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diff --git a/old/7tlrn10.txt b/old/7tlrn10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..705d42b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7tlrn10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8636 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Talleyrand Maxim, by J. S. Fletcher +#3 in our series by J. S. Fletcher + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Talleyrand Maxim + +Author: J. S. Fletcher + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9834] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 22, 2003] +[Date last updated: April 12, 2005] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALLEYRAND MAXIM *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Sandra Brown +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +THE TALLEYRAND MAXIM + + +BY J. S. FLETCHER + + +1920 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + +I DEATH BRINGS OPPORTUNITY + +II IN TRUST + +III THE SHOP-BOY + +IV THE FORTUNATE POSSESSORS + +V POINT-BLANK + +VI THE UNEXPECTED + +VII THE SUPREME INDUCEMENT + +VIII TERMS + +IX UNTIL NEXT SPRING + +X THE FOOT-BRIDGE + +XI THE PREVALENT ATMOSPHERE + +XII THE POWER OF ATTORNEY + +XIII THE FIRST TRICK + +XIV CARDS ON THE TABLE + +XV PRATT OFFERS A HAND + +XVI A HEADQUARTERS CONFERENCE + +XVII ADVERTISEMENT + +XVIII THE CONFIDING LANDLORD + +XIX THE EYE-WITNESS + +XX THE _Green Man_ + +XXI THE DIRECT CHARGE + +XXII THE CAT'SPAW + +XXIII SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN + +XXIV THE BETTER HALF + +XXV DRY SHERRY + +XXVI THE TELEPHONE MESSAGE + +XXVII RESTORED TO ENERGY + +XXVIII THE WOMAN IN BLACK + + + + + + +THE TALLEYRAND MAXIM + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +DEATH BRINGS OPPORTUNITY + + +Linford Pratt, senior clerk to Eldrick & Pascoe, solicitors, of Barford, +a young man who earnestly desired to get on in life, by hook or by +crook, with no objection whatever to crookedness, so long as it could be +performed in safety and secrecy, had once during one of his periodical +visits to the town Reference Library, lighted on a maxim of that other +unscrupulous person, Prince Talleyrand, which had pleased him greatly. +"With time and patience," said Talleyrand, "the mulberry leaf is turned +into satin." This seemed to Linford Pratt one of the finest and soundest +pieces of wisdom which he had ever known put into words. + +A mulberry leaf is a very insignificant thing, but a piece of satin is a +highly marketable commodity, with money in it. Henceforth, he regarded +himself as a mulberry leaf which his own wit and skill must transform +into satin: at the same time he knew that there is another thing, in +addition to time and patience, which is valuable to young men of his +peculiar qualities, a thing also much beloved by Talleyrand--opportunity. +He could find the patience, and he had the time--but it would give him +great happiness if opportunity came along to help in the work. In +everyday language, Linford Pratt wanted a chance--he waited the arrival +of the tide in his affairs which would lead him on to fortune. + +Leave him alone--he said to himself--to be sure to take it at the flood. +If Pratt had only known it, as he stood in the outer office of Eldrick & +Pascoe at the end of a certain winter afternoon, opportunity was slowly +climbing the staircase outside--not only opportunity, but temptation, +both assisted by the Devil. They came at the right moment, for Pratt was +alone; the partners had gone: the other clerks had gone: the office-boy +had gone: in another minute Pratt would have gone, too: he was only +looking round before locking up for the night. Then these things +came--combined in the person of an old man, Antony Bartle, who opened +the door, pushed in a queer, wrinkled face, and asked in a quavering +voice if anybody was in. + +"I'm in, Mr. Bartle," answered Pratt, turning up a gas jet which he had +just lowered. "Come in, sir. What can I do for you?" + +Antony Bartle came in, wheezing and coughing. He was a very, very old +man, feeble and bent, with little that looked alive about him but his +light, alert eyes. Everybody knew him--he was one of the institutions of +Barford--as well known as the Town Hall or the Parish Church. For fifty +years he had kept a second-hand bookshop in Quagg Alley, the narrow +passage-way which connected Market Street with Beck Street. It was not +by any means a common or ordinary second-hand bookshop: its proprietor +styled himself an "antiquarian bookseller"; and he had a reputation in +two Continents, and dealt with millionaire buyers and virtuosos in both. + +Barford people sometimes marvelled at the news that Mr. Antony Bartle +had given two thousand guineas for a Book of Hours, and had sold a +Missal for twice that amount to some American collector; and they got a +hazy notion that the old man must be well-to-do--despite his snuffiness +and shabbiness, and that his queer old shop, in the window of which +there was rarely anything to be seen but a few ancient tomes, and two or +three rare engravings, contained much that he could turn at an hour's +notice into gold. All that was surmise--but Eldrick & Pascoe--which term +included Linford Pratt--knew all about Antony Bartle, being his +solicitors: his will was safely deposited in their keeping, and Pratt +had been one of the attesting witnesses. + +The old man, having slowly walked into the outer office, leaned against +a table, panting a little. Pratt hastened to open an inner door. + +"Come into Mr. Eldrick's room, Mr. Bartle," he said. "There's a nice +easy chair there--come and sit down in it. Those stairs are a bit +trying, aren't they? I often wish we were on the ground floor." + +He lighted the gas in the senior partner's room, and turning back, took +hold of the visitor's arm, and helped him to the easy chair. Then, +having closed the doors, he sat down at Eldrick's desk, put his fingers +together and waited. Pratt knew from experience that old Antony Bartle +would not have come there except on business: he knew also, having been +at Eldrick & Pascoe's for many years, that the old man would confide in +him as readily as in either of his principals. + +"There's a nasty fog coming on outside," said Bartle, after a fit of +coughing. "It gets on my lungs, and then it makes my heart bad. Mr. +Eldrick in?" + +"Gone," replied Pratt. "All gone, Mr. Bartle--only me here." + +"You'll do," answered the old bookseller. "You're as good as they are." +He leaned forward from the easy chair, and tapped the clerk's arm with a +long, claw-like finger. "I say," he continued, with a smile that was +something between a wink and a leer, and suggestive of a pleased +satisfaction. "I've had a find!" + +"Oh!" responded Pratt. "One of your rare books, Mr. Bartle? Got +something for twopence that you'll sell for ten guineas? You're one of +the lucky ones, you know, you are!" + +"Nothing of the sort!" chuckled Bartle. "And I had to pay for my +knowledge, young man, before I got it--we all have. No--but I've found +something: not half an hour ago. Came straight here with it. Matters for +lawyers, of course." + +"Yes?" said Pratt inquiringly. "And--what may it be?" He was expecting +the visitor to produce something, but the old man again leaned forward, +and dug his finger once more into the clerk's sleeve. + +"I say!" he whispered. "You remember John Mallathorpe and the affair +of--how long is it since?" + +"Two years," answered Pratt promptly. "Of course I do. Couldn't very +well forget it, or him." + +He let his mind go back for the moment to an affair which had provided +Barford and the neighbourhood with a nine days' sensation. One winter +morning, just two years previously, Mr. John Mallathorpe, one of the +best-known manufacturers and richest men of the town, had been killed by +the falling of his own mill-chimney. The condition of the chimney had +been doubtful for some little time; experts had been examining it for +several days: at the moment of the catastrophe, Mallathorpe himself, +some of his principal managers, and a couple of professional +steeple-jacks, were gathered at its base, consulting on a report. The +great hundred-foot structure above them had collapsed without the +slightest warning: Mallathorpe, his principal manager, and his cashier, +had been killed on the spot: two other bystanders had subsequently died +from injuries received. No such accident had occurred in Barford, nor in +the surrounding manufacturing district, for many years, and there had +been much interest in it, for according to the expert's conclusions the +chimney was in no immediate danger. + +Other mill-owners then began to examine their chimneys, and for many +weeks Barford folk had talked of little else than the danger of living +in the shadows of these great masses of masonry. + +But there had soon been something else to talk of. It sprang out of the +accident--and it was of particular interest to persons who, like Linford +Pratt, were of the legal profession. John Mallathorpe, so far as anybody +knew or could ascertain, had died intestate. No solicitor in the town +had ever made a will for him. No solicitor elsewhere had ever made a +will for him. No one had ever heard that he had made a will for himself. +There was no will. Drastic search of his safes, his desks, his drawers +revealed nothing--not even a memorandum. No friend of his had ever heard +him mention a will. He had always been something of a queer man. He was +a confirmed bachelor. The only relation he had in the world was his +sister-in-law, the widow of his deceased younger brother, and her two +children--a son and a daughter. And as soon as he was dead, and it was +plain that he had died intestate, they put in their claim to his +property. + +John Mallathorpe had left a handsome property. He had been making money +all his life. His business was a considerable one--he employed two +thousand workpeople. His average annual profit from his mills was +reckoned in thousands--four or five thousands at least. And some years +before his death, he had bought one of the finest estates in the +neighbourhood, Normandale Grange, a beautiful old house, set amidst +charming and romantic scenery in a valley, which, though within twelve +miles of Barford, might have been in the heart of the Highlands. +Therefore, it was no small thing that Mrs. Richard Mallathorpe and her +two children laid claim to. Up to the time of John Mallathorpe's death, +they had lived in very humble fashion--lived, indeed, on an allowance +from their well-to-do kinsman--for Richard Mallathorpe had been as much +of a waster as his brother had been of a money-getter. And there was no +withstanding their claim when it was finally decided that John +Mallathorpe had died intestate--no withstanding that, at any rate, of +the nephew and niece. The nephew had taken all the real estate: he and +his sister had shared the personal property. And for some months they +and their mother had been safely installed at Normandale Grange, and in +full possession of the dead man's wealth and business. + +All this flashed through Linford Pratt's mind in a few seconds--he knew +all the story: he had often thought of the extraordinary good fortune of +those young people. To be living on charity one week--and the next to be +legal possessors of thousands a year!--oh, if only such luck would come +his way! + +"Of course!" he repeated, looking thoughtfully at the old bookseller. +"Not the sort of thing one does forget in a hurry, Mr. Bartle. What of +it?" + +Antony Bartle leaned back in his easy chair and chuckled--something, +some idea, seemed to be affording him amusement. + +"I'm eighty years old," he remarked. "No, I'm more, to be exact. I shall +be eighty-two come February. When you've lived as long as that, young +Mr. Pratt, you'll know that this life is a game of topsy-turvy--to some +folks, at any rate. Just so!" + +"You didn't come here to tell me that, Mr. Bartle," said Pratt. He was +an essentially practical young man who dined at half-past six every +evening, having lunched on no more than bread-and-cheese and a glass of +ale, and he also had his evenings well mapped out. "I know that already, +sir." + +"Aye, aye, but you'll know more of it later on," replied Bartle. +"Well--you know, too, no doubt, that the late John Mallathorpe was a +bit--only a bit--of a book-collector; collected books and pamphlets +relating to this district?" + +"I've heard of it," answered the clerk. + +"He had that collection in his private room at the mill," continued the +old bookseller, "and when the new folks took hold, I persuaded them to +sell it to me. There wasn't such a lot--maybe a hundred volumes +altogether--but I wanted what there was. And as they were of no interest +to them, they sold 'em. That's some months ago. I put all the books in a +corner--and I never really examined them until this very afternoon. +Then--by this afternoon's post--I got a letter from a Barford man who's +now out in America. He wanted to know if I could supply him with a nice +copy of Hopkinson's _History of Barford_. I knew there was one in that +Mallathorpe collection, so I got it out, and examined it. And in the +pocket inside, in which there's a map, I found--what d'ye think?" + +"Couldn't say," replied Pratt. He was still thinking of his dinner, and +of an important engagement to follow it, and he had not the least idea +that old Antony Bartle was going to tell him anything very important. +"Letters? Bank-notes? Something of that sort?" + +The old bookseller leaned nearer, across the corner of the desk, until +his queer, wrinkled face was almost close to Pratt's sharp, youthful +one. Again he lifted the claw-like finger: again he tapped the clerk's +arm. + +"I found John Mallathorpe's will!" he whispered. "His--will!" + +Linford Pratt jumped out of his chair. For a second he stared in +speechless amazement at the old man; then he plunged his hands deep into +his trousers' pockets, opened his mouth, and let out a sudden +exclamation. + +"No!" he said. "No! John Mallathorpe's--will? His--will!" + +"Made the very day on which he died," answered Bartle, nodding +emphatically. + +"Queer, wasn't it? He might have had some--premonition, eh?" + +Pratt sat down again. + +"Where is it?" he asked. + +"Here in my pocket," replied the old bookseller, tapping his rusty coat. +"Oh, it's all right, I assure you. All duly made out, signed, and +witnessed. Everything in order, I know!--because a long, a very long +time ago, I was like you, an attorney's clerk. I've drafted many a will, +and witnessed many a will, in my time. I've read this, every word of +it--it's all right. Nothing can upset it." + +"Let's see it," said Pratt, eagerly. + +"Well--I've no objection--I know you, of course," answered Bartle, "but +I'd rather show it first to Mr. Eldrick. Couldn't you telephone up to +his house and ask him to run back here?" + +"Certainly," replied Pratt. "He mayn't be there, though. But I can try. +You haven't shown it to anybody else?" + +"Neither shown it to anybody, nor mentioned it to a soul," said Bartle. +"I tell you it's not much more than half an hour since I found it. It's +not a long document. Do you know how it is that it's never come out?" he +went on, turning eagerly to Pratt, who had risen again. "It's easily +explained. The will's witnessed by those two men who were killed at the +same time as John Mallathorpe! So, of course, there was nobody to say +that it was in evidence. My notion is that he and those two +men--Gaukrodger and Marshall, his manager and cashier--had signed it not +long before the accident, and that Mallathorpe had popped it into the +pocket of that book before going out into the yard. Eh? But see if you +can get Mr. Eldrick down here, and we'll read it together. And I +say--this office seems uncommonly stuffy--can you open the window a bit +or something?--I feel oppressed, like." + +Pratt opened a window which looked out on the street. He glanced at the +old man for a moment and saw that his face, always pallid, was even +paler than usual. + +"You've been talking too much," he said. "Rest yourself, Mr. Bartle, +while I ring up Mr. Eldrick's house. If he isn't there, I'll try his +club--he often turns in there for an hour before going home." + +He went out by a private door to the telephone box, which stood in a +lobby used by various occupants of the building. And when he had rung up +Eldrick's private house and was waiting for the answer, he asked himself +what this discovery would mean to the present holders of the Mallathorpe +property, and his curiosity--a strongly developed quality in him--became +more and more excited. If Eldrick was not at home, if he could not get +in touch with him, he would persuade old Bartle to let him see his +find--he would cheerfully go late to his dinner if he could only get a +peep at this strangely discovered document. Romance! Why, this indeed +was romance; and it might be--what else? Old Bartle had already chuckled +about topsy-turvydom: did that mean that-- + +The telephone bell rang: Eldrick had not yet reached his house. Pratt +got on to the club: Eldrick had not been there. He rang off, and went +back to the private room. + +"Can't get hold of him, Mr. Bartle," he began, as he closed the door. +"He's not at home, and he's not at the club. I say!--you might as well +let me have a look at----" + +Pratt suddenly stopped. There was a strange silence in the room: the old +man's wheezy breathing was no longer heard. And the clerk moved forward +quickly and looked round the high back of the easy chair.... + +He knew at once what had happened--knew that old Bartle was dead before +he laid a finger on the wasted hand which had dropped helplessly at his +side. He had evidently died without a sound or a movement--died as +quietly as he would have gone to sleep. Indeed, he looked as if he had +just laid his old head against the padding of the chair and dropped +asleep, and Pratt, who had seen death before, knew that he would never +wake again. He waited a moment, listening in the silence. Once he +touched the old man's hand; once, he bent nearer, still listening. And +then, without hesitation, and with fingers that remained as steady as if +nothing had happened, he unbuttoned Antony Bartle's coat, and drew a +folded paper from the inner pocket. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +IN TRUST + + +As quietly and composedly as if he were discharging the most ordinary of +his daily duties, Pratt unfolded the document, and went close to the +solitary gas jet above Eldrick's desk. What he held in his hand was a +half-sheet of ruled foolscap paper, closely covered with writing, which +he at once recognized as that of the late John Mallathorpe. He was +familiar with that writing--he had often seen it. It was an +old-fashioned writing--clear, distinct, with every letter well and fully +formed. + +"Made it himself!" muttered Pratt. "Um!--looks as if he wanted to keep +the terms secret. Well----" + +He read the will through--rapidly, but with care, murmuring the +phraseology half aloud. + +"This is the last will of me, John Mallathorpe, of Normandale Grange, in +the parish of Normandale, in the West Riding of the County of York. I +appoint Martin William Charlesworth, manufacturer, of Holly Lodge, +Barford, and Arthur James Wyatt, chartered accountant, of 65, Beck +Street, Barford, executors and trustees of this my will. I give and +devise all my estate and effects real and personal of which I may die +possessed or entitled to unto the said Martin William Charlesworth and +Arthur James Wyatt upon trust for the following purposes to be carried +out by them under the following instructions, namely:--As soon after my +death as is conveniently possible they will sell all my real estate, +either by private treaty or by public auction; they shall sell all my +personal property of any nature whatsoever; they shall sell my business +at Mallathorpe's mill in Barford as a going concern to any private +purchaser or to any company already in existence or formed for the +purpose of acquiring it; and they shall collect all debts and moneys due +to me. And having sold and disposed of all my property, real and +personal, and brought all the proceeds of such sales and of such +collection of debts and moneys into one common fund they shall first pay +all debts owing by me and all legal duties and expenses arising out of +my death and this disposition of my property and shall then distribute +my estate as follows, namely: to each of themselves, Martin William +Charlesworth and Arthur James Wyatt, they shall pay the sum of five +thousand pounds; to my sister-in-law, Ann Mallathorpe, they shall pay +the sum of ten thousand pounds; to my nephew, Harper John Mallathorpe, +they shall pay the sum of ten thousand pounds; to my niece, Nesta +Mallathorpe, they shall pay the sum of ten thousand pounds. And as to +the whole of the remaining residue they shall pay it in one sum to the +Mayor and Corporation of the borough of Barford in the County of York to +be applied by the said Mayor and Corporation at their own absolute +discretion and in any manner which seems good to them to the +establishment, furtherance and development of technical and commercial +education in the said borough of Barford. Dated this sixteenth day of +November, 1906. + + Signed by the testator in + the presence of us both + present at the same + time who in his presence } JOHN MALLATHORPE + and in the presence + of each other + have hereunto set our + names as witnesses. + + HENRY GAUKRODGER, 16, Florence Street, + Barford, Mill Manager. + + CHARLES WATSON MARSHALL, 56, Laburnum Terrace, + Barford, Cashier." + +As the last word left his lips Pratt carefully folded up the will, +slipped it into an inner pocket of his coat, and firmly buttoned the +coat across his chest. Then, without as much as a glance at the dead +man, he left the room, and again visited the telephone box. He was +engaged in it for a few minutes. When he came out he heard steps coming +up the staircase, and looking over the banisters he saw the senior +partner, Eldrick, a middle-aged man. Eldrick looked up, and saw Pratt. + +"I hear you've been ringing me up at the club, Pratt," he said. "What is +it?" + +Pratt waited until Eldrick had come up to the landing. Then he pointed +to the door of the private room, and shook his head. + +"It's old Mr. Bartle, sir," he whispered. "He's in your room +there--dead!" + +"Dead?" exclaimed Eldrick. "Dead!" + +Pratt shook his head again. + +"He came up not so long after you'd gone, sir," he said. "Everybody had +gone but me--I was just going. Wanted to see you about something I don't +know what. He was very tottery when he came in--complained of the stairs +and the fog. I took him into your room, to sit down in the easy chair. +And--he died straight off. Just," concluded Pratt, "just as if he was +going quietly to sleep!" + +"You're sure he is dead?--not fainting?" asked Eldrick. + +"He's dead, sir--quite dead," replied Pratt. "I've rung up Dr. +Melrose--he'll be here in a minute or two--and the Town Hall--the +police--as well. Will you look at him, sir?" + +Eldrick silently motioned his clerk to open the door; together they +walked into the room. And Eldrick looked at his quiet figure and wan +face, and knew that Pratt was right. + +"Poor old chap!" he murmured, touching one of the thin hands. "He was a +fine man in his time, Pratt; clever man! And he was very, very old--one +of the oldest men in Barford. Well, we must wire to his grandson, Mr. +Bartle Collingwood. You'll find his address in the book. He's the only +relation the old fellow had." + +"Come in for everything, doesn't he, sir?" asked Pratt, as he took an +address book from the desk, and picked up a sheaf of telegram forms. + +"Every penny!" murmured Eldrick. "Nice little fortune, too--a fine thing +for a young fellow who's just been called to the Bar. As a matter of +fact, he'll be fairly well independent, even if he never sees a brief in +his life." + +"He has been called, has he, sir?" asked Pratt, laying a telegram form +on Eldrick's writing pad and handing him a pen. "I wasn't aware of +that." + +"Called this term--quite recently--at Gray's Inn," replied Eldrick, as +he sat down. "Very promising, clever young man. Look here!--we'd better +send two wires, one to his private address, and one to his chambers. +They're both in that book. It's six o'clock, isn't it?--he might be at +his chambers yet, but he may have gone home. I'll write both +messages--you put the addresses on, and get the wire off--we must have +him down here as soon as possible." + +"One address is 53x, Pump Court; the other's 96, Cloburn Square," +remarked Pratt consulting the book. "There's an express from King's +Cross at 8.15 which gets here midnight." + +"Oh, it would do if he came down first thing in the morning--leave it to +him," said Eldrick. "I say, Pratt, do you think an inquest will be +necessary?" + +Pratt had not thought of that--he began to think. And while he was +thinking, the doctor whom he had summoned came in. He looked at the dead +man, asked the clerk a few questions, and was apparently satisfied. "I +don't think there's any need for an inquest," he said in reply to +Eldrick. "I knew the old man very well--he was much feebler than he +would admit. The exertion of coming up these stairs of yours, and the +coughing brought on by the fog outside--that was quite enough. Of +course, the death will have to be reported in the usual way, but I have +no hesitation in giving a certificate. You've let the Town Hall people +know? Well, the body had better be removed to his rooms--we must send +over and tell his housekeeper. He'd no relations in the town, had he?" + +"Only one in the world that he ever mentioned--his grandson--a young +barrister in London," answered Eldrick. "We've just been wiring to him. +Here, Pratt, you take these messages now, and get them off. Then we'll +see about making all arrangements. By-the-by," he added, as Pratt moved +towards the door, "you don't know what--what he came to see me about?" + +"Haven't the remotest idea, sir," answered Pratt, readily and glibly. +"He died--just as I've told you--before he could tell me anything." + +He went downstairs, and out into the street, and away to the General +Post Office, only conscious of one thing, only concerned about one +thing--that he was now the sole possessor of a great secret. The +opportunity which he had so often longed for had come. And as he hurried +along through the gathering fog he repeated and repeated a fragment of +the recent conversation between the man who was now dead, and +himself--who remained very much alive. + +"You haven't shown it to anybody else?" Pratt had asked. + +"Neither shown it to anybody, nor mentioned it to a soul," Antony Bartle +had answered. So, in all that great town of Barford, he, Linford Pratt, +he, alone out of a quarter of a million people, knew--what? The +magnitude of what he knew not only amazed but exhilarated him. There +were such possibilities for himself in that knowledge. He wanted to be +alone, to think out those possibilities; to reckon up what they came to. +Of one thing he was already certain--they should be, must be, turned to +his own advantage. + +It was past eight o'clock before Pratt was able to go home to his +lodgings. His landlady, meeting him in the hall, hoped that his dinner +would not be spoiled: Pratt, who relied greatly on his dinner as his one +great meal of the day, replied that he fervently hoped it wasn't, but +that if it was it couldn't be helped, this time. For once he was +thinking of something else than his dinner--as for his engagement for +that evening, he had already thrown it over: he wanted to give all his +energies and thoughts and time to his secret. Nevertheless, it was +characteristic of him that he washed, changed his clothes, ate his +dinner, and even glanced over the evening newspaper before he turned to +the real business which was already deep in his brain. But at last, when +the maid had cleared away the dinner things, and he was alone in his +sitting-room, and had lighted his pipe, and mixed himself a drop of +whisky-and-water--the only indulgence in such things that he allowed +himself within the twenty-four hours--he drew John Mallathorpe's will +from his pocket, and read it carefully three times. And then he began to +think, closely and steadily. + +First of all, the will was a good will. Nothing could upset it. It was +absolutely valid. It was not couched in the terms which a solicitor +would have employed, but it clearly and plainly expressed John +Mallathorpe's intentions and meanings in respect to the disposal of his +property. Nothing could be clearer. The properly appointed trustees were +to realize his estate. They were to distribute it according to his +specified instructions. It was all as plain as a pikestaff. Pratt, who +was a good lawyer, knew what the Probate Court would say to that will if +it were ever brought up before it, as he did, a quite satisfactory will. +And it was validly executed. Hundreds of people, competent to do so, +could swear to John Mallathorpe's signature; hundreds to Gaukrodger's; +thousands to Marshall's--who as cashier was always sending his signature +broadcast. No, there was nothing to do but to put that into the hands of +the trustees named in it, and then.... + +Pratt thought next of the two trustees. They were well-known men in the +town. They were comparatively young men--about forty. They were men of +great energy. Their chief interests were in educational matters--that, +no doubt, was why John Mallathorpe had appointed them trustees. Wyatt +had been plaguing the town for two years to start commercial schools: +Charlesworth was a devoted champion of technical schools. Pratt knew how +the hearts of both would leap, if he suddenly told them that enormous +funds were at their disposal for the furtherance of their schemes. And +he also knew something else--that neither Charlesworth nor Wyatt had the +faintest, remotest notion or suspicion that John Mallathorpe had ever +made such a will, or they would have moved heaven and earth, pulled down +Normandale Grange and Mallathorpe's Mill, in their efforts to find it. + +But the effect--the effect of producing the will--now? Pratt, like +everybody else, had been deeply interested in the Mallathorpe affair. +There was so little doubt that John Mallathorpe had died intestate, such +absolute certainty that his only living relations were his deceased +brother's two children and their mother, that the necessary proceedings +for putting Harper Mallathorpe and his sister Nesta in possession of the +property, real and personal, had been comparatively simple and speedy. +But--what was it worth? What would the two trustees have been able to +hand over to the Mayor and Corporation of Barford, if the will had been +found as soon as John Mallathorpe died? Pratt, from what he remembered +of the bulk and calculations at the time, made a rapid estimate. As near +as he could reckon, the Mayor and Corporation would have got about +L300,000. + +That, then--and this was what he wanted to get at--was what these young +people would lose if he produced the will. Nay!--on second thoughts, it +would be much more, very much more in some time; for the manufacturing +business was being carried on by them, and was apparently doing as well +as ever. It was really an enormous amount which they would lose--and +they would get--what? Ten thousand apiece and their mother a like sum. +Thirty thousand pounds in all--in comparison with hundreds of thousands. +But they would have no choice in the matter. Nothing could upset that +will. + +He began to think of the three people whom the production of this will +would dispossess. He knew little of them beyond what common gossip had +related at the time of John Mallathorpe's sudden death. They had lived +in very quiet fashion, somewhere on the outskirts of the town, until +this change in their fortunes. Once or twice Pratt had seen Mrs. +Mallathorpe in her carriage in the Barford streets--somebody had pointed +her out to him, and had observed sneeringly that folk can soon adapt +themselves to circumstances, and that Mrs. Mallathorpe now gave herself +all the airs of a duchess, though she had been no more than a hospital +nurse before she married Richard Mallathorpe. And Pratt had also seen +young Harper Mallathorpe now and then in the town--since the good +fortune arrived--and had envied him: he had also thought what a strange +thing it was that money went to young fellows who seemed to have no +particular endowments of brain or energy. Harper was a very ordinary +young man, not over intelligent in appearance, who, Pratt had heard, was +often seen lounging about the one or two fashionable hotels of the +place. As for the daughter, Pratt did not remember having ever set eyes +on her--but he had heard that up to the time of John Mallathorpe's death +she had earned her own living as a governess, or a nurse, or something +of that sort. + +He turned from thinking of these three people to thoughts about himself. +Pratt often thought about himself, and always in one direction--the +direction of self-advancement. He was always wanting to get on. He had +nobody to help him. He had kept himself since he was seventeen. His +father and mother were dead; he had no brothers or sisters--the only +relations he had, uncles and aunts, lived--some in London, some in +Canada. He was now twenty-eight, and earning four pounds a week. He had +immense confidence in himself, but he had never seen much chance of +escaping from drudgery. He had often thought of asking Eldrick & Pascoe +to give him his articles--but he had a shrewd idea that his request +would be refused. No--it was difficult to get out of a rut. And yet--he +was a clever fellow, a good-looking fellow, a sharp, shrewd, able--and +here was a chance, such a chance as scarcely ever comes to a man. He +would be a fool if he did not take it, and use it to his own best and +lasting advantage. + +And so he locked up the will in a safe place, and went to bed, resolved +to take a bold step towards fortune on the morrow. