mat when I got such a crack on +the head as I hope never to get again. When I came to my wits they +were hauling me up to that ring-bolt by the hands, and old Corbucci +himself was bowing to me, but how HE got here I don't know yet." + +"I can tell you that," said I, and told how I had seen the Count for +myself on the pavement underneath our windows. "Moreover," I +continued, "I saw him spot you, and five minutes after in Earl's Court +Road I was told he'd driven off in a cab. He would see you following +his man, drive home ahead, and catch you by having the door left open +in the way you describe." + +"Well," said Raffles, "he deserved to catch me somehow, for he'd come +from Naples on purpose, ruler and all, and the ring-bolts were ready +fixed, and even this house taken furnished for nothing else! He meant +catching me before he'd done, and scoring me off in exactly the same +way that I scored off him, only going one better of course. He told me +so himself, sitting where I am sitting now, at three o'clock this +morning, and smoking a most abominable cigar that I've smelt ever +since. It appears he sat twenty-four hours when I left HIM trussed up, +but he said twelve would content him in my case, as there was certain +death at the end of them, and I mightn't have life enough left to +appreciate my end if he made it longer. But I wouldn't have trusted +him if he could have got the clock to go twice round without firing off +the pistol. He explained the whole mechanism of that to me; he had +thought it all out on the vineyard I told you about; and then he asked +if I remembered what he had promised me in the name of the Camorra. I +only remembered some vague threats, but he was good enough to give me +so many particulars of that institution that I could make a European +reputation by exposing the whole show if it wasn't for my unfortunate +resemblance to that infernal rascal Raffles. Do you think they would +know me at the Yard, Bunny, after all this time? Upon my soul I've a +good mind to risk it!" + +I offered no opinion on the point. How could it interest me then? But +interested I was in Raffles, never more so in my life. He had been +tortured all night and half a day, yet he could sit and talk like this +the moment we cut him down; he had been within a minute of his death, +yet he was as full of life as ever; ill-treated and defeated at the +best, he could still smile through his blood as though the boot were on +the other leg. I had imagined that I knew my Raffles at last. I was +not likely so to flatter myself again. + +"But what has happened to these villains?" I burst out, and my +indignation was not only against them for their cruelty, but also +against their victim for his phlegmatic attitude toward them. It was +difficult to believe that this was Raffles. + +"Oh," said he, "they were to go off to Italy INSTANTER; they should be +crossing now. But do listen to what I am telling you; it's +interesting, my dear man. This old sinner Corbucci turns out to have +been no end of a boss in the Camorra--says so himself. One of the capi +paranze, my boy, no less; and the velvety Johnny a giovano onorato, +Anglice, fresher. This fellow here was also in it, and I've sworn to +protect him from them evermore; and it's just as I said, half the +organ-grinders in London belong, and the whole lot of them were put on +my tracks by secret instructions. This excellent youth manufactures +iced poison on Saffron Hill when he's at home." + +"And why on earth didn't he come to me quicker?" + +"Because he couldn't talk to you, he could only fetch you, and it was +as much as his life was worth to do that before our friends had +departed. They were going by the eleven o'clock from Victoria, and +that didn't leave much chance, but he certainly oughtn't to have run +it as fine as he did. Still you must remember that I had to fix things +up with him in the fewest possible words, in a single minute that the +other two were indiscreet enough to leave us alone together." + +The ragamuffin in question was watching us with all his solitary eye, +as though he knew that we were discussing him. Suddenly he broke out +in agonized accents, his hands clasped, and a face so full of fear that +every moment I expected to see him on his knees. But Raffles answered +kindly, reassuringly, I could tell from his tone, and then turned to me +with a compassionate shrug. + +"He says he couldn't find the mansions, Bunny, and really it's not to +be wondered at. I had only time to tell him to hunt you up and bring +you here by hook or crook before twelve to-day, and after all he has +done that. But now the poor devil thinks you're riled with him, and +that we'll give him away to the Camorra." + +"Oh, it's not with him I'm riled," I said frankly, "but with those +other blackguards, and--and with you, old chap, for taking it all as +you do, while such infamous scoundrels have the last laugh, and are +safely on their way to France!" + +Raffles looked up at me with a curiously open eye, an eye that I never +saw when he was not in earnest. I fancied he did not like my last +expression but one. After all, it was no laughing matter to him. + +"But are they?" said he. "I'm not so sure." + +"You said they were!" + +"I said they should be." + +"Didn't you hear them go?" + +"I heard nothing but the clock all night. It was like Big Ben striking +at the last--striking nine to the fellow on the drop." + +And in that open eye I saw at last a deep glimmer of the ordeal through +which he had passed. + +"But, my dear old Raffles, if they're still on the premises--" + +The thought was too thrilling for a finished sentence. + +"I hope they are," he said grimly, going to the door. "There's a gas +on! Was that burning when you came in?" + +Now that I thought of it, yes, it had been. + +"And there's a frightfully foul smell," I added, as I followed Raffles +down the stairs. He turned to me gravely with his hand upon the +front-room door, and at the same moment I saw a coat with an astrakhan +collar hanging on the pegs. + +"They are in here, Bunny," he said, and turned the handle. + +The door would only open a few inches. But a detestable odor came out, +with a broad bar of yellow gaslight. Raffles put his handkerchief to +his nose. I followed his example, signing to our ally to do the same, +and in another minute we had all three squeezed into the room. + +The man with the yellow boots was lying against the door, the Count's +great carcass sprawled upon the table, and at a glance it was evident +that both men had been dead some hours. The old Camorrist had the stem +of a liqueur-glass between his swollen blue fingers, one of which had +been cut in the breakage, and the livid flesh was also brown with the +last blood that it would ever shed. His face was on the table, the +huge moustache projecting from under either leaden cheek, yet looking +itself strangely alive. Broken bread and scraps of frozen macaroni lay +upon the cloth and at the bottom of two soup-plates and a tureen; the +macaroni had a tinge of tomato; and there was a crimson dram left in +the tumblers, with an empty fiasco to show whence it came. But near +the great gray head upon the table another liqueur-glass stood, +unbroken, and still full of some white and stinking liquid; and near +that a tiny silver flask, which made me recoil from Raffles as I had +not from the dead; for I knew it to be his. + +"Come out of this poisonous air," he said sternly, "and I will tell you +how it has happened." + +So we all three gathered together in the hall. But it was Raffles who +stood nearest the street-door, his back to it, his eyes upon us two. +And though it was to me only that he spoke at first, he would pause +from point to point, and translate into Italian for the benefit of the +one-eyed alien to whom he owed his life. + +"You probably don't even know the name, Bunny," he began, "of the +deadliest poison yet known to science. It is cyanide of cacodyl, and I +have carried that small flask of it about with me for months. Where I +got it matters nothing; the whole point is that a mere sniff reduces +flesh to clay. I have never had any opinion of suicide, as you know, +but I always felt it worth while to be forearmed against the very +worst. Well, a bottle of this stuff is calculated to stiffen an +ordinary roomful of ordinary people within five minutes; and I +remembered my flask when they had me as good as crucified in the small +hours of this morning. I asked them to take it out of my pocket. I +begged them to give me a drink before they left me. And what do you +suppose they did?" + +I thought of many things but suggested none, while Raffles turned this +much of his statement into sufficiently fluent Italian. But when he +faced me again his face was still flaming. + +"That beast Corbucci!" said he--"how can I pity him? He took the +flask; he would give me none; he flicked me in the face instead. My +idea was that he, at least, should go with me--to sell my life as +dearly as that--and a sniff would have settled us both. But no, he must +tantalize and torment me; he thought it brandy; he must take it +downstairs to drink to my destruction! Can you have any pity for a +hound like that?" + +"Let us go," I at last said, hoarsely, as Raffles finished speaking in +Italian, and his second listener stood open-mouthed. + +"We will go," said Raffles, "and we will chance being seen; if the +worst comes to the worst this good chap will prove that I have been +tied up since one o'clock this morning, and the medical evidence will +decide how long those dogs have been dead." + +But the worst did not come to the worst, more power to my unforgotten +friend the cabman, who never came forward to say what manner of men he +had driven to Bloomsbury Square at top speed on the very day upon which +the tragedy was discovered there, or whence he had driven them. To be +sure, they had not behaved like murderers, whereas the evidence at the +inquest all went to show that the defunct Corbucci was little better. +His reputation, which transpired with his identity, was that of a +libertine and a renegade, while the infernal apparatus upstairs +revealed the fiendish arts of the anarchist to boot. The inquiry +resulted eventually in an open verdict, and was chiefly instrumental +in killing such compassion as is usually felt for the dead who die in +their sins. + +But Raffles would not have passed this title for this tale. + + + +TO CATCH A THIEF + +I + +Society persons are not likely to have forgotten the series of +audacious robberies by which so many of themselves suffered in turn +during the brief course of a recent season. Raid after raid was made +upon the smartest houses in town, and within a few weeks more than one +exalted head had been shorn of its priceless tiara. The Duke and +Duchess of Dorchester lost half the portable pieces of their historic +plate on the very night of their Graces' almost equally historic +costume ball. The Kenworthy diamonds were taken in broad daylight, +during the excitement of a charitable meeting on the ground floor, and +the gifts of her belted bridegroom to Lady May Paulton while the outer +air was thick with a prismatic shower of confetti. It was obvious that +all this was the work of no ordinary thief, and perhaps inevitable that +the name of Raffles should have been dragged from oblivion by callous +disrespecters of the departed and unreasoning apologists for the +police. These wiseacres did not hesitate to bring a dead man back to +life because they knew of no living one capable of such feats; it is +their heedless and inconsequent calumnies that the present paper is +partly intended to refute. As a matter of fact, our joint innocence in +this matter was only exceeded by our common envy, and for a long time, +like the rest of the world, neither of us had the slightest clew to the +identity of the person who was following in our steps with such +irritating results. + +"I should mind less," said Raffles, "if the fellow were really playing +my game. But abuse of hospitality was never one of my strokes, and it +seems to me the only shot he's got. When we took old Lady Melrose's +necklace, Bunny, we were not staying with the Melroses, if you +recollect." + +We were discussing the robberies for the hundredth time, but for once +under conditions more favorable to animated conversation than our +unique circumstances permitted in the flat. We did not often dine out. +Dr. Theobald was one impediment, the risk of recognition was another. +But there were exceptions, when the doctor was away or the patient +defiant, and on these rare occasions we frequented a certain +unpretentious restaurant in the Fulham quarter, where the cooking was +plain but excellent, and the cellar a surprise. Our bottle of '89 +champagne was empty to the label when the subject arose, to be touched +by Raffles in the reminiscent manner indicated above. I can see his +clear eye upon me now, reading me, weighing me. But I was not so +sensitive to his scrutiny at the time. His tone was deliberate, +calculating, preparatory; not as I heard it then, through a head full +of wine, but as it floats back to me across the gulf between that +moment and this. + +"Excellent fillet!" said I, grossly. "So you think this chap is as +much in society as we were, do you?" + +I preferred not to think so myself. We had cause enough for jealousy +without that. But Raffles raised his eyebrows an eloquent half-inch. + +"As much, my dear Bunny? He is not only in it, but of it; there's no +comparison between us there. Society is in rings like a target, and we +never were in the bull's-eye, however thick you may lay on the ink! I +was asked for my cricket. I haven't forgotten it yet. But this +fellow's one of themselves, with the right of entre into the houses +which we could only 'enter' in a professional sense. That's obvious +unless all these little exploits are the work of different hands, which +they as obviously are not. And it's why I'd give five hundred pounds +to put salt on him to-night!" + +"Not you," said I, as I drained my glass in festive incredulity. + +"But I would, my dear Bunny. Waiter! another half-bottle of this," and +Raffles leant across the table as the empty one was taken away. "I +never was more serious in my life," he continued below his breath. +"Whatever else our successor may be, he's not a dead man like me, or a +marked man like you. If there's any truth in my theory he's one of the +last people upon whom suspicion is ever likely to rest; and oh, Bunny, +what a partner he would make for you and me!" + +Under less genial influences the very idea of a third partner would +have filled my soul with offence; but Raffles had chosen his moment +unerringly, and his arguments lost nothing by the flowing accompaniment +of the extra pint. They were, however, quite strong in themselves. +The gist of them was that thus far we had remarkably little to show for +what Raffles would call "our second innings." This even I could not +deny. We had scored a few "long singles," but our "best shots" had +gone "straight to hand," and we were "playing a deuced slow game." +Therefore we needed a new partner--and the metaphor failed Raffles. + +It had served its turn. I already agreed with him. In truth I was +tired of my false position as hireling attendant, and had long fancied +myself an object of suspicion to that other impostor the doctor. A +fresh, untrammelled start was a fascinating idea to me, though two was +company, and three in our case might be worse than none. But I did not +see how we could hope, with our respective handicaps, to solve a +problem which was already the despair of Scotland Yard. + +"Suppose I have solved it," observed Raffles, cracking a walnut in his +palm. + +"How could you?" I asked, without believing for an instant that he had. + +"I have been taking the Morning Post for some time now." + +"Well?" + +"You have got me a good many odd numbers of the less base society +papers." + +"I can't for the life of me see what you're driving at." + +Raffles smiled indulgently as he cracked another nut. + +"That's because you've neither observation nor imagination, Bunny--and +yet you try to write! Well, you wouldn't think it, but I have a fairly +complete list of the people who were at the various functions under +cover of which these different little coups were brought off." + +I said very stolidly that I did not see how that could help him. It was +the only answer to his good-humored but self-satisfied contempt; it +happened also to be true. + +"Think," said Raffles, in a patient voice. + +"When thieves break in and steal," said I, "upstairs, I don't see much +point in discovering who was downstairs at the time." + +"Quite," said Raffles--"when they do break in." + +"But that's what they have done in all these cases. An upstairs door +found screwed up, when things were at their height below; thief gone +and jewels with him before alarm could be raised. Why, the trick's so +old that I never knew you condescend to play it." + +"Not so old as it looks," said Raffles, choosing the cigars and handing +me mine. "Cognac or Benedictine, Bunny?" + +"Brandy," I said, coarsely. + +"Besides," he went on, "the rooms were not screwed up; at Dorchester +House, at any rate, the door was only locked, and the key missing, so +that it might have been done on either side." + +"But that was where he left his rope-ladder behind him!" I exclaimed in +triumph; but Raffles only shook his head. + +"I don't believe in that rope-ladder, Bunny, except as a blind." + +"Then what on earth do you believe?" + +"That every one of these so-called burglaries has been done from the +inside, by one of the guests; and what's more I'm very much mistaken if +I haven't spotted the right sportsman." + +I began to believe that he really had, there was such a wicked gravity +in the eyes that twinkled faintly into mine. I raised my glass in +convivial congratulation, and still remember the somewhat anxious eye +with which Raffles saw it emptied. + +"I can only find one likely name," he continued, "that figures in all +these lists, and it is anything but a likely one at first sight. Lord +Ernest Belville was at all those functions. Know anything about him, +Bunny?" + +"Not the Rational Drink fanatic?" + +"Yes." + +"That's all I want to know." + +"Quite," said Raffles; "and yet what could be more promising? A man +whose views are so broad and moderate, and so widely held already +(saving your presence, Bunny), does not bore the world with them +without ulterior motives. So far so good. What are this chap's +motives? Does he want to advertise himself? No, he's somebody +already. But is he rich? On the contrary, he's as poor as a rat for +his position, and apparently without the least ambition to be anything +else; certainly he won't enrich himself by making a public fad of what +all sensible people are agreed upon as it is. Then suddenly one gets +one's own old idea--the alternative profession! My cricket--his +Rational Drink! But it is no use jumping to conclusions. I must know +more than the newspapers can tell me. Our aristocratic friend is +forty, and unmarried. What has he been doing all these years? How the +devil was I to find out?" + +"How did you?" I asked, declining to spoil my digestion with a +conundrum, as it was his evident intention that I should. + +"Interviewed him!" said Raffles, smiling slowly on my amazement. + +"You--interviewed him?" I echoed. "When--and where?" + +"Last Thursday night, when, if you remember, we kept early hours, +because I felt done. What was the use of telling you what I had up my +sleeve, Bunny? It might have ended in fizzle, as it still may. But +Lord Ernest Belville was addressing the meeting at Exeter Hall; I +waited for him when the show was over, dogged him home to King John's +Mansions, and interviewed him in his own rooms there before he turned +in." + +My journalistic jealousy was piqued to the quick. Affecting a +scepticism I did not feel (for no outrage was beyond the pale of his +impudence), I inquired dryly which journal Raffles had pretended to +represent. It is unnecessary to report his answer. I could not believe +him without further explanation. + +"I should have thought," he said, "that even you would have spotted a +practice I never omit upon certain occasions. I always pay a visit to +the drawing-room, and fill my waistcoat pocket from the card-tray. It +is an immense help in any little temporary impersonation. On Thursday +night I sent up the card of a powerful writer connected with a powerful +paper; if Lord Ernest had known him in the flesh I should have been +obliged to confess to a journalistic ruse; luckily he didn't--and I had +been sent by my editor to get the interview for next morning. What +could be better--for the alternative profession?" + +I inquired what the interview had brought forth. + +"Everything," said Raffles. "Lord Ernest has been a wanderer these +twenty years. Texas, Fiji, Australia. I suspect him of wives and +families in all three. But his manners are a liberal education. He +gave me some beautiful whiskey, and forgot all about his fad. He is +strong and subtle, but I talked him off his guard. He is going to the +Kirkleathams' to-night--I saw the card stuck up. I stuck some wax into +his keyhole as he was switching off the lights." + +And, with an eye upon the waiters, Raffles showed me a skeleton key, +newly twisted and filed; but my share of the extra pint (I am afraid +no fair share) had made me dense. I looked from the key to Raffles +with puckered forehead--for I happened to catch sight of it in the +mirror behind him. + +"The Dowager Lady Kirkleatham," he whispered, "has diamonds as big as +beans, and likes to have 'em all on--and goes to bed early--and happens +to be in town!" + +And now I saw. + +"The villain means to get them from her!" + +"And I mean to get them from the villain," said Raffles; "or, rather, +your share and mine." + +"Will he consent to a partnership?" + +"We shall have him at our mercy. He daren't refuse." + +Raffles's plan was to gain access to Lord Ernest's rooms before +midnight; there we were to lie in wait for the aristocratic rascal, and +if I left all details to Raffles, and simply stood by in case of a +rumpus, I should be playing my part and earning my share. It was a +part that I had played before, not always with a good grace, though +there had never been any question about the share. But to-night I was +nothing loath. I had had just champagne enough--how Raffles knew my +measure!--and I was ready and eager for anything. Indeed, I did not +wish to wait for the coffee, which was to be especially strong by +order of Raffles. But on that he insisted, and it was between ten and +eleven when at last we were in our cab. + +"It would be fatal to be too early," he said as we drove; "on the other +hand, it would be dangerous to leave it too late. One must risk +something. How I should love to drive down Piccadilly and see the +lights! But unnecessary risks are another story." + + +II + +King John's Mansions, as everybody knows, are the oldest, the ugliest, +and the tallest block of flats in all London. But they are built +upon a more generous scale than has since become the rule, and with a +less studious regard for the economy of space. We were about to drive +into the spacious courtyard when the gate-keeper checked us in order to +let another hansom drive out. + +It contained a middle-aged man of the military type, like ourselves in +evening dress. That much I saw as his hansom crossed our bows, +because I could not help seeing it, but I should not have given the +incident a second thought if it had not been for his extraordinary +effect upon Raffles. In an instant he was out upon the curb, paying +the cabby, and in another he was leading me across the street, away +from the mansions. + +"Where on earth are you going?" I naturally exclaimed. + +"Into the park," said he. "We are too early." + +His voice told me more than his words. It was strangely stern. + +"Was that him--in the hansom?" + +"It was." + +"Well, then, the coast's clear," said I, comfortably. I was for +turning back then and there, but Raffles forced me on with a hand that +hardened on my arm. + +"It was a nearer thing than I care about," said he. "This seat will +do; no, the next one's further from a lamp-post. We will give him a +good half-hour, and I don't want to talk." + +We had been seated some minutes when Big Ben sent a languid chime over +our heads to the stars. It was half-past ten, and a sultry night. +Eleven had struck before Raffles awoke from his sullen reverie, and +recalled me from mine with a slap on the back. In a couple of minutes +we were in the lighted vestibule at the inner end of the courtyard of +King John's Mansions. + +"Just left Lord Ernest at Lady Kirkleatham's," said Raffles. "Gave me +his key and asked us to wait for him in his rooms. Will you send us up +in the lift?" + +In a small way, I never knew old Raffles do anything better. There was +not an instant's demur. Lord Ernest Belville's rooms were at the top +of the building, but we were in them as quickly as lift could carry and +page-boy conduct us. And there was no need for the skeleton key after +all; the boy opened the outer door with one of his own, and switched on +the lights before leaving us. + +"Now that's interesting," said Raffles, as soon as we were alone; "they +can come in and clean when he is out. What if he keeps his swag at the +bank? By Jove, that's an idea for him! I don't believe he's getting +rid of it; it's all lying low somewhere, if I'm not mistaken, and he's +not a fool." + +While he spoke he was moving about the sitting-room, which was +charmingly furnished in the antique style, and making as many remarks +as though he were an auctioneer's clerk with an inventory to prepare +and a day to do it in, instead of a cracksman who might be surprised +in his crib at any moment. + +"Chippendale of sorts, eh, Bunny? Not genuine, of course; but where +can you get genuine Chippendale now, and who knows it when they see +it? There's no merit in mere antiquity. Yet the way people pose on +the subject! If a thing's handsome and useful, and good +cabinet-making, it's good enough for me." + +"Hadn't we better explore the whole place?" I suggested nervously. He +had not even bolted the outer door. Nor would he when I called his +attention to the omission. + +"If Lord Ernest finds his rooms locked up he'll raise Cain," said +Raffles; "we must let him come in and lock up for himself before we +corner him. But he won't come yet; if he did it might be awkward, for +they'd tell him down below what I told them. A new staff comes on at +midnight. I discovered that the other night." + +"Supposing he does come in before?" + +"Well, he can't have us turned out without first seeing who we are, and +he won't try it on when I've had one word with him. Unless my +suspicions are unfounded, I mean." + +"Isn't it about time to test them?" + +"My good Bunny, what do you suppose I've been doing all this while? He +keeps nothing in here. There isn't a lock to the Chippendale that you +couldn't pick with a penknife, and not a loose board in the floor, for +I was treading for one before the boy left us. Chimney's no use in a +place like this where they keep them swept for you. Yes, I'm quite +ready to try his bedroom." + +There was but a bathroom besides; no kitchen, no servant's room; +neither are necessary in King John's Mansions. I thought it as well to +put my head inside the bathroom while Raffles went into the bedroom, +for I was tormented by the horrible idea that the man might all this +time be concealed somewhere in the flat. But the bathroom blazed void +in the electric light. I found Raffles hanging out of the starry +square which was the bedroom window, for the room was still in +darkness. I felt for the switch at the door. + +"Put it out again!" said Raffles fiercely. He rose from the sill, drew +blind and curtains carefully, then switched on the light himself. It +fell upon a face creased more in pity than in anger, and Raffles only +shook his head as I hung mine. + +"It's all right, old boy," said he; "but corridors have windows too, +and servants have eyes; and you and I are supposed to be in the other +room, not in this. But cheer up, Bunny! This is THE room; look at the +extra bolt on the door; he's had that put on, and there's an iron +ladder to his window in case of fire! Way of escape ready against the +hour of need; he's a better man than I thought him, Bunny, after all. +But you may bet your bottom dollar that if there's any boodle in the +flat it's in this room." + +Yet the room was very lightly furnished; and nothing was locked. We +looked everywhere, but we looked in vain. The wardrobe was filled with +hanging coats and trousers in a press, the drawers with the softest +silk and finest linen. It was a camp bedstead that would not have +unsettled an anchorite; there was no place for treasure there. I +looked up the chimney, but Raffles told me not to be a fool, and asked +if I ever listened to what he said. There was no question about his +temper now. I never knew him in a worse. + +"Then he has got it in the bank," he growled. "I'll swear I'm not +mistaken in my man!" + +I had the tact not to differ with him there. But I could not help +suggesting that now was our time to remedy any mistake we might have +made. We were on the right side of midnight still. + +"Then we stultify ourselves downstairs," said Raffles. "No, I'll be +shot if I do! He may come in with the Kirkleatham diamonds! You do +what you like, Bunny, but I don't budge." + +"I certainly shan't leave you," I retorted, "to be knocked into the +middle of next week by a better man than yourself." + +I had borrowed his own tone, and he did not like it. They never do. I +thought for a moment that Raffles was going to strike me--for the first +and last time in his life. He could if he liked. My blood was up. I +was ready to send him to the devil. And I emphasized my offence by +nodding and shrugging toward a pair of very large Indian clubs that +stood in the fender, on either side of the chimney up which I had +presumed to glance. + +In an instant Raffles had seized the clubs, and was whirling them +about his gray head in a mixture of childish pique and puerile bravado +which I should have thought him altogether above. + +And suddenly as I watched him his face changed, softened, lit up, and +he swung the clubs gently down upon the bed. + +"They're not heavy enough for their size," said he rapidly; "and I'll +take my oath they're not the same weight!" + +He shook one club after the other, with both hands, close to his ear; +then he examined their butt-ends under the electric light. I saw what +he suspected now, and caught the contagion of his suppressed +excitement. Neither of us spoke. But Raffles had taken out the +portable tool-box that he called a knife, and always carried, and as he +opened the gimlet he handed me the club he held. Instinctively I +tucked the small end under my arm, and presented the other to Raffles. + +"Hold him tight," he whispered, smiling. "He's not only a better man +than I thought him, Bunny; he's hit upon a better dodge than ever I +did, of its kind. Only I should have weighted them evenly--to a hair." + +He had screwed the gimlet into the circular butt, close to the edge, +and now we were wrenching in opposite directions. For a moment or more +nothing happened. Then all at once something gave, and Raffles swore +an oath as soft as any prayer. And for the minute after that his hand +went round and round with the gimlet, as though he were grinding a +piano-organ, while the end wormed slowly out on its delicate thread of +fine hard wood. + +The clubs were as hollow as drinking-horns, the pair of them, for we +went from one to the other without pausing to undo the padded packets +that poured out upon the bed. These were deliciously heavy to the +hand, yet thickly swathed in cotton-wool, so that some stuck together, +retaining the shape of the cavity, as though they had been run out of a +mould. And when we did open them--but let Raffles speak. + +He had deputed me to screw in the ends of the clubs, and to replace the +latter in the fender where we had found them. When I had done the +counterpane was glittering with diamonds where it was not shimmering +with pearls. + +"If this isn't that tiara that Lady May was married in," said Raffles, +"and that disappeared out of the room she changed in, while it rained +confetti on the steps, I'll present it to her instead of the one she +lost.... It was stupid to keep these old gold spoons, valuable as they +are; they made the difference in the weight.... Here we have probably +the Kenworthy diamonds.... I don't know the history of these +pearls.... This looks like one family of rings--left on the +basin-stand, perhaps--alas, poor lady! And that's the lot." + +Our eyes met across the bed. + +"What's it all worth?" I asked, hoarsely. + +"Impossible to say. But more than all we ever took in all our lives. +That I'll swear to." + +"More than all--" + +My tongue swelled with the thought. + +"But it'll take some turning into cash, old chap!" + +"And--must it be a partnership?" I asked, finding a lugubrious voice at +length. + +"Partnership be damned!" cried Raffles, heartily. "Let's get out +quicker than we came in." + +We pocketed the things between us, cotton-wool and all, not because we +wanted the latter, but to remove all immediate traces of our really +meritorious deed. + +"The sinner won't dare to say a word when he does find out," remarked +Raffles of Lord Ernest; "but that's no reason why he should find out +before he must. Everything's straight in here, I think; no, better +leave the window open as it was, and the blind up. Now out with the +light. One peep at the other room. That's all right, too. Out with +the passage light, Bunny, while I open--" + +His words died away in a whisper. A key was fumbling at the lock +outside. + +"Out with it--out with it!" whispered Raffles in an agony; and as I +obeyed he picked me off my feet and swung me bodily but silently into +the bedroom, just as the outer door opened, and a masterful step strode +in. + +The next five were horrible minutes. We heard the apostle of Rational +Drink unlock one of the deep drawers in his antique sideboard, and +sounds followed suspiciously like the splash of spirits and the steady +stream from a siphon. Never before or since did I experience such a +thirst as assailed me at that moment, nor do I believe that many +tropical explorers have known its equal. But I had Raffles with me, +and his hand was as steady and as cool as the hand of a trained nurse. +That I know because he turned up the collar of my overcoat for me, for +some reason, and buttoned it at the throat. I afterwards found that he +had done the same to his own, but I did not hear him doing it. The one +thing I heard in the bedroom was a tiny metallic click, muffled and +deadened in his overcoat pocket, and it not only removed my last +tremor, but strung me to a higher pitch of excitement than ever. Yet I +had then no conception of the game that Raffles was deciding to play, +and that I was to play with him in another minute. + +It cannot have been longer before Lord Ernest came into his bedroom. +Heavens, but my heart had not forgotten how to thump! We were standing +near the door, and I could swear he touched me; then his boots creaked, +there was a rattle in the fender--and Raffles switched on the light. + +Lord Ernest Belville crouched in its glare with one Indian club held by +the end, like a footman with a stolen bottle. A good-looking, +well-built, iron-gray, iron-jawed man; but a fool and a weakling at +that moment, if he had never been either before. + +"Lord Ernest Belville," said Raffles, "it's no use. This is a loaded +revolver, and if you force me I shall use it on you as I would on any +other desperate criminal. I am here to arrest you for a series of +robberies at the Duke of Dorchester's, Sir John Kenworthy's, and other +noblemen's and gentlemen's houses during the present season. You'd +better drop what you've got in your hand. It's empty." + +Lord Ernest lifted the club an inch or two, and with it his +eyebrows--and after it his stalwart frame as the club crashed back into +the fender. And as he stood at his full height, a courteous but ironic +smile under the cropped moustache, he looked what he was, criminal or +not. + +"Scotland Yard?" said he. + +"That's our affair, my lord." + +"I didn't think they'd got it in them," said Lord Ernest. "Now I +recognize you. You're my interviewer. No, I didn't think any of you +fellows had got all that in you. Come into the other room, and I'll +show you something else. Oh, keep me covered by all means. But look +at this!" + +On the antique sideboard, their size doubled by reflection in the +polished mahogany, lay a coruscating cluster of precious stones, that +fell in festoons about Lord Ernest's fingers as he handed them to +Raffles with scarcely a shrug. + +"The Kirkleatham diamonds," said he. "Better add 'em to the bag." + +Raffles did so without a smile; with his overcoat buttoned up to the +chin, his tall hat pressed down to his eyes, and between the two his +incisive features and his keen, stern glance, he looked the ideal +detective of fiction and the stage. What _I_ looked God knows, but I +did my best to glower and show my teeth at his side. I had thrown +myself into the game, and it was obviously a winning one. + +"Wouldn't take a share, I suppose?" Lord Ernest said casually. + +Raffles did not condescend to reply. I rolled back my lips like a +bull-pup. + +"Then a drink, at least!" + +My mouth watered, but Raffles shook his head impatiently. + +"We must be going, my lord, and you will have to come with us." + +I wondered what in the world we should do with him when we had got him. + +"Give me time to put some things together? Pair of pyjamas and +tooth-brush, don't you know?" + +"I cannot give you many minutes, my lord, but I don't want to cause a +disturbance here, so I'll tell them to call a cab if you like. But I +shall be back in a minute, and you must be ready in five. Here, +inspector, you'd better keep this while I am gone." + +And I was left alone with that dangerous criminal! Raffles nipped my +arm as he handed me the revolver, but I got small comfort out of that. + +"'Sea-green Incorruptible?'" inquired Lord Ernest as we stood face to +face. + +"You don't corrupt me," I replied through naked teeth. + +"Then come into my room. I'll lead the way. Think you can hit me if I +misbehave?" + +I put the bed between us without a second's delay. My prisoner flung a +suit-case upon it, and tossed things into it with a dejected air; +suddenly, as he was fitting them in, without raising his head (which I +was watching), his right hand closed over the barrel with which I +covered him. + +"You'd better not shoot," he said, a knee upon his side of the bed; "if +you do it may be as bad for you as it will be for me!" + +I tried to wrest the revolver from him. + +"I will if you force me," I hissed. + +"You'd better not," he repeated, smiling; and now I saw that if I did I +should only shoot into the bed or my own legs. His hand was on the top +of mine, bending it down, and the revolver with it. The strength of it +was as the strength of ten of mine; and now both his knees were on the +bed; and suddenly I saw his other hand, doubled into a fist, coming up +slowly over the suit-case. + +"Help!" I called feebly. + +"Help, forsooth! I begin to believe YOU ARE from the Yard," he +said--and his upper-cut came with the "Yard." It caught me under the +chin. + +It lifted me off my legs. I have a dim recollection of the crash that +I made in falling. + + +III + +Raffles was standing over me when I recovered consciousness. I lay +stretched upon the bed across which that blackguard Belville had struck +his knavish blow. The suit-case was on the floor, but its dastardly +owner had disappeared. + +"Is he gone?" was my first faint question. + +"Thank God you're not, anyway!" replied Raffles, with what struck me +then as mere flippancy. I managed to raise myself upon one elbow. + +"I meant Lord Ernest Belville," said I, with dignity. "Are you quite +sure that he's cleared out?" + +Raffles waved a hand towards the window, which stood wide open to the +summer stars. + +"Of course," said he, "and by the route I intended him to take; he's +gone by the iron-ladder, as I hoped he would. What on earth should we +have done with him? My poor, dear Bunny, I thought you'd take a bribe! +But it's really more convincing as it is, and just as well for Lord +Ernest to be convinced for the time being." + +"Are you sure he is?" I questioned, as I found a rather shaky pair of +legs. + +"Of course!" cried Raffles again, in the tone to make one blush for the +least misgiving on the point. "Not that it matters one bit," he +added, airily, "for we have him either way; and when he does tumble to +it, as he may any minute, he won't dare to open his mouth." + +"Then the sooner we clear out the better," said I, but I looked askance +at the open window, for my head was spinning still. + +"When you feel up to it," returned Raffles, "we shall STROLL out, and I +shall do myself the honor of ringing for the lift. The force of habit +is too strong in you, Bunny. I shall shut the window and leave +everything exactly as we found it. Lord Ernest will probably tumble +before he is badly missed; and then he may come back to put salt on us; +but I should like to know what he can do even if he succeeds! Come, +Bunny, pull yourself together, and you'll be a different man when +you're in the open air." + +And for a while I felt one, such was my relief at getting out of those +infernal mansions with unfettered wrists; this we managed easily +enough; but once more Raffles's performance of a small part was no less +perfect than his more ambitious work upstairs, and something of the +successful artist's elation possessed him as we walked arm-in-arm +across St. James's Park. It was long since I had known him so pleased +with himself, and only too long since he had had such reason. + +"I don't think I ever had a brighter idea in my life," he said; "never +thought of it till he was in the next room; never dreamt of its coming +off so ideally even then, and didn't much care, because we had him all +ways up. I'm only sorry you let him knock you out. I was waiting +outside the door all the time, and it made me sick to hear it. But I +once broke my own head, Bunny, if you remember, and not in half such +an excellent cause!" + +Raffles touched all his pockets in his turn, the pockets that contained +a small fortune apiece, and he smiled in my face as we crossed the +lighted avenues of the Mall. Next moment he was hailing a hansom--for +I suppose I was still pretty pale--and not a word would he let me +speak until we had alighted as near as was prudent to the flat. + +"What a brute I've been, Bunny!" he whispered then, "but you take half +the swag, old boy, and right well you've earned it. No, we'll go in by +the wrong door and over the roof; it's too late for old Theobald to be +still at the play, and too early for him to be safely in his cups." + +So we climbed the many stairs with cat-like stealth, and like cats +crept out upon the grimy leads. But to-night they were no blacker than +their canopy of sky; not a chimney-stack stood out against the starless +night; one had to feel one's way in order to avoid tripping over the +low parapets of the L-shaped wells that ran from roof to basement to +light the inner rooms. One of these wells was spanned by a flimsy +bridge with iron handrails that felt warm to the touch as Raffles led +the way across! A hotter and a closer night I have never known. + +"The flat will be like an oven," I grumbled, at the head of our own +staircase. + +"Then we won't go down," said Raffles, promptly; "we'll slack it up +here for a bit instead. No, Bunny, you stay where you are! I'll fetch +you a drink and a deck-chair, and you shan't come down till you feel +more fit." + +And I let him have his way, I will not say as usual, for I had even +less than my normal power of resistance that night. That villainous +upper-cut! My head still sang and throbbed, as I seated myself on one +of the aforesaid parapets, and buried it in my hot hands. Nor was the +night one to dispel a headache; there was distinct thunder in the air. +Thus I sat in a heap, and brooded over my misadventure, a pretty +figure of a subordinate villain, until the step came for which I +waited; and it never struck me that it came from the wrong direction. + +"You have been quick," said I, simply. + +"Yes," hissed a voice I recognized; "and you've got to be quicker +still! Here, out with your wrists; no, one at a time; and if you utter +a syllable you're a dead man." + +It was Lord Ernest Belville; his close-cropped, iron-gray moustache +gleamed through the darkness, drawn up over his set teeth. In his hand +glittered a pair of handcuffs, and before I knew it one had snapped its +jaws about my right wrist. + +"Now come this way," said Lord Ernest, showing me a revolver also, "and +wait for your friend. And, recollect, a single syllable of warning +will be your death!" + +With that the ruffian led me to the very bridge I had just crossed at +Raffles's heels, and handcuffed me to the iron rail midway across the +chasm. It no longer felt warm to my touch, but icy as the blood in all +my veins. + +So this high-born hypocrite had beaten us at our game and his, and +Raffles had met his match at last! That was the most intolerable +thought, that Raffles should be down in the flat on my account, and +that I could not warn him of his impending fate; for how was it +possible without making such an outcry as should bring the mansions +about our ears? And there I shivered on that wretched plank, chained +like Andromeda to the rock, with a black infinity above and below; and +before my eyes, now grown familiar with the peculiar darkness, stood +Lord Ernest Belville, waiting for Raffles to emerge with full hands and +unsuspecting heart! Taken so horribly unawares, even Raffles must fall +an easy prey to a desperado in resource and courage scarcely second to +himself, but one whom he had fatally underrated from the beginning. +Not that I paused to think how the thing had happened; my one concern +was for what was to happen next. + +And what did happen was worse than my worst foreboding, for first a +light came flickering into the sort of companion-hatch at the head of +the stairs, and finally Raffles--in his shirt-sleeves! He was not only +carrying a candle to put the finishing touch to him as a target; he had +dispensed with coat and waistcoat downstairs, and was at once +full-handed and unarmed. + +"Where are you, old chap?" he cried, softly, himself blinded by the +light he carried; and he advanced a couple of steps towards Belville. +"This isn't you, is it?" + +And Raffles stopped, his candle held on high, a folding chair under the +other arm. + +"No, I am not your friend," replied Lord Ernest, easily; "but kindly +remain standing exactly where you are, and don't lower that candle an +inch, unless you want your brains blown into the street." + +Raffles said never a word, but for a moment did as he was bid; and the +unshaken flame of the candle was testimony alike to the stillness of +the night and to the finest set of nerves in Europe. + +Then, to my horror, he coolly stooped, placing candle and chair on the +leads, and his hands in his pockets, as though it were but a popgun +that covered him. + +"Why didn't you shoot?" he asked insolently as he rose. "Frightened of +the noise? I should be, too, with an old-pattern machine like that. +All very well for service in the field--but on the house-tops at dead +of night!" + +"I shall shoot, however," replied Lord Ernest, as quietly in his turn, +and with less insolence, "and chance the noise, unless you instantly +restore my property. I am glad you don't dispute the last word," he +continued after a slight pause. "There is no keener honor than that +which subsists, or ought to subsist, among thieves; and I need hardly +say that I soon spotted you as one of the fraternity. Not in the +beginning, mind you! For the moment I did think you were one of these +smart detectives jumped to life from some sixpenny magazine; but to +preserve the illusion you ought to provide yourself with a worthier +lieutenant. It was he who gave your show away," chuckled the wretch, +dropping for a moment the affected style of speech which seemed +intended to enhance our humiliation; "smart detectives don't go about +with little innocents to assist them. You needn't be anxious about +him, by the way; it wasn't necessary to pitch him into the street; he +is to be seen though not heard, if you look in the right direction. +Nor must you put all the blame upon your friend; it was not he, but +you, who made so sure that I had got out by the window. You see, I was +in my bathroom all the time--with the door open." + +"The bathroom, eh?" Raffles echoed with professional interest. "And you +followed us on foot across the park?" + +"Of course." + +"And then in a cab?" + +"And afterwards on foot once more." + +"The simplest skeleton would let you in down below." + +I saw the lower half of Lord Ernest's face grinning in the light of the +candle set between them on the ground. + +"You follow every move," said he; "there can be no doubt you are one of +the fraternity; and I shouldn't wonder if we had formed our style upon +the same model. Ever know A. J. Raffles?" + +The abrupt question took my breath away; but Raffles himself did not +lose an instant over his answer. + +"Intimately," said he. + +"That accounts for you, then," laughed Lord Ernest, "as it does for me, +though I never had the honor of the master's acquaintance. Nor is it +for me to say which is the worthier disciple. Perhaps, however, now +that your friend is handcuffed in mid-air, and you yourself are at my +mercy, you will concede me some little temporary advantage?" + +And his face split in another grin from the cropped moustache downward, +as I saw no longer by candlelight but by a flash of lightning which +tore the sky in two before Raffles could reply. + +"You have the bulge at present," admitted Raffles; "but you have still +to lay hands upon your, or our, ill-gotten goods. To shoot me is not +necessarily to do so; to bring either one of us to a violent end is +only to court a yet more violent and infinitely more disgraceful one +for yourself. Family considerations alone should rule that risk out of +your game. Now, an hour or two ago, when the exact opposite--" + +The remainder of Raffles's speech was drowned from my ears by the +belated crash of thunder which the lightning had foretold. So loud, +however, was the crash when it came, that the storm was evidently +approaching us at a high velocity; yet as the last echo rumbled away, I +heard Raffles talking as though he had never stopped. + +"You offered us a share," he was saying; "unless you mean to murder us +both in cold blood, it will be worth your while to repeat that offer. +We should be dangerous enemies; you had far better make the best of us +as friends." + +"Lead the way down to your flat," said Lord Ernest, with a flourish of +his service revolver, "and perhaps we may talk about it. It is for me +to make the terms, I imagine, and in the first place I am not going to +get wet to the skin up here." + +The rain was beginning in great drops, even as he spoke, and by a +second flash of lightning I saw Raffles pointing to me. + +"But what about my friend?" said he. + +And then came the second peal. + +"Oh, HE'S all right," the great brute replied; "do him good! You don't +catch me letting myself in for two to one!" + +"You will find it equally difficult," rejoined Raffles, "to induce me +to leave my friend to the mercy of a night like this. He has not +recovered from the blow you struck him in your own rooms. I am not +such a fool as to blame you for that, but you are a worse sportsman +than I take you for if you think of leaving him where he is. If he +stays, however, so do I." + +And, just as it ceased, Raffles's voice seemed distinctly nearer to me; +but in the darkness and the rain, which was now as heavy as hail, I +could see nothing clearly. The rain had already extinguished the +candle. I heard an oath from Belville, a laugh from Raffles, and for a +second that was all. Raffles was coming to me, and the other could not +even see to fire; that was all I knew in the pitchy interval of +invisible rain before the next crash and the next flash. + +And then! + +This time they came together, and not till my dying hour shall I forget +the sight that the lightning lit and the thunder applauded. Raffles +was on one of the parapets of the gulf that my foot-bridge spanned, and +in the sudden illumination he stepped across it as one might across a +garden path. The width was scarcely greater, but the depth! In the +sudden flare I saw to the concrete bottom of the well, and it looked no +larger than the hollow of my hand. Raffles was laughing in my ear; he +had the iron railing fast; it was between us, but his foothold was as +secure as mine. Lord Ernest Belville, on the contrary, was the fifth +of a second late for the light, and half a foot short in his spring. +Something struck our plank bridge so hard as to set it quivering like a +harp-string; there was half a gasp and half a sob in mid-air beneath +our feet; and then a sound far below that I prefer not to describe. I +am not sure that I could hit upon the perfect simile; it is more than +enough for me that I can hear it still. And with that sickening sound +came the loudest clap of thunder yet, and a great white glare that +showed us our enemy's body far below, with one white hand spread like a +starfish, but the head of him mercifully twisted underneath. + +"It was all his own fault, Bunny. Poor devil! May he and all of us be +forgiven; but pull yourself together for your own sake. Well, you can't +fall; stay where you are a minute." + +I remember the uproar of the elements while Raffles was gone; no other +sound mingled with it; not the opening of a single window, not the +uplifting of a single voice. Then came Raffles with soap and water, +and the gyve was wheedled from one wrist, as you withdraw a ring for +which the finger has grown too large. Of the rest, I only remember +shivering till morning in a pitch-dark flat, whose invalid occupier was +for once the nurse, and I his patient. + +And that is the true ending of the episode in which we two set +ourselves to catch one of our own kidney, albeit in another place I +have shirked the whole truth. It is not a grateful task to show +Raffles as completely at fault as he really was on that occasion; nor +do I derive any subtle satisfaction from recounting my own twofold +humiliation, or from having assisted never so indirectly in the death +of a not uncongenial sinner. The truth, however, has after all a merit +of its own, and the great kinsfolk of poor Lord Ernest have but little +to lose by its divulgence. It would seem that they knew more of the +real character of the apostle of Rational Drink than was known at +Exeter Hall. The tragedy was indeed hushed up, as tragedies only are +when they occur in such circles. But the rumor that did get abroad, as +to the class of enterprise which the poor scamp was pursuing when he +met his death, cannot be too soon exploded, since it breathed upon the +fair fame of some of the most respectable flats in Kensington. + + + +AN OLD FLAME + +I + +The square shall be nameless, but if you drive due west from Piccadilly +the cab-man will eventually find it on his left, and he ought to thank +you for two shillings. It is not a fashionable square, but there are +few with a finer garden, while the studios on the south side lend +distinction of another sort. The houses, however, are small and dingy, +and about the last to attract the expert practitioner in search of a +crib. Heaven knows it was with no such thought I trailed Raffles +thither, one unlucky evening at the latter end of that same season, +when Dr. Theobald had at last insisted upon the bath-chair which I had +foreseen in the beginning. Trees whispered in the green garden +aforesaid, and the cool, smooth lawns looked so inviting that I +wondered whether some philanthropic resident could not be induced to +lend us the key. But Raffles would not listen to the suggestion, when +I stopped to make it, and what was worse, I found him looking wistfully +at the little houses instead. + +"Such balconies, Bunny! A leg up, and there you would be!" + +I expressed a conviction that there would be nothing worth taking in +the square, but took care to have him under way again as I spoke. + +"I daresay you're right," sighed Raffles. "Rings and watches, I +suppose, but it would be hard luck to take them from people who live in +houses like these. I don't know, though. Here's one with an extra +story. Stop, Bunny; if you don't stop I'll hold on to the railings! +This is a good house; look at the knocker and the electric bell. +They've had that put in. There's some money here, my rabbit! I dare +bet there's a silver-table in the drawing-room; and the windows are +wide open. Electric light, too, by Jove!" + +Since stop I must, I had done so on the other side of the road, in the +shadow of the leafy palings, and as Raffles spoke the ground floor +windows opposite had flown alight, showing as pretty a little +dinner-table as one could wish to see, with a man at his wine at the +far end, and the back of a lady in evening dress toward us. It was +like a lantern-picture thrown upon a screen. There were only the pair +of them, but the table was brilliant with silver and gay with flowers, +and the maid waited with the indefinable air of a good servant. It +certainly seemed a good house. + +"She's going to let down the blind!" whispered Raffles, in high +excitement. "No, confound them, they've told her not to. Mark down +her necklace, Bunny, and invoice his stud. What a brute he looks! But +I like the table, and that's her show. She has the taste; but he must +have money. See the festive picture over the sideboard? Looks to me +like a Jacques Saillard. But that silver-table would be good enough +for me." + +"Get on," said I. "You're in a bath-chair." + +"But the whole square's at dinner! We should have the ball at our +feet. It wouldn't take two twos!" + +"With those blinds up, and the cook in the kitchen underneath?" + +He nodded, leaning forward in the chair, his hands upon the wraps about +his legs. + +"You must be mad," said I, and got back to my handles with the word, +but when I tugged the chair ran light. + +"Keep an eye on the rug," came in a whisper from the middle of the +road; and there stood my invalid, his pale face in a quiver of pure +mischief, yet set with his insane resolve. "I'm only going to see +whether that woman has a silver-table--" + +"We don't want it--" + +"It won't take a minute--" + +"It's madness, madness--" + +"Then don't you wait!" + +It was like him to leave me with that, and this time I had taken him at +his last word had not my own given me an idea. Mad I had called him, +and mad I could declare him upon oath if necessary. It was not as +though the thing had happened far from home. They could learn all +about us at the nearest mansions. I referred them to Dr. Theobald; +this was a Mr. Maturin, one of his patients, and I was his keeper, and +he had never given me the slip before. I heard myself making these +explanations on the doorstep, and pointing to the deserted bath-chair +as the proof, while the pretty parlor maid ran for the police. It +would be a more serious matter for me than for my charge. I should +lose my place. No, he had never done such a thing before, and I would +answer for it that he never should again. + +I saw myself conducting Raffles back to his chair, with a firm hand and +a stern tongue. I heard him thanking me in whispers on the way home. +It would be the first tight place I had ever got him out of, and I was +quite anxious for him to get into it, so sure was I of every move. My +whole position had altered in the few seconds that it took me to follow +this illuminating train of ideas; it was now so strong that I could +watch Raffles without much anxiety. And he was worth watching. + +He had stepped boldly but softly to the front door, and there he was +still waiting, ready to ring if the door opened or a face appeared in +the area, and doubtless to pretend that he had rung already. But he +had not to ring at all; and suddenly I saw his foot in the letter-box, +his left hand on the lintel overhead. It was thrilling, even to a +hardened accomplice with an explanation up his sleeve! A tight grip +with that left hand of his, as he leant backward with all his weight +upon those five fingers; a right arm stretched outward and upward to +its last inch; and the base of the low, projecting balcony was safely +caught. + +I looked down and took breath. The maid was removing the crumbs in the +lighted room, and the square was empty as before. What a blessing it +was the end of the season! Many of the houses remained in darkness. I +looked up again, and Raffles was drawing his left leg over the balcony +railing. In another moment he had disappeared through one of the +French windows which opened upon the balcony, and in yet another he had +switched on the electric light within. This was bad enough, for now I, +at least, could see everything he did; but the crowning folly was still +to come. There was no point in it; the mad thing was done for my +benefit, as I knew at once and he afterward confessed; but the lunatic +reappeared on the balcony, bowing like a mountebank--in his crape mask! + +I set off with the empty chair, but I came back. I could not desert +old Raffles, even when I would, but must try to explain away his mask +as well, if he had not the sense to take it off in time. It would be +difficult, but burglaries are not usually committed from a bath-chair, +and for the rest I put my faith in Dr. Theobald. Meanwhile Raffles had +at least withdrawn from the balcony, and now I could only see his head +as he peered into a cabinet at the other side of the room. It was like +the opera of Aida, in which two scenes are enacted simultaneously, one +in the dungeon below, the other in the temple above. In the same +fashion my attention now became divided between the picture of Raffles +moving stealthily about the upper room, and that of the husband and +wife at table underneath. And all at once, as the man replenished his +glass with a shrug of the shoulders, the woman pushed back her chair +and sailed to the door. + +Raffles was standing before the fireplace upstairs. He had taken one +of the framed photographs from the chimney-piece, and was scanning it +at suicidal length through the eye-holes in the hideous mask which he +still wore. He would need it after all. The lady had left the room +below, opening and shutting the door for herself; the man was filling +his glass once more. I would have shrieked my warning to Raffles, so +fatally engrossed overhead, but at this moment (of all others) a +constable (of all men) was marching sedately down our side of the +square. There was nothing for it but to turn a melancholy eye upon the +bath-chair, and to ask the constable the time. I was evidently to be +kept there all night, I remarked, and only realized with the words that +they disposed of my other explanations before they were uttered. It +was a horrible moment for such a discovery. Fortunately the enemy was +on the pavement, from which he could scarcely have seen more than the +drawing-room ceiling, had he looked; but he was not many houses distant +when a door opened and a woman gasped so that I heard both across the +road. And never shall I forget the subsequent tableaux in the lighted +room behind the low balcony and the French windows. + +Raffles stood confronted by a dark and handsome woman whose profile, as +I saw it first in the electric light, is cut like a cameo in my memory. +It had the undeviating line of brow and nose, the short upper lip, the +perfect chin, that are united in marble oftener than in the flesh; and +like marble she stood, or rather like some beautiful pale bronze; for +that was her coloring, and she lost none of it that I could see, +neither trembled; but her bosom rose and fell, and that was all. So +she stood without flinching before a masked ruffian, who, I felt, would +be the first to appreciate her courage; to me it was so superb that I +could think of it in this way even then, and marvel how Raffles himself +could stand unabashed before so brave a figure. He had not to do so +long. The woman scorned him, and he stood unmoved, a framed +photograph still in his hand. Then, with a quick, determined movement +she turned, not to the door or to the bell, but to the open window by +which Raffles had entered; and this with that accursed policeman still +in view. So far no word had passed between the pair. But at this point +Raffles said something, I could not hear what, but at the sound of his +voice the woman wheeled. And Raffles was looking humbly in her face, +the crape mask snatched from his own. + +"Arthur!" she cried; and that might have been heard in the middle of +the square garden. + +Then they stood gazing at each other, neither unmoved any more, and +while they stood the street-door opened and banged. It was her husband +leaving the house, a fine figure of a man, but a dissipated face, and a +step even now distinguished by the extreme caution which precedes +unsteadiness. He broke the spell. His wife came to the balcony, then +looked back into the room, and yet again along the road, and this time +I saw her face. It was the face of one glancing indeed from Hyperion +to a satyr. And then I saw the rings flash, as her hand fell gently +upon Raffles's arm. + +They disappeared from that window. Their heads showed for an instant +in the next. Then they dipped out of sight, and an inner ceiling +flashed out under a new light; they had gone into the back +drawing-room, beyond my ken. The maid came up with coffee, her +mistress hastily met her at the door, and once more disappeared. The +square was as quiet as ever. I remained some minutes where I was. Now +and then I thought I heard their voices in the back drawing-room. I +was seldom sure. + +My state of mind may be imagined by those readers who take an interest +in my personal psychology. It does not amuse me to look back upon it. +But at length I had the sense to put myself in Raffles's place. He had +been recognized at last, he had come to life. Only one person knew as +yet, but that person was a woman, and a woman who had once been fond +of him, if the human face could speak. Would she keep his secret? +Would he tell her where he lived? It was terrible to think we were +such neighbors, and with the thought that it was terrible came a little +enlightenment as to what could still be done for the best. He would +not tell her where he lived. I knew him too well for that. He would +run for it when he could, and the bath-chair and I must not be there to +give him away. I dragged the infernal vehicle round the nearer corner. +Then I waited--there could be no harm in that--and at last he came. + +He was walking briskly, so I was right, and he had not played the +invalid to her; yet I heard him cry out with pleasure as he turned the +corner, and he flung himself into the chair with a long-drawn sigh that +did me good. + +"Well done, Bunny--well done! I am on my way to Earl's Court, she's +capable of following me, but she won't look for me in a bath-chair. +Home, home, home, and not another word till we get there!" + +Capable of following him? She overtook us before we were past the +studios on the south side of the square, the woman herself, in a hooded +opera-cloak. But she never gave us a glance, and we saw her turn +safely in the right direction for Earl's Court, and the wrong one for +our humble mansions. Raffles thanked his gods in a voice that +trembled, and five minutes later we were in the flat. Then for once it +was Raffles who filled the tumblers and found the cigarettes, and for +once (and once only in all my knowledge of him) did he drain his glass +at a draught. + +"You didn't see the balcony scene?" he asked at length; and they were +his first words since the woman passed us on his track. + +"Do you mean when she came in?" + +"No, when I came down." + +"I didn't." + +"I hope nobody else saw it," said Raffles devoutly. "I don't say that +Romeo and Juliet were brother and sister to us. But you might have +said so, Bunny!" + +He was staring at the carpet with as wry a face as lover ever wore. + +"An old flame?" said I, gently. + +"A married woman," he groaned. + +"So I gathered." + +"But she always was one, Bunny," said he, ruefully. "That's the +trouble. It makes all the difference in the world!" + +I saw the difference, but said I did not see how it could make any now. +He had eluded the lady, after all; had we not seen her off upon a scent +as false as scent could be? There was occasion for redoubled caution +in the future, but none for immediate anxiety. I quoted the bedside +Theobald, but Raffles did not smile. His eyes had been downcast all +this time, and now, when he raised them, I perceived that my comfort +had been administered to deaf ears. + +"Do you know who she is?" said he. + +"Not from Eve." + +"Jacques Saillard," he said, as though now I must know. + +But the name left me cold and stolid. I had heard it, but that was +all. It was lamentable ignorance, I am aware, but I had specialized in +Letters at the expense of Art. + +"You must know her pictures," said Raffles, patiently; "but I suppose +you thought she was a man. They would appeal to you, Bunny; that +festive piece over the sideboard was her work. Sometimes they risk her +at the Academy, sometimes they fight shy. She has one of those studios +in the same square; they used to live up near Lord's." + +My mind was busy brightening a dim memory of nymphs reflected in woody +pools. "Of course!" I exclaimed, and added something about "a clever +woman." Raffles rose at the phrase. + +"A clever woman!" he echoed, scornfully; "if she were only that I +should feel safe as houses. Clever women can't forget their +cleverness, they carry it as badly as a boy does his wine, and are +about as dangerous. I don't call Jacques Saillard clever outside her +art, but neither do I call her a woman at all. She does man's work +over a man's name, has the will of any ten men I ever knew, and I don't +mind telling you that I fear her more than any person on God's earth. +I broke with her once," said Raffles, grimly, "but I know her. If I +had been asked to name the one person in London by whom I was keenest +NOT to be bowled out, I should have named Jacques Saillard." + +That he had never before named her to me was as characteristic as the +reticence with which Raffles spoke of their past relations, and even +of their conversation in the back drawing-room that evening. + +It was a question of principle with him, and one that I like to +remember. "Never give a woman away, Bunny," he used to say; and he +said it again to-night, but with a heavy cloud upon him, as though his +chivalry was sorely tried. + +"That's all right," said I, "if you're not going to be given away +yourself." + +"That's just it, Bunny! That's just--" + +The words were out of him, it was too late to recall them. I had hit +the nail upon the head. + +"So she threatened you," I said, "did she?" + +"I didn't say so," he replied, coldly. + +"And she is mated with a clown!" I pursued. + +"How she ever married him," he admitted, "is a mystery to me." + +"It always is," said I, the wise man for once, and rather enjoying the +role. + +"Southern blood?" + +"Spanish." + +"She'll be pestering you to run off with her, old chap," said I. + +Raffles was pacing the room. He stopped in his stride for half a +second. So she had begun pestering him already! It is wonderful how +acute any fool can be in the affairs of his friend. + +But Raffles resumed his walk without a syllable, and I retreated to +safer ground. + +"So you sent her to Earl's Court," I mused aloud; and at last he smiled. + +"You'll be interested to hear, Bunny," said he, "that I am now living +in Seven Dials, and Bill Sikes couldn't hold a farthing dip to me. +Bless you, she had my old police record at her fingers' ends, but it +was fit to frame compared with the one I gave her. I had sunk as low +as they dig. I divided my nights between the open parks and a thieves' +kitchen in Seven Dials. If I was decently dressed it was because I had +stolen the suit down the Thames Valley beat the night before last. I +was on my way back when first that sleepy square, and then her open +window, proved too much for me. You should have heard me beg her to +let me push on to the devil in my own way; there I spread myself, for +I meant every word; but I swore the final stage would be a six-foot +drop." + +"You did lay it on," said I. + +"It was necessary, and that had its effect. She let me go. But at the +last moment she said she didn't believe I was so black as I painted +myself, and then there was the balcony scene you missed." + +So that was all. I could not help telling him that he had got out of +it better than he deserved for ever getting in. Next moment I +regretted the remark. + +"If I have got out of it," said Raffles, doubtfully. "We are +dreadfully near neighbors, and I can't move in a minute, with old +Theobald taking a grave view of my case. I suppose I had better lie +low, and thank the gods again for putting her off the scent for the +time being." + +No doubt our conversation was carried beyond this point, but it +certainly was not many minutes later, nor had we left the subject, when +the electric bell thrilled us both to a sudden silence. + +"The doctor?" I queried, hope fighting with my horror. + +"It was a single ring." + +"The last post?" + +"You know he knocks, and it's long past his time." + +The electric bell rang again, but now as though it never would stop. + +"You go, Bunny," said Raffles, with decision. His eyes were sparkling. +His smile was firm. + +"What am I to say?" + +"If it's the lady let her in." + +It was the lady, still in her evening cloak, with her fine dark head +half-hidden by the hood, and an engaging contempt of appearances upon +her angry face. She was even handsomer than I had thought, and her +beauty of a bolder type, but she was also angrier than I had +anticipated when I came so readily to the door. The passage into which +it opened was an exceedingly narrow one, as I have often said, but I +never dreamt of barring this woman's way, though not a word did she +stoop to say to me. I was only too glad to flatten myself against the +wall, as the rustling fury strode past me into the lighted room with +the open door. + +"So this is your thieves' kitchen!" she cried, in high-pitched scorn. + +I was on the threshold myself, and Raffles glanced towards me with +raised eyebrows. + +"I have certainly had better quarters in my day," said he, "but you +need not call them absurd names before my man." + +"Then send your 'man' about his business," said Jacques Saillard, with +an unpleasant stress upon the word indicated. + +But when the door was shut I heard Raffles assuring her that I knew +nothing, that he was a real invalid overcome by a sudden mad +temptation, and all he had told her of his life a lie to hide his +whereabouts, but all he was telling her now she could prove for herself +without leaving that building. It seemed, however, that she had proved +it already by going first to the porter below stairs. Yet I do not +think she cared one atom which story was the truth. + +"So you thought I could pass you in your chair," she said, "or ever in +this world again, without hearing from my heart that it was you!" + + +II + +"Bunny," said Raffles, "I'm awfully sorry, old chap, but you've got to +go." + +It was some weeks since the first untimely visitation of Jacques +Saillard, but there had been many others at all hours of the day, while +Raffles had been induced to pay at least one to her studio in the +neighboring square. These intrusions he had endured at first with an +air of humorous resignation which imposed upon me less than he +imagined. The woman meant well, he said, after all, and could be +trusted to keep his secret loyally. It was plain to me, however, that +Raffles did not trust her, and that his pretence upon the point was a +deliberate pose to conceal the extent to which she had him in her +power. Otherwise there would have been little point in hiding anything +from the one person in possession of the cardinal secret of his +identity. + +But Raffles thought it worth his while to hoodwink Jacques Saillard in +the subsidiary matter of his health, in which Dr. Theobald lent him +unwitting assistance, and, as we have seen, to impress upon her that I +was actually his attendant, and as ignorant of his past as the doctor +himself. "So you're all right, Bunny," he had assured me; "she thinks +you knew nothing the other night. I told you she wasn't a clever woman +outside her work. But hasn't she a will!" I told Raffles it was very +considerate of him to keep me out of it, but that it seemed to me like +tying up the bag when the cat had escaped. His reply was an admission +that one must be on the defensive with such a woman and in such a case. +Soon after this, Raffles, looking far from well, fell back upon his +own last line of defence, namely, his bed; and now, as always in the +end, I could see some sense in his subtleties, since it was +comparatively easy for me to turn even Jacques Saillard from the door, +with Dr. Theobald's explicit injunctions, and with my own honesty +unquestioned. So for a day we had peace once more. Then came letters, +then the doctor again and again, and finally my dismissal in the +incredible words which have necessitated these explanations. + +"Go?" I echoed. "Go where?" + +"It's that ass Theobald," said Raffles. "He insists." + +"On my going altogether?" + +He nodded. + +"And you mean to let him have his way?" + +I had no language for my mortification and disgust, though neither was +as yet quite so great as my surprise. I had foreseen almost every +conceivable consequence of the mad act which brought all this trouble +to pass, but a voluntary division between Raffles and me had certainly +never entered my calculations. Nor could I think that it had occurred +to him before our egregious doctor's last visit, this very morning. +Raffles had looked irritated as he broke the news to me from his +pillow, and now there was some sympathy in the way he sat up in bed, as +though he felt the thing himself. + +"I am obliged to give in to the fellow," said he. "He's saving me from +my friend, and I'm bound to humor him. But I can tell you that we've +been arguing about you for the last half hour, Bunny. It was no use; +the idiot has had his knife in you from the first; and he wouldn't see +me through on any other conditions." + +"So he is going to see you through, is he?" + +"It tots up to that," said Raffles, looking at me rather hard. "At all +events he has come to my rescue for the time being, and it's for me to +manage the rest. You don't know what it has been, Bunny, these last +few weeks; and gallantry forbids that I should tell you even now. But +would you rather elope against your will, or have your continued +existence made known to the world in general and the police in +particular? That is practically the problem which I have had to solve, +and the temporary solution was to fall ill. As a matter of fact, I am +ill; and now what do you think? I owe it to you to tell you, Bunny, +though it goes against the grain. She would take me 'to the dear, warm +underworld, where the sun really shines,' and she would 'nurse me back +to life and love!' The artistic temperament is a fearsome thing, +Bunny, in a woman with the devil's own will!" + +Raffles tore up the letter from which he had read these piquant +extracts, and lay back on the pillows with the tired air of the +veritable invalid which he seemed able to assume at will. But for once +he did look as though bed was the best place for him; and I used the +fact as an argument for my own retention in defiance of Dr. Theobald. +The town was full of typhoid, I said, and certainly that autumnal +scourge was in the air. Did he want me to leave him at the very moment +when he might be sickening for a serious illness? + +"You know I don't, my good fellow," said Raffles, wearily; "but +Theobald does, and I can't afford to go against him now. Not that I +really care what happens to me now that that woman knows I'm in the +land of the living; she'll let it out, to a dead certainty, and at the +best there'll be a hue and cry, which is the very thing I have escaped +all these years. Now, what I want you to do is to go and take some +quiet place somewhere, and then let me know, so that I may have a port +in the storm when it breaks." + +"Now you're talking!" I cried, recovering my spirits. "I thought you +meant to go and drop a fellow altogether!" + +"Exactly the sort of thing you would think," rejoined Raffles, with a +contempt that was welcome enough after my late alarm. "No, my dear +rabbit, what you've got to do is to make a new burrow for us both. Try +down the Thames, in some quiet nook that a literary man would naturally +select. I've often thought that more use might be made of a boat, +while the family are at dinner, than there ever has been yet. If +Raffles is to come to life, old chap, he shall go a-Raffling for all +he's worth! There's something to be done with a bicycle, too. Try Ham +Common or Roehampton, or some such sleepy hollow a trifle off the line; +and say you're expecting your brother from the colonies." + +Into this arrangement I entered without the slightest hesitation, for +we had funds enough to carry it out on a comfortable scale, and Raffles +placed a sufficient share at my disposal for the nonce. Moreover, I +for one was only too glad to seek fresh fields and pastures new--a +phrase which I determined to interpret literally in my choice of fresh +surroundings. I was tired of our submerged life in the poky little +flat, especially now that we had money enough for better things. I +myself of late had dark dealings with the receivers, with the result +that poor Lord Ernest Belville's successes were now indeed ours. +Subsequent complications had been the more galling on that account, +while the wanton way in which they had been created was the most +irritating reflection of all. But it had brought its own punishment +upon Raffles, and I fancied the lesson would prove salutary when we +again settled down. + +"If ever we do, Bunny!" said he, as I took his hand and told him how I +was already looking forward to the time. + +"But of course we will!" I cried, concealing the resentment at leaving +him which his tone and his appearance renewed in my breast. + +"I'm not so sure of it," he said, gloomily. "I'm in somebody's +clutches, and I've got to get out of them first." + +"I'll sit tight until you do." + +"Well," he said, "if you don't see me in ten days you never will." + +"Only ten days?" I echoed. "That's nothing at all." + +"A lot may happen in ten days," replied Raffles, in the same depressing +tone, so very depressing in him; and with that he held out his hand a +second time, and dropped mine suddenly after as sudden a pressure for +farewell. + +I left the flat in considerable dejection after all, unable to decide +whether Raffles was really ill, or only worried as I knew him to be. +And at the foot of the stairs the author of my dismissal, that +confounded Theobald, flung open his door and waylaid me. + +"Are you going?" he demanded. + +The traps in my hands proclaimed that I was, but I dropped them at his +feet to have it out with him then and there. + +"Yes," I answered fiercely, "thanks to you!" + +"Well, my good fellow," he said, his full-blooded face lightening and +softening at the same time, as though a load were off his mind, "it's +no pleasure to me to deprive any man of his billet, but you never were +a nurse, and you know that as well as I do." + +I began to wonder what he meant, and how much he did know, and my +speculations kept me silent. "But come in here a moment," he +continued, just as I decided that he knew nothing at all. And, leading +me into his minute consulting-room, Dr. Theobald solemnly presented me +with a sovereign by way of compensation, which I pocketed as solemnly, +and with as much gratitude as if I had not fifty of them distributed +over my person as it was. The good fellow had quite forgotten my +social status, about which he himself had been so particular at our +earliest interview; but he had never accustomed himself to treat me as +a gentleman, and I do not suppose he had been improving his memory by +the tall tumbler which I saw him poke behind a photograph as we entered. + +"There's one thing I should like to know before I go," said I, turning +suddenly on the doctor's mat, "and that is whether Mr. Maturin is +really ill or not!" + +I meant, of course, at the present moment, but Dr. Theobald braced +himself like a recruit at the drill-sergeant's voice. + +"Of course he is," he snapped--"so ill as to need a nurse who can +nurse, by way of a change." + +With that his door shut in my face, and I had to go my way, in the dark +as to whether he had mistaken my meaning, and was telling me a lie, or +not. + +But for my misgivings upon this point I might have extracted some very +genuine enjoyment out of the next few days. I had decent clothes to my +back, with money, as I say, in most of the pockets, and more freedom to +spend it than was possible in the constant society of a man whose +personal liberty depended on a universal supposition that he was dead. +Raffles was as bold as ever, and I as fond of him, but whereas he would +run any risk in a professional exploit, there were many innocent +recreations still open to me which would have been sheer madness in +him. He could not even watch a match, from the sixpenny seats, at +Lord's cricket-ground, where the Gentlemen were every year in a worse +way without him. He never travelled by rail, and dining out was a risk +only to be run with some ulterior object in view. In fact, much as it +had changed, Raffles could no longer show his face with perfect +impunity in any quarter or at any hour. Moreover, after the lesson he +had now learnt, I foresaw increased caution on his part in this +respect. But I myself was under no such perpetual disadvantage, and, +while what was good enough for Raffles was quite good enough for me so +long as we were together, I saw no harm in profiting by the present +opportunity of "doing my-self well." + +Such were my reflections on the way to Richmond in a hansom cab. +Richmond had struck us both as the best centre of operations in search +of the suburban retreat which Raffles wanted, and by road, in a +well-appointed, well-selected hansom, was certainly the most agreeable +way of getting there. In a week or ten days Raffles was to write to me +at the Richmond post-office, but for at least a week I should be "on my +own." It was not an unpleasant sensation as I leant back in the +comfortable hansom, and rather to one side, in order to have a good +look at myself in the bevelled mirror that is almost as great an +improvement in these vehicles as the rubber tires. Really I was not an +ill-looking youth, if one may call one's self such at the age of +thirty. I could lay no claim either to the striking cast of +countenance or to the peculiar charm of expression which made the face +of Raffles like no other in the world. But this very distinction was +in itself a danger, for its impression was indelible, whereas I might +still have been mistaken for a hundred other young fellows at large in +London. Incredible as it may appear to the moralists, I had sustained +no external hallmark by my term of imprisonment, and I am vain enough +to believe that the evil which I did had not a separate existence in my +face. This afternoon, indeed, I was struck by the purity of my fresh +complexion, and rather depressed by the general innocence of the +visage which peered into mine from the little mirror. My +straw-colored moustache, grown in the flat after a protracted holiday, +again preserved the most disappointing dimensions, and was still +invisible in certain lights without wax. So far from discerning the +desperate criminal who has "done time" once, and deserved it over and +over again, the superior but superficial observer might have imagined +that he detected a certain element of folly in my face. + +At all events it was not the face to shut the doors of a first-class +hotel against me, without accidental evidence of a more explicit kind, +and it was with no little satisfaction that I directed the man to drive +to the Star and Garter. I also told him to go through Richmond Park, +though he warned me that it would add considerably to the distance and +his fare. It was autumn, and it struck me that the tints would be +fine. And I had learnt from Raffles to appreciate such things, even +amid the excitement of an audacious enterprise. + +If I dwell upon my appreciation of this occasion it is because, like +most pleasures, it was exceedingly short-lived. I was very comfortable +at the Star and Garter, which was so empty that I had a room worthy of +a prince, where I could enjoy the finest of all views (in patriotic +opinion) every morning while I shaved. I walked many miles through the +noble park, over the commons of Ham and Wimbledon, and one day as far +as that of Esher, where I was forcibly reminded of a service we once +rendered to a distinguished resident in this delightful locality. But +it was on Ham Common, one of the places which Raffles had mentioned as +specially desirable, that I actually found an almost ideal retreat. +This was a cottage where I heard, on inquiry, that rooms were to be let +in the summer. The landlady, a motherly body, of visible excellence, +was surprised indeed at receiving an application for the winter months; +but I have generally found that the title of "author," claimed with +an air, explains every little innocent irregularity of conduct or +appearance, and even requires something of the kind to carry conviction +to the lay intelligence. The present case was one in point, and when I +said that I could only write in a room facing north, on mutton chops +and milk, with a cold ham in the wardrobe in case of nocturnal +inspiration, to which I was liable, my literary character was +established beyond dispute. I secured the rooms, paid a month's rent +in advance at my own request, and moped in them dreadfully until the +week was up and Raffles due any day. I explained that the inspiration +would not come, and asked abruptly if the mutton was New Zealand. + +Thrice had I made fruitless inquiries at the Richmond post-office; but +on the tenth day I was in and out almost every hour. Not a word was +there for me up to the last post at night. Home I trudged to Ham with +horrible forebodings, and back again to Richmond after breakfast next +morning. Still there was nothing. I could bear it no more. At ten +minutes to eleven I was climbing the station stairs at Earl's Court. + +It was a wretched morning there, a weeping mist shrouding the long, +straight street, and clinging to one's face in clammy caresses. I felt +how much better it was down at Ham, as I turned into our side street, +and saw the flats looming like mountains, the chimney-pots hidden in +the mist. At our entrance stood a nebulous conveyance, that I took at +first for a tradesman's van; to my horror it proved to be a hearse; and +all at once the white breath ceased upon my lips. + +I had looked up at our windows and the blinds were down! + +I rushed within. The doctor's door stood open. I neither knocked nor +rang, but found him in his consulting-room with red eyes and a blotchy +face. Otherwise he was in solemn black from head to heel. + +"Who is dead?" I burst out. "Who is dead?" + +The red eyes looked redder than ever as Dr. Theobald opened them at the +unwarrantable sight of me; and he was terribly slow in answering. But +in the end he did answer, and did not kick me out as he evidently had a +mind. + +"Mr. Maturin," he said, and sighed like a beaten man. + +I said nothing. It was no surprise to me. I had known it all these +minutes. Nay, I had dreaded this from the first, had divined it at the +last, though to the last also I had refused to entertain my own +conviction. Raffles dead! A real invalid after all! Raffles dead, +and on the point of burial! + +"What did he die of?" I asked, unconsciously drawing on that fund of +grim self-control which the weakest of us seem to hold in reserve for +real calamity. + +"Typhoid," he answered. "Kensington is full of it." + +"He was sickening for it when I left, and you knew it, and could get +rid of me then!" + +"My good fellow, I was obliged to have a more experienced nurse for +that very reason." + +The doctor's tone was so conciliatory that I remembered in an instant +what a humbug the man was, and became suddenly possessed with the vague +conviction that he was imposing upon me now. + +"Are you sure it was typhoid at all?" I cried fiercely to his face. +"Are you sure it wasn't suicide--or murder?" + +I confess that I can see little point in this speech as I write it +down, but it was what I said in a burst of grief and of wild suspicion; +nor was it without effect upon Dr. Theobald, who turned bright scarlet +from his well-brushed hair to his immaculate collar. + +"Do you want me to throw you out into the street?" he cried; and all at +once I remembered that I had come to Raffles as a perfect stranger, and +for his sake might as well preserve that character to the last. + +"I beg your pardon," I said, brokenly. "He was so good to me--I +became so attached to him. You forget I am originally of his class." + +"I did forget it," replied Theobald, looking relieved at my new tone, +"and I beg YOUR pardon for doing so. Hush! They are bringing him +down. I must have a drink before we start, and you'd better join me." + +There was no pretence about his drink this time, and a pretty stiff one +it was, but I fancy my own must have run it hard. In my case it cast a +merciful haze over much of the next hour, which I can truthfully +describe as one of the most painful of my whole existence. I can have +known very little of what I was doing. I only remember finding myself +in a hansom, suddenly wondering why it was going so slowly, and once +more awaking to the truth. But it was to the truth itself more than to +the liquor that I must have owed my dazed condition. My next +recollection is of looking down into the open grave, in a sudden +passionate anxiety to see the name for myself. It was not the name of +my friend, of course, but it was the one under which he had passed for +many months. + +I was still stupefied by a sense of inconceivable loss, and had not +raised my eyes from that which was slowly forcing me to realize what +had happened, when there was a rustle at my elbow, and a shower of +hothouse flowers passed before them, falling like huge snowflakes +where my gaze had rested. I looked up, and at my side stood a +majestic figure in deep mourning. The face was carefully veiled, but +I was too close not to recognize the masterful beauty whom the world +knew as Jacques Saillard. I had no sympathy with her; on the +contrary, my blood boiled with the vague conviction that in some way +she was responsible for this death. Yet she was the only woman +present--there were not a half a dozen of us altogether--and her +flowers were the only flowers. + +The melancholy ceremony was over, and Jacques Saillard had departed in +a funeral brougham, evidently hired for the occasion. I had watched +her drive away, and the sight of my own cabman, making signs to me +through the fog, had suddenly reminded me that I had bidden him to +wait. I was the last to leave, and had turned my back upon the +grave-diggers, already at their final task, when a hand fell lightly +but firmly upon my shoulder. + +"I don't want to make a scene in a cemetery," said a voice, in a not +unkindly, almost confidential whisper. "Will you get into your own cab +and come quietly?" + +"Who on earth are you?" I exclaimed. + +I now remembered having seen the fellow hovering about during the +funeral, and subconsciously taking him for the undertaker's head man. +He had certainly that appearance, and even now I could scarcely believe +that he was anything else. + +"My name won't help you," he said, pityingly. "But you will guess +where I come from when I tell you I have a warrant for your arrest." + +My sensations at this announcement may not be believed, but I solemnly +declare that I have seldom experienced so fierce a satisfaction. Here +was a new excitement in which to drown my grief; here was something to +think about; and I should be spared the intolerable experience of a +solitary return to the little place at Ham. It was as though I had +lost a limb and some one had struck me so hard in the face that the +greater agony was forgotten. I got into the hansom without a word, my +captor following at my heels, and giving his own directions to the +cabman before taking his seat. The word "station" was the only one I +caught, and I wondered whether it was to be Bow Street again. My +companion's next words, however, or rather the tone in which he uttered +them, destroyed my capacity for idle speculation. + +"Mr. Maturin!" said he. "Mr. Maturin indeed!" + +"Well," said I, "what about him?" + +"Do you think we don't know who he was?" + +"Who was he?" I asked, defiantly. + +"You ought to know," said he. "You got locked up through him the other +time, too. His favorite name was Raffles then." + +"It was his real name," I said, indignantly. "And he has been dead for +years." + +My captor simply chuckled. + +"He's at the bottom of the sea, I tell you!" + +But I do not know why I should have told him with such spirit, for what +could it matter to Raffles now? I did not think; instinct was still +stronger than reason, and, fresh from his funeral, I had taken up the +cudgels for my dead friend as though he were still alive. Next moment +I saw this for myself, and my tears came nearer the surface than they +had been yet; but the fellow at my side laughed outright. + +"Shall I tell you something else?" said he. + +"As you like." + +"He's not even at the bottom of that grave! He's no more dead than you +or I, and a sham burial is his latest piece of villainy!" + +I doubt whether I could have spoken if I had tried. I did not try. I +had no use for speech. I did not even ask him if he was sure, I was +so sure myself. It was all as plain to me as riddles usually are when +one has the answer. The doctor's alarms, his unscrupulous venality, +the simulated illness, my own dismissal, each fitted in its obvious +place, and not even the last had power as yet to mar my joy in the one +central fact to which all the rest were as tapers to the sun. + +"He is alive!" I cried. "Nothing else matters--he is alive!" + +At last I did ask whether they had got him too; but thankful as I was +for the greater knowledge, I confess that I did not much care what +answer I received. Already I was figuring out how much we might each +get, and how old we should be when we came out. But my companion +tilted his hat to the back of his head, at the same time putting his +face close to mine, and compelling my scrutiny. And my answer, as you +have already guessed, was the face of Raffles himself, superbly +disguised (but less superbly than his voice), and yet so thinly that I +should have known him in a trice had I not been too miserable in the +beginning to give him a second glance. + +Jacques Saillard had made his life impossible, and this was the one +escape. Raffles had bought the doctor for a thousand pounds, and the +doctor had bought a "nurse" of his own kidney, on his own account; me, +for some reason, he would not trust; he had insisted upon my dismissal +as an essential preliminary to his part in the conspiracy. Here the +details were half-humorous, half-grewsome, each in turn as Raffles told +me the story. At one period he had been very daringly drugged indeed, +and, in his own words, "as dead as a man need be"; but he had left +strict instructions that nobody but the nurse and "my devoted +physician" should "lay a finger on me" afterwards; and by virtue of +this proviso a library of books (largely acquired for the occasion) had +been impiously interred at Kensal Green. Raffles had definitely +undertaken not to trust me with the secret, and, but for my untoward +appearance at the funeral (which he had attended for his own final +satisfaction), I was assured and am convinced that he would have kept +his promise to the letter. In explaining this he gave me the one +explanation I desired, and in another moment we turned into Praed +Street, Paddington. + +"And I thought you said Bow Street!" said I. "Are you coming straight +down to Richmond with me?" + +"I may as well," said Raffles, "though I did mean to get my kit first, +so as to start in fair and square as the long-lost brother from the +bush. That's why I hadn't written. The function was a day later than +I calculated. I was going to write to-night." + +"But what are we to do?" said I, hesitating when he had paid the cab. +"I have been playing the colonies for all they are worth!" + +"Oh, I've lost my luggage," said he, "or a wave came into my cabin and +spoilt every stitch, or I had nothing fit to bring ashore. We'll +settle that in the train." + + + +THE WRONG HOUSE + +My brother Ralph, who now lived with me on the edge of Ham Common, had +come home from Australia with a curious affection of the eyes, due to +long exposure to the glare out there, and necessitating the use of +clouded spectacles in the open air. He had not the rich complexion of +the typical colonist, being indeed peculiarly pale, but it appeared +that he had been confined to his berth for the greater part of the +voyage, while his prematurely gray hair was sufficient proof that the +rigors of bush life had at last undermined an originally tough +constitution. Our landlady, who spoilt my brother from the first, was +much concerned on his behalf, and wished to call in the local doctor; +but Ralph said dreadful things about the profession, and quite +frightened the good woman by arbitrarily forbidding her ever to let a +doctor inside her door. I had to apologize to her for the painful +prejudices and violent language of "these colonists," but the old soul +was easily mollified. She had fallen in love with my brother at first +sight, and she never could do too much for him. It was owing to our +landlady that I took to calling him Ralph, for the first time in our +lives, on her beginning to speak of and to him as "Mr. Raffles." + +"This won't do," said he to me. "It's a name that sticks." + +"It must be my fault! She must have heard it from me," said I +self-reproachfully. + +"You must tell her it's the short for Ralph." + +"But it's longer." + +"It's the short," said he; "and you've got to tell her so." + +Henceforth I heard as much of "Mr. Ralph," his likes and dislikes, what +he would fancy and what he would not, and oh, what a dear gentleman he +was, that I often remembered to say "Ralph, old chap," myself. + +It was an ideal cottage, as I said when I found it, and in it our +delicate man became rapidly robust. Not that the air was also ideal, +for, when it was not raining, we had the same faithful mist from +November to March. But it was something to Ralph to get any air at +all, other than night-air, and the bicycle did the rest. We taught +ourselves, and may I never forget our earlier rides, through and +through Richmond Park when the afternoons were shortest, upon the +incomparable Ripley Road when we gave a day to it. Raffles rode a +Beeston Humber, a Royal Sunbeam was good enough for me, but he insisted +on our both having Dunlop tires. + +"They seem the most popular brand. I had my eye on the road all the +way from Ripley to Cobham, and there were more Dunlop marks than any +other kind. Bless you, yes, they all leave their special tracks, and +we don't want ours to be extra special; the Dunlop's like a +rattlesnake, and the Palmer leaves telegraph-wires, but surely the +serpent is more in our line." + +That was the winter when there were so many burglaries in the Thames +Valley from Richmond upward. It was said that the thieves used +bicycles in every case, but what is not said? They were sometimes on +foot to my knowledge, and we took a great interest in the series, or +rather sequence of successful crimes. Raffles would often get his +devoted old lady to read him the latest local accounts, while I was +busy with my writing (much I wrote) in my own room. We even rode out +by night ourselves, to see if we could not get on the tracks of the +thieves, and never did we fail to find hot coffee on the hob for our +return. We had indeed fallen upon our feet. Also, the misty nights +might have been made for the thieves. But their success was not so +consistent, and never so enormous as people said, especially the +sufferers, who lost more valuables than they had ever been known to +possess. Failure was often the caitiff's portion, and disaster once; +owing, ironically enough, to that very mist which should have served +them. But as I am going to tell the story with some particularity, and +perhaps some gusto, you will see why who read. + +The right house stood on high ground near the river, with quite a drive +(in at one gate and out at the other) sweeping past the steps. Between +the two gates was a half-moon of shrubs, to the left of the steps a +conservatory, and to their right the walk leading to the tradesmen's +entrance and the back premises; here also was the pantry window, of +which more anon. The right house was the residence of an opulent +stockbroker who wore a heavy watch-chain and seemed fair game. There +would have been two objections to it had I been the stockbroker. The +house was one of a row, though a goodly row, and an army-crammer had +established himself next door. There is a type of such institutions in +the suburbs; the youths go about in knickerbockers, smoking pipes, +except on Saturday nights, when they lead each other home from the last +train. It was none of our business to spy upon these boys, but their +manners and customs fell within the field of observation. And we did +not choose the night upon which the whole row was likely to be kept +awake. + +The night that we did choose was as misty as even the Thames Valley is +capable of making them. Raffles smeared vaseline upon the plated parts +of his Beeston Humber before starting, and our dear landlady cosseted +us both, and prayed we might see nothing of the nasty burglars, not +denying as the reward would be very handy to them that got it, to say +nothing of the honor and glory. We had promised her a liberal +perquisite in the event of our success, but she must not give other +cyclists our idea by mentioning it to a soul. It was about midnight +when we cycled through Kingston to Surbiton, having trundled our +machines across Ham Fields, mournful in the mist as those by Acheron, +and so over Teddington Bridge. + +I often wonder why the pantry window is the vulnerable point of nine +houses out of ten. This house of ours was almost the tenth, for the +window in question had bars of sorts, but not the right sort. The +only bars that Raffles allowed to beat him were the kind that are let +into the stone outside; those fixed within are merely screwed to the +woodwork, and you can unscrew as many as necessary if you take the +trouble and have the time. Barred windows are usually devoid of other +fasteners worthy the name; this one was no exception to that foolish +rule, and a push with the pen-knife did its business. I am giving +householders some valuable hints, and perhaps deserving a good mark +from the critics. These, in any case, are the points that I would see +to, were I a rich stockbroker in a riverside suburb. In giving good +advice, however, I should not have omitted to say that we had left our +machines in the semi-circular shrubbery in front, or that Raffles had +most ingeniously fitted our lamps with dark slides, which enabled us +to leave them burning. + +It proved sufficient to unscrew the bars at the bottom only, and then +to wrench them to either side. Neither of us had grown stout with +advancing years, and in a few minutes we both had wormed through into +the sink, and thence to the floor. It was not an absolutely noiseless +process, but once in the pantry we were mice, and no longer blind mice. +There was a gas-bracket, but we did not meddle with that. Raffles went +armed these nights with a better light than gas; if it were not +immoral, I might recommend a dark-lantern which was more or less his +patent. It was that handy invention, the electric torch, fitted by +Raffles with a dark hood to fulfil the functions of a slide. I had +held it through the bars while he undid the screws, and now he held it +to the keyhole, in which a key was turned upon the other side. + +There was a pause for consideration, and in the pause we put on our +masks. It was never known that these Thames Valley robberies were all +committed by miscreants decked in the livery of crime, but that was +because until this night we had never even shown our masks. It was a +point upon which Raffles had insisted on all feasible occasions since +his furtive return to the world. To-night it twice nearly lost us +everything--but you shall hear. + +There is a forceps for turning keys from the wrong side of the door, +but the implement is not so easy of manipulation as it might be. +Raffles for one preferred a sharp knife and the corner of the panel. +You go through the panel because that is thinnest, of course in the +corner nearest the key, and you use a knife when you can, because it +makes least noise. But it does take minutes, and even I can remember +shifting the electric torch from one hand to the other before the +aperture was large enough to receive the hand and wrist of Raffles. + +He had at such times a motto of which I might have made earlier use, +but the fact is that I have only once before described a downright +burglary in which I assisted, and that without knowing it at the time. +The most solemn student of these annals cannot affirm that he has cut +through many doors in our company, since (what was to me) the maiden +effort to which I allude. I, however, have cracked only too many a +crib in conjunction with A. J. Raffles, and at the crucial moment he +would whisper "Victory or Wormwood Scrubbs, Bunny!" or instead of +Wormwood Scrubbs it might be Portland Bill. This time it was neither +one nor the other, for with that very word "victory" upon his lips, +they whitened and parted with the first taste of defeat. + +"My hand's held!" gasped Raffles, and the white of his eyes showed all +round the iris, a rarer thing than you may think. + +At the same moment I heard the shuffling feet and the low, excited +young voices on the other side of the door, and a faint light shone +round Raffles's wrist. + +"Well done, Beefy!" + +"Hang on to him!" + +"Good old Beefy!" + +"Beefy's got him!" + +"So have I--so have I!" + +And Raffles caught my arm with his one free hand. "They've got me +tight," he whispered. "I'm done." + +"Blaze through the door," I urged, and might have done it had I been +armed. But I never was. It was Raffles who monopolized that risk. + +"I can't--it's the boys--the wrong house!" he whispered. "Curse the +fog--it's done me. But you get out, Bunn, while you can; never mind +me; it's my turn, old chap." + +His one hand tightened in affectionate farewell. I put the electric +torch in it before I went, trembling in every inch, but without a word. + +Get out! His turn! Yes, I would get out, but only to come in again, +for it was my turn--mine--not his. Would Raffles leave me held by a +hand through a hole in a door? What he would have done in my place was +the thing for me to do now. I began by diving head-first through the +pantry window and coming to earth upon all fours. But even as I stood +up, and brushed the gravel from the palms of my hands and the knees of +my knickerbockers, I had no notion what to do next. And yet I was +halfway to the front door before I remembered the vile crape mask upon +my face, and tore it off as the door flew open and my feet were on +the steps. + +"He's into the next garden," I cried to a bevy of pyjamas with bare +feet and young faces at either end of them. + +"Who? Who?" said they, giving way before me. + +"Some fellow who came through one of your windows head-first." + +"The other Johnny, the other Johnny," the cherubs chorused. + +"Biking past--saw the light--why, what have you there?" + +Of course it was Raffles's hand that they had, but now I was in the +hall among them. A red-faced barrel of a boy did all the holding, one +hand round the wrist, the other palm to palm, and his knees braced up +against the panel. Another was rendering ostentatious but ineffectual +aid, and three or four others danced about in their pyjamas. After +all, they were not more than four to one. I had raised my voice, so +that Raffles might hear me and take heart, and now I raised it again. +Yet to this day I cannot account for my inspiration, that proved +nothing less. + +"Don't talk so loud," they were crying below their breath; "don't wake +'em upstairs, this is our show." + +"Then I see you've got one of them," said I, as desired. "Well, if you +want the other you can have him, too. I believe he's hurt himself." + +"After him, after him!" they exclaimed as one. + +"But I think he got over the wall--" + +"Come on, you chaps, come on!" + +And there was a soft stampede to the hall door. + +"Don't all desert me, I say!" gasped the red-faced hero who held +Raffles prisoner. + +"We must have them both, Beefy!" + +"That's all very well--" + +"Look here," I interposed, "I'll stay by you. I've a friend outside, +I'll get him too." + +"Thanks awfully," said the valiant Beefy. + +The hall was empty now. My heart beat high. + +"How did you hear them?" I inquired, my eye running over him. + +"We were down having drinks--game o' Nap--in there." + +Beefy jerked his great head toward an open door, and the tail of my eye +caught the glint of glasses in the firelight, but the rest of it was +otherwise engaged. + +"Let me relieve you," I said, trembling. + +"No, I'm all right." + +"Then I must insist." + +And before he could answer I had him round the neck with such a will +that not a gurgle passed my fingers, for they were almost buried in his +hot, smooth flesh. Oh, I am not proud of it; the act was as vile as +act could be; but I was not going to see Raffles taken, my one desire +was to be the saving of him, and I tremble even now to think to what +lengths I might have gone for its fulfilment. As it was, I squeezed +and tugged until one strong hand gave way after the other and came +feeling round for me, but feebly because they had held on so long. +And what do you suppose was happening at the same moment? The pinched +white hand of Raffles, reddening with returning blood, and with a clot +of blood upon the wrist, was craning upward and turning the key in the +lock without a moment's loss. + +"Steady on, Bunny!" + +And I saw that Beefy's ears were blue; but Raffles was feeling in his +pockets as he spoke. "Now let him breathe," said he, clapping his +handkerchief over the poor youth's mouth. An empty vial was in his +other hand, and the first few stertorous breaths that the poor boy took +were the end of him for the time being. Oh, but it was villainous, my +part especially, for he must have been far gone to go the rest of the +way so readily. I began by saying I was not proud of this deed, but +its dastardly character has come home to me more than ever with the +penance of writing it out. I see in myself, at least my then self, +things that I never saw quite so clearly before. Yet let me be quite +sure that I would not do the same again. I had not the smallest +desire to throttle this innocent lad (nor did I), but only to extricate +Raffles from the most hopeless position he was ever in; and after all +it was better than a blow from