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +THE SHOP-BOY + + +When Pratt arrived at Eldrick & Pascoe's office at his usual hour of +nine next morning, he found the senior partner already there. And with +him was a young man whom the clerk at once set down as Mr. Bartle +Collingwood, and looked at with considerable interest and curiosity. He +had often heard of Mr. Bartle Collingwood, but had never seen him. He +knew that he was the only son of old Antony Bartle's only child--a +daughter who had married a London man; he knew, too, that Collingwood's +parents were both dead, and that the old bookseller had left their son +everything he possessed--a very nice little fortune, as Eldrick had +observed last night. And since last night he had known that Collingwood +had just been called to the Bar, and was on the threshold of what +Eldrick, who evidently knew all about it, believed to be a promising +career. Well, there he was in the flesh; and Pratt, who was a born +observer of men and events, took a good look at him as he stood just +within the private room, talking to Eldrick. + +A good-looking fellow; what most folk would call handsome; dark, +clean-shaven, tall, with a certain air of reserve about his well-cut +features, firm lips, and steady eyes that suggested strength and +determination. He would look very well in wig and gown, decided Pratt, +viewing matters from a professional standpoint; he was just the sort +that clients would feel a natural confidence in, and that juries would +listen to. Another of the lucky ones, too; for Pratt knew the contents +of Antony Bartle's will, and that the young man at whom he was looking +had succeeded to a cool five-and-twenty thousand pounds, at least, +through his grandfather's death. + +"Here is Pratt," said Eldrick, glancing into the outer office as the +clerk entered it. "Pratt, come in here--here is Mr. Bartle Collingwood, +He would like you to tell him the facts about Mr. Bartle's death." + +Pratt walked in--armed and prepared. He was a clever hand at foreseeing +things, and he had known all along that he would have to answer +questions about the event of the previous night. + +"There's very little to tell, sir," he said, with a polite +acknowledgment of Collingwood's greeting. "Mr. Bartle came up here just +as I was leaving--everybody else had left. He wanted to see Mr. Eldrick. +Why, he didn't say. He was coughing a good deal when he came in, and he +complained of the fog outside, and of the stairs. He said +something--just a mere mention--about his heart being bad. I lighted the +gas in here, and helped him into the chair. He just sat down, laid his +head back, and died." + +"Without saying anything further?" asked Collingwood. + +"Not a word more, Mr. Collingwood," answered Pratt. "He--well, it was +just as if he had dropped off to sleep. Of course, at first I thought +he'd fainted, but I soon saw what it was--it so happens that I've seen a +death just as sudden as that, once before--my landlady's husband died in +a very similar fashion, in my presence. There was nothing I could do, +Mr. Collingwood--except ring up Mr. Eldrick, and the doctor, and the +police." + +"Mr. Pratt made himself very useful last night in making arrangements," +remarked Eldrick, looking at Collingwood. "As it is, there is very +little to do. There will be no need for any inquest; Melrose has given +his certificate. So--there are only the funeral arrangements. We can +help you with that matter, of course. But first you'd no doubt like to +go to your grandfather's place and look through his papers? We have his +will here, you know--and I've already told you its effect." + +"I'm much obliged to you, Mr. Pratt," said Collingwood, turning to the +clerk. He turned again to Eldrick. "All right," he went on. "I'll go +over to Quagg Alley. Bye-the-bye, Mr. Pratt--my grandfather didn't tell +you anything of the reason of his call here?" + +"Not a word, sir," replied Pratt. "Merely said he wanted Mr. Eldrick." + +"Had he any legal business in process?" asked Collingwood. + +Eldrick and his clerk both shook their heads. No, Mr. Bartle had no +business of that sort that they knew of. Nothing--but there again Pratt +was prepared. + +"It might have been about the lease of that property in Horsebridge +Land, sir," he said, glancing at his principal. "He did mention that, +you know, when he was in here a few weeks ago." + +"Just so," agreed Eldrick. "Well, you'll let me know if we can be of +use," he went on, as Collingwood turned away. "Pratt can be at your +disposal, any time." + +Collingwood thanked him and went off. He had travelled down from London +by the earliest morning train, and leaving his portmanteau at the hotel +of the Barford terminus, had gone straight to Eldrick & Pascoe's office; +accordingly this was his first visit to the shop in Quagg Alley. But he +knew the shop and its surroundings well enough, though he had not been +in Barford for some time; he also knew Antony Bartle's old housekeeper, +Mrs. Clough, a rough and ready Yorkshirewoman, who had looked after the +old man as long as he, Collingwood, could remember. She received him as +calmly as if he had merely stepped across the street to inquire after +his grandfather's health. + +"I thowt ye'd be down here first thing, Mestur Collingwood," she said, +as he walked into the parlor at the back of the shop. "Of course, +there's naught to be done except to see after yer grandfather's burying. +I don't know if ye were surprised or no when t' lawyers tellygraphed to +yer last night? I weren't surprised to hear what had happened. I'd been +expecting summat o' that sort this last month or two." + +"You mean--he was failing?" asked Collingwood. + +"He were gettin' feebler and feebler every day," said the housekeeper. +"But nobody dare say so to him, and he wouldn't admit it his-self. He +were that theer high-spirited 'at he did things same as if he were a +young man. But I knew how it 'ud be in the end--and so it has been--I +knew he'd go off all of a sudden. And of course I had all in +readiness--when they brought him back last night there was naught to do +but lay him out. Me and Mrs. Thompson next door, did it, i' no time. +Wheer will you be for buryin' him, Mestur Collingwood?" + +"We must think that over," answered Collingwood. + +"Well, an' theer's all ready for that, too," responded Mrs. Clough. +"He's had his grave all ready i' the cemetery this three year--I +remember when he bowt it--it's under a yew-tree, and he told me 'at he'd +ordered his monnyment an' all. So yer an' t' lawyers'll have no great +trouble about them matters. Mestur Eldrick, he gev' orders for t' coffin +last night." + +Collingwood left these gruesome details--highly pleasing to their +narrator--and went up to look at his dead grandfather. He had never seen +much of him, but they had kept up a regular correspondence, and always +been on terms of affection, and he was sorry that he had not been with +the old man at the last. He remained looking at the queer, quiet, old +face for a while; when he went down again, Mrs. Clough was talking to a +sharp-looking lad, of apparently sixteen or seventeen years, who stood +at the door leading into the shop, and who glanced at Collingwood with +keen interest and speculation. + +"Here's Jabey Naylor wants to know if he's to do aught, Mestur," said +the housekeeper. "Of course, I've telled him 'at we can't have the shop +open till the burying's over--so I don't know what theer is that he can +do." + +"Oh, well, let him come into the shop with me," answered Collingwood. He +motioned the lad to follow him out of the parlour. "So you were Mr. +Bartle's assistant, eh?" he asked. "Had he anybody else?" + +"Nobody but me, sir," replied the lad. "I've been with him a year." + +"And your name's what?" inquired Collingwood. + +"Jabez Naylor, sir, but everybody call me Jabey." + +"I see--Jabey for short, eh?" said Collingwood good-humouredly. He +walked into the shop, followed by the boy, and closed the door. The +outer door into Quagg Alley was locked: a light blind was drawn over the +one window; the books and engravings on the shelves and in the presses +were veiled in a half-gloom. "Well, as Mrs. Clough says, we can't do any +business for a few days, Jabey--after that we must see what can be done. +You shall have your wages just the same, of course, and you may look in +every day to see if there's anything you can do. You were here +yesterday, of course? Were you in the shop when Mr. Bartle went out?" + +"Yes, sir," replied the lad. "I'd been in with him all the afternoon. I +was here when he went out--and here when they came to say he'd died at +Mr. Eldrick's." + +Collingwood sat down in his grandfather's chair, at a big table, piled +high with books and papers, which stood in the middle of the floor. + +"Did my grandfather seem at all unwell when he went out?" he asked. + +"No, sir. He had been coughing a bit more than usual--that was all. +There was a fog came on about five o'clock, and he said it bothered +him." + +"What had he been doing during the afternoon? Anything particular?" + +"Nothing at all particular before half-past four or so, sir." + +Collingwood took a closer look at Jabez Naylor. He saw that he was an +observant lad, evidently of superior intelligence--a good specimen of +the sharp town lad, well trained in a modern elementary school. + +"Oh?" he said. "Nothing particular before half-past four, eh? Did he do +something particular after half-past four?" + +"There was a post came in just about then, sir," answered Jabey. "There +was an American letter--that's it, sir--just in front of you. Mr. Bartle +read it, and asked me if we'd got a good clear copy of Hopkinson's +_History of Barford_. I reminded him that there was a copy amongst the +books that had been bought from Mallathorpe's Mill some time ago." + +"Books that had belonged to Mr. John Mallathorpe, who was killed?" asked +Collingwood, who was fully acquainted with the chimney accident. + +"Yes, sir, Mr. Bartle bought a lot of books that Mr. Mallathorpe had at +the Mill--local books. They're there in that corner: they were put there +when I fetched them, and he'd never looked over them since, +particularly." + +"Well--and this _History of Barford_? You reminded him of it?" + +"I got it out for him, sir. He sat down--where you're sitting--and began +to examine it. He said something about it being a nice copy, and he'd +get it off that night--that's it, sir: I didn't read it, of course. And +then he took some papers out of a pocket that's inside it, and I heard +him say 'Bless my soul--who'd have thought it!'" + +Collingwood picked up the book which the boy indicated--a thick, +substantially bound volume, inside one cover of which was a linen +pocket, wherein were some loose maps and plans of Barford. + +"These what he took out?" he asked, holding them up. + +"Yes, sir, but there was another paper, with writing on it--a biggish +sheet of paper--written all over." + +"Did you see what the writing was? Did you see any of it?" + +"No, sir--only that it was writing, I was dusting those shelves out, +over there; when I heard Mr. Bartle say what he did. I just looked +round, over my shoulder--that was all." + +"Was he reading this paper that you speak of?" + +"Yes, sir--he was holding it up to the gas, reading it." + +"Do you know what he did with it?" + +"Yes, sir--he folded it up and put it in his pocket." + +"Did he say any more--make any remark?" + +"No, sir. He wrote a letter then." + +"At once?" + +"Yes, sir--straight off. But he wasn't more than a minute writing it. +Then he sent me to post it at the pillar-box, at the end of the Alley." + +"Did you read the address?" + +The lad turned to a book which stood with others in a rack over the +chimney-piece, and tapped it with his finger. + +"Yes, sir--because Mr. Bartle gave orders when I first came here that a +register of every letter sent out was to be kept--I've always entered +them in this book." + +"And this letter you're talking about--to whom was it addressed?" + +"Miss Mallathorpe, Normandale Grange, sir." + +"You went and posted it at once?" + +"That very minute, sir." + +"Was it soon afterwards that Mr. Bartle went out?" + +"He went out as soon as I came back, sir." + +"And you never saw him again?" + +Jabey shook his head. + +"Not alive, sir," he answered. "I saw him when they brought him back." + +"How long had he been out when you heard he was dead?" + +"About an hour, sir--just after six it was when they told Mrs. Clough +and me. He went out at ten minutes past five." + +Collingwood got up. He gave the lad's shoulder a friendly squeeze. + +"All right!" he said. "Now you seem a smart, intelligent lad--don't +mention a word to any one of what we've been talking about. You have not +mentioned it before, I suppose? Not a word? That's right--don't. Come in +again tomorrow morning to see if I want you to be here as usual. I'm +going to put a manager into this shop." + +When the boy had gone Collingwood locked up the shop from the house +side, put the key in his pocket, and went into the kitchen. + +"Mrs. Clough," he said. "I want to see the clothes which my grandfather +was wearing when he was brought home last night. Where are they?" + +"They're in that little room aside of his bed-chamber, Mestur +Collingwood," replied the housekeeper. "I laid 'em all there, on the +clothes-press, just as they were taken off of him, by Lawyer Eldrick's +orders--he said they hadn't been examined, and wasn't to be, till you +came. Nobody whatever's touched 'em since." + +Collingwood went upstairs and into the little room--a sort of box-room +opening out of that in which the old man lay. There were the clothes; he +went through the pockets of every garment. He found such things as keys, +a purse, loose money, a memorandum book, a bookseller's catalogue or +two, two or three letters of a business sort--but there was no big +folded paper, covered with writing, such as Jabey Naylor had described. + +The mention of that paper had excited Collingwood's curiosity. He +rapidly summed up what he had learned. His grandfather had found a +paper, closely written upon, in a book which had been the property of +John Mallathorpe, deceased. The discovery had surprised him, for he had +given voice to an exclamation of what was evidently astonishment. He had +put the paper in his pocket. Then he had written a letter--to Mrs. +Mallathorpe of Normandale Grange. When his shop-boy had posted that +letter, he himself had gone out--to his solicitor. What, asked +Collingwood, was the reasonable presumption? The old man had gone to +Eldrick to show him the paper which he had found. + +He lingered in the little room for a few minutes, thinking. No one but +Pratt had been with Antony Bartle at the time of his seizure and sudden +death. What sort of a fellow was Pratt? Was he honest? Was his word to +be trusted? Had he told the precise truth about the old man's death? He +was evidently a suave, polite, obliging sort of fellow, this clerk, but +it was a curious thing that if Antony Bartle had that paper, whatever it +was--in his pocket when he went to Eldrick's office it should not be in +his pocket still--if his clothing had really remained untouched. Already +suspicion was in Collingwood's mind--vague and indefinable, but there. + +He was half inclined to go straight back to Eldrick & Pascoe's and tell +Eldrick what Jabey Naylor had just told him. But he reflected that while +Naylor went out to post the letter, the old bookseller might have put +the paper elsewhere; locked it up in his safe, perhaps. One thing, +however, he, Collingwood, could do at once--he could ask Mrs. +Mallathorpe if the letter referred to the paper. He was fully acquainted +with all the facts of the Mallathorpe history; old Bartle, knowing they +would interest his grandson, had sent him the local newspaper accounts +of its various episodes. It was only twelve miles to Normandale +Grange--a motor-car would carry him there within the hour. He glanced at +his watch--just ten o 'clock. + +An hour later, Collingwood found himself standing in a fine oak-panelled +room, the windows of which looked out on a romantic valley whose thickly +wooded sides were still bright with the red and yellow tints of autumn. +A door opened--he turned, expecting to see Mrs. Mallathorpe. Instead, he +found himself looking at a girl, who glanced inquiringly at him, and +from him to the card which he had sent in on his arrival. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +THE FORTUNATE POSSESSORS + + +Collingwood at once realized that he was in the presence of one of the +two fortunate young people who had succeeded so suddenly--and, according +to popular opinion, so unexpectedly--to John Mallathorpe's wealth. This +was evidently Miss Nesta Mallathorpe, of whom he had heard, but whom he +had never seen. She, however, was looking at him as if she knew him, and +she smiled a little as she acknowledged his bow. + +"My mother is out in the grounds, with my brother," she said, motioning +Collingwood towards a chair. "Won't you sit down, please?--I've sent for +her; she will be here in a few minutes." + +Collingwood sat down; Nesta Mallathorpe sat down, too, and as they +looked at each other she smiled again. + +"I have seen you before, Mr. Collingwood," she said. "I knew it must be +you when they brought up your card." + +Collingwood used his glance of polite inquiry to make a closer +inspection of his hostess. He decided that Nesta Mallathorpe was not so +much pretty as eminently attractive--a tall, well-developed, +warm-coloured young woman, whose clear grey eyes and red lips and +general bearing indicated the possession of good health and spirits. And +he was quite certain that if he had ever seen her before he would not +have forgotten it. + +"Where have you seen me?" he asked, smiling back at her. + +"Have you forgotten the mock-trial--year before last?" she asked. + +Collingwood remembered what she was alluding to. He had taken part, in +company with various other law students, in a mock-trial, a breach of +promise case, for the benefit of a certain London hospital, to him had +fallen one of the principal parts, that of counsel for the plaintiff. +"When I saw your name, I remembered it at once," she went on. "I was +there--I was a probationer at St. Chad's Hospital at that time." + +"Dear me!" said Collingwood, "I should have thought our histrionic +efforts would have been forgotten. I'm afraid I don't remember much +about them, except that we had a lot of fun out of the affair. So you +were at St. Chad's?" he continued, with a reminiscence of the +surroundings of the institution they were talking of. "Very different to +Normandale!" + +"Yes," she replied. "Very--very different to Normandale. But when I was +at St. Chad's, I didn't know that I--that we should ever come to +Normandale." + +"And now that you are here?" he asked. + +The girl looked out through the big window on the valley which lay in +front of the old house, and she shook her head a little. + +"It's very beautiful," she answered, "but I sometimes wish I was back at +St. Chad's--with something to do. Here--there's nothing to do but to do +nothing." Collingwood realized that this was not the complaint of the +well-to-do young woman who finds time hang heavy--it was rather +indicative of a desire for action. + +"I understand!" he said. "I think I should feel like that. One wants--I +suppose--is it action, movement, what is it?" + +"Better call it occupation--that's a plain term," she answered. "We're +both suffering from lack of occupation here, my brother and I. And it's +bad for us--especially for him." + +Before Collingwood could think of any suitable reply to this remarkably +fresh and candid statement, the door opened, and Mrs. Mallathorpe came +in, followed by her son. And the visitor suddenly and immediately +noticed the force and meaning of Nesta Mallathorpe's last remark. Harper +Mallathorpe, a good-looking, but not remarkably intelligent appearing +young man, of about Collingwood's own age, gave him the instant +impression of being bored to death; the lack-lustre eye, the aimless +lounge, the hands thrust into the pockets of his Norfolk jacket as if +they took refuge there from sheer idleness--all these things told their +tale. Here, thought Collingwood, was a fine example of how riches can be +a curse--relieved of the necessity of having to earn his daily bread by +labour, Harper Mallathorpe was finding life itself laborious. + +But there was nothing of aimlessness, idleness, or lack of vigour in +Mrs. Mallathorpe. She was a woman of character, energy, of +brains--Collingwood saw all that at one glance. A little, neat-figured, +compact sort of woman, still very good-looking, still on the right side +of fifty, with quick movements and sharp glances out of a pair of shrewd +eyes: this, he thought, was one of those women who will readily +undertake the control and management of big affairs. He felt, as Mrs. +Mallathorpe turned inquiring looks on him, that as long as she was in +charge of them the Mallathorpe family fortunes would be safe. + +"Mother," said Nesta, handing Collingwood's card to Mrs. Mallathorpe, +"this gentleman is Mr. Bartle Collingwood. He's--aren't you?--yes, a +barrister. He wants to see you. Why, I don't know. I have seen Mr. +Collingwood before--but he didn't remember me. Now he'll tell you what +he wants to see you about." + +"If you'll allow me to explain why I called on you, Mrs. Mallathorpe," +said Collingwood, "I don't suppose you ever heard of me--but you know, +at any rate, the name of my grandfather, Mr. Antony Bartle, the +bookseller, of Barford? My grandfather is dead--he died very suddenly +last night." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe and Nesta murmured words of polite sympathy. Harper +suddenly spoke--as if mere words were some relief to his obvious +boredom. + +"I heard that, this morning," he said, turning to his mother. "Hopkins +told me--he was in town last night. I meant to tell you." + +"Dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Mallathorpe, glancing at some letters which +stood on a rack above the mantelpiece. "Why--I had a letter from Mr. +Bartle this very morning!" + +"It is that letter that I have come to see you about," said Collingwood. +"I only got down here from London at half-past eight this morning, and +of course, I have made some inquiries about the circumstances of my +grandfather's sudden death. He died very suddenly indeed at Mr. +Eldrick's office. He had gone there on some business about which nobody +knows nothing--he died before he could mention it. And according to his +shop-boy, Jabey Naylor, the last thing he did was to write a letter to +you. Now--I have reason for asking--would you mind telling me, Mrs. +Mallathorpe, what that letter was about?" Mrs. Mallathorpe moved over to +the hearth, and took an envelope from the rack. She handed it to +Collingwood, indicating that he could open it. And Collingwood drew out +one of old Bartle's memorandum forms, and saw a couple of lines in the +familiar crabbed handwriting: + + "MRS. MALLATHORPE, Normandale Grange. + + "Madam,--If you should drive into town tomorrow, will you kindly + give me a call? I want to see you particularly. + + "Respectfully, A. BARTLE." + +Collingwood handed back the letter. + +"Have you any idea to what that refers?" he asked. + +"Well, I think I have--perhaps," answered Mrs. Mallathorpe. "Mr. Bartle +persuaded us to sell him some books--local books--which my late +brother-in-law had at his office in the mill. And since then he has been +very anxious to buy more local books and pamphlets about this +neighbourhood, and he had some which Mr. Bartle was very anxious indeed +to get hold of. I suppose he wanted to see me about that." Collingwood +made no remarks for the moment. He was wondering whether or not to tell +what Jabey Naylor had told him about this paper taken from the linen +pocket inside the _History of Barford_. But Mrs. Mallathorpe's ready +explanation had given him a new idea, and he rose from his chair. + +"Thank you," he said. "I suppose that's it. You may think it odd that I +wanted to know what he'd written about, but as it was certainly the last +letter he wrote----" + +"Oh, I'm quite sure it must have been that!" exclaimed Mrs. Mallathorpe. +"And as I am going into Barford this afternoon, in any case, I meant to +call at Mr. Bartle's. I'm sorry to hear of his death, poor old +gentleman! But he was very old indeed, wasn't he?" + +"He was well over eighty," replied Collingwood. "Well, thank you +again--and good-bye--I have a motorcar waiting outside there, and I have +much to do in Barford when I get back." + +The two young people accompanied Collingwood into the hall. And Harper +suddenly brightened. + +"I say!" he said. "Have a drink before you go. It's a long way in and +out. Come into the dining-room." + +But Collingwood caught Nesta's eye, and he was quick to read a signal in +it. + +"No, thanks awfully!" he answered. "I won't really--I must get +back--I've such a lot of things to attend to. This is a very beautiful +place of yours," he went on, as Harper, whose face had fallen at the +visitor's refusal, followed with his sister to where the motor-car +waited. "It might be a hundred miles from anywhere." + +"It's a thousand miles from anywhere!" muttered Harper. "Nothing to do +here!" + +"No hunting, shooting, fishing?" asked Collingwood. "Get tired of 'em? +Well, why not make a private golf-links in your park? You'd get a fine +sporting course round there." + +"That's a good notion, Harper," observed Nesta, with some eagerness. +"You could have it laid out this winter." + +Harper suddenly looked at Collingwood. + +"Going to stop in Barford?" he asked. + +"Till I settle my grandfather's affairs--yes," answered Collingwood. + +"Come and see us again," said Harper. "Come for the night--we've got a +jolly good billiard table." + +"Do!" added Nesta heartily. + +"Since you're so kind, I will, then," replied Collingwood. "But not for +a few days." + +He drove off--to wonder why he had visited Normandale Grange at all. For +Mrs. Mallathorpe's explanation of the letter was doubtless the right +one: Collingwood, little as he had seen of Antony Bartle, knew what a +veritable sleuth-hound the old man was where rare books or engravings +were concerned. Yet--why the sudden exclamation on finding that paper? +Why the immediate writing of the letter to Mrs. Mallathorpe? Why the +setting off to Eldrick & Pascoe's office as soon as the letter was +written? It all looked as if the old man had found some document, the +contents of which related to the Mallathorpe family, and was anxious to +communicate its nature to Mrs. Mallathorpe, and to his own solicitor, as +soon as possible. + +"But that's probably only my fancy," he mused, as he sped back to +Barford; "the real explanation is doubtless that suggested by Mrs. +Mallathorpe. Something made the old man think of the collection of local +books at Normandale Grange--and he immediately wrote off to ask her to +see him, with the idea of persuading her to let him have them. That's +all there is in it--what a suspicious sort of party I must be getting! +And suspicious of whom--and of what? Anyhow, I'm glad I went out +there--and I'll certainly go again." + +On his way back to Barford he thought a good deal of the two young +people he had just left. There was something of the irony of fate about +their situation. There they were, in possession of money and luxury and +youth--and already bored because they had nothing to do. He felt what +closely approached a contemptuous pity for Harper--why didn't he turn to +some occupation? There was their own business--why didn't he put in so +many hours a day there, instead of leaving it to managers? Why didn't he +interest himself in local affairs?--work at something? Already he had +all the appearance of a man who is inclined to slackness--and in that +case, mused Collingwood, his money would do him positive harm. But he +had no thoughts of that sort about Nesta Mallathorpe: he had seen that +she was of a different temperament. + +"She'll not stick there--idling," he said. "She'll break out and do +something or other. What did she say? 'Suffering from lack of +occupation'? A bad thing to suffer from, too--glad I'm not similarly +afflicted!" + +There was immediate occupation for Collingwood himself when he reached +the town. He had already made up his mind as to his future plans. He +would sell his grandfather's business as soon as he could find a +buyer--the old man had left a provision in his will, the gist of which +Eldrick had already communicated to Collingwood, to the effect that his +grandson could either carry on the business with the help of a competent +manager until the stock was sold out, or could dispose of it as a going +concern--Collingwood decided to sell it outright, and at once. But first +it was necessary for him to look round the collection of valuable books +and prints, and get an idea of what it was that he was about to sell. +And when he had reached Barford again, and had lunched at his hotel, he +went to Quagg Alley, and shut himself in the shop, and made a careful +inspection of the treasures which old Bartle had raked up from many +quarters. + +Within ten minutes of beginning his task Collingwood knew that he had +gone out to Normandale Grange about a mere nothing. Picking up the +_History of Barford_ which Jabey Naylor had spoken of, and turning over +its leaves, two papers dropped out; one a half sheet of foolscap, +folded; the other, a letter from some correspondent in the United +States. Collingwood read the letter first--it was evidently that which +Naylor had referred to as having been delivered the previous afternoon. +It asked for a good, clear copy of Hopkinson's _History of Barford_--and +then it went on, "If you should come across a copy of what is, I +believe, a very rare tract or pamphlet, _Customs of the Court Leet of +the Manor of Barford_, published, I think, about 1720, I should be glad +to pay you any price you like to ask for it--in reason." So much for the +letter--Collingwood turned from it to the folded paper. It was headed +"List of Barford Tracts and Pamphlets in my box marked B.P. in the +library at N Grange," and it was initialled at the foot J.M. Then +followed the titles of some twenty-five or thirty works--amongst them +was the very tract for which the American correspondent had inquired. +And now Collingwood had what he believed to be a clear vision of what +had puzzled him--his grandfather having just read the American buyer's +request had found the list of these pamphlets inside the _History of +Barford_, and in it the entry of the particular one he wanted, and at +once he had written to Mrs. Mallathorpe in the hope of persuading her to +sell what his American correspondent desired to buy. It was all quite +plain--and the old man's visit to Eldrick & Pascoe's had nothing to do +with the letter to Mrs. Mallathorpe. Nor had he carried the folded paper +in his pocket to Eldrick's--when Jabey Naylor went out to post the +letter, Antony had placed the folded paper and the American letter +together in the book and left them there. Quite, quite simple!--he had +had his run to Normandale Grange and back all about nothing, and for +nothing--except that he had met Nesta Mallathorpe, whom he was already +sufficiently interested in to desire to see again. But having arrived at +an explanation of what had puzzled him and made him suspicious, he +dismissed that matter from his mind and thought no more of it. + +But across the street, all unknown to Collingwood, Linford Pratt was +thinking a good deal. Collingwood had taken his car from a rank +immediately opposite Eldrick & Pascoe's windows; Pratt, whose desk +looked on to the street, had seen him drive away soon after ten o'clock +and return about half-past twelve. Pratt, who knew everybody in the +business centre of the town, knew the man who had driven Collingwood, +and when he went out to his lunch he asked him where he had been that +morning. The man, who knew no reason for secrecy, told him--and Pratt +went off to eat his bread and cheese and drink his one glass of ale and +to wonder why young Collingwood had been to Normandale Grange. He became +slightly anxious and uneasy. He knew that Collingwood must have made +some slight examination of old Bartle's papers. Was it--could it be +possible that the old man, before going to Eldrick's, had left some +memorandum of his discovery in his desk--or in a diary? He had said that +he had not shown the will, nor mentioned the will, to a soul--but he +might;--old men were so fussy about things--he might have set down in +his diary that he had found it on such a day, and under such-and-such +circumstances. + +However, there was one person who could definitely inform him of the +reason of Collingwood's visit to Normandale Grange--Mrs. Mallathorpe. He +would see her at once, and learn if he had any grounds for fear. And so +it came about that at nine o'clock that evening, Mrs. Mallathorpe, for +the second time that day, found herself asked to see a limb of the law. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +POINT-BLANK + + +Mrs. Mallathorpe was alone when Pratt's card was taken to her. Harper +and Nesta were playing billiards in a distant part of the big house. +Dinner had been over for an hour; Mrs. Mallathorpe, who had known what +hard work and plenty of it was, in her time, was trifling over the +newspapers--rest, comfort, and luxury were by no means boring to her. +She looked at the card doubtfully--Pratt had pencilled a word or two on +it: "Private and important business." Then she glanced at the butler--an +elderly man who had been with John Mallathorpe many years before the +catastrophe occurred. + +"Who is he, Dickenson?" she asked. "Do you know him?" + +"Clerk at Eldrick & Pascoe's, in the town, ma'am," replied the butler. +"I know the young man by sight." + +"Where is he?" inquired Mrs. Mallathorpe. + +"In the little morning room, at present, ma'am," said Dickenson. + +"Take him into the study," commanded Mrs. Mallathorpe. "I'll come to him +presently." She was utterly at a loss to understand Pratt's presence +there. Eldrick & Pascoe were not her solicitors, and she had no business +of a legal nature in which they could be in any way concerned. But it +suddenly struck her that that was the second time she had heard +Eldrick's name mentioned that day--young Mr. Collingwood had said that +his grandfather's death had taken place at Eldrick & Pascoe's office. +Had this clerk come to see her about that?--and if so, what had she to +do with it? Before she reached the room in which Pratt was waiting for +her, Mrs. Mallathorpe was filled with curiosity. But in that curiosity +there was not a trace of apprehension; nothing suggested to her that her +visitor had called on any matter actually relating to herself or her +family. + +The room into which Pratt had been taken was a small apartment opening +out of the library--John Mallathorpe, when he bought Normandale Grange, +had it altered and fitted to suit his own tastes, and Pratt, as soon as +he entered it, saw that it was a place in which privacy and silence +could be ensured. He noticed that it had double doors, and that there +were heavy curtains before the window. And during the few minutes which +elapsed between his entrance and Mrs. Mallathorpe's, he took the +precaution to look behind those curtains, and to survey his +surroundings--what he had to say was not to be overheard, if he could +help it. + +Mrs. Mallathorpe looked her curiosity as soon as she came in. She did +not remember that she had ever seen this young man before, but she +recognized at once that he was a shrewd and sharp person, and she knew +from his manner that he had news of importance to give her. She quietly +acknowledged Pratt's somewhat elaborate bow, and motioned him to take a +chair at the side of the big desk which stood before the fireplace--she +herself sat down at the desk itself, in John Mallathorpe's old +elbow-chair. And Pratt thought to himself that however much young Harper +John Mallathorpe might be nominal master of Normandale Grange, the real +master was there, in the self-evident, quiet-looking woman who turned to +him in business-like fashion. + +"You want to see me?" said Mrs. Mallathorpe. "What is it?" + +"Business, Mrs. Mallathorpe," replied Pratt. "As I said on my card--of a +private and important sort." + +"To do with me?" she asked. + +"With you--and with your family," said Pratt. "And before we go any +further, not a soul knows of it but--me." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe took another searching look at her visitor. Pratt was +leaning over the corner of the desk, towards her; already he had lowered +his tones to the mysterious and confidential note. + +"I don't know what you're talking about," she said. "Go on." + +Pratt bent a little nearer. + +"A question or two first, if you please, Mrs. Mallathorpe. And--answer +them! They're for your own good. Young Mr. Collingwood called on you +today." + +"Well--and what of it?" + +"What did he want?" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe hesitated and frowned a little. And Pratt hastened to +reassure her. "I'm using no idle words, Mrs. Mallathorpe, when I say +it's for your own good. It is! What did he come for?" + +"He came to ask what there was in a letter which his grandfather wrote +to me yesterday afternoon." + +"Antony Bartle had written to you, had he? And what did he say, Mrs. +Mallathorpe? For that is important!" + +"No more than that he wanted me to call on him today, if I happened to +be in Barford." + +"Nothing more?" + +"Nothing more--not a word." + +"Nothing as to--why he wanted to see you?" + +"No! I thought that he probably wanted to see me about buying some books +of the late Mr. Mallathorpe's." + +"Did you tell Collingwood that?" asked Pratt, eagerly. + +"Yes--of course." + +"Did it satisfy him?" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe frowned again. + +"Why shouldn't I?" she demanded. "It was the only explanation I could +possibly give him. How do I know what the old man really wanted?" + +Pratt drew his chair still nearer to the desk. His voice dropped to a +whisper and his eyes were full of meaning. + +"I'll tell you what he wanted!" he said speaking very slowly. "It's what +I've come for. Listen! Antony Bartle came to our office soon after five +yesterday afternoon. I was alone--everybody else had gone. I took him +into Eldrick's room. He told me that in turning over one of the books +which he had bought from Mallathorpe Mill, some short time ago, he had +found--what do you think?" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe's cheek had flushed at the mention of the books from +the Mill. Now, at Pratt's question, and under his searching eye, she +turned very pale, and the clerk saw her fingers tighten on the arms of +her chair. + +"What?" she asked. "What?" + +"John Mallathorpe's will!" he answered. "Do you understand? His--will!" + +The woman glanced quickly about her--at the doors, the uncurtained +window. + +"Safe enough here," whispered Pratt. "I made sure of that. Don't be +afraid--no one knows--but me." + +But Mrs. Mallathorpe seemed to find some difficulty in speaking, and +when she at last got out a word her voice sounded hoarse. + +"Impossible!" + +"It's a fact!" said Pratt. "Nothing was ever more a fact as you'll see. +But let me finish my story. The old man told me how he'd found the +will--only half an hour before--and he asked me to ring up Eldrick, so +that we might all read it together. I went to the telephone--when I came +back, Bartle was dead--just dead. And--I took the will out of his +pocket." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe made an involuntary gesture with her right hand. And +Pratt smiled, craftily, and shook his head. + +"Much too valuable to carry about, Mrs. Mallathorpe," he said. "I've got +it--all safe--under lock and key. But as I've said--nobody knows of it +but myself. Not a living soul. No one has any idea! No one can have any +idea. I was a bit alarmed when I heard that young Collingwood had been +to you, for I thought that the old man, though he didn't tell me of any +such thing, might have dropped you a line saying what he'd found. But as +he didn't--well, not one living soul knows that the will's in +existence, except me--and you!" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe was regaining her self-possession. She had had a great +shock, but the worst of it was over. Already she knew, from Pratt's +manner, insidious and suggesting, that the will was of a nature that +would dispossess her and hers of this recently acquired wealth--the +clerk had made that evident by look and tone. So--there was nothing but +to face things. + +"What--what does it--say?" she asked, with an effort. + +Pratt unbuttoned his overcoat, plunged a hand into the inner pocket, +drew out a sheet of paper, unfolded it and laid it on the desk. + +"An exact copy," he said tersely. "Read it for yourself." + +In spite of the determined effort which she made to be calm, Mrs. +Mallathorpe's fingers still trembled as she took up the sheet on which +Pratt had made a fair copy of the will. The clerk watched her narrowly +as she read. He knew that presently there would be a tussle between +them: he knew, too, that she was a woman who would fight hard in defence +of her own interest, and for the interests of her children. + +Always keeping his ears open to local gossip, especially where money was +concerned, Pratt had long since heard that Mrs. Mallathorpe was a keen +and sharp business woman. And now he was not surprised when, having +slowly and carefully read the copy of the will from beginning to end, +she laid it down, and turned to him with a business-like question. + +"The effect of that?" she asked. "What would it be--curtly?" + +"Precisely what it says," answered Pratt. "Couldn't be clearer!" + +"We--should lose all?" she demanded, almost angrily. "All?" + +"All--except what he says--there," agreed Pratt. + +"And that," she went on, drumming her fingers on the paper, "that--would +stand?" + +"What it's a copy of would stand," said Pratt. "Oh, yes, don't you make +any mistake about it, Mrs. Mallathorpe! Nothing can upset that will. It +is plain as a pikestaff how it came to be made. Your late brother-in-law +evidently wrote his will out--it's all in his own handwriting--and took +it down to the Mill with him the very day of the chimney accident. Just +as evidently he signed it in the presence of his manager, Gaukrodger, +and his cashier, Marshall--they signed at the same time, as it says, +there. Now I take it that very soon after that, Mr. Mallathorpe went out +into his mill yard to have a look at the chimney--Gaukrodger and +Marshall went with him. Before he went, he popped the will into the +book, where old Bartle found it yesterday--such things are easily done. +Perhaps he was reading the book--perhaps it lay handy--he slipped the +will inside, anyway. And then--he was killed--and, what's more the two +witnesses were killed with him. So there wasn't a man left who could +tell of that will! But--there's half Barford could testify to these +three signatures! Mrs. Mallathorpe, there's not a chance for you if I +put that will into the hands of the two trustees!" + +He leaned back in his chair after that--nodding confidently, watching +keenly. And now he saw that the trembling fingers were interlacing each +other, twisting the rings on each other, and that Mrs. Mallathorpe was +thinking as she had most likely never thought in her life. After a +moment's pause Pratt went on. "Perhaps you didn't understand," he said. +"I mean, you don't know the effect. Those two trustees--Charlesworth & +Wyatt--could turn you all clean out of this--tomorrow, in a way of +speaking. Everything's theirs! They can demand an account of every penny +that you've all had out of the estate and the business--from the time +you all took hold. If anything's been saved, put aside, they can demand +that. You're entitled to nothing but the three amounts of ten thousand +each. Of course, thirty thousand is thirty thousand--it means, at five +per cent., fifteen hundred a year--if you could get five per cent. +safely. But--I should say your son and daughter are getting a few +thousand a year each, aren't they, Mrs. Mallathorpe? It would be a nice +come-down! Five hundred a year apiece--at the outside. A small house +instead of Normandale Grange. Genteel poverty--comparatively +speaking--instead of riches. That is--if I hand over the will to +Charlesworth & Wyatt." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe slowly turned her eyes on Pratt. And Pratt suddenly +felt a little afraid--there was anger in those eyes; anger of a curious +sort. It might be against fate--against circumstance: it might not--why +should it?--be against him personally, but it was there, and it was +malign and almost evil, and it made him uncomfortable. + +"Where is the will!" she asked. + +"Safe! In my keeping," answered Pratt. + +She looked him all over--surmisingly. + +"You'll sell it to me?" she suggested. "You'll hand it over--and let me +burn it--destroy it?" + +"No!" answered Pratt. "I shall not!" + +He saw that his answer produced personal anger at last. Mrs. Mallathorpe +gave him a look which would have warned a much less observant man than +Pratt. But he gave her back a look that was just as resolute. + +"I say no--and I mean no!" he continued. "I won't sell--but I'll +bargain. Let's be plain with each other. You don't want that will to be +handed over to the trustees named in it, Charlesworth & Wyatt?" + +"Do you think I'm a fool--man!" she flashed out. + +"I should be a fool myself if I did," replied Pratt calmly. "And I'm not +a fool. Very well--then you'll square me. You'll buy me. Come to terms +with me, and nobody shall ever know. I repeat to you what I've said +before--not a soul knows now, no nor suspects! It's utterly impossible +for anybody to find out. The testator's dead. The attesting witnesses +are dead. The man who found this will is dead. No one but you and myself +ever need know a word about all this. If--you make terms with me, Mrs. +Mallathorpe." + +"What do you want?" she asked sullenly. "You forget--I've nothing of my +own. I didn't come into anything." + +"I've a pretty good notion who's real master here--and at Mallathorpe +Mill, too," retorted Pratt. "I should say you're still in full control +of your children, Mrs. Mallathorpe, and that you can do pretty well what +you like with them." + +"With one of them perhaps," she said, still angry and sullen. "But--I +tell you, for you may as well know--if my daughter knew of what you've +told me, she'd go straight to these trustees and tell! That's a fact +that you'd better realize. I can't control her." + +"Oh!" remarked Pratt. "Um!--then we must take care that she doesn't +know. But we don't intend that anybody should know but you and me, Mrs. +Mallathorpe. You needn't tell a soul--not even your son. You mustn't +tell! Listen, now--I've thought out a good scheme which'll profit me, +and make you safe. Do you know what you want on this estate?" + +She stared at him as if wondering what this question had to do with the +matter which was of such infinite importance. And Pratt smiled, and +hastened to enlighten her. + +"You want--a steward," he said. "A steward and estate agent. John +Mallathorpe managed everything for himself, but your son can't, and +pardon me if I say that you can't--properly. You need a man--you need +me. You can persuade your son to that effect. Give me the job of steward +here. I'll suggest to you how to do it in such a fashion that it'll +arouse no suspicion, and look just like an ordinary--very +ordinary--business job--at a salary and on conditions to be arranged, +and--you're safe! Safe, Mrs. Mallathorpe--you know what that means!" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe suddenly rose from her chair. + +"I know this!" she said. "I'll discuss nothing, and do nothing, till +I've seen that will!" + +Pratt rose, too, nodding his head as if quite satisfied. He took up the +copy, tore it in two pieces, and carefully dropped them into the glowing +fire. + +"I shall be at my lodgings at any time after five-thirty tomorrow +evening," he answered quietly. "Call there. You have the address. And +you can then read the will with your own eyes. I shan't bring it here. +The game's in my hands, Mrs. Mallathorpe." + +Within a few minutes he was out in the park again, and making his way to +the little railway station in the valley below. He felt triumphant--he +knew that the woman he had just left was at his mercy and would accede +to his terms. And all the way back to town, and through the town to his +lodgings, he considered and perfected the scheme he was going to suggest +to Mrs. Mallathorpe on the morrow. + +Pratt lived in a little hamlet of old houses on the very outskirts of +Barford--on the edge of a stretch of Country honeycombed by +stone-quarries, some in use, some already worked out. It was a lonely +neighbourhood, approached from the nearest tramway route by a narrow, +high-walled lane. He was half-way along that lane when a stealthy foot +stole to his side, and a hand was laid on his arm--just as stealthily +came the voice of one of his fellow-clerks at Eldrick & Pascoe's. + +"A moment, Pratt! I've been waiting for you. I want--a word or two--in +private!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +THE UNEXPECTED + + +Pratt started when he heard that voice and felt the arresting hand. He +knew well enough to whom they belonged--they were those of one James +Parrawhite, a little, weedy, dissolute chap who had been in Eldrick & +Pascoe's employ for about a year. It had always been a mystery to him +and the other clerks that Parrawhite had been there at all, and that +being there he was allowed to stop. He was not a Barford man. Nobody +knew anything whatever about him, though his occasional references to it +seemed to indicate that he knew London pretty thoroughly. Pratt shrewdly +suspected that he was a man whom Eldrick had known in other days, +possibly a solicitor who had been struck off the rolls, and to whom +Eldrick, for old times' sake, was disposed to extend a helping hand. + +All that any of them knew was that one morning some fifteen months +previously, Parrawhite, a complete stranger, had walked into the office, +asked to see Eldrick, had remained closeted with him half an hour, and +had been given a job at two pounds a week, there and then. That he was a +clever and useful clerk no one denied, but no one liked him. + +He was always borrowing half-crowns. He smelt of rum. He was altogether +undesirable. It was plain to the clerks that Pascoe disliked him. But he +was evidently under Eldrick's protection, and he did his work and did it +well, and there was no doubt that he knew more law than either of the +partners, and was better up in practice than Pratt himself. But--he was +not desirable ... and Pratt never desired him less than on this +occasion. + +"What are you after--coming on a man like that!" growled Pratt. + +"You," replied Parrawhite. "I knew you'd got to come up this lane, so I +waited for you. I've something to say." + +"Get it said, then!" retorted Pratt. + +"Not here," answered Parrawhite. "Come down by the quarry--nobody about +there." + +"And suppose I don't?" asked Pratt. + +"Then you'll be very sorry for yourself--tomorrow," replied Parrawhite. +"That's all!" + +Pratt had already realized that this fellow knew something. Parrawhite's +manner was not only threatening but confident. He spoke as a man speaks +who has got the whip hand. And so, still growling, and inwardly raging +and anxious, he turned off with his companion into a track which lay +amongst the stone quarries. It was a desolate, lonely place; no house +was near; they were as much alone as if they had been in the middle of +one of the great moors outside the town, the lights of which they could +see in the valley below them. In the grey sky above, a waning moon gave +them just sufficient light to see their immediate surroundings--a +grass-covered track, no longer used, and the yawning mouths of the old +quarries, no longer worked, the edges of which were thick with gorse and +bramble. It was the very place for secret work, and Pratt was certain +that secret work was at hand. + +"Now then!" he said, when they had walked well into the wilderness. +"What is it? And no nonsense!" + +"You'll get no nonsense from me," sneered Parrawhite. "I'm not that +sort. This is what I want to say. I was in Eldrick's office last night +all the time you were there with old Bartle." + +This swift answer went straight through Pratt's defences. He was +prepared to hear something unpleasant and disconcerting, but not that. +And he voiced the first thought that occurred to him. + +"That's a lie!" he exclaimed. "There was nobody there!" + +"No lie," replied Parrawhite. "I was there. I was behind the curtain of +that recess--you know. And since I know what you did, I don't mind +telling you--we're in the same boat, my lad!--what I was going to do. +You thought I'd gone--with the others. But I hadn't. I'd merely done +what I've done several times without being found out--slipped in +there--to wait until you'd gone. Why? Because friend Eldrick, as you +know, is culpably careless about leaving loose cash in the unlocked +drawer of his desk, culpably careless, too, about never counting it. +And--a stray sovereign or half-sovereign is useful to a man who only +gets two quid a week. Understand?" + +"So you're a thief?" said Pratt bitterly. + +"I'm precisely what you are--a thief!" retorted Parrawhite. "You stole +John Mallathorpe's will last night. I heard everything, I tell you!--and +saw everything. I heard the whole business--what the old man said--what +you, later, said to Eldrick. I saw old Bartle die--I saw you take the +will from his pocket, read it, and put it in your pocket. I know +all!--except the terms of the will. But--I've a pretty good idea of what +those terms are. Do you know why? Because I watched you set off to +Normandale by the eight-twenty train tonight!" + +"Hang you for a dirty sneak!" growled Pratt. + +Parrawhite laughed, and flourished a heavy stick which he carried. + +"Not a bit of it!" he said, almost pleasantly. "I thought you were more +of a philosopher--I fancied I'd seen gleams--mere gleams--of philosophy +in you at times. Fortunes of war, my boy! Come now--you've seen enough +of me to know I'm an adventurer. This is an adventure of the sort I +love. Go into it heart and soul, man! Own up!--you've found out that the +will leaves the property away from the present holders, and you've been +to Normandale to--bargain? Come, now!" + +"What then!" demanded Pratt. + +"Then, of course, I come in at the bargaining," answered Parrawhite. +"I'm going to have my share. That's a certainty. You'd better take my +advice. Because you're absolutely in my power. I've nothing to do but to +tell Eldrick tomorrow morning." + +"Suppose I tell Eldrick tomorrow morning of what you've told me?" +interjected Pratt. + +"Eldrick will believe me before you," retorted Parrawhite, +imperturbably. "I'm a much cleverer, more plausible man than you are, my +friend--I've had an experience of the world which you haven't, I can +easily invent a fine excuse for being in that room. For two pins I'll +incriminate you! See? Be reasonable--for if it comes to a contest of +brains, you haven't a rabbit's chance against a fox. Tell me all about +the will--and what you've done. You've got to--for, by the Lord +Harry!--I'm going to have my share. Come, now!" + +Pratt stood, in a little hollow wherein they had paused, and thought, +rapidly and angrily. There was no doubt about it--he was trapped. This +fearful scoundrel at his side, who boasted of his cleverness, would +stick to him like a leach--he would have to share. All his own smart +schemes for exploiting Mrs. Mallathorpe, for ensuring himself a +competence for life, were knocked on the head. There was no helping +it--he would have to tell--and to share. And so, sullenly, resentfully, +he told. + +Parrawhite listened in silence, taking in every point. Pratt, knowing +that concealment was useless, told the truth about everything, +concisely, but omitting nothing. + +"All right!" remarked Parrawhite at the end, "Now, then, what terms do +you mean to insist on?" + +"What's the good of going into that?" growled Pratt. "Now that you've +stuck your foot in it, what do my terms matter?" + +"Quite right," agreed Parrawhite, "They don't. What matter is--our +terms. Now let me suggest--no, insist on--what they must be. Cash! Do +you know why I insist on that? No? Then I'll tell you. Because this +young barrister chap, Collingwood, has evidently got some suspicion +of--something." + +"I can't see it," said Pratt uneasily. "He was only curious to know what +that letter was about." + +"Never mind," continued Parrawhite. "He had some suspicion--or he +wouldn't have gone out there almost as soon as he reached Barford after +his grandfather's death. And even if suspicion is put to sleep for +awhile, it can easily be reawakened, so--cash! We must profit at +once--before any future risk arises. But--what terms were you thinking +of?" + +"Stewardship of this estate for life," muttered Pratt gloomily. + +"With the risk of some discovery being made, some time, any time!" +sneered Parrawhite. "Where are your brains, man? The old fellow, John +Mallathorpe, probably made a draft or two of that will before he did his +fair copy--he may have left those drafts among his papers." + +"If he did, Mrs. Mallathorpe 'ud find 'em," said Pratt slowly. "I don't +believe there's the slightest risk. I've figured everything out. I don't +believe there's any danger from Collingwood or from anybody--it's +impossible! And if we take cash now--we're selling for a penny what we +ought to get pounds for." + +"The present is much more important than the future, my friend," +answered Parrawhite. "To me, at any rate. Now, then, this is my +proposal. I'll be with you when this lady calls at your place tomorrow +evening. We'll offer her the will, to do what she likes with, for ten +thousand pounds. She can find that--quickly. When she pays--as she +will!--we share, equally, and then--well, you can go to the devil! I +shall go--somewhere else. So that's settled." + +"No!" said Pratt. + +Parrawhite turned sharply, and Pratt saw a sinister gleam in his eyes. + +"Did you say no?" he asked. + +"I said--no!" replied Pratt. "I'm not going to take five thousand pounds +for a chance that's worth fifty thousand. Hang you!--if you hadn't been +a black sneak-thief, as you are, I'd have had the whole thing to myself! +And I don't know that I will give way to you. If it comes to it, my +word's as good as yours--and I don't believe Eldrick would believe you +before me. Pascoe wouldn't anyway. You've got a past!--in quod, I should +think--my past's all right. I've a jolly good mind to let you do your +worst--after all, I've got the will. And by george! now I come to think +of it, you can do your worst! Tell what you like tomorrow morning. I +shall tell 'em what you are--a scoundrel." + +He turned away at that--and as he turned, Parrawhite, with a queer cry +of rage that might have come from some animal which saw its prey +escaping, struck out at him with the heavy stick. The blow missed +Pratt's head, but it grazed the tip of his ear, and fell slantingly on +his left shoulder. And then the anger that had been boiling in Pratt +ever since the touch on his arm in the dark lane, burst out in activity, +and he turned on his assailant, gripped him by the throat before +Parrawhite could move, and after choking and shaking him until his teeth +rattled and his breath came in jerking sobs, flung him violently against +the masses of stone by which they had been standing. + +Pratt was of considerable physical strength. He played cricket and +football; he visited a gymnasium thrice a week. His hands had the grip +of a blacksmith; his muscles were those of a prize-fighter. He had put +more strength than he was aware of into his fierce grip on Parrawhite's +throat; he had exerted far more force than he knew he was exerting, when +he flung him away. He heard a queer cracking sound as the man struck +something, and for the moment he took no notice of it--the pain of that +glancing blow on his shoulder was growing acute, and he began to rub it +with his free hand and to curse its giver. + +"Get up, you fool, and I'll give you some more!" he growled. "I'll teach +you to----" + +He suddenly noticed the curiously still fashion in which Parrawhite was +lying where he had flung him--noticed, too, as a cloud passed the moon +and left it unveiled, how strangely white the man's face was. And just +as suddenly Pratt forgot his own injury, and dropped on his knees beside +his assailant. An instant later, and he knew that he was once more +confronting death. For Parrawhite was as dead as Antony Bartle--violent +contact of his head with a rock had finished what Pratt had nearly +completed with that vicious grip. There was no questioning it, no +denying it--Pratt was there in that lonely place, staring half +consciously, half in terror, at a dead man. + +He stood up at last, cursing Parrawhite with the anger of despair. He +had not one scrap of pity for him. All his pity was for himself. That he +should have been brought into this!--that this vile little beast, +perfect scum that he was, should have led him to what might be the utter +ruin of his career!--it was shameful, it was abominable, it was cruel! +He felt as if he could cheerfully tear Parrawhite's dead body to pieces. +But even as these thoughts came, others of a more important nature +crowded on them. For--there lay a dead man, who was not to be put in +one's pocket, like a will. It was necessary to hide that thing from the +light--ever that light. Within a few hours, morning would break, and +lonely and deserted as that place was nowadays, some one might pass that +way. Out of sight with him, then!--and quickly. + +Pratt was very well acquainted with the spot at which he stood. Those +old quarries had a certain picturesqueness. They had become grass-grown; +ivy, shrubs, trees had clustered about them--the people who lived in the +few houses half a mile away, sometimes walked around them; the children +made a playground of the place: Pratt himself had often gone into some +quiet corner to read and smoke. And now his quick mind immediately +suggested a safe hiding place for this thing that he could not carry +away with him, and dare not leave to the morning sun--close by was a +pit, formerly used for some quarrying purpose, which was filled, always +filled, with water. It was evidently of considerable depth; the water +was black in it; the mouth was partly obscured by a maze of shrub and +bramble. It had been like that ever since Pratt came to lodge in that +part of the district--ten or twelve years before; it would probably +remain like that for many a long year to come. That bit of land was +absolutely useless and therefore neglected, and as long as rain fell and +water drained, that pit would always be filled to its brim. + +He remembered something else: also close by where he stood--a heap of +old iron things--broken and disused picks, smashed rails, fragments +thrown aside when the last of the limestone had been torn out of the +quarries. Once more luck was playing into his hands--those odds and ends +might have been put there for the very purpose to which he now meant to +turn them. And being certain that he was alone, and secure, Pratt +proceeded to go about his unpleasant task skilfully and methodically. He +fetched a quantity of the iron, fastened it to the dead man's clothing, +drew the body, thus weighted, to the edge of the pit, and prepared to +slide it into the black water. But there an idea struck him. While he +made these preparations he had had hosts of ideas as to his operations +next morning--this idea was supplementary to them. Quickly and +methodically he removed the contents of Parrawhite's pockets to his +own--everything: money, watch and chain, even a ring which the dead man +had been evidently vain of. Then he let Parrawhite glide into the +water--and after him he sent the heavy stick, carefully fastened to a +bar of iron. + +Five minutes later, the surface of the water in that pit was as calm and +unruffled as ever--not a ripple showed that it had been disturbed. And +Pratt made his way out of the wilderness, swearing that he would never +enter it again. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +THE SUPREME INDUCEMENT + + +Pratt was in Eldrick & Pascoe's office soon after half-past eight next +morning, and for nearly forty minutes he had the place entirely to +himself. But it took only a few of those minutes for him to do what he +had carefully planned before he went to bed the previous night. Shutting +himself into Eldrick's private room, and making sure that he was alone +that time, he immediately opened the drawer in the senior partner's +desk, wherein Eldrick, culpably enough, as Parrawhite had sneeringly +remarked, was accustomed to put loose money. Eldrick was strangely +careless in that way: he would throw money into that drawer in presence +of his clerks--notes, gold, silver. If it happened to occur to him, he +would take the money out at the end of the afternoon and hand it to +Pratt to lock up in the safe; but as often as not, it did not occur. +Pratt had more than once ventured on a hint which was almost a +remonstrance, and Eldrick had paid no attention to him. He was a +careless, easy-going man in many respects, Eldrick, and liked to do +things in his own way. And after all, as Pratt had decided, when he +found that his hints were not listened to, it was Eldrick's own affair +if he liked to leave the money lying about. + +There was money lying about in that drawer when Pratt drew it open; it +was never locked, day or night, or, if it was, the key was left in it. +As soon as he opened it, he saw gold--two or three sovereigns--and +silver--a little pile of it. And, under a letter weight, four banknotes +of ten pounds each. But this was precisely what Pratt had expected to +see; he himself had handed banknotes, gold, and silver to Eldrick the +previous evening, just after receiving them from a client who had called +to pay his bill. And he had seen Eldrick place them in the drawer, as +usual, and soon afterwards Eldrick had walked out, saying he was going +to the club, and he had never returned. + +What Pratt now did was done as the result of careful thought and +deliberation. There was a cheque-book lying on top of some papers in the +drawer; he took it up and tore three cheques out of it. Then he picked +up the bank-notes, tore them and the abstracted blank cheques into +pieces, and dropped the pieces in the fire recently lighted by the +caretaker. He watched these fragments burn, and then he put the gold and +silver in his hip-pocket, where he already carried a good deal of his +own, and walked out. + +Nine o'clock brought the office-boy; a quarter-past nine brought the +clerks; at ten o'clock Eldrick walked in. According to custom, Pratt +went into Eldrick's room with the letters, and went through them with +him. One of them contained a legal document over which the solicitor +frowned a little. + +"Ask Parrawhite's opinion about that," he said presently, indicating a +marked paragraph. + +"Parrawhite has not come in this morning, sir," observed Pratt, +gathering up letters and papers. "I'll draw his attention to it when he +arrives." + +He went into the outer office, only to be summoned back to Eldrick a few +minutes later. The senior partner was standing by his desk, looking a +little concerned, and, thought Pratt, decidedly uncomfortable. He +motioned the clerk to close the door. + +"Has Parrawhite come?" he asked. + +"No," replied Pratt, "Not yet, Mr. Eldrick." + +"Is--is he usually late?" inquired Eldrick. + +"Usually quite punctual--half-past nine," said Pratt. + +Eldrick glanced at his watch; then at his clerk. + +"Didn't you give me some cash last night?" he asked. + +"Forty-three pounds nine," answered Pratt. "Thompson's bill of costs--he +paid it yesterday afternoon." + +Eldrick looked more uncomfortable than ever. + +"Well--the fact is," he said, "I--I meant to hand it to you to put in +the safe, Pratt, but I didn't come back from the club. And--it's gone!" + +Pratt simulated concern--but not astonishment. And Eldrick pulled open +the drawer, and waved a hand over it. + +"I put it down there," he said. "Very careless of me, no doubt--but +nothing of this sort has ever happened before, and--however, there's the +unpleasant fact, Pratt. The money's gone!" + +Pratt, who had hastily turned over the papers and other contents of the +drawer, shook his head and used his privilege as an old and confidential +servant. "I've always said, sir, that it was a great mistake to leave +loose money lying about," he remarked mournfully. "If there'd only been +a practice of letting me lock anything of that sort up in the safe every +night--and this chequebook, too, sir--then----" + +"I know--I know!" said Eldrick. "Very reprehensible on my part--I'm +afraid I am careless--no doubt of it. But----" + +He in his turn was interrupted by Pratt, who was turning over the +cheque-book. + +"Some cheque forms have been taken out of this," he said. "Three! at the +end. Look there, sir!" + +Eldrick uttered an exclamation of intense annoyance and disgust. He +looked at the despoiled cheque-book, and flung it into the drawer. + +"Pratt!" he said, turning half appealingly, half confidentially to the +clerk. "Don't say a word of this--above all, don't mention it to Mr. +Pascoe. It's my fault and I must make the forty-three pounds good. +Pratt, I'm afraid this is Parrawhite's work. I--well, I may as well tell +you--he'd been in trouble before he came here. I gave him another +chance--I'd known him, years ago. I thought he'd go straight. But--I +fear he's been tempted. He may have seen me leave money about. Was he in +here last night?" + +Pratt pointed to a document which lay on Eldrick's desk. + +"He came in here to leave that for your perusal," he answered. "He was +in here--alone--a minute or two before he left." + +All these lies came readily and naturally--and Eldrick swallowed each. +He shook his head. + +"My fault--all my fault!" he said. "Look here--keep it quiet. But--do +you know where Parrawhite has lived--lodged?" + +"No!" replied Pratt. "Some of the others may, though!" + +"Try to find out--quickly," continued Eldrick; "Then, make some excuse +to go out--take papers somewhere, or something--and find if he's left +his lodgings! I--I don't want to set the police on him. He was a decent +fellow, once. See what you can make out, Pratt. In strict secrecy, you +know---I do not want this to go further." + +Pratt could have danced for joy when he presently went out into the +town. There would be no hue-and-cry after Parrawhite--none! Eldrick +would accept the fact that Parrawhite had robbed him and flown--and +Parrawhite would never be heard of--never mentioned again. It was the +height of good luck for him. Already he had got rid of any small scraps +of regret or remorse about the killing of his fellow-clerk. Why should +he be sorry? The scoundrel had tried to murder him, thinking no doubt +that he had the will on him. And he had not meant to kill him--what he +had done, he had done in self-defence. No--everything was working most +admirably--Parrawhite's previous bad record, Eldrick's carelessness and +his desire to shut things up: it was all good. From that day forward, +Parrawhite would be as if he had never been. Pratt was not even afraid +of the body being discovered--though he believed that it would remain +where it was for ever--for the probability was that the authorities +would fill up that pit with earth and stones. But if it was brought to +light? Why, the explanation was simple. + +Parrawhite, having robbed his employer, had been robbed himself, +possibly by men with whom he had been drinking, and had been murdered in +the bargain. No suspicion could attach to him, Pratt--he had nothing to +fear--nothing! + +For the form of the thing, he called at the place whereat Parrawhite had +lodged--they had seen nothing of him since the previous morning. They +were poor, cheap lodgings in a mean street. The woman of the house said +that Parrawhite had gone out as usual the morning before, and had never +been in again. In order to find out all he could, Pratt asked if he had +left much behind him in the way of belongings, and--just as he had +expected--he learned that Parrawhite's personal property was remarkably +limited: he possessed only one suit of clothes and not over much +besides, said the landlady. + +"Is there aught wrong?" she asked, when Pratt had finished his +questions. "Are you from where he worked?" + +"That's it," answered Pratt, "And he hasn't turned up this morning, and +we think he's left the town. Owe you anything, missis?" + +"Nay, nothing much," she replied. "Ten shillings 'ud cover it, mister." + +Pratt gave her half a sovereign. It was not out of consideration for +her, nor as a concession to Parrawhite's memory: it was simply to stop +her from coming down to Eldrick & Pascoe's. + +"Well, I don't think you'll see him again," he remarked. "And I dare say +you won't care if you don't." + +He turned away then, but before he had gone far, the woman called him +back. + +"What am I to do with his bits of things, mister, if he doesn't come +back?" she asked. + +"Aught you please," answered Pratt, indifferently. "Throw 'em on the +dust-heap." + +As he went back to the centre of the town, he occupied himself in +considering his attitude to Mrs. Mallathorpe when she called on him that +evening. In spite of his own previous notion, and of his +carefully-worked-out scheme about the stewardship, he had been impressed +by what Parrawhite has said as to the wisdom of selling the will for +cash. Pratt did not believe that there was anything in the Collingwood +suggestion--no doubt whatever, he had decided, that old Bartle had meant +to tell Mrs. Mallathorpe of his discovery when she called in answer to +his note, but as he had died before she could call, and as he had told +nobody but him, Pratt, what possible danger could there be from +Collingwood? And a stewardship for life appealed to him. He knew, from +observation of the world, what a fine thing it is to have a certainty. + +Once he became steward and agent of the Normandale Grange estate, he +would stick there, until he had saved a tidy heap of money. Then he +would retire--with a pension and a handsome present--and enjoy himself. +To be provided for, for life!