behind. On the whole, I will not alter +a word, nor whine about the thing any more. + +We lifted the plucky fellow into Raffles's place in the pantry, locked +the door on him, and put the key through the panel. Now was the moment +for thinking of ourselves, and again that infernal mask which Raffles +swore by came near the undoing of us both. We had reached the steps +when we were hailed by a voice, not from without but from within, and I +had just time to tear the accursed thing from Raffles's face before he +turned. + +A stout man with a blonde moustache was on the stairs, in his pyjamas +like the boys. + +"What are you doing here?" said he. + +"There has been an attempt upon your house," said I, still spokesman +for the night, and still on the wings of inspiration. + +"Your sons--" + +"My pupils." + +"Indeed. Well, they heard it, drove off the thieves, and have given +chase." + +"And where do you come in?" inquired the stout man, descending. + +"We were bicycling past, and I actually saw one fellow come head-first +through your pantry window. I think he got over the wall." + +Here a breathless boy returned. + +"Can't see anything of him," he gasped. + +"It's true, then," remarked the crammer. + +"Look at that door," said I. + +But unfortunately the breathless boy looked also, and now he was being +joined by others equally short of wind. + +"Where's Beefy?" he screamed. "What on earth's happened to Beefy?" + +"My good boys," exclaimed the crammer, "will one of you be kind enough +to tell me what you've been doing, and what these gentlemen have been +doing for you? Come in all, before you get your death. I see lights +in the class-room, and more than lights. Can these be signs of a +carouse?" + +"A very innocent one, sir," said a well set-up youth with more +moustache than I have yet. + +"Well, Olphert, boys will be boys. Suppose you tell me what happened, +before we come to recriminations." + +The bad old proverb was my first warning. I caught two of the youths +exchanging glances under raised eyebrows. Yet their stout, easy-going +mentor had given me such a reassuring glance of side-long humor, as +between man of the world and man of the world, that it was difficult to +suspect him of suspicion. I was nevertheless itching to be gone. + +Young Olphert told his story with engaging candor. It was true that +they had come down for an hour's Nap and cigarettes; well, and there +was no denying that there was whiskey in the glasses. The boys were now +all back in their class-room, I think entirely for the sake of warmth; +but Raffles and I were in knickerbockers and Norfolk jackets, and very +naturally remained without, while the army-crammer (who wore bedroom +slippers) stood on the threshold, with an eye each way. The more I saw +of the man the better I liked and the more I feared him. His chief +annoyance thus far was that they had not called him when they heard the +noise, that they had dreamt of leaving him out of the fun. But he +seemed more hurt than angry about that. + +"Well, sir," concluded Olphert, "we left old Beefy Smith hanging on to +his hand, and this gentleman with him, so perhaps he can tell us what +happened next?" + +"I wish I could," I cried with all their eyes upon me, for I had had +time to think. "Some of you must have heard me say I'd fetch my friend +in from the road?" + +"Yes, I did," piped an innocent from within. + +"Well, and when I came back with him things were exactly as you see +them now. Evidently the man's strength was too much for the boy's; but +whether he ran upstairs or outside I know no more than you do." + +"It wasn't like that boy to run either way," said the crammer, cocking +a clear blue eye on me. + +"But if he gave chase!" + +"It wasn't like him even to let go." + +"I don't believe Beefy ever would," put in Olphert. "That's why we +gave him the billet." + +"He may have followed him through the pantry window," I suggested +wildly. + +"But the door's shut," put in a boy. + +"I'll have a look at it," said the crammer. + +And the key no longer in the lock, and the insensible youth within! +The key would be missed, the door kicked in; nay, with the man's eye +still upon me, I thought I could smell the chloroform. + +I thought I could hear a moan, and prepared for either any moment. And +how he did stare! I have detested blue eyes ever since, and blonde +moustaches, and the whole stout easy-going type that is not such a fool +as it looks. I had brazened it out with the boys, but the first grown +man was too many for me, and the blood ran out of my heart as though +there was no Raffles at my back. Indeed, I had forgotten him. I had +so longed to put this thing through by myself! Even in my extremity it +was almost a disappointment to me when his dear, cool voice fell like a +delicious draught upon my ears. But its effect upon the others is +more interesting to recall. Until now the crammer had the centre of +the stage, but at this point Raffles usurped a place which was always +his at will. People would wait for what he had to say, as these people +waited now for the simplest and most natural thing in the world. + +"One moment!" he had begun. + +"Well?" said the crammer, relieving me of his eyes at last. + +"I don't want to lose any of the fun--" + +"Nor must you," said the crammer, with emphasis. + +"But we've left our bikes outside, and mine's a Beeston Humber," +continued Raffles. "If you don't mind, we'll bring 'em in before these +fellows get away on them." + +And out he went without a look to see the effect of his words, I after +him with a determined imitation of his self-control. But I would have +given something to turn round. I believe that for one moment the +shrewd instructor was taken in, but as I reached the steps I heard him +asking his pupils whether any of them had seen any bicycles outside. + +That moment, however, made the difference. We were in the shrubbery, +Raffles with his electric torch drawn and blazing, when we heard the +kicking at the pantry door, and in the drive with our bicycles before +man and boys poured pell-mell down the steps. + +We rushed our machines to the nearer gate, for both were shut, and we +got through and swung it home behind us in the nick of time. Even I +could mount before they could reopen the gate, which Raffles held +against them for half an instant with unnecessary gallantry. But he +would see me in front of him, and so it fell to me to lead the way. + +Now, I have said that it was a very misty night (hence the whole +thing), and also that these houses were on a hill. But they were not +nearly on the top of the hill, and I did what I firmly believe that +almost everybody would have done in my place. Raffles, indeed, said he +would have done it himself, but that was his generosity, and he was the +one man who would not. What I did was to turn in the opposite +direction to the other gate, where we might so easily have been cut +off, and to pedal for my life--up-hill! + +"My God!" I shouted when I found it out. + +"Can you turn in your own length?" asked Raffles, following loyally. + +"Not certain." + +"Then stick to it. You couldn't help it. But it's the devil of a +hill!" + +"And here they come!" + +"Let them," said Raffles, and brandished his electric torch, our only +light as yet. + +A hill seems endless in the dark, for you cannot see the end, and with +the patter of bare feet gaining on us, I thought this one could have no +end at all. Of course the boys could charge up it quicker than we +could pedal, but I even heard the voice of their stout instructor +growing louder through the mist. + +"Oh, to think I've let you in for this!" I groaned, my head over the +handle-bars, every ounce of my weight first on one foot and then on the +other. I glanced at Raffles, and in the white light of his torch he +was doing it all with his ankles, exactly as though he had been riding +in a Gymkhana. + +"It's the most sporting chase I was ever in," said he. + +"All my fault!" + +"My dear Bunny, I wouldn't have missed it for the world!" + +Nor would he forge ahead of me, though he could have done so in a +moment, he who from his boyhood had done everything of the kind so +much better than anybody else. No, he must ride a wheel's length +behind me, and now we could not only hear the boys running, but +breathing also. And then of a sudden I saw Raffles on my right +striking with his torch; a face flew out of the darkness to meet the +thick glass bulb with the glowing wire enclosed; it was the face of the +boy Olphert, with his enviable moustache, but it vanished with the +crash of glass, and the naked wire thickened to the eye like a +tuning-fork struck red-hot. + +I saw no more of that. One of them had crept up on my side also; as I +looked, hearing him pant, he was grabbing at my left handle, and I +nearly sent Raffles into the hedge by the sharp turn I took to the +right. His wheel's length saved him. But my boy could run, was +overhauling me again, seemed certain of me this time, when all at once +the Sunbeam ran easily; every ounce of my weight with either foot once +more, and I was over the crest of the hill, the gray road reeling out +from under me as I felt for my brake. I looked back at Raffles. He had +put up his feet. I screwed my head round still further, and there were +the boys in their pyjamas, their hands upon their knees, like so many +wicket-keepers, and a big man shaking his fist. There was a lamp-post +on the hill-top, and that was the last I saw. + +We sailed down to the river, then on through Thames Ditton as far as +Esher Station, when we turned sharp to the right, and from the dark +stretch by Imber Court came to light in Molesey, and were soon +pedalling like gentlemen of leisure through Bushey Park, our lights +turned up, the broken torch put out and away. The big gates had long +been shut, but you can manoeuvre a bicycle through the others. We had +no further adventures on the way home, and our coffee was still warm +upon the hob. + +"But I think it's an occasion for Sullivans," said Raffles, who now +kept them for such. "By all my gods, Bunny, it's been the most +sporting night we ever had in our lives! And do you know which was the +most sporting part of it?" + +"That up-hill ride?" + +"I wasn't thinking of it." + +"Turning your torch into a truncheon?" + +"My dear Bunny! A gallant lad--I hated hitting him." + +"I know," I said. "The way you got us out of the house!" + +"No, Bunny," said Raffles, blowing rings. "It came before that, you +sinner, and you know it!" + +"You don't mean anything I did?" said I, self-consciously, for I began +to see that this was what he did mean. And now at latest it will also +be seen why this story has been told with undue and inexcusable gusto; +there is none other like it for me to tell; it is my one ewe-lamb in +all these annals. But Raffles had a ruder name for it. + +"It was the Apotheosis of the Bunny," said he, but in a tone I never +shall forget. + +"I hardly knew what I was doing or saying," I said. "The whole thing +was a fluke." + +"Then," said Raffles, "it was the kind of fluke I always trusted you to +make when runs were wanted." + +And he held out his dear old hand. + + +THE KNEES OF THE GODS + +I + +"The worst of this war," said Raffles, "is the way it puts a fellow off +his work." + +It was, of course, the winter before last, and we had done nothing +dreadful since the early autumn. Undoubtedly the war was the cause. +Not that we were among the earlier victims of the fever. I took +disgracefully little interest in the Negotiations, while the Ultimatum +appealed to Raffles as a sporting flutter. Then we gave the whole +thing till Christmas. We still missed the cricket in the papers. But +one russet afternoon we were in Richmond, and a terrible type was +shouting himself hoarse with "'Eavy British lorsses--orful slorter o' +the Bo-wers! Orful slorter! Orful slorter! 'Eavy British lorsses!" +I thought the terrible type had invented it, but Raffles gave him more +than he asked, and then I held the bicycle while he tried to pronounce +Eland's Laagte. We were never again without our sheaf of evening +papers, and Raffles ordered three morning ones, and I gave up mine in +spite of its literary page. We became strategists. We knew exactly +what Buller was to do on landing, and, still better, what the other +Generals should have done. Our map was the best that could be +bought, with flags that deserved a better fate than standing still. +Raffles woke me to hear "The Absent-Minded Beggar" on the morning it +appeared; he was one of the first substantial subscribers to the fund. +By this time our dear landlady was more excited than we. To our +enthusiasm for Thomas she added a personal bitterness against the Wild +Boars, as she persisted in calling them, each time as though it were +the first. I could linger over our landlady's attitude in the whole +matter. That was her only joke about it, and the true humorist never +smiled at it herself. But you had only to say a syllable for a +venerable gentleman, declared by her to be at the bottom of it all, to +hear what she could do to him if she caught him. She could put him in +a cage and go on tour with him, and make him howl and dance for his +food like a debased bear before a fresh audience every day. Yet a more +kind-hearted woman I have never known. The war did not uplift our +landlady as it did her lodgers. + +But presently it ceased to have that precise effect upon us. Bad was +being made worse and worse; and then came more than Englishmen could +endure in that black week across which the names of three African +villages are written forever in letters of blood. "All three pegs," +groaned Raffles on the last morning of the week; "neck-and-crop, +neck-and-crop!" It was his first word of cricket since the beginning +of the war. + +We were both depressed. Old school-fellows had fallen, and I know +Raffles envied them; he spoke so wistfully of such an end. To cheer him +up I proposed to break into one of the many more or less royal +residences in our neighborhood; a tough crib was what he needed; but I +will not trouble you with what he said to me. There was less crime in +England that winter than for years past; there was none at all in +Raffles. And yet there were those who could denounce the war! + +So we went on for a few of those dark days, Raffles very glum and +grim, till one fine morning the Yeomanry idea put new heart into us +all. It struck me at once as the glorious scheme it was to prove, +but it did not hit me where it hit others. I was not a fox-hunter, and +the gentlemen of England would scarcely have owned me as one of them. +The case of Raffles was in that respect still more hopeless (he who +had even played for them at Lord's), and he seemed to feel it. He +would not speak to me all the morning; in the afternoon he went for a +walk alone. It was another man who came home, flourishing a small +bottle packed in white paper. + +"Bunny," said he, "I never did lift my elbow; it's the one vice I never +had. It has taken me all these years to find my tipple, Bunny; but +here it is, my panacea, my elixir, my magic philtre!" + +I thought he had been at it on the road, and asked him the name of the +stuff. + +"Look and see, Bunny." + +And if it wasn't a bottle of ladies' hair-dye, warranted to change any +shade into the once fashionable yellow within a given number of +applications! + +"What on earth," said I, "are you going to do with this?" + +"Dye for my country," he cried, swelling. "Dulce et decorum est, +Bunny, my boy!" + +"Do you mean that you are going to the front?" + +"If I can without coming to it." + +I looked at him as he stood in the firelight, straight as a dart, spare +but wiry, alert, laughing, flushed from his wintry walk; and as I +looked, all the years that I had known him, and more besides, slipped +from him in my eyes. I saw him captain of the eleven at school. I saw +him running with the muddy ball on days like this, running round the +other fifteen as a sheep-dog round a flock of sheep. He had his cap on +still, and but for the gray hairs underneath--but here I lost him in a +sudden mist. It was not sorrow at his going, for I did not mean to let +him go alone. It was enthusiasm, admiration, affection, and also, I +believe, a sudden regret that he had not always appealed to that part +of my nature to which he was appealing now. It was a little thrill of +penitence. Enough of it. + +"I think it great of you," I said, and at first that was all. + +How he laughed at me. He had had his innings; there was no better way +of getting out. He had scored off an African millionaire, the Players, +a Queensland Legislator, the Camorra, the late Lord Ernest Belville, +and again and again off Scotland Yard. What more could one man do in +one lifetime? And at the worst it was the death to die: no bed, no +doctor, no temperature--and Raffles stopped himself. + +"No pinioning, no white cap," he added, "if you like that better." + +"I don't like any of it," I cried, cordially; "you've simply got to +come back." + +"To what?" he asked, a strange look on him. + +And I wondered--for one instant--whether my little thrill had gone +through him. He was not a man of little thrills. + +Then for a minute I was in misery. Of course I wanted to go too--he +shook my hand without a word--but how could I? They would never have +me, a branded jailbird, in the Imperial Yeomanry! Raffles burst out +laughing; he had been looking very hard at me for about three seconds. + +"You rabbit," he cried, "even to think of it! We might as well offer +ourselves to the Metropolitan Police Force. No, Bunny, we go out to +the Cape on our own, and that's where we enlist. One of these +regiments of irregular horse is the thing for us; you spent part of +your pretty penny on horse-flesh, I believe, and you remember how I +rode in the bush! We're the very men for them, Bunny, and they won't +ask to see our birthmarks out there. I don't think even my hoary locks +would put them off, but it would be too conspicuous in the ranks." + +Our landlady first wept on hearing our determination, and then longed +to have the pulling of certain whiskers (with the tongs, and they +should be red-hot); but from that day, and for as many as were left to +us, the good soul made more of us than ever. Not that she was at all +surprised; dear brave gentlemen who could look for burglars on their +bicycles at dead of night, it was only what you might expect of them, +bless their lion hearts. I wanted to wink at Raffles, but he would not +catch my eye. He was a ginger-headed Raffles by the end of January, +and it was extraordinary what a difference it made. His most elaborate +disguises had not been more effectual than this simple expedient, and, +with khaki to complete the subdual of his individuality, he had every +hope of escaping recognition in the field. The man he dreaded was the +officer he had known in old days; there were ever so many of him at the +Front; and it was to minimize this risk that we went out second-class +at the beginning of February. + +It was a weeping day, a day in a shroud, cold as clay, yet for that +very reason an ideal day upon which to leave England for the sunny +Front. Yet my heart was heavy as I looked my last at her; it was heavy +as the raw, thick air, until Raffles came and leant upon the rail at my +side. + +"I know what you are thinking, and you've got to stop," said he. "It's +on the knees of the gods, Bunny, whether we do or we don't, and +thinking won't make us see over their shoulders." + + +II + +Now I made as bad a soldier (except at heart) as Raffles made a good +one, and I could not say a harder thing of myself. My ignorance of +matters military was up to that time unfathomable, and is still +profound. I was always a fool with horses, though I did not think so +at one time, and I had never been any good with a gun. The average +Tommy may be my intellectual inferior, but he must know some part of +his work better than I ever knew any of mine. I never even learnt to +be killed. I do not mean that I ever ran away. The South African +Field Force might have been strengthened if I had. + +The foregoing remarks do not express a pose affected out of superiority +to the usual spirit of the conquering hero, for no man was keener on +the war than I, before I went to it. But one can only write with gusto +of events (like that little affair at Surbiton) in which one has +acquitted oneself without discredit, and I cannot say that of my part +in the war, of which I now loathe the thought for other reasons. The +battlefield was no place for me, and neither was the camp. My +ineptitude made me the butt of the looting, cursing, swash-buckling lot +who formed the very irregular squadron which we joined; and it would +have gone hard with me but for Raffles, who was soon the darling devil +of them all, but never more loyally my friend. Your fireside +fire-eater does not think of these things. He imagines all the +fighting to be with the enemy. He will probably be horrified to hear +that men can detest each other as cordially in khaki as in any other +wear, and with a virulence seldom inspired by the bearded dead-shot in +the opposite trench. To the fireside fire-eater, therefore (for you +have seen me one myself), I dedicate the story of Corporal Connal, +Captain Bellingham, the General, Raffles, and myself. + +I must be vague, for obvious reasons. The troop is fighting as I +write; you will soon hear why I am not; but neither is Raffles, nor +Corporal Connal. They are fighting as well as ever, those other +hard-living, harder-dying sons of all soils; but I am not going to say +where it was that we fought with them. I believe that no body of men +of equal size has done half so much heroic work. But they had got +themselves a bad name off the field, so to speak; and I am not going to +make it worse by saddling them before the world with Raffles and +myself, and that ruffian Connal. + +The fellow was a mongrel type, a Glasgow Irishman by birth and +upbringing, but he had been in South Africa for years, and he +certainly knew the country very well. This circumstance, coupled with +the fact that he was a very handy man with horses, as all colonists +are, had procured him the first small step from the ranks which +facilitates bullying if a man be a bully by nature, and is physically +fitted to be a successful one. Connal was a hulking ruffian, and in me +had ideal game. The brute was offensive to me from the hour I joined. +The details are of no importance, but I stood up to him at first in +words, and finally for a few seconds on my feet. Then I went down like +an ox, and Raffles came out of his tent. Their fight lasted twenty +minutes, and Raffles was marked, but the net result was dreadfully +conventional, for the bully was a bully no more. + +But I began gradually to suspect that he was something worse. All this +time we were fighting every day, or so it seems when I look back. +Never a great engagement, and yet never a day when we were wholly out +of touch with the enemy. I had thus several opportunities of watching +the other enemy under fire, and had almost convinced myself of the +systematic harmlessness of his own shooting, when a more glaring +incident occurred. + +One night three troops of our squadron were ordered to a certain point +whither they had patrolled the previous week; but our own particular +troop was to stay behind, and in charge of no other than the villanous +corporal, both our officer and sergeant having gone into hospital with +enteric. Our detention, however, was very temporary, and Connal would +seem to have received the usual vague orders to proceed in the early +morning to the place where the other three companies had camped. It +appeared that we were to form an escort to two squadron-wagons +containing kits, provisions, and ammunition. + +Before daylight Connal had reported his departure to the commanding +officer, and we passed the outposts at gray dawn. Now, though I was +perhaps the least observant person in the troop, I was not the least +wideawake where Corporal Connal was concerned, and it struck me at once +that we were heading in the wrong direction. My reasons are not +material, but as a matter of fact our last week's patrol had pushed its +khaki tentacles both east and west; and eastward they had met with +resistance so determined as to compel them to retire; yet it was +eastward that we were travelling now. I at once spurred alongside +Raffles, as he rode, bronzed and bearded, with warworn wide-awake over +eyes grown keen as a hawk's, and a cutty-pipe sticking straight out +from his front teeth. I can see him now, so gaunt and grim and +debonair, yet already with much of the nonsense gone out of him, though +I thought he only smiled on my misgivings. + +"Did he get the instructions, Bunny, or did we? Very well, then; give +the devil a chance." + +There was nothing further to be said, but I felt more crushed than +convinced; so we jogged along into broad daylight, until Raffles +himself gave a whistle of surprise. + +"A white flag, Bunny, by all my gods!" + +I could not see it; he had the longest sight in all our squadron; but +in a little the fluttering emblem, which had gained such a sinister +significance in most of our eyes, was patent even to mine. A little +longer, and the shaggy Boer was in our midst upon his shaggy pony, with +a half-scared, half-incredulous look in his deep-set eyes. He was on +his way to our lines with some missive, and had little enough to say to +us, though frivolous and flippant questions were showered upon him from +most saddles. + +"Any Boers over there?" asked one, pointing in the direction in which +we were still heading. + +"Shut up!" interjected Raffles in crisp rebuke. + +The Boer looked stolid but sinister. + +"Any of our chaps?" added another. + +The Boer rode on with an open grin. + +And the incredible conclusion of the matter was that we were actually +within their lines in another hour; saw them as large as life within a +mile and a half on either side of us; and must every man of us have +been taken prisoner had not every man but Connal refused to go one inch +further, and had not the Boers themselves obviously suspected some +subtle ruse as the only conceivable explanation of so madcap a +manoeuvre. They allowed us to retire without firing a shot; and +retire you may be sure we did, the Kaffirs flogging their teams in a +fury of fear, and our precious corporal sullen but defiant. + +I have said this was the conclusion of the matter, and I blush to +repeat that it practically was. Connal was indeed wheeled up before +the colonel, but his instructions were not written instructions, and he +lied his way out with equal hardihood and tact. + +"You said 'over there,' sir," he stoutly reiterated; and the vagueness +with which such orders were undoubtedly given was the saving of him for +the time being. + +I need not tell you how indignant I felt, for one. + +"The fellow is a spy!" I said to Raffles, with no nursery oath, as we +strolled within the lines that night. + +He merely smiled in my face. + +"And have you only just found it out, Bunny? I have known it almost +ever since we joined; but this morning I did think we had him on toast." + +"It's disgraceful that we had not," cried I. "He ought to have been +shot like a dog." + +"Not so loud, Bunny, though I quite agree; but I don't regret what has +happened as much as you do. Not that I am less bloodthirsty than you +are in this case, but a good deal more so! Bunny, I'm mad-keen on +bowling him out with my own unaided hand--though I may ask you to take +the wicket. Meanwhile, don't wear all your animosity upon your sleeve; +the fellow has friends who still believe in him; and there is no need +for you to be more openly his enemy than you were before." + +Well, I can only vow that I did my best to follow this sound advice; +but who but a Raffles can control his every look? It was never my +forte, as you know, yet to this day I cannot conceive what I did to +excite the treacherous corporal's suspicions. He was clever enough, +however, not to betray them, and lucky enough to turn the tables on us, +as you shall hear. + + +III + +Bloemfontein had fallen since our arrival, but there was plenty of +fight in the Free Staters still, and I will not deny that it was these +gentry who were showing us the sport for which our corps came in. +Constant skirmishing was our portion, with now and then an action that +you would know at least by name, did I feel free to mention them. But +I do not, and indeed it is better so. I have not to describe the war +even as I saw it, I am thankful to say, but only the martial story of +us two and those others of whom you wot. Corporal Connal was the +dangerous blackguard you have seen. Captain Bellingham is best known +for his position in the batting averages a year or two ago, and for his +subsequent failure to obtain a place in any of the five Test Matches. +But I only think of him as the officer who recognized Raffles. + +We had taken a village, making quite a little name for it and for +ourselves, and in the village our division was reinforced by a fresh +brigade of the Imperial troops. It was a day of rest, our first for +weeks, but Raffles and I spent no small part of it in seeking high and +low for a worthy means of quenching the kind of thirst which used to +beset Yeomen and others who had left good cellars for the veldt. The +old knack came back to us both, though I believe that I alone was +conscious of it at the time; and we were leaving the house, splendidly +supplied, when we almost ran into the arms of an infantry officer, with +a scowl upon his red-hot face, and an eye-glass flaming at us in the +sun. + +"Peter Bellingham!" gasped Raffles under his breath, and then we +saluted and tried to pass on, with the bottles ringing like +church-bells under our khaki. But Captain Bellingham was a hard man. + +"What have you men been doin'?" drawled he. + +"Nothing, sir," we protested, like innocence with an injury. + +"Lootin' 's forbidden," said he. "You had better let me see those +bottles." + +"We are done," whispered Raffles, and straightway we made a sideboard +of the stoop across which he had crept at so inopportune a moment. I +had not the heart to raise my eyes again, yet it was many moments +before the officer broke silence. + +"Uam Var!" he murmured reverentially at last. "And Long John of Ben +Nevis! The first drop that's been discovered in the whole +psalm-singing show! What lot do you two belong to?" + +I answered. + +"I must have your names." + +In my agitation I gave my real one. Raffles had turned away, as though +in heart-broken contemplation of our lost loot. I saw the officer +studying his half-profile with an alarming face. + +"What's YOUR name?" he rapped out at last. + +But his strange, low voice said plainly that he knew, and Raffles faced +him with the monosyllable of confession and assent. I did not count +the seconds until the next word, but it was Captain Bellingham who +uttered it at last. + +"I thought you were dead." + +"Now you see I am not." + +"But you are at your old games!" + +"I am not," cried Raffles, and his tone was new to me. I have seldom +heard one more indignant. "Yes," he continued, "this is loot, and the +wrong 'un will out. That's what you're thinking, Peter--I beg your +pardon--sir. But he isn't let out in the field! We're playing the +game as much as you are, old--sir." + +The plural number caused the captain to toss me a contemptuous look. +"Is this the fellah who was taken when you swam for it?" he inquired, +relapsing into his drawl. Raffles said I was, and with that took a +passionate oath upon our absolute rectitude as volunteers. There could +be no doubting him; but the officer's eyes went back at the bottles on +the stoop. + +"But look at those," said he; and as he looked himself the light eye +melted in his fiery face. "And I've got Sparklets in my tent," he +sighed. "You make it in a minute!" + +Not a word from Raffles, and none, you may be sure, from me. Then +suddenly Bellingham told me where his tent was, and, adding that our +case was one for serious consideration, strode in its direction +without another word until some sunlit paces separated us. + +"You can bring that stuff with you," he then flung over a +shoulder-strap, "and I advise you to put it where you had it before." + +A trooper saluted him some yards further on, and looked evilly at us as +we followed with our loot. It was Corporal Connal of ours, and the +thought of him takes my mind off the certainly gallant captain who only +that day had joined our division with the reinforcements. I could not +stand the man myself. He added soda-water to our whiskey in his tent, +and would only keep a couple of bottles when we came away. Softened by +the spirit, to which disuse made us all a little sensitive, our officer +was soon convinced of the honest part that we were playing for once, +and for fifty minutes of the hour we spent with him he and Raffles +talked cricket without a break. On parting they even shook hands; that +was Long John in the captain's head; but the snob never addressed a +syllable to me. + +And now to the gallows-bird who was still corporal of our troop: it was +not long before Raffles was to have his wish and the traitor's wicket. +We had resumed our advance, or rather our humble part in the great +surrounding movement then taking place, and were under pretty heavy +fire once more, when Connal was shot in the hand. It was a curious +casualty in more than one respect, and nobody seems to have seen it +happen. Though a flesh wound, it was a bloody one, and that may be why +the surgeon did not at once detect those features which afterwards +convinced him that the injury had been self-inflicted. It was the +right hand, and until it healed the man could be of no further use in +the firing line; nor was the case serious enough for admission to a +crowded field-hospital; and Connal himself offered his services as +custodian of a number of our horses which we were keeping out of harm's +way in a donga. They had come there in the following manner: That +morning we had been heliographed to reinforce the C.M.R., only to find +that the enemy had the range to a nicety when we reached the spot. +There were trenches for us men, but no place of safety for our horses +nearer than this long and narrow donga which ran from within our lines +towards those of the Boers. So some of us galloped them thither, +six-in-hand, amid the whine of shrapnel and the whistle of shot. I +remember the man next me being killed by a shell with all his team, and +the tangle of flying harness, torn horseflesh, and crimson khaki, that +we left behind us on the veldt; also that a small red flag, +ludicrously like those used to indicate a putting-green, marked the +single sloping entrance to the otherwise precipitous donga, which I for +one was duly thankful to reach alive. + +The same evening Connal, with a few other light casualties to assist +him, took over the charge for which he had volunteered and for which he +was so admirably fitted by his knowledge of horses and his general +experience of the country; nevertheless, he managed to lose three or +four fine chargers in the course of the first night; and, early in the +second, Raffles shook me out of a heavy slumber in the trenches where +we had been firing all day. + +"I have found the spot, Bunny," he whispered; "we ought to out him +before the night is over." + +"Connal?" + +Raffles nodded. + +"You know what happened to some of his horses last night? Well, he let +them go himself." + +"Never!" + +"I'm as certain of it," said Raffles, "as though I'd seen him do it; +and if he does it again I shall see him. I can even tell you how it +happened. Connal insisted on having one end of the donga to himself, +and of course his end is the one nearest the Boers. Well, then, he +tells the other fellows to go to sleep at their end--I have it direct +from one of them--and you bet they don't need a second invitation. The +rest I hope to see to-night." + +"It seems almost incredible," said I. + +"Not more so than the Light Horseman's dodge of poisoning the troughs; +that happened at Ladysmith before Christmas; and two kind friends did +for that blackguard what you and I are going to do for this one, and a +firing-party did the rest. Brutes! A mounted man's worth a file on +foot in this country, and well they know it. But this beauty goes +one better than the poison; that was wilful waste; but I'll eat my +wideawake if our loss last night wasn't the enemy's double gain! What +we've got to do, Bunny, is to catch him in the act. It may mean +watching him all night, but was ever game so well worth the candle?" + +One may say in passing that, at this particular point of contact, the +enemy were in superior force, and for once in a mood as aggressive as +our own. They were led with a dash, and handled with a skill, which +did not always characterize their commanders at this stage of the war. +Their position was very similar to ours, and indeed we were to spend +the whole of next day in trying with an equal will to turn each other +out. The result will scarcely be forgotten by those who recognize the +occasion from these remarks. Meanwhile it was the eve of battle (most +evenings were), and there was that villain with the horses in the +donga, and here were we two upon his track. + +Raffles's plan was to reconnoitre the place, and then take up a +position from which we could watch our man and pounce upon him if he +gave us cause. The spot that we eventually chose and stealthily +occupied was behind some bushes through which we could see down into +the donga; there were the precious horses; and there sure enough was +our wounded corporal, sitting smoking in his cloak, some glimmering +thing in his lap. + +"That's his revolver, and it's a Mauser," whispered Raffles. "He +shan't have a chance of using it on us; either we must be on him before +he knows we are anywhere near, or simply report. It's easily proved +once we are sure; but I should like to have the taking of him too." + +There was a setting moon. Shadows were sharp and black. The man +smoked steadily, and the hungry horses did what I never saw horses do +before; they stood and nibbled at each other's tails. I was used to +sleeping in the open, under the jewelled dome that seems so much +vaster and grander in these wide spaces of the earth. I lay listening +to the horses, and to the myriad small strange voices of the veldt, to +which I cannot even now put a name, while Raffles watched. "One head +is better than two," he said, "when you don't want it to be seen." We +were to take watch and watch about, however, and the other might sleep +if he could; it was not my fault that I did nothing else; it was +Raffles who could trust nobody but himself. Nor was there any time for +recriminations when he did rouse me in the end. + +But a moment ago, as it seemed to me, I had been gazing upward at the +stars and listening to the dear, minute sounds of peace; and in another +the great gray slate was clean, and every bone of me set in plaster of +Paris, and sniping beginning between pickets with the day. It was an +occasional crack, not a constant crackle, but the whistle of a bullet +as it passed us by, or a tiny transitory flame for the one bit of +detail on a blue hill-side, was an unpleasant warning that we two on +ours were a target in ourselves. But Raffles paid no attention to +their fire; he was pointing downward through the bushes to where +Corporal Connal stood with his back to us, shooing a last charger out +of the mouth of the donga towards the Boer trenches. + +"That's his third," whispered Raffles, "but it's the first I've seen +distinctly, for he waited for the blind spot before the dawn. It's +enough to land him, I fancy, but we mustn't lose time. Are you ready +for a creep?" + +I stretched myself, and said I was; but I devoutly wished it was not +quite so early in the morning. + +"Like cats, then, till he hears, and then into him for all we're worth. +He's stowed his iron safe away, but he mustn't have time even to feel +for it. You take his left arm, Bunny, and hang on to that like a +ferret, and I'll do the rest. Ready? Then now!" + +And in less time than it would take to tell, we were over the lip of +the donga and had fallen upon the fellow before he could turn his head; +nevertheless, for a few instants he fought like a wild beast, striking, +kicking, and swinging me off my feet as I obeyed my instructions to the +letter, and stuck to his left like a leech. But he soon gave that up, +panting and blaspheming, demanded explanations in his hybrid tongue +that had half a brogue and half a burr. What were we doing? What had +he done? Raffles at his back, with his right wrist twisted round and +pinned into the small of it, soon told him that, and I think the words +must have been the first intimation that he had as to who his +assailants were. + +"So it's you two!" he cried, and a light broke over him. He was no +longer trying to shake us off, and now he dropped his curses also, and +stood chuckling to himself instead. "Well," he went on, "you're bloody +liars both, but I know something else that you are, so you'd better let +go." + +A coldness ran through me, and I never saw Raffles so taken aback. +His grip must have relaxed for a fraction of time, for our captive +broke out in a fresh and desperate struggle, but now we pinned him +tighter than ever, and soon I saw him turning green and yellow with the +pain. + +"You're breaking my wrist!" he yelled at last. + +"Then stand still and tell us who we are." + +And he stood still and told us our real names. But Raffles insisted on +hearing how he had found us out, and smiled as though he had known what +was coming when it came. I was dumbfounded. + +The accursed hound had followed us that evening to Captain Bellingham's +tent, and his undoubted cleverness in his own profession of spy had +done the rest. + +"And now you'd better let me go," said the master of the situation, as +I for one could not help regarding him. + +"I'll see you damned," said Raffles, savagely. + +"Then you're damned and done for yourself, my cocky criminal. Raffles +the burglar! Raffles the society thief! Not dead after all, but +'live and 'listed. Send him home and give him fourteen years, and +won't he like 'em, that's all!" + +"I shall have the pleasure of hearing you shot first," retorted +Raffles, through his teeth, "and that alone will make them bearable. +Come on, Bunny, let's drive the swine along and get it over." + +And drive him we did, he cursing, cajoling, struggling, gloating, and +blubbering by turns. But Raffles never wavered for an instant, though +his face was tragic, and it went to my heart, where that look stays +still. I remember at the time, though I never let my hold relax, there +was a moment when I added my entreaties to those of our prisoner. +Raffles did not even reply to me. But I was thinking of him, I swear. +I was thinking of that gray set face that I never saw before or after. + +"Your story will be tested," said the commanding officer, when Connal +had been marched to the guard-tent. "Is there any truth in his?" + +"It is perfectly true, sir." + +"And the notorious Raffles has been alive all these years, and you are +really he?" + +"I am, sir." + +"And what are you doing at the front?" + +Somehow I thought that Raffles was going to smile, but the grim set of +his mouth never altered, neither was there any change in the ashy +pallor which had come over him in the donga when Connal mouthed his +name. It was only his eyes that lighted up at the last question. + +"I am fighting, sir," said he, as simply as any subaltern in the army. + +The commanding officer inclined a grizzled head perceptibly, and no +more. He was not one of any school, our General; he had his own ways, +and we loved both him and them; and I believe that he loved the rough +but gallant corps that bore his name. He once told us that he knew +something about most of us, and there were things that Raffles had done +of which he must have heard. But he only moved his grizzled head. + +"Did you know he was going to give you away?" he asked at length, with +a jerk of it toward the guard-tent. + +"Yes, sir." + +"But you thought it worth while, did you?" + +"I thought it necessary, sir." + +The General paused, drumming on his table, making up his mind. Then his +chin came up with the decision that we loved in him. + +"I shall sift all this," said he. "An officer's name was mentioned, +and I shall see him myself. Meanwhile you had better go on--fighting." + + +IV + +Corporal Connal paid the penalty of his crime before the sun was far +above the hill held by the enemy. There was abundance of +circumstantial evidence against him, besides the direct testimony of +Raffles and myself, and the wretch was shot at last with little +ceremony and less shrift. And that was the one good thing that +happened on the day that broke upon us hiding behind the bushes +overlooking the donga; by noon it was my own turn. + +I have avoided speaking of my wound before I need, and from the +preceding pages you would not gather that I am more or less lame for +life. You will soon see now why I was in no hurry to recall the +incident. I used to think of a wound received in one's country's +service as the proudest trophy a man could acquire. But the sight of +mine depresses me every morning of my life; it was due for one thing to +my own slow eye for cover, in taking which (to aggravate my case) our +hardy little corps happened to excel. + +The bullet went clean through my thigh, drilling the bone, but happily +missing the sciatic nerve; thus the mere pain was less than it might +have been, but of course I went over in a light-brown heap. We were +advancing on our stomachs to take the hill, and thus extend our +position, and it was at this point that the fire became too heavy for +us, so that for hours (in the event) we moved neither forward nor +back. But it was not a minute before Raffles came to me through the +whistling scud, and in another I was on my back behind a shallow rock, +with him kneeling over me and unrolling my bandage in the teeth of +that murderous fire. It was on the knees of the gods, he said, when I +begged him to bend lower, but for the moment I thought his tone as +changed as his face had been earlier in the morning. To oblige me, +however, he took more care; and, when he had done all that one comrade +could for another, he did avail himself of the cover he had found for +me. So there we lay together on the veldt, under blinding sun and +withering fire, and I suppose it is the veldt that I should describe, +as it swims and flickers before wounded eyes. I shut mine to bring it +back, but all that comes is the keen brown face of Raffles, still a +shade paler than its wont; now bending to sight and fire; now peering +to see results, brows raised, eyes widened; anon turning to me with the +word to set my tight lips grinning. He was talking all the time, but +for my sake, and I knew it. Can you wonder that I could not see an +inch beyond him? He was the battle to me then; he is the whole war to +me as I look back now. + +"Feel equal to a cigarette? It will buck you up, Bunny. No, that one +in the silver paper, I've hoarded it for this. Here's a light; and so +Bunny takes the Sullivan! All honor to the sporting rabbit!" + +"At least I went over like one," said I, sending the only clouds into +the blue, and chiefly wishing for their longer endurance. I was as hot +as a cinder from my head to one foot; the other leg was ceasing to +belong to me. + +"Wait a bit," says Raffles, puckering; "there's a gray felt hat at deep +long-on, and I want to add it to the bag for vengeance.... +Wait--yes--no, no luck! I must pitch 'em up a bit more. Hallo! +Magazine empty. How goes the Sullivan, Bunny? Rum to be smoking one +on the veldt with a hole in your leg!" + +"It's doing me good," I said, and I believe it was. But Raffles lay +looking at me as he lightened his bandolier. + +"Do you remember," he said softly, "the day we first began to think +about the war? I can see the pink, misty river light, and feel the +first bite there was in the air when one stood about; don't you wish we +had either here! 'Orful slorter, orful slorter;' that fellow's face, I +see it too; and here we have the thing he cried. Can you believe it's +only six months ago?" + +"Yes," I sighed, enjoying the thought of that afternoon less than he +did; "yes, we were slow to catch fire at first." + +"Too slow," he said quickly. + +"But when we did catch," I went on, wishing we never had, "we soon +burnt up." + +"And then went out," laughed Raffles gayly. He was loaded up again. +"Another over at the gray felt hat," said he; "by Jove, though, I +believe he's having an over at me!" + +"I wish you'd be careful," I urged. "I heard it too." + +"My dear Bunny, it's on the knees you wot of. If anything's down in +the specifications surely that is. Besides--that was nearer!" + +"To you?" + +"No, to him. Poor devil, he has his specifications too; it's +comforting to think that.... I can't see where that one pitched; it +may have been a wide; and it's very nearly the end of the over again. +Feeling worse, Bunny?" + +"No, I've only closed my eyes. Go on talking." + +"It was I who let you in for this," he said, at his bandolier again. + +"No, I'm glad I came out." + +And I believe I still was, in a way; for it WAS rather fine to be +wounded, just then, with the pain growing less; but the sensation was +not to last me many minutes, and I can truthfully say that I have +never felt it since. + +"Ah, but you haven't had such a good time as I have!" + +"Perhaps not." + +Had his voice vibrated, or had I imagined it? Pain-waves and loss of +blood were playing tricks with my senses; now they were quite dull, and +my leg alive and throbbing; now I had no leg at all, but more than all +my ordinary senses in every other part of me. And the devil's +orchestra was playing all the time, and all around me, on every class +of fiendish instrument, which you have been made to hear for yourselves +in every newspaper. Yet all that I heard was Raffles talking. + +"I have had a good time, Bunny." + +Yes, his voice was sad; but that was all; the vibration must have been +in me. + +"I know you have, old chap," said I. + +"I am grateful to the General for giving me to-day. It may be the +last. Then I can only say it's been the best--by Jove!" + +"What is it?" + +And I opened my eyes. His were shining. I can see them now. + +"Got him--got the hat! No, I'm hanged if I have; at least he wasn't in +it. The crafty cuss, he must have stuck it up on purpose. Another +over ... scoring's slow.... I wonder if he's sportsman enough to take +a hint? His hat-trick's foolish. Will he show his face if I show mine?" + +I lay with closed ears and eyes. My leg had come to life again, and +the rest of me was numb. + +"Bunny!" + +His voice sounded higher. He must have been sitting upright. + +"Well?" + +But it was not well with me; that was all I thought as my lips made the +word. + +"It's not only been the best time I ever had, old Bunny, but I'm not +half sure--" + +Of what I can but guess; the sentence was not finished, and never could +be in this world. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Raffles, by E. W. Hornung + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAFFLES *** + +***** This file should be named 707.txt or 707.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/7/0/707/ + +Produced by Judith Boss. 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Hornung + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +Raffles, Further Adventures of the Amateur Cracksman + +by E. W. Hornung + +November, 1996 [Etext #707] + + +****The Project Gutenberg Etext of Raffles by E. W. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association / Illinois + Benedictine College" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Illinois Benedictine College". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +RAFFLES + +FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE AMATEUR CRACKSMAN + +BY E. W. HORNUNG + + + + +RAFFLES + +NO SINECURE + + + +I + +I am still uncertain which surprised me more, the telegram +calling my attention to the advertisement, or the advertisement +itself. The telegram is before me as I write. It would appear +to have been handed in at Vere Street at eight o'clock in the +morning of May 11, 1897, and received before half-past at +Holloway B.O. And in that drab region it duly found me, unwashen +but at work before the day grew hot and my attic insupportable. + +"See Mr. Maturin's advertisement Daily Mail might suit you +earnestly beg try will speak if necessary ---- ----" + +I transcribe the thing as I see it before me, all in one +breath that took away mine; but I leave out the initials at the +end, which completed the surprise. They stood very obviously for +the knighted specialist whose consulting-room is within a +cab-whistle of Vere Street, and who once called me kinsman for +his sins. More recently he had called me other names. I was a +disgrace, qualified by an adjective which seemed to me another. +I had made my bed, and I could go and lie and die in it. If I +ever again had the insolence to show my nose in that house, I +should go out quicker than I came in. All this, and more, my +least distant relative could tell a poor devil to his face; +could ring for his man, and give him his brutal instructions on +the spot; and then relent to the tune of this telegram! I have +no phrase for my amazement. I literally could not believe my +eyes. Yet their evidence was more and more conclusive: a very +epistle could not have been more characteristic of its sender. +Meanly elliptical, ludicrously precise, saving half-pence at +the expense of sense, yet paying like a man for "Mr." Maturin, +that was my distinguished relative from his bald patch to his +corns. Nor was all the rest unlike him, upon second thoughts. +He had a reputation for charity; he was going to live up to it +after all. Either that, or it was the sudden impulse of which +the most calculating are capable at times; the morning papers +with the early cup of tea, this advertisement seen by chance, +and the rest upon the spur of a guilty conscience. + +Well, I must see it for myself, and the sooner the better, +though work pressed. I was writing a series of articles upon +prison life, and had my nib into the whole System; a literary +and philanthropical daily was parading my "charges," the graver +ones with the more gusto; and the terms, if unhandsome for +creative work, were temporary wealth to me. It so happened that +my first check had just arrived by the eight o'clock post; and +my position should be appreciated when I say that I had to cash +it to obtain a Daily Mail. + +Of the advertisement itself, what is to be said? It should speak +for itself if I could find it, but I cannot, and only remember +that it was a "male nurse and constant attendant" that was +"wanted for an elderly gentleman in feeble health." A male +nurse! An absurd tag was appended, offering "liberal salary to +University or public-school man"; and of a sudden I saw that I +should get this thing if I applied for it. What other +"University or public-school man" would dream of doing so? Was +any other in such straits as I? And then my relenting relative; +he not only promised to speak for me, but was the very man to do +so. Could any recommendation compete with his in the matter of +a male nurse? And need the duties of such be necessarily +loathsome and repellent? Certainly the surroundings would be +better than those of my common lodging-house and own particular +garret; and the food; and every other condition of life that I +could think of on my way back to that unsavory asylum. So I +dived into a pawnbroker's shop, where I was a stranger only +upon my present errand, and within the hour was airing a decent +if antiquated suit, but little corrupted by the pawnbroker's +moth, and a new straw hat, on the top of a tram. + +The address given in the advertisement was that of a flat at +Earl's Court, which cost me a cross-country journey, finishing +with the District Railway and a seven minutes' walk. It was now +past mid-day, and the tarry wood-pavement was good to smell as +I strode up the Earl's Court Road. It was great to walk the +civilized world again. Here were men with coats on their backs, +and ladies in gloves. My only fear was lest I might run up +against one or other whom I had known of old. But it was my +lucky day. I felt it in my bones. I was going to get this +berth; and sometimes I should be able to smell the wood-pavement +on the old boy's errands; perhaps he would insist on skimming +over it in his bath-chair, with me behind. + +I felt quite nervous when I reached the flats. They were a small +pile in a side street, and I pitied the doctor whose plate I saw +upon the palings before the ground-floor windows; he must be in +a very small way, I thought. I rather pitied myself as well. +I had indulged in visions of better flats than these. There +were no balconies. The porter was out of livery. There was no +lift, and my invalid on the third floor! I trudged up, wishing +I had never lived in Mount Street, and brushed against a +dejected individual coming down. A full-blooded young fellow in +a frock-coat flung the right door open at my summons. + +"Does Mr. Maturin live here?" I inquired. + +"That's right," said the full-blooded young man, grinning all +over a convivial countenance. + +"I--I've come about his advertisement in the Daily Mail." + +"You're the thirty-ninth," cried the blood; "that was the +thirty-eighth you met upon the stairs, and the day's still +young. Excuse my staring at you. Yes, you pass your prelim., +and can come inside; you're one of the few. We had most just +after breakfast, but now the porter's heading off the worst +cases, and that last chap was the first for twenty minutes. +Come in here." + +And I was ushered into an empty room with a good bay-window, +which enabled my full-blooded friend to inspect me yet more +critically in a good light; this he did without the least false +delicacy; then his questions began. + +"'Varsity man?" + +"No." + +"Public school?" + +"Yes." + +"Which one?" + +I told him, and he sighed relief. + +"At last! You're the very first I've not had to argue with as +to what is and what is not a public school. Expelled?" + +"No," I said, after a moment's hesitation; "no, I was not +expelled. And I hope you won't expel me if I ask a question in +my turn?" + +"Certainly not." + +"Are you Mr. Maturin's son?" + +"No, my name's Theobald. You may have seen it down below." + +"The doctor?" I said. + +"His doctor," said Theobald, with a satisfied eye. "Mr. +Maturin's doctor. He is having a male nurse and attendant by my +advice, and he wants a gentleman if he can get one. I rather +think he'll see you, though he's only seen two or three all day. +There are certain questions which he prefers to ask himself, and +it's no good going over the same ground twice. So perhaps I had +better tell him about you before we get any further." + +And he withdrew to a room still nearer the entrance, as I could +hear, for it was a very small flat indeed. But now two doors +were shut between us, and I had to rest content with murmurs +through the wall until the doctor returned to summon me. + +"I have persuaded my patient to see you," he whispered, "but I +confess I am not sanguine of the result. He is very difficult +to please. You must prepare yourself for a querulous invalid, +and for no sinecure if you get the billet." + +"May I ask what's the matter with him?" + +"By all means--when you've got the billet." + +Dr. Theobald then led the way, his professional dignity so +thoroughly intact that I could not but smile as I followed his +swinging coat-tails to the sick-room. I carried no smile across +the threshold of a darkened chamber which reeked of drugs and +twinkled with medicine bottles, and in the middle of which a +gaunt figure lay abed in the half-light. + +"Take him to the window, take him to the window," a thin voice +snapped, "and let's have a look at him. Open the blind a bit. +Not as much as that, damn you, not as much as that!" + +The doctor took the oath as though it had been a fee. I no +longer pitied him. It was now very clear to me that he had one +patient who was a little practice in himself. I determined +there and then that he should prove a little profession to me, +if we could but keep him alive between us. Mr. Maturin, +however, had the whitest face that I have ever seen, and his +teeth gleamed out through the dusk as though the withered lips +no longer met about them; nor did they except in speech; and +anything ghastlier than the perpetual grin of his repose I defy +you to imagine. It was with this grin that he lay regarding me +while the doctor held the blind. + +"So you think you could look after me, do you?" + +"I'm certain I could, sir." + +"Single-handed, mind! I don't keep another soul. You would +have to cook your own grub and my slops. Do you think you could +do all that?" + +"Yes, sir, I think so." + +"Why do you? Have you any experience of the kind?" + +"No, sir, none." + +"Then why do you pretend you have?" + +"I only meant that I would do my best." + +"Only meant, only meant! Have you done your best at everything +else, then?" + +I hung my head. This was a facer. And there was something in +my invalid which thrust the unspoken lie down my throat. + +"No, sir, I have not," I told him plainly. + +"He, he, he!" the old wretch tittered; "and you do well to own +it; you do well, sir, very well indeed. If you hadn't owned up, +out you would have gone, out neck-and-crop! You've saved your +bacon. You may do more. So you are a public-school boy, and a +very good school yours is, but you weren't at either University. +Is that correct?" + +"Absolutely." + +"What did you do when you left school?" + +"I came in for money." + +"And then?" + +"I spent my money." + +"And since then?" + +I stood like a mule. + +"And since then, I say!" + +"A relative of mine will tell you if you ask him. He is an +eminent man, and he has promised to speak for me. I would +rather say no more myself." + +"But you shall, sir, but you shall! Do you suppose that I +suppose a public-school boy would apply for a berth like this if +something or other hadn't happened? What I want is a gentleman +of sorts, and I don't much care what sort; but you've got to +tell me what did happen, if you don't tell anybody else. Dr. +Theobald, sir, you can go to the devil if you won't take a hint. +This man may do or he may not. You have no more to say to it +till I send him down to tell you one thing or the other. Clear +out, sir, clear out; and if you think you've anything to +complain of, you stick it down in the bill!" + +In the mild excitement of our interview the thin voice had +gathered strength, and the last shrill insult was screamed after +the devoted medico, as he retired in such order that I felt +certain he was going to take this trying patient at his word. +The bedroom door closed, then the outer one, and the doctor's +heels went drumming down the common stair. I was alone in the +flat with this highly singular and rather terrible old man. + +"And a damned good riddance!" croaked the invalid, raising +himself on one elbow without delay. "I may not have much body +left to boast about, but at least I've got a lost old soul to +call my own. That's why I want a gentleman of sorts about me. +I've been too dependent on that chap. He won't even let me +smoke, and he's been in the flat all day to see I didn't. +You'll find the cigarettes behind the Madonna of the Chair." + +It was a steel engraving of the great Raffaelle, and the frame +was tilted from the wall; at a touch a packet of cigarettes +tumbled down from behind. + +"Thanks; and now a light." + +I struck the match and held it, while the invalid inhaled with +normal lips; and suddenly I sighed. I was irresistibly reminded +of my poor dear old Raffles. A smoke-ring worthy of the great +A. J. was floating upward from the sick man's lips. + +"And now take one yourself. I have smoked more poisonous +cigarettes. But even these are not Sullivans!" + +I cannot repeat what I said. I have no idea what I did. I only +know--I only knew--that it was A. J. Raffles in the flesh! + + +II + +"Yes, Bunny, it was the very devil of a swim; but I defy you to +sink in the Mediterranean. That sunset saved me. The sea was +on fire. I hardly swam under water at all, but went all I knew +for the sun itself; when it set I must have been a mile away; +until it did I was the invisible man. I figured on that, and +only hope it wasn't set down as a case of suicide. I shall get +outed quite soon enough, Bunny, but I'd rather be dropped by the +hangman than throw my own wicket away." + +"Oh, my dear old chap, to think of having you by the hand again! +I feel as though we were both aboard that German liner, and all +that's happened since a nightmare. I thought that time was the +last!" + +"It looked rather like it, Bunny. It was taking all the risks, +and hitting at everything. But the game came off, and some day +I'll tell you how." + +"Oh, I'm in no hurry to hear. It's enough for me to see you +lying there. I don't want to know how you came there, or why, +though I fear you must be pretty bad. I must have a good look +at you before I let you speak another word!" + +I raised one of the blinds, I sat upon the bed, and I had that +look. It left me all unable to conjecture his true state of +health, but quite certain in my own mind that my dear Raffles +was not and never would be the man that he had been. He had +aged twenty years; he looked fifty at the very least. His hair +was white; there was no trick about that; and his face was +another white. The lines about the corners of the eyes and +mouth were both many and deep. On the other hand, the eyes +themselves were alight and alert as ever; they were still keen +and gray and gleaming, like finely tempered steel. Even the +mouth, with a cigarette to close it, was the mouth of Raffles +and no other: strong and unscrupulous as the man himself. It +was only the physical strength which appeared to have departed; +but that was quite sufficient to make my heart bleed for the +dear rascal who had cost me every tie I valued but the tie +between us two. + +"Think I look much older?" he asked at length. + +"A bit," I admitted. "But it is chiefly your hair." + +"Whereby hangs a tale for when we've talked ourselves out, +though I have often thought it was that long swim that started +it. Still, the Island of Elba is a rummy show, I can assure +you. And Naples is a rummier!" + +"You went there after all?" + +"Rather! It's the European paradise for such as our noble +selves. But there's no place that's a patch on little London as +a non-conductor of heat; it never need get too hot for a fellow +here; if it does it's his own fault. It's the kind of wicket +you don't get out on, unless you get yourself out. So here I am +again, and have been for the last six weeks. And I mean to have +another knock." + +"But surely, old fellow, you're not awfully fit, are you?" + +"Fit? My dear Bunny, I'm dead--I'm at the bottom of the +sea--and don't you forget it for a minute." + +"But are you all right, or are you not?" + +"No, I'm half-poisoned by Theobald's prescriptions and putrid +cigarettes, and as weak as a cat from lying in bed." + +"Then why on earth lie in bed, Raffles?" + +"Because it's better than lying in gaol, as I am afraid YOU +know, my poor dear fellow. I tell you I am dead; and my one +terror is of coming to life again by accident. Can't you see? +I simply dare not show my nose out of doors--by day. You have +no idea of the number of perfectly innocent things a dead man +daren't do. I can't even smoke Sullivans, because no one man +was ever so partial to them as I was in my lifetime, and you +never know when you may start a clew." + +"What brought you to these mansions?" + +"I fancied a flat, and a man recommended these on the boat; such +a good chap, Bunny; he was my reference when it came to signing +the lease. You see I landed on a stretcher--most pathetic +case--old Australian without a friend in old country--ordered +Engadine as last chance--no go--not an earthly--sentimental wish +to die in London--that's the history of Mr. Maturin. If it +doesn't hit you hard, Bunny, you're the first. But it hit +friend Theobald hardest of all. I'm an income to him. I +believe he's going to marry on me." + +"Does he guess there's nothing wrong?" + +"Knows, bless you! But he doesn't know I know he knows, and +there isn't a disease in the dictionary that he hasn't treated +me for since he's had me in hand. To do him justice, I believe +he thinks me a hypochondriac of the first water; but that young +man will go far if he keeps on the wicket. He has spent half +his nights up here, at guineas apiece." + +"Guineas must be plentiful, old chap!" + +"They have been, Bunny. I can't say more. But I don't see why +they shouldn't be again." + +I was not going to inquire where the guineas came from. As if I +cared! But I did ask old Raffles how in the world he had got +upon my tracks; and thereby drew the sort of smile with which +old gentlemen rub their hands, and old ladies nod their noses. +Raffles merely produced a perfect oval of blue smoke before +replying. + +"I was waiting for you to ask that, Bunny; it's a long time +since I did anything upon which I plume myself more. Of course, +in the first place, I spotted you at once by these prison +articles; they were not signed, but the fist was the fist of my +sitting rabbit!" + +"But who gave you my address?" + +"I wheedled it out of your excellent editor; called on him at +dead of night, when I occasionally go afield like other ghosts, +and wept it out of him in five minutes. I was your only +relative; your name was not your own name; if he insisted I +would give him mine. He didn't insist, Bunny, and I danced down +his stairs with your address in my pocket." + +"Last night?" + +"No, last week." + +"And so the advertisement was yours, as well as the telegram!" + +I had, of course, forgotten both in the high excitement of the +hour, or I should scarcely have announced my belated discovery +with such an air. As it was I made Raffles look at me as I had +known him look before, and the droop of his eyelids began to +sting. + +"Why all this subtlety?" I petulantly exclaimed. "Why couldn't +you come straight away to me in a cab?" + +He did not inform me that I was hopeless as ever. He did not +address me as his good rabbit. + +He was silent for a time, and then spoke in a tone which made me +ashamed of mine. + +"You see, there are two or three of me now, Bunny: one's at the +bottom of the Mediterranean, and one's an old Australian +desirous of dying in the old country, but in no immediate danger +of dying anywhere. The old Australian doesn't know a soul in +town; he's got to be consistent, or he's done. This sitter +Theobald is his only friend, and has seen rather too much of +him; ordinary dust won't do for his eyes. Begin to see? To +pick you out of a crowd, that was the game; to let old Theobald +help to pick you, better still! To start with, he was dead +against my having anybody at all; wanted me all to himself, +naturally; but anything rather than kill the goose! So he is +to have a fiver a week while he keeps me alive, and he's going +to be married next month. That's a pity in some ways, but a +good thing in others; he will want more money than he foresees, +and he may always be of use to us at a pinch. Meanwhile he +eats out of my hand." + +I complimented Raffles on the mere composition of his telegram, +with half the characteristics of my distinguished kinsman +squeezed into a dozen odd words; and let him know how the old +ruffian had really treated me. Raffles was not surprised; we had +dined together at my relative's in the old days, and filed for +reference a professional valuation of his household gods. I now +learnt that the telegram had been posted, with the hour marked +for its despatch, at the pillar nearest Vere Street, on the +night before the advertisement was due to appear in the Daily +Mail. This also had been carefully prearranged; and Raffles's +only fear had been lest it might be held over despite his +explicit instructions, and so drive me to the doctor for an +explanation of his telegram. But the adverse chances had been +weeded out and weeded out to the irreducible minimum of risk. + +His greatest risk, according to Raffles, lay nearest home: +bedridden invalid that he was supposed to be, his nightly terror +was of running into Theobald's arms in the immediate +neighborhood of the flat. But Raffles had characteristic +methods of minimizing even that danger, of which something +anon; meanwhile he recounted more than one of his nocturnal +adventures, all, however, of a singularly innocent type; and one +thing I noticed while he talked. His room was the first as you +entered the flat. The long inner wall divided the room not +merely from the passage but from the outer landing as well. +Thus every step upon the bare stone stairs could be heard by +Raffles where he lay; and he would never speak while one was +ascending, until it had passed his door. The afternoon brought +more than one applicant for the post which it was my duty to +tell them that I had already obtained. Between three and four, +however, Raffles, suddenly looking at his watch, packed me off +in a hurry to the other end of London for my things. + +"I'm afraid you must be famishing, Bunny. It's a fact that I +eat very little, and that at odd hours, but I ought not to have +forgotten you. Get yourself a snack outside, but not a square +meal if you can resist one. We've got to celebrate this day +this night!" + +"To-night?" I cried. + +"To-night at eleven, and Kellner's the place. You may well open +your eyes, but we didn't go there much, if you remember, and the +staff seems changed. Anyway we'll risk it for once. I was in +last night, talking like a stage American, and supper's ordered +for eleven sharp." + +"You made as sure of me as all that!" + +"There was no harm in ordering supper. We shall have it in a +private room, but you may as well dress if you've got the duds." + +"They're at my only forgiving relative's." + + "How much will get them out, and square you up, and bring you +back bag and baggage in good time?" + +I had to calculate. + +"A tenner, easily." + +"I had one ready for you. Here it is, and I wouldn't lose any +time if I were you. On the way you might look up Theobald, tell +him you've got it and how long you'll be gone, and that I can't +be left alone all the time. And, by Jove, yes! You get me a +stall for the Lyceum at the nearest agent's; there are two or +three in High Street; and say it was given you when you come in. +That young man shall be out of the way to-night." + +I found our doctor in a minute consulting-room and his +shirt-sleeves, a tall tumbler at his elbow; at least I caught +sight of the tumbler on entering; thereafter he stood in front +of it, with a futility which had my sympathy. + +"So you've got the billet," said Dr. Theobald. "Well, as I told +you before, and as you have since probably discovered for +yourself, you won't find it exactly a sinecure. My own part of +the business is by no means that; indeed, there are those who +would throw up the case, after the kind of treatment that you +have seen for yourself. But professional considerations are not +the only ones, and one cannot make too many allowances in such a +case." + +"But what is the case?" I asked him. "You said you would tell +me if I was successful." + +Dr. Theobald's shrug was worthy of the profession he seemed +destined to adorn; it was not incompatible with any construction +which one chose to put upon it. Next moment he had stiffened. +I suppose I still spoke more or less like a gentleman. Yet, +after all, I was only the male nurse. He seemed to remember +this suddenly, and he took occasion to remind me of the fact. + +"Ah," said he, "that was before I knew you were altogether +without experience; and I must say that I was surprised even at +Mr. Maturin's engaging you after that; but it will depend upon +yourself how long I allow him to persist in so curious an +experiment. As for what is the matter with him, my good fellow, +it is no use my giving you an answer which would be double Dutch +to you; moreover, I have still to test your discretionary +powers. I may say, however, that that poor gentleman presents +at once the most complex and most troublesome case, which is +responsibility enough without certain features which make it all +but insupportable. Beyond this I must refuse to discuss my +patient for the present; but I shall certainly go up if I can +find time." + +He went up within five minutes. I found him there on my return +at dusk. But he did not refuse my stall for the Lyceum, which +Raffles would not allow me to use myself, and presented to him +off-hand without my leave. + +"And don't you bother any more about me till to-morrow," snapped +the high thin voice as he was off. "I can send for you now when +I want you, and I'm hoping to have a decent night for once." + + +III + +It was half-past ten when we left the flat, in an interval of +silence on the noisy stairs. The silence was unbroken by our +wary feet. Yet for me a surprise was in store upon the very +landing. Instead of going downstairs, Raffles led me up two +flights, and so out upon a perfectly flat roof. + +"There are two entrances to these mansions," he explained +between stars and chimney-stacks: "one to our staircase, and +another round the corner. But there's only one porter, and he +lives on the basement underneath us, and affects the door +nearest home. We miss him by using the wrong stairs, and we run +less risk of old Theobald. I got the tip from the postmen, who +come up one way and down the other. Now, follow me, and look +out!" + +There was indeed some necessity for caution, for each half of the +building had its L-shaped well dropping sheer to the base, the +parapets so low that one might easily have tripped over them +into eternity. However, we were soon upon the second staircase, +which opened on the roof like the first. And twenty minutes of +the next twenty-five we spent in an admirable hansom, skimming +east. + +"Not much change in the old hole, Bunny. More of these +magic-lantern advertisements . . . and absolutely the worst bit +of taste in town, though it's saying something, in that +equestrian statue with the gilt stirrups and fixings; why don't +they black the buffer's boots and his horse's hoofs while they +are about it? . . . More bicyclists, of course. That was just +beginning, if you remember. It might have been useful to us. . +. . And there's the old club, getting put into a crate for the +Jubilee; by Jove, Bunny, we ought to be there. I wouldn't lean +forward in Piccadilly, old chap. If you're seen I'm thought of, +and we shall have to be jolly careful at Kellner's. . . . Ah, +there it is! Did I tell you I was a low-down stage Yankee at +Kellner's? You'd better be another, while the waiter's in the +room." + +We had the little room upstairs; and on the very threshold I, +even I, who knew my Raffles of old, was taken horribly aback. +The table was laid for three. I called his attention to it in a +whisper. + +"Why, yep!" came through his nose. "Say, boy, the lady, she's +not comin', but you leave that tackle where 'tis. If I'm liable +to pay, I guess I'll have all there is to it." + +I have never been in America, and the American public is the +last on earth that I desire to insult; but idiom and intonation +alike would have imposed upon my inexperience. I had to look at +Raffles to make sure that it was he who spoke, and I had my own +reasons for looking hard. + +"Who on earth was the lady?" I inquired aghast at the first +opportunity. + +"She isn't on earth. They don't like wasting this room on two, +that's all. Bunny--my Bunny--here's to us both!" + +And we clinked glasses swimming with the liquid gold of +Steinberg, 1868; but of the rare delights of that supper I can +scarcely trust myself to write. It was no mere meal, it was no +coarse orgy, but a little feast for the fastidious gods, not +unworthy of Lucullus at his worst. And I who had bolted my +skilly at Wormwood Scrubbs, and tightened my belt in a Holloway +attic, it was I who sat down to this ineffable repast! Where +the courses were few, but each a triumph of its kind, it would +be invidious to single out any one dish; but the Jambon de +Westphalie au Champagne tempts me sorely. And then the champagne +that we drank, not the quantity but the quality! Well, it was +Pol Roger, '84, and quite good enough for me; but even so it was +not more dry, nor did it sparkle more, than the merry rascal +who had dragged me thus far to the devil, but should lead me +dancing the rest of the way. I was beginning to tell him so. I +had done my honest best since my reappearance in the world; but +the world had done its worst by me. A further antithesis and my +final intention were both upon my tongue when the waiter with +the Chateau Margaux cut me short; for he was the bearer of more +than that great wine; bringing also a card upon a silver tray. + +"Show him up," said Raffles, laconically. + +"And who is this?" I cried when the man was gone. Raffles +reached across the table and gripped my arm in a vice. His eyes +were steel points fixed on mine. + +"Bunny, stand by me," said he in the old irresistible voice, a +voice both stern and winning. "Stand by me, Bunny--if there's a +row!" + +And there was time for nothing more, the door flying open, and a +dapper person entering with a bow; a frock-coat on his back, +gold pince-nez on his nose; a shiny hat in one hand, and a black +bag in the other. + +"Good-evening, gentlemen," said he, at home and smiling. + +"Sit down," drawled Raffles in casual response. "Say, let me +introduce you to Mr. Ezra B. Martin, of Shicawgo. Mr. Martin is +my future brother-in-law. This is Mr. Robinson, Ezra, manager to +Sparks & Company, the cellerbrated joolers on Re-gent Street." + +I pricked up my ears, but contented myself with a nod. I +altogether distrusted my ability to live up to my new name and +address. + +"I figured on Miss Martin bein' right here, too," continued +Raffles, "but I regret to say she's not feelin' so good. We +light out for Parrus on the 9 A. M. train to-morrer mornin', and +she guessed she'd be too dead. Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. +Robinson; but you'll see I'm advertisin' your wares." + +Raffles held his right hand under the electric light, and a +diamond ring flashed upon his little finger. I could have sworn +it was not there five minutes before. + +The tradesman had a disappointed face, but for a moment it +brightened as he expatiated on the value of that ring and on the +price his people had accepted for it. I was invited to guess the +figure, but I shook a discreet head. I have seldom been more +taciturn in my life. + +"Forty-five pounds," cried the jeweller; "and it would be cheap +at fifty guineas." + +"That's right," assented Raffles. "That'd be dead cheap, I +allow. But then, my boy, you gotten ready cash, and don't you +forget it." + +I do not dwell upon my own mystification in all this. I merely +pause to state that I was keenly enjoying that very element. +Nothing could have been more typical of Raffles and the past. +It was only my own attitude that was changed. + +It appeared that the mythical lady, my sister, had just become +engaged to Raffles, who seemed all anxiety to pin her down with +gifts of price. I could not quite gather whose gift to whom was +the diamond ring; but it had evidently been paid for; and I +voyaged to the moon, wondering when and how. I was recalled to +this planet by a deluge of gems from the jeweller's bag. They +lay alight in their cases like the electric lamps above. We all +three put our heads together over them, myself without the +slightest clew as to what was coming, but not unprepared for +violent crime. One does not do eighteen months for nothing. + +"Right away," Raffles was saying. "We'll choose for her, and +you'll change anything she don't like. Is that the idea?" + +"That was my suggestion, sir." + +"Then come on, Ezra. I guess you know Sadie's taste. You help +me choose." + +And we chose--lord! What did we not choose? There was her ring, +a diamond half-hoop. It cost L95, and there was no attempt to +get it for L90. Then there was a diamond necklet--two hundred +guineas, but pounds accepted. That was to be the gift of the +bridegroom. The wedding was evidently imminent. It behooved me +to play a brotherly part. I therefore rose to the occasion; +calculated she would like a diamond star (L116), but reckoned it +was more than I could afford; and sustained a vicious kick under +the table for either verb. I was afraid to open my mouth on +finally obtaining the star for the round hundred. And then the +fat fell in the fire; for pay we could not; though a remittance +(said Raffles) was "overdo from Noo York." + +"But I don't know you, gentlemen," the jeweller exclaimed. "I +haven't even the name of your hotel!" + +"I told you we was stoppin' with friends," said Raffles, who was +not angry, though thwarted and crushed. "But that's right, sir! +Oh, that's dead right, and I'm the last man to ask you to take +Quixotic risks. I'm tryin' to figure a way out. Yes, SIR, +that's what I'm tryin' to do." + +"I wish you could, sir," the jeweller said, with feeling. "It +isn't as if we hadn't seen the color of your money. But certain +rules I'm sworn to observe; it isn't as if I was in business for +myself; and--you say you start for Paris in the morning!" + +"On the 9 A. M. train," mused Raffles; "and I've heard no-end +yarns about the joolers' stores in Parrus. But that ain't fair; +don't you take no notice o' that. I'm tryin' to figure a way +out. Yes, SIR!" + +He was smoking cigarettes out of a twenty-five box; the +tradesman and I had cigars. Raffles sat frowning with a +pregnant eye, and it was only too clear to me that his plans had +miscarried. I could not help thinking, however, that they +deserved to do so, if he had counted upon buying credit for all +but L400 by a single payment of some ten per cent. That again +seemed unworthy of Raffles, and I, for my part, still sat +prepared to spring any moment at our visitor's throat. + +"We could mail you the money from Parrus," drawled Raffles at +length. "But how should we know you'd hold up your end of the +string, and mail us the same articles we've selected to-night?" + +The visitor stiffened in his chair. The name of his firm should +be sufficient guarantee for that. + +"I guess I'm no better acquainted with their name than they are +with mine," remarked Raffles, laughing. "See here, though! I +got a scheme. You pack 'em in this!" + +He turned the cigarettes out of the tin box, while the jeweller +and I joined wondering eyes. + +"Pack 'em in this," repeated Raffles, "the three things we want, +and never mind the boxes; you can pack 'em in cotton-wool. Then +we'll ring for string and sealing wax, seal up the lot right +here, and you can take 'em away in your grip. Within three +days we'll have our remittance, and mail you the money, and +you'll mail us this darned box with my seal unbroken! It's no +use you lookin' so sick, Mr. Jooler; you won't trust us any, and +yet we're goin' to trust you some. Ring the bell, Ezra, and +we'll see if they've gotten any sealing-wax and string." + +They had; and the thing was done. The tradesman did not like +it; the precaution was absolutely unnecessary; but since he was +taking all his goods away with him, the sold with the unsold, +his sentimental objections soon fell to the ground. He packed +necklet, ring, and star, with his own hands, in cotton-wool; and +the cigarette-box held them so easily that at the last moment, +when the box was closed, and the string ready, Raffles very +nearly added a diamond bee-brooch at L51 10s. This temptation, +however, he ultimately overcame, to the other's chagrin. The +cigarette-box was tied up, and the string sealed, oddly enough, +with the diamond of the ring that had been bought and paid for. + +"I'll chance you having another ring in the store the dead spit +of mine," laughed Raffles, as he relinquished the box, and it +disappeared into the tradesman's bag. "And now, Mr. Robinson, I +hope you'll appreciate my true hospitality in not offering you +any thing to drink while business was in progress. That's +Chateau Margaux, sir, and I should judge it's what you'd call an +eighteen-carat article." + +In the cab which we took to the vicinity of the flat, I was +instantly snubbed for asking questions which the driver might +easily overhear, and took the repulse just a little to heart. I +could make neither head nor tail of Raffles's dealings with the +man from Regent Street, and was naturally inquisitive as to the +meaning of it all. But I held my tongue until we had regained +the flat in the cautious manner of our exit, and even there +until Raffles rallied me with a hand on either shoulder and an +old smile upon his face. + +"You rabbit!" said he. "Why couldn't you wait till we got home?" + +"Why couldn't you tell me what you were going to do?" I retorted +as of yore. + +"Because your dear old phiz is still worth its weight in +innocence, and because you never could act for nuts! You looked +as puzzled as the other poor devil; but you wouldn't if you had +known what my game really was." + +"And pray what was it?" + +"That," said Raffles, and he smacked the cigarette-box down upon +the mantelpiece. It was not tied. It was not sealed. It flew +open from the force of the impact. And the diamond ring that +cost L95, the necklet for L200, and my flaming star at another +L100, all three lay safe and snug in the jeweller's own +cotton-wool! + +"Duplicate boxes!" I cried. + +"Duplicate boxes, my brainy Bunny. One was already packed and +weighted, and in my pocket. I don't know whether you noticed me +weighing the three things together in my hand? I know that +neither of you saw me change the boxes, for I did it when I was +nearest buying the bee-brooch at the end, and you were too +puzzled, and the other Johnny too keen. It was the cheapest +shot in the game; the dear ones were sending old Theobald to +Southampton on a fool's errand yesterday afternoon, and showing +one's own nose down Regent Street in broad daylight while he was +gone; but some things are worth paying for, and certain risks +one must always take. Nice boxes, aren't they? I only wished +they contained a better cigarette; but a notorious brand was +essential; a box of Sullivans would have brought me to life +to-morrow." + +"But they oughtn't to open it to-morrow." + +"Nor will they, as a matter of fact. Meanwhile, Bunny, I may +call upon you to dispose of the boodle." + +"I'm on for any mortal thing!" + +My voice rang true, I swear, but it was the way of Raffles to +take the evidence of as many senses as possible. I felt the +cold steel of his eyes through mine and through my brain. But +what he saw seemed to satisfy him no less than what he heard, +for his hand found my hand, and pressed it with a fervor foreign +to the man. + +"I know you are, and I knew you would be. Only remember, Bunny, +it's my turn next to pay the shot!" + +You shall hear how he paid it when the time came. + + +A JUBILEE PRESENT + +The Room of Gold, in the British Museum, is probably well enough +known to the inquiring alien and the travelled American. A true +Londoner, however, I myself had never heard of it until Raffles +casually proposed a raid. + +"The older I grow, Bunny, the less I think of your so-called +precious stones. When did they ever bring in half their market +value in L. s. d. There was the first little crib we ever +cracked together--you with your innocent eyes shut. A thousand +pounds that stuff was worth; but how many hundreds did it +actually fetch. The Ardagh emeralds weren't much better; old +Lady Melrose's necklace was far worse; but that little lot the +other night has about finished me. A cool hundred for goods +priced well over four; and L35 to come off for bait, since we +only got a tenner for the ring I bought and paid for like an +ass. I'll be shot if I ever touch a diamond again! Not if it +was the Koh-I-noor; those few whacking stones are too well +known, and to cut them up is to decrease their value by +arithmetical retrogression. Besides, that brings you up against +the Fence once more, and I'm done with the beggars for good and +all. You talk about your editors and publishers, you literary +swine. Barabbas was neither a robber nor a publisher, but a +six-barred, barbed-wired, spike-topped Fence. What we really +want is an Incorporated Society of Thieves, with some +public-spirited old forger to run it for us on business lines." + +Raffles uttered these blasphemies under his breath, not, I am +afraid, out of any respect for my one redeeming profession, but +because we were taking a midnight airing on the roof, after a +whole day of June in the little flat below. The stars shone +overhead, the lights of London underneath, and between the lips +of Raffles a cigarette of the old and only brand. I had sent in +secret for a box of the best; the boon had arrived that night; +and the foregoing speech was the first result. I could afford +to ignore the insolent asides, however, where the apparent +contention was so manifestly unsound. + +"And how are you going to get rid of your gold?" said I, +pertinently. + +"Nothing easier, my dear rabbit." + +"Is your Room of Gold a roomful of sovereigns?" + +Raffles laughed softly at my scorn. + +"No, Bunny, it's principally in the shape of archaic ornaments, +whose value, I admit, is largely extrinsic. But gold is gold, +from Phoenicia to Klondike, and if we cleared the room we +should eventually do very well." + +"How?" + +"I should melt it down into a nugget, and bring it home from the +U.S.A. to-morrow." + +"And then?" + +"Make them pay up in hard cash across the counter of the Bank of +England. And you CAN make them." + +That I knew, and so said nothing for a time, remaining a hostile +though a silent critic, while we paced the cool black leads with +our bare feet, softly as cats. + +"And how do you propose to get enough away," at length I asked, +"to make it worth while?" + +"Ah, there you have it," said Raffles. "I only propose to +reconnoitre the ground, to see what we can see. We might find +some hiding-place for a night; that, I am afraid, would be our +only chance." + +"Have you ever been there before?" + +"Not since they got the one good, portable piece which I believe +that they exhibit now. It's a long time since I read of it--I +can't remember where--but I know they have got a gold cup of +sorts worth several thousands. A number of the immorally rich +clubbed together and presented it to the nation; and two of the +richly immoral intend to snaffle it for themselves. At any rate +we might go and have a look at it, Bunny, don't you think?" + +Think! I seized his arm. + +"When? When? When?" I asked, like a quick-firing gun. + +"The sooner the better, while old Theobald's away on his +honeymoon." + +Our medico had married the week before, nor was any +fellow-practitioner taking his work--at least not that +considerable branch of it which consisted of Raffles--during his +brief absence from town. There were reasons, delightfully +obvious to us, why such a plan would have been highly unwise in +Dr. Theobald. I, however, was sending him daily screeds, and +both matutinal and nocturnal telegrams, the composition of which +afforded Raffles not a little enjoyment. + +"Well, then, when--when?" I began to repeat. + +"To-morrow, if you like." + +"Only to look?" + +The limitation was my one regret. + +"We must do so, Bunny, before we leap." + +"Very well," I sighed. "But to-morrow it is!" + +And the morrow it really was. + +I saw the porter that night, and, I still think, bought his +absolute allegiance for the second coin of the realm. My story, +however, invented by Raffles, was sufficiently specious in +itself. That sick gentleman, Mr. Maturin (as I had to remem-ber +to call him), was really, or apparently, sickening for fresh +air. Dr. Theobald would allow him none; he was pestering me for +just one day in the country while the glorious weather lasted. +I was myself convinced that no possible harm could come of the +experiment. Would the porter help me in so innocent and +meritorious an intrigue? The man hesitated. I produced my +half-sovereign. The man was lost. And at half-past eight next +morning--before the heat of the day--Raffles and I drove to Kew +Gardens in a hired landau which was to call for us at mid-day +and wait until we came. The porter had assisted me to carry my +invalid downstairs, in a carrying-chair hired (like the landau) +from Harrod's Stores for the occasion. + +It was little after nine when we crawled together into the +gardens; by half-past my invalid had had enough, and out he +tottered on my arm; a cab, a message to our coachman, a timely +train to Baker Street, another cab, and we were at the British +Museum--brisk pedestrians now--not very many minutes after the +opening hour of 10 A.M. + +It was one of those glowing days which will not be forgotten by +many who were in town at the time. The Diamond Jubilee was upon +us, and Queen's weather had already set in. Raffles, indeed, +declared it was as hot as Italy and Australia put together; and +certainly the short summer nights gave the channels of wood and +asphalt and the continents of brick and mortar but little time +to cool. At the British Museum the pigeons were crooning among +the shadows of the grimy colonnade, and the stalwart janitors +looked less stalwart than usual, as though their medals were too +heavy for them. I recognized some habitual Readers going to +their labor underneath the dome; of mere visitors we seemed +among the first. + +"That's the room," said Raffles, who had bought the two-penny +guide, as we studied it openly on the nearest bench; "number 43, +upstairs and sharp round to the right. Come on, Bunny!" + +And he led the way in silence, but with a long methodical stride +which I could not understand until we came to the corridor +leading to the Room of Gold, when he turned to me for a moment. + +"A hundred and thirty-nine yards from this to the open street," +said Raffles, "not counting the stairs. I suppose we COULD do +it in twenty seconds, but if we did we should have to jump the +gates. No, you must remember to loaf out at slow march, Bunny, +whether you like it or not." + +"But you talked about a hiding-place for a night?" + +"Quite so--for all night. We should have to get back, go on +lying low, and saunter out with the crowd next day--after doing +the whole show thoroughly." + +"What! With gold in our pockets--" + +"And gold in our boots, and gold up the sleeves and legs of our +suits! You leave that to me, Bunny, and wait till you've tried +two pairs of trousers sewn together at the foot! This is only +a preliminary reconnoitre. And here we are." + +It is none of my business to describe the so-called Room of +Gold, with which I, for one, was not a little disappointed. The +glass cases, which both fill and line it, may contain unique +examples of the goldsmith's art in times and places of which +one heard quite enough in the course of one's classical +education; but, from a professional point of view, I would as +lief have the ransacking of a single window in the West End as +the pick of all those spoils of Etruria and of ancient Greece. +The gold may not be so soft as it appears, but it certainly +looks as though you could bite off the business ends of the +spoons, and stop your own teeth in doing so. Nor should I care +to be seen wearing one of the rings; but the greatest fraud of +all (from the aforesaid standpoint) is assuredly that very cup +of which Raffles had spoken. Moreover, he felt this himself. + +"Why, it's as thin as paper," said he, "and enamelled like a +middle-aged lady of quality! But, by Jove, it's one of the most +beautiful things I ever saw in my life, Bunny. I should like to +have it for its own sake, by all my gods!" + +The thing had a little square case of plate-glass all to itself +at one end of the room. It may have been the thing of beauty +that Raffles affected to consider it, but I for my part was in +no mood to look at it in that light. Underneath were the names +of the plutocrats who had subscribed for this national gewgaw, +and I fell to wondering where their L8,000 came in, while +Raffles devoured his two-penny guide-book as greedily as a +school-girl with a zeal for culture. + +"Those are scenes from the martyrdom of St. Agnes," said he . . +. "'translucent on relief . . . one of the finest specimens of +its kind.' I should think it was! Bunny, you Philistine, why +can't you admire the thing for its own sake? It would be worth +having only to live up to! There never was such rich enamelling +on such thin gold; and what a good scheme to hang the lid up +over it, so that you can see how thin it is. I wonder if we +could lift it, Bunny, by hook or crook?" + +"You'd better try, sir," said a dry voice at his elbow. + +The madman seemed to think we had the room to ourselves. I knew +better, but, like another madman, had let him ramble on +unchecked. And here was a stolid constable confronting us, in +the short tunic that they wear in summer, his whistle on its +chain, but no truncheon at his side. Heavens! how I see him +now: a man of medium size, with a broad, good-humored, +perspiring face, and a limp moustache. He looked sternly at +Raffles, and Raffles looked merrily at him. + +"Going to run me in, officer?" said he. "That WOULD be a +joke--my hat!" + +"I didn't say as I was, sir," replied the policeman. "But +that's queer talk for a gentleman like you, sir, in the British +Museum!" And he wagged his helmet at my invalid, who had taken +his airing in frock-coat and top-hat, the more readily to +assume his present part. + +"What!" cried Raffles, "simply saying to my friend that I'd like +to lift the gold cup? Why, so I should, officer, so I should! +I don't mind who hears me say so. It's one of the most beautiful +things I ever saw in all my life." + +The constable's face had already relaxed, and now a grin peeped +under the limp moustache. "I daresay there's many as feels like +that, sir," said he. + +"Exactly; and I say what I feel, that's all," said Raffles +airily. "But seriously, officer, is a valuable thing like this +quite safe in a case like that?" + +"Safe enough as long as I'm here," replied the other, between +grim jest and stout earnest. Raffles studied his face; he was +still watching Raffles; and I kept an eye on them both without +putting in my word. + +"You appear to be single-handed," observed Raffles. "Is that +wise?" + +The note of anxiety was capitally caught; it was at once +personal and public-spirited, that of the enthusiastic savant, +afraid for a national treasure which few appreciated as he did +himself. And, to be sure, the three of us now had this treasury +to ourselves; one or two others had been there when we entered; +but now they were gone. + +"I'm not single-handed," said the officer, comfortably. "See +that seat by the door? One of the attendants sits there all day +long." + +"Then where is he now?" + +"Talking to another attendant just outside. If you listen +you'll hear them for yourself." + +We listened, and we did hear them, but not just outside. In my +own mind I even questioned whether they were in the corridor +through which we had come; to me it sounded as though they were +just outside the corridor. + +"You mean the fellow with the billiard-cue who was here when we +came in?" pursued Raffles. + +"That wasn't a billiard-cue! It was a pointer," the intelligent +officer explained. + +"It ought to be a javelin," said Raffles, nervously. "It ought +to be a poleaxe! The public treasure ought to be better guarded +than this. I shall write to the Times about it--you see if I +don't!" + +All at once, yet somehow not so suddenly as to excite suspicion, +Raffles had become the elderly busybody with nerves; why, I +could not for the life of me imagine; and the policeman seemed +equally at sea. + +"Lor' bless you, sir," said he, "I'm all right; don't you bother +your head about ME." + +"But you haven't even got a truncheon!" + +"Not likely to want one either. You see, sir, it's early as +yet; in a few minutes these here rooms will fill up; and there's +safety in numbers, as they say." + +"Oh, it will fill up soon, will it?" + +"Any minute now, sir." + +"Ah!" + +"It isn't often empty as long as this, sir. It's the Jubilee, I +suppose." + +"Meanwhile, what if my friend and I had been professional +thieves? Why, we could have over-powered you in an instant, my +good fellow!" + +"That you couldn't; leastways, not without bringing the whole +place about your ears." + +"Well, I shall write to the Times, all the same. I'm a +connoisseur in all this sort of thing, and I won't have +unnecessary risks run with the nation's property. You said +there was an attendant just outside, but he sounds to me as +though he were at the other end of the corridor. I shall write +to-day!" + +For an instant we all three listened; and Raffles was right. +Then I saw two things in one glance. Raffles had stepped a few +inches backward, and stood poised upon the ball of each foot, +his arms half raised, a light in his eyes. And another kind of +light was breaking over the crass features of our friend the +constable. + +"Then shall I tell you what I'LL do?" he cried, with a sudden +clutch at the whistle-chain on his chest. The whistle flew out, +but it never reached his lips. There were a couple of sharp +smacks, like double barrels discharged all but simultaneously, +and the man reeled against me so that I could not help catching +him as he fell. + +"Well done, Bunny! I've knocked him out--I've knocked him out! +Run you to the door and see if the attendants have heard +anything, and take them on if they have." + +Mechanically I did as I was told. There was no time for +thought, still less for remonstrance or reproach, though my +surprise must have been even more complete than that of the +constable before Raffles knocked the sense out of him. Even in +my utter bewilderment, however, the instinctive caution of the +real criminal did not desert me. I ran to the door, but I +sauntered through it, to plant myself before a Pompeiian fresco +in the corridor; and there were the two attendants still +gossiping outside the further door; nor did they hear the dull +crash which I heard even as I watched them out of the corner of +each eye. + +It was hot weather, as I have said, but the perspiration on my +body seemed already to have turned into a skin of ice. Then I +caught the faint reflection of my own face in the casing of the +fresco, and it frightened me into some semblance of myself as +Raffles joined me with his hands in his pockets. But my fear +and indignation were redoubled at the sight of him, when a +single glance convinced me that his pockets were as empty as his +hands, and his mad outrage the most wanton and reckless of his +whole career. + +"Ah, very interesting, very interesting, but nothing to what +they have in the museum at Naples or in Pompeii itself. You +must go there some day, Bunny. I've a good mind to take you +myself. Meanwhile--slow march! The beggar hasn't moved an +eyelid. We may swing for him if you show indecent haste!" + +"We!" I whispered. "We!" + +And my knees knocked together as we came up to the chatting +attendants. But Raffles must needs interrupt them to ask the +way to the Prehistoric Saloon. + +"At the top of the stairs." + +"Thank you. Then we'll work round that way to the Egyptian +part." + +And we left them resuming their providential chat. + +"I believe you're mad," I said bitterly as we went. + +"I believe I was," admitted Raffles; "but I'm not now, and I'll +see you through. A hundred and thirty-nine yards, wasn't it? +Then it can't be more than a hundred and twenty now--not as +much. Steady, Bunny, for God's sake. It's SLOW march--for our +lives." + +There was this much management. The rest was our colossal luck. +A hansom was being paid off at the foot of the steps outside, +and in we jumped, Raffles shouting "Charing Cross!" for all +Bloomsbury to hear. + +We had turned into Bloomsbury Street without exchanging a +syllable when he struck the trap-door with his fist. + +"Where the devil are you driving us?" + +"Charing Cross, sir." + +"I said King's Cross! Round you spin, and drive like blazes, or +we miss our train! There's one to York at 10:35," added Raffles +as the trap-door slammed; "we'll book there, Bunny, and then +we'll slope through the subway to the Metropolitan, and so to +ground via Baker Street and Earl's Court." + +And actually in half an hour he was seated once more in the +hired carrying chair, while the porter and I staggered upstairs +with my decrepit charge, for whose shattered strength even one +hour in Kew Gardens had proved too much! Then, and not until +then, when we had got rid of the porter and were alone at last, +did I tell Raffles, in the most nervous English at my command, +frankly and exactly what I thought of him and of his latest +deed. Once started, moreover, I spoke as I have seldom spoken +to living man; and Raffles, of all men, stood my abuse without a +murmur; or rather he sat it out, too astounded even to take off +his hat, though I thought his eyebrows would have lifted it from +his head. + +"But it always was your infernal way," I was savagely +concluding. "You make one plan, and yet you tell me another--" + +"Not to-day, Bunny, I swear!" + +"You mean to tell me you really did start with the bare idea of +finding a place to hide in for a night?" + +"Of course I did." + +"It was to be the mere reconnoitre you pretended?" + +"There was no pretence about it, Bunny." + +"Then why on earth go and do what you did?" + +"The reason would be obvious to anyone but you," said Raffles, +still with no unkindly scorn. "It was the temptation of a +minute--the final impulse of the fraction of a second, when +Roberto saw that I was tempted, and let me see that he saw it. +It's not a thing I care to do, and I sha'n't be happy till the +papers tell me the poor devil is alive. But a knock-out shot was +the only chance for us then." + +"Why? You don't get run in for being tempted, nor yet for +showing that you are!" + +"But I should have deserved running in if I hadn't yielded to +such a temptation as that, Bunny. It was a chance in a hundred +thousand! We might go there every day of our lives, and never +again be the only outsiders in the room, with the +billiard-marking Johnnie practically out of ear-shot at one and +the same time. It was a gift from the gods; not to have taken +it would have been flying in the face of Providence." + +"But you didn't take it," said I. "You went and left it +behind." + +I wish I had had a Kodak for the little smile with which Raffles +shook his head, for it was one that he kept for those great +moments of which our vocation is not devoid. All this time he +had been wearing his hat, tilted a little over eyebrows no +longer raised. And now at last I knew where the gold cup was. + +It stood for days upon his chimney-piece, this costly trophy +whose ancient history and final fate filled newspaper columns +even in these days of Jubilee, and for which the flower of +Scotland Yard was said to be seeking high and low. Our +constable, we learnt, had been stunned only, and, from the +moment that I brought him an evening paper with the news, +Raffles's spirits rose to a height inconsistent with his equable +temperament, and as unusual in him as the sudden impulse upon +which he had acted with such effect. The cup itself appealed to +me no more than it had done before. Exquisite it might be, +handsome it was, but so light in the hand that the mere gold of +it would scarcely have poured three figures out of melting-pot. +And what said Raffles but that he would never melt it at all! + +"Taking it was an offence against the laws of the land, Bunny. +That is nothing. But destroying it would be a crime against God +and Art, and may I be spitted on the vane of St. Mary Abbot's +if I commit it!" + +Talk such as this was unanswerable; indeed, the whole affair had +passed the pale of useful comment; and the one course left to a +practical person was to shrug his shoulders and enjoy the joke. +This was not a little enhanced by the newspaper reports, which +described Raffles as a handsome youth, and his unwilling +accomplice as an older man of blackguardly appearance and low +type. + +"Hits us both off rather neatly, Bunny," said he. "But what +none of them do justice to is my dear cup. Look at it; only +look at it, man! Was ever anything so rich and yet so chaste? +St. Agnes must have had a pretty bad time, but it would be +almost worth it to go down to posterity in such enamel upon such +gold. And then the history of the thing. Do you realize that +it's five hundred years old and has belonged to Henry the +Eighth and to Elizabeth among others? Bunny, when you have me +cremated, you can put my ashes in yonder cup, and lay us in the +deep-delved earth together!" + +"And meanwhile?" + +"It is the joy of my heart, the light of my life, the delight of +mine eye." + +"And suppose other eyes catch sight of it?" + +"They never must; they never shall." + +Raffles would have been too absurd had he not been thoroughly +alive to his own absurdity; there was nevertheless an underlying +sincerity in his appreciation of any and every form of beauty, +which all his nonsense could not conceal. And his infatuation +for the cup was, as he declared, a very pure passion, since the +circum-stances debarred him from the chief joy of the average +collector, that of showing his treasure to his friends. At last, +however, and at the height of his craze, Raffles and reason +seemed to come together again as suddenly as they had parted +company in the Room of Gold. + +"Bunny," he cried, flinging his newspaper across the room, "I've +got an idea after your own heart. I know where I can place it +after all!" + +"Do you mean the cup?" + +"I do." + +"Then I congratulate you." + +"Thanks." + +"Upon the recovery of your senses." + +"Thanks galore. But you've been confoundedly unsympathetic +about this thing, Bunny, and I don't think I shall tell you my +scheme till I've carried it out." + +"Quite time enough," said I. + +"It will mean your letting me loose for an hour or two under +cloud of this very night. To-morrow's Sunday, the Jubilee's on +Tuesday, and old Theobald's coming back for it." + +"It doesn't much matter whether he's back or not if you go late +enough." + +"I mustn't be late. They don't keep open. No, it's no use your +asking any questions. Go out and buy me a big box of Huntley & +Palmer's biscuits; any sort you like, only they must be theirs, +and absolutely the biggest box they sell." + +"My dear man!" + +"No questions, Bunny; you do your part and I'll do mine." + +Subtlety and success were in his face. It was enough for me, +and I had done his extraordinary bidding within a quarter of an +hour. In another minute Raffles had opened the box and tumbled +all the biscuits into the nearest chair. + +"Now newspapers!" + +I fetched a pile. He bid the cup of gold a ridiculous farewell, +wrapped it up in newspaper after newspaper, and finally packed +it in the empty biscuit-box. + +"Now some brown paper. I don't want to be taken for the +grocer's young man." + +A neat enough parcel it made, when the string had been tied and +the ends cut close; what was more difficult was to wrap up +Raffles himself in such a way that even the porter should not +recognize him if they came face to face at the corner. And the +sun was still up. But Raffles would go, and when he did I +should not have known him myself. + +He may have been an hour away. It was barely dusk when he +returned, and my first question referred to our dangerous ally, +the porter. Raffles had passed him unsuspected in going, but +had managed to avoid him altogether on the return journey, +which he had completed by way of the other entrance and the +roof. I breathed again. + +"And what have you done with the cup?" + +"Placed it!" + +"How much for? How much for?" + +"Let me think. I had