--what more could a wise man want? And +yet--there was something in what that devil Parrawhite had urged. + +For there was a risk--however small--of discovery, and if discovery were +made, there would be a nice penalty to pay. It might, after all, be +better to sell the will outright--for as much ready money as ever he +could get, and to take his gains far away, and start out on a career +elsewhere. After all, there was much to be said for the old proverb. The +only question was--was the bird in hand worth the two; or the money, +which he believed he would net in the bush? + +Pratt's doubts on this point were settled in a curious fashion. He had +reached the centre of the town in his return to Eldrick's, and there, in +the fashionable shopping street, he ran up against an acquaintance. He +and the acquaintance stopped and chatted--about nothing. And as they +lounged on the curb, a smart victoria drew up close by, and out of it, +alone, stepped a girl who immediately attracted Pratt's eyes. He watched +her across the pavement; he watched her into the shop. And his companion +laughed. + +"That's the sort!" he remarked flippantly. "If you and I had one each, +old man--what?" + +"Who is she?" demanded Pratt. + +The acquaintance stared at him in surprise. + +"What!" he exclaimed. "You don't know. That's Miss Mallathorpe." + +"I didn't know," said Pratt. "Fact!" + +He waited until Nesta Mallathorpe came out and drove away--so that he +could get another and a closer look at her. And when she was gone, he +went slowly back to the office, his mind made up. Risk or no risk, he +would carry out his original notion. Whatever Mrs. Mallathorpe might +offer, he would stick to his idea of close and intimate connection with +Normandale Grange. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +TERMS + + +Mrs. Mallathorpe, left to face the situation which Pratt had revealed to +her in such sudden and startling fashion, had been quick to realize its +seriousness. It had not taken much to convince her that the clerk knew +what he was talking about. She had no doubt whatever that he was right +when he said that the production of John Mallathorpe's will would mean +dispossession to her children, and through them to herself. Nor had she +any doubt, either, of Pratt's intention to profit by his discovery. She +saw that he was a young man of determination, not at all scrupulous, +eager to seize on anything likely to turn to his own advantage. She was, +in short, at his mercy. And she had no one to turn to. Her son was weak, +purposeless, almost devoid of character; he cared for nothing beyond +ease and comfort, and left everything to her so long as he was allowed +to do what he liked. She dared not confide in him--he was not fit to be +entrusted with such a secret, nor endowed with the courage to carry it +boldly and unflinchingly. Nor dare she confide it to her daughter--Nesta +was as strong as her brother was weak: Mrs. Mallathorpe had only told +the plain truth when she said to Pratt that if her daughter knew of the +will she would go straight to the two trustees. No--she would have to do +everything herself. And she could do nothing save under Pratt's +dictation. So long as he had that will in his possession, he could make +her agree to whatever terms he liked to insist upon. + +She spent a sleepless night, resolving all sorts of plans; she resolved +more plans and schemes during the day which followed. But they all ended +at the same point--Pratt. All the future depended upon--Pratt. And by +the end of the day it had come to this--she must make a determined +effort to buy Pratt clean out, so that she could get the will into her +own possession and destroy it. She knew that she could easily find the +necessary money--Harper Mallathorpe had such a natural dislike of all +business matters and was so little fitted to attend to them that he was +only too well content to leave everything relating to the estate and the +mill at Barford to his mother. Up to that time Mrs. Mallathorpe had +managed the affairs of both, and she had large sums at her disposal, out +of which she could pay Pratt without even Harper being aware that she +was paying him anything. And surely no young man in Pratt's position--a +mere clerk, earning a few pounds a week--would refuse a big sum of ready +money! It seemed incredible to her--and she went into Barford towards +evening hoping that by the time she returned the will would have been +burned to grey ashes. + +Mrs. Mallathorpe used some ingenuity in making her visit to Pratt. +Giving out that she was going to see a friend in Barford, of whose +illness she had just heard, she drove into the town, and on arriving +near the Town Hall dismissed her carriage, with orders to the coachman +to put up his horses at a certain livery stable, and to meet her at the +same place at a specified time. Then she went away on foot, and drew a +thick veil over her face before hiring a cab in which she drove up to +the outskirt on which Pratt had his lodging. She was still veiled when +Pratt's landlady showed her into the clerk's sitting-room. + +"Is it safe here?" she asked at once. "Is there no fear of anybody +hearing what we may say?" + +"None!" answered Pratt reassuringly. "I know these folks--I've lived +here several years. And nobody could hear however much they put their +ears to the keyhole. Good thick old walls, these, Mrs. Mallathorpe, and +a solid door. We're as safe here as we were in your study last night." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe sat down in the chair which Pratt politely drew near +his fire. She raised her veil and looked at him, and the clerk saw at +once how curious and eager she was. + +"That--will!" she said, in a low voice. "Let me see it--first." + +"One moment," answered Pratt. "First--you understand that I'm not going +to let you handle it. I'll hold it before you, so you can read it. +Second--you give me your promise--I'm trusting you--that you'll make no +attempt to seize it. It's not going out of my hands." + +"I'm only a woman--and you're a strong man," she retorted sullenly. + +"Quite so," said Pratt. "But women have a trick of snatching at things. +And--if you please--you'll do exactly what I tell you to do. Put your +hands behind you! If I see you make the least movement with them--back +goes the will into my pocket!" + +If Pratt had looked more closely at her just then, he would have taken +warning from the sudden flash of hatred and resentment which swept +across Mrs. Mallathorpe's face--it would have told him that he was +dealing with a dangerous woman who would use her wits to circumvent and +beat him--if not now, then later. But he was moving the gas bracket over +the mantelpiece, and he did not see. + +"Very well--but I had no intention of touching it," said Mrs. +Mallathorpe. "All I want is to see it--and read it." + +She obediently followed out Pratt's instructions, and standing in front +of her he produced the will, unfolded it, and held it at a convenient +distance before her eyes. He watched her closely, as she read it, and he +saw her grow very pale. + +"Take your time--read it over two or three times," he said quietly. "Get +it well into your mind, Mrs. Mallathorpe." + +She nodded her head at last, and Pratt stepped back, folded up the will, +and turning to a heavy box which lay open on the table, placed it +within, under lock and key. And that done, he turned back and took a +chair, close to his visitor. + +"Safe there, Mrs. Mallathorpe," he said with a glance that was both +reassuring and cunning. "But only for the night. I keep a few securities +of my own at one of the banks in the town--never mind which--and that +will shall be deposited with them tomorrow morning." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe shook her head. + +"No!" she said. "Because--you'll come to terms with me." + +Pratt shook his head, too, and he laughed. + +"Of course I shall come to terms with you," he answered. "But they'll be +my terms--and they don't include any giving up of that document. That's +flat, Mrs. Mallathorpe!" + +"Not if I make it worth your while?" she asked. "Listen!--you don't know +what ready money I can command. Ready money, I tell you--cash down, on +the spot!" + +"I've a pretty good notion," responded Pratt. "It's generally understood +in the town that your son's a mere figure-head, and that you're the real +boss of the whole show. I know that you're at the mill four times a +week, and that the managers are under your thumb. I know that you manage +everything connected with the estate. So, of course, I know you've lots +of ready money at your disposal." + +"And I know that you don't earn more than four or five pounds a week, at +the outside," said Mrs. Mallathorpe quietly. "Come, now--just think what +a nice, convenient thing it would be to a young man of your age to +have--a capital. Capital! It would be the making of you. You could go +right away--to London, say, and start out on whatever you liked. Be +sensible--sell me that paper--and be done with the whole thing." + +"No!" replied Pratt. + +Mrs. Mallathorpe looked at him for a full moment. She was a shrewd judge +of character, and she felt that Pratt was one of those men who are hard +to stir from a position once adopted. But she had to make her +effort--and she made it in what she thought the most effective way. + +"I'll give you five thousand pounds--cash--for it," she said. "Meet me +with it tomorrow--anywhere you like in the town--any time you like--and +I'll hand you the money--in notes." + +"No!" said Pratt. "No!" + +Once more she looked at him. And Pratt looked back--and smiled. + +"When I say no, I mean no," he went on. "And I never meant 'No' more +firmly than I do now." + +"I don't believe you," she answered, affecting a doubt which she +certainly did not feel. "You're only holding out for more money." + +"If I were holding out for more money, Mrs. Mallathorpe," replied Pratt, +"if I meant to sell you that will for cash payment, I should have stated +my terms to you last night. I should have said precisely how much I +wanted--and I shouldn't have budged from the amount. Mrs. +Mallathorpe!--it's no good. I've got my own schemes, and my own +ideas--and I'm going to carry 'em out. I want you to appoint me steward +to your property, your affairs, for life." + +"Life!" she exclaimed. "Life!" + +"My life," answered Pratt. "And let me tell you--you'll find me a +first-class man--a good, faithful, honest servant. I'll do well by you +and yours. You'll never regret it as long as you live. It'll be the best +day's work you've ever done. I'll look after your son's +interests--everybody's interests--as if they were my own. As indeed," he +added, with a sly glance, "they will be." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe realized the finality, the resolve, in all this--but +she made one more attempt. + +"Ten thousand!" she said. "Come, now!--think what ten thousand pounds in +cash would mean to you!" + +"No--nor twenty thousand," replied Pratt. "I've made up my mind. I'll +have my own terms. It's no use--not one bit of use--haggling or +discussing matters further. I'm in possession of the will--and therefore +of the situation, Mrs. Mallathorpe, you've just got to do what I tell +you!" + +He got up from his chair, and going over to a side-table took from it a +blotting-pad, some writing paper and a pencil. For the moment his back +was turned--and again he did not see the look of almost murderous hatred +which came into his visitor's eyes; had he seen and understood it, he +might even then have reconsidered matters and taken Mrs. Mallathorpe's +last offer. But the look had gone when he turned again, and he noticed +nothing as he handed over the writing materials. + +"What are these for?" she asked. + +"You'll see in a moment," replied Pratt, reseating himself, and drawing +his chair a little nearer her own. "Now listen--because it's no good +arguing any more. You're going to give me that stewardship and agency. +You'll simply tell your son that it's absolutely necessary to have a +steward. He'll agree. If he doesn't, no matter--you'll convince him. +Now, then, we must do it in a fashion that won't excite any suspicion. +Thus--in a few days--say next week--you'll insert in the Barford +papers--all three of them--the advertisement I'm going to dictate to +you. We'll put it in the usual, formal phraseology. Write this down, if +you please, Mrs. Mallathorpe." + +He dictated an advertisement, setting forth the requirements of which he +had spoken, and Mrs. Mallathorpe obeyed him and wrote. She hated Pratt +more than ever at that moment--there was a quiet, steadfast +implacability about him that made her feel helpless. But she restrained +all sign of it, and when she had done his bidding she looked at him as +calmly as he looked at her. + +"I am to insert this in the Barford papers next week," she said. +"And--what then?" + +"Then you'll get a lot of applications for the job," chuckled Pratt. +"There'll be mine amongst them. You can throw most of 'em in the fire. +Keep a few for form's sake. Profess to discuss them with Mr. Harper--but +let the discussion be all on your side. I'll send two or three good +testimonials--you'll incline to me from the first. You'll send for me. +Your interview with me will be highly satisfactory. And you'll give me +the appointment." + +"And--your terms?" asked Mrs. Mallathorpe. Now that her own scheme had +failed, she seemed quite placable to all Pratt's proposals--a sure sign +of danger to him if he had only known it. "Better let me know them +now--and have done with it." + +"Quite so," agreed Pratt. "But first of all--can you keep this secret to +yourself and me? The money part, any way?" + +"I can--and shall," she answered. + +"Good!" said Pratt. "Very well. I want a thousand a year. Also I want +two rooms--and a business room--at the Grange. I shall not interfere +with you or your family, or your domestic arrangements, but I shall +expect to have all my meals served to me from your kitchen, and to have +one of your servants at my disposal. I know the Grange--I've been over +it more than once. There's much more room there than you can make use +of. Give me the rooms I want in one of the wings. I shan't disturb any +of you. You'll never see me except on business--and if you want to." + +Again the calm acquiescence which would have surprised some men. Why +Pratt failed to be surprised by it was because he was just then feeling +exceedingly triumphant--he believed that Mrs. Mallathorpe was, +metaphorically, at his feet. He had more than a little vanity in him, +and it pleased him greatly, that dictating of terms: he saw himself a +conqueror, with his foot on the neck of his victim. + +"Is that all, then?" asked the visitor. + +"All!" answered Pratt. + +Mrs. Mallathorpe calmly folded up the draft advertisement and placed it +in her purse. Then she rose and adjusted her veil. + +"Then--there is nothing to be done until I get your answer to this--your +application?" she asked. "Very well." + +Pratt showed her out, and walked to the cab with her. He went back to +his rooms highly satisfied--and utterly ignorant of what Mrs. +Mallathorpe was thinking as she drove away. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +UNTIL NEXT SPRING + + +Within a week of his sudden death in Eldrick's private office, old +Antony Bartle was safely laid in the tomb under the yew-tree of which +Mrs. Clough had spoken with such appreciation, and his grandson had +entered into virtual possession of all that he had left. Collingwood +found little difficulty in settling his grandfather's affairs. +Everything had been left to him: he was sole executor as well as sole +residuary legatee. He found his various tasks made uncommonly easy. +Another bookseller in the town hurried to buy the entire stock and +business, goodwill, book debts, everything--Collingwood was free of all +responsibility of the shop in Quagg Alley within a few days of the old +man's funeral. And when he had made a handsome present to the +housekeeper, a suitable one to the shop-boy, and paid his grandfather's +last debts, he was free to depart--a richer man by some five-and-twenty +thousand pounds than when he hurried down to Barford in response to +Eldrick's telegram. + +He sat in Eldrick's office one afternoon, winding up his affairs with +him. There were certain things that Eldrick & Pascoe would have to do; +as for himself it was necessary for him to get back to London. + +"There's something I want to propose to you," said Eldrick, when they +had finished the immediate business. "You're going to practise, of +course?" + +"Of course!" replied Collingwood, with a laugh. "If I get the chance!" + +"You'll get the chance," said Eldrick. "What were you going in for?" + +"Commercial law--company law--as a special thing," answered Collingwood. + +"Why?" + +"I'll tell you what it is," continued Eldrick eagerly. "There's a career +for you if you'll take my advice. Leave London--come down here and take +chambers in the town, and go the North-Eastern Circuit. I'll promise +you--for our firm alone--plenty of work. You'll get more--there's lots +of work waiting here for a good, smart young barrister. Ah!--you smile, +but I know what I'm talking about. You don't know Barford men. They +believe in the old adage that one should look at home before going +abroad. They're terribly litigious, too, and if you were here, on the +spot, they'd give you work. What do you say, Collingwood?" + +"That sounds very tempting. But I was thinking of sticking to London." + +"Not one hundredth part of the chance in London that there is here!" +affirmed Eldrick. "We badly want two or three barristers in this place. A +man who's really well up in commercial and company law would soon have +his hands full. There's work, I tell you. Take my advice, and come!" + +"I couldn't come--in any case--for a few months," said Collingwood, +musingly. "Of course, if you really think there's an opening----" + +"I know there is!" asserted Eldrick. "I'll guarantee you lots of +work--our work. I'm sick of fetching men down all the way from town, or +getting them from Leeds. Come!--and you'll see." + +"I might come in a few months' time, and try things for a year or two," +replied Collingwood. "But I'm off to India, you know, next week, and I +shall be away until the end of spring--four months or so." + +"To India!" exclaimed Eldrick. "What are you going to do there?" + +"Sir John Standridge," said Collingwood, mentioning a famous legal +luminary of the day, "is going out to Hyderabad to take certain +evidence, and hold a sort of inquiry, in a big case, and I'm going with +him as his secretary and assistant--I was in his chambers for two years, +you know. We leave next week, and we shall not be back until the end of +April." + +"Lucky man!" remarked the solicitor. "Well, when you return, don't +forget what I've said. Come back!--you'll not regret it. Come and settle +down. Bye-the-bye, you're not engaged, are you?" + +"Engaged?" said Collingwood. "To what--to whom--what do you mean?" + +"Engaged to be married," answered Eldrick coolly. "You're not? Good! If +you want a wife, there's Miss Mallathorpe. Nice, clever girl, my +boy--and no end of what Barford folk call brass. The very woman for +you." + +"Do you Barford people ever think of anything else but what you call +brass?" asked Collingwood, laughing. + +"Sometimes," replied Eldrick. "But it's generally of something that +nothing but brass can bring or produce. After all, a rich wife isn't a +despicable thing, nowadays. You've seen this young lady?" + +"I've been there once," asserted Collingwood. + +"Go again--before you leave," counselled Eldrick. "You're just the right +man. Listen to the counsels of the wise! And while you're in India, +think well over my other advice. I tell you there's a career for you, +here in the North, that you'd never get in town." + +Collingwood left him and went out--to find a motorcar and drive off to +Normandale Grange, not because Eldrick had advised him to go, but +because of his promise to Harper and Nesta Mallathorpe. And once more he +found Nesta alone, and though he had no spice of vanity in his +composition it seemed to him that she was glad when he walked into the +room in which they had first met. + +"My mother is out--gone to town--to the mill," she said. "And Harper is +knocking around the park with a gun--killing rabbits--and time. He'll be +in presently to tea--and he'll be delighted to see you. Are you going to +stay in Barford much longer?" + +"I'm going up to town this evening--seven o'clock train," answered +Collingwood, watching her keenly. "All my business is finished now--for +the present." + +"But--you'll be coming back?" she asked. + +"Perhaps," he said. "I may come back--after a while." + +"When you do come back," she went on, a little hurriedly, "will you come +and see us again? I--it's difficult to explain--but I do wish Harper +knew more men--the right sort of men. Do you understand?" + +"You mean--he needs more company?" + +"More company of the right kind. He doesn't know many nice men. And he +has so little to occupy him. He's no head for business--my mother +attends to all that--and he doesn't care much about sport--and when he +goes into Barford he only hangs about the club, and, I'm afraid, at two +or three of the hotels there, and--it's not good for him." + +"Can't you get him interested in anything?" suggested Collingwood. "Is +there nothing that he cares about?" + +"He never did care about anything," replied Nesta with a sigh. "He's +apathetic! He just moves along. Sometimes I think he was born half +asleep, and he's never been really awakened. Pity, isn't it?" + +"Considering everything--a great pity," agreed Collingwood. "But--he's +provided for." + +Nesta gave him a swift glance. + +"It might have been a good deal better for him if he hadn't been +provided for!" she said. "He'd have just had to do something, then. +But--if you come back, you'll come here sometimes?" + +"Of course!" answered Collingwood. "And if I come back, it will probably +be to stop here. Mr. Eldrick says there's a lot of work going begging in +Barford--for a smart young barrister well up in commercial law. Perhaps +I may try to come up to his standard--I'm certainly young, but I don't +know whether I'm smart." + +"Better come and try," she said, smiling. "Don't forget that I've seen +you look the part, anyway--your wig and gown suited you very well." + +"Theatrical properties," he replied, laughing. "The wig was too small, +and the gown too long. Well--we'll see. But in the meantime, I'm going +away for four months--to India." + +"To India--four months!" she exclaimed. "That sounds nice." + +"Legal business," said Collingwood. "I shall be back about the end of +April--and then I shall probably come down here again, and seriously +consider Eldrick's suggestion. I'm very much inclined to take it." + +"Then--you'd leave London?" she asked. + +"I've little to leave there," replied Collingwood. "My father and mother +are dead, and I've no brothers, no sisters--no very near relations. +Sounds lonely, doesn't it?" + +"One can feel lonely when one has relations," said Nesta. + +"Are you saying that from--experience?" he asked. + +"I often wish I had more to do," she answered frankly. "What's the use +of denying it? I've next to nothing to do, here. I liked my work at the +hospital--I was busy all day. Here----" + +"If I were you," interrupted Collingwood, "I'd set to work nursing in +another fashion. Look after your brother! Get him going at +something--even if it's playing golf. Play with him! It would do +him--and you--all the good in the world if you got thoroughly infatuated +with even a game. Don't you see?" + +"You mean--anything is better than nothing," she replied. "All +right--I'll try that, anyway. For--I'm anxious about Harper. All this +money!--and no occupation!" + +Collingwood, who was sitting near the windows, looked out across the +park and into the valley beyond. + +"I should have thought that a man who had come into an estate like this +would have found plenty of occupation," he remarked. "What is there, +beside the house and this park?" + +Nesta, who had busied herself with some fancy-work since Collingwood's +entrance, laid it down and came to the windows. She pointed to certain +roofs and gables in the valley. + +"There's the whole village of Normandale," she said. "A busy place, no +doubt, but it's all Harper's--he's lord of the manor. He's patron of the +living, too. It's all his--farms, cottages, everything. And the woods, +and the park, and this house, and a stretch of the moors, as well. Of +course, he ought to find a lot to do--but he doesn't. Perhaps because my +mother does everything. She really is a business woman." + +Collingwood looked out over the area which Nesta had indicated. Harper +Mallathorpe, he calculated, must be possessed of some three or four +thousand acres. + +"A fine property!" he said. "He's a very fortunate fellow!" + +Just then this very fortunate fellow came in. His face, dull enough as +he entered, lighted up at sight of a visitor, and fell again when +Collingwood explained that his visit was a mere flying one, and that he +was returning to London that night. Collingwood led him on to the +project which he had mentioned at his previous visit--the making of golf +links in the park, and pointed out, as a devotee of the sport, what a +fine course could be made. Before he left he had succeeded in arousing +like interest in Harper--he promised to go into the matter, and to +employ a man whom Collingwood recommended as an expert in laying out +golf courses. + +"You'll have got your greens in something like order by this time next +year, if you start operations soon," said Collingwood. "And then, if I +settle down at Barford, I'll come out now and then, if you'll let me." + +"Let you!" exclaimed Harper. "By Jove!--we're only too glad to have +anybody out here--aren't we, Nesta?" + +"We shall always be glad to see Mr. Collingwood," said Nesta. + +Collingwood went away with that last intimation warm in his memory. He +had an idea that the girl meant what she said--and for a moment he was +sorry that he was going to India. He might have settled down at Barford +there and then, and--but at that he laughed at himself. + +"A young woman with several thousands a year of her own!" he said. "Of +course, she'll marry some big pot in the county. They feel a little +lonely, those two, just now, because everything's new to them, and +they're new to their changed circumstances. But when I get back--ah!--I +guess they'll have got plenty of people around them." + +And he determined, being a young man of sense, not to think any +more--for already he had thought a good deal of Nesta Mallathorpe, until +he returned from his Indian travels. Let him attend to his business, and +leave possibilities until they came nearer. + +"All the same." he mused, as he drew near the town again, "I'm pretty +sure I shall come back here next spring--I feel like it." + +He called in at Eldrick's office on his way to the hotel, to take some +documents which had been preparing for him. It was then late in the +afternoon, and no one but Pratt was there--Pratt, indeed, had been +waiting until Collingwood called. + +"Going back to town, Mr. Collingwood?" asked Pratt as he handed over a +big envelope. "When shall we have the pleasure of seeing you again, +sir?" + +Something in the clerk's tone made Collingwood think--he could not tell +why--that Pratt was fishing for information. And--also for reasons which +he could not explain--Collingwood had taken a curious dislike to Pratt, +and was not inclined to give him any confidence. + +"I don't know," he answered, a little icily. "I am leaving for India +next week." + +He bade the clerk a formal farewell and went off, and Pratt locked the +office door and slowly followed him downstairs. + +"To India!" he said to himself, watching the young barrister's +retreating figure. "To India, eh? For a time--or for--what?" + +Anyway, that was good news, Pratt had seen in Collingwood a possible +rival. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +THE FOOT-BRIDGE + + +Collingwood's return to London was made on a Friday evening: next day he +began the final preparations for his departure to India on the following +Thursday. He was looking forward to his journey and his stay in India +with keen expectation. He would have the society of a particularly +clever and brilliant man; they were to break their journey in Italy and +in Egypt; he would enjoy exceptional facilities for seeing the native +life of India; he would gain valuable experience. It was a chance at +which any young man would have jumped, and Collingwood had been greatly +envied when it was known that Sir John Standridge had offered it to him. +And yet he was conscious that if he could have done precisely what he +desired, he would have stayed longer at Barford, in order to see more of +Nesta Mallathorpe. Already it seemed a long time to the coming spring, +when he would be back--and free to go North again. + +But Collingwood was fated to go North once more much sooner than he had +dreamed of. As he sat at breakfast in his rooms on the Monday morning +after his departure from Barford, turning over his newspaper with no +particular aim or interest, his attention was suddenly and sharply +arrested by a headline. Even that headline might not have led him to +read what lay beneath. But in the same instant in which he saw it he +also saw a name--Mallathorpe. In the next he knew that heavy trouble had +fallen on Normandale Grange, the very day after he had left it. + +This is what Collingwood read as he sat, coffee-cup in one hand, +newspaper in the other--staring at the lines of unleaded type: + + TRAGIC FATE OF YOUNG YORKSHIRE SQUIRE + + "A fatal accident, of a particularly sad and disturbing nature, + occurred near Barford, Yorkshire, on Saturday. About four + o'clock on Saturday afternoon, Mr. Linford Pratt, managing clerk + to Messrs. Eldrick & Pascoe, Solicitors, of Barford, who was + crossing the grounds of Normandale Grange on his way to a + business appointment, discovered the dead body of Mr. H. J. + Mallathorpe, the owner of the Normandale Estate, lying in a + roadway which at that point is spanned, forty feet above, by a + narrow foot-bridge. The latter is an ancient construction of + wood, and there is no doubt that it was in extremely bad repair, + and had given way when the unfortunate young gentleman, who was + out shooting in his park, stepped upon it. Mr. Mallathorpe, who + was only twenty-four years of age, succeeded to the Normandale + estates, one of the finest properties in the neighbourhood of + Barford, about two years ago, under somewhat romantic--and also + tragic--circumstances, their previous owner, his uncle, Mr. John + Mallathorpe, a well-known Barford manufacturer, meeting a sudden + death by the falling of his mill chimney--a catastrophe which + also caused the deaths of several of his employees. Mr. John + Mallathorpe died intestate, and the estate at Normandale passed + to the young gentleman who met such a sad fate on Saturday + afternoon. Mr. H.J. Mallathorpe was unmarried, and it is + understood that Normandale (which includes the village of that + name, the advowson of the living, and about four thousand acres + of land) now becomes the property of his sister, Miss Nesta + Mallathorpe." + +Collingwood set down his cup, and dropped the newspaper. He was but half +way through his breakfast, but all his appetite had vanished. All that +he was conscious of was that here was trouble and grief for a girl in +whom--it was useless to deny it--he had already begun to take a warm +interest. And suddenly he started from his chair and snatched up a +railway guide. As he turned over its pages, he thought rapidly. The +preparations for his journey to India were almost finished--what was not +done he could do in a few hours. He had no further appointment with Sir +John Standridge until nine o'clock on Thursday morning, when he was to +meet him at the train for Dover and Paris. Monday--Tuesday--Wednesday--he +had three days--ample time to hurry down to Normandale, to do what he +could to help there, and to get back in time to make his own last +arrangements. He glanced at his watch--he had forty minutes in which to +catch an express from King's Cross to Barford. Without further delay he +picked up a suit-case which was already packed and set out for the +station. + +He was in Barford soon after two o'clock--in Eldrick's office by +half-past two. Eldrick shook his head at sight of him. + +"I can guess what's brought you down, Collingwood," he said. "Good of +you, of course--I don't think they've many friends out there." + +"I can scarcely call myself that--yet," answered Collingwood. "But--I +thought I might be of some use. I'll drive out there presently. But +first--how was it?" + +Eldrick shook his head. + +"Don't know much more than what the papers say," he answered. "There's +an old foot-bridge there that spans a road in the park--road cut through +a ravine. They say it was absolutely rotten, and the poor chap's weight +was evidently too much for it. And there was a drop of forty feet into a +hard road. Extraordinary thing that nobody on the estate seems to have +known of the dangerous condition of that bridge!--but they say it was +little used--simply a link between one plantation and another. +However;--it's done, now. Our clerk--Pratt, you know--found the body. +Hadn't been dead five minutes, Pratt says." + +"What was Pratt doing there?" asked Collingwood. + +"Oh, business of his own," replied Eldrick. "Not ours. There was an +advertisement in Saturday's papers which set out that a steward was +wanted for the Normandale estate, and Pratt mentioned it to me in the +morning that he thought of applying for the job if we'd give him a good +testimonial. I suppose he'd gone out there to see about the +preliminaries. Anyway, he was walking through the park when he found +young Mallathorpe's body. I understand he made himself very useful, too, +and I've sent him out there again today, to do anything he can--smart +chap, Pratt!" + +"Possibly, then, there is nothing I can do," remarked Collingwood. + +"I should say you'll do a lot by merely going there," answered Eldrick. +"As I said just now, they've few friends, and no relations, and I hear +that Mrs. Mallathorpe is absolutely knocked over. Go, by all means--a +bit of sympathy goes a long way on these occasions. I say!--what a +regular transformation an affair of this sort produces. Do you know, +that young fellow, just like his uncle, had not made any will! Fact!--I +had it from Robson, their solicitor, this very morning. The whole of the +estate comes to the sister, of course--she and the mother will share the +personal property. By that lad's death, Nesta Mallathorpe becomes one of +the wealthiest young women in Yorkshire!" + +Collingwood made no reply to this communication. But as he drove off to +Normandale Grange, it was fresh in his mind. And it was not very +pleasant to him. One of the wealthiest young women in Yorkshire!