a couple of cabs, and the postage was a +tanner, with another twopence for registration. Yes, it cost me +exactly five-and-eight." + +"IT cost YOU! But what did you GET for it, Raffles?" + +"Nothing, my boy." + +"Nothing!" + +"Not a crimson cent." + +"I am not surprised. I never thought it had a market value. I +told you so in the beginning," I said, irritably. "But what on +earth have you done with the thing?" + +"Sent it to the Queen." + +"You haven't!" + +Rogue is a word with various meanings, and Raffles had been one +sort of rogue ever since I had known him; but now, for once, he +was the innocent variety, a great gray-haired child, running +over with merriment and mischief. + +"Well, I've sent it to Sir Arthur Bigge, to present to her +Majesty, with the loyal respects of the thief, if that will do +for you," said Raffles. "I thought they might take too much +stock of me at the G.P.O. if I addressed it to the Sovereign +her-self. Yes, I drove over to St. Martin's-le-Grand with it, +and I registered the box into the bargain. Do a thing properly +if you do it at all." + +"But why on earth," I groaned, "do such a thing at all?" + +"My dear Bunny, we have been reigned over for sixty years by +infinitely the finest monarch the world has ever seen. The +world is taking the present opportunity of signifying the fact +for all it is worth. Every nation is laying of its best at her +royal feet; every class in the community is doing its little +level--except ours. All I have done is to remove one reproach +from our fraternity." + +At this I came round, was infected with his spirit, called him +the sportsman he always was and would be, and shook his +daredevil hand in mine; but, at the same time, I still had my +qualms. + +"Supposing they trace it to us?" said I. + +"There's not much to catch hold of in a biscuit-box by Huntley & +Palmer," replied Raffles; "that was why I sent you for one. And +I didn't write a word upon a sheet of paper which could possibly +be traced. I simply printed two or three on a virginal +post-card--another half-penny to the bad--which might have been +bought at any post-office in the kingdom. No, old chap, the +G.P.O. was the one real danger; there was one detective I +spotted for myself; and the sight of him has left me with a +thirst. Whisky and Sullivans for two, Bunny, if you please." + +Raffles was soon clinking his glass against mine. + +"The Queen," said he. "God bless her!" + + + +THE FATE OF FAUSTINA + +"Mar--ga--ri, +e perzo a Salvatore! Mar--ga--ri, +Ma l'ommo e cacciatore! Mar--ga--ri, +Nun ce aje corpa tu! +Chello ch' e fatto, e fatto, un ne parlammo cchieu!" + +A piano-organ was pouring the metallic music through our open +windows, while a voice of brass brayed the words, which I have +since obtained, and print above for identification by such as +know their Italy better than I. They will not thank me for +reminding them of a tune so lately epidemic in that land of +aloes and blue skies; but at least it is unlikely to run in +their heads as the ribald accompaniment to a tragedy; and it +does in mine. + +It was in the early heat of August, and the hour that of the +lawful and necessary siesta for such as turn night into day. I +was therefore shutting my window in a rage, and wondering +whether I should not do the same for Raffles, when he appeared +in the silk pajamas to which the chronic solicitude of Dr. +Theobald confined him from morning to night. + +"Don't do that, Bunny," said he. "I rather like that thing, and +want to listen. What sort of fellows are they to look at, by +the way?" + +I put my head out to see, it being a primary rule of our quaint +establishment that Raffles must never show himself at any of the +windows. I remember now how hot the sill was to my elbows, as +I leant upon it and looked down, in order to satisfy a curiosity +in which I could see no point. + +"Dirty-looking beggars," said I over my shoulder: "dark as dark; +blue chins, oleaginous curls, and ear-rings; ragged as they make +them, but nothing picturesque in their rags." + +"Neapolitans all over," murmured Raffles behind me; "and that's +a characteristic touch, the one fellow singing while the other +grinds; they always have that out there." + +"He's rather a fine chap, the singer," said I, as the song +ended. "My hat, what teeth! He's looking up here, and grinning +all round his head; shall I chuck him anything?" + +"Well, I have no reason to love the Neapolitans; but it takes me +back--it takes me back! Yes, here you are, one each." + +It was a couple of half-crowns that Raffles put into my hand, +but I had thrown them into the street for pennies before I saw +what they were. Thereupon I left the Italians bowing to the mud, +as well they might, and I turned to protest against such wanton +waste. But Raffles was walking up and down, his head bent, his +eyes troubled; and his one excuse disarmed remonstrance. + +"They took me back," he repeated. "My God, how they took me +back!" + +Suddenly he stopped in his stride. + +"You don't understand, Bunny, old chap; but if you like you +shall. I always meant to tell you some day, but never felt +worked up to it before, and it's not the kind of thing one talks +about for talking's sake. It isn't a nursery story, Bunny, and +there isn't a laugh in it from start to finish; on the contrary, +you have often asked me what turned my hair gray, and now you +are going to hear." + +This was promising, but Raffles's manner was something more. It +was unique in my memory of the man. His fine face softened and +set hard by turns. I never knew it so hard. I never knew it +so soft. And the same might be said of his voice, now tender as +any woman's, now flying to the other extreme of equally unwonted +ferocity. But this was toward the end of his tale; the beginning +he treated characteristically enough, though I could have wished +for a less cavalier account of the island of Elba, where, upon +his own showing, he had met with much humanity. + +"Deadly, my dear Bunny, is not the word for that glorified snag, +or for the mollusks, its inhabitants. But they started by +wounding my vanity, so perhaps I am prejudiced, after all. I +sprung myself upon them as a shipwrecked sailor--a sole +survivor--stripped in the sea and landed without a stitch--yet +they took no more interest in me than you do in Italian +organ-grinders. They were decent enough. I didn't have to pick +and steal for a square meal and a pair of trousers; it would +have been more exciting if I had. But what a place! Napoleon +couldn't stand it, you remember, but he held on longer than I +did. I put in a few weeks in their infernal mines, simply to +pick up a smattering of Italian; then got across to the +mainland in a little wooden timber-tramp; and ungratefully glad +I was to leave Elba blazing in just such another sunset as the +one you won't forget. + +"The tramp was bound for Naples, but first it touched at +Baiae, where I carefully deserted in the night. There are +too many English in Naples itself, though I thought it would +make a first happy hunting-ground when I knew the language +better and had altered myself a bit more. Meanwhile I got a +billet of several sorts on one of the loveliest spots that ever +I struck on all my travels. The place was a vineyard, but it +overhung the sea, and I got taken on as tame sailorman and +emergency bottle-washer. The wages were the noble figure of a +lira and a half, which is just over a bob, a day, but there were +lashings of sound wine for one and all, and better wine to bathe +in. And for eight whole months, my boy, I was an absolutely +honest man. The luxury of it, Bunny! I out-heroded Herod, +wouldn't touch a grape, and went in the most delicious danger of +being knifed for my principles by the thieving crew I had +joined. + +"It was the kind of place where every prospect pleases--and all +the rest of it--especially all the rest. But may I see it in my +dreams till I die--as it was in the beginning--before anything +began to happen. It was a wedge of rock sticking out into the +bay, thatched with vines, and with the rummiest old house on the +very edge of all, a devil of a height above the sea: you might +have sat at the windows and dropped your Sullivan-ends plumb +into blue water a hundred and fifty feet below. + +"From the garden behind the house--such a garden, Bunny-- +oleanders and mimosa, myrtles, rosemarys and red tangles +of fiery, untamed flowers--in a corner of this garden was the top +of a subterranean stair down to the sea; at least there were +nearly two hundred steps tunnelled through the solid rock; then +an iron gate, and another eighty steps in the open air; and last +of all a cave fit for pirates, a-penny-plain-and-two-pence- +colored. This cave gave upon the sweetest little thing in coves, +all deep blue water and honest rocks; and here I looked after the +vineyard shipping, a pot-bellied tub with a brown sail, and a +sort of dingy. The tub took the wine to Naples, and the dingy +was the tub's tender. + +"The house above was said to be on the identical site of a +suburban retreat of the admirable Tiberius; there was the old +sinner's private theatre with the tiers cut clean to this day, +the well where he used to fatten his lampreys on his slaves, and +a ruined temple of those ripping old Roman bricks, shallow as +dominoes and ruddier than the cherry. I never was much of an +antiquary, but I could have become one there if I'd had nothing +else to do; but I had lots. When I wasn't busy with the boats +I had to trim the vines, or gather the grapes, or even help make +the wine itself in a cool, dark, musty vault underneath the +temple, that I can see and smell as I jaw. And can't I hear it +and feel it too! Squish, squash, bubble; squash, squish, +guggle; and your feet as though you had been wading through +slaughter to a throne. Yes, Bunny, you mightn't think it, but +this good right foot, that never was on the wrong side of the +crease when the ball left my hand, has also been known to + + 'crush the lees of pleasure + From sanguine grapes of pain.'" + +He made a sudden pause, as though he had stumbled on the truth +in jest. His face filled with lines. We were sitting in the +room that had been bare when first I saw it; there were +basket-chairs and a table in it now, all meant ostensibly for +me; and hence Raffles would slip to his bed, with schoolboy +relish, at every tinkle of the bell. This afternoon we felt +fairly safe, for Theobald had called in the morning, and Mrs. +Theobald still took up much of his time. Through the open +window we could hear the piano-organ and "Mar--gar--ri" a few +hundred yards further on. I fancied Raffles was listening to it +while he paused. He shook his head abstractedly when I handed +him the cigarettes; and his tone hereafter was never just what +it had been. + +"I don't know, Bunny, whether you're a believer in transmigration +of souls. I have often thought it easier to believe than lots +of other things, and I have been pretty near believing in it +myself since I had my being on that villa of Tiberius. The +brute who had it in my day, if he isn't still running it with a +whole skin, was or is as cold-blooded a blackguard as the worst +of the emperors, but I have often thought he had a lot in common +with Tiberius. He had the great high sensual Roman nose, eyes +that were sinks of iniquity in themselves, and that swelled with +fat-ness, like the rest of him, so that he wheezed if he walked +a yard; otherwise rather a fine beast to look at, with a huge +gray moustache, like a flying gull, and the most courteous +manners even to his men; but one of the worst, Bunny, one of +the worst that ever was. It was said that the vineyard was only +his hobby; if so, he did his best to make his hobby pay. He +used to come out from Naples for the week-ends--in the tub when +it wasn't too rough for his nerves--and he didn't always come +alone. His very name sounded unhealthy--Corbucci. I suppose I +ought to add that he was a Count, though Counts are two-a-penny +in Naples, and in season all the year round. + +"He had a little English, and liked to air it upon me, much to +my disgust; if I could not hope to conceal my nationality as yet, +I at least did not want to have it advertised; and the swine had +English friends. When he heard that I was bathing in November, +when the bay is still as warm as new milk, he would shake his +wicked old head and say, 'You are very audashuss--you are very +audashuss!' and put on no end of side before his Italians. By +God, he had pitched upon the right word unawares, and I let him +know it in the end! + +"But that bathing, Bunny; it was absolutely the best I ever had +anywhere. I said just now the water was like wine; in my own +mind I used to call it blue champagne, and was rather annoyed +that I had no one to admire the phrase. Otherwise I assure you +that I missed my own particular kind very little indeed, though +I often wished that YOU were there, old chap; particularly when +I went for my lonesome swim; first thing in the morning, when +the Bay was all rose-leaves, and last thing at night, when your +body caught phosphorescent fire! Ah, yes, it was a good enough +life for a change; a perfect paradise to lie low in; another +Eden until . . . + +"My poor Eve!" + +And he fetched a sigh that took away his words; then his jaws +snapped together, and his eyes spoke terribly while he conquered +his emotion. I pen the last word advisedly. I fancy it is one +which I have never used before in writing of A. J. Raffles, for +I cannot at the moment recall any other occasion upon which its +use would have been justified. On resuming, however, he was not +only calm, but cold; and this flying for safety to the other +extreme is the single instance of self-distrust which the +present Achates can record to the credit of his impious AEneas. + +"I called the girl Eve," said he. "Her real name was Faustina, +and she was one of a vast family who hung out in a hovel on the +inland border of the vineyard. And Aphrodite rising from the +sea was less wonderful and not more beautiful than Aphrodite +emerging from that hole! + +"It was the most exquisite face I ever saw or shall see in this +life. Absolutely perfect features; a skin that reminded you of +old gold, so delicate was its bronze; magnificent hair, not +black but nearly; and such eyes and teeth as would have made +the fortune of a face without another point. I tell you, Bunny, +London would go mad about a girl like that. But I don't believe +there's such another in the world. And there she was wasting +her sweetness upon that lovely but desolate little corner of it! +Well, she did not waste it upon me. I would have married her, +and lived happily ever after in such a hovel as her people's +--with her. Only to look at her--only to look at her for the +rest of my days--I could have lain low and remained dead even to +you! And that's all I'm going to tell you about that, Bunny; +cursed be he who tells more! Yet don't run away with the idea +that this poor Faustina was the only woman I ever cared about. +I don't believe in all that 'only' rot; nevertheless I tell you +that she was the one being who ever entirely satisfied my sense +of beauty; and I honestly believe I could have chucked the world +and been true to Faustina for that alone. + +"We met sometimes in the little temple I told you about, +sometimes among the vines; now by honest accident, now by +flagrant design; and found a ready-made rendezvous, romantic as +one could wish, in the cave down all those subterranean steps. +Then the sea would call us--my blue champagne--my sparkling +cobalt--and there was the dingy ready to our hand. Oh, those +nights! I never knew which I liked best, the moonlit ones when +you sculled through silver and could see for miles, or the dark +nights when the fishermen's torches stood for the sea, and a red +zig-zag in the sky for old Vesuvius. We were happy. I don't +mind owning it. We seemed not to have a care between us. My +mates took no interest in my affairs, and Faustina's family did +not appear to bother about her. The Count was in Naples five +nights of the seven; the other two we sighed apart. + +"At first it was the oldest story in literature--Eden plus Eve. +The place had been a heaven on earth before, but now it was +heaven itself. So for a little; then one night, a Monday night, +Faustina burst out crying in the boat; and sobbed her story as +we drifted without mishap by the mercy of the Lord. And that +was almost as old a story as the other. + +"She was engaged--what! Had I never heard of it? Did I mean to +upset the boat? What was her engagement beside our love? +'Niente, niente,' crooned Faustina, sighing yet smiling through +her tears. No, but what did matter was that the man had +threatened to stab her to the heart--and would do it as soon as +look at her--that I knew. + +"I knew it merely from my knowledge of the Neapolitans, for I +had no idea who the man might be. I knew it, and yet I took +this detail better than the fact of the engagement, though now I +began to laugh at both. As if I was going to let her marry +anybody else! As if a hair of her lovely head should be touched +while I lived to protect her! I had a great mind to row away to +blazes with her that very night, and never go near the vineyard +again, or let her either. But we had not a lira between us at +the time, and only the rags in which we sat barefoot in the +boat. Besides, I had to know the name of the animal who had +threatened a woman, and such a woman as this. + +"For a long time she refused to tell me, with splendid obduracy; +but I was as determined as she; so at last she made conditions. +I was not to go and get put in prison for sticking a knife into +him--he wasn't worth it--and I did promise not to stab him in +the back. Faustina seemed quite satisfied, though a little +puzzled by my manner, having herself the racial tolerance for +cold steel; and next moment she had taken away my breath. 'It +is Stefano,' she whispered, and hung her head. + +"And well she might, poor thing! Stefano, of all creatures on +God's earth--for her! + +"Bunny, he was a miserable little undersized wretch--ill-favored +--servile--surly--and second only to his master in bestial +cunning and hypocrisy. His face was enough for me; that was what +I read in it, and I don't often make mistakes. He was +Corbucci's own confidential body-servant, and that alone was +enough to damn him in decent eyes: always came out first on the +Saturday with the spese, to have all ready for his master and +current mistress, and stayed behind on the Monday to clear and +lock up. Stefano! That worm! I could well understand his +threatening a woman with a knife; what beat me was how any woman +could ever have listened to him; above all, that Faustina should +be the one! It passed my comprehension. But I questioned her as +gently as I could; and her explanation was largely the +thread-bare one you would expect. Her parents were so poor. +They were so many in family. Some of them begged--would I +promise never to tell? Then some of them stole--sometimes--and +all knew the pains of actual want. She looked after the cows, +but there were only two of them, and brought the milk to the +vineyard and elsewhere; but that was not employment for more +than one; and there were countless sisters waiting to take her +place. Then he was so rich, Stefano. + +"'Rich!' I echoed. 'Stefano?' + +"'Si, Arturo mio.' + +"Yes, I played the game on that vineyard, Bunny, even to going +my own first name. + +"'And how comes he to be rich?' I asked, suspiciously. + +"She did not know; but he had given her such beautiful jewels; +the family had lived on them for months, she pretending an +avocat had taken charge of them for her against her marriage. +But I cared nothing about all that. + +"'Jewels! Stefano!' I could only mutter. + +"'Perhaps the Count has paid for some of them. He is very +kind.' + +"'To you, is he?' + +"'Oh, yes, very kind.' + +"'And you would live in his house afterwards?' + +"'Not now, mia cara--not now!' + +"'No, by God you don't!' said I in English. 'But you would have +done so, eh?' + +"'Of course. That was arranged. The Count is really very +kind.' + +"'Do you see anything of him when he comes here?' + +"Yes, he had sometimes brought her little presents, sweetmeats, +ribbons, and the like; but the offering had always been made +through this toad of a Stefano. Knowing the men, I now knew +all. But Faustina, she had the pure and simple heart, and the +white soul, by the God who made it, and for all her kindness to +a tattered scapegrace who made love to her in broken Italian +between the ripples and the stars. She was not to know what I +was, remember; and beside Corbucci and his henchman I was the +Archangel Gabriel come down to earth. + +"Well, as I lay awake that night, two more lines of Swinburne +came into my head, and came to stay: + + "God said 'Let him who wins her take + And keep Faustine.' + +"On that couplet I slept at last, and it was my text and +watchword when I awoke in the morning. I forget how well you +know your Swinburne, Bunny; but don't you run away with the idea +that there was anything else in common between his Faustine and +mine. For the last time let me tell you that poor Faustina was +the whitest and the best I ever knew. + +"Well, I was strung up for trouble when the next Saturday came, +and I'll tell you what I had done. I had broken the pledge and +burgled Corbucci's villa in my best manner during his absence +in Naples. Not that it gave me the slightest trouble; but no +human being could have told that I had been in, when I came out. +And I had stolen nothing, mark you, but only borrowed a revolver +from a drawer in the Count's desk, with one or two trifling +accessories; for by this time I had the measure of these damned +Neapolitans. They are spry enough with a knife, but you show +them the business end of a shooting-iron, and they'll streak +like rabbits for the nearest hole. But the revolver wasn't for +my own use. It was for Faustina, and I taught her how to use it +in the cave down there by the sea, shooting at candles stuck +upon the rock. The noise in the cave was something frightful, +but high up above it couldn't be heard at all, as we proved to +each other's satisfaction pretty early in the proceedings. So +now Faustina was armed with munitions of self-defence; and I +knew enough of her character to entertain no doubt as to their +spirited use upon occasion. Between the two of us, in fact, our +friend Stefano seemed tolerably certain of a warm week-end. + +"But the Saturday brought word that the Count was not coming +this week, being in Rome on business, and unable to return in +time; so for a whole Sunday we were promised peace; and made +bold plans accordingly. There was no further merit in hushing +this thing up. 'Let him who wins her take and keep Faustine.' +Yes, but let him win her openly, or lose her and be damned to +him! So on the Sunday I was going to have it out with her +people--with the Count and Stefano as soon as they showed their +noses. I had no inducement, remember, ever to return to +surreptitious life within a cab-fare of Wormwood Scrubbs. +Faustina and the Bay of Naples were quite good enough for me. +And the prehistoric man in me rather exulted in the idea of +fighting for my desire. + +"On the Saturday, however, we were able to meet for the last +time as heretofore--just once more in secret--down there in the +cave--as soon as might be after dark. Neither of us minded if +we were kept for hours; each knew in the end that the other +would come; and there was a charm of its own even in waiting +with such knowledge. But that night I did lose patience: not in +the cave, but up above, where first on one pretext and then on +another the direttore kept me going until I smelt a rat. He was +not given to exacting overtime, this direttore, whose only fault +was his servile subjection to our common boss. It seemed pretty +obvious, therefore, that he was acting upon some secret +instructions from Corbucci himself, and, the moment I suspected +this, I asked him to his face if it was not the case. And it +was; he admitted it with many shrugs, being a conveniently weak +person, whom one felt almost ashamed of bullying as the +occasion demanded. + +"The fact was, however, that the Count had sent for him on +finding he had to go to Rome, and had said he was very sorry to +go just then, as among other things he intended to speak to me +about Faustina. Stefano had told him all about his row with +her, and moreover that it was on my account, which Faustina had +never told me, though I had guessed as much for myself. Well, +the Count was going to take his jackal's part for all he was +worth, which was just exactly what I had expected him to do. He +intended going for me on his return, but meanwhile I was not to +make hay in his absence, and so this tool of a direttore had +orders to keep me at it night and day. I undertook not to give +the poor beast away, but at the same time told him I had not the +faintest intention of doing another stroke of work that night. + +"It was very dark, and I remember knocking my head against the +oranges as I ran up the long, shallow steps which ended the +journey between the direttore's lodge and the villa itself. But +at the back of the villa was the garden I spoke about, and also +a bare chunk of the cliff where it was bored by that +subterranean stair. So I saw the stars close overhead, and the +fishermen's torches far below, the coastwise lights and the +crimson hieroglyph that spelt Vesuvius, before I plunged into +the darkness of the shaft. And that was the last time I +appreciated the unique and peaceful charm of this outlandish +spot. + +"The stair was in two long flights, with an air-hole or two at +the top of the upper one, but not another pin-prick till you +came to the iron gate at the bottom of the lower. As you may +read of an infinitely lighter place, in a finer work of fiction +than you are ever likely to write, Bunny, it was 'gloomy at +noon, dark as midnight at dusk, and black as the ninth plague of +Egypt at midnight.' I won't swear to my quotation, but I will to +those stairs. They were as black that night as the inside of +the safest safe in the strongest strong-room in the Chancery +Lane Deposit. Yet I had not got far down them with my bare feet +before I heard somebody else coming up in boots. You may +imagine what a turn that gave me! It could not be Faustina, +who went barefoot three seasons of the four, and yet there was +Faustina waiting for me down below. What a fright she must have +had! And all at once my own blood ran cold: for the man sang +like a kettle as he plodded up and up. It was, it must be, the +short-winded Count himself, whom we all supposed to be in Rome! + +"Higher he came and nearer, nearer, slowly yet hurriedly, now +stopping to cough and gasp, now taking a few steps by +elephantine assault. I should have enjoyed the situation if it +had not been for poor Faustina in the cave; as it was I was +filled with nameless fears. But I could not resist giving that +grampus Corbucci one bad moment on account. A crazy hand-rail +ran up one wall, so I carefully flattened myself against the +other, and he passed within six inches of me, puffing and +wheezing like a brass band. I let him go a few steps higher, +and then I let him have it with both lungs. + +"Buona sera, eccellenza, signori!' I roared after him. And a +scream came down in answer--such a scream! A dozen different +terrors were in it; and the wheezing had stopped, with the old +scoundrel's heart. + +"'Chi sta la?' he squeaked at last, gibbering and whimpering +like a whipped monkey, so that I could not bear to miss his +face, and got a match all ready to strike. + +"'Arturo, signori.' + +"He didn't repeat my name, nor did he damn me in heaps. He did +nothing but wheeze for a good minute, and when he spoke it was +with insinuating civility, in his best English. + +"'Come nearer, Arturo. You are in the lower regions down there. +I want to speak with you.' + +"'No, thanks. I'm in a hurry,' I said, and dropped that match +back into my pocket. He might be armed, and I was not. + +"'So you are in a 'urry!' and he wheezed amusement. 'And you +thought I was still in Rome, no doubt; and so I was until this +afternoon, when I caught train at the eleventh moment, and then +another train from Naples to Pozzuoli. I have been rowed here +now by a fisherman of Pozzuoli. I had not time to stop anywhere +in Naples, but only to drive from station to station. So I am +without Stefano, Arturo, I am without Stefano.' + +"His sly voice sounded preternaturally sly in the absolute +darkness, but even through that impenetrable veil I knew it for +a sham. I had laid hold of the hand-rail. It shook violently +in my hand; he also was holding it where he stood. And these +suppressed tremors, or rather their detection in this way, +struck a strange chill to my heart, just as I was beginning to +pluck it up. + +"'It is lucky for Stefano,' said I, grim as death. + +"'Ah, but you must not be too 'ard on 'im,' remonstrated the +Count. 'You have stole his girl, he speak with me about it, and +I wish to speak with you. It is very audashuss, Arturo, very +audashuss! Perhaps you are even going to meet her now, eh?' + +I told him straight that I was. + +"'Then there is no 'urry, for she is not there.' + +"'You didn't see her in the cave?' I cried, too delighted at the +thought to keep it to myself. + +"'I had no such fortune,' the old devil said. + +"'She is there, all the same.' + +"'I only wish I 'ad known.' + +"'And I've kept her long enough!' + +"In fact I threw this over my shoulder as I turned and went +running down. + +"'I 'ope you will find her!' his malicious voice came croaking +after me. 'I 'ope you will-- I 'ope so.' + +"And find her I did." + +Raffles had been on his feet some time, unable to sit still or +to stand, moving excitedly about the room. But now he stood +still enough, his elbows on the cast-iron mantelpiece, his head +between his hands. + +"Dead?" I whispered. + +And he nodded to the wall. + +"There was not a sound in the cave. There was no answer to my +voice. Then I went in, and my foot touched hers, and it was +colder than the rock . . . Bunny, they had stabbed her to the +heart. She had fought them, and they had stabbed her to the +heart!" + +"You say 'they,'" I said gently, as he stood in heavy silence, +his back still turned. "I thought Stefano had been left behind?" + +Raffles was round in a flash, his face white-hot, his eyes +dancing death. + +"He was in the cave!" he shouted. "I saw him--I spotted him--it +was broad twilight after those stairs--and I went for him with my +bare hands. Not fists, Bunny; not fists for a thing like that; I +meant getting my fingers into his vile little heart and tearing +it out by the roots. I was stark mad. But he had the +revolver--hers. He blazed it at arm's length, and missed. And +that steadied me. I had smashed his funny-bone against the rock +before he could blaze again; the revolver fell with a rattle, +but without going off; in an instant I had it tight, and the +little swine at my mercy at last." + +"You didn't show him any?" + +"Mercy? With Faustina dead at my feet? I should have deserved +none in the next world if I had shown him any in this! No, I +just stood over him, with the revolver in both hands, feeling +the chambers with my thumb; and as I stood he stabbed at me; +but I stepped back to that one, and brought him down with a +bullet in his guts. + +"'And I can spare you two or three more,' I said, for my poor +girl could not have fired a shot. 'Take that one to hell with +you--and that--and that!' + +"Then I started coughing and wheezing like the Count himself, +for the place was full of smoke. When it cleared my man was very +dead, and I tipped him into the sea, to defile that rather than +Faustina's cave. And then--and then--we were alone for the last +time, she and I, in our own pet haunt; and I could scarcely see +her, yet I would not strike a match, for I knew she would not +have me see her as she was. I could say good-by to her without +that. I said it; and I left her like a man, and up the first +open-air steps with my head in the air and the stars all sharp +in the sky; then suddenly they swam, and back I went like a +lunatic, to see if she was really dead, to bring her back to +life . . . Bunny, I can't tell you any more." + +"Not of the Count?" I murmured at last. + +"Not even of the Count," said Raffles, turning round with a +sigh. "I left him pretty sorry for himself; but what was the +good of that? I had taken blood for blood, and it was not +Corbucci who had killed Faustina. No, the plan was his, but +that was not part of the plan. They had found out about our +meetings in the cave: nothing simpler than to have me kept hard +at it overhead and to carry off Faustina by brute force in the +boat. It was their only chance, for she had said more to Stefano +than she had admitted to me, and more than I am going to repeat +about myself. No persuasion would have induced her to listen to +him again; so they tried force; and she drew Corbucci's revolver +on them, but they had taken her by surprise, and Stefano stabbed +her before she could fire." + +"But how do you know all that?" I asked Raffles, for his tale was +going to pieces in the telling, and the tragic end of poor +Faustina was no ending for me. + +"Oh," said he, "I had it from Corbucci at his own revolver's +point. He was waiting at his window, and I could have potted +him at my ease where he stood against the light listening hard +enough but not seeing a thing. So he asked whether it was +Stefano, and I whispered, 'Si, signore'; and then whether he had +finished Arturo, and I brought the same shot off again. He had +let me in before he knew who was finished and who was not." + +"And did you finish him?" + +"No; that was too good for Corbucci. But I bound and gagged him +about as tight as man was ever gagged or bound, and I left him +in his room with the shutters shut and the house locked up. The +shutters of that old place were six inches thick, and the walls +nearly six feet; that was on the Saturday night, and the Count +wasn't expected at the vineyard before the following Saturday. +Meanwhile he was supposed to be in Rome. But the dead would +doubtless be discovered next day, and I am afraid this would +lead to his own discovery with the life still in him. I believe +he figured on that himself, for he sat threatening me gamely +till the last. You never saw such a sight as he was, with his +head split in two by a ruler tied at the back of it, and his +great moustache pushed up into his bulging eyes. But I locked +him up in the dark without a qualm, and I wished and still wish +him every torment of the damned." + +"And then?" + +"The night was still young, and within ten miles there was the +best of ports in a storm, and hundreds of holds for the humble +stowaway to choose from. But I didn't want to go further than +Genoa, for by this time my Italian would wash, so I chose the +old Norddeutscher Lloyd, and had an excellent voyage in one of +the boats slung in-board over the bridge. That's better than any +hold, Bunny, and I did splendidly on oranges brought from the +vineyard." + +"And at Genoa?" + +"At Genoa I took to my wits once more, and have been living on +nothing else ever since. But there I had to begin all over +again, and at the very bottom of the ladder. I slept in the +streets. I begged. I did all manner of terrible things, rather +hoping for a bad end, but never coming to one. Then one day I +saw a white-headed old chap looking at me through a shop-window-- +a window I had designs upon--and when I stared at him he stared +at me--and we wore the same rags. So I had come to that! But +one reflection makes many. I had not recognized myself; who on +earth would recognize me? London called me--and here I am. +Italy had broken my heart--and there it stays." + +Flippant as a schoolboy one moment, playful even in the +bitterness of the next, and now no longer giving way to the +feeling which had spoilt the climax of his tale, Raffles needed +knowing as I alone knew him for a right appreciation of those +last words. That they were no mere words I know full well. +That, but for the tragedy of his Italian life, that life would +have sufficed him for years, if not for ever, I did and do still +believe. But I alone see him as I saw him then, the lines upon +his face, and the pain behind the lines; how they came to +disappear, and what removed them, you will never guess. It was +the one thing you would have expected to have the opposite +effect, the thing indeed that had forced his confidence, the +organ and the voice once more beneath our very windows: + + "Margarita de Parete, + era a' sarta d' e' signore; + se pugneva sempe e ddete + pe penzare a Salvatore! + "Mar--ga--ri, + e perzo e Salvatore! + Mar--ga--ri, + Ma l'ommo e cacciatore! + Mar--ga--ri, + Nun ce aje corpa tu! + Chello ch' e fatto, e fatto, un ne parlammo cchieu!" + +I simply stared at Raffles. Instead of deepening, his lines had +vanished. He looked years younger, mischievous and merry and +alert as I remembered him of old in the breathless crisis of +some madcap escapade. He was holding up his finger; he was +stealing to the window; he was peeping through the blind as +though our side street were Scotland Yard itself; he was stealing +back again, all revelry, excitement, and suspense. + +"I half thought they were after me before," said he. "That was +why I made you look. I daren't take a proper look myself, but +what a jest if they were! What a jest!" + +"Do you mean the police?" said I. + +"The police! Bunny, do you know them and me so little that you +can look me in the face and ask such a question? My boy, I'm +dead to them--off their books--a good deal deader than being off +the hooks! Why, if I went to Scotland Yard this minute, to give +myself up, they'd chuck me out for a harmless lunatic. No, I +fear an enemy nowadays, and I go in terror of the sometime +friend, but I have the utmost confidence in the dear police." + +"Then whom do you mean?" + +"The Camorra!" + +I repeated the word with a different intonation. Not that I had +never heard of that most powerful and sinister of secret +societies; but I failed to see on what grounds Raffles should +jump to the conclusion that these everyday organ-grinders +belonged to it. + +"It was one of Corbucci's threats," said he. "If I killed him +the Camorra would certainly kill me; he kept on telling me so; +it was like his cunning not to say that he would put them on my +tracks whether or no." + +"He is probably a member himself!" + +"Obviously, from what he said." + +"But why on earth should you think that these fellows are?" I +demanded, as that brazen voice came rasping through a second +verse. + +"I don't think. It was only an idea. That thing is so +thoroughly Neapolitan, and I never heard it on a London organ +before. Then again, what should bring them back here?" + +I peeped through the blind in my turn; and, to be sure, there +was the fellow with the blue chin and the white teeth watching +our windows, and ours only, as he bawled. + +"And why?" cried Raffles, his eyes dancing when I told him. + +"Why should they come sneaking back to us? Doesn't that look +suspicious, Bunny; doesn't that promise a lark?" + +"Not to me," I said, having the smile for once. "How many +people, should you imagine, toss them five shilling for as many +minutes of their infernal row? You seem to forget that's what +you did an hour ago!" + +Raffles had forgotten. His blank face confessed the fact. Then +suddenly he burst outlaughing at himself. + +"Bunny," said he, "you've no imagination, and I never knew I had +so much! Of course you're right. I only wish you were not, for +there's nothing I should enjoy more than taking on another +Neapolitan or two. You see, I owe them something still! I +didn't settle in full. I owe them more than ever I shall pay +them on this side Styx!" + +He had hardened even as he spoke: the lines and the years had +come again, and his eyes were flint and steel, with an honest +grief behind the glitter. + + +THE LAST LAUGH + +As I have had occasion to remark elsewhere, the pick of our +exploits, from a frankly criminal point of view, are of least +use for the comparatively pure purposes of these papers. They +might be appreciated in a trade journal (if only that want could +be supplied), by skilled manipulators of the jemmy and the large +light bunch; but, as records of unbroken yet insignificant +success, they would be found at once too trivial and too +technical, if not sordid and unprofitable into the bargain. The +latter epithets, and worse, have indeed already been applied, if +not to Raffles and all his works, at least to mine upon Raffles, +by more than one worthy wielder of a virtuous pen. I need not +say how heartily I disagree with that truly pious opinion. So +far from admitting a single word of it, I maintain it is the +liveliest warning that I am giving to the world. Raffles was a +genius, and he could not make it pay! Raffles had invention, +resource, incomparable audacity, and a nerve in ten thousand. +He was both strategian and tactician, and we all now know the +difference between the two. Yet for months he had been hiding +like a rat in a hole, unable to show even his altered face by +night or day without risk, unless another risk were courted by +three inches of conspicuous crepe. Then thus far our rewards +had oftener than not been no reward at all. Altogether it was +a very different story from the old festive, unsuspected, club +and cricket days, with their noctes ambrosianae at the Albany. + +And now, in addition to the eternal peril of recognition, there +was yet another menace of which I knew nothing. I thought no +more of our Neapolitan organ-grinders, though I did often think +of the moving page that they had torn for me out of my friend's +strange life in Italy. Raffles never alluded to the subject +again, and for my part I had entirely forgotten his wild ideas +connecting the organ-grinders with the Camorra, and imagining +them upon his own tracks. I heard no more of it, and thought as +little, as I say. Then one night in the autumn--I shrink from +shocking the susceptible for nothing--but there was a certain +house in Palace Gardens, and when we got there Raffles would +pass on. I could see no soul in sight, no glimmer in the +windows. But Raffles had my arm, and on we went without talking +about it. Sharp to the left on the Notting Hill side, sharper +still up Silver Street, a little tacking west and south, a +plunge across High Street, and presently we were home. + +"Pyjamas first," said Raffles, with as much authority as though +it mattered. It was a warm night, however, though September, +and I did not mind until I came in clad as he commanded to find +the autocrat himself still booted and capped. He was peeping +through the blind, and the gas was still turned down. But he +said that I could turn it up, as he helped himself to a +cigarette and nothing with it. + +"May I mix you one?" said I. + +"No, thanks." + +"What's the trouble?" + +"We were followed." + +"Never!" + +"You never saw it." + +"But YOU never looked round." + +"I have an eye at the back of each ear, Bunny." + +I helped myself and I fear with less moderation than might have +been the case a minute before. + +"So that was why--" + +"That was why," said Raffles, nodding; but he did not smile, and +I put down my glass untouched. + +"They were following us then!" + +"All up Palace Gardens." + +"I thought you wound about coming back over the hill." + +"Nevertheless, one of them's in the street below at this moment." + +No, he was not fooling me. He was very grim. And he had not +taken off a thing; perhaps he did not think it worth while. + +"Plain clothes?" I sighed, following the sartorial train of +thought, even to the loathly arrows that had decorated my person +once already for a little aeon. Next time they would giveme +double. The skilly was in my stomach when I saw Raffles's face. + +"Who said it was the police, Bunny?" said he. "It's the +Italians. They're only after me; they won't hurt a hair of YOUR +head, let alone cropping it! Have a drink, and don't mind me. +I shall score them off before I'm done." + +"And I'll help you!" + +"No, old chap, you won't. This is my own little show. I've +known about it for weeks. I first tumbled to it the day those +Neapolitans came back with their organs, though I didn't +seriously suspect things then; they never came again, those +two, they had done their part. That's the Camorra all over, +from all accounts. The Count I told you about is pretty high up +in it, by the way he spoke, but there will be grades and grades +between him and the organ-grinders. I shouldn't be surprised +if he had every low-down Neapolitan ice-creamer in the town upon +my tracks! The organization's incredible. Then do you remember +the superior foreigner who came to the door a few days +afterwards? You said he had velvet eyes." + +"I never connected him with those two!" + +"Of course you didn't, Bunny, so you threatened to kick the +fellow downstairs, and only made them keener on the scent. It +was too late to say anything when you told me. But the very +next time I showed my nose outside I heard a camera click as I +passed, and the fiend was a person with velvet eyes. Then there +was a lull--that happened weeks ago. They had sent me to Italy +for identification by Count Corbucci." + +"But this is all theory," I exclaimed. "How on earth can you +know?" + +"I don't know," said Raffles, "but I should like to bet. Our +friend the bloodhound is hanging about the corner near the +pillar-box; look through my window, it's dark in there, and tell +me who he is." + +The man was too far away for me to swear to his face, but he +wore a covert-coat of un-English length, and the lamp across the +road played steadily on his boots; they were very yellow, and +they made no noise when he took a turn. I strained my eyes, +and all at once I remembered the thin-soled, low-heeled, splay +yellow boots of the insidious foreigner, with the soft eyes and +the brown-paper face, whom I had turned from the door as a +palpable fraud. The ring at the bell was the first I had heard +of him, there had been no warning step upon the stairs, and my +suspicious eye had searched his feet for rubber soles. + +"It's the fellow," I said, returning to Raffles, and I described +his boots. + +Raffles was delighted. + +"Well done, Bunny; you're coming on," said he. "Now I wonder if +he's been over here all the time, or if they sent him over +expressly? You did better than you think in spotting those +boots, for they can only have been made in Italy, and that +looks like the special envoy. But it's no use speculating. I +must find out." + +"How can you?" + +"He won't stay there all night." + +"Well?" + +"When he gets tired of it I shall return the compliment and +follow HIM." + +"Not alone," said I, firmly. + +"Well, we'll see. We'll see at once," said Raffles, rising. +"Out with the gas, Bunny, while I take a look. Thank you. Now +wait a bit . . . yes! He's chucked it; he's off already; and so + +am I!" + +But I slipped to our outer door, and held the passage. + +"I don't let you go alone, you know." + +"You can't come with me in pyjamas." + +"Now I see why you made me put them on!" + +"Bunny, if you don't shift I shall have to shift you. This is +my very own private one-man show. But I'll be back in an +hour--there!" + +"You swear?" + +"By all my gods." + +I gave in. How could I help giving in? He did not look the man +that he had been, but you never knew with Raffles, and I could +not have him lay a hand on me. I let him go with a shrug and +my blessing, then ran into his room to see the last of him from +the window. + +The creature in the coat and boots had reached the end of our +little street, where he appeared to have hesitated, so that +Raffles was just in time to see which way he turned. And +Raffles was after him at an easy pace, and had himself almost +reached the corner when my attention was distracted from the +alert nonchalance of his gait. I was marvelling that it alone +had not long ago betrayed him, for nothing about him was so +unconsciously characteristic, when suddenly I realized that +Raffles was not the only person in the little lonely street. +Another pedestrian had entered from the other end, a man heavily +built and clad, with an astrakhan collar to his coat on this +warm night, and a black slouch hat that hid his features from +my bird's-eye view. His steps were the short and shuffling ones +of a man advanced in years and in fatty degeneration, but of a +sudden they stopped beneath my very eyes. I could have dropped +a marble into the dinted crown of the black felt hat. Then, at +the same moment, Raffles turned the corner without looking +round, and the big man below raised both his hands and his face. +Of the latter I saw only the huge white moustache, like a +flying gull, as Raffles had described it; for at a glance I +divined that this was his arch-enemy, the Count Corbucci himself. + +I did not stop to consider the subtleties of the system by which +the real hunter lagged behind while his subordinate pointed the +quarry like a sporting dog. I left the Count shuffling onward +faster than before, and I jumped into some clothes as though the +flats were on fire. If the Count was going to follow Raffles in +his turn, then I would follow the Count in mine, and there would +be a midnight procession of us through the town. But I found +no sign of him in the empty street, and no sign in the Earl's +Court Road, that looked as empty for all its length, save for a +natural enemy standing like a waxwork figure with a glimmer at +his belt. + +"Officer," I gasped, "have you seen anything of an old gentleman +with a big white mustache?" + +The unlicked cub of a common constable seemed to eye me the more +suspiciously for the flattering form of my address. + +"Took a hansom," said he at length. + +A hansom! Then he was not following the others on foot; there +was no guessing his game. But something must be said or done. + +"He's a friend of mine," I explained, "and I want to overtake +him. Did you hear where he told the fellow to drive?" + +A curt negative was the policeman's reply to that; and if ever I +take part in a night assault-at-arms, revolver versus baton, in +the back kitchen, I know which member of the Metropolitan Police +Force I should like for my opponent. + +If there was no overtaking the Count, however,it should be a +comparatively simple matter in the case of the couple on foot, +and I wildly hailed the first hansom that crawled into my ken. +I must tell Raffles who it was that I had seen; the Earl's +Court Road was long, and the time since he vanished in it but a +few short minutes. I drove down the length of that useful +thoroughfare, with an eye apiece on either pavement, sweeping +each as with a brush, but never a Raffles came into the pan. +Then I tried the Fulham Road, first to the west, then to the +east, and in the end drove home to the flat as bold as brass. I +did not realize my indiscretion until I had paid the man and was +on the stairs. Raffles never dreamt of driving all the way +back; but I was hoping now to find him waiting up above. He had +said an hour. I had remembered it suddenly. And now the hour +was more than up. But the flat was as empty as I had left it; +the very light that had encouraged me, pale though it was, as I +turned the corner in my hansom, was but the light that I myself +had left burning in the desolate passage. + +I can give you no conception of the night that I spent. Most of +it I hung across the sill, throwing a wide net with my ears, +catching every footstep afar off, every hansom bell farther +still, only to gather in some alien whom I seldom even landed +in our street. Then I would listen at the door. + +He might come over the roof; and eventually some one did; but +now it was broad daylight, and I flung the door open in the +milkman's face, which whitened at the shock as though I had +ducked him in his own pail. + +"You're late," I thundered as the first excuse for my +excitement. + +"Beg your pardon," said he, indignantly, "but I'm half an hour +before my usual time." + +"Then I beg yours," said I; "but the fact is, Mr. Maturin has had +one of his bad nights, and I seem to have been waiting hours for +milk to make him a cup of tea." + +This little fib (ready enough for Raffles, though I say it) +earned me not only forgiveness but that obliging sympathy which +is a branch of the business of the man at the door. The good +fellow said that he could see I had been sitting up all night, +and he left me pluming myself upon the accidental art with which +I had told my very necessary tarra-diddle. On reflection I gave +the credit to instinct, not accident, and then sighed afresh as I +realized how the influence of the master was sinking into me, +and he Heaven knew where! But my punishment was swift to +follow, for within the hour the bell rang imperiously twice, and +there was Dr. Theobald on our mat; in a yellow Jaeger suit, with +a chin as yellow jutting over the flaps that he had turned up to +hide his pyjamas. + +"What's this about a bad night?" said he. + +"He couldn't sleep, and he wouldn't let me," I whispered, never +loosening my grasp of the door, and standing tight against the +other wall. "But he's sleeping like a baby now." + +"I must see him." + +"He gave strict orders that you should not." + +"I'm his medical man, and I--" + +"You know what he is," I said, shrugging; "the least thing wakes +him, and you will if you insist on seeing him now. It will be +the last time, I warn you! I know what he said, and you don't." + +The doctor cursed me under his fiery moustache. + +"I shall come up during the course of the morning," he snarled. + +"And I shall tie up the bell," I said, "and if it doesn't ring +he'll be sleeping still, but I will not risk waking him by +coming to the door again." + +And with that I shut it in his face. I was improving, as +Raffles had said; but what would it profit me if some evil had +befallen him? And now I was prepared for the worst. A boy came +up whistling and leaving papers on the mats; it was getting on +for eight o'clock, and the whiskey and soda of half-past twelve +stood untouched and stagnant in the tumbler. If the worst had +happened to Raffles, I felt that I would either never drink +again, or else seldom do anything else. + +Meanwhile I could not even break my fast, but roamed the flat in +a misery not to be described, my very linen still unchanged, my +cheeks and chin now tawny from the unwholesome night. How long +would it go on? I wondered for a time. Then I changed my tune: +how long could I endure it? + +It went on actually until the forenoon only, but my endurance +cannot be measured by the time, for to me every hour of it was +an arctic night. Yet it cannot have been much after eleven when +the ring came at the bell, which I had forgotten to tie up after +all. But this was not the doctor; neither, too well I knew, was +it the wanderer returned. Our bell was the pneumatic one that +tells you if the touch be light or heavy; the hand upon it now +was tentative and shy. + +The owner of the hand I had never seen before. He was young and +ragged, with one eye blank, but the other ablaze with some fell +excitement. And straightway he burst into a low torrent of +words, of which all I knew was that they were Italian, and +therefore news of Raffles, if only I had known the language! +But dumb-show might help us somewhat, and in I dragged him, +though against his will, a new alarm in his one wild eye. + +"Non capite?" he cried when I had him inside and had withstood +the torrent. + +"No, I'm bothered if I do!" I answered, guessing his question +from his tone. + +"Vostro amico," he repeated over and over again; and then, "Poco +tempo, poco tempo, poco tempo!" + +For once in my life the classical education of my public-school +days was of real value. "My pal, my pal, and no time to be +lost!" I translated freely, and flew for my hat. + +"Ecco, signore!" cried the fellow, snatching the watch from my +waistcoat pocket, and putting one black thumb-nail on the long +hand, the other on he numeral twelve. "Mezzogiorno--poco tempo +--poco tempo!" And again I seized his meaning, that it was +twenty past eleven, and we must be there by twelve. But where, +but where? It was maddening to be summoned like this, and not to +know what had happened, nor to have any means of finding out. +But my presence of mind stood by me still, I was improving by +seven-league strides, and I crammed my handkerchief between the +drum and hammer of the bell before leaving. The doctor could +ring now till he was black in the face, but I was not coming, and +he need not think it. + +I half expected to find a hansom waiting, but there was none, and +we had gone some distance down the Earl's Court Road before we +got one; in fact, we had to run to the stand. Opposite is the +church with the clock upon it, as everybody knows, and at sight +of the dial my companion had wrung his hands; it was close upon +the half-hour. + +"Poco tempo--pochissimo!" he wailed. "Bloom-buree Ske-warr," he +then cried to the cabman--"numero trentotto!" + +"Bloomsbury Square," I roared on my own account, "I'll show you +the house when we get there, only drive like be-damned!" + +My companion lay back gasping in his corner. The small glass +told me that my own face was pretty red. + +"A nice show!" I cried; "and not a word can you tell me. Didn't +you bring me a note?" + +I might have known by this time that he had not, still I went +through the pantomime of writing with my finger on my cuff. But +he shrugged and shook his head. + +"Niente," said he. "Una quistione di vita, di vita!" + +"What's that?" I snapped, my early training come in again. "Say +it slowly--andante--rallentando." + +Thank Italy for the stage instructions in the songs one used to +murder! The fellow actually understood. + +"Una--quistione--di--vita." + +"Or mors, eh?" I shouted, and up went the trap-door over our +heads. + +"Avanti, avanti, avanti!" cried the Italian, turning up his +one-eyed face. + +"Hell-to-leather," I translated, "and double fare if you do it +by twelve o'clock." + +But in the streets of London how is one to know the time? In +the Earl's Court Road it had not been half-past, and at Barker's +in High Street it was but a minute later. A long half-mile a +minute, that was going like the wind, and indeed we had done +much of it at a gallop. But the next hundred yards took us five +minutes by the next clock, and which was one to believe? I fell +back upon my own old watch (it was my own), which made it +eighteen minutes to the hour as we swung across the Serpentine +bridge, and by the quarter we were in the Bayswater Road--not up +for once. + +"Presto, presto," my pale guide murmured. "Affretatevi--avanti!" + +"Ten bob if you do it," I cried through the trap, without the +slightest notion of what we were to do. But it was "una +quistione di vita," and "vostro amico" must and could only be my +miserable Raffles. + +What a very godsend is the perfect hansom to the man or woman in +a hurry! It had been our great good fortune to jump into a +perfect hansom; there was no choice, we had to take the first +upon the rank, but it must have deserved its place with the rest +nowhere. New tires, superb springs, a horse in a thousand, and +a driver up to every trick of his trade! In and out we went +like a fast half-back at the Rugby game, yet where the traffic +was thinnest, there were we. And how he knew his way! At the +Marble Arch he slipped out of the main stream, and so into +Wigmore Street, then up and in and out and on until I saw the +gold tips of the Museum palisade gleaming between the horse's +ears in the sun. Plop, plop, plop; ting, ling, ling; bell and +horse-shoes, horse-shoes and bell, until the colossal figure of +C. J. Fox in a grimy toga spelt Bloomsbury Square with my watch +still wanting three minutes to the hour. + +"What number?" cried the good fellow over-head. + +"Trentotto, trentotto," said my guide, but he was looking to the +right, and I bundled him out to show the house on foot. I had +not half-a-sovereign after all, but I flung our dear driver a +whole one instead, and only wish that it had been a hundred. + +Already the Italian had his latch-key in the door of 38, and in +another moment we were rushing up the narrow stairs of as dingy +a London house as prejudiced countryman can conceive. It was +panelled, but it was dark and evil-smelling, and how we should +have found our way even to the stairs but for an unwholesome jet +of yellow gas in the hall, I cannot myself imagine. However, +up we went pell-mell, to the right-about on the half-landing, +and so like a whirlwind into the drawing-room a few steps +higher. There the gas was also burning behind closed shutters, +and the scene is photographed upon my brain, though I cannot +have looked upon it for a whole instant as I sprang in at my +leader's heels. + +This room also was panelled, and in the middle of the wall on +our left, his hands lashed to a ring-bolt high above his head, +his toes barely touching the floor, his neck pinioned by a strap +passing through smaller ring-bolts under either ear, and every +inch of him secured on the same principle, stood, or rather +hung, all that was left of Raffles, for at the first glance I +believed him dead. A black ruler gagged him, the ends lashed +behind his neck, the blood upon it caked to bronze in the +gaslight. And in front of him, ticking like a sledge-hammer, +its only hand upon the stroke of twelve, stood a simple, +old-fashioned, grandfather's clock--but not for half an instant +longer--only until my guide could hurl himself upon it and send +the whole thing crashing into the corner. An ear-splitting +report accompanied the crash, a white cloud lifted from the +fallen clock, and I saw a revolver smoking in a vice screwed +below the dial, an arrangement of wires sprouting from the dial +itself, and the single hand at once at its zenith and in contact +with these. + +"Tumble to it, Bunny?" + +He was alive; these were his first words; the Italian had the +blood-caked ruler in his hand, and with his knife was reaching +up to cut the thongs that lashed the hands. He was not tall +enough, I seized him and lifted him up, then fell to work with +my own knife upon the straps. And Raffles smiled faintly upon +us through his blood-stains. + +"I want you to tumble to it," he whispered; "the neatest thing +in revenge I ever knew, and another minute would have fixed it. +I've been waiting for it twelve hours, watching the clock +round, death at the end of the lap! Electric connection. Simple +enough. Hour-hand only--O Lord!" + +We had cut the last strap. He could not stand. We supported him +between us to a horsehair sofa, for the room was furnished, and +I begged him not to speak, while his one-eyed deliverer was at +the door before Raffles recalled him with a sharp word in +Italian. + +"He wants to get me a drink, but that can wait," said he, in +firmer voice; "I shall enjoy it the more when I've told you what +happened. Don't let him go, Bunny; put your back against the +door. He's a decent soul, and it's lucky for me I got a word +with him before they trussed me up. I've promised to set him up +in life, and I will, but I don't want him out of my sight for +the moment." + +"If you squared him last night," I exclaimed, "why the blazes +didn't he come to me till the eleventh hour?" + +"Ah, I knew he'd have to cut it fine though I hoped not quite +so fine as all that. But all's well that ends well, and I +declare I don't feel so much the worse. I shall be sore about +the gills for a bit--and what do you think?" + +He pointed to the long black ruler with the bronze stain; it lay +upon the floor; he held out his hand for it, and I gave it to +him. + + +"The same one I gagged him with," said Raffles, with his still +ghastly smile; "he was a bit of an artist, old Corbucci, after +all!" + +"Now let's hear how you fell into his clutches," said I, +briskly, for I was as anxious to hear as he seemed to tell me, +only for my part I could have waited until we were safe in the +flat. + +"I do want to get it off my chest, Bunny," old Raffles admitted, +"and yet I hardly can tell you after all. I followed your +friend with the velvet eyes. I followed him all the way here. +Of course I came up to have a good look at the house when he'd +let himself in, and damme if he hadn't left the door ajar! Who +could resist that? I had pushed it half open and had just one +foot on the mat when I got such a crack on the head as I hope +never to get again. When I came to my wits they were hauling me +up to that ring-bolt by the hands, and old Corbucci himself was +bowing to me, but how HE got here I don't know yet." + +"I can tell you that," said I, and told how I had seen the Count +for myself on the pavement underneath our windows. "Moreover," +I continued, "I saw him spot you, and five minutes after in +Earl's Court Road I was told he'd driven off in a cab. He would +see you following his man, drive home ahead, and catch you by +having the door left open in the way you describe." + +"Well," said Raffles, "he deserved to catch me somehow, for he'd +come from Naples on purpose, ruler and all, and the ring-bolts +were ready fixed, and even this house taken furnished for nothing +else! He meant catching me before he'd done, and scoring me off +in exactly the same way that I scored off him, only going one +better of course. He told me so himself, sitting where I am +sitting now, at three o'clock this morning, and smoking a most +abominable cigar that I've smelt ever since. It appears he sat +twenty-four hours when I left HIM trussed up, but he said twelve +would content him in my case, as there was certain death at the +end of them, and I mightn't have life enough left to appreciate +my end if he made it longer. But I wouldn't have trusted him if +he could have got the clock to go twice round without firing off +the pistol. He explained the whole mechanism of that to me; he +had thought it all out on the vineyard I told you about; and +then he asked if I remembered what he had promised me in the +name of the Camorra. I only remembered some vague threats, but +he was good enough to give me so many particulars of that +institution that I could make a European reputation by exposing +the whole show if it wasn't for my unfortunate resemblance to +that infernal rascal Raffles. Do you think they would know me +at the Yard, Bunny, after all this time? Upon my soul I've a +good mind to risk it!" + +I offered no opinion on the point. How could it interest me +then? But interested I was in Raffles, never more so in my +life. He had been tortured all night and half a day, yet he +could sit and talk like this the moment we cut him down; he had +been within a minute of his death, yet he was as full of life +as ever; ill-treated and defeated at the best, he could still +smile through his blood as though the boot were on the other +leg. I had imagined that I knew my Raffles at last. I was not +likely so to flatter myself again. + +"But what has happened to these villains?" I burst out, and my +indignation was not only against them for their cruelty, but +also against their victim for his phlegmatic attitude toward +them. It was difficult to believe that this was Raffles. + +"Oh," said he, "they were to go off to Italy INSTANTER; they +should be crossing now. But do listen to what I am telling you; +it's interesting, my dear man. This old sinner Corbucci turns +out to have been no end of a boss in the Camorra--says so +himself. One of the capi paranze, my boy, no less; and the +velvety Johnny a giovano onorato, Anglice, fresher. This fellow +here was also in it, and I've sworn to protect him from them +evermore; and it's just as I said, half the organ-grinders in +London belong, and the whole lot of them were put on my tracks +by secret instructions. This excellent youth manufactures iced +poison on Saffron Hill when he's at home." + +"And why on earth didn't he come to me quicker?" + +"Because he couldn't talk to you, he could only fetch you, and +it was as much as his life was worth to do that before our +friends had departed. They were going by the eleven o'clock +from Victoria, and that didn't leave much chance, but he +certainly oughtn't to have run it as fine as he did. Still you +must remember that I had to fix things up with him in the fewest +possible words, in a single minute that the other two were +indiscreet enough to leave us alone together." + +The ragamuffin in question was watching us with all his solitary +eye, as though he knew that we were discussing him. Suddenly he +broke out in agonized accents, his hands clasped, and a face so +full of fear that every moment I expected to see him on his +knees. But Raffles answered kindly, reassuringly, I could tell +from his tone, and then turned to me with a compassionate shrug. + +"He says he couldn't find the mansions, Bunny, and really it's +not to be wondered at. I had only time to tell him to hunt you +up and bring you here by hook or crook before twelve to-day, and +after all he has done that. But now the poor devil thinks you're +riled with him, and that we'll give him away to the Camorra." + +"Oh, it's not with him I'm riled," I said frankly, "but with +those other blackguards, and--and with you, old chap, for taking +it all as you do, while such infamous scoundrels have the last +laugh, and are safely on their way to France!" + +Raffles looked up at me with a curiously open eye, an eye that I +never saw when he was not in earnest. I fancied he did not like +my last expression but one. After all, it was no laughing matter +to him. + +"But are they?" said he. "I'm not so sure." + +"You said they were!" + +"I said they should be." + +"Didn't you hear them go?" + +"I heard nothing but the clock all night. It was like Big Ben +striking at the last--striking nine to the fellow on the drop." + +And in that open eye I saw at last a deep glimmer of the ordeal +through which he had passed. + +"But, my dear old Raffles, if they're still on the premises--" + +The thought was too thrilling for a finished sentence. + +"I hope they are," he said grimly, going to the door. "There's a +gas on! Was that burning when you came in?" + +Now that I thought of it, yes, it had been. + +"And there's a frightfully foul smell," I added, as I followed +Raffles down the stairs. He turned to me gravely with his hand +upon the front-room door, and at the same moment I saw a coat +with an astrakhan collar hanging on the pegs. + +"They are in here, Bunny," he said, and turned the handle. + +The door would only open a few inches. But a detestable odor +came out, with a broad bar of yellow gaslight. Raffles put his +handkerchief to his nose. I followed his example, signing to our +ally to do the same, and in another minute we had all three +squeezed into the room. + +The man with the yellow boots was lying against the door, the +Count's great carcass sprawled upon the table, and at a glance +it was evident that both men had been dead some hours. The old +Camorrist had the stem of a liqueur-glass between his swollen +blue fingers, one of which had been cut in the breakage, and the +livid flesh was also brown with the last blood that it would +ever shed. His face was on the table, the huge moustache +projecting from under either leaden cheek, yet looking itself +strangely alive. Broken bread and scraps of frozen macaroni lay +upon the cloth and at the bottom of two soup-plates and a +tureen; the macaroni had a tinge of tomato; and there was a +crimson dram left in the tumblers, with an empty fiasco to show +whence it came. But near the great gray head upon the table +another liqueur-glass stood, unbroken, and still full of some +white and stinking liquid; and near that a tiny silver flash, +which made me recoil from Raffles as I had not from the dead; +for I knew it to be his. + +"Come out of this poisonous air," he said sternly, "and I will +tell you how it has happened." + +So we all three gathered together in the hall. But it was +Raffles who stood nearest the street-door, his back to it, his +eyes upon us two. And though it was to me only that he spoke at +first, he would pause from point to point, and translate into +Italian for the benefit of the one-eyed alien to whom he owed his +life. + +"You probably don't even know the name, Bunny," he began, "of the +deadliest poison yet known to science. It is cyanide of cacodyl, +and I have carried that small flask of it about with me for +months. Where I got it matters nothing; the whole point is +that a mere sniff reduces flesh to clay. I have never had any +opinion of suicide, as you know, but I always felt it worth +while to be forearmed against the very worst. Well, a bottle +of this stuff is calculated to stiffen an ordinary roomful of +ordinary people within five minutes; and I remembered my flask +when they had me as good as crucified in the small hours of this +morning. I asked them to take it out of my pocket. I begged +them to give me a drink before they left me. And what do you +suppose they did?" + +I thought of many things but suggested none, while Raffles +turned this much of his statement into sufficiently fluent +Italian. But when he faced me again his face was still flaming. + +"That beast Corbucci!" said he--"how can I pity him? He took the +flask; he would give me none; he flicked me in the face instead. +My idea was that he, at least, should go with me--to sell my +life as dearly as that--and a sniff would have settled us both. +But no, he must tantalize and torment me; he thought it brandy; +he must take it downstairs to drink to my destruction! Can you +have any pity for a hound like that?" + +"Let us go," I at last said, hoarsely, as Raffles finished +speaking in Italian, and his second listener stood open-mouthed. + +"We will go," said Raffles, "and we will chance being seen; if +the worst comes to the worst this good chap will prove that I +have been tied up since one o'clock this morning, and the medical +evidence will decide how long those dogs have been dead." + +But the worst did not come to the worst, more power to my +unforgotten friend the cabman, who never came forward to say what +manner of men he had driven to Bloomsbury Square at top speed on +the very day upon which the tragedy was discovered there, or +whence he had driven them. To be sure, they had not behaved +like murderers, whereas the evidence at the inquest all went to +show that the defunct Corbucci was little better. His +reputation, which transpired with his identity, was that of a +libertine and a renegade, while the infernal apparatus upstairs +revealed the fiendish arts of the anarchist to boot. The inquiry +resulted eventually in an open verdict, and was chiefly +instrumental in killing such compassion as is usually felt for +the dead who die in their sins. + +But Raffles would not have passed this title for this tale. + + +TO CATCH A THIEF + +I + +Society persons are not likely to have forgotten the series of +audacious robberies by which so many of themselves suffered in +turn during the brief course of a recent season. Raid after +raid was made upon the smartest houses in town, and within a few +weeks more than one exalted head had been shorn of its priceless +tiara. The Duke and Duchess of Dorchester lost half the +portable pieces of their historic plate on the very night of +their Graces' almost equally historic costume ball. The +Kenworthy diamonds were taken in broad daylight, during the +excitement of a charitable meeting on the ground floor, and the +gifts of her belted bridegroom to Lady May Paulton while the +outer air was thick with a prismatic shower of confetti. It was +obvious that all this was the work of no ordinary thief, and +perhaps inevitable that the name of Raffles should have been +dragged from oblivion by callous disrespecters of the departed +and unreasoning apologists for the police. These wiseacres did +not hesitate to bring a dead man back to life because they knew +of no living one capable of such feats; it is their heedless and +inconsequent calumnies that the present paper is partly intended +to refute. As a matter of fact, our joint innocence in this +matter was only exceeded by our common envy, and for a long +time, like the rest of the world, neither of us had the +slightest clew to the identity of the person who was following +in our steps with such irritating results. + +"I should mind less," said Raffles, "if the fellow were really +playing my game. But abuse of hospitality was never one of my +strokes, and it seems to me the only shot he's got. When we +took old Lady Melrose's necklace, Bunny, we were not staying with +the Melroses, if you recollect." + +We were discussing the robberies for the hundredth time, but for +once under conditions more favorable to animated conversation +than our unique circumstances permitted in the flat. We did +not often dine out. Dr. Theobald was one impediment, the risk +of recognition was another. But there were exceptions, when the +doctor was away or the patient defiant, and on these rare +occasions we frequented a certain unpretentious restaurant in +the Fulham quarter, where the cooking was plain but excellent, +and the cellar a surprise. Our bottle of '89 champagne was +empty to the label when the subject arose, to be touched by +Raffles in the reminiscent manner indicated above. I can see +his clear eye upon me now, reading me, weighing me. But I was +not so sensitive to his scrutiny at the time. His tone was +deliberate, calculating, preparatory; not as I heard it then, +through a head full of wine, but as it floats back to me across +the gulf between that moment and this. + +"Excellent fillet!" said I, grossly. "So you think this chap is +as much in society as we were, do you?" + +I preferred not to think so myself. We had cause enough for +jealousy without that. But Raffles raised his eyebrows an +eloquent half-inch. + +"As much, my dear Bunny? He is not only in it, but of it; +there's no comparison between us there. Society is in rings like +a target, and we never were in the bull's-eye, however thick you +may lay on the ink! I was asked for my cricket. I haven't +forgotten it yet. But this fellow's one of themselves, with +the right of entre into the houses which we could only 'enter' +in a professional sense. That's obvious unless all these little +exploits are the work of different hands, which they as obviously +are not. And it's why I'd give five hundred pounds to put salt +on him to-night!" + +"Not you," said I, as I drained my glass in festive incredulity. + +"But I would, my dear Bunny. Waiter! another half-bottle of +this," and Raffles leant across the table as the empty one was +taken away. "I never was more serious in my life," he continued +below his breath. "Whatever else our successor may be, he's not +a dead man like me, or a marked man like you. If there's any +truth in my theory he's one of the last people upon whom +suspicion is ever likely to rest; and oh, Bunny, what a partner +he would make for you and me!" + +Under less genial influences the very idea of a third partner +would have filled my soul with offence; but Raffles had chosen +his moment unerringly, and his arguments lost nothing by the +flowing accompaniment of the extra pint. They were, however, +quite strong in themselves. The gist of them was that thus far +we had remarkably little to show for what Raffles would call "our +second innings." This even I could not deny. We had scored a +few "long singles," but our "best shots" had gone "straight to +hand," and we were "playing a deuced slow game." Therefore we +needed a new partner--and the metaphor failed Raffles. + +It had served its turn. I already agreed with him. In truth I +was tired of my false position as hireling attendant, and had +long fancied myself an object of suspicion to that other +impostor the doctor. A fresh, untrammelled start was a +fascinating idea to me, though two was company, and three in our +case might be worse than none. But I did not see how we could +hope, with our respective handicaps, to solve a problem which was +already the despair of Scotland Yard. + +"Suppose I have solved it," observed Raffles, cracking a walnut +in his palm. + +"How could you?" I asked, without believing for an instant that +he had. + +"I have been taking the Morning Post for some time now." + +"Well?" + +"You have got me a good many odd numbers of the less base society +papers." + +"I can't for the life of me see what you're driving at." + +Raffles smiled indulgently as he cracked another nut. + +"That's because you've neither observation nor imagination, +Bunny--and yet you try to write! Well, you wouldn't think it, +but I have a fairly complete list of the people who were at the +various functions under cover of which these different little +coups were brought off." + +I said very stolidly that I did not see how that could help him. +It was the only answer to his good-humored but self-satisfied +contempt; it happened also to be true. + +"Think," said Raffles, in a patient voice. + +"When thieves break in and steal," said I, "upstairs, I don't see +much point in discovering who was downstairs at the time." + +"Quite," said Raffles--"when they do break in." + +"But that's what they have done in all these cases. An upstairs +door found screwed up, when things were at their height below; +thief gone and jewels with him before alarm could be raised. +Why, the trick's so old that I never knew you condescend to play +it." + +"Not so old as it looks," said Raffles, choosing the cigars and +handing me mine. "Cognac or Benedictine, Bunny?" + +"Brandy," I said, coarsely. + +"Besides," he went on, "the rooms were not screwed up; at +Dorchester House, at any rate, the door was only locked, and the +key missing, so that it might have been done on either side." + +"But that was where he left his rope-ladder behind him!" I +exclaimed in triumph; but Raffles only shook his head. + +"I don't believe in that rope-ladder, Bunny, except as a blind." + +"Then what on earth do you believe?" + +"That every one of these so-called burglaries has been done from +the inside, by one of the guests; and what's more I'm very much +mistaken if I haven't spotted the right sportsman." + +I began to believe that he really had, there was such a wicked +gravity in the eyes that twinkled faintly into mine. I raised +my glass in convivial congratulation, and still remember the +somewhat anxious eye with which Raffles saw it emptied. + +"I can only find one likely name," he continued, "that figures in +all these lists, and it is anything but a likely one at first +sight. Lord Ernest Belville was at all those functions. Know +anything about him, Bunny?" + +"Not the Rational Drink fanatic?" + +"Yes." + +"That's all I want to know." + +"Quite," said Raffles; "and yet what could be more promising? A +man whose views are so broad and moderate, and so widely held +already (saving your presence, Bunny), does not bore the world +with them without ulterior motives. So far so good. What are +this chap's motives? Does he want to advertise himself? No, +he's somebody already. But is he rich? On the contrary, he's +as poor as a rat for his position, and apparently without the +least ambition to be anything else; certainly he won't enrich +himself by making a public fad of what all sensible people are +agreed upon as it is. Then suddenly one gets one's own old +idea--the alternative profession! My cricket--his Rational +Drink! But it is no use jumping to conclusions. I must know +more than the newspapers can tell me. Our aristocratic friend +is forty, and unmarried. What has he been doing all these +years? How the devil was I to find out?" + +"How did you?" I asked, declining to spoil my digestion with a +conundrum, as it was his evident intention that I should. + +"Interviewed him!" said Raffles, smiling slowly on my amazement. + +"You--interviewed him?" I echoed. "When--and where?" + +"Last Thursday night, when, if you remember, we kept early hours, +because I felt done. What was the use of telling you what I had +up my sleeve, Bunny? It might have ended in fizzle, as it still +may. But Lord Ernest Belville was addressing the meeting at +Exeter Hall; I waited for him when the show was over, dogged him +home to King John's Mansions, and interviewed him in his own +rooms there before he turned in." + +My journalistic jealousy was piqued to the quick. Affecting a +scepticism I did not feel (for no outrage was beyond the pale of +his impudence), I inquired dryly which journal Raffles had +pretended to represent. It is unnecessary to report his answer. +I could not believe him without further explanation. + +"I should have thought," he said, "that even you would have +spotted a practice I never omit upon certain occasions. I always +pay a visit to the drawing-room, and fill my waistcoat pocket +from the card-tray. It is an immense help in any little +temporary impersonation. On Thursday night I sent up the card of +a powerful writer connected with a powerful paper; if Lord Ernest +had known him in the flesh I should have been obliged to confess +to a journalistic ruse; luckily he didn't--and I had been sent by +my editor to get the interview for next morning. What could be +better--for the alternative profession?" + +I inquired what the interview had brought forth. + +"Everything," said Raffles. "Lord Ernest has been a wanderer +these twenty years. Texas, Fiji, Australia. I suspect him of +wives and families in all three. But his manners are a liberal +education. He gave me some beautiful whiskey, and forgot all +about his fad. He is strong and subtle, but I talked him off his +guard. He is going to the Kirkleathams' to-night--I saw the card +stuck up. I stuck some wax into his keyhole as he was switching +off the lights." + +And, with an eye upon the waiters, Raffles showed me a skeleton +key, newly twisted and filed; but my share of the extra pint (I +am afraid no fair share) had made me dense. I looked from the +key to Raffles with puckered forehead--for I happened to catch +sight of it in the mirror behind him. + +"The Dowager Lady Kirkleatham," he whispered, "has diamonds as +big as beans, and likes to have 'em all on--and goes to bed +early--and happens to be in town!" + +And now I saw. + +"The villain means to get them from her!" + +"And I mean to get them from the villain," said Raffles; "or, +rather, your share and mine." + +"Will he consent to a partnership?" + +"We shall have him at our mercy. He daren't refuse." + +Raffles's plan was to gain access to Lord Ernest's rooms before +midnight; there we were to lie in wait for the aristocratic +rascal, and if I left all details to Raffles, and simply stood by +in case of a rumpus, I should be playing my part and earning my +share. It was a part that I had played before, not always with a +good grace, though there had never been any question about the +share. But to-night I was nothing loath. I had had just +champagne enough--how Raffles knew my measure!--and I was ready +and eager for anything. Indeed, I did not wish to wait for the +coffee, which was to be especially strong by order of Raffles. +But on that he insisted, and it was between ten and eleven when +at last we were in our cab. + +"It would be fatal to be too early," he said as we drove; "on +the other hand, it would be dangerous to leave it too late. One +must risk something. How I should love to drive down Piccadilly +and see the lights! But unnecessary risks are another story." + + +II + +King John's Mansions, as everybody knows, are the oldest, the +ugliest, and the tallest block of flats in all London. But they +are built upon a more generous scale than has since become the +rule, and with a less studious regard for the economy of space. +We were about to drive into the spacious courtyard when the +gate-keeper checked us in order to let another hansom drive out. + +It contained a middle-aged man of the military type, like +ourselves in evening dress. That much I saw as his hansom +crossed our bows, because I could not help seeing it, but I +should not have given the incident a second thought if it had +not been for his extraordinary effect upon Raffles. In an +instant he was out upon the curb, paying the cabby, and in +another he was leading me across the street, away from the +mansions. + +"Where on earth are you going?" I naturally exclaimed. + +"Into the park," said he. "We are too early." + +His voice told me more than his words. It was strangely stern. + +"Was that him--in the hansom?" + +"It was." + +"Well, then, the coast's clear," said I, comfortably. I was for +turning back then and there, but Raffles forced me on with a hand +that hardened on my arm. + +"It was a nearer thing than I care about," said he. "This seat +will do; no, the next one's further from a lamp-post. We will +give him a good half-hour, and I don't want to talk." + +We had been seated some minutes when Big Ben sent a languid chime +over our heads to the stars. It was half-past ten, and a sultry +night. Eleven had struck before Raffles awoke from his sullen +reverie, and recalled me from mine with a slap on the back. In a +couple of minutes we were in the lighted vestibule at the inner +end of the courtyard of King John's Mansions. + +"Just left Lord Ernest at Lady Kirkleatham's," said Raffles. +"Gave me his key and asked us to wait for him in his rooms. Will +you send us up in the lift?" + +In a small way, I never knew old Raffles do anything better. +There was not an instant's demur. Lord Ernest Belville's rooms +were at the top of the building, but we were in them as quickly +as lift could carry and page-boy conduct us. And there was no +need for the skeleton key after all; the boy opened the outer +door with one of his own, and switched on the lights before +leaving us. + +"Now that's interesting," said Raffles, as soon as we were alone; +"they can come in and clean when he is out. What if he keeps his +swag at the bank? By Jove, that's an idea for him! I don't +believe he's getting rid of it; it's all lying low somewhere, if +I'm not mistaken, and he's not a fool." + +While he spoke he was moving about the sitting-room, which was +charmingly furnished in the antique style, and making as many +remarks as though he were an auctioneer's clerk with an +inventory to prepare and a day to do it in, instead of a +cracksman who might be surprised in his crib at any moment. + +"Chippendale of sorts, eh, Bunny? Not genuine, of course; but +where can you get genuine Chippendale now, and who knows it when +they see it? There's no merit in mere antiquity. Yet the way +people pose on the subject! If a thing's handsome and useful, +and good cabinet-making, it's good enough for me." + +"Hadn't we better explore the whole place?" I suggested +nervously. He had not even bolted the outer door. Nor would he +when I called his attention to the omission. + +"If Lord Ernest finds his rooms locked up he'll raise Cain," said +Raffles; "we must let him come in and lock up for himself before +we corner him. But he won't come yet; if he did it might be +awkward, for they'd tell him down below what I told them. A new +staff comes on at midnight. I discovered that the other night." + +"Supposing he does come in before?" + +"Well, he can't have us turned out without first seeing who we +are, and he won't try it on when I've had one word with him. +Unless my suspicions are unfounded, I mean." + +"Isn't it about time to test them?" + +"My good Bunny, what do you suppose I've been doing all this +while? He keeps nothing in here. There isn't a lock to the +Chippendale that you couldn't pick with a penknife, and not a +loose board in the floor, for I was treading for one before the +boy left us. Chimney's no use in a place like this where they +keep them swept for you. Yes, I'm quite ready to try his +bedroom." + +There was but a bathroom besides; no kitchen, no servant's room; +neither are necessary in King John's Mansions. I thought it as +well to put my head inside the bathroom while Raffles went into +the bedroom, for I was tormented by the horrible idea that the +man might all this time be concealed somewhere in the flat. But +the bathroom blazed void in the electric light. I found Raffles +hanging out of the starry square which was the bedroom window, +for the room was still in darkness. I felt for the switch at the +door. + +"Put it out again!" said Raffles fiercely. He rose from the +sill, drew blind and curtains carefully, then switched on the +light himself. It fell upon a face creased more in pity than in +anger, and Raffles only shook his head as I hung mine. + +"It's all right, old boy," said he; "but corridors have windows +too, and servants have eyes; and you and I are supposed to be in +the other room, not in this. But cheer up, Bunny! This is THE +room; look at the extra bolt on the door; he's had that put on, +and there's an iron ladder to his window in case of fire! Way +of escape ready against the hour of need; he's a better man than +I thought him, Bunny, after all. But you may bet your bottom +dollar that if there's any boodle in the flat it's in this room." + +Yet the room was very lightly furnished; and nothing was locked. +We looked everywhere, but we looked in vain. The wardrobe was +filled with hanging coats and trousers in a press, the drawers +with the softest silk and finest linen. It was a camp bedstead +that would not have unsettled an anchorite; there was no place +for treasure there. I looked up the chimney, but Raffles told me +not to be a fool, and asked if I ever listened to what he said. +There was no question about his temper now. I never knew him in +a worse. + +"Then he has got it in the bank," he growled. "I'll swear I'm +not mistaken in my man!" + +I had the tact not to differ with him there. But I could not +help suggesting that now was our time to remedy any mistake we +might have made. We were on the right side of midnight still. + +"Then we stultify ourselves downstairs," said Raffles. "No, I'll +be shot if I do! He may come in with the Kirkleatham diamonds! +You do what you like, Bunny, but I don't budge." + +"I certainly shan't leave you," I retorted, "to be knocked into +the middle of next week by a better man than yourself." + +I had borrowed his own tone, and he did not like it. They never +do. I thought for a moment that Raffles was going to strike +me--for the first and last time in his life. He could if he +liked. My blood was up. I was ready to send him to the devil. +And I emphasized my offence by nodding and shrugging toward a +pair of very large Indian clubs that stood in the fender, on +either side of the chimney up which I had presumed to glance. + +In an instant Raffles had seized the clubs, and was whirling +them about his gray head in a mixture of childish pique and +puerile bravado which I should have thought him altogether above. + +And suddenly as I watched him his face changed, softened, lit +up, and he swung the clubs gently down upon the bed. + +"They're not heavy enough for their size," said he rapidly; "and +I'll take my oath they're not the same weight!" + +He shook one club after the other, with both hands, close to his +ear; then he examined their butt-ends under the electric light. +I saw what he suspected now, and caught the contagion of his +suppressed excitement. Neither of us spoke. But Raffles had +taken out the portable tool-box that he called a knife, and +always carried, and as he opened the gimlet he handed me the club +he held. Instinctively I tucked the small end under my arm, and +presented the other to Raffles. + +"Hold him tight," he whispered, smiling. "He's not only a better +man than I thought him, Bunny; he's hit upon a better dodge than +ever I did, of its kind. Only I should have weighted them +evenly--to a hair." + +He had screwed the gimlet into the circular butt, close to the +edge, and now we were wrenching in opposite directions. For a +moment or more nothing happened. Then all at once something +gave, and Raffles swore an oath as soft as any prayer. And for +the minute after that his hand went round and round with the +gimlet, as though he were grinding a piano-organ, while the end +wormed slowly out on its delicate thread of fine hard wood. + +The clubs were as hollow as drinking-horns, the pair of them, for +we went from one to the other without pausing to undo the padded +packets that poured out upon the bed. These were deliciously +heavy to the hand, yet thickly swathed in cotton-wool, so that +some stuck together, retaining the shape of the cavity, as though +they had been run out of a mould. And when we did open them--but +let Raffles speak. + +He had deputed me to screw in the ends of the clubs, and to +replace the latter in the fender where we had found them. When +I had done the counterpane was glittering with diamonds where it +was not shimmering with pearls. + +"If this isn't that tiara that Lady May was married in," said +Raffles, "and that disappeared out of the room she changed in, +while it rained confetti on the steps, I'll present it to her +instead of the one she lost. . . . It was stupid to keep these +old gold spoons, valuable as they are; they made the difference +in the weight. . . . Here we have probably the Kenworthy +diamonds. . . . I don't know the history of these pearls. . . . +This looks like one family of rings--left on the basin-stand, +perhaps--alas, poor lady! And that's the lot." + +Our eyes met across the bed. + +"What's it all worth?" I asked, hoarsely. + +"Impossible to say. But more than all we ever took in all our +lives. That I'll swear to." + +"More than all--" + +My tongue swelled with the thought. + +"But it'll take some turning into cash, old chap!" + +"And--must it be a partnership?" I asked, finding a lugubrious +voice at length. + +"Partnership be damned!" cried Raffles, heartily. "Let's get out +quicker than we came in." + +We pocketed the things between us, cotton-wool and all, not +because we wanted the latter, but to remove all immediate traces +of our really meritorious deed. + +"The sinner won't dare to say a word when he does find out," +remarked Raffles of Lord Ernest; "but that's no reason why he +should find out before he must. Everything's straight in here, I +think; no, better leave the window open as it was, and the blind +up. Now out with the light. One peep at the other room. That's +all right, too. Out with the passage light, Bunny, while I +open--" + +His words died away in a whisper. A key was fumbling at the lock +outside. + +"Out with it--out with it!" whispered Raffles in an agony; and as +I obeyed he picked me off my feet and swung me bodily but +silently into the bedroom, just as the outer door opened, and a +masterful step strode in. + +The next five were horrible minutes. We heard the apostle of +Rational Drink unlock one of the deep drawers in his antique +sideboard, and sounds followed suspiciously like the splash of +spirits and the steady stream from a siphon. Never before or +since did I experience such a thirst as assailed me at that +moment, nor do I believe that many tropical explorers have known +its equal. But I had Raffles with me, and his hand was as +steady and as cool as the hand of a trained nurse. That I know +because he turned up the collar of my overcoat for me, for some +reason, and buttoned it at the throat. I afterwards found that +he had done the same to his own, but I did not hear him doing +it. The one thing I heard in the bedroom was a tiny metallic +click, muffled and deadened in his overcoat pocket, and it not +only removed my last tremor, but strung me to a higher pitch of +excitement than ever. Yet I had then no conception of the game +that Raffles was deciding to play, and that I was to play with +him in another minute. + +It cannot have been longer before Lord Ernest came into his +bedroom. Heavens, but my heart had not forgotten how to thump! +We were standing near the door, and I could swear he touched me; +then his boots creaked, there was a rattle in the fender--and +Raffles switched on the light. + +Lord Ernest Belville crouched in its glare with one Indian club +held by the end, like a footman with a stolen bottle. A +good-looking, well-built, iron-gray, iron-jawed man; but a fool +and a weakling at that moment, if he had never been either +before. + +"Lord Ernest Belville," said Raffles, "it's no use. This is a +loaded revolver, and if you force me I shall use it on you as I +would on any other desperate criminal. I am here to arrest you +for a series of robberies at the Duke of Dorchester's, Sir John +Kenworthy's, and other noblemen's and gentlemen's houses during +the present season. You'd better drop what you've got in your +hand. It's empty." + +Lord Ernest lifted the club an inch or two, and with it his +eyebrows--and after it his stalwart frame as the club crashed +back into the fender. And as he stood at his full height, a +courteous but ironic smile under the cropped moustache, he +looked what he was, criminal or not. + +"Scotland Yard?" said he. + +"That's our affair, my lord." + +"I didn't think they'd got it in them," said Lord Ernest. "Now +I recognize you. You're my interviewer. No, I didn't think any +of you fellows had got all that in you. Come into the other +room, and I'll show you something else. Oh, keep me covered by +all means. But look at this!" + +On the antique sideboard, their size doubled by reflection in the +polished mahogany, lay a coruscating cluster of precious stones, +that fell in festoons about Lord Ernest's fingers as he handed +them to Raffles with scarcely a shrug. + +"The Kirkleatham diamonds," said he. "Better add 'em to the +bag." + +Raffles did so without a smile; with his overcoat buttoned up to +the chin, his tall hat pressed down to his eyes, and between the +two his incisive features and his keen, stern glance, he looked +the ideal detective of fiction and the stage. What _I_ looked +God knows, but I did my best to glower and show my teeth at his +side. I had thrown myself into the game, and it was obviously a +winning one. + +"Wouldn't take a share, I suppose?" Lord Ernest said casually. + +Raffles did not condescend to reply. I rolled back my lips like +a bull-pup. + +"Then a drink, at least!" + +My mouth watered, but Raffles shook his head impatiently. + +"We must be going, my lord, and you will have to come with us." + +I wondered what in the world we should do with him when we had +got him. + +"Give me time to put some things together? Pair of pyjamas and +tooth-brush, don't you know?" + +"I cannot give you many minutes, my lord, but I don't want to +cause a disturbance here, so I'll tell them to call a cab if you +like. But I shall be back in a minute, and you must be ready in +five. Here, inspector, you'd better keep this while I am gone." + +And I was left alone with that dangerous criminal! Raffles +nipped my arm as he handed me the revolver, but I got small +comfort out of that. + +"'Sea-green Incorruptible?'" inquired Lord Ernest as we stood +face to face. + +"You don't corrupt me," I replied through naked teeth. + +"Then come into my room. I'll lead the way. Think you can hit +me if I misbehave?" + +I put the bed between us without a second's delay. My prisoner +flung a suit-case upon it, and tossed things into it with a +dejected air; suddenly, as he was fitting them in, without +raising his head (which I was watching), his right hand closed +over the barrel with which I covered him. + +"You'd better not shoot," he said, a knee upon his side of the +bed; "if you do it may be as bad for you as it will be for me!" + +I tried to wrest the revolver from him. + +"I will if you force me," I hissed. + +"You'd better not," he repeated, smiling; and now I saw that if I +did I should only shoot into the bed or my own legs. His hand +was on the top of mine, bending it down, and the revolver with +it. The strength of it was as the strength of ten of mine; and +now both his knees were on the bed; and suddenly I saw his other +hand, doubled into a fist, coming up slowly over the suit-case. + +"Help!" I called feebly. + +"Help, forsooth! I begin to believe YOU ARE from the Yard," he +said--and his upper-cut came with the "Yard." It caught me under +the chin. + +It lifted me off my legs. I have a dim recollection of the crash +that I made in falling. + + +III + +Raffles was standing over me when I recovered consciousness. I +lay stretched upon the bed across which that blackguard Belville +had struck his knavish blow. The suit-case was on the floor, +but its dastardly owner had disappeared. + +"Is he gone?" was my first faint question. + +"Thank God you're not, anyway!" replied Raffles, with what struck +me then as mere flippancy. I managed to raise myself upon one +elbow. + +"I meant Lord Ernest Belville," said I, with dignity. "Are you +quite sure that he's cleared out?" + +Raffles waved a hand towards the window, which stood wide open to +the summer stars. + +"Of course," said he, "and by the route I intended him to take; +he's gone by the iron-ladder, as I hoped he would. What on +earth should we have done with him? My poor, dear Bunny, I +thought you'd take a bribe! But it's really more convincing as +it is, and just as well for Lord Ernest to be convinced for the +time being." + +"Are you sure he is?" I questioned, as I found a rather shaky +pair of legs. + +"Of course!" cried Raffles again, in the tone to make one blush +for the least misgiving on the point. "Not that it matters one +bit," he added, airily, "for we have him either way; and when he +does tumble to it, as he may any minute, he won't dare to open +his mouth." + +"Then the sooner we clear out the better," said I, but I looked +askance at the open window, for my head was spinning still. + +"When you feel up to it," returned Raffles, "we shall STROLL out, +and I shall do myself the honor of ringing for the lift. The +force of habit is too strong in you, Bunny. I shall shut the +window and leave everything exactly as we found it. Lord Ernest +will probably tumble before he is badly missed; and then he may +come back to put salt on us; but I should like to know what he +can do even if he succeeds! Come, Bunny, pull yourself together, +and you'll be a different man when you're in the open air." + +And for a while I felt one, such was my relief at getting out of +those infernal mansions with unfettered wrists; this we managed +easily enough; but once more Raffles's performance of a small +part was no less perfect than his more ambitious work upstairs, +and something of the successful artist's elation possessed him as +we walked arm-in-arm across St. James's Park. It was long since +I had known him so pleased with himself, and only too long since +he had had such reason. + +"I don't think I ever had a brighter idea in my life," he said; +"never thought of it till he was in the next room; never dreamt +of its coming off so ideally even then, and didn't much care, +because we had him all ways up. I'm only sorry you let him knock +you out. I was waiting outside the door all the time, and it +made me sick to hear it. But I once broke my own head, Bunny, if +you remember, and not in half such an excellent cause!" + +Raffles touched all his pockets in his turn, the pockets that +contained a small fortune apiece, and he smiled in my face as we +crossed the lighted avenues of the Mall. Next moment he was +hailing a hansom--for I suppose I was still pretty pale--and not +a word would he let me speak until we had alighted as near as was +prudent to the flat. + +"What a brute I've been, Bunny!" he whispered then, "but you +take half the swag, old boy, and right well you've earned it. +No, we'll go in by the wrong door and over the roof; it's too +late for old Theobald to be still at the play, and too early for +him to be safely in his cups." + +So we climbed the many stairs with cat-like stealth, and like +cats crept out upon the grimy leads. But to-night they were no +blacker than their canopy of sky; not a chimney-stack stood out +against the starless night; one had to feel one's way in order to +avoid tripping over the low parapets of the L-shaped wells that +ran from roof to basement to light the inner rooms. One of these +wells was spanned by a flimsy bridge with iron handrails that +felt warm to the touch as Raffles led the way across! A hotter +and a closer night I have never known. + +"The flat will be like an oven," I grumbled, at the head of our +own staircase. + +"Then we won't go down," said Raffles, promptly; we'll slack it +up here for a bit instead. No, Bunny, you stay where you are! +I'll fetch you a drink and a deck-chair, and you shan't come +down till you feel more fit." + +And I let him have his way, I will not say as usual, for I had +even less than my normal power of resistance that night. That +villainous upper-cut! My head still sang and throbbed, as I +seated myself on one of the aforesaid parapets, and buried it in +my hot hands. Nor was the night one to dispel a headache; there +was distinct thunder in the air. Thus I sat in a heap, and +brooded over my misadventure, a pretty figure of a subordinate +villain, until the step came for which I waited; and it never +struck me that it came from the wrong direction. + +"You have been quick," said I, simply. + +"Yes," hissed a voice I recognized; "and you've got to be quicker +still! Here, out with your wrists; no, one at a time; and if you +utter a syllable you're a dead man." + +It was Lord Ernest Belville; his close-cropped, iron-gray +moustache gleamed through the darkness, drawn up over his set +teeth. In his hand glittered a pair of handcuffs, and before I +knew it one had snapped its jaws about my right wrist. + +"Now come this way," said Lord Ernest, showing me a revolver +also, "and wait for your friend. And, recollect, a single +syllable of warning will be your death!" + +With that the ruffian led me to the very bridge I had just +crossed at Raffles's heels, and handcuffed me to the iron rail +midway across the chasm. It no longer felt warm to my touch, but +icy as the blood in all my veins. + +So this high-born hypocrite had beaten us at our game and his, +and Raffles had met his match at last! That was the most +intolerable thought, that Raffles should be down in the flat on +my account, and that I could not warn him of his impending fate; +for how was it possible without making such an outcry as should +bring the mansions about our ears? And there I shivered on that +wretched plank, chained like Andromeda to the rock, with a black +infinity above and below; and before my eyes, now grown familiar +with the peculiar darkness, stood Lord Ernest Belville, waiting +for Raffles to emerge with full hands and unsuspecting heart! +Taken so horribly unawares, even Raffles must fall an easy prey +to a desperado in resource and courage scarcely second to +himself, but one whom he had fatally underrated from the +beginning. Not that I paused to think how the thing had +happened; my one concern was for what was to happen next. + +And what did happen was worse than my worst foreboding, for first +a light came flickering into the sort of companion-hatch at the +head of the stairs, and finally Raffles--in his shirt-sleeves! +He was not only carrying a candle to put the finishing touch to +him as a target; he had dispensed with coat and waistcoat +downstairs, and was at once full-handed and unarmed. + +"Where are you, old chap?" he cried, softly, himself blinded by +the light he carried; and he advanced a couple of steps towards +Belville. "This isn't you, is it?" + +And Raffles stopped, his candle held on high, a folding chair +under the other arm. + +"No, I am not your friend," replied Lord Ernest, easily; "but +kindly remain standing exactly where you are, and don't lower +that candle an inch, unless you want your brains blown into the +street." + +Raffles said never a word, but for a moment did as he was bid; +and the unshaken flame of the candle was testimony alike to the +stillness of the night and to the finest set of nerves in Europe. + +Then, to my horror, he coolly stooped, placing candle and chair +on the leads, and his hands in his pockets, as though it were but +a popgun that covered him. + +"Why didn't you shoot?" he asked insolently as he rose. +"Frightened of the noise? I should be, too, with an old-pattern +machine like that. All very well for service in the field--but +on the house-tops at dead of night!" + +"I shall shoot, however," replied Lord Ernest, as quietly in his +turn, and with less insolence, "and chance the noise, unless you +instantly restore my property. I am glad you don't dispute the +last word," he continued after a slight pause. "There is no +keener honor than that which subsists, or ought to subsist, +among thieves; and I need hardly say that I soon spotted you as +one of the fraternity. Not in the beginning, mind you! For the +moment I did think you were one of these smart detectives jumped +to life from some sixpenny magazine; but to preserve the +illusion you ought to provide yourself with a worthier +lieutenant. It was he who gave your show away," chuckled the +wretch, dropping for a moment the affected style of speech which +seemed intended to enhance our humiliation; "smart detectives +don't go about with little innocents to assist them. You needn't +be anxious about him, by the way; it wasn't necessary to pitch +him into the street; he is to be seen though not heard, if you +look in the right direction. Nor must you put all the blame upon +your friend; it was not he, but you, who made so sure that I +had got out by the window. You see, I was in my bathroom all the +time--with the door open." + +"The bathroom, eh?" Raffles echoed with professional interest. +"And you followed us on foot across the park?" + +"Of course." + +"And then in a cab?" + +"And afterwards on foot once more." + +"The simplest skeleton would let you in down below." + +I saw the lower half of Lord Ernest's face grinning in the light +of the candle set between them on the ground. + +"You follow every move," said he; "there can be no doubt you are +one of the fraternity; and I shouldn't wonder if we had formed +our style upon the same model. Ever know A. J. Raffles?" + +The abrupt question took my breath away; but Raffles himself did +not lose an instant over his answer. + +"Intimately," said he. + +"That accounts for you, then," laughed Lord Ernest, "as it does +for me, though I never had the honor of the master's +acquaintance. Nor is it for me to say which is the worthier +disciple. Perhaps, however, now that your friend is handcuffed +in mid-air, and you yourself are at my mercy, you will concede me +some little temporary advantage?" + +And his face split in another grin from the cropped moustache +downward, as I saw no longer by candlelight but by a flash of +lightning which tore the sky in two before Raffles could reply. + +"You have the bulge at present," admitted Raffles; "but you have +still to lay hands upon your, or our, ill-gotten goods. To shoot +me is not necessarily to do so; to bring either one of us to a +violent end is only to court a yet more violent and infinitely +more disgraceful one for yourself. Family considerations alone +should rule that risk out of your game. Now, an hour or two ago, +when the exact opposite--" + +The remainder of Raffles's speech was drowned from my ears by the +belated crash of thunder which the lightning had foretold. So +loud, however, was the crash when it came, that the storm was +evidently approaching us at a high velocity; yet as the last +echo rumbled away, I heard Raffles talking as though he had never +stopped. + +"You offered us a share," he was saying; "unless you mean to +murder us both in cold blood, it will be worth your while to +repeat that offer. We should be dangerous enemies; you had far +better make the best of us as friends." + +"Lead the way down to your flat," said Lord Ernest, with a +flourish of his service revolver, "and perhaps we may talk about +it. It is for me to make the terms, I imagine, and in the first +place I am not going to get wet to the skin up here." + +The rain was beginning in great drops, even as he spoke, and by a +second flash of lightning I saw Raffles pointing to me. + +"But what about my friend?" said he. + +And then came the second peal. + +"Oh, HE'S all