--and he +was already realizing that he would like to make Nesta Mallathorpe his +wife: it was because he felt what he did for her that he had rushed down +to do anything he could that would be of help. Supposing--only +supposing--that people--anybody--said that he was fortune-hunting! +Somewhat unduly sensitive, proud, almost to a fault, he felt his cheek +redden at the thought, and for a moment he wished that old John +Mallathorpe's wealth had never passed to his niece. But then he sneered +at himself for his presumption. + +"Ass!" he said. "She's never even thought of me--in that way, most +likely! Anyway, I'm a stupid fool for thinking of these things at +present." + +But he knew, within a few minutes of entering the big, desolate-looking +house, that Nesta had been thinking of him. She came to him in the room +where they had first met, and quietly gave him her hand. + +"I was not surprised when they told me you were here," she said. "I was +thinking about you--or, rather, expecting to hear from you." + +"I came at once," answered Collingwood, who had kept her hand in his. +"I--well, I couldn't stop away. I thought, perhaps, I could do +something--be of some use." + +"It's a great deal of use to have just--come," she said. "Thank you! +But--I suppose you'll have to go?" + +"Not for two days, anyway," he replied. "What can I do?" + +"I don't know that you can actually do anything," she answered. +"Everything is being done. Mr. Eldrick sent his clerk, Mr. Pratt--who +found Harper--he's been most kind and useful. He--and our own +solicitor--are making all arrangements. There's got to be an inquest. +No--I don't know that you can do actual things. But--while you're +here--you can look in when you like. My mother is very ill--she has +scarcely spoken since Saturday." + +"I'll tell you what I will do," said Collingwood determinedly. "I +noticed in coming through the village just now that there's quite a +decent inn there. I'll go down and arrange to stay there until Wednesday +evening--then I shall be close by--if you should need me." + +He saw by her look of quick appreciation and relief that this suggestion +pleased her. She pressed his hand and withdrew her own. "Thank you +again!" she said. "Do you know--I can't quite explain--I should be glad +if you were close at hand? Everybody has been very kind--but I do feel +that there is nobody I can talk to. If you arrange this, will you come +in again this evening?" + +"I shall arrange it," answered Collingwood. "I'll see to it now. Tell +your people I am to be brought in whenever I call. And--I'll be close by +whenever you want me." + +It seemed little to say, little to do, but he left her feeling that he +was being of some use. And as he went off to make his arrangements at +the inn he encountered Pratt, who was talking to the butler in the outer +hall. + +The clerk looked at Collingwood with an unconcern and a composure which +he was able to assume because he had already heard of his presence in +the house. Inwardly, he was malignantly angry that the young barrister +was there, but his voice was suave, and polite enough when he spoke. + +"Good afternoon, Mr. Collingwood," he said quietly. "Very sad occasion +on which we meet again, sir. Come to offer your sympathy, Mr. +Collingwood, of course--very kind of you." + +"I came," answered Collingwood, who was not inclined to bandy phrases +with Pratt, "to see if I could be of any practical use." + +"Just so, sir," said Pratt. "Mr. Eldrick sent me here for the same +purpose. There's really not much to do--beyond the necessary +arrangements, which are already pretty forward. Going back to town, +sir?" he went on, following Collingwood out to his motor-car, which +stood waiting in the drive. + +"No!" replied Collingwood. "I'm going to send this man to Barford to +fetch my bag to the inn down there in the village, where I'm going to +stay for a few days. Did you hear that?" he continued, turning to the +driver. "Go back to Barford--get my bag from the _Station Hotel_ +there--bring it to the _Normandale Arms_--I'll meet you there on your +return." + +The car went off, and Collingwood, with a nod to Pratt, was about to +turn down a side path towards the village. But Pratt stopped him. + +"Would you care to see the place where the accident happened, Mr. +Collingwood?" he said. "It's close by--won't take five minutes." + +Collingwood hesitated a moment; then he turned back. It might be well, +he reflected, if he made himself acquainted with all the circumstances +of this case, simple as they seemed. + +"Thank you," he said. "If it's so near." + +"This way, sir," responded Pratt. He led his companion along the front +of the house, through the shrubberies at the end of a wing, and into a +plantation by a path thickly covered with pine needles. Presently they +emerged upon a similar track, at right angles to that by which they had +come, and leading into a denser part of the woods. And at the end of a +hundred yards of it they came to a barricade, evidently of recent +construction, over which Pratt stretched a hand. "There!" he said. +"That's the bridge, sir." Collingwood looked over the barricade. He saw +that he and Pratt were standing at the edge of one thick plantation of +fir and pine; the edge of a similar plantation stretched before them +some ten yards away. But between the two lay a deep, dark ravine, which, +immediately in front of the temporary barricade, was spanned by a narrow +rustic bridge--a fragile-looking thing of planks, railed in by boughs of +trees. And in the middle was a jagged gap in both floor and side-rails, +showing where the rotten wood had given way. + +"I'll explain, Mr. Collingwood," said the clerk presently. "I knew this +park, sir--I knew it well, before the late Mr. John Mallathorpe bought +the property. That path at the other end of the bridge makes a short cut +down to the station in the valley--through the woods and the lower part +of the park. I came up that path, from the station, on Saturday +afternoon, intending to cross this bridge and go on to the house, where +I had private business. When I got to the other end of the bridge, +there, I saw the gap in the middle. And then I looked down into the +cut--there's a road--a paved road--down there, and I saw--him! And so I +made shift to scramble down--stiff job it was!--to get to him. But he +was dead, Mr. Collingwood--stone dead, sir!--though I'm certain he +hadn't been dead five minutes. And----" + +"Aye, an' he'd never ha' been dead at all, wouldn't young Squire, if +only his ma had listened to what I telled her!" interrupted a voice +behind them. "He'd ha' been alive at this minute, he would, if his ma +had done what I said owt to be done--now then!" + +Collingwood turned sharply--to confront an old man, evidently one of the +woodmen on the estate who had come up behind them unheard on the thick +carpeting of pine needles. And Pratt turned, too--with a keen look and a +direct question. + +"What do you mean?" he asked. "What are you talking about?" + +"I know what I'm talking about, young gentleman," said the man doggedly. +"I ain't worked, lad and man, on this one estate nine-and-forty +years--and happen more--wi'out knowin' all about it. I tell'd Mrs. +Mallathorpe on Friday noon 'at that there owd brig 'ud fall in afore +long if it worn't mended. I met her here, at this very place where we're +standin', and I showed her 'at it worn't safe to cross it. I tell'd her +'t she owt to have it fastened up theer an' then. It's been rottin' for +many a year, has this owd brig--why, I mind when it wor last repaired, +and that wor years afore owd Mestur Mallathorpe bowt this estate!" + +"When do you say you told Mrs. Mallathorpe all that?" asked Pratt. + +"Friday noon it were, sir," answered the woodman. "When I were on my way +home--dinner time. 'Cause I met the missis here, and I made bold to tell +her what I'd noticed. That there owd brig!--lor' bless yer, gentlemen! +it were black rotten i' the middle, theer where poor young maister he +fell through it. 'Ye mun hev' that seen to at once, missis,' I says. +'Sartin sure, 'tain't often as it's used,' I says, 'but surely sartin +'at if it ain't mended, or closed altogether,' I says, 'summun 'll be +going through and brekkin' their necks,' I says. An' reight, too, +gentlemen--forty feet it is down to that road. An' a mortal hard road, +an' all, paved wi' granite stone all t' way to t' stable-yard." + +"You're sure it was Friday noon?" repeated Pratt. + +"As sure as that I see you," answered the woodman. "An' Mrs. Mallathorpe +she said she'd hev it seen to. Dear-a-me!--it should ha' been closed!" + +The old man shook his head and went off amongst the trees, and Pratt, +giving his vanishing figure a queer look, turned silently back along the +path, followed by Collingwood. At the point where the other path led to +the house, he glanced over his shoulder at the young barrister. + +"If you keep straight on, Mr. Collingwood," he said, "you'll get +straight down to the village and the inn. I must go this way." + +He went off rapidly, and Collingwood walked on through the plantation +towards the _Normandale Arms_--wondering, all the way, why Pratt was so +anxious to know exactly when it was that Mrs. Mallathorpe had been +warned about the old bridge. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +THE PREVALENT ATMOSPHERE + + +Until that afternoon Collingwood had never been in the village to which +he was now bending his steps; on that and his previous visits to the +Grange he had only passed the end of its one street. Now, descending +into it from the slopes of the park, he found it to be little more than +a hamlet--a church, a farmstead or two, a few cottages in their gardens, +all clustering about a narrow stream spanned by a high-arched bridge of +stone. The _Normandale Arms_, a roomy, old-fashioned place, stood at one +end of the bridge, and from the windows of the room into which +Collingwood was presently shown he could look out on the stream itself +and on the meadows beyond it. A peaceful, pretty, quiet place--but the +gloom which was heavy at the big house or the hill seemed to have spread +to everybody that he encountered. + +"Bad job, this, sir!" said the landlord, an elderly, serious-faced man, +to whom Collingwood had made known his wants, and who had quickly formed +the opinion that his guest was of the legal profession. "And a queer +one, too! Odd thing, sir, that our old squire, and now the young one, +should both have met their deaths in what you might term violent +fashion." + +"Accident--in both cases," remarked Collingwood. + +The landlord nodded his head--and then shook it in a manner which seemed +to indicate that while he agreed with this proposition in one respect he +entertained some sort of doubt about it in others. + +"Ay, well!" he answered. "Of course, a mill chimney falling, without +notice, as it were, and a bridge giving way--them's accidents, to be +sure. But it's a very strange thing about this foot-bridge, up yonder at +the Grange--very strange indeed! There's queer talk about it, already." + +"What sort of talk?" asked Collingwood. Ever since the old woodman had +come up to him and Pratt, as they stood looking at the foot-bridge, he +had been aware of a curious sense of mystery, and the landlord's remark +tended to deepen it. "What are people talking about?" + +"Nay--it's only one or two," replied the landlord. "There's been two men +in here since the affair happened that crossed that bridge Friday +afternoon--and both of 'em big, heavy men. According to what one can +learn that there bridge wasn't used much by the Grange people--it led to +nowhere in particular for them. But there is a right of way across that +part of the park, and these two men as I'm speaking of--they made use of +it on Friday--getting towards dark. I know 'em well--they'd both of 'em +weigh four times as much--together--as young Squire Mallathorpe, and yet +it didn't give way under them. And then--only a few hours later, as you +might say, down it goes with him!" + +"I don't think you can form any opinion from that!" said Collingwood. +"These things, these old structures, often give way quite suddenly and +unexpectedly." + +"Ay, well, they did admit, these men too, that it seemed a bit tottery, +like," remarked the landlord. "Talking it over, between themselves, in +here, they agreed, to be sure, that it felt to give a bit. All the same, +there's them as says that it's a queer thing it should ha' given +altogether when young squire walked on it." + +Collingwood clinched matters with a straight question. + +"You don't mean to say that people are suggesting that the foot-bridge +had been tampered with?" he asked. + +"There is them about as wouldn't be slow to say as much," answered the +landlord. "Folks will talk! You see, sir--nobody saw what happened. And +when country folk doesn't see what takes place, with their own eyes, +then they----" + +"Make mysteries out of it," interrupted Collingwood, a little +impatiently. "I don't think there's any mystery here, landlord--I +understood that this foot-bridge was in a very unsafe condition. No! I'm +afraid the whole affair was only too simple." + +But he was conscious, as he said this, that he was not precisely voicing +his own sentiments. He himself was mystified. He was still wondering why +Pratt had been so pertinacious in asking the old woodman when, +precisely, he had told Mrs. Mallathorpe about the unsafe condition of +the bridge--still wondering about a certain expression which had come +into Pratt's face when the old man told them what he did--still +wondering at the queer look which Pratt had given the information as he +went off into the plantation. Was there, then, something--some secret +which was being kept back by--somebody? + +He was still pondering over these things when he went back to the +Grange, later in the evening--but he was resolved not to say anything +about them to Nesta. And he saw Nesta only for a few minutes. Her +mother, she said, was very ill indeed--the doctor was with her then, and +she must go back to them. Since her son's death, Mrs. Mallathorpe had +scarcely spoken, and the doctor, knowing that her heart was not strong, +was somewhat afraid of a collapse. + +"If there is anything that I can do,--or if you should want me, during +the night," said Collingwood, earnestly, "promise me that you'll send at +once to the inn!" + +"Yes," answered Nesta. "I will. But--I don't think there will be any +need. We have two nurses here, and the doctor will stop. There is +something I should be glad if you would do tomorrow," she went on, +looking at him a little wistfully, "You know about--the inquest?" + +"Yes," said Collingwood. + +"They say we--that is I, because, of course, my mother couldn't--that I +need not be present," she continued. "Mr. Robson--our solicitor--says it +will be a very short, formal affair. He will be there, of +course,--but--would you mind being there, too!--so that you +can--afterwards--tell me all about it?" + +"Will you tell me something--straight out?" answered Collingwood, +looking intently at her. "Have you any doubt of any description about +the accepted story of your brother's death? Be plain with me!" + +Nesta hesitated for awhile before answering. + +"Not of the actual circumstances," she replied at last,--"none at all of +what you call the accepted story. The fact is, I'm not a good hand at +explaining anything, and perhaps I can't convey to you what I mean. But +I've a feeling--an impression--that there is--or was some mystery on +Saturday which might have--and might not have--oh, I can't make it +clear, even to myself. + +"If you would be at the inquest tomorrow, and listen carefully to +everything--and then tell me afterwards--do you understand?" + +"I understand," answered Collingwood. "Leave it to me." + +Whether he expected to hear anything unusual at the inquest, whether he +thought any stray word, hint, or suggestion would come up during the +proceedings, Collingwood was no more aware than Nesta was certain of her +vague ideas. But he was very soon assured that there was going to be +nothing beyond brevity and formality. He had never previously been +present at an inquest--his legal mind was somewhat astonished at the way +in which things were done. It was quickly evident to him that the twelve +good men and true of the jury--most of them cottagers and labourers +living on the estate--were quite content to abide by the directions of +the coroner, a Barford solicitor, whose one idea seemed to be to get +through the proceedings as rapidly and smoothly as possible. And +Collingwood felt bound to admit that, taking the evidence as it was +brought forward, no simpler or more straightforward cause of +investigation could be adduced. It was all very simple indeed--as it +appeared there and then. + +The butler, a solemn-faced, respectable type of the old family +serving-man, spoke as to his identification of the dead master's body, +and gave his evidence in a few sentences. Mr. Mallathorpe, he said, had +gone out of the front door of the Grange at half-past two on Saturday +afternoon, carrying a gun, and had turned into the road leading towards +the South Shrubbery. At about three o'clock Mr. Pratt had come running +up the drive to the house, and told him and Miss Mallathorpe that he had +just found Mr. Mallathorpe lying dead in the sunken cut between the +South and North Shrubbery. Nobody had any question to ask the butler. +Nor were any questions asked of Pratt--the one really important witness. + +Pratt gave his evidence tersely and admirably. On Saturday morning he +had seen an advertisement in the Barford newspapers which stated that a +steward and agent was wanted for the Normandale Estate, and all +applications were to be made to Mrs. Mallathorpe. Desirous of applying +for the post, he had written out a formal letter during Saturday +morning, had obtained a testimonial from his present employers, Messrs. +Eldrick & Pascoe, and, anxious to present his application as soon as +possible, had decided to take it to Normandale Grange himself, that +afternoon. He had left Barford by the two o'clock train, which arrived +at Normandale at two-thirty-five. Knowing the district well, he had +taken the path through the plantations. Arrived at the foot-bridge, he +had at once noticed that part of it had fallen in. Looking into the +cutting, he had seen a man lying in the roadway beneath--motionless. He +had scrambled down the side of the cutting, discovered that the man was +Mr. Harper Mallathorpe, and that he was dead, and had immediately +hurried up the road to the house, where he had informed the last witness +and Miss Mallathorpe. + +A quite plain story, evidently thought everybody--no questions needed. +Nor were there any questions needed in the case of the only other +witnesses--the estate carpenter who said that the foot-bridge was very +old, but that he had not been aware that it was in quite so bad a +condition, and who gave it as his opinion that the recent heavy rains +had had something to do with the matter; and the doctor who testified +that the victim had suffered injuries which would produce absolutely +instantaneous death. A clear case--nothing could be clearer, said the +coroner to his obedient jury, who presently returned the only +verdict--one of accidental death--which, on the evidence, was possible. + +Collingwood heard no comments on the inquest from those who were +present. But that evening, as he sat in his parlour at the _Normandale +Arms_, the landlord, coming in on pretence of attending to the fire, +approached him with an air of mystery and jerked his thumb in the +direction of the regions which he had just quitted. + +"You remember what we were talking of this afternoon when you come in, +sir?" he whispered. "There's some of 'em--regular nightly customers, +village folk, you understand--talking of the same thing now, and of this +here inquest. And if you'd like to hear a bit of what you may call local +opinion--and especially one man's--I'll put you where you can hear it, +without being seen. It's worth hearing, anyway." + +Collingwood, curious to know what the village wiseacres had to say, +rose, and followed the landlord into a small room at the back of the +bar-parlour. + +An open hatchment in the wall, covered by a thin curtain, allowed him to +hear every word which came from what appeared to be a full company. But +it was quickly evident that in that company there was one man who either +was, or wished to be dictator and artifex--a man of loud voice and +domineering tone, who was laying down the law to the accompaniment of +vigorous thumpings of the table at which he sat. "What I say is--and I +say it agen---I reckon nowt at all o' crowners' quests!" he was +affirming, as Collingwood and his guide drew near the curtained opening. +"What is a crowner's quest, anyway? It's nowt but formality--all form +and show--it means nowt. All them 'at sits on t' jury does and says just +what t' crowner tells 'em to say and do. They nivver ax no questions out +o' their own mouths--they're as dumb as sheep--that's what yon jury wor +this mornin'--now then!" + +"That's James Stringer, the blacksmith," whispered the landlord, coming +close to Collingwood's elbow. "He thinks he knows everything!" + +"And pray, what would you ha' done, Mestur Stringer, if you'd been on +yon jury?" inquired a milder voice. "I suppose ye'd ha' wanted to know a +bit more, what?" "Mestur Stringer 'ud ha' wanted to know a deal more," +observed another voice. "He would do!" + +"There's a many things I want to know," continued the blacksmith, with a +stout thump of the table. "They all tak' it for granted 'at young squire +walked on to yon bridge, an' 'at it theer and then fell to pieces. Who +see'd it fall to pieces? Who was theer to see what did happen?" + +"What else did happen or could happen nor what were testified to?" asked +a new voice. "Theer wor what they call circumstantial evidence to show +how all t' affair happened!" + +"Circumstantial evidence be blowed!" sneered the blacksmith heartily. "I +reckon nowt o' circumstantial evidence! Look ye here! How do you +know--how does anybody know 'at t' young squire worn't thrown off that +bridge, and 'at t' bridge collapsed when he wor thrown? He might ha' met +somebody on t' bridge, and quarrelled wi' 'em, and whoivver it wor might +ha' been t' strongest man, and flung him into t' road beneath!" + +"Aye, but i' that case t' other feller--t' assailant--'ud ha' fallen wi' +him," objected somebody. + +"Nowt o' t' sort!" retorted the blacksmith. "He'd be safe on t' sound +part o' t' bridge--it's only a piece on 't that gave way. I say that +theer idea wants in-quirin' into. An' theer's another thing--what wor +that lawyer-clerk chap fro' Barford--Pratt--doin' about theer? What +reight had he to be prowlin' round t' neighbourhood o' that bridge, and +at that time? Come, now!--theer's a tickler for somebody." + +"He telled that," exclaimed several voices. "He had business i' t' +place. He had some papers to 'liver." + +"Then why didn't he go t' nearest way to t' house t' 'liver 'em?" +demanded Stringer. "T' shortest way to t' house fro' t' railway station +is straight up t' carriage drive--not through them plantations. I ax +agen--what wor that feller doin' theer? It's important." + +"Why, ye don't suspect him of owt, do yer, Mestur Stringer?" asked +somebody. "A respectable young feller like that theer--come!" + +"I'm sayin' nowt about suspectin' nobody!" vociferated the blacksmith. +"I'm doin' nowt but puttin' a case, as t' lawyers 'ud term it. I say 'at +theer's a lot o' things 'at owt to ha' comed out. I'll tell ye one on +'em--how is it 'at nowt--not a single word--wor said at yon inquest +about Mrs. Mallathorpe and t' affair? Not one word!" + +A sudden silence fell on the company, and the landlord tapped +Collingwood's arm and took the liberty of winking at him. + +"Why," inquired somebody, at last, "what about Mrs. Mallathorpe and t' +affair? What had she to do wi' t' affair?" + +The blacksmith's voice became judicial in its solemnity. + +"Ye listen to me!" he said with emphasis. "I know what I'm talking +about. Ye know what came out at t' inquest. When this here Pratt ran to +tell t' news at t' house he returned to what they term t' fatal spot i' +company wi' t' butler, and a couple of footmen, and Dan Scholes, one o' +t' grooms. Now theer worn't a word said at t' inquest about what that +lot--five on em, mind yer--found when they reached t' dead corpse--not +one word! But I know--Dan Scholes tell'd me!" + +"What did they find, then, Mestur Stringer?" asked an eager member of +the assemblage. "What wor it?" + +The blacksmith's voice sank to a mysterious whisper. + +"I'll tell yer!" he replied. "They found Mrs. Mallathorpe, lyin' i' a +dead faint--close by! And they say 'at she's nivver done nowt but go out +o' one faint into another, ivver since. So, of course, she's nivver been +able to tell if she saw owt or knew owt! And what I say is," he +concluded, with a heavy thump of the table, "that theer crowner's quest +owt to ha' been what they term adjourned, until Mrs. Mallathorpe could +tell if she did see owt, or if she knew owt, or heer'd owt! She mun ha' +been close by--or else they wo'dn't ha' found her lyin' theer aside o' +t' corpse. What did she see? What did she hear? Does she know owt? I +tell ye 'at theer's questions 'at wants answerin'--and theer's trouble +ahead for somebody if they aren't answered--now then!" + +Collingwood went away from his retreat, beckoning the landlord to +follow. In the parlour he turned to him. + +"Have you heard anything of what Stringer said just now?" he asked. "I +mean--about Mrs. Mallathorpe?" + +"Heard just the same--and from the same chap, Scholes, the groom, sir," +replied the landlord. "Oh, yes! Of course, people will wonder why they +didn't get some evidence from Mrs. Mallathorpe--just as Stringer says." + +Collingwood sat a long time that night, thinking over the things he had +heard. He came to the conclusion that the domineering blacksmith was +right in one of his dogmatic assertions--there was trouble ahead. And +next morning, before going up to the Grange, he went to the nearest +telegraph office, and sent Sir John Standridge a lengthy message in +which he resigned the appointment that would have taken him to India. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +THE POWER OF ATTORNEY + + +Collingwood had many things to think over as he walked across Normandale +Park that morning. He had deliberately given up his Indian appointment +for Nesta's sake, so that he might be near her in case the trouble which +he feared arose suddenly. But it was too soon yet to let her know that +she was the cause of his altered arrangements--in any case, that was not +the time to tell her that it was on her account that he had altered +them. + +He must make some plausible excuse: then he must settle down in Barford, +according to Eldrick's suggestion. He would then be near at hand--and if +the trouble, whatever it might be, took tangible form, he would be able +to help. But he was still utterly in the dark as to what that possible +trouble might be--yet, of one thing he felt convinced--it would have +some connection with Pratt. + +He remembered, as he walked along, that he had formed some queer, uneasy +suspicion about Pratt when he first hurried down to Barford on hearing +of Antony Bartle's death: that feeling, subsequently allayed to some +extent, had been revived. There might be nothing in it, he said to +himself, over and over again; everything that seemed strange might be +easily explained; the evidence of Pratt at the inquest had appeared +absolutely truthful and straightforward, and yet the blunt, rough, +downright question of the blacksmith, crudely voiced as it was, found a +ready agreement in Collingwood's mind. As he drew near the house he +found himself repeating Stringer's broad Yorkshire--"What wor that +lawyer-clerk chap fro' Barford--Pratt--doin' about theer? What reight +had he to be prowlin' round t' neighbourhood o' that bridge, and at that +time? Come, now--theer's a tickler for somebody!" And even as he smiled +at the remembrance of the whole rustic conversation of the previous +evening, and thought that the blacksmith's question certainly might be a +ticklish one--for somebody--he looked up from the frosted grass at his +feet, and saw Pratt. + +Pratt, a professional-looking bag in his hand, a morning newspaper under +the other arm, was standing at the gate of one of the numerous +shrubberies which flanked the Grange, talking to a woman who leaned over +it. Collingwood recognized her as a person whom he had twice seen in the +house during his visits on the day before---a middle-aged, slightly +built woman, neatly dressed in black, and wearing a sort of nurse's cap +which seemed to denote some degree of domestic servitude. She was a +woman who had once been pretty, and who still retained much of her good +looks; she was also evidently of considerable shrewdness and +intelligence and possessed a pair of remarkably quick eyes--the sort of +eyes, thought Collingwood, that see everything that happens within their +range of vision. And she had a firm chin and a mouth which expressed +determination; he had seen all that as she exchanged some conversation +with the old butler in Collingwood's presence--a noticeable woman +altogether. She was evidently in close conference with Pratt at that +moment--but as Collingwood drew near she turned and went slowly in the +direction of the house, while Pratt, always outwardly polite, stepped +towards the interrupter of this meeting, and lifted his hat. + +"Good morning, Mr. Collingwood," he said. "A fine, sharp morning, sir! I +was just asking Mrs. Mallathorpe's maid how her mistress is this +morning--she was very ill when I left last night. Better, sir, I'm glad +to say--Mrs. Mallathorpe has had a much better night." + +"I'm very pleased to hear it," replied Collingwood. He was going towards +the front of the Grange, and Pratt walked at his side, evidently in the +same direction. "I am afraid she has had a great shock. You are still +here, then?" he went on, feeling bound to make some remark, and saying +the first obvious thing. "Still busy?" + +"Mr. Eldrick has lent me--so to speak--until the funeral's over, +tomorrow," answered Pratt. "There are a lot of little things in which I +can be useful, you know, Mr. Collingwood. I suppose your +arrangements--you said you were sailing for India--won't permit of your +being present tomorrow, sir?" + +Collingwood was not sure if the clerk was fishing for information. +Pratt's manner was always polite, his questions so innocently put, that +it was difficult to know what he was actually after. But he was not +going to give him any information--either then, or at any time. + +"I don't quite know what my arrangements may be," he answered. And just +then they came to the front entrance, and Collingwood was taken off in +one direction by a footman, while Pratt, who already seemed to be fully +acquainted with the house and its arrangements, took himself and his bag +away in another. + +Nesta came to Collingwood looking less anxious than when he had left her +at his last call the night before. He had already told her what his +impressions of the inquest were, and he was now wondering whether to +tell her of the things he had heard said at the village inn. But +remembering that he was now going to stay in the neighbourhood, he +decided to say nothing at that time--if there was anything in these +vague feelings and suspicions it would come out, and could be dealt with +when it arose. At present he had need of a little diplomacy. + +"Oh!--I wanted to tell you," he said, after talking to her awhile about +Mrs. Mallathorpe. "I--there's a change in my arrangements, I'm not going +to India, after all." + +He was not prepared for the sudden flush that came over the girl's face. +It took him aback. It also told him a good deal that he was glad to +know--and it was only by a strong effort of will that he kept himself +from taking her hands and telling her the truth. But he affected not to +see anything, and he went on talking rapidly. "Complete change in the +arrangements at the last minute," he said. "I've just been writing about +it. So--as that's off, I think I shall follow Eldrick's advice, and take +chambers in Barford for a time, and see how things turn out. I'm going +into Barford now, to see Eldrick about all that." + +Nesta, who was conscious of her betrayal of more than she cared to show +just then, tried to speak calmly. + +"But--isn't it an awful disappointment?" she said. "You were looking +forward so to going there, weren't you?" + +"Can't be helped," replied Collingwood. "All these affairs +are--provisional. I thought I'd tell you at once, however--so that +you'll know--if you ever want me--that I shall be somewhere round about. +In fact, as it's quite comfortable there, I shall stop at the inn until +I've got rooms in the town." + +Then, not trusting himself to remain longer, he went off to Barford, +certain that he was now definitely pledged in his own mind to Nesta +Mallathorpe, and not much less that when the right time came she would +not be irresponsive to him. And on that, like a cold douche, came the +remembrance of her actual circumstances--she was what Eldrick had said, +one of the wealthiest young women in Yorkshire. The thought of her +riches made Collingwood melancholy for a while--he possessed a curious +sort of pride which made him hate and loathe the notion of being taken +for a fortune-hunter. But suddenly, and with a laugh, he remembered that +he had certain possessions of his own--ability, knowledge, and +perseverance. Before he reached Eldrick's office, he had had a vision of +the Woolsack. + +Eldrick received Collingwood's news with evident gratification. He +immediately suggested certain chambers in an adjacent building; he +volunteered information as to where the best rooms in the town were to +be had. And in proof of his practical interest in Collingwood's career, +he there and then engaged his professional services for two cases which +were to be heard at a local court within the following week. + +"Pratt shall deliver the papers to you at once," he said. "That is, as +soon as he's back from Normandale this afternoon. I sent him there again +to make himself useful." + +"I saw him this morning," remarked Collingwood. "He appears to be a very +useful person." + +"Clever chap," asserted Eldrick, carelessly. "I don't know what'll be +done about that stewardship that he was going to apply for. Everything +will be altered now that young Mallathorpe's dead. Of course, I, +personally, shouldn't have thought that Pratt would have done for a job +like that, but Pratt has enough self-assurance and self-confidence for a +dozen men, and he thought he would do, and I couldn't refuse him a +testimonial. And as he's made himself very useful out there, it may be +that if this steward business goes forward, Pratt will get the +appointment. As I say, he's a smart chap." + +Collingwood offered no comment. But he was conscious that it would not +be at all pleasing to him to know that Linford Pratt held any official +position at Normandale. Foolish as it might be, mere inspiration though +it probably was, he could not get over his impression that Eldrick's +clerk was not precisely trustworthy. And yet, he reflected, he himself +could do nothing--it would be utter presumption on his part to offer any +gratuitous advice to Nesta Mallathorpe in business matters. He was very +certain of what he eventually meant to say to her about his own personal +hopes, some time hence, when all the present trouble was over, but in +the meantime, as regarded anything else, he could only wait and watch, +and be of service to her if she asked him to render any. + +Some time went by before Collingwood was asked to render service of any +sort. At Normandale Grange, events progressed in apparently ordinary and +normal fashion. Harper Mallathorpe was buried; his mother began to make +some recovery from the shock of his death; the legal folk were busied in +putting Nesta in possession of the estate, and herself and her mother in +proprietorship of the mill and the personal property. In Barford, things +went on as usual, too. Pratt continued his round of duties at Eldrick & +Pascoe's; no more was heard--by outsiders, at any rate--of the +stewardship at Normandale. As for Collingwood, he settled down in +chambers and lodgings and, as Eldrick had predicted, found plenty of +work. And he constantly went out to Normandale Grange, and often met +Nesta elsewhere, and their knowledge of each other increased, and as the +winter passed away and spring began to show on the Normandale woods and +moors, Collingwood felt that the time was coming when he might speak. He +was professionally engaged in London for nearly three weeks in the early +part of that spring--when he returned, he had made up his mind to tell +Nesta the truth, at once. He had faced it for himself--he was by that +time so much in love with her that he was not going to let monetary +considerations prevent him from telling her so. + +But Collingwood found something else than love to talk about when he +presented himself at Normandale Grange on the morning after his arrival +from his three weeks' absence in town. As soon as he met her, he saw +that Nesta was not only upset and troubled, but angry. + +"I am glad you have come," she said, when they were alone. "I want some +advice. Something has happened--something that bothers--and puzzles--me +very, very much! I'm dreadfully bothered." + +"Tell me," suggested Collingwood. + +Nesta frowned--at some recollection or thought. + +"Yesterday afternoon," she answered, "I was obliged to go into Barford, +on business. I left my mother fairly well---she has been recovering fast +lately, and she only has one nurse now. Unfortunately, she, too, was out +for the afternoon. I came back to find my mother ill and much +upset---and there's no use denying it--she'd all the symptoms of having +been--well, frightened. I can't think of any other term than +that--frightened. And then I learned that, in my absence, Mr. Eldrick's +clerk, Mr. Pratt--you know him--had been here, and had been with her for +quite an hour. I am furiously angry!" + +Collingwood had expected this announcement as soon as she began to +explain. So--the trouble was beginning! + +"How came Pratt to be admitted to your mother?" he asked. + +"That makes me angry, too," answered Nesta. "Though I confess I ought to +be angry with myself for not giving stricter orders. I left the house +about two--he came about three, and asked to see my mother's maid, +Esther Mawson. He told her that it was absolutely necessary for him to +see my mother on business, and she told my mother he was there. My +mother consented to see him--and he was taken up. And as I say, I found +her ill--and frightened--and that's not the worst of it!" + +"What is the worst of it?" asked Collingwood, anxiously. "Better tell +me!