right," the great brute replied; "do him good! +You don't catch me letting myself in for two to one!" + +"You will find it equally difficult," rejoined Raffles, "to +induce me to leave my friend to the mercy of a night like this. +He has not recovered from the blow you struck him in your own +rooms. I am not such a fool as to blame you for that, but you +are a worse sportsman than I take you for if you think of leaving +him where he is. If he stays, however, so do I." + +And, just as it ceased, Raffles's voice seemed distinctly nearer +to me; but in the darkness and the rain, which was now as heavy +as hail, I could see nothing clearly. The rain had already +extinguished the candle. I heard an oath from Belville, a laugh +from Raffles, and for a second that was all. Raffles was coming +to me, and the other could not even see to fire; that was all I +knew in the pitchy interval of invisible rain before the next +crash and the next flash. + +And then! + +This time they came together, and not till my dying hour shall I +forget the sight that the lightning lit and the thunder +applauded. Raffles was on one of the parapets of the gulf that +my foot-bridge spanned, and in the sudden illumination he +stepped across it as one might across a garden path. The width +was scarcely greater, but the depth! In the sudden flare I saw +to the concrete bottom of the well, and it looked no larger than +the hollow of my hand. Raffles was laughing in my ear; he had +the iron railing fast; it was between us, but his foothold was as +secure as mine. Lord Ernest Belville, on the contrary, was the +fifth of a second late for the light, and half a foot short in +his spring. Something struck our plank bridge so hard as to set +it quivering like a harp-string; there was half a gasp and half a +sob in mid-air beneath our feet; and then a sound far below that +I prefer not to describe. I am not sure that I could hit upon +the perfect simile; it is more than enough for me that I can hear +it still. And with that sickening sound came the loudest clap +of thunder yet, and a great white glare that showed us our +enemy's body far below, with one white hand spread like a +starfish, but the head of him mercifully twisted underneath. + +"It was all his own fault, Bunny. Poor devil! May he and all of +us be forgiven; but pull yourself together for your own sake. +Well, you can't fall; stay where you are a minute." + +I remember the uproar of the elements while Raffles was gone; no +other sound mingled with it; not the opening of a single window, +not the uplifting of a single voice. Then came Raffles with +soap and water, and the gyve was wheedled from one wrist, as you +withdraw a ring for which the finger has grown too large. Of the +rest, I only remember shivering till morning in a pitch-dark +flat, whose invalid occupier was for once the nurse, and I his +patient. + +And that is the true ending of the episode in which we two set +ourselves to catch one of our own kidney, albeit in another place +I have shirked the whole truth. It is not a grateful task to +show Raffles as completely at fault as he really was on that +occasion; nor do I derive any subtle satisfaction from recounting +my own twofold humiliation, or from having assisted never so +indirectly in the death of a not uncongenial sinner. The truth, +however, has after all a merit of its own, and the great +kinsfolk of poor Lord Ernest have but little to lose by its +divulgence. It would seem that they knew more of the real +character of the apostle of Rational Drink than was known at +Exeter Hall. The tragedy was indeed hushed up, as tragedies +only are when they occur in such circles. But the rumor that did +get abroad, as to the class of enterprise which the poor scamp +was pursuing when he met his death, cannot be too soon exploded, +since it breathed upon the fair fame of some of the most +respectable flats in Kensington. + + +AN OLD FLAME + +I + +The square shall be nameless, but if you drive due west from +Piccadilly the cab-man will eventually find it on his left, and +he ought to thank you for two shillings. It is not a +fashionable square, but there are few with a finer garden, while +the studios on the south side lend distinction of another sort. +The houses, however, are small and dingy, and about the last to +attract the expert practitioner in search of a crib. Heaven +knows it was with no such thought I trailed Raffles thither, one +unlucky evening at the latter end of that same season, when Dr. +Theobald had at last insisted upon the bath-chair which I had +foreseen in the beginning. Trees whispered in the green garden +aforesaid, and the cool, smooth lawns looked so inviting that I +wondered whether some philanthropic resident could not be induced +to lend us the key. But Raffles would not listen to the +suggestion, when I stopped to make it, and what was worse, I +found him looking wistfully at the little houses instead. + +"Such balconies, Bunny! A leg up, and there you would be!" + +I expressed a conviction that there would be nothing worth taking +in the square, but took care to have him under way again as I +spoke. + +"I daresay you're right," sighed Raffles. "Rings and watches, I +suppose, but it would be hard luck to take them from people who +live in houses like these. I don't know, though. Here's one +with an extra story. Stop, Bunny; if you don't stop I'll hold on +to the railings! This is a good house; look at the knocker and +the electric bell. They've had that put in. There's some money +here, my rabbit! I dare bet there's a silver-table in the +drawing-room; and the windows are wide open. Electric light, +too, by Jove!" + +Since stop I must, I had done so on the other side of the road, +in the shadow of the leafy palings, and as Raffles spoke the +ground floor windows opposite had flown alight, showing as pretty +a little dinner-table as one could wish to see, with a man at his +wine at the far end, and the back of a lady in evening dress +toward us. It was like a lantern-picture thrown upon a screen. +There were only the pair of them, but the table was brilliant +with silver and gay with flowers, and the maid waited with the +indefinable air of a good servant. It certainly seemed a good +house. + +"She's going to let down the blind!" whispered Raffles, in high +excitement. "No, confound them, they've told her not to. Mark +down her necklace, Bunny, and invoice his stud. What a brute he +looks! But I like the table, and that's her show. She has the +taste; but he must have money. See the festive picture over the +sideboard? Looks to me like a Jacques Saillard. But that +silver-table would be good enough for me." + +"Get on," said I. "You're in a bath-chair." + +"But the whole square's at dinner! We should have the ball at +our feet. It wouldn't take two twos!" + +"With those blinds up, and the cook in the kitchen underneath?" + +He nodded, leaning forward in the chair, his hands upon the wraps +about his legs. + +"You must be mad," said I, and got back to my handles with the +word, but when I tugged the chair ran light. + +"Keep an eye on the rug," came in a whisper from the middle of +the road; and there stood my invalid, his pale face in a quiver +of pure mischief, yet set with his insane resolve. "I'm only +going to see whether that woman has a silver-table--" + +"We don't want it--" + +"It won't take a minute--" + +"It's madness, madness--" + +"Then don't you wait!" + +It was like him to leave me with that, and this time I had taken +him at his last word had not my own given me an idea. Mad I had +called him, and mad I could declare him upon oath if necessary. +It was not as though the thing had happened far from home. They +could learn all about us at the nearest mansions. I referred +them to Dr. Theobald; this was a Mr. Maturin, one of his +patients, and I was his keeper, and he had never given me the +slip before. I heard myself making these explanations on the +doorstep, and pointing to the deserted bath-chair as the proof, +while the pretty parlor maid ran for the police. It would be a +more serious matter for me than for my charge. I should lose my +place. No, he had never done such a thing before, and I would +answer for it that he never should again. + +I saw myself conducting Raffles back to his chair, with a firm +hand and a stern tongue. I heard him thanking me in whispers on +the way home. It would be the first tight place I had ever got +him out of, and I was quite anxious for him to get into it, so +sure was I of every move. My whole position had altered in the +few seconds that it took me to follow this illuminating train of +ideas; it was now so strong that I could watch Raffles without +much anxiety. And he was worth watching. + +He had stepped boldly but softly to the front door, and there he +was still waiting, ready to ring if the door opened or a face +appeared in the area, and doubtless to pretend that he had rung +already. But he had not to ring at all; and suddenly I saw his +foot in the letter-box, his left hand on the lintel overhead. It +was thrilling, even to a hardened accomplice with an explanation +up his sleeve! A tight grip with that left hand of his, as he +leant backward with all his weight upon those five fingers; a +right arm stretched outward and upward to its last inch; and the +base of the low, projecting balcony was safely caught. + +I looked down and took breath. The maid was removing the crumbs +in the lighted room, and the square was empty as before. What a +blessing it was the end of the season! Many of the houses +remained in darkness. I looked up again, and Raffles was drawing +his left leg over the balcony railing. In another moment he had +disappeared through one of the French windows which opened upon +the balcony, and in yet another he had switched on the electric +light within. This was bad enough, for now I, at least, could +see everything he did; but the crowning folly was still to come. +There was no point in it; the mad thing was done for my benefit, +as I knew at once and he afterward confessed; but the lunatic +reappeared on the balcony, bowing like a mountebank--in his +crape mask! + +I set off with the empty chair, but I came back. I could not +desert old Raffles, even when I would, but must try to explain +away his mask as well, if he had not the sense to take it off in +time. It would be difficult, but burglaries are not usually +committed from a bath-chair, and for the rest I put my faith in +Dr. Theobald. Meanwhile Raffles had at least withdrawn from the +balcony, and now I could only see his head as he peered into a +cabinet at the other side of the room. It was like the opera of +Aida, in which two scenes are enacted simultaneously, one in the +dungeon below, the other in the temple above. In the same +fashion my attention now became divided between the picture of +Raffles moving stealthily about the upper room, and that of the +husband and wife at table underneath. And all at once, as the +man replenished his glass with a shrug of the shoulders, the +woman pushed back her chair and sailed to the door. + +Raffles was standing before the fireplace upstairs. He had +taken one of the framed photographs from the chimney-piece, and +was scanning it at suicidal length through the eye-holes in the +hideous mask which he still wore. He would need it after all. +The lady had left the room below, opening and shutting the door +for herself; the man was filling his glass once more. I would +have shrieked my warning to Raffles, so fatally engrossed +overhead, but at this moment (of all others) a constable (of all +men) was marching sedately down our side of the square. There +was nothing for it but to turn a melancholy eye upon the +bath-chair, and to ask the constable the time. I was evidently +to be kept there all night, I remarked, and only realized with +the words that they disposed of my other explanations before they + +were uttered. It was a horrible moment for such a discovery. +Fortunately the enemy was on the pavement, from which he could +scarcely have seen more than the drawing-room ceiling, had he +looked; but he was not many houses distant when a door opened +and a woman gasped so that I heard both across the road. And +never shall I forget the subsequent tableaux in the lighted +room behind the low balcony and the French windows. + +Raffles stood confronted by a dark and handsome woman whose +profile, as I saw it first in the electric light, is cut like a +cameo in my memory. It had the undeviating line of brow and +nose, the short upper lip, the perfect chin, that are united in +marble oftener than in the flesh; and like marble she stood, or +rather like some beautiful pale bronze; for that was her +coloring, and she lost none of it that I could see, neither +trembled; but her bosom rose and fell, and that was all. So she +stood without flinching before a masked ruffian, who, I felt, +would be the first to appreciate her courage; to me it was so +superb that I could think of it in this way even then, and +marvel how Raffles himself could stand unabashed before so brave +a figure. He had not to do so long. The woman scorned him, and +he stood unmoved, a framed photograph still in his hand. Then, +with a quick, determined movement she turned, not to the door or +to the bell, but to the open window by which Raffles had +entered; and this with that accursed policeman still in view. +So far no word had passed between the pair. But at this point +Raffles said something, I could not hear what, but at the sound +of his voice the woman wheeled. And Raffles was looking humbly +in her face, the crape mask snatched from his own. + +"Arthur!" she cried; and that might have been heard in the middle +of the square garden. + +Then they stood gazing at each other, neither unmoved any more, +and while they stood the street-door opened and banged. It was +her husband leaving the house, a fine figure of a man, but a +dissipated face, and a step even now distinguished by the +extreme caution which precedes unsteadiness. He broke the spell. +His wife came to the balcony, then looked back into the room, +and yet again along the road, and this time I saw her face. It +was the face of one glancing indeed from Hyperion to a satyr. +And then I saw the rings flash, as her hand fell gently upon +Raffles's arm. + +They disappeared from that window. Their heads showed for an +instant in the next. Then they dipped out of sight, and an inner +ceiling flashed out under a new light; they had gone into the +back drawing-room, beyond my ken. The maid came up with coffee, +her mistress hastily met her at the door, and once more +disappeared. The square was as quiet as ever. I remained some +minutes where I was. Now and then I thought I heard their voices +in the back drawing-room. I was seldom sure. + +My state of mind may be imagined by those readers who take an +interest in my personal psychology. It does not amuse me to look +back upon it. But at length I had the sense to put myself in +Raffles's place. He had been recognized at last, he had come to +life. Only one person knew as yet, but that person was a woman, +and a woman who had once been fond of him, if the human face +could speak. Would she keep his secret? Would he tell her +where he lived? It was terrible to think we were such neighbors, +and with the thought that it was terrible came a little +enlightenment as to what could still be done for the best. He +would not tell her where he lived. I knew him too well for that. +He would run for it when he could, and the bath-chair and I must +not be there to give him away. I dragged the infernal vehicle +round the nearer corner. Then I waited--there could be no harm +in that--and at last he came. + +He was walking briskly, so I was right, and he had not played the +invalid to her; yet I heard him cry out with pleasure as he +turned the corner, and he flung himself into the chair with a +long-drawn sigh that did me good. + +"Well done, Bunny--well done! I am on my way to Earl's Court, +she's capable of following me, but she won't look for me in a +bath-chair. Home, home, home, and not another word till we get +there!" + +Capable of following him? She overtook us before we were past +the studios on the south side of the square, the woman herself, +in a hooded opera-cloak. But she never gave us a glance, and we +saw her turn safely in the right direction for Earl's Court, and +the wrong one for our humble mansions. Raffles thanked his gods +in a voice that trembled, and five minutes later we were in the +flat. Then for once it was Raffles who filled the tumblers and +found the cigarettes, and for once (and once only in all my +knowledge of him) did he drain his glass at a draught. + +"You didn't see the balcony scene?" he asked at length; and they +were his first words since the woman passed us on his track. + +"Do you mean when she came in?" + +"No, when I came down." + +"I didn't." + +"I hope nobody else saw it," said Raffles devoutly. "I don't say +that Romeo and Juliet were brother and sister to us. But you +might have said so, Bunny!" + +He was staring at the carpet with as wry a face as lover ever +wore. + +"An old flame?" said I, gently. + +"A married woman," he groaned. + +"So I gathered." + +"But she always was one, Bunny," said he, ruefully. "That's the +trouble. It makes all the difference in the world!" + +I saw the difference, but said I did not see how it could make +any now. He had eluded the lady, after all; had we not seen her +off upon a scent as false as scent could be? There was occasion +for redoubled caution in the future, but none for immediate +anxiety. I quoted the bedside Theobald, but Raffles did not +smile. His eyes had been downcast all this time, and now, when +he raised them, I perceived that my comfort had been +administered to deaf ears. + +"Do you know who she is?" said he. + +"Not from Eve." + +"Jacques Saillard," he said, as though now I must know. + +But the name left me cold and stolid. I had heard it, but that +was all. It was lamentable ignorance, I am aware, but I had +specialized in Letters at the expense of Art. + +"You must know her pictures," said Raffles, patiently; "but I +suppose you thought she was a man. They would appeal to you, +Bunny; that festive piece over the sideboard was her work. +Sometimes they risk her at the Academy, sometimes they fight shy. +She has one of those studios in the same square; they used to +live up near Lord's." + +My mind was busy brightening a dim memory of nymphs reflected in +woody pools. "Of course!" I exclaimed, and added something +about "a clever woman." Raffles rose at the phrase. + +"A clever woman!" he echoed, scornfully; "if she were only that I +should feel safe as houses. Clever women can't forget their +cleverness, they carry it as badly as a boy does his wine, and +are about as dangerous. I don't call Jacques Saillard clever +outside her art, but neither do I call her a woman at all. She +does man's work over a man's name, has the will of any ten men I +ever knew, and I don't mind telling you that I fear her more +than any person on God's earth. I broke with her once," said +Raffles, grimly, "but I know her. If I had been asked to name +the one person in London by whom I was keenest NOT to be bowled +out, I should have named Jacques Saillard." + +That he had never before named her to me was as characteristic as +the reticence with which Raffles spoke of their past relations, +and even of their conversation in the back drawing-room that +evening. + +It was a question of principle with him, and one that I like to +remember. "Never give a woman away, Bunny," he used to say; and +he said it again to-night, but with a heavy cloud upon him, as +though his chivalry was sorely tried. + +"That's all right," said I, "if you're not going to be given away +yourself." + +"That's just it, Bunny! That's just--" + +The words were out of him, it was too late to recall them. I had +hit the nail upon the head. + +"So she threatened you," I said, "did she?" + +"I didn't say so," he replied, coldly. + +"And she is mated with a clown!" I pursued. + +"How she ever married him," he admitted, "is a mystery to me." + +"It always is," said I, the wise man for once, and rather +enjoying the role. + +"Southern blood?" + +"Spanish." + +"She'll be pestering you to run off with her, old chap," said I. + +Raffles was pacing the room. He stopped in his stride for half +a second. So she had begun pestering him already! It is +wonderful how acute any fool can be in the affairs of his friend. + +But Raffles resumed his walk without a syllable, and I +retreated to safer ground. + +"So you sent her to Earl's Court," I mused aloud; and at last he +smiled. + +"You'll be interested to hear, Bunny," said he, "that I am now +living in Seven Dials, and Bill Sikes couldn't hold a farthing +dip to me. Bless you, she had my old police record at her +fingers' ends, but it was fit to frame compared with the one I +gave her. I had sunk as low as they dig. I divided my nights +between the open parks and a thieves' kitchen in Seven Dials. If +I was decently dressed it was because I had stolen the suit down +the Thames Valley beat the night before last. I was on my way +back when first that sleepy square, and then her open window, +proved too much for me. You should have heard me beg her to let +me push on to the devil in my own way; there I spread myself, +for I meant every word; but I swore the final stage would be a +six-foot drop." + +"You did lay it on," said I. + +"It was necessary, and that had its effect. She let me go. But +at the last moment she said she didn't believe I was so black as +I painted myself, and then there was the balcony scene you +missed." + +So that was all. I could not help telling him that he had got +out of it better than he deserved for ever getting in. Next +moment I regretted the remark. + +"If I have got out of it," said Raffles, doubtfully. "We are +dreadfully near neighbors, and I can't move in a minute, with old +Theobald taking a grave view of my case. I suppose I had better +lie low, and thank the gods again for putting her off the scent +for the time being." + +No doubt our conversation was carried beyond this point, but it +certainly was not many minutes later, nor had we left the +subject, when the electric bell thrilled us both to a sudden +silence. + +"The doctor?" I queried, hope fighting with my horror. + +"It was a single ring." + +"The last post?" + +"You know he knocks, and it's long past his time." + +The electric bell rang again, but now as though it never would +stop. + +"You go, Bunny," said Raffles, with decision. His eyes were +sparkling. His smile was firm. + +"What am I to say?" + +"If it's the lady let her in." + +It was the lady, still in her evening cloak, with her fine dark +head half-hidden by the hood, and an engaging contempt of +appearances upon her angry face. She was even handsomer than I +had thought, and her beauty of a bolder type, but she was also +angrier than I had anticipated when I came so readily to the +door. The passage into which it opened was an exceedingly narrow +one, as I have often said, but I never dreamt of barring this +woman's way, though not a word did she stoop to say to me. I was +only too glad to flatten myself against the wall, as the rustling +fury strode past me into the lighted room with the open door. + +"So this is your thieves' kitchen!" she cried, in high-pitched +scorn. + +I was on the threshold myself, and Raffles glanced towards me +with raised eyebrows. + +"I have certainly had better quarters in my day," said he, "but +you need not call them absurd names before my man." + +"Then send your 'man' about his business," said Jacques Saillard, +with an unpleasant stress upon the word indicated. + +But when the door was shut I heard Raffles assuring her that I +knew nothing, that he was a real invalid overcome by a sudden mad +temptation, and all he had told her of his life a lie to hide +his whereabouts, but all he was telling her now she could prove +for herself without leaving that building. It seemed, however, +that she had proved it already by going first to the porter below +stairs. Yet I do not think she cared one atom which story was +the truth. + +"So you thought I could pass you in your chair," she said, "or +ever in this world again, without hearing from my heart that it +was you!" + + +II + +"Bunny," said Raffles, "I'm awfully sorry, old chap, but you've +got to go." + +It was some weeks since the first untimely visitation of Jacques +Saillard, but there had been many others at all hours of the day, +while Raffles had been induced to pay at least one to her studio +in the neighboring square. These intrusions he had endured at +first with an air of humorous resignation which imposed upon me +less than he imagined. The woman meant well, he said, after all, +and could be trusted to keep his secret loyally. It was plain +to me, however, that Raffles did not trust her, and that his +pretence upon the point was a deliberate pose to conceal the +extent to which she had him in her power. Otherwise there would +have been little point in hiding anything from the one person in +possession of the cardinal secret of his identity. + +But Raffles thought it worth his while to hoodwink Jacques +Saillard in the subsidiary matter of his health, in which Dr. +Theobald lent him unwitting assistance, and, as we have seen, to +impress upon her that I was actually his attendant, and as +ignorant of his past as the doctor himself. "So you're all +right, Bunny," he had assured me; "she thinks you knew nothing +the other night. I told you she wasn't a clever woman outside +her work. But hasn't she a will!" I told Raffles it was very +considerate of him to keep me out of it, but that it seemed to me +like tying up the bag when the cat had escaped. His reply was an +admission that one must be on the defensive with such a woman and +in such a case. Soon after this, Raffles, looking far from +well, fell back upon his own last line of defence, namely, his +bed; and now, as always in the end, I could see some sense in his +subtleties, since it was comparatively easy for me to turn even +Jacques Saillard from the door, with Dr. Theobald's explicit +injunctions, and with my own honesty unquestioned. So for a day +we had peace once more. Then came letters, then the doctor +again and again, and finally my dismissal in the incredible words +which have necessitated these explanations. + +"Go?" I echoed. "Go where?" + +"It's that ass Theobald," said Raffles. "He insists." + +"On my going altogether?" + +He nodded. + +"And you mean to let him have his way?" + +I had no language for my mortification and disgust, though +neither was as yet quite so great as my surprise. I had +foreseen almost every conceivable consequence of the mad act +which brought all this trouble to pass, but a voluntary division +between Raffles and me had certainly never entered my +calculations. Nor could I think that it had occurred to him +before our egregious doctor's last visit, this very morning. +Raffles had looked irritated as he broke the news to me from his +pillow, and now there was some sympathy in the way he sat up in +bed, as though he felt the thing himself. + +"I am obliged to give in to the fellow," said he. "He's saving +me from my friend, and I'm bound to humor him. But I can tell +you that we've been arguing about you for the last half hour, +Bunny. It was no use; the idiot has had his knife in you from +the first; and he wouldn't see me through on any other +conditions." + +"So he is going to see you through, is he?" + +"It tots up to that," said Raffles, looking at me rather hard. +"At all events he has come to my rescue for the time being, and +it's for me to manage the rest. You don't know what it has been, +Bunny, these last few weeks; and gallantry forbids that I +should tell you even now. But would you rather elope against +your will, or have your continued existence made known to the +world in general and the police in particular? That is +practically the problem which I have had to solve, and the +temporary solution was to fall ill. As a matter of fact, I am +ill; and now what do you think? I owe it to you to tell you, +Bunny, though it goes against the grain. She would take me 'to +the dear, warm underworld, where the sun really shines,' and she +would 'nurse me back to life and love!' The artistic temperament +is a fearsome thing, Bunny, in a woman with the devil's own +will!" + +Raffles tore up the letter from which he had read these piquant +extracts, and lay back on the pillows with the tired air of the +veritable invalid which he seemed able to assume at will. But +for once he did look as though bed was the best place for him; +and I used the fact as an argument for my own retention in +defiance of Dr. Theobald. The town was full of typhoid, I said, +and certainly that autumnal scourge was in the air. Did he want +me to leave him at the very moment when he might be sickening for +a serious illness? + +"You know I don't, my good fellow," said Raffles, wearily; "but +Theobald does, and I can't afford to go against him now. Not +that I really care what happens to me now that that woman knows +I'm in the land of the living; she'll let it out, to a dead +certainty, and at the best there'll be a hue and cry, which is +the very thing I have escaped all these years. Now, what I want +you to do is to go and take some quiet place somewhere, and then +let me know, so that I may have a port in the storm when it +breaks." + +"Now you're talking!" I cried, recovering my spirits. "I thought +you meant to go and drop a fellow altogether!" + +"Exactly the sort of thing you would think," rejoined Raffles, +with a contempt that was welcome enough after my late alarm. +"No, my dear rabbit, what you've got to do is to make a new +burrow for us both. Try down the Thames, in some quiet nook that +a literary man would naturally select. I've often thought that +more use might be made of a boat, while the family are at dinner, +than there ever has been yet. If Raffles is to come to life, old +chap, he shall go a-Raffling for all he's worth! There's +something to be done with a bicycle, too. Try Ham Common or +Roehampton, or some such sleepy hollow a trifle off the line; +and say you're expecting your brother from the colonies." + +Into this arrangement I entered without the slightest hesitation, +for we had funds enough to carry it out on a comfortable scale, +and Raffles placed a sufficient share at my disposal for the +nonce. Moreover, I for one was only too glad to seek fresh +fields and pastures new--a phrase which I determined to +interpret literally in my choice of fresh surroundings. I was +tired of our submerged life in the poky little flat, especially +now that we had money enough for better things. I myself of +late had dark dealings with the receivers, with the result that +poor Lord Ernest Belville's successes were now indeed ours. +Subsequent complications had been the more galling on that +account, while the wanton way in which they had been created +was the most irritating reflection of all. But it had brought +its own punishment upon Raffles, and I fancied the lesson would +prove salutary when we again settled down. + +"If ever we do, Bunny!" said he, as I took his hand and told him +how I was already looking forward to the time. + +"But of course we will!" I cried, concealing the resentment at +leaving him which his tone and his appearance renewed in my +breast. + +"I'm not so sure of it," he said, gloomily. "I'm in somebody's +clutches, and I've got to get out of them first." + +"I'll sit tight until you do." + +"Well," he said, "if you don't see me in ten days you never +will." + +"Only ten days?" I echoed. "That's nothing at all." + +"A lot may happen in ten days," replied Raffles, in the same +depressing tone, so very depressing in him; and with that he held +out his hand a second time, and dropped mine suddenly after as +sudden a pressure for farewell. + +I left the flat in considerable dejection after all, unable to +decide whether Raffles was really ill, or only worried as I knew +him to be. And at the foot of the stairs the author of my +dismissal, that confounded Theobald, flung open his door and +waylaid me. + +"Are you going?" he demanded. + +The traps in my hands proclaimed that I was, but I dropped them +at his feet to have it out with him then and there. + +"Yes," I answered fiercely, "thanks to you!" + +"Well, my good fellow," he said, his full-blooded face lightening +and softening at the same time, as though a load were off his +mind, "it's no pleasure to me to deprive any man of his billet, +but you never were a nurse, and you know that as well as I do." + +I began to wonder what he meant, and how much he did know, and my +speculations kept me silent. "But come in here a moment," he +continued, just as I decided that he knew nothing at all. And, +leading me into his minute consulting-room, Dr. Theobald +solemnly presented me with a sovereign by way of compensation, +which I pocketed as solemnly, and with as much gratitude as if I +had not fifty of them distributed over my person as it was. The +good fellow had quite forgotten my social status, about which he +himself had been so particular at our earliest interview; but he +had never accustomed himself to treat me as a gentleman, and I +do not suppose he had been improving his memory by the tall +tumbler which I saw him poke behind a photograph as we entered. + +"There's one thing I should like to know before I go," said I, +turning suddenly on the doctor's mat, "and that is whether Mr. +Maturin is really ill or not!" + +I meant, of course, at the present moment, but Dr. Theobald +braced himself like a recruit at the drill-sergeant's voice. + +"Of course he is," he snapped--"so ill as to need a nurse who can +nurse, by way of a change." + +With that his door shut in my face, and I had to go my way, in +the dark as to whether he had mistaken my meaning, and was +telling me a lie, or not. + +But for my misgivings upon this point I might have extracted some +very genuine enjoyment out of the next few days. I had decent +clothes to my back, with money, as I say, in most of the pockets, +and more freedom to spend it than was possible in the constant +society of a man whose personal liberty depended on a universal +supposition that he was dead. Raffles was as bold as ever, and +I as fond of him, but whereas he would run any risk in a +professional exploit, there were many innocent recreations still +open to me which would have been sheer madness in him. He could +not even watch a match, from the sixpenny seats, at Lord's +cricket-ground, where the Gentlemen were every year in a worse +way without him. He never travelled by rail, and dining out was +a risk only to be run with some ulterior object in view. In +fact, much as it had changed, Raffles could no longer show his +face with perfect impunity in any quarter or at any hour. +Moreover, after the lesson he had now learnt, I foresaw increased +caution on his part in this respect. But I myself was under no +such perpetual disadvantage, and, while what was good enough for +Raffles was quite good enough for me so long as we were +together, I saw no harm in profiting by the present opportunity +of "doing my-self well." + +Such were my reflections on the way to Richmond in a hansom cab. +Richmond had struck us both as the best centre of operations in +search of the suburban retreat which Raffles wanted, and by +road, in a well-appointed, well-selected hansom, was certainly +the most agreeable way of getting there. In a week or ten days +Raffles was to write to me at the Richmond post-office, but for +at least a week I should be "on my own." It was not an +unpleasant sensation as I leant back in the comfortable hansom, +and rather to one side, in order to have a good look at myself in +the bevelled mirror that is almost as great an improvement in +these vehicles as the rubber tires. Really I was not an +ill-looking youth, if one may call one's self such at the age of +thirty. I could lay no claim either to the striking cast of +countenance or to the peculiar charm of expression which made the +face of Raffles like no other in the world. But this very +distinction was in itself a danger, for its impression was +indelible, whereas I might still have been mistaken for a hundred +other young fellows at large in London. Incredible as it may +appear to the moralists, I had sustained no external hallmark by +my term of imprisonment, and I am vain enough to believe that the +evil which I did had not a separate existence in my face. This +afternoon, indeed, I was struck by the purity of my fresh +complexion, and rather depressed by the general innocence of +the visage which peered into mine from the little mirror. My +straw-colored moustache, grown in the flat after a protracted +holiday, again preserved the most disappointing dimensions, and +was still invisible in certain lights without wax. So far from +discerning the desperate criminal who has "done time" once, and +deserved it over and over again, the superior but superficial +observer might have imagined that he detected a certain element +of folly in my face. + +At all events it was not the face to shut the doors of a +first-class hotel against me, without accidental evidence of a +more explicit kind, and it was with no little satisfaction that +I directed the man to drive to the Star and Garter. I also told +him to go through Richmond Park, though he warned me that it +would add considerably to the distance and his fare. It was +autumn, and it struck me that the tints would be fine. And I had +learnt from Raffles to appreciate such things, even amid the +excitement of an audacious enterprise. + +If I dwell upon my appreciation of this occasion it is because, +like most pleasures, it was exceedingly short-lived. I was very +comfortable at the Star and Garter, which was so empty that I +had a room worthy of a prince, where I could enjoy the finest of +all views (in patriotic opinion) every morning while I shaved. I +walked many miles through the noble park, over the commons of Ham +and Wimbledon, and one day as far as that of Esher, where I was +forcibly reminded of a service we once rendered to a +distinguished resident in this delightful locality. But it was +on Ham Common, one of the places which Raffles had mentioned as +specially desirable, that I actually found an almost ideal +retreat. This was a cottage where I heard, on inquiry, that +rooms were to be let in the summer. The landlady, a motherly +body, of visible excellence, was surprised indeed at receiving +an application for the winter months; but I have generally found +that the title of "author," claimed with an air, explains every +little innocent irregularity of conduct or appearance, and even +requires something of the kind to carry conviction to the lay +intelligence. The present case was one in point, and when I said +that I could only write in a room facing north, on mutton chops +and milk, with a cold ham in the wardrobe in case of nocturnal +inspiration, to which I was liable, my literary character was +established beyond dispute. I secured the rooms, paid a month's +rent in advance at my own request, and moped in them dreadfully +until the week was up and Raffles due any day. I explained that +the inspiration would not come, and asked abruptly if the mutton +was New Zealand. + +Thrice had I made fruitless inquiries at the Richmond +post-office; but on the tenth day I was in and out almost every +hour. Not a word was there for me up to th last post at night. +Home I trudged to Ham with horrible forebodings, and back again +to Richmond after breakfast next morning. Still there was +nothing. I could bear it no more. At ten minutes to eleven I +was climbing the station stairs at Earl's Court. + +It was a wretched morning there, a weeping mist shrouding the +long, straight street, and clinging to one's face in clammy +caresses. I felt how much better it was down at Ham, as I +turned into our side street, and saw the flats looming like +mountains, the chimney-pots hidden in the mist. At our entrance +stood a nebulous conveyance, that I took at first for a +tradesman's van; to my horror it proved to be a hearse; and all +at once the white breath ceased upon my lips. + +I had looked up at our windows and the blinds were down! + +I rushed within. The doctor's door stood open. I neither +knocked nor rang, but found him in his consulting-room with red +eyes and a blotchy face. Otherwise he was in solemn black from +head to heel. + +"Who is dead?" I burst out. "Who is dead?" + +The red eyes looked redder than ever as Dr. Theobald opened them +at the unwarrantable sight of me; and he was terribly slow in +answering. But in the end he did answer, and did not kick me out +as he evidently had a mind. + +"Mr. Maturin," he said, and sighed like a beaten man. + +I said nothing. It was no surprise to me. I had known it all +these minutes. Nay, I had dreaded this from the first, had +divined it at the last, though to the last also I had refused to +entertain my own conviction. Raffles dead! A real invalid after +all! Raffles dead, and on the point of burial! + +"What did he die of?" I asked, unconsciously drawing on that fund +of grim self-control which the weakest of us seem to hold in +reserve for real calamity. + +"Typhoid," he answered. "Kensington is full of it." + +"He was sickening for it when I left, and you knew it, and could +get rid of me then!" + +"My good fellow, I was obliged to have a more experienced nurse +for that very reason." + +The doctor's tone was so conciliatory that I remembered in an +instant what a humbug the man was, and became suddenly possessed +with the vague conviction that he was imposing upon me now. + +"Are you sure it was typhoid at all?" I cried fiercely to his +face. "Are you sure it wasn't suicide--or murder?" + +I confess that I can see little point in this speech as I write +it down, but it was what I said in a burst of grief and of wild +suspicion; nor was it without effect upon Dr. Theobald, who +turned bright scarlet from his well-brushed hair to his +immaculate collar. + +"Do you want me to throw you out into the street?" he cried; and +all at once I remembered that I had come to Raffles as a perfect +stranger, and for his sake might as well preserve that character +to the last. + +"I beg your pardon," I said, brokenly. "He was so good to me--I +became so attached to him. You forget I am originally of his +class." + +"I did forget it," replied Theobald, looking relieved at my new +tone, "and I beg YOUR pardon for doing so. Hush! They are +bringing him down. I must have a drink before we start, and +you'd better join me." + +There was no pretence about his drink this time, and a pretty +stiff one it was, but I fancy my own must have run it hard. In +my case it cast a merciful haze over much of the next hour, which +I can truthfully describe as one of the most painful of my +whole existence. I can have known very little of what I was +doing. I only remember finding myself in a hansom, suddenly +wondering why it was going so slowly, and once more awaking to +the truth. But it was to the truth itself more than to the +liquor that I must have owed my dazed condition. My next +recollection is of looking down into the open grave, in a sudden +passionate anxiety to see the name for myself. It was not the +name of my friend, of course, but it was the one under which he +had passed for many months. + +I was still stupefied by a sense of inconceivable loss, and had +not raised my eyes from that which was slowly forcing me to +realize what had happened, when there was a rustle at my elbow, +and a shower of hothouse flowers passed before them, falling +like huge snowflakes where my gaze had rested. I looked up, and +at my side stood a majestic figure in deep mourning. The face +was carefully veiled, but I was too close not to recognize the +masterful beauty whom the world knew as Jacques Saillard. I had +no sympathy with her; on the contrary, my blood boiled with the +vague conviction that in some way she was responsible for this +death. Yet she was the only woman present--there were not a half +a dozen of us altogether--and her flowers were the only flowers. + +The melancholy ceremony was over, and Jacques Saillard had +departed in a funeral brougham, evidently hired for the occasion. +I had watched her drive away, and the sight of my own cabman, +making signs to me through the fog, had suddenly reminded me +that I had bidden him to wait. I was the last to leave, and had +turned my back upon the grave-diggers, already at their final +task, when a hand fell lightly but firmly upon my shoulder. + +"I don't want to make a scene in a cemetery," said a voice, in a +not unkindly, almost confidential whisper. "Will you get into +your own cab and come quietly?" + +"Who on earth are you?" I exclaimed. + +I now remembered having seen the fellow hovering about during the +funeral, and subconsciously taking him for the undertaker's head +man. He had certainly that appearance, and even now I could +scarcely believe that he was anything else. + +"My name won't help you," he said, pityingly. "But you will +guess where I come from when I tell you I have a warrant for +your arrest." + +My sensations at this announcement may not be believed, but I +solemnly declare that I have seldom experienced so fierce a +satisfaction. Here was a new excitement in which to drown my +grief; here was something to think about; and I should be spared +the intolerable experience of a solitary return to the little +place at Ham. It was as though I had lost a limb and some one +had struck me so hard in the face that the greater agony was +forgotten. I got into the hansom without a word, my captor +following at my heels, and giving his own directions to the +cabman before taking his seat. The word "station" was the only +one I caught, and I wondered whether it was to be Bow Street +again. My companion's next words, however, or rather the tone in +which he uttered them, destroyed my capacity for idle +speculation. + +"Mr. Maturin!" said he. "Mr. Maturin indeed!" + +"Well," said I, "what about him?" + +"Do you think we don't know who he was?" + +"Who was he?" I asked, defiantly. + +"You ought to know," said he. "You got locked up through him the +other time, too. His favorite name was Raffles then." + +"It was his real name," I said, indignantly. "And he has been +dead for years." + +My captor simply chuckled. + +"He's at the bottom of the sea, I tell you!" + +But I do not know why I should have told him with such spirit, +for what could it matter to Raffles now? I did not think; +instinct was still stronger than reason, and, fresh from his +funeral, I had taken up the cudgels for my dead friend as +though he were still alive. Next moment I saw this for myself, +and my tears came nearer the surface than they had been yet; but +the fellow at my side laughed outright. + +"Shall I tell you something else?" said he. + +"As you like." + +"He's not even at the bottom of that grave! He's no more dead +than you or I, and a sham burial is his latest piece of +villainy!" + +I doubt whether I could have spoken if I had tried. I did not +try. I had no use for speech. I did not even ask him if he was +sure, I was so sure myself. It was all as plain to me as +riddles usually are when one has the answer. The doctor's +alarms, his unscrupulous venality, the simulated illness, my own +dismissal, each fitted in its obvious place, and not even the +last had power as yet to mar my joy in the one central fact to +which all the rest were as tapers to the sun. + +"He is alive!" I cried. "Nothing else matters--he is alive!" + +At last I did ask whether they had got him too; but thankful as +I was for the greater knowledge, I confess that I did not much +care what answer I received. Already I was figuring out how +much we might each get, and how old we should be when we came +out. But my companion tilted his hat to the back of his head, +at the same time putting his face close to mine, and compelling +my scrutiny. And my answer, as you have already guessed, was +the face of Raffles himself, superbly disguised (but less +superbly than his voice), and yet so thinly that I should have +known him in a trice had I not been too miserable in the +beginning to give him a second glance. + +Jacques Saillard had made his life impossible, and this was the +one escape. Raffles had bought the doctor for a thousand pounds, +and the doctor had bought a "nurse" of his own kidney, on his +own account; me, for some reason, he would not trust; he had +insisted upon my dismissal as an essential preliminary to his +part in the conspiracy. Here the details were half-humorous, +half-grewsome, each in turn as Raffles told me the story. At +one period he had been very daringly drugged indeed, and, in his +own words, "as dead as a man need be"; but he had left strict +instructions that nobody but the nurse and "my devoted physician" +should" lay a finger on me" afterwards; and by virtue of this +proviso a library of books (largely acquired for the occasion) +had been impiously interred at Kensal Green. Raffles had +definitely undertaken not to trust me with the secret, and, but +for my untoward appearance at the funeral (which he had attended +for his own final satisfaction), I was assured and am convinced +that he would have kept his promise to the letter. In explaining +this he gave me the one explanation I desired, and in another +moment we turned into Praed Street, Paddington. + +"And I thought you said Bow Street!" said I. "Are you coming +straight down to Richmond with me?" + +"I may as well," said Raffles, "though I did mean to get my kit +first, so as to start in fair and square as the long-lost +brother from the bush. That's why I hadn't written. The +function was a day later than I calculated. I was going to +write to-night." + +"But what are we to do?" said I, hesitating when he had paid the +cab. "I have been playing the colonies for all they are worth!" + +"Oh, I've lost my luggage," said he, "or a wave came into my +cabin and spoilt every stitch, or I had nothing fit to bring +ashore. We'll settle that in the train." + + +THE WRONG HOUSE + +My brother Ralph, who now lived with me on the edge of Ham +Common, had come home from Australia with a curious affection of +the eyes, due to long exposure to the glare out there, and +necessitating the use of clouded spectacles in the open air. He +had not the rich complexion of the typical colonist, being indeed +peculiarly pale, but it appeared that he had been confined to his +berth for the greater part of the voyage, while his prematurely +gray hair was sufficient proof that the rigors of bush life had +at last undermined an originally tough constitution. Our +landlady, who spoilt my brother from the first, was much +concerned on his behalf, and wished to call in the local doctor; +but Ralph said dreadful things about the profession, and quite +frightened the good woman by arbitrarily forbidding her ever to +let a doctor inside her door. I had to apologize to her for the +painful prejudices and violent language of "these colonists," +but the old soul was easily mollified. She had fallen in love +with my brother at first sight, and she never could do too much +for him. It was owing to our landlady that I took to calling him +Ralph, for the first time in our lives, on her beginning to speak +of and to him as "Mr. Raffles." + +"This won't do," said he to me. "It's a name that sticks." + +"It must be my fault! She must have heard it from me," said I +self-reproachfully. + +"You must tell her it's the short for Ralph." + +"But it's longer." + +"It's the short," said he; "and you've got to tell her so." + +Henceforth I heard as much of "Mr. Ralph," his likes and +dislikes, what he would fancy and what he would not, and oh, what +a dear gentleman he was, that I often remembered to say "Ralph, +old chap," myself. + +It was an ideal cottage, as I said when I found it, and in it +our delicate man became rapidly robust. Not that the air was +also ideal, for, when it was not raining, we had the same +faithful mist from November to March. But it was something to +Ralph to get any air at all, other than night-air, and the +bicycle did the rest. We taught ourselves, and may I never +forget our earlier rides, through and through Richmond Park when +the afternoons were shortest, upon the incomparable Ripley Road +when we gave a day to it. Raffles rode a Beeston Humber, a +Royal Sunbeam was good enough for me, but he insisted on our both +having Dunlop tires. + +"They seem the most popular brand. I had my eye on the road all +the way from Ripley to Cobham, and there were more Dunlop marks +than any other kind. Bless you, yes, they all leave their +special tracks, and we don't want ours to be extra special; the +Dunlop's like a rattlesnake, and the Palmer leaves +telegraph-wires, but surely the serpent is more in our line." + +That was the winter when there were so many burglaries in the +Thames Valley from Richmond upward. It was said that the thieves +used bicycles in every case, but what is not said? They were +sometimes on foot to my knowledge, and we took a great interest +in the series, or rather sequence of successful crimes. Raffles +would often get his devoted old lady to read him the latest local +accounts, while I was busy with my writing (much I wrote) in my +own room. We even rode out by night ourselves, to see if we +could not get on the tracks of the thieves, and never did we fail +to find hot coffee on the hob for our return. We had indeed +fallen upon our feet. Also, the misty nights might have been +made for the thieves. But their success was not so consistent, +and never so enormous as people said, especially the sufferers, +who lost more valuables than they had ever been known to possess. +Failure was often the caitiff's portion, and disaster once; +owing, ironically enough, to that very mist which should have +served them. But as I am going to tell the story with some +particularity, and perhaps some gusto, you will see why who +read. + +The right house stood on high ground near the river, with quite a +drive (in at one gate and out at the other) sweeping past the +steps. Between the two gates was a half-moon of shrubs, to the +left of the steps a conservatory, and to their right the walk +leading to the tradesmen's entrance and the back premises; here +also was the pantry window, of which more anon. The right house +was the residence of an opulent stockbroker who wore a heavy +watch-chain and seemed fair game. There would have been two +objections to it had I been the stockbroker. The house was one +of a row, though a goodly row, and an army-crammer had +established himself next door. There is a type of such +institutions in the suburbs; the youths go about in +knickerbockers, smoking pipes, except on Saturday nights, when +they lead each other home from the last train. It was none of +our business to spy upon these boys, but their manners and +customs fell within the field of observation. And we did not +choose the night upon which the whole row was likely to be kept +awake. + +The night that we did choose was as misty as even the Thames +Valley is capable of making them. Raffles smeared vaseline upon +the plated parts of his Beeston Humber before starting, and our +dear landlady cosseted us both, and prayed we might see nothing +of the nasty burglars, not denying as the reward would be very +handy to them that got it, to say nothing of the honor and +glory. We had promised her a liberal perquisite in the event of +our success, but she must not give other cyclists our idea by +mentioning it to a soul. It was about midnight when we cycled +through Kingston to Surbiton, having trundled our machines +across Ham Fields, mournful in the mist as those by Acheron, and +so over Teddington Bridge. + +I often wonder why the pantry window is the vulnerable point of +nine houses out of ten. This house of ours was almost the +tenth, for the window in question had bars of sorts, but not the +right sort. The only bars that Raffles allowed to beat him were +the kind that are let into the stone outside; those fixed within +are merely screwed to the woodwork, and you can unscrew as many +as necessary if you take the trouble and have the time. Barred +windows are usually devoid of other fasteners worthy the name; +this one was no exception to that foolish rule, and a push with +the pen-knife did its business. I am giving householders some +valuable hints, and perhaps deserving a good mark from the +critics. These, in any case, are the points that I would see to, +were I a rich stockbroker in a riverside suburb. In giving good +advice, however, I should not have omitted to say that we had +left our machines in the semi-circular shrubbery in front, or +that Raffles had most ingeniously fitted our lamps with dark +slides, which enabled us to leave them burning. + +It proved sufficient to unscrew the bars at the bottom only, and +then to wrench them to either side. Neither of us had grown +stout with advancing years, and in a few minutes we both had +wormed through into the sink, and thence to the floor. It was +not an absolutely noiseless process, but once in the pantry we +were mice, and no longer blind mice. There was a gas-bracket, +but we did not meddle with that. Raffles went armed these +nights with a better light than gas; if it were not immoral, I +might recommend a dark-lantern which was more or less his +patent. It was that handy invention, the electric torch, fitted +by Raffles with a dark hood to fulfil the functions of a slide. +I had held it through the bars while he undid the screws, and +now he held it to the keyhole, in which a key was turned upon the +other side. + +There was a pause for consideration, and in the pause we put on +our masks. It was never known that these Thames Valley robberies +were all com-mitted by miscreants decked in the livery of crime, +but that was because until this night we had never even shown our +masks. It was a point upon which Raffles had insisted on all +feasible occasions since his furtive return to the world. +To-night it twice nearly lost us everything--but you shall hear. + +There is a forceps for turning keys from the wrong side of the +door, but the implement is not so easy of manipulation as it +might be. Raffles for one preferred a sharp knife and the corner +of the panel. You go through the panel because that is +thinnest, of course in the corner nearest the key, and you use a +knife when you can, because it makes least noise. But it does +take minutes, and even I can remember shifting the electric torch +from one hand to the other before the aperture was large enough +to receive the hand and wrist of Raffles. + +He had at such times a motto of which I might have made earlier +use, but the fact is that I have only once before described a +downright burglary in which I assisted, and that without knowing +it at the time. The most solemn student of these annals cannot +affirm that he has cut through many doors in our company, since +(what was to me) the maiden effort to which I allude. I, +however, have cracked only too many a crib in conjunction with +A. J. Raffles, and at the crucial moment he would whisper +"Victory or Wormwood Scrubbs, Bunny!" or instead of Wormwood +Scrubbs it might be Portland Bill. This time it was neither one +nor the other, for with that very word "victory" upon his lips, +they whitened and parted with the first taste of defeat. + +"My hand's held!" gasped Raffles, and the white of his eyes +showed all round the iris, a rarer thing than you may think. + +At the same moment I heard the shuffling feet and the low, +excited young voices on the other side of the door, and a faint +light shone round Raffles's wrist. + +"Well done, Beefy!" + +"Hang on to him!" + +"Good old Beefy!" + +"Beefy's got him!" + +"So have I--so have I!" + +And Raffles caught my arm with his one free hand. "They've got +me tight," he whispered. "I'm done." + +"Blaze through the door," I urged, and might have done it had I +been armed. But I never was. It was Raffles who monopolized +that risk. + +"I can't--it's the boys--the wrong house!" he whispered. "Curse +the fog--it's done me. But you get out, Bunn, while you can; +never mind me; it's my turn, old chap." + +His one hand tightened in affectionate farewell. I put the +electric torch in it before I went, trembling in every inch, but +without a word. + +Get out! His turn! Yes, I would get out, but only to come in +again, for it was my turn--mine--not his. Would Raffles leave me +held by a hand through a hole in a door? What he would have +done in my place was the thing for me to do now. I began by +diving head-first through the pantry window and coming to earth +upon all fours. But even as I stood up, and brushed the gravel +from the palms of my hands and the knees of my knickerbockers, I +had no notion what to do next. And yet I was halfway to the +front door before I remembered the vile crape mask upon my face, +and tore it off as the door flew open and my feet were on the +steps. + +"He's into the next garden," I cried to a bevy of pyjamas with +bare feet and young faces at either end of them. + +"Who? Who?" said they, giving way before me. + +"Some fellow who came through one of your windows head-first." + +"The other Johnny, the other Johnny," the cherubs chorused. + +"Biking past--saw the light--why, what have you there?" + +Of course it was Raffles's hand that they had, but now I was in +the hall among them. A red-faced barrel of a boy did all the +holding, one hand round the wrist, the other palm to palm, and +his knees braced up against the panel. Another was rendering +ostentatious but ineffectual aid, and three or four others danced +about in their pyjamas. After all, they were not more than four +to one. I had raised my voice, so that Raffles might hear me and +take heart, and now I raised it again. Yet to this day I cannot +account for my inspiration, that proved nothing less. + +"Don't talk so loud," they were crying below their breath; "don't +wake 'em upstairs, this is our show." + +"Then I see you've got one of them," said I, as desired. "Well, +if you want the other you can have him, too. I believe he's hurt +himself." + +"After him, after him!" they exclaimed as one. + +"But I think he got over the wall--" + +"Come on, you chaps, come on!" + +And there was a soft stampede to the hall door. + +"Don't all desert me, I say!" gasped the red-faced hero who held +Raffles prisoner. + +"We must have them both, Beefy!" + +"That's all very well--" + +"Look here," I interposed, "I'll stay by you. I've a friend +outside, I'll get him too." + +"Thanks awfully," said the valiant Beefy. + +The hall was empty now. My heart beat high. + +"How did you hear them?" I inquired, my eye running over him. + +"We were down having drinks--game o' Nap--in there." + +Beefy jerked his great head toward an open door, and the tail of +my eye caught the glint of glasses in the firelight, but the +rest of it was otherwise engaged. + +"Let me relieve you," I said, trembling. + +"No, I'm all right." + +"Then I must insist." + +And before he could answer I had him round the neck with such a +will that not a gurgle passed my fingers, for they were almost +buried in his hot, smooth flesh. Oh, I am not proud of it; the +act was as vile as act could be; but I was not going to see +Raffles taken, my one desire was to be the saving of him, and I +tremble even now to think to what lengths I might have gone for +its fulfilment. As it was, I squeezed and tugged until one +strong hand gave way after the other and came feeling round for +me, but feebly because they had held on so long. And what do you +suppose was happening at the same moment? The pinched white hand +of Raffles, reddening with returning blood, and with a clot of +blood upon the wrist, was craning upward and turning the key in +the lock without a moment's loss. + +"Steady on, Bunny!" + +And I saw that Beefy's ears were blue; but Raffles was feeling in +his pockets as he spoke. "Now let him breathe," said he, +clapping his handkerchief over the poor youth's mouth. An empty +vial was in his other hand, and the first few stertorous breaths +that the poor boy took were the end of him for the time being. +Oh, but it was villainous, my part especially, for he must have +been far gone to go the rest of the way so readily. I began by +saying I was not proud of this deed, but its dastardly character +has come home to me more than ever with the penance of writing it +out. I see in myself, at least my then self, things that I +never saw quite so clearly before. Yet let me be quite sure +that I would not do the same again. I had not the smallest +desire to throttle this innocent lad (nor did I), but only to +extricate Raffles from the most hopeless position he was ever in; +and after all it was better than a blow from behind. On the +whole, I will not alter a word, nor whine about the thing any +more. + +We lifted the plucky fellow into Raffles's place in the pantry, +locked the door on him, and put the key through the panel. Now +was the moment for thinking of ourselves, and again that infernal +mask which Raffles swore by came near the undoing of us both. We +had reached the steps when we were hailed by a voice, not from +without but from within, and I had just time to tear the accursed + +thing from Raffles's face before he turned. + +A stout man with a blonde moustache was on the stairs, in his +pyjamas like the boys. + +"What are you doing here?" said he. + +"There has been an attempt upon your house," said I, still +spokesman for the night, and still on the wings of inspiration. + +"Your sons--" + +"My pupils." + +"Indeed. Well, they heard it, drove off the thieves, and have +given chase." + +"And where do you come in?" inquired the stout man, descending. + +"We were bicycling past, and I actually saw one fellow come +head-first through your pantry window. I think he got over the +wall." + +Here a breathless boy returned. + +"Can't see anything of him," he gasped. + +"It's true, then," remarked the crammer. + +"Look at that door," said I. + +But unfortunately the breathless boy looked also, and now he was +being joined by others equally short of wind. + +"Where's Beefy?" he screamed. "What on earth's happened to +Beefy?" + +"My good boys," exclaimed the crammer, "will one of you be kind +enough to tell me what you've been doing, and what these +gentlemen have been doing for you? Come in all, before you get +your death. I see lights in the class-room, and more than +lights. Can these be signs of a carouse?" + +"A very innocent one, sir," said a well set-up youth with more +moustache than I have yet. + +"Well, Olphert, boys will be boys. Suppose you tell me what +happened, before we come to recriminations." + +The bad old proverb was my first warning. I caught two of the +youths exchanging glances under raised eyebrows. Yet their +stout, easy-going mentor had given me such a reassuring glance of +side-long humor, as between man of the world and man of the +world, that it was difficult to suspect him of suspicion. I was +nevertheless itching to be gone. + +Young Olphert told his story with engaging candor. It was true +that they had come down for an hour's Nap and cigarettes; well, +and there was no denying that there was whiskey in the glasses. +The boys were now all back in their class-room, I think entirely +for the sake of warmth; but Raffles and I were in knickerbockers +and Norfolk jackets, and very naturally remained without, while +the army-crammer (who wore bedroom slippers) stood on the +threshold, with an eye each way. The more I saw of the man the +better I liked and the more I feared him. His chief annoyance +thus far was that they had not called him when they heard the +noise, that they had dreamt of leaving him out of the fun. But +he seemed more hurt than angry about that. + +"Well, sir," concluded Olphert, "we left old Beefy Smith hanging +on to his hand, and this gentleman with him, so perhaps he can +tell us what happened next?" + +"I wish I could," I cried with all their eyes upon me, for I had +had time to think. "Some of you must have heard me say I'd fetch +my friend in from the road?" + +"Yes, I did," piped an innocentfrom within. + +"Well, and when I came back with him things were exactly as you +see them now. Evidently the man's strength was too much for the +boy's; but whether he ran upstairs or outside I know no more +than you do." + +"It wasn't like that boy to run either way," said the crammer, +cocking a clear blue eye on me. + +"But if he gave chase!" + +"It wasn't like him even to let go." + +"I don't believe Beefy ever would," put in Olphert. "That's why +we gave him the billet." + +"He may have followed him through the pantry window," I suggested +wildly. + +"But the door's shut," put in a boy. + +"I'll have a look at it," said the crammer. + +And the key no longer in the lock, and the insensible youth +within! The key would be missed, the door kicked in; nay, with +the man's eye still upon me, I thought I could smell the +chloroform, + +I thought I could hear a moan, and prepared for either any +moment. And how he did stare! I have detested blue eyes ever +since, and blonde moustaches, and the whole stout easy-going type + +that is not such a fool as it looks. I had brazened it out with +the boys, but the first grown man wa too many for me, and the +blood ran out of my heart as though there was no Raffles at my +back. Indeed, I had forgotten him. I had so longed to put this +thing through by myself! Even in my extremity it was almost a +disappointment to m when his dear, cool voice fell like a +delicious draught upon my ears. But its effect upon the others +is more interesting to recall. Until now the crammer had the +centre of the stage, but at this point Raffles usurped a place +which was always his at will. People would wait for what he had +to say, as these people waited now for the simplest and most +natural thing in the world. + +"One moment!" he had begun. + +"Well?" said the crammer, relieving me of his eyes at last. + +"I don't want to lose any of the fun--" + +"Nor must you," said the crammer, with emphasis. + +"But we've left our bikes outside, and mine's a Beeston Humber," +continued Raffles. "If you don't mind, we'll bring 'em in before +these fellows get away on them." + +And out he went without a look to see the effect of his words, I +after him with a determined imitation of his self-control. But I +would have given something to turn round. I believe that for +one moment the shrewd instructor was taken in, but as I reached +the steps I heard him asking his pupils whether any of them had +seen any bicycles outside. + +That moment, however, made the difference. We were in the +shrubbery, Raffles with his electric torch drawn and blazing, +when we heard the kicking at the pantry door, and in the drive +with our bicycles before man and boys poured pell-mell down the +steps. + +We rushed our machines to the nearer gate, for both were shut, +and we got through and swung it home behind us in the nick of +time. Even I could mount before they could reopen the gate, +which Raffles held against them for half an instant with +unnecessary gallantry. But he would see me in front of him, and +so it fell to me to lead the way. + +Now, I have said that it was a very misty night (hence the whole +thing), and also that these houses were on a hill. But they were +not nearly on the top of the hill, and I did what I firmly +believe that almost everybody would have done in my place. +Raffles, indeed, said he would have done it himself, but that was +his generosity, and he was the one man who would not. What I did +was to turn in the opposite direction to the other gate, where we +might so easily have been cut off, and to pedal for my +life--up-hill! + +"My God!" I shouted when I found it out. + +"Can you turn in your own length?" asked Raffles, following +loyally. + +"Not certain." + +"Then stick to it. You couldn't help it. But it's the devil of +a hill!" + +"And here they come!" + +"Let them," said Raffles, and brandished his electric torch, our +only light as yet. + +A hill seems endless in the dark, for you cannot see the end, and +with the patter of bare feet gaining on us, I thought this one +could have no end at all. Of course the boys could charge up it +quicker than we could pedal, but I even heard the voice of their +stout instructor growing louder through the mist. + +"Oh, to think I've let you in for this!" I groaned, my head over +the handle-bars, every ounce of my weight first on one foot and +then on the other. I glanced at Raffles, and in the white light +of his torch he was doing it all with his ankles, exactly as +though he had been riding in a Gymkhana. + +"It's the most sporting chase I was ever in," said he. + +"All my fault!" + +"My dear Bunny, I wouldn't have missed it for the world!" + +Nor would he forge ahead of me, though he could have done so in a +moment, he who from his boyhood had done everything of the kind +so much better than anybody else. No, he must ride a wheel's +length behind me, and now we could not only hear the boys +running, but breathing also. And then of a sudden I saw Raffles +on my right striking with his torch; a face flew out of the +darkness to meet the thick glass bulb with the glowing wire +enclosed; it was the face of the boy Olphert, with his enviable +moustache, but it vanished with the crash of glass, and the naked +wire thickened to the eye like a tuning-fork struck red-hot. + +I saw no more of that. One of them had crept up on my side also; +as I looked, hearing him pant, he was grabbing at my left handle, +and I nearly sent Raffles into the hedge by the sharp turn I took +to the right. His wheel's length saved him. But my boy could +run, was overhauling me again, seemed certain of me this time, +when all at once the Sunbeam ran easily; every ounce of my weight +with either foot once more, and I was over the crest of the hill, +the gray road reeling out from under me as I felt for my brake. +I looked back at Raffles. He had put up his feet. I screwed my +head round still further, and there were the boys in their +pyjamas, their hands upon their knees, like so many +wicket-keepers, and a big man shaking his fist. There was a +lamp-post on the hill-top, and that was the last I saw. + +We sailed down to the river, then on through Thames Ditton as far +as Esher Station, when we turned sharp to the right, and from the +dark stretch by Imber Court came to light in Molesey, and were +soon pedalling like gentlemen of leisure through Bushey Park, our +lights turned up, the broken torch put out and away. The big +gates had long been shut, but you can manoeuvre a bicycle through +the others. We had no further adventures on the way home, and +our coffee was still warm upon the hob. + +"But I think it's an occasion for Sullivans," said Raffles, who +now kept them for such. "By all my gods, Bunny, it's been the +most sporting night we ever had in our lives! And do you know +which was the most sporting part of it?" + +"That up-hill ride?" + +"I wasn't thinking of it." + +"Turning your torch into a truncheon?" + +"My dear Bunny! A gallant lad--I hated hitting him." + +"I know," I said. "The way you got us out of the house!" + +"No, Bunny," said Raffles, blowing rings. "It came before that, +you sinner, and you know it!" + +"You don't mean anything I did?" said I, self-consciously, for I +began to see that this was what he did mean. And now at latest +it will also be seen why this story has been told with undue and + +inexcusable gusto; there is none other like it for me to tell; it +is my one ewe-lamb in all these annals. But Raffles had a ruder +name for it. + +"It was the Apotheosis of the Bunny," said he, but in a tone I +never shall forget. + +"I hardly knew what I was doing or saying," I said. "The whole +thing was a fluke." + +"Then," said Raffles, "it was the kind of fluke I always trusted +you to make when runs were wanted." + +And he held out his dear old hand. + + +THE KNEES OF THE GODS + +I + +"The worst of this war," said Raffles, "is the way it puts a +fellow off his work." + +It was, of course, the winter before last, and we had done +nothing dreadful since the early autumn. Undoubtedly the war was +the cause. Not that we were among the earlier victims of the +fever. I took disgracefully little interest in the +Negotiations, while the Ultimatum appealed to Raffles as a +sporting flutter. Then we gave the whole thing till Christmas. +We still missed the cricket in the papers. But one russet +afternoon we were in Richmond, and a terrible type was shouting +himself hoarse with "'Eavy British lorsses--orful slorter o' the +Bo-wers! Orful slorter! Orful slorter! 'Eavy British +lorsses!" I thought the terrible type had invented it, but +Raffles gave him more than he asked, and then I held the bicycle +while he tried to pronounce Eland's Laagte. We were never again +without our sheaf of evening papers, and Raffles ordered three +morning ones, and I gave up mine in spite of its literary page. +We became strategists. We knew exactly what Buller was to do on +landing, and, still better, what the other Generals should have +done. Our map was the best that could be bought, with flags +that deserved a better fate than standing still. Raffles woke me +to hear "The Absent-Minded Beggar" on the morning it appeared; +he was one of the first substantial subscribers to the fund. By +this time our dear landlady was more excited than we. To our +enthusiasm for Thomas she added a personal bitterness against +the Wild Boars, as she persisted in calling them, each time as +though it were the first. I could linger over our landlady's +attitude in the whole matter. That was her only joke about it, +and the true humorist never smiled at it herself. But you had +only to say a syllable for a venerable gentleman, declared by her +to be at the bottom of it all, to hear what she could do to him +if she caught him. She could put him in a cage and go on tour +with him, and make him howl and dance for his food like a debased +bear before a fresh audience every day. Yet a more kind-hearted +woman I have neverknown. The war did not uplift our landlady as +it did her lodgers. + +But presently it ceased to have that precise effect upon us. Bad +was being made worse and worse; and then came more than +Englishmen could endure in that black week across which the names +of three African villages are written forever in letters of +blood. "All three pegs," groaned Raffles on the last morning of +the week; "neck-and-crop, neck-and-crop!" It was his first word +of cricket since the beginning of the war. + +We were both depressed. Old school-fellows had fallen, and I +know Raffles envied them; he spoke so wistfully of such an end. +To cheer him up I proposed to break into one of the many more or +less royal residences in our neighborhood; a tough crib was what +he needed; but I will not trouble you with what he said to me. +There was less crime in England that winter than for years past; +there was none at all in Raffles. And yet there were those who +could denounce the war! + +So we went on for a few of those dark days, Raffles very glum +and grim, till one fine morning the Yeomanry idea put new heart +into us all. It struck me at once as the glorious scheme it was +to prove, but it did not hit me where it hit others. I was not +a fox-hunter, and the gentlemen of England would scarcely have +owned me as one of them. The case of Raffles was in that respect +still more hopeless (he who had even played for them at Lord's), +and he seemed to feel it. He would not speak to me all the +morning; in the afternoon he went for a walk alone. It was +another man who came home, flourishing a small bottle packed in +white paper. + +"Bunny," said he, "I never did lift my elbow; it's the one vice I +never had. It has taken me all these years to find my tipple, +Bunny; but here it is, my panacea, my elixir, my magic philtre!" + +I thought he had been at it on the road, and asked him the name +of the stuff. + +"Look and see, Bunny." + +And if it wasn't a bottle of ladies' hair-dye, warranted to +change any shade into the once fashionable yellow within a given +number of applications! + +"What on earth," said I, "are you going to do with this?" + +"Dye for my country," he cried, swelling. "Dulce et decorum est, +Bunny, my boy!" + +"Do you mean that you are going to the front?" + +"If I can without coming to it." + +I looked at him as he stood in the firelight, straight as a dart, +spare but wiry, alert, laughing, flushed from his wintry walk; +and as I looked, all the years that I had known him, and more +besides, slipped from him in my eyes. I saw him captain of the +eleven at school. I saw him running with the muddy ball on days +like this, running round the other fifteen as a sheep-dog round a +flock of sheep. He had his cap on still, and but for the gray +hairs underneath--but here I lost him in a sudden mist. It was +not sorrow at his going, for I did not mean to let him go alone. +It was enthusiasm, admiration, affection, and also, I believe, a +sudden regret that he had not always appealed to that part of my +nature to which he was appealing now. It was a little thrill of +penitence. Enough of it. + +"I think it great of you," I said, and at first that was all. + +How he laughed at me. He had had his innings; there was no +better way of getting out. He had scored off an African +millionaire, the Players, a Queensland Legislator, the Camorra, +the late Lord Ernest Belville, and again and again off Scotland +Yard. What more could one man do in one lifetime? And at the +worst it was the death to die: no bed, no doctor, no +temperature--and Raffles stopped himself. + +"No pinioning, no white cap," he added, "if you like that +better." + +"I don't like any of it," I cried, cordially; "you've simply got +to come back." + +"To what?" he asked, a strange look on him. + +And I wondered--for one instant--whether my little thrill had +gone through him. He was not a man of little thrills. + +Then for a minute I was in misery. Of course I wanted to go +too--he shook my hand without a word--but how could I? They +would never have me, a branded jailbird, in the Imperial +Yeomanry! Raffles burst out laughing; he had been looking very +hard at me for about three seconds. + +"You rabbit," he cried, "even to think of it! We might as well +offer ourselves to the Metropolitan Police Force. No, Bunny, we +go out to the Cape on our own, and that's where we enlist. One +of these regiments of irregular horse is the thing for us; you +spent part of your pretty penny on horse-flesh, I believe, and +you remember how I rode in the bush! We're the very men for +them, Bunny, and they won't ask to see our birthmarks out there. +I don't think even my hoary locks would put them off, but it +would be too conspicuous in the ranks." + +Our landlady first wept on hearing our determination, and then +longed to have the pulling of certain whiskers (with the tongs, +and they should be red-hot); but from that day, and for as many +as were left to us, the good soul made more of us than ever. Not +that she was at all surprised; dear brave gentlemen who could +look for burglars on their bicycles at dead of night, it was only +what you might expect of them, bless their lion hearts. I +wanted to wink at Raffles, but he would not catch my eye. He was +a ginger-headed Raffles by the end of January, and it was +extraordinary what a difference it made. His most elaborate +disguises had not been more effectual than this simple +expedient, and, with khaki to complete the subdual of his +individuality, he had every hope of escaping recognition in the +field. The man he dreaded was the officer he had known in old +days; there were ever so many of him at the Front; and it was to +minimize this risk that we went out second-class at the beginning +of February. + +It was a weeping day, a day in a shroud, cold as clay, yet for +that very reason an ideal day upon which to leave England for the +sunny Front. Yet my heart was heavy as I looked my last at her; +it was heavy as the raw, thick air, until Raffles came and leant +upon the rail at my side. + +"I know what you are thinking, and you've got to stop," said he. +"It's on the knees of the gods, Bunny, whether we do or we +don't, and thinking won't make us see over their shoulders." + + +II + +Now I made as bad a soldier (except at heart) as Raffles made a +good one, and I could not say a harder thing of myself. My +ignorance of matters military was up to that time unfathomable, +and is still profound. I was always a fool with horses, though I +did not think so at one time, and I had never been any good with +a gun. The average Tommy may be my intellectual inferior, but he +must know some part of his work better than I ever knew any of +mine. I never even learnt to be killed. I do not mean that I +ever ran away. The South African Field Force might have been +strengthened if I had. + +The foregoing remarks do not express a pose affected out of +superiority to the usual spirit of the conquering hero, for no +man was keener on the war than I, before I went to it. But one +can only write with gusto of events (like that little affair at +Surbiton) in which one has acquitted oneself without discredit, +and I cannot say that of my part in the war, of which I now +loathe the thought for other reasons. The battlefield was no +place for me, and neither was the camp. My ineptitude made me +the butt of the looting, cursing, swash-buckling lot who formed +the very irregular squadron which we joined; and it would have +gone hard with me but for Raffles, who was soon the darling +devil of them all, but never more loyally my friend. Your +fireside fire-eater does not think of these things. He imagines +all the fighting to be with the enemy. He will probably be +horrified to hear that men can detest each other as cordially in +khaki as in any other wear, and with a virulence seldom inspired +by the bearded dead-shot in the opposite trench. To the +fireside fire-eater, therefore (for you have seen me one myself), +I dedicate the story of Corporal Connal, Captain Bellingham, the +General, Raffles, and myself. + +I must be vague, for obvious reasons. The troop is fighting as I +write; you will soon hear why I am not; but neither is Raffles, +nor Corporal Connal. They are fighting as well as ever, those +other hard-living, harder-dying sons of all soils; but I am not +going to say where it was that we fought with them. I believe +that no body of men of equal size has done half so much heroic +work. But they had got themselves a bad name off the field, so +to speak; and I am not going to make it worse by saddling them +before the world with Raffles and myself, and that ruffian +Connal. + +The fellow was a mongrel type, a Glasgow Irishman by birth and +upbringing, but he had been in South Africa for years, and he +certainly knew the country very well. This circumstance, coupled +with the fact that he was a very handy man with horses, as all +colonists are, had procured him the first small step from the +ranks which facilitates bullying if a man be a bully by nature, +and is physically fitted to be a successful one. Connal was a +hulking ruffian, and in me had ideal game. The brute was +offensive to me from the hour I joined. The details are of no +importance, but I stood up to him at first in words, and finally +for a few seconds on my feet. Then I went down like an ox, and +Raffles came out of his tent. Their fight lasted twenty minutes, +and Raffles was marked, but the net result was dreadfully +conventional, for the bully was a bully no more. + +But I began gradually to suspect that he was something worse. +All this time we were fighting every day, or so it seems when I +look back. Never a great engagement, and yet never a day when we +were wholly out of touch with the enemy. I had thus several +opportunities of watching the other enemy under fire, and had +almost convinced myself of the systematic harmlessness of his own +shooting, when a more glaring incident occurred. + +One night three troops of our squadron were ordered to a certain +point whither they had patrolled the previous week; but our own +particular troop was to stay behind, and in charge of no other +than the villanous corporal, both our officer and sergeant having +gone into hospital with enteric. Our detention, however, was +very temporary, and Connal would seem to have received the usual +vague orders to proceed in the early morning to the place where +the other three companies had camped. It appeared that we were +to form an escort to two squadron-wagons containing kits, +provisions, and ammunition. + +Before daylight Connal had reported his departure to the +commanding officer, and we passed the outposts at gray dawn. +Now, though I was perhaps the least observant person in the +troop, I was not the least wideawake where Corporal Connal was +concerned, and it struck me at once that we were heading in the +wrong direction. My reasons are not material, but as a matter of +fact our last week's patrol had pushed its khaki tentacles both +east and west; and eastward they had met with resistance so +determined as to compel them to retire; yet it was eastward that +we were travelling now. I at once spurred alongside Raffles, as +he rode, bronzed and bearded, with warworn wide-awake over eyes +grown keen as a hawk's, and a cutty-pipe sticking straight out +from his front teeth. I can see him now, so gaunt and grim and +debonair, yet already with much of the nonsense gone out of him, +though I thought he only smiled on my misgivings. + +"Did he get the instructions, Bunny, or did we? Very well, then; +give the devil a chance." + +There was nothing further to be said, but I felt more crushed +than convinced; so we jogged along into broad daylight, until +Raffles himself gave a whistle of surprise. + +"A white flag, Bunny, by all my gods!" + +I could not see it; he had the longest sight in all our squadron; +but in a little the fluttering emblem, which had gained such a +sinister significance in most of our eyes, was patent even to +mine. A little longer, and the shaggy Boer was in our midst upon +his shaggy pony, with a half-scared, half-incredulous look in his +deep-set eyes. He was on his way to our lines with some +missive, and had little enough to say to us, though frivolous and +flippant questions were showered upon him from most saddles. + +"Any Boers over there?" asked one, pointing in the direction in +which we were still heading. + +"Shut up!" interjected Raffles in crisp rebuke. + +The Boer looked stolid but sinister. + +"Any of our chaps?" added another. + +The Boer rode on with an open grin. + +And the incredible conclusion of the matter was that we were +actually within their lines in another hour; saw them as large as +life within a mile and a half on either side of us; and must +every man of us have been taken prisoner had not every man but +Connal refused to go one inch further, and had not the Boers +themselves obviously suspected some subtle ruse as the only +conceivable explanation of so madcap a manoeuvre. They allowed +us to retire without firing a shot; and retire you may be sure +we did, the Kaffirs flogging their teams in a fury of fear, and +our precious corporal sullen but defiant. + +I have said this was the conclusion of the matter, and I blush to +repeat that it practically was. Connal was indeed wheeled up +before the colonel, but his instructions were not written +instructions, and he lied his way out with equal hardihood and +tact. + +"You said 'over there,' sir," he stoutly reiterated; and the +vagueness with which such orders were undoubtedly given was the +saving of him for the time being. + +I need not tell you how indignant I felt, for one. + +"The fellow is a spy!" I said to Raffles, with no nursery oath, +as we strolled within the lines that night. + +He merely smiled in my face. + +"And have you only just found it out, Bunny? I have known it +almost ever since we joined; but this morning I did think we had +him on toast." + +"It's disgraceful that we had not," cried I. "He ought to have +been shot like a dog." + +"Not so loud, Bunny, though I quite agree; but I don't regret +what has happened as much as you do. Not that I am less +bloodthirsty than you are in this case, but a good deal more so! +Bunny, I'm mad-keen on bowling him out with my own unaided +hand--though I may ask you to take the wicket. Meanwhile, don't +wear all your animosity upon your sleeve; the fellow has friends +who still believe in him; and there is no need for you to be +more openly his enemy than you were before." + +Well, I can only vow that I did my best to follow this sound +advice; but who but a Raffles can control his every look? It was +never my forte, as you know, yet to this day I cannot conceive +what I did to excite the treacherous corporal's suspicions. He +was clever enough, however, not to betray them, and lucky enough +to turn the tables on us, as you shall hear. + + +III + +Bloemfontein had fallen since our arrival, but there was plenty +of fight in the Free Staters still, and I will not deny that it +was thes gentry who were showing us the sport for which our +corps came in. Constant skirmishing was our portion, with now +and then an action that you would know at least by name, did I +feel free to mention them. But I do not, and indeed it is better +so. I have not to describe the war even as I saw it, I am +thankful to say, but only the martial story of us two and those +others of whom you wot. Corporal Connal was the dangerous +blackguard you have seen. Captain Bellingham is best known for +his position in the batting averages a year or two ago, and for +his subsequent failure to obtai a place in any of the five Test +Matches. But I only think of him as the officer who recognized +Raffles. + +We had taken a village, making quite a little name for it and for +ourselves, and in the village our division was reinforced by a +fresh brigade of the Imperial troops. It was a day of rest, our +first for weeks, but Raffles and I spent no small part of it in +seeking high and low for a worthy means of quenching the kind of +thirst which used to beset Yeomen and others who had left good +cellars for the veldt. The old knack came back to us both, +though I believe that I alone was conscious of it at the time; +and we were leaving the house, splendidly supplied, when we +almost ran into the arms of an infantry officer, with a scowl +upon his red-hot face, and an eye-glass flaming at us in the sun. + +"Peter Bellingham!" gasped Raffles under his breath, and then we +saluted and tried to pass on, with the bottles ringing like +church-bells under our khaki. But Captain Bellingham was a hard +man. + +"What have you men been doin'?" drawled he. + +"Nothing, sir," we protested, like innocence with an injury. + +"Lootin' 's forbidden," said he. "You had better let me see +those bottles." + +"We are done," whispered Raffles, and straightway we made a +sideboard of the stoop across which he had crept at so +inopportune a moment. I had not the heart to raise my eyes +again, yet it was many moments before the officer broke silence. + +"Uam Var!" he murmured reverentially at last. "And Long John of +Ben Nevis! The first drop that's been discovered in the whole +psalm-singing show! What lot do you two belong to?" + +I answered. + +"I must have your names." + +In my agitation I gave my real one. Raffles had turned away, as +though in heart-broken contemplation of our lost loot. I saw the +officer studying his half-profile with an alarming face. + +"What's YOUR name?" he rapped out at last. + +But his strange, low voice said plainly that he knew, and Raffles +faced him with the monosyllable of confession and assent. I did +not count the seconds until the next word, but it was Captain +Bellingham who uttered it at last. + +"I thought you were dead." + +"Now you see I am not." + +"But you are at your old games!" + +"I am not," cried Raffles, and his tone was new to me. I have +seldom heard one more indignant. "Yes," he continued, "this is +loot, and the wrong 'un will out. That's what you're thinking, +Peter--I beg your pardon--sir. But he isn't let out in the +field! We're playing the game as much as you are, old--sir." + +The plural number caused the captain to toss me a contemptuous +look. "Is this the fellah who was taken when you swam for it?" +he inquired, relapsing into his drawl. Raffles said I was, and +with that took a passionate oath upon our absolute rectitude as +volunteers. There could be no doubting him; but the officer's +eyes went back at the bottles on the stoop. + +"But look at those," said he; and as he looked himself the light +eye melted in his fiery face. "And I've got Sparklets in my +tent," he sighed. "You make it in a minute!" + +Not a word from Raffles, and none, you may be sure, from me. +Then suddenly Bellingham told me where his tent was, and, adding +that our case was one for serious consideration, strode in its +direction without another word until some sunlit paces separated +us. + +"You can bring that stuff with you," he then flung over a +shoulder-strap, "and I advise you to put it where you had it +before." + +A trooper saluted him some yards further on, and looked evilly at +us as we followed with our loot. It was Corporal Connal of ours, +and the thought of him takes my mind off the certainly gallant +captain who only that day had joined our division with the +reinforcements. I could not stand the man myself. He added +soda-water to our whiskey in his tent, and would only keep a +couple of bottles when we came away. Softened by the spirit, to +which disuse made us all a little sensitive, our officer was soon +convinced of the honest part that we were playing for once, and +for fifty minutes of the hour we spent with him he and Raffles +talked cricket without a break. On parting they even shook +hands; that was Long John in the captain's head; but the snob +never addressed a syllable to me. + +And now to the gallows-bird who was still corporal of our troop: +it was not long before Raffles was to have his wish and the +traitor's wicket. We had resumed our advance, or rather our +humble part in the great surrounding movement then taking +place, and were under pretty heavy fire once more, when Connal +was shot in the hand. It was a curious casualty in more than one +respect, and nobody seems to have seen it happen. Though a +flesh wound, it was a bloody one, and that may be why the +surgeon did not at once detect those features which afterwards +convinced him that the injury had been self-inflicted. It was +the right hand, and until it healed the man could be of no +further use in the firing line; nor was the case serious enough +for admission to a crowded field-hospital; and Connal himself +offered his services as custodian of a number of our horses which +we were keeping out of harm's way in a donga. They had come +there in the following manner: That morning we had been +heliographed to reinforce the C.M.R., only to find that the enemy +had the range to a nicety when we reached the spot. There were +trenches for us men, but no place of safety for our horses nearer +than this long and narrow donga which ran from within our lines +towards those of the Boers. So some of us galloped them thither, +six-in-hand, amid the whine of shrapnel and the whistle of shot. +I remember the man next me being killed by a shell with all his +team, and the tangle of flying harness, torn horseflesh, and +crimson khaki, that we left behind us on the veldt; also that a +small red flag, ludicrously like those used to indicate a +putting-green, marked the single sloping entrance to the +otherwise precipitous donga, which I for one was duly thankful to +reach alive. + +The same evening Connal, with a few other light casualties to +assist him, took over the charge for which he had volunteered and +for which he was so admirably fitted by his knowledge of horses +and his general experience of the country; nevertheless, he +managed to lose three or four fine chargers in the course of the +first night; and, early in the second, Raffles shook me out of a +heavy slumber in the trenches where we had been firing all day. + +"I have found the spot, Bunny," he whispered; "we ought to out +him before the night is over." + +"Connal?" + +Raffles nodded. + +"You know what happened to some of his horses last night? Well, +he let them go himself." + +"Never!" + +"I'm as certain of it," said Raffles, "as though I'd seen him do +it; and if he does it again I shall see him. I can even tell you +how it happened. Connal insisted on having one end of the donga +to himself, and of course his end is the one nearest the Boers. +Well, then, he tells the other fellows to go to sleep at their +end--I have it direct from one of them--and you bet they don't +need a second invitation. The rest I hope to see to-night." + +"It seems almost incredible," said I. + +"Not more so than the Light Horseman's dodge of poisoning the +troughs; that happened at Ladysmith before Christmas; and two +kind friends did for that blackguard what you and I are going to +do for this one, and a firing-party did the rest. Brutes! A +mounted man's worth a file on foot in this country, and well +they know it. But this beauty goes one better than the poison; +that was wilful waste; but I'll eat my wideawake if our loss +last night wasn't the enemy's double gain! What we've got to +do, Bunny, is to catch him in the act. It may mean watching him +all night, but was ever game so well worth the candle?" + +One may say in passing that, at this particular point of contact, +the enemy were in superior force, and for once in a mood as +aggressive as our own. They were led with a dash, and handled +with a skill, which did not always characterize their commanders +at this stage of the war. Their position was very similar to +ours, and indeed we were to spend the whole of next day in trying +with an equal will to turn each other out. The result will +scarcely be forgotten by those who recognize the occasion from +these remarks. Meanwhile it was the eve of battle (most +evenings were), and there was that villain with the horses in +the donga, and here were we two upon his track. + +Raffles's plan was to reconnoitre the place, and then take up a +position from which we could watch our man and pounce upon him if +he gave us cause. The spot that we eventually chose and +stealthily occupied was behind some bushes through which we +could see down into the donga; there were the precious horses; +and there sure enough was our wounded corporal, sitting smoking +in his cloak, some glimmering thing in his lap. + +"That's his revolver, and it's a Mauser," whispered Raffles. "He +shan't have a chance of using it on us; either we must be on him +before he knows we are anywhere near, or simply report. It's +easily proved once we are sure; but I should like to have the +taking of him too." + +There was a setting moon. Shadows were sharp and black. The man +smoked steadily, and the hungry horses did what I never saw +horses do before; they stood and nibbled at each other's tails. +I was used to sleeping in the open, under the jewelled dome that +seems so much vaster and grander in these wide spaces of the +earth. I lay listening to the horses, and to the myriad small +strange voices of the veldt, to which I cannot even now put a +name, while Raffles watched. "One head is better than two," he +said, "when you don't want it to be seen." We were to take watch +and watch about, however, and the other might sleep if he could; +it was not my fault that I did nothing else; it was Raffles who +could trust nobody but himself. Nor was there any time for +recriminations when he did rouse me in the end. + +But a moment ago, as it seemed to me, I had been gazing upward at +the stars and listening to the dear, minute sounds of peace; and +in another the great gray slate was clean, and every bone of me +set in plaster of Paris, and sniping beginning between pickets +with the day. It was an occasional crack, not a constant +crackle, but the whistle of a bullet as it passed us by, or a +tiny transitory flame for the one bit of detail on a blue +hill-side, was an unpleasant warning that we two on ours were a +target in ourselves. But Raffles paid no attention to their +fire; he was pointing downward through the bushes to where +Corporal Connal stood with his back to us, shooing a last +charger out of the mouth of the donga towards the Boer trenches. + +"That's his third," whispered Raffles, "but it's the first I've +seen distinctly, for he waited for the blind spot before the +dawn. It's enough to land him, I fancy, but we mustn't lose +time. Are you ready for a creep?" + +I stretched myself, and said I was; but I devoutly wished it was +not quite so early in the morning. + +"Like cats, then, till he hears, and then into him for all we're +worth. He's stowed his iron safe away, but he mustn't have time +even to feel for it. You take his left arm, Bunny, and hang on +to that like a ferret, and I'll do the rest. Ready? Then now!" + +And in less time than it would take to tell, we were over the lip +of the donga and had fallen upon the fellow before he could turn +his head; nevertheless, for a few instants he fought like a wild +beast, striking, kicking, and swinging me off my feet as I obeyed +my instructions to the letter, and stuck to his left like a +leech. But he soon gave that up, panting and blaspheming, +demanded explanations in his hybrid tongue that had half a brogue +and half a burr. What were we doing? What had he done? +Raffles at his back, with his right wrist twisted round and +pinned into the small of it, soon told him that, and I think the +words must have been the first intimation that he had as to who +his assailants were. + +"So it's you two!" he cried, and a light broke over him. He was +no longer trying to shake us off, and now he dropped his curses +also, and stood chuckling to himself instead. "Well," he went +on, "you're bloody liars both, but I know something else that you +are, so you'd better let go." + +A coldness ran through me, and I never saw Raffles so taken +aback. His grip must have relaxed for a fraction of time, for +our captive broke out in a fresh and desperate struggle, but now +we pinned him tighter than ever, and soon I saw him turning +green and yellow with the pain. + +"You're breaking my wrist!" he yelled at last. + +"Then stand still and tell us who we are." + +And he stood still and told us our real names. But Raffles +insisted on hearing how he had found us out, and smiled as though +he had known what was coming when it came. I was dumbfounded. + +The accursed hound had followed us that evening to Captain +Bellingham's tent, and his undoubted cleverness in his own +profession of spy had done the rest. + +"And now you'd better let me go," said the master of the +situation, as I for one could not help regarding him. + +"I'll see you damned," said Raffles, savagely. + +"Then you're damned and done for yourself, my cocky criminal. +Raffles the burglar! Raffles the society thief! Not dead after +all, but 'live and 'listed. Send him home and give him fourteen +years, and won't he like 'em, that's all!" + +"I shall have the pleasure of hearing you shot first," retorted +Raffles, through his teeth, "and that alone will make them +bearable. Come on, Bunny, let's drive the swine along and get it +over." + +And drive him we did, he cursing, cajoling, struggling, gloating, +and blubbering by turns. But Raffles never wavered for an +instant, though his face was tragic, and it went to my heart, +where that look stays still. I remember at the time, though I +never let my hold relax, there was a moment when I added my +entreaties to those of our prisoner. Raffles did not even reply +to me. But I was thinking of him, I swear. I was thinking of +that gray set face that I never saw before or after. + +"Your story will be tested," said the commanding officer, when +Connal had been marched to the guard-tent. "Is there any truth +in his?" + +"It is perfectly true, sir." + +"And the notorious Raffles has been alive all these years, and +you are really he?" + +"I am, sir." + +"And what are you doing at the front?" + +Somehow I thought that Raffles was going to smile, but the grim +set of his mouth never altered, neither was there any change in +the ashy pallor which had come over him in the donga when Connal +mouthed his name. It was only his eyes that lighted up at the +last question. + +"I am fighting, sir," said he, as simply as any subaltern in the +army. + +The commanding officer inclined a grizzled head perceptibly, and +no more. He was not one of any school, our General; he had his +own ways, and we loved both him and them; and I believe that he +loved the rough but gallant corps that bore his name. He once +told us that he knew something about most of us, and there were +things that Raffles had done of which he must have heard. But he +only moved his grizzled head. + +"Did you know he was going to give you away?" he asked at +length, with a jerk of it toward the guard-tent. + +"Yes, sir." + +"But you thought it worth while, did you?" + +"I thought it necessary, sir." + +The General paused, drumming on his table, making up his mind. +Then his chin came up with the decision that we loved in him. + +"I shall sift all this," said he. "An officer's name was +mentioned, and I shall see him myself. Meanwhile you had better +go on--fighting." + + +IV + +Corporal Connal paid the penalty of his crime before the sun was +far above the hill held by the enemy. There was abundance of +circumstantial evidence against him, besides the direct testimony +of Raffles and myself, and the wretch was shot at last with +little ceremony and less shrift. And that was the one good thing +that happened on the day that broke upon us hiding behind the +bushes overlooking the donga; by noon it was my own turn. + +I have avoided speaking of my wound before I need, and from the +preceding pages you would not gather that I am more or less lame +for life. You will soon see now why I was in no hurry to recall +the incident. I used to think of a wound received in one's +country's service as the proudest trophy a man could acquire. +But the sight of mine depresses me every morning of my life; it +was due for one thing to my own slow eye for cover, in taking +which (to aggravate my case) our hardy little corps happened to +excel. + +The bullet went clean through my thigh, drilling the bone, but +happily missing the sciatic nerve; thus the mere pain was less +than it might have been, but of course I went over in a +light-brown heap. We were advancing on our stomachs to take the +hill, and thus extend our position, and it was at this point that +the fire became too heavy for us, so that for hours (in the +event) we moved neither forward nor back. But it was not a +minute before Raffles came to me through the whistling scud, and +in another I was on my back behind a shallow rock, with him +kneeling over me and unrolling my bandage in the teeth of that +murderous fire. It was on the knees of the gods, he said, when I +begged him to bend lower, but for the moment I thought his tone +as changed as his face had been earlier in the morning. To +oblige me, however, he took more care; and, when he had done all +that one comrade could for another, he did avail himself of the +cover he had found for me. So there we lay together on the +veldt, under blinding sun and withering fire, and I suppose it is +the veldt that I should describe, as it swims and flickers +before wounded eyes. I shut mine to bring it back, but all that +comes is the keen brown face of Raffles, still a shade paler than +its wont; now bending to sight and fire; now peering to see +results, brows raised, eyes widened; anon turning to me with the +word to set my tight lips grinning. He was talking all the +time, but for my sake, and I knew it. Can you wonder that I +could not see an inch beyond him? He was the battle to me then; +he is the whole war to me as I look back now. + +"Feel equal to a cigarette? It will buck you up, Bunny. No, +that one in the silver paper, I've hoarded it for this. Here's a +light; and so Bunny takes the Sullivan! All honor to the +sporting rabbit!" + +"At least I went over like one," said I, sending the only clouds +into the blue, and chiefly wishing for their longer endurance. +I was as hot as a cinder from my head to one foot; the other leg +was ceasing to belong to me. + +"Wait a bit," says Raffles, puckering; "there's a gray felt hat +at deep long-on, and I want to add it to the bag for vengeance. +. . . Wait--yes--no, no luck! I must pitch 'em up a bit more. +Hallo! Magazine empty. How goes the Sullivan, Bunny? Rum to be +smoking one on the veldt with a hole in your leg!" + +"It's doing me good," I said, and I believe it was. But Raffles +lay looking at me as he lightened his bandolier. + +"Do you remember," he said softly, "the day we first began to +think about the war? I can see the pink, misty river light, and +feel the first bite there was in the air when one stood about; +don't you wish we had either here! 'Orful slorter, orful +slorter;' that fellow's face, I see it too; and here we have the +thing he cried. Can you believe it's only six months ago?" + +"Yes," I sighed, enjoying the thought of that afternoon less than +he did; "yes, we were slow to catch fire at first." + +"Too slow," he said quickly. + +"But when we did catch," I went on, wishing we never had, "we +soon burnt up." + +"And then went out," laughed Raffles gayly. He was loaded up +again. "Another over at the gray felt hat," said he; "by Jove, +though, I believe he's having an over at me!" + +"I wish you'd be careful," I urged. "I heard it too." + +"My dear Bunny, it's on the knees you wot of. If anything's down +in the specifications surely that is. Besides--that was nearer!" + +"To you?" + +"No, to him. Poor devil, he has his specifications too; it's +comforting to think that. . . . I can't see where that one +pitched; it may have been a wide; and it's very nearly the end of +the over again. Feeling worse, Bunny?" + +"No, I've only closed my eyes. Go on talking." + +"It was I who let you in for this," he said, at his bandolier +again. + +"No, I'm glad I came out." + +And I believe I still was, in a way; for it WAS rather fine to be +wounded, just then, with the pain growing less; but the sensation +was not to last me many minutes, and I can truthfully say that I +have never felt it since. + +"Ah, but you haven't had such a good time as I have!" + +"Perhaps not." + +Had his voice vibrated, or had I imagined it? Pain-waves and +loss of blood were playing tricks with my senses; now they were +quite dull, and my leg alive and throbbing; now I had no leg at +all, but more than all my ordinary senses in every other part of +me. And the devil's orchestra was playing all the time, and all +around me, on every class of fiendish instrument, which you +have been made to hear for yourselves in every newspaper. Yet +all that I heard was Raffles talking. + +"I have had a good time, Bunny." + +Yes, his voice was sad; but that was all; the vibration must have +been in me. + +"I know you have, old chap," said I. + +"I am grateful to the General for giving me to-day. It may be +the last. Then I can only say it's been the best--by Jove!" + +"What is it?" + +And I opened my eyes. His were shining. I can see them now. + +"Got him--got the hat! No, I'm hanged if I have; at least he +wasn't in it. The crafty cuss, he must have stuck it up on +purpose. Another over . . . scoring's slow. . . . I wonder if +he's sportsman enough to take a hint? His hat-trick's foolish. +Will he show his face if I show mine?" + +I lay with closed ears and eyes. My leg had come to life again, +and the rest of me was numb. + +"Bunny!" + +His voice sounded higher. He must have been sitting upright. + +"Well?" + +But it was not well with me; that was all I thought as my lips +made the word. + +"It's not only been the best time I ever had, old Bunny, but I'm +not half sure--" + +Of what I can but guess; the sentence was not finished, and never +could be in this world. + + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Raffles, by E. W. Hornung + diff --git a/old/rafls10.zip b/old/rafls10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..274ac54 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/rafls10.zip |