--I may be able to do something." + +"The worst of it," she said, "is just this--my mother won't tell me what +that man came about! She flatly refuses to tell me anything! She will +only say that it was business of her own. She won't trust me with it, +you see!--her own daughter! What business can that man have with +her?--or she with him? Eldrick & Pascoe are not our solicitors! There's +some secret and----" + +"Will you answer one or two questions?" said Collingwood quietly. He had +never seen Nesta angry before, and he now realized that she had certain +possibilities of temper and determination which would be formidable when +roused. "First of all, is that maid you speak of, Esther Mawson, +reliable?" + +"I don't know!" answered Nesta. "My mother has had her two years--she's +a Barford woman. Sometimes I think she's sly and cunning. But I've given +her such strict orders now that she'll never dare to let any one see my +mother again without my consent." + +"The other question's this," said Collingwood. "Have you any idea, any +suspicion of why Pratt wanted to see your mother?" + +"Not unless it was about that stewardship," replied Nesta. "But--how +could that frighten her? Besides, all that's over. Normandale is +mine!--and if I have a steward, or an estate agent, I shall see to the +appointment myself. No!--I do not know why he should have come here! +But--there's some mystery. The curious thing is----" + +"What?" asked Collingwood, as she paused. + +"Why," she said, shaking her head wonderingly, "that I'm absolutely +certain that my mother never even knew this man Pratt--I don't I think +she even knew his name--until quite recently. I know when she got to +know him, too. It was just about the time that you first called here--at +the time of Mr. Bartle's death. Our butler told me this morning that +Pratt came here late one evening--just about that time!--and asked to +see my mother, and was with her for some time in the study. Oh! what is +it all about?--and why doesn't she tell me?" + +Collingwood stood silently staring out of the window. At the time of +Antony Bartle's death? An evening visit?--evidently of a secret nature. +And why paid to Mrs. Mallathorpe at that particular time? He suddenly +turned to Nesta. + +"What do you wish me to do?" he asked. + +"Will you speak to Mr. Eldrick?" she said. "Tell him that his clerk must +not call upon, or attempt to see, my mother. I will not have it!" + +Collingwood went off to Barford, and straight to Eldrick's office. He +noticed as he passed through the outer rooms that Pratt was not in his +accustomed place--as a rule, it was impossible to get at either Eldrick +or Pascoe without first seeing Pratt. + +"Hullo!" said Eldrick. "Just got in from town? That's lucky--I've got a +big case for you." + +"I got in last night," replied Collingwood. "But I went out to +Normandale first thing this morning: I've just come back from there. I +say, Eldrick, here's an unpleasant matter to tell you of"; and he told +the solicitor all that Nesta had just told him, and also of Pratt's +visit to Mrs. Mallathorpe about the time of Antony Bartle's death. +"Whatever it is," he concluded sternly, "it's got to stop! If you've any +influence over your clerk----" + +Eldrick made a grimace and waved his hand. + +"He's our clerk no longer!" he said. "He left us the week after you went +up to town, Collingwood. He was only a weekly servant, and he took +advantage of that to give me a week's notice. Now, what game is Master +Pratt playing? He's smart, and he's deep, too. He----" + +Just then an office-boy announced Mr. Robson, the Mallathorpe family +solicitor, a bustling, rather rough-and-ready type of man, who came into +Eldrick's room looking not only angry but astonished. He nodded to +Collingwood, and flung himself into a chair at the side of Eldrick's +desk. + +"Look here, Eldrick!" he exclaimed. "What on earth has that clerk of +yours, Pratt, got to do with Mrs. Mallathorpe? Do you know what Mrs. +Mallathorpe has done? Hang it, she must be out of her senses,--or--or +there's something I can't fathom. She's given your clerk, Linford Pratt, +a power of attorney to deal with all her affairs and all her property! +Oh, it's all right, I tell you! Pratt's been to my office, and exhibited +it to me as if--as if he were the Lord Chancellor!" + +Eldrick turned to Collingwood, and Collingwood to Eldrick--and then both +turned to Robson. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +THE FIRST TRICK + + +The Mallathorpe family solicitor shook his head impatiently under those +questioning glances. + +"It's not a bit of use appealing to me to know what it means!" he +exclaimed. "I know no more than what I've told you. That chap walked +into my office as bold as brass, half an hour ago, and exhibited to me a +power of attorney, all duly drawn up and stamped, executed in his favour +by Mrs. Mallathorpe yesterday. And as Mrs. Mallathorpe is, as far as I +know, in her senses,--why--there you are!" + +"What is it?" asked Eldrick. "A general power? Or a special?" + +"General!" answered Robson, with an air of disgust. "Authorizes him to +act for her in all business matters. It means, of course, that that +fellow now has full control over--why, a tremendous amount of money! The +estate, of course, is Miss Mallathorpe's--he can't interfere with that. +But Mrs. Mallathorpe shares equally with her daughter as regards the +personal property of Harper Mallathorpe--his share in the business, and +all that he left, and what's more, Mrs. Mallathorpe is administratrix of +the personal property. She's simply placed in Pratt's hands an enormous +power! And--for what reason? Who on earth is Pratt--what right, title, +age, or qualification, has he to be entrusted with such a big affair? I +never knew of such a business in the whole course of my professional +experiences!" + +"Nor I!" agreed Eldrick. "But there's one thing in which you're +mistaken, Robson. You ask what qualification Pratt has for a post of +that sort? Pratt's a very smart, clever, managing chap!" + +"Oh, of course! He's your clerk!" retorted Robson, a little sneeringly. +"Naturally, you've a big idea of his abilities. But----" + +"He's not our clerk any longer," said Eldrick. "He left us about a week +ago. I heard this morning that he's set up an office in Market +Street--in the Atlas Building--and I wondered for what purpose." + +"Purpose of fleecing Mrs. Mallathorpe, I should say!" grumbled Robson. +"Of course, everything of hers must pass through his hands. What on +earth can her daughter have been thinking of to allow----" + +"Stop a bit!" interrupted Eldrick. "Collingwood came in to tell me about +that--he's just come from Normandale Grange. Miss Mallathorpe complains +that Pratt called there yesterday in her absence. That's probably when +this power of attorney was signed. But Miss Mallathorpe doesn't know +anything of it--she insists that Pratt shall not visit her mother." + +Robson stirred impatiently in his chair. + +"That's all bosh!" he said. "She can't prevent it. I saw Mrs. +Mallathorpe myself three days ago--she's recovering very well, and she's +in her right senses, and she's capable of doing business. Her daughter +can't prevent her from doing anything she likes! And if she did what she +liked yesterday when she signed that document--why, everybody's +powerless--except Pratt." + +"There's the question of how the document was obtained," remarked +Collingwood. "There may have been undue influence." + +The two solicitors looked at each other. Then Eldrick rose from his +chair. "I'll tell you what I'll do," he said. "It's no affair of mine, +but we employed Pratt for years, and he'll confide in me. I'll go and +see him, and ask him what it's all about. Wait here a while, you two." + +He went out of his office and across into Market Street, where the Atlas +Building, a modern range of offices and chambers, towered above the +older structures at its foot. In the entrance hall a man was gilding the +name of a new tenant on the address board--that name was Pratt's, and +Eldrick presently found himself ascending in the lift to Pratt's +quarters on the fifth floor. Within five minutes of leaving Collingwood +and Robson, he was closeted with Pratt in a well-furnished and appointed +little office of two rooms, the inner one of which was almost luxurious +in its fittings. And Pratt himself looked extremely well satisfied, and +confident--and quite at his ease. He wheeled forward an easy chair for +his visitor, and pushed a box of cigarettes towards him. + +"Glad to see you, Mr. Eldrick," he said, with a cordial politeness which +suggested, however, somehow, that he and the solicitor were no longer +master and servant. "How do you like my little place of business?" + +"You're making a comfortable nest of it, anyhow, Pratt," answered +Eldrick, looking round. "And--what sort of business are you going to do, +pray?" + +"Agency," replied Pratt, promptly. "It struck me some little time ago +that a smart man,--like myself, eh?--could do well here in Barford as an +agent in a new sort of fashion--attending to things for people who +aren't fitted or inclined to do 'em for themselves--or are rich enough +to employ somebody to look after their affairs. Of course, that +Normandale stewardship dropped out when young Harper died, and I don't +suppose the notion 'll be revived now that his sister's come in. But +I've got one good job to go on with---Mrs. Mallathorpe's given me her +affairs to look after." + +Eldrick took one of the cigarettes and lighted it--as a sign of his +peaceable and amicable intentions. + +"Pratt!" he said. "That's just what I've come to see you about. +Unofficially, mind--in quite a friendly way. It's like this"; and he +went on to tell Pratt of what had just occurred at his own office. +"So--there you are," he concluded. "I'm saying nothing, you know, it's +no affair of mine--but if these people begin to say that you've used any +undue influence----" + +"Mr. Collingwood, and Mr. Robson, and Miss Mallathorpe--and anybody," +answered Pratt, slowly and firmly, "had better mind what they are +saying, Mr. Eldrick. There's such a thing as slander, as you're well +aware. I'm not the man to be slandered, or libelled, or to have my +character defamed--without fighting for my rights. There has been no +undue influence! I went to see Mrs. Mallathorpe yesterday at her own +request. The arrangement between me and her is made with her approval +and free will. If her daughter found her a bit upset, it's because she'd +such a shock at the time of her son's death. I did nothing to frighten +her, not I! The fact is, Miss Mallathorpe doesn't know that her mother +and I have had a bit of business together of late. And all that Mrs. +Mallathorpe has entrusted to me is the power to look after her affairs +for her. And why not? You know that I'm a good man of business, a really +good hand at commercial accountancy, and well acquainted with the trade +of this town. You know too, Mr. Eldrick, that I'm scrupulously +honest--I've had many and many a thousand pounds of yours and your +partner's through my hands! Who's got anything to say against me? I'm +only trying to earn an honest living." + +"Well, well!" said Eldrick, who, being an easy-going and +kindly-dispositioned man, was somewhat inclined to side with his old +clerk. "I suppose Mr. Robson thinks that if Mrs. Mallathorpe wished to +put her affairs in anybody's hands, she should have put them in his. +He's their family solicitor, you know, Pratt, while you're a young man +with no claim on Mrs. Mallathorpe." + +Pratt smiled--a queer, knowing smile--and reached out his hand to some +papers which lay on his desk. + +"You're wrong there, Mr. Eldrick," he said. "But of course, you don't +know. I didn't know myself, nor did Mrs. Mallathorpe, until lately. But +I have a claim--and a good one--to get a business lift from Mrs. +Mallathorpe. I'm a relation." + +"What--of the Mallathorpe family?" exclaimed Eldrick, whose legal mind +was at once bitten by notion of kinship and succession, and who knew +that Harper Mallathorpe was supposed to have no male relatives at all, +of any degree. "You don't mean it?" + +"No!--but of hers, Mrs. Mallathorpe," answered Pratt. "My mother was her +cousin. I found that out by mere chance, and when I'd found it, I worked +out the facts from our parish church register. They're all here--fairly +copied--Mrs. Mallathorpe has seen them. So I have some claim--even if +it's only that of a poor relation." + +Eldrick took the sheets of foolscap which Pratt handed to him, and +looked them over with interest and curiosity. He was something of an +expert in such matters, and had helped to edit a print more than once of +the local parish registers. He soon saw from a hasty examination of the +various entries of marriages and births that Pratt was quite right in +what he said. + +"I call it a poor--and a mean--game," remarked Pratt, while his old +master was thus occupied, "a very mean game indeed, of well-to-do folk +like Mr. Collingwood and Mr. Robson to want to injure me in a matter +which is no business of theirs. I shall do my duty by Mrs. +Mallathorpe--you yourself know I'm fully competent to do it--and I shall +fully earn the percentage that she'll pay me. What right have these +people--what right has her daughter--to come between me and my living?" + +"Oh, well, well!" said Eldrick, as he handed back the papers and rose. +"It's one of those matters that hasn't been understood. You made a +mistake, you know, Pratt, when you went to see Mrs. Mallathorpe yesterday +in her daughter's absence. You shouldn't have done that." + +Pratt pulled open a drawer and, after turning over some loose papers, +picked out a letter. + +"Do you know Mrs. Mallathorpe's handwriting?" he asked. "Very +well--there it is! Isn't that a request from her that I should call on +her yesterday afternoon? Very well then!" + +Eldrick looked at the letter with some surprise. He had a good memory, +and he remembered that Collingwood had told him that Nesta had said that +Pratt had gone to Normandale Grange, seen Esther Mawson, and told her +that it was absolutely necessary for him to see Mrs. Mallathorpe. And +though Eldrick was naturally unsuspicious, an idea flashed across his +mind--had Pratt got Mrs. Mallathorpe to write that letter while he was +there--yesterday--and brought it away with him? + +"I think there's a good deal of misunderstanding," he said. "Mr. +Collingwood says that you went there and told her maid that it was +absolutely necessary for you to see her mistress--sort of forced +yourself in, you see, Pratt." + +"Nothing of the sort!" retorted Pratt. He flourished the letter in his +hand. "Doesn't it say there, in Mrs. Mallathorpe's own handwriting, that +she particularly desires to see me at three o'clock? It does! Then it +was absolutely necessary for me to see her. Come, now! And Mr. +Collingwood had best attend to his own business. What's he got to do +with all this? After Miss Mallathorpe and her money, I should +think!--that's about it!" + +Eldrick said another soothing word or two, and went back to his own +office. He was considerably mystified by certain things, but inclined to +be satisfied about others, and in giving an account of what had just +taken place he unconsciously seemed to take Pratt's side--much to +Robson's disgust, and to Collingwood's astonishment. + +"You can't get over this, you know, Robson," said Eldrick. "Pratt went +there yesterday by appointment--went at Mrs. Mallathorpe's own express +desire, made in her own handwriting. And it's quite certain that what he +says about the relationship is true---I examined the proof myself. It's +not unnatural that Mrs. Mallathorpe should desire to do something for +her own cousin's son." + +"To that extent?" sneered Robson. "Bless me, you talk as if it were no +more than presenting him with a twenty pound note, instead of its being +what it is--giving him the practical control of many a thousand pounds +every year. There'll be more heard of this--yet!" + +He went away angrier than when he came, and Eldrick looked at +Collingwood and shook his head. + +"I don't see what more there is to do," he said. "So far as I can make +out, or see, Pratt is within his rights. If Mrs. Mallathorpe liked to +entrust her business to him, what is to prevent it? I see nothing at all +strange in that. But there is a fact which does seem uncommonly strange +to me! It's this--how is it that Mrs. Mallathorpe doesn't consult, +hasn't consulted--doesn't inform, hasn't informed--her daughter about +all this?" + +"That," answered Collingwood, "is precisely what strikes me--and I can't +give any explanation. Nor, I believe, can Miss Mallathorpe." + +He felt obliged to go back to Normandale, and tell Nesta the result of +the afternoon's proceedings. And having seen during his previous visit +how angry she could be, he was not surprised to see her become angrier +and more determined than ever. + +"I will not have Mr. Pratt coming here!" she exclaimed. "He shall not +see my mother--under my roof, at any rate. I don't believe she sent for +him." + +"Mr. Eldrick saw her letter!" interrupted Collingwood quietly. + +"Then that man made her write it while he was here!" exclaimed Nesta. +"As to the relationship--it may be so. I never heard of it. But I don't +care what relation he is to my mother--he is not going to interfere with +her affairs!" + +"The strange thing," said Collingwood, as pointedly as was consistent +with kindness, "is that your mother--just now, at any rate--doesn't seem +to be taking you into her confidence." + +Nesta looked steadily at him for a moment, without speaking. When she +did speak it was with decision. + +"Quite so!" she said. "She is keeping something from me! And if she +won't tell me things--well, I must find them out for myself." + +She would say no more than that, and Collingwood left her. And as he +went back to Barford he cursed Linford Pratt soundly for a deep and +underhand rogue who was most certainly playing some fine game. + +But Pratt himself was quite satisfied--up to that point. He had won his +first trick and he had splendid cards still left in his hand. And he was +reckoning his chances on them one morning a little later when a ring at +his bell summoned him to his office door--whereat stood Nesta +Mallathorpe, alone. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +CARDS ON THE TABLE + + +Had any third person been present, closely to observe the meeting of +these two young people, he would have seen that the one to whom it was +unexpected and a surprise was outwardly as calm and self-possessed as if +the other had come there to keep an ordinary business appointment. + +Nesta Mallathorpe, looking very dignified and almost stately in her +mourning, was obviously angry, indignant, and agitated. But Pratt was as +cool and as fully at his ease as if he were back in Eldrick's office, +receiving the everyday ordinary client. He swept his door open and +executed his politest bow--and was clever enough to pretend that he saw +nothing of his visitor's agitation. Yet deep within himself he felt more +tremors than one, and it needed all his powers of dissimulation to act +and speak as if this were the most usual of occurrences. + +"Good morning, Miss Mallathorpe!" he said. "You wish to see me? Come +into my private office, if you please. I haven't fixed on a clerk yet," +he went on, as he led his visitor through the outer room, and to the +easy chair by his desk. "I have several applications from promising +aspirants, but I have to be careful, you know, Miss Mallathorpe--it's a +position of confidence. And now," he concluded, as he closed the door +upon Nesta and himself, "how is Mrs. Mallathorpe today? Improving, I +hope?" + +Nesta made no reply to these remarks, or to the question. And instead of +taking the easy chair which Eldrick had found so comfortable, she went +to one which stood against the wall opposite Pratt's desk and seated +herself in it in as upright a position as the wall behind her. + +"I wish to speak to you--plainly!" she said, as Pratt, who now regarded +her somewhat doubtfully, realizing that he was in for business of a +serious nature, sat down at his desk. "I want to ask you a plain +question--and I expect a plain answer. Why are you blackmailing my +mother?" + +Pratt shook his head--as if he felt more sorrow than anger. He glanced +deprecatingly at his visitor. + +"I think you'll be sorry--on reflection--that you said that, Miss +Mallathorpe," he answered. "You're a little--shall we say--upset? A +little--shall we say--angry? If you were calmer, you wouldn't say such +things--you wouldn't use such a term as--blackmailing. It's--dear me, I +dare say you don't know it!--it's actionable. If I were that sort of +man, Miss Mallathorpe, and you said that of me before witnesses--ah! I +don't know what mightn't happen. However--I'm not that sort of man. +But--don't say it again, if you please!" + +"If you don't answer my question--and at once," said Nesta, whose cheeks +were pale with angry determination, "I shall say it again in a fashion +you won't like--not to you, but to the police!" + +Pratt smiled--a quiet, strange smile which made his visitor feel a +sudden sense of fear. And again he shook his head, slowly and +deprecatingly. + +"Oh, no!" he said gently. "That's a bigger mistake than the other, Miss +Mallathorpe! The police! Oh, not the police, I think, Miss Mallathorpe. +You see--other people than you might go to the police--about something +else." + +Nesta's anger cooled down under that scarcely veiled threat. The sight +of Pratt, of his self-assurance, his comfortable offices, his general +atmosphere of almost sleek satisfaction, had roused her temper, already +strained to breaking point. But that smile, and the quiet look which +accompanied his last words, warned her that anger was mere foolishness, +and that she was in the presence of a man who would have to be dealt +with calmly if the dealings were to be successful. Yet--she repeated her +words, but this time in a different tone. + +"I shall certainly go to the police authorities," she said, "unless I +get some proper explanation from you. I shall have no option. You are +forcing--or have forced--my mother to enter into some strange +arrangements with you, and I can't think it is for anything but what I +say--blackmail. You've got--or you think you've got--some hold on her. +Now what is it? I mean to know, one way or another!" + +"Miss Mallathorpe," said Pratt. "You're taking a wrong course--with me. +Now who advised you to come here and speak to me like this, as if I were +a common criminal? Mr. Collingwood, no doubt? Or perhaps Mr. Robson? Now +if either----" + +"Neither Mr. Robson nor Mr. Collingwood know anything whatever about my +coming here!" retorted Nesta. "No one knows! I am quite competent to +manage my own affairs--of this sort. I want to know why my mother has +been forced into that arrangement with you--for I am sure you have +forced her! If you will not tell me why--then I shall do what I said." + +"You'll go to the police authorities?" asked Pratt. "Ah!--but let us +consider things a little, Miss Mallathorpe. Now, to start with, who says +there has been any forcing? I know one person who won't say so--and +that's your mother herself!" + +Nesta felt unable to answer that assertion. And Pratt smiled +triumphantly and went on. + +"She'll tell you--Mrs. Mallathorpe'll tell you--that she's very pleased +indeed to have my poor services," he said. "She knows that I shall serve +her well. She's glad to do a kind service to a poor relation. And since +I am your mother's relation, Miss Mallathorpe, I'm yours, too. I'm some +degree of cousin to you. You might think rather better, rather more +kindly, of me!" + +"Are you going to tell me anything more than that?" asked Nesta +steadily. Pratt shrugged his shoulders and waved his hands. + +"What more can I tell?" he asked. "The fact is, there's a business +arrangement between me and your mother--and you object to it. Well--I'm +sorry, but I've my own interests to consider." + +"Are you going to tell me what it was that induced my mother to sign +that paper you got from her the other day?" asked Nesta. + +"Can I say more than that it was--a business arrangement?" pleaded +Pratt. "There's nothing unusual in one party in a business arrangement +giving a power of attorney to another party. Nothing!" + +"Very well!" said Nesta, rising from the straight-backed chair, and +looking very rigid herself as she stood up. "You won't tell me anything! +So--I am now going to the police. I don't know what they'll do. I don't +know what they can do. But--I can tell them what I think and feel about +this, at any rate. For as sure as I am that I see you, there's something +wrong! And I'll know what it is." + +Pratt recognized that she had passed beyond the stage of mere anger to +one of calm determination. And as she marched towards the door he called +her back--as the result of a second's swift thought on his part. + +"Miss Mallathorpe," he said. "Oblige me by sitting down again. I'm not +in the least afraid of your going to the police. But my experience is +that if one goes to them on errands of this sort, it sets all sorts of +things going--scandal, and suspicion, and I don't know what! You don't +want any scandal. Sit down, if you please, and let us think for a +moment. And I'll see if I can tell you--what you want to know." + +Nesta already had a hand on the door. But after looking at him for a +second or two, she turned back, and sat down in her old position. And +Pratt, still seated at his desk, plunged his hands in his trousers +pockets, tilted back his chair, and for five minutes stared with knitted +brows at his blotting pad. A queer silence fell on the room. The windows +were double-sashed; no sound came up from the busy street below. But on +the mantelpiece a cheap Geneva clock ticked and ticked, and Nesta felt +at last that if it went on much longer, without the accompaniment of a +human voice, she should suddenly snatch it up, and hurl it--anywhere. + +Pratt was in the position of the card-player, who, confronted by a +certain turn in the course of a game which he himself feels sure he is +bound to win, wonders whether he had better not expedite matters by +laying his cards on the table, and asking his opponent if he can +possibly beat their values and combination. He had carefully reckoned up +his own position more than once during the progress of recent events, +and the more carefully he calculated it the more he felt convinced that +he had nothing to fear. He had had to alter his ground in consequence of +the death of Harper Mallathorpe, and he had known that he would have to +fight Nesta. But he had not anticipated that hostilities would come so +soon, or begin with such evident determination on her part. How would it +be, then, at this first stage to make such a demonstration in force that +she would recognize his strength? + +He looked up at last and saw Nesta regarding him sternly. But Pratt +smiled--the quiet smile which made her uneasy. + +"Miss Mallathorpe!" he said. "I was thinking of two things just then--a +game at cards--and the science of warfare. In both it's a good thing +sometimes to let your adversary see what a strong hand you've got. Now, +then, a question, if you please--are you and I adversaries?" + +"Yes!" answered Nesta unflinchingly. "You're acting like an enemy--you +are an enemy!" + +"I've hoped that you and I would be friends--good friends," said Pratt, +with something like a sigh. "And if I may say so, I've no feeling of +enmity towards you. When I speak of us being adversaries, I mean it +in--well, let's say a sort of legal sense. But now I'll show you my +hand--that is, as far as I please. Will you listen quietly to me?" + +"I've no choice," replied Nesta bluntly. "And I came here to know what +you've got to say for yourself. Say it!" + +Pratt moved his chair a little nearer to his visitor. + +"Now," he said, speaking very quietly and deliberately, "I'll go through +what I have to say to you carefully, point by point. I shall ask you to +go back a little way. It is now some time since I discovered a secret +about your mother, Mrs. Mallathorpe. Ah, you start!--it may be with +indignation, but I assure you I'm telling you, and am going to tell you, +the absolute truth. I say--a secret! No one knows it but myself--not one +living soul! Except, of course, your mother. I shall not reveal it to +you--under any consideration, or in any circumstances--but I can tell +you this--if that secret were revealed, your mother would be ruined for +life--and you yourself would suffer in more ways than one." + +Nesta looked at him incredulously--and yet she began to feel he was +telling some truth. And Pratt shook his head at the incredulous +expression. + +"It's quite so!" he said. "You'll begin to believe it---from other +things. Now, it was in connection with this that I paid a visit to +Normandale Grange one evening some months ago. Perhaps you never heard +of that? I was alone with your mother for some time in the study." + +"I have heard of it," she answered. + +"Very good," said Pratt. "But you haven't heard that your mother came to +see me at my rooms here in Barford--my lodgings--the very next night! On +the same business, of course. But she did--I know how she came, too. +Secretly--heavily veiled--naturally, she didn't want anybody to know. +Are you beginning to see something in it, Miss Mallathorpe?" + +"Go on with your--story," answered Nesta. + +"I go on, then, to the day before your brother's death," continued +Pratt. "Namely, a certain Friday. Now, if you please, I'll invite you to +listen carefully to certain facts--which are indisputable, which I can +prove, easily. On that Friday, the day before your brother's death, Mrs. +Mallathorpe was in the shrubbery at Normandale Grange which is near the +north end of the old foot-bridge. She was approached by Hoskins, an old +woodman, who has been on the estate a great many years--you know him +well enough. Hoskins told Mrs. Mallathorpe that the foot-bridge between +the north and south shrubberies, spanning the cut which was made there a +long time since so that a nearer road could be made to the stables, was +in an extremely dangerous condition--so dangerous, in fact, that in his +opinion, it would collapse under even a moderate weight. I impress this +fact upon you strongly." + +"Well?" said Nesta. + +"Hoskins," Pratt went on, "urged upon Mrs. Mallathorpe the necessity of +having the bridge closed at once, or barricaded. He pointed out to her +from where they stood certain places in the bridge, and in the railing +on one side of it, which already sagged in such a fashion, that he, as a +man of experience, knew that planks and railings were literally rotten +with damp. Now what did Mrs. Mallathorpe do? She said nothing to +Hoskins, except that she'd have the thing seen to. But she immediately +went to the estate carpenter's shop, and there she procured two short +lengths of chain, and two padlocks, and she herself went back to the +foot-bridge and secured its wicket gates at both ends. I beg you will +bear that in mind, too, Miss Mallathorpe." + +"I am bearing everything in mind," said Nesta resolutely. "Don't be +afraid that I shall forget one word that you say." + +"I hear that sneer in your voice," answered Pratt, as he turned, +unlocked a drawer, and drew out some papers. "But I think you will soon +learn that the sneer at what I'm telling you is foolish. Mrs. +Mallathorpe had a set purpose in locking up those gates--as you will see +presently. You will see it from what I am now going to tell you. Oblige +me, if you please, by looking at that letter. Do you recognize your +mother's handwriting?" + +"Yes!" admitted Nesta, with a sudden feeling of apprehension. "That is +her writing." + +"Very good," said Pratt. "Then before I read it to you, I'll just tell +you what this letter is. It formed, when it was written, an invitation +from Mrs. Mallathorpe to me--an invitation to walk, innocently, into +what she knew--knew, mind you!--to be a death-trap! She meant _me_ to +fall through the bridge!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +PRATT OFFERS A HAND + + +For a full moment of tense silence Nesta and Pratt looked at each other +across the letter which he held in his outstretched hand--looked +steadily and with a certain amount of stern inquiry. And it was Nesta's +eyes which first gave way--beaten by the certainty in Pratt's. She +looked aside; her cheeks flamed; she felt as if something were rising in +her throat--to choke her. + +"I can't believe that!" she muttered. "You're--mistaken! Oh--utterly +mistaken!" + +"No mistake!" said Pratt confidently. "I tell you your mother meant +me--me!--to meet my death at that bridge. Here's the proof in this +letter! I'll tell you, first, when I received it: then I'll read you +what's in it, and if you doubt my reading of it, you shall read it +yourself--but it won't go out of my hands! And first as to my getting +it, for that's important. It reached me, by registered post, mind you, +on the Saturday morning on which your brother met his death. It was +handed in at Normandale village post-office for registration late on the +Friday afternoon. And--by whom do you think?" + +"I--don't know!" replied Nesta faintly. This merciless piling up of +details was beginning to frighten her--already she felt as if she +herself were some criminal, forced to listen from the dock to the +opening address of a prosecuting counsel. "How should I know?--how can I +think?" + +"It was handed in for registration by your mother's maid, Esther +Mawson," said Pratt with a dark look. "I've got her evidence, anyway! +And that was all part of a plan--just as a certain something that was +enclosed was a part of the same plan--a plot. And now I'll read you the +letter--and you'll bear it in mind that I got it by first post that +Saturday morning. This is what it--what your mother--says:-- + + "I particularly wish to see you again, at once, about the matter + between us and to have another look at _that document_. Can you + come here, bringing it with you, tomorrow, Saturday afternoon, + by the train which leaves soon after two o'clock? As I am most + anxious that your visit should be private and unknown to any one + here, do not come to the house. Take the path across the park to + the shrubberies near the house, so that if you are met people + would think you were taking a near cut to the village. I will + meet you in the shrubbery on the house side of the little + foot-bridge. The gates--'" + +Pratt suddenly paused, and before proceeding looked hard at his visitor. + +"Now listen to what follows--and bear in mind what your mother knew, and +had done, at the time she wrote this letter. This is how the letter goes +on---let every word fix itself in your mind, Miss Mallathorpe!" + + "'The gates of the foot-bridge are locked, but the enclosed keys + will open them. I will meet you amongst the trees on the further + side. Be sure to come and to bring _that document_--I have + something to say about it on seeing it again.'" + +Pratt turned to the drawer from which he had taken the letter and took +out two small keys, evidently belonging to patent padlocks. He held them +up before Nesta. + +"There they are!" he said triumphantly. "Been in my possession ever +since--and will remain there. Now--do you wish to read the letter? I've +read it to you word for word. You don't? Very good--back it goes in +there, with these keys. And now then," he continued, having replaced +letter and keys in his drawer, and turned to her again, "now then, you +see what a diabolical scheme it was that was in your mother's mind +against me. She meant me to meet with the fate which overtook her own +son! She meant me to fall through that bridge. Why? She hoped that I +should break my neck--as he did! She wanted to silence me--but she also +wanted more--she wanted to take from my dead body, or my unconscious +body, the certain something which she was so anxious I should bring with +me, which she referred to as _that document_. She was willing to risk +anything--even to murder!--to get hold of that. And now you know why I +went to Normandale Grange that Saturday--you know, now, the real reason. +I told a deliberate lie at the inquest, for your mother's sake--for your +sake, if you know it. I did not go there to hand in my application for +the stewardship--I went in response to the letter I've just read. Is all +this clear to you?" + +Nesta could only move her head in silent acquiescence. She was already +convinced, that whether all this was entirely true or not, there was +truth of some degree in what Pratt had told her. And she was thinking of +her mother--and of the trap which she certainly appeared to have +laid--and of her brother's fate--and for the moment she felt sick and +beaten. But Pratt went on in that cold, calculating voice, telling his +story point by point. + +"Now I come to what happened that Saturday afternoon," he said. "I may +as well tell you that in my own interest I have carefully collected +certain evidence which never came out at the inquest--which, indeed, has +nothing to do with the exact matter of the inquest. Now, that Saturday, +your mother and you had lunch together--your brother, as we shall see in +a moment, being away--at your lunch time--a quarter to two. About twenty +minutes past two your mother left the house. She went out into the +gardens. She left the gardens for the shrubberies. And at twenty-five +minutes to three, she was seen by one of your gardeners, Featherstone, +in what was, of course, hiding, amongst the trees at the end of the +north shrubbery. What was she doing there, Miss Mallathorpe? She was +waiting!--waiting until a certain hoped-for accident happened--to me. +Then she would come out of her hiding-place in the hope of getting that +document from my pocket! Do you see how cleverly she'd laid her +plans--murderous plans?" + +Nesta was making a great effort to be calm. She knew now that she was +face to face with some awful mystery which could only be solved by +patience and strenuous endeavour. She knew, too, that she must show no +sign of fear before this man! + +"Will you finish your story, if you please?" she asked. + +"In my own way--in my own time," answered Pratt. "I now come to--your +mother. On the Friday noon, the late Mr. Harper Mallathorpe went to +Barford to visit a friend--young Stemthwaite, at the Hollies. He was to +stay the night there, and was not expected home until Saturday evening. +He did stay the night, and remained in Barford until noon on Saturday; +but he--unexpectedly--returned to the house at half past two. And almost +as soon as he'd got in, he picked up a gun and strolled out--into the +gardens and the north shrubbery. And, as you know, he went to the +foot-bridge. You see, Miss Mallathorpe, your mother, clever as she was, +had forgotten one detail--the gates of that footbridge were merely low, +four-barred things, and there was nothing to prevent an active young man +from climbing them. She forgot another thing, too--that warning had not +been given at the house that the bridge was dangerous. And, of course, +she'd never, never calculated that your brother would return sooner than +he was expected, or that, on his return, he'd go where he did. And +so--but I'll spare you any reference to what happened. Only--you know +now how it was that Mrs. Mallathorpe was found by her son's body. She'd +been waiting about--for me! But--the fate she'd meant for me was dealt +out to--him!" + +In spite of herself Nesta gave way to a slight cry. + +"I can't bear any more of that!" she said. "Have you finished?" + +"There's not much more to say--now at any rate," replied Pratt. "And +what I have to say shall be to the point. I'm sorry enough to have been +obliged to say all that I have said. But, you know, you forced me to it! +You threatened me. The real truth, Miss Mallathorpe, is just this--you +don't understand me at all. You come here--excuse my plain +speech--hectoring and bullying me with talk about the police, and +blackmail, and I don't know what! It's I who ought to go to the police! +I could have your mother arrested, and put in the dock, on a charge of +attempted murder, this very day! I've got all the proofs." + +"I suppose you held that out as a threat to her when you forced her to +sign that power of attorney?" observed Nesta. + +For the first time since her arrival Pratt looked at his visitor in an +unfriendly fashion. His expression changed and his face flushed a +little. + +"You think that, do you?" he said. "Well, you're wrong. I'm not a fool. +I held out no such threat. I didn't even tell your mother what I'd found +out. I wasn't going to show her my hand all at once--though I've shown +you a good deal of it." + +"Not all?" she asked quickly. + +"Not all," answered Pratt with a meaning glance. "To use more +metaphors--I've several cards up my sleeve, Miss Mallathorpe. But you're +utterly wrong about the threats. I'll tell you--I don't mind that--how I +got the authority you're speaking about. Your mother had promised me +that stewardship--for life. I'd have been a good steward. But we +recognized that your brother's death had altered things--that you, +being, as she said, a self-willed young woman--you see how plain I +am--would insist on looking after your own affairs. So she gave +me--another post. I'll discharge its duties honestly." + +"Yes," said Nesta, "but you've already told me that you'd a hold on my +mother before any of these recent events happened, and that you possess +some document which she was anxious to get into her hands. So it comes +to this--you've a double hold on her, according to your story." + +"Just so," agreed Pratt. "You're right, I have--a double hold." + +Nesta looked at him silently for a while: Pratt looked at her. + +"Very well," she said at last. "How much do you want--to be bought out?" + +Pratt laughed. + +"I thought that would be the end of it!" he remarked. "Yes--I thought +so!" + +"Name your price!" said Nesta. + +"Miss Mallathorpe!" answered Pratt, bending forward and speaking with a +new earnestness. "Just listen to me. It's no good. I'm not to be bought +out. Your mother tried that game with me before. She offered me first +five, then ten thousand pounds--cash down--for that document, when she +came to see me at my rooms. I dare say she'd have gone to twenty +thousand--and found the money there and then. But I said no then--and I +say no to you! I'm not to be purchased in that way. I've my own ideas, +my own plans, my own ambitions, my own--hopes. It's not any use at all +for you to dangle your money before me. But--I'll suggest something +else--that you can do." + +Nesta made no answer. She continued to look steadily at the man who +evidently had her mother in his power, and Pratt, who was watching her +intently, went on speaking quietly but with some intensity of tone. + +"You can do this," he said. "To start with--and it'll go a long +way--just try and think better of me. I told you, you don't understand +me. Try to! I'm not a bad lot. I've great abilities. I'm a hard worker. +Eldrick & Pascoe could tell you that I'm scrupulously honest in money +matters. You'll see that I'll look after your mother's affairs in a +fashion that'll commend itself to any firm of auditors and accountants +who may look into my accounts every year. I'm only taking the salary +from her that I was to have had for the stewardship. So--why not leave +it at that? Let things be! Perhaps--in time you'll come to see that--I'm +to be trusted." + +"How can I trust a man who deliberately tells me that he holds a secret +and a document over a woman's head?" demanded Nesta. "You've admitted a +previous hold on my mother. You say you're in possession of a secret +that would ruin her--quite apart from recent events. Is that honest?" + +"It was none of my seeking," retorted Pratt. "I gained the knowledge by +accident." + +"You're giving yourself away," said Nesta. "Or you've some mental twist +or defect which prevents you from seeing things straight. It's not how +you got your knowledge, but the use you're making of it that's the +important thing! You're using it to force my mother to----" + +"Excuse me!" interrupted Pratt with a queer smile. "It's you who don't +see things straight. I'm using my knowledge to protect--all of you. Let +your mind go back to what was said at first--to what I said at first. I +said that I'd discovered a secret which, if revealed, would ruin your +mother and injure--you! So it would--more than ever, now. So, you see, +in keeping it, I'm taking care, not only of her interests, but +of--yours!" + +Nesta rose. She realized that there was no more to be said--or done. And +Pratt rose, too, and looked at her almost appealingly. + +"I wish you'd try to see things as I've put them, Miss Mallathorpe," he +said. "I don't bear malice against your mother for that scheme she +contrived--I'm willing to put it clear out of my head. Why not accept +things as they are? I'll keep that secret for ever--no one shall ever +know about it. Why not be friends, now--why not shake hands?" + +He held out his hand as he spoke. But Nesta drew back. + +"No!" she said. "My opinion is just what it was when I came here." + +Before Pratt could move she had turned swiftly to the door and let +herself out, and in another minute she was amongst the crowds in the +street below. For a few minutes she walked in the direction of Robson's +offices, but when she had nearly reached them, she turned, and went +deliberately to those of Eldrick & Pascoe. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +A HEADQUARTERS CONFERENCE + + +By the time she had been admitted to Eldrick's private room, Nesta had +regained her composure; she had also had time to think, and her present +action was the result of at any rate a part of her thoughts. She was +calm and collected enough when she took the chair which the solicitor +drew forward. + +"I called on you for two reasons, Mr. Eldrick," she said. "First, to +thank you for your kindness and thoughtfulness at the time of my +brother's death, in sending your clerk to help in making the +arrangements." + +"Very glad he was of any assistance, Miss Mallathorpe," answered +Eldrick. "I thought, of course, that as he had been on the spot, as it +were, when the accident happened, he could do a few little things----" + +"He was very useful in that way," said Nesta. "And I was very much +obliged to him. But the second reason for my call is--I want to speak to +you about him." + +"Yes?" responded Eldrick. He had already formed some idea as to what was +in his visitor's mind, and he was secretly glad of the opportunity of +talking to her. "About Pratt, eh? What about him, Miss Mallathorpe?" + +"He was with you for some years, I believe?" she asked. + +"A good many years," answered Eldrick. "He came to us as office-boy, and +was head-clerk when he left us." + +"Then you ought to know him--well," she suggested. + +"As to that," replied Eldrick, "there are some people in this world whom +other people never could know well--that's to say, really well. I know +Pratt well enough for what he was--our clerk. Privately, I know little +about him. He's clever--he's ability--he's a chap who reads a good +deal--he's got ambitions. And I should say he is a bit--subtle." + +"Deceitful?" she asked. + +"I couldn't say that," replied Eldrick. "It wouldn't be true if I said +so. I think he's possibilities of strategy in him. But so far as we're +concerned, we found him hardworking, energetic, truthful, dependable and +honest, and absolutely to be trusted in money matters. He's had many and +many a thousand pounds of ours through his hands." + +"I believe you're unaware that my mother, for some reason or other, +unknown to me, has put him in charge of her affairs?" asked Nesta. + +"Yes--Mr. Collingwood told me so," answered Eldrick. "So, too, did your +own solicitor, Mr. Robson--who's very angry about it." + +"And you?" she said, putting a direct question. "What do you think? Do +please, tell me!" + +"It's difficult to say, Miss Mallathorpe," replied Eldrick, with a smile +and a shake of the head. "If your mother--who, of course, is quite +competent to decide for herself--wishes to have somebody to look after +her affairs, I don't see what objection can be taken to her procedure. +And if she chooses to put Linford Pratt in that position--why not? As I +tell you, I, as his last--and only--employer, am quite convinced of his +abilities and probity. I suppose that as your mother's agent, he'll +supervise her property, collect money due to her, advise her in +investments, and so on. Well, I should say--personally, mind--he's quite +competent to do all that, and that he'll do it honestly, I should +certainly say so." + +"But--why should he do it at all?" asked Nesta. + +Eldrick waved his hands. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed. "Now you ask me a very different question! But--I +understand--in fact, I know--that Pratt turns out to be a relation of +yours--distant, but it's there. Perhaps your mother--who, of course, is +much better off since your brother's sad death--is desirous of +benefiting Pratt--as a relation." + +"Do you advise anything?" asked Nesta. + +"Well, you know, Miss Mallathorpe," replied Eldrick, smiling. "I'm not +your legal adviser. What about Mr. Robson?" + +"Mr. Robson is so very angry about all this--with my mother," said +Nesta, "that I don't even want to ask his advice. What I really do want +is the advice, counsel, of somebody--perhaps more as a friend than as a +solicitor." + +"Delighted to give you any help I can--either professionally or as a +friend," exclaimed Eldrick. "But--let me suggest something. And first of +all--is there anything--something--in all this that you haven't told to +anybody yet?" + +"Yes--much!" she answered. "A great deal!" + +"Then," said Eldrick, "let me advise a certain counsel. Two heads are +better than one. Let me ask Mr. Collingwood to come here." + +He was watching his visitor narrowly as he said this, and he saw a faint +rise of colour in her cheeks. But for the moment she did not answer, and +Eldrick saw that she was thinking. + +"I can get him across from his chambers in a few minutes," he said. +"He's sure to be in just now." + +"Can I have a few minutes to decide?" asked Nesta. + +Eldrick jumped up. + +"Of course!" he said. "I'll leave you a while. It so happens I want to +see my partner, I'll go up to his room, and return to you presently." + +Nesta, left alone, gave herself up to deep thought, and to a careful +reckoning of her position. She was longing to confide in some +trustworthy person or persons, for Pratt's revelations had plunged her +into a maze of perplexity. But her difficulties were many. First of all, +she would have to tell all about the terrible charge brought by Pratt +against her mother. Then about the second which he professed to--or +probably did--hold. What sort of a secret could it be? And supposing her +advisers suggested strong measures against Pratt--what then, about the +danger to her mother, in a twofold direction? + +Would it be better, wiser, if she kept all this to herself at present, +and waited for events to develop? But at the mere thought of that, she +shrank, feeling mentally and physically afraid--to keep all that +knowledge to herself, to brood over it in secret, to wonder what it all +meant, what lay beneath, what might develop, that was more than she felt +able to bear. And when Eldrick came back she looked at him and nodded. + +"I should like to talk to you and Mr. Collingwood," she said quietly. + +Collingwood came across to Eldrick's office at once. And to these two +Nesta unbosomed herself of every detail that she could remember of her +interview with Pratt--and as she went on, from one thing to another, she +saw the men's faces grow graver and graver, and realized that this was a +more anxious matter than she had thought. + +"That's all," she said in the end. "I don't think I've forgotten +anything. And even now, I don't know if I've done right to tell you all +this. But--I don't think I could have faced it--alone!" + +"My dear Miss Mallathorpe!" said Eldrick earnestly. "You've done the +wisest thing you probably ever did in your life! Now," he went on, +looking at Collingwood, "just let us all three realize what is to me a +more important fact. Nobody would be more astonished than Pratt to know +that you have taken the wise step you have. You agree, Collingwood?" + +"Yes!" answered Collingwood, after a moment's reflection. "I think so." + +"Miss Mallathorpe doesn't quite see what we mean," said Eldrick, turning +to Nesta. "We mean that Pratt firmly believed, when he told you what he +did, that for your mother's sake and your own, you would keep his +communication a dead secret. He firmly believed that you would never +dare to tell anybody what he told you. Most people--in your +position--wouldn't have told. They'd have let the secret eat their lives +out. You're a wise and a sensible young woman! And the thing is--we +must let Pratt remain under the impression that you are keeping your +knowledge to yourself. Let him continue to believe that you'll remain +silent under fear. And let us meet his secret policy with a secret +strategy of our own!" + +Again he glanced at Collingwood, and again Collingwood nodded assent. + +"Now," continued Eldrick, "just let us consider matters for a few +minutes from the position which has newly arisen. To begin with. Pratt's +account of your mother's dealings about the foot-bridge is a very clever +and plausible one. I can see quite well that it has caused you great +pain; so before I go any further, just let me say this to you--don't you +attach one word of importance to it!" + +Nesta uttered a heartfelt cry of relief. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed. "If you knew how thankful I should be to know that +it's all lies--that he was lying! Can I really think that--after what I +saw?" + +"I won't ask you to think that he's telling lies--just now," answered +Eldrick, with a glance at Collingwood, "but I'll ask you to believe that +your mother could put a totally different aspect and complexion on all +her actions and words in connection with the entire affair. My +impression, of course," he went on, with something very like a wink at +Collingwood, "is that Mrs. Mallathorpe, when she wrote that letter to +Pratt, intended to have the bridge mended first thing next morning, and +that something prevented that being done, and that when she was seen +about the shrubberies in the afternoon, she was on her way to meet Pratt +before he could reach the dangerous point, so that she could warn him. +What do you say, Collingwood?" + +"I should say," answered Collingwood, regarding the solicitor earnestly, +and speaking with great gravity of manner, "that that would make an +admirable line of defence to any charge which Pratt was wicked enough to +prefer." + +"You don't think my mother meant--meant to----" exclaimed Nesta, eagerly +turning from one man to the other. "You--don't?" + +"There is no evidence worth twopence against your mother!" replied +Eldrick soothingly. "Put everything that Pratt has said against her +clear out of your mind. Put all recent events out of your mind! Don't +interfere with Pratt--just now. The thing to be done about Pratt is +this--and it's the only thing. We must find out--exactly, as secretly as +possible--what this secret is of which he speaks. What is this hold on +Mrs. Mallathorpe? What is this document to which he refers? In other +words, we must work back to some point which at present we can't see. At +least, I can't see it. But--we may discover it. What do you say, +Collingwood?" + +"I agree entirely," answered Collingwood. "Let Pratt rest in his fancied +security. The thing is, certainly, to go back. But--to what point?" + +"That we must consider later," said Eldrick. "Now--for the present, Miss +Mallathorpe,--you are, I suppose, going back home?" + +"Yes, at once," answered Nesta. "I have my car at the _Crown Hotel_." + +"I should just like to know something," continued Eldrick again, looking +at Collingwood as if for approval. "That is--Mrs. Mallathorpe's present +disposition towards affairs in general and Pratt in particular. Miss +Mallathorpe!--just do something which I will now suggest to you. When +you reach home, see your mother--she is still, I understand, an invalid, +though evidently able to transact business. Just approach her gently and +kindly, and tell her that you are a little--should we say +uncomfortable?--about certain business arrangements which you hear she +has made with Mr. Pratt, and ask her, if she won't talk them over with +you, and give you her full confidence. It's now half-past twelve," +continued Eldrick, looking at his watch. "You'll be home before lunch. +See your mother early in the afternoon, and then telephone, briefly, the +result to me, here, at four o'clock. Then--Mr. Collingwood and I will +have a consultation." + +He motioned Collingwood to remain where he was, and himself saw Nesta +down to the street. When he came back to his room he shook his head at +the young barrister. + +"Collingwood!" he said. "There's some dreadful business afloat in all +this! And it's all the worse because of the fashion in which Pratt +talked to that girl. She's evidently a very good memory--she narrated +that conversation clearly and fully. Pratt must be very sure of his hand +if he showed her his cards in that way--his very confidence in himself +shows what a subtle network he's either made or is making. I question if +he'd very much care if he knew that we know. But he mustn't know +that--yet. We must reply to his mine with a counter-mine!" + +"What do you think of Pratt's charge against Mrs. Mallathorpe?" asked +Collingwood. + +Eldrick made a wry face. + +"Looks bad!--very, very bad, Collingwood!" he answered. "Art and scheme +of a desperate woman, of course. But--we mustn't let her daughter think +we believe it. Let her stick to the suggestion I made--which, as you +remarked, would certainly make a very good line of defence, supposing +Pratt even did accuse her. But now--what on earth is this document +that's been mentioned--this paper of which Pratt has possession? Has +Mrs. Mallathorpe at some time committed forgery--or bigamy--or--what is +it? One thing's sure, however--we've got to work quietly. We mustn't let +Pratt know that we're working. I hope he doesn't know that Miss +Mallathorpe came here. Will you come back about four and hear what +message she sends me? After that, we could consult." + +Collingwood went away to his chambers. He was much occupied just then, +and had little time to think of anything but the work in hand. But as he +ate his lunch at the club which he had joined on settling in Barford, he +tried to get at some notion of the state of things, and once more his +mind reverted to the time of his grandfather's death, and his own +suspicions about Pratt at that period. Clearly that was a point to which +they must hark back--he himself must make more inquiries about the +circumstances of Antony Bartle's last hours. For this affair would not +have to rest where it was--it was intolerable that Nesta Mallathorpe +should in any way be under Pratt's power. He went back to Eldrick at +four o'clock with a suggestion or two in his mind. And at the sight of +him Eldrick shook his head. + +"I've had that telephone message from Normandale," he said, "five +minutes ago. Pretty much what I expected--at this juncture, anyway. Mrs. +Mallathorpe absolutely declines to talk business with even her daughter +at present--and earnestly desires that Mr. Linford Pratt may be left +alone." + +"Well?" asked Collingwood after a pause. "What now?" + +"We must do what we can--secretly, privately, for the daughter's sake," +said Eldrick. "I confess I don't quite see a beginning, but----" + +Just then the private door opened, and Pascoe, a somewhat +lackadaisical-mannered man, who always looked half-asleep, and was in +reality remarkably wide-awake, lounged in, nodded to Collingwood, and +threw a newspaper in front of his partner. + +"I say, Eldrick," he drawled, as he removed a newly-lighted cigar from +his lips. "There's an advertisement here which seems to refer to that +precious protege of yours, who left you with such scant ceremony. Same +name, anyhow!" + +Eldrick snatched up the paper, glanced at it and read a few words aloud. + +"INFORMATION WANTED about James Parrawhite, at one time in practice as a +solicitor." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +ADVERTISEMENT + + +Eldrick looked up at his partner with a sharp, confirmatory glance. + +"That's our Parrawhite, of course!" he said. "Who's after him, now?" And +he went on to read the rest of the advertisement, murmuring its +phraseology half-aloud: "'in practice as a solicitor at Nottingham and +who left that town six years ago. If the said James Parrawhite will +communicate with the undersigned he will hear something greatly to his +advantage. Any person able to give information as to his whereabouts +will be suitably rewarded. Apply to Halstead & Byner, 56B, St. Martin's +Chambers, London, W.C.' Um!--Pascoe, hand over that Law List." + +Collingwood looked on in silence while Eldrick turned over the pages of +the big book which his partner took down from a shelf. He wondered at +Eldrick's apparent and almost eager interest. + +"Halstead & Byner are not solicitors," announced Eldrick presently. +"They must be inquiry agents or something of that sort. Anyway, I'll +write to them, Pascoe, at once." + +"You don't know where the fellow is," said Pascoe. "What's the good?" + +"No--but we know where he last was," retorted Eldrick. He turned to +Collingwood as the junior partner sauntered out of the room. "Rather odd +that Pascoe should draw my attention to that just now," he remarked. +"This man Parrawhite was, in a certain sense, mixed up with Pratt--at +least, Pratt and I are the only two people who know the secret of +Parrawhite's disappearance from these offices. That was just about the +time of your grandfather's death." + +Collingwood immediately became attentive. His first suspicions of Pratt +were formed at the time of which Eldrick spoke, and any reference to +events contemporary excited his interest. + +"Who was or is--this man you're talking of?" he asked. + +"Bad lot--very!" answered Eldrick, shaking his head. "He and I were +articled together, at the same time, to the same people: we saw a lot of +each other as fellow articled clerks. He afterwards practised in +Nottingham, and he held some good appointments. But he'd a perfect mania +for gambling--the turf--and he went utterly wrong, and misappropriated +clients' money, and in the end he got into prison, and was, of course, +struck off the rolls. I never heard anything of him for years, and then +one day, some time ago, he turned up here and begged me to give him a +job. I did--and I'll do him the credit to say that he earned his money. +But--in the end, his natural badness broke out. One afternoon--I'm +careless about some things--I left some money lying in this +drawer--about forty pounds in notes and gold--and next morning +Parrawhite never came to business. We've never seen or heard of him +since." + +"You mentioned Pratt," said Collingwood. + +"Only Pratt and I know--about the money," replied Eldrick. "We kept it +secret--I didn't want Pascoe to know I'd been so careless. Pascoe didn't +like Parrawhite--and he doesn't know his record. I only told him that +Parrawhite was a chap I'd known in better circumstances and wanted to +give a hand to." + +"You said it was about the time of my grandfather's death?" asked +Collingwood. + +"It was just about then--between his death and his funeral I should +say," answered Eldrick, "The two events are associated in my mind. +Anyway, I'd like to know what it is that these people want Parrawhite +for. If it's money that's come to him, it'll be of no advantage--it'll +only go where all the rest's gone." + +Collingwood lost interest in Parrawhite. Parrawhite appeared to have +nothing to do with the affairs in which he was interested. He sat down +and began to tell Eldrick about his own suspicions of Pratt at the time +of Antony Bartle's death; of what Jabey Naylor had told him about the +paper taken from the _History of Barford_; of the lad's account of the +old man's doings immediately afterwards; and of his own proceedings +which had led him to believe for the time being that his suspicions were +groundless. + +"But now," he went on, "a new idea occurs to me. Suppose that that +paper, found by my grandfather in a book which had certainly belonged to +the late John Mallathorpe, was something important relating to Mrs. +Mallathorpe? Suppose that my grandfather brought it across here to you? +Suppose that finding you out, he showed it to Pratt? As my grandfather +died suddenly, with nobody but Pratt there, what was there to prevent +Pratt from appropriating that paper if he saw that it would give him a +hold over Mrs. Mallathorpe? We know now that he has some document in his +possession which does give him a hold--may it not be that of which the +boy Naylor told me?" + +"Might be," agreed Eldrick. "But--my opinion is, taking things all +together, that the paper which Antony Bartle found was the one you +yourself discovered later--the list of books. No--I'll tell you what I +think. I believe that the document which Pratt told Miss Mallathorpe he +holds, and to which her mother referred in the letter asking Pratt to +meet her, is probably--most probably!--one which he discovered in +searching out his relationship to Mrs. Mallathorpe. He's a cute +chap--and he may have found some document which--well, I'll tell you +what it might be--something which would upset the rights of Harper +Mallathorpe to his uncle's estates. No other relatives came forward, or +were heard of, or were discoverable when John Mallathorpe was killed in +that chimney accident; but there may be some--there may be one in +particular. That's my notion!--and I intend, in the first place, to make +a personal search of the parish registers from which Pratt got his +information. He may have discovered something there which he's keeping +to himself." + +"You think that is the course to adopt?" asked Collingwood, after a +moment's reflection. + +"At present--yes," replied Eldrick. "And while I'm making it--I'll do it +myself--we'll just go on outwardly--as if nothing had happened. If I +meet Pratt--as I shall--I shall not let him see that I know anything. Do +you go on in just the usual way. Go out to Normandale Grange now and +then--and tell Miss Mallathorpe to think no more of her interview with +Pratt until we've something to talk to her about. You talk to her +about--something else." + +When Collingwood had left him Eldrick laid a telegram form on his +plotting pad, and after a brief interval of thought wrote out a message +addressed to the people whose advertisement had attracted Pascoe's +attention. + + "HALSTEAD & BYNER, 56B, St. Martin's Chambers, London, W.C. + + "I can give you definite information concerning James Parrawhite + if you will send representative to see me personally. + + "CHARLES ELDRICK, Eldrick & Pascoe, Solicitors, Barford." + +After Eldrick had sent off a clerk with this message to the nearest +telegraph office, he sat thinking for some time. And at the close of his +meditations, and after some turning over of a diary which lay on his +desk, he picked up pen and paper, and drafted an advertisement of his +own. + + "TEN POUNDS REWARD will be paid to any person who can give + reliable and useful information as to James Parrawhite, who + until November last was a clerk in the employ of Messrs. Eldrick + & Pascoe, Solicitors, Barford, and who is believed to have left + the town on the evening of November 23.--Apply to Mr. CHARLES + ELDRICK, of the above firm." + +"Worth risking ten pounds on--anyway," muttered Eldrick. "Whether these +London people will cover it or not. Here!" he went on, turning to a +clerk who had just entered the room. "Make three copies of this +advertisement, and take one to each of the three newspaper offices, and +tell 'em to put it in their personal column tonight." + +He sat musing for some time after he was left alone again, and when he +at last rose, it was with a shake of the head. + +"I wonder if Pratt told me the truth that morning?" he said to himself. +"Anyway, he's now being proved to be even deeper than I'd ever +considered him. Well--other folk than Pratt are possessed of pretty good +wits." + +Before he left the office that evening Eldrick was handed a telegram +from Messrs. Halstead & Byner, of St. Martin's Chambers, informing him +that their Mr. Byner would travel to Barford by the first express next +morning, and would call upon him at eleven o'clock. + +"Then they have some important news for Parrawhite," mused Eldrick, as +he put the message in his pocket and went off to his club. "Inquiry +agents don't set off on long journeys at a moment's notice for a matter +of a trifling agency. But--where is Parrawhite?" + +He awaited the arrival of Mr. Byner next morning with considerable +curiosity. And soon after eleven there was shown in to him, a smart, +well-dressed, alert-looking young man, who, having introduced himself as +Mr. Gerald Byner, immediately plunged into business. + +"You can tell me something of James Parrawhite, Mr. Eldrick?" he began. +"We shall be glad--we've been endeavouring to trace him for some months. +It's odd that you didn't see our advertisement before." + +"I don't look at that sort of advertisement," replied Eldrick. "I +believe it was by mere accident that my partner saw yours yesterday +afternoon. But now, a question or two first. What are you--inquiry +agents?" + +"Just so, sir--inquiry agents--with a touch of private detective +business," answered Mr. Gerald Byner with a smile. "We undertake to find +people, to watch people, to recover lost property, and so on. In this +case we're acting for Messrs. Vickers, Marshall & Hebbleton, Solicitors, +of Cannon Street. They want James Parrawhite badly." + +"Why?" asked Eldrick. + +"Because," replied Byner with a dry laugh, "there's about twenty +thousand pounds waiting for him, in their hands." + +Eldrick whistled with astonishment. + +"Whew!" he said. "Twenty thousand--for Parrawhite! My good sir--if +that's so, and if, as you say, you've been advertising----" + +"Advertising in several papers," interrupted Byner. "Dailies, weeklies, +provincials. Never had one reply, till your wire." + +"Then--Parrawhite must be dead!" said Eldrick. "Or--in gaol, under +another name. Twenty thousand pounds--waiting for Parrawhite! If +Parrawhite was alive, man, or at liberty, he wouldn't let twenty +thousand pence wait five minutes! I know him!" + +"What can you tell me, Mr. Eldrick?" asked the inquiry agent. + +Eldrick told all he knew--concealing nothing. And Byner listened +silently and eagerly. + +"There's something strikes me at once," he said. "You say that with him +disappeared three or four ten-pound notes of yours. Have you the numbers +of those notes?" + +"I can't say," replied Eldrick, doubtfully. "I haven't, certainly. +But--they were paid in to our head-clerk, Pratt, and I think he used to +enter such things in a sort of day-ledger. I'll get it." + +He went into the clerks' office and presently returned with an oblong, +marble-backed book which he began to turn over. + +"This may be what you ask about," he said at last. "Here, under date +November 23, are some letters and figures which obviously refer to +bank-notes. You can copy them if you like." + +"Another question, Mr. Eldrick," remarked Byner as he made a note of the +entries. "You say some cheque forms were abstracted from a book of yours +at the same time. Have you ever heard of any of these cheque forms being +made use of?" + +"Never!" replied Eldrick. + +"No forgery of your name or anything?" suggested the caller. + +"No," said Eldrick. "There's been nothing of that sort." + +"I can soon ascertain if these bank-notes have reached the Bank of +England," said Byner. "That's a simple matter. Now suppose they +haven't!" + +"Well?" asked Eldrick. + +"You know, of course," continued Byner, "that it doesn't take long for a +Bank of England note, once issued, to get back to the Bank? You know, +too, that it's never issued again. Now if those notes haven't been +presented at the Bank--where are they? And if no use has been made of +your stolen cheques--where are they?" + +"Good!" agreed Eldrick. "I see that you ought to do well in your special +line of business. Now--are you going to pursue inquiries for Parrawhite +here in Barford, after what I've told you?" + +"Certainly!" said Byner. "I came down prepared to stop awhile. It's +highly important that this man should be found--highly important," he +added smiling, "to other people than Parrawhite himself." + +"In what way?" asked Eldrick. + +"Why," replied Byner, "if he's dead--as he may be--this money goes to +somebody else--a relative. The relative would be very glad to hear he is +dead! But--definite news will be welcome, in any case. Oh, yes, now that +I've got down here, I shall do my best to trace him. You have the +address of the woman he lodged with, you say. I shall go there first, of +course. Then I must try to find out what he did with himself in his +spare time. But, from all you tell me, it's my impression he's +dead--unless, as you say, he's got into prison again--possibly under +another name. It seems impossible that he should not have seen our +advertisements." + +"You never advertised in any Yorkshire newspapers?" asked Eldrick. + +"No," said Byner. "Because we'd no knowledge of his having come so far +North. We advertised in the Midland papers. But then, all the London +papers, daily and weekly, that we used come down to Yorkshire." + +"Parrawhite," said Eldrick reflectively, "was a big newspaper reader. He +used to go to the Free Library reading-room a great deal. I begin to +think he must certainly be dead--or locked up. However, in supplement of +your endeavours, I did a little work of my own last night. There you +are!" he went on, picking up the local papers and handing them over. "I +put that in--we'll see if any response comes. But now a word, Mr. Byner, +since you've come to me. You have heard me mention my late +clerk--Pratt?" + +"Yes," answered Byner. + +"Pratt has left us, and is in business as a sort of estate agent in the +next street," continued Eldrick. "Now I have particular reasons--most +particular reasons!--why Pratt should remain in absolute ignorance of +your presence in the town. If you should happen to come across him--as +you may, for though there are a quarter of a million of us here, it's a +small place, compared with London--don't let him know your business." + +"I'm not very likely to do that, Mr. Eldrick," remarked Byner quietly. + +"Aye, but you don't take my meaning," said Eldrick eagerly. "I mean +this--it's just possible that Pratt may see that advertisement of yours, +and that he may write to your firm. In that case, as he's here, and +you're here, your partner would send his letter to you. Don't deal with +it--here. Don't--if you should come across Pratt, even let him know your +name!" + +"When I've a job of this sort," replied Byner, "I don't let anybody know +my name--except people like you. When I register at one of your hotels +presently, I shall be Mr. Black of London. But--if this Pratt wanted to +give any information about Parrawhite, he'd give it to you, surely, now +that you've advertised." + +"No, he wouldn't!" asserted Eldrick. "Why? Because he's told me all he +knows--or says he knows--already!" + +The inquiry agent looked keenly at the solicitor for a moment during +which they both kept silence. Then Byner smiled. + +"You said--'or says he knows,'" he remarked. "Do you think he didn't +tell the truth about Parrawhite?" + +"I should say--now--it's quite likely he didn't," answered Eldrick. "The +truth is, I'm making some inquiry myself about Pratt--and I don't want +this to interfere with it. You keep me informed of what you find out, +and I'll help you all I can while you're here. It may be----" + +A clerk came into the room and looked at his master. + +"Mr. George Pickard, of the _Green Man_ at Whitcliffe, sir," he said. + +"Well?" asked Eldrick. + +"Wants to see you about that advertisement in the paper this morning, +sir," continued the clerk. + +Eldrick looked at Byner and smiled significantly. Then he turned towards +the door. + +"Bring Mr. Pickard in," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +THE CONFIDING LANDLORD + + +The clerk presently ushered in a short, thick-set, round-faced man, +apparently of thirty to thirty-five years of age, whose chief personal +characteristics lay in a pair of the smallest eyes ever set in a human +countenance and a mere apology for a nose. But both nose and eyes +combined somehow to communicate an idea of profound inquiry as the round +face in which they were placed turned from the solicitor to the man from +London, and a podgy forefinger was lifted to a red forehead. + +"Servant, gentlemen," said the visitor. "Fine morning for the time of +year!" + +"Take a chair, Mr. Pickard," replied Eldrick. "Let me see--from the +_Green Man_, at Whitcliffe, I believe?" + +"Landlord, sir--had that house a many years," answered Pickard, as he +took a seat near the wall. "Seven year come next Michaelmas, any road." + +"Just so--and you want to see me about the advertisement in this +morning's paper?" continued Eldrick. "What about it--now?" + +The landlord looked at Eldrick and then at Eldrick's companion. The +solicitor understood that look: it meant that what his caller had to say +was of a private nature. + +"It's all right, Mr. Pickard," he remarked reassuringly. "This gentleman +is here on just the same business--whatever you say will be treated as +confidential--it'll go no further. You've something to tell about my +late clerk, James Parrawhite." + +Pickard, who had been nervously fingering a white billycock hat, now put +it down on the floor and thrust his hands into the pockets of his +trousers as if to keep them safe while he talked. + +"It's like this here," he answered. "When I saw that there advertisement +in the paper this mornin', says I to my missus, 'I'll away,' I says, +'an' see Lawyer Eldrick about that there, this very day!' 'Cause you +see, Mr. Eldrick, there is summat as I can tell about yon man 'at you +mention--James Parrawhite. I've said nowt about it to nobody, up to now, +'cause it were private business atween him and me, as it were, but I +lost money over it, and of course, ten pound is ten pound, gentlemen." + +"Quite so," agreed Eldrick, "And you shall have your ten pounds if you +can tell anything useful." + +"I don't know owt about it's being useful, sir, nor what use is to be +made on it," said Pickard, "but I can tell you a bit o' truth, and you +can do what you like wi' what I tell. But," he went on, lowering his +voice and glancing at the door by which he had just entered, "there's +another name 'at 'll have to be browt in--private, like. Name, as it so +happens, o' one o' your clerks--t' head clerk, I'm given to +understand--Mr. Pratt." + +Eldrick showed no sign of surprise. But he continued to look +significantly at Byner as he turned to the landlord. + +"Mr. Pratt has left me," he said. "Left me three weeks ago. So you +needn't be afraid, Mr. Pickard--say anything you like." + +"Oh, I didn't know," remarked Pickard. "It's not oft that I come down in +t' town, and we don't hear much Barford news up our way. Well, it's this +here, Mr. Eldrick--you know where my place is, of course?" + +Eldrick nodded, and turned to Byner. + +"I'd better explain to you," he said. "Whitcliffe is an outlying part of +the town, well up the hills--a sort of wayside hamlet with a lot of our +famous stone quarries in its vicinity. The _Green Man_, of which our +friend here is the landlord, is an old-fashioned tavern by the +roadside--where people are rather fond of dropping in on a Sunday, I +fancy, eh, Mr. Pickard?" + +"You're right, sir," replied the landlord. "It makes a nice walk out on +a Sunday. And it were on a Sunday, too, 'at I got to know this here +James Parrawhite as you want to know summat about. He began coming to my +place of a Sunday evenin', d'ye see, gentlemen?--he'd walk across t' +valley up there to Whitcliffe and stop an hour or two, enjoyin' hisself. +Well, now, as you're no doubt well aweer, Mr. Eldrick, he were a reight +hand at talkin', were yon Parrawhite--he'd t' gift o' t' gab reight +enough, and talked well an' all. And of course him an' me, we hed bits +o' conversation at times, 'cause he come to t' house reg'lar and +sometimes o' week-nights an' all. An' he tell'd me 'at he'd had a deal +o' experience i' racin' matters--whether it were true or not, I couldn't +say, but----" + +"True enough!" said Eldrick. "He had." + +"Well, so he said," continued Pickard, "and he was allus tellin' me 'at +he could make a pile o' brass on t' turf if he only had capital. An' i' +t' end, he persuaded me to start what he called investin' money with him +i' that way--i' plain language, it meant givin' him brass to put on +horses 'at he said was goin' to win, d'ye understand?" + +"Perfectly," replied Eldrick. "You gave him various amounts which he was +to stake for you." + +"Just so, sir! And at first," said Pickard, with a shake of the head, +"at first I'd no great reason to grumble. He cert'ny wor a good hand at +spottin' a winner. But as time went on, I' t' greatest difficulty in +gettin' a settlement wi' him, d'ye see? He wor just as good a hand at +makin' excuses as he wor at pickin' out winners--better, I think! I +nivver knew wheer I was wi' him--he'd pay up, and then he'd persuade me +to go in for another do wi' t' brass I'd won, and happen we should lose +that time, and then of course we had to hev another investment to get +back what we'd dropped, and so it went on. But t' end wor this +here--last November theer wor about fifty to sixty pound o' mine i' his +hands, and I wanted it. I'd a spirit merchant's bill to settle, and I +wanted t' brass badly for that. I knew Parrawhite had been paid, d'ye +see, by t' turf agent, 'at he betted wi', and I plagued him to hand t' +brass over to me. He made one excuse and then another--howsumivver, it +come to that very day you're talkin' about i' your advertisement, Mr. +Eldrick--the twenty-third o' November----" + +"Stop a minute, Mr. Pickard," interrupted Eldrick. "Now, how do you +know--for a certainty--that this day you're going to talk about was the +twenty-third of November?" + +The landlord, who had removed his hands from his pockets, and was now +twiddling a pair of fat thumbs as he talked, chuckled slyly. + +"For a very good reason," he answered. "I had to pay that spirit bill I +tell'd about just now on t' twenty-fourth, and that I'm going to tell +you happened t' night afore t' twenty-fourth, so of course it were t' +twenty-third. D'ye see?" + +"I see," asserted Eldrick. "That'll do! And now--what did happen?" + +"This here," replied Pickard. "On that night--t' twenty-third +November--Parrawhite came into t' _Green Man_ at about, happen, +half-past eight. He come into t' little private parlour to me, bold as +brass--as indeed, he allers wor. 'Ye're a nice un!' I says. 'I've +written yer three letters durin' t' last week, and ye've nivver answered +one o' 'em!' 'I've come to answer i' person,' he says. 'There's nobbut +one answer I want,' says I. 'Wheer's my money?' 'Now then, be quiet a +bit,' he says. 'You shall have your money before the evening's over,' he +says. 'Or, if not, as soon as t' banks is open tomorrow mornin',' he +says. 'Wheer's it coomin' from?' says I. 'Now, never you mind,' he says. +'It's safe!' 'I don't believe a word you're sayin',' says I. 'Ye're +havin' me for t' mug!--that's about it.' An' I went on so at him, 'at i' +t' end he tell'd me 'at he wor presently goin' to meet Pratt, and 'at he +could get t' brass out o' Pratt an' as much more as iwer he liked to ax +for. Well, I don't believe that theer, and I said so. 'What brass has +Pratt?' says I. 'Pratt's nowt but a clerk, wi' happen three or four +pound a week!' 'That's all you know,' he says. 'Pratt's become a gold +mine, and I'm going to dig in it a bit. What's it matter to you,' he +says, 'so long as you get your brass?' Well, of course, that wor true +enough--all 'at I wanted just then were to handle my brass. And I tell'd +him so. 'I'll brek thy neck, Parrawhite,' I says, 'if thou doesn't bring +me that theer money eyther to-night or t' first thing tomorrow--so now!' +'Don't talk rot!' he says. 'I've told you!' And he had money wi' him +then--'nough to pay for drinks and cigars, any road, and we had a drink +or two, and a smoke or two, and then he went out, sayin' he wor goin' to +meet Pratt, and he'd be back at my place before closin' time wi' either +t' cash or what 'ud be as good. An' I waited--and waited after closin' +time, an' all. But I've nivver seen Parrawhite from that day to +this---nor heerd tell on him neither!" + +Eldrick and Byner looked at each other for a moment. Then the solicitor +spoke--quietly and with a significance which the agent understood. + +"Do you want to ask Mr. Pickard any questions?" he said. + +Byner nodded and turned to the landlord. + +"Did Parrawhite tell you where he was going to meet Pratt?" he asked. + +"He did," replied Pickard. "Near Pratt's lodgin' place." + +"Did--or does--Pratt live near you, then?" + +"Closish by--happen ten minutes' walk. There's few o' houses--a sort o' +terrace, like, on t' edge o' what they call Whitcliffe Moor. Pratt +lodged--lodges now for all I know to t' contrary--i' one o' them." + +"Did Parrawhite give you any idea that he was going to the house in +which Pratt lodged?" + +"No! He were not goin' to t' house. I know he worn't. He tell'd me 'at +he'd a good idea what time Pratt 'ud be home, 'cause he knew where he +was that evening and he were goin' to meet him just afore Pratt got to +his place. I know where he'd meet him." + +"Where?" asked Byner. "Tell me exactly. It's important." + +"Pratt 'ud come up fro' t' town i' t' tram," answered Pickard. "He'd +approach this here terrace I tell'd you about by a narrow lane that runs +off t' high road. He'd meet him there, would Parrawhite." + +"Did you ever ask any question of Pratt about Parrawhite?" + +"No--never! I'd no wish that Pratt should know owt about my dealin's +with Parrawhite. When Parrawhite never come back--why, I kep' it all to +myself, till now." + +"What do you think happened to Parrawhite, Mr. Pickard?" asked Byner. + +"Gow, I know what I think!" replied Pickard disgustedly. "I think 'at if +he did get any brass out o' Pratt--which is what I know nowt about, and +hewn't much belief in--he went straight away fro' t' town--vanished! I +do know this--he nivver went back to his lodgin's that neet, 'cause I +went theer mysen next day to inquire." + +Eldrick pricked up his ears at that. He remembered that he had sent +Pratt to make inquiry at Parrawhite's lodgings on the morning whereon +the money was missing. + +"What time of the day--on the twenty-fourth--was that, Mr. Pickard?" he +asked. + +"Evenin', sir," replied the landlord. "They'd nivver seen naught of him +since he went out the day before. Oh, he did me, did Parrawhite! Of +course, I lost mi brass--fifty odd pounds!" + +Byner gave Eldrick a glance. + +"I think Mr. Pickard has earned the ten pounds you offered," he said. + +Eldrick took the hint and pulled out his cheque-book. + +"Of course, you're to keep all this private--strictly private, Mr. +Pickard," he said as he wrote. "Not a word to a soul!" + +"Just as you order, sir," agreed Pickard. "I'll say nowt--to nobody." + +"And--perhaps tomorrow--perhaps this afternoon--you'll see me at the +_Green Man_," remarked Byner. "I shall just drop in, you know. You +needn't know me--if there's anybody about." + +"All right, sir--I understand," said Pickard. + +"Quiet's the word--what? Very good--much obliged to you, gentlemen." + +When the landlord had gone Eldrick motioned Byner to pick up his hat. +"Come across the street with me," he said. "I want us to have a +consultation with a friend of mine, a barrister, Mr. Collingwood. For +this matter is assuming a very queer aspect, and we can't move too +warily, nor consider all the features too thoroughly." + +Collingwood listened with deep interest to Eldrick's account of the +morning's events. And once again he was struck by the fact that all +these various happenings in connection with Pratt, and now with +Parrawhite, took place at the time of Antony Bartle's death, and he said +so. + +"True enough!" agreed Eldrick. + +"And once more," pointed out Collingwood. "We're hearing of a hold! +Pratt claims to have a hold on Mrs. Mallathorpe--now it turns out that +Parrawhite boasted of a hold on Pratt. Suppose all these things have a +common origin? Suppose the hold which Parrawhite had--or has--on Pratt +is part and parcel of the hold which Pratt has on Mrs. Mallathorpe? In +that case--or cases--what is the best thing to do?" + +"Will you gentlemen allow me to suggest something?" said Byner. "Very +well--find Parrawhite! Of all the people concerned in this, Parrawhite, +from your account of him, anyway, Mr. Eldrick, is the likeliest person +to extract the truth from." + +"There's a great deal in that suggestion," said Eldrick. "Do you know +what I think?" he went on, turning to Collingwood, "Mr. Byner tells me +he means to stay here until he has come across some satisfactory news of +Parrawhite or solved the mystery of his disappearance. Well, now that +we've found that there is some ground for believing that Parrawhite was +in some fashion mixed up with Pratt about that time, why not place the +whole thing in Mr. Byner's hands--let him in any case see what he can do +about the Parrawhite-Pratt business of November twenty-third, eh?" + +"I take it," answered Collingwood, looking at the inquiry agent, "that +Mr. Byner having heard what he has, would do that quite apart from us?" + +"Yes," said Byner. "Now that I've heard what Pickard had to say, I +certainly shall follow that up." + +"I am following out something of my own," said Collingwood, turning to +Eldrick. "I shall know more by this time tomorrow. Let us have a +conference here--at noon." + +They separated on that understanding, and Byner went his own ways. His +first proceeding was to visit, one after another, the Barford newspaper +offices, and to order the insertion in large type, and immediately, of +the Halstead-Byner advertisement for news of Parrawhite. His second was +to seek the General Post Office, where he wrote out and dispatched a +message to his partner in London. That message was in cypher--translated +into English, it read as follows:-- + + "If person named Pratt sends any communication to us _re_ + Parrawhite, on no account let him know I am in Barford, but + forward whatever he sends to me at once, addressed to H.D. + Black, Central Station Hotel." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +THE EYE-WITNESS + + +When Collingwood said that he was following out something of his own, he +was thinking of an interesting discovery which he had made. It was one +which might have no significance in relation to the present +perplexities--on the other hand, out of it might come a good deal of +illumination. Briefly, it was that on the evening before this +consultation with Eldrick & Byner, he had found out that he was living +in the house of a man who had actually witnessed the famous catastrophe +at Mallathorpe's Mill, whereby John Mallathorpe, his manager, and his +cashier, together with some other bystanders, had lost their lives. + +On settling down in Barford, Collingwood had spent a couple of weeks in +looking about him for comfortable rooms of a sort that appealed to his +love of quiet and retirement. He had found them at last in an old house +on the outskirts of the town--a fine old stone house, once a farmstead, +set in a large garden, and tenanted by a middle-aged couple, who having +far more room than they needed for themselves, had no objection to +letting part of it to a business gentleman. Collingwood fell in love +with this place as soon as he saw it. The rooms were large and full of +delightful nooks and corners; the garden was rich in old trees; from it +there were fine views of the valley beneath, and the heather-clad hills +in the distance; within two miles of the town and easily approached by a +convenient tram-route, it was yet quite out in the country. + +He was just as much set up by his landlady--a comfortable, middle-aged +woman, who fostered true Yorkshire notions about breakfast, and knew how +to cook a good dinner at night. With her Collingwood had soon come to +terms, and to his new abode had transferred a quantity of books and +pictures from London. He soon became acquainted with the domestic +menage. There was the landlady herself, Mrs. Cobcroft, who, having no +children of her own, had adopted a niece, now grown up, and a teacher in +an adjacent elementary school: there was a strapping, rosy-cheeked +servant-maid, whose dialect was too broad for the lodger to understand +more than a few words of it; finally there was Mr. Cobcroft, a +mild-mannered, quiet man who disappeared early in the morning, and was +sometimes seen by Collingwood returning home in the evening. + +Lately, with the advancing spring, this unobtrusive individual was seen +about the garden at the end of the day: Collingwood had so seen him on +the evening before the talk with Eldrick and Byner, busied in setting +seeds in the flower-beds. And he had asked Mrs. Cobcroft, just then in +his sitting-room, if her husband was fond of gardening. + +"It's a nice change for him, sir," answered the landlady. "He's kept +pretty close at it all day in the office yonder at Mallathorpe's Mill, +and it does him good to get a bit o' fresh air at nights, now that the +fine weather's coming on. That was one reason why we took this old +place--it's a deal better air here nor what it is in the town." + +"So your husband is at Mallathorpe's Mill, eh?" asked Collingwood. + +"Been there--in the counting-house--boy and man, over thirty years, +sir," replied Mrs. Cobcroft. + +"Did he see that terrible affair then--was it two years ago?" + +The landlady shook her head and let out a weighty sigh. + +"Aye, I should think he did!" she answered. "And a nice shock it gave +him, too!--he actually saw that chimney fall--him and another clerk were +looking out o' the counting-house window when it gave way." + +Collingwood said no more then--except to remark that such a sight must +indeed have been trying to the nerves. But for purposes of his own he +determined to have a talk with Cobcroft, and the next evening, seeing +him in his garden again, he went out to him and got into conversation, +and eventually led up to the subject of Mallathorpe's Mill, the new +chimney of which could be seen from a corner of the garden. + +"Your wife tells me," observed Collingwood, "that you were present when +the old chimney fell at the mill yonder?" + +Cobcroft, a quiet, unassuming man, usually of few words, looked along +the hillside at the new chimney, and nodded his head. A curious, +far-away look came into his eyes. + +"I was, sir!" he said. "And I hope I may never see aught o' that sort +again, as long as ever I live. It was one o' those things a man can +never forget!" + +"Don't talk about it if you don't want to," remarked Collingwood. "But +I've heard so much about that affair that----" + +"Oh, I don't mind talking about it," replied Cobcroft. He leaned over +the fence of his garden, still gazing at the mill in the distance. +"There were others that saw it, of course: lots of 'em. But I was close +at hand--our office was filled with the dust in a few seconds." + +"It was a sudden affair?" asked Collingwood. + +"It was one of those affairs," answered Cobcroft slowly, "that some folk +had been expecting for a long time--only nobody had the sense to see +that it might happen at some unexpected minute. It was a very old +chimney. It looked all right--stood plumb, and all that. But Mr. +Mallathorpe--my old master, Mr. John Mallathorpe, I'm talking of--he got +an idea from two or three little things, d'ye see, that it wasn't as +safe as it ought to be. And he got a couple of these professional +steeplejacks to examine it. They made a thorough examination, too--so +far as one could tell by what they did. They'd been at the job several +days when the accident happened. One of 'em had only just come down when +the chimney fell. Mr. Mallathorpe, himself, and his manager, and his +cashier, had just stepped out of the counting-house and crossed the yard +to hear what this man had got to say when--down it came! Not the +slightest warning at the time. It just--collapsed!" + +"You saw the actual collapse?" asked Collingwood. + +"Aye--didn't I?" exclaimed Cobcroft. "Another man and myself were +looking out of the office window, right opposite. It fell in the +queerest way--like this," he went on, holding up his garden-rake. +"Supposing this shaft was the chimney--standing straight up. As we +looked we saw it suddenly bulge out, on all sides--it was a square +chimney, same size all the way up till you got to the cornice at the +top--bulge out, d'ye see, just about half-way up--simultaneous, like. +Then--down it came with a roar that they heard over half the town! O' +course, there were some two or three thousands of tons of stuff in that +chimney--and when the dust was cleared a bit there it was in one great +heap, right across the yard. And it was a good job," concluded Cobcroft, +reflectively, "that it fell straight--collapsed in itself, as you might +say--for if it had fallen slanting either way, it 'ud ha' smashed right +through some of the sheds, and there'd ha' been a terrible loss of +life." + +"Mr. John Mallathorpe was killed on the spot, I believe?" suggested +Collingwood. + +"Aye--and Gaukrodger, and Marshall, and the steeplejack that had just +come down, and another or two," said Cobcroft. "They'd no chance--they +were standing in a group at the very foot, talking. They were all killed +there and then--instantaneous. Some others were struck and injured--one +or two died. Yes, sir,--I'm not very like to forget that!" + +"A terrible experience!" agreed Collingwood. "It would naturally fix +itself on your memory." + +"Aye--my memory's very keen about it," said Cobcroft. "I remember every +detail of that morning. And," he continued, showing a desire to become +reminiscent, "there was something happened that morning, before the +accident, that I've oft thought over and has oft puzzled me. I've never +said aught to anybody about it, because we Yorkshiremen we're not given +to talking about affairs that don't concern us, and after all, it was +none o' mine! But you're a law gentleman, and I dare say you get things +told to you in confidence now and then, and, of course, this is between +you and me. I'll not deny that I have oft thought that I would like to +tell it to a lawyer of some sort, and find out how it struck him." + +"Anything that you like to tell me, Mr. Cobcroft, I shall treat as a +matter of confidence--until you tell me it's no longer a secret," +answered Collingwood. + +"Why," continued Cobcroft, "it isn't what you rightly would call a +secret--though I don't think anybody knows aught about it but myself! It +was just this--and it may be there's naught in it but a mere fancy o' +mine. That morning, before the accident happened, I was in and out of +the private office a good deal--carrying in and out letters, and account +books, and so on. Mr. John Mallathorpe's private office, ye'll +understand, sir, opened out of our counting-house--as it does still--the +present manager, Mr. Horsfall, has it, just as it was. Well, now, on one +occasion, when I went in there, to take a ledger back to the safe, Mr. +Mallathorpe had his manager and cashier, Gaukrodger and Marshall in with +him. Mr. Mallathorpe, he always used a stand-up desk to write at--never +wrote sitting down, though he had a big desk in the middle of the room +that he used to sit at to look over accounts or talk to people. Now when +I went in, he and Gaukrodger and Marshall were all at this stand-up +desk--in the window-place--and they were signing some papers. At least +Gaukrodger had just signed a paper, and Marshall was taking the pen from +him. 'Sign there, Marshall,' says Mr. Mallathorpe. And then he went on, +'Now we'll sign this other--it's well to have these things in duplicate, +in case one gets lost.' And then--well, then, I went out, and--why, that +was all." + +"You've some idea in your mind about that," said Collingwood, who had +watched Cobcroft closely as he talked. "What is it?" + +Cobcroft smiled--and looked round as if to ascertain that they were +alone. "Why!" he answered in a low voice. "I'll tell you what I did +wonder--some time afterwards. I dare say you're aware--it was all in the +papers--that Mr. John Mallathorpe died intestate?" + +"Yes," asserted Collingwood. "I know that." + +"I've oft wondered," continued Cobcroft, "if that could ha' been his +will that they were signing! But then I reflected a bit on matters. And +there were two or three things that made me say naught at all--not a +word. First of all, I considered it a very unlikely thing that a rich +man like Mr. John Mallathorpe would make a will for himself. Second--I +remembered that very soon after I'd been in his private office Marshall +came out into the counting-house and gave the office lad a lot of +letters and documents to take to the post--some of 'em big +envelopes--and I thought that what I'd seen signed was some agreement or +other that was in one of them. And third--and most important--no will +was ever found in any of Mr. John Mallathorpe's drawers or safes or +anywhere, though they turned things upside down at the office, and, I +heard, at his house as well. Of course, you see, sir, supposing that to +have been a will--why, the only two men who could possibly have proved +it was were dead and gone! They were killed with him. And of course, the +young people, the nephew and niece, they came in for everything--so +there was an end of it. But--I've oft wondered what those papers were. +One thing is certain, anyway!" concluded Cobcroft, with a grim laugh, +"when those three signed 'em, they were picking up their pens for the +last time!" + +"How long was it--after you saw the signing of those papers--that the +accident occurred?" asked Collingwood. + +"It 'ud be twelve or fifteen minutes, as near as I can recollect," +replied Cobcroft. "A few minutes after I'd left the private office, +Gaukrodger came out of it, alone, and stood at the door leading into the +yard, looking up at the chimney. The steeple-jack was just coming down, +and his mate was waiting for him at the bottom. Gaukrodger turned back +to the private office and called Mr. Mallathorpe out. All three of 'em, +Mallathorpe, Gaukrodger, Marshall, went out and walked across the yard +to the chimney foot. They stood there talking a bit--and then--down it +came!" + +Collingwood thought matters over. Supposing that the document which +Cobcroft spoke of as being in process of execution before him were +indeed duplicate copies of a will. What could have been done with them, +in the few minutes which elapsed between the signing and the catastrophe +to the chimney? It was scarcely likely that John Mallathorpe would have +sent them away by post. If they had been deposited in his own pocket, +they would have been found when his clothing was removed and examined. +If they were in the private office when the three men left it---- + +"You're sure the drawers, safe and so on in Mr. Mallathorpe's room were +thoroughly searched--after his death?" he asked. + +"I should think they were!" answered Cobcroft laconically. "I helped at +that, myself. There wasn't as much as an old invoice that was not well +fingered and turned over. No!--I came to the conclusion that what I'd +seen signed was some contract or something--sent off there and then by +the lad to post." + +Collingwood made no further remark and asked no more questions. But he +thought long and seriously that night, and he came to certain +conclusions. First: what Cobcroft had seen signed was John Mallathorpe's +will. Second: John Mallathorpe had made it himself and had taken the +unusual course of making a duplicate copy. Third: John Mallathorpe had +probably slipped the copy into the _History of Barford_ which was in his +private office when he went out to speak to the steeple-jack. Fourth: +that copy had come into Linford Pratt's hands through Antony Bartle. + +And now arose two big questions. What were the terms of that will? +And--where was the duplicate copy? He was still putting these to himself +when noon of the next day came and brought Eldrick and Byner for the +promised serious consultation. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +THE _GREEN MAN_ + + +Byner, in taking his firm's advertisement for Parrawhite to the three +Barford newspaper offices, had done so with a special design--he wanted +Pratt to see that a serious wish to discover Parrawhite was alive in +more quarters than one. He knew that Pratt was almost certain to see +Eldrick's advertisement in his own name; now he wanted Pratt to see +another advertisement of the same nature in another name. Already he had +some suspicion that Pratt had not told Eldrick the truth about +Parrawhite, and that nothing would suit him so well as that Parrawhite +should never be heard of or mentioned again: now he wished Pratt to +learn that Parrawhite was much wanted, and was likely to be much +mentioned--wherefore the supplementary advertisements with Halstead & +Byner's name attached. It was extremely unlikely that Pratt could fail +to see those advertisements. + +There were three newspapers in Barford: one a morning journal of large +circulation throughout the county; the other two, evening journals, +which usually appeared in three or four editions. As Byner stipulated +for large type, and a prominent position, in the personal column of +each, it was scarcely within the bounds of probability that a townsman +like Pratt would miss seeing the advertisement. Most likely he would see +it in all three newspapers. And if he had also seen Eldrick's similar +advertisement, he would begin to think, and then---- + +"Why, then," mused Byner, ruminating on his design, "then we will see +what he will do!" + +Meanwhile, there was something he himself wanted to do, and on the +morning following his arrival in the town, he set out to do it. Byner +had been much struck by Pickard's account of his dealings with James +Parrawhite on the evening which appeared to be the very last wherein +Parrawhite was ever seen. He had watched the landlord of the _Green Man_ +closely as he told his story, and had set him down for an honest, if +somewhat sly and lumpish soul, who was telling a plain tale to the best +of his ability. Byner believed all the details of that story--he even +believed that when Parrawhite told Pickard that he would find him fifty +pounds that evening, or early next day, he meant to keep his word. In +the circumstances--as far as Byner could reckon them up from what he had +gathered--it would not have paid Parrawhite to do otherwise. Byner put +the situation to himself in this fashion--Pratt had got hold of some +secret which was being, or could be made to be, highly profitable to +him. Parrawhite had discovered this, and was in a position to blackmail +Pratt. Therefore Parrawhite would not wish to leave Pratt's +neighbourhood--so long as there was money to be got out of Pratt, +Parrawhite would stick to him like a leech. But if Parrawhite was to +abide peaceably in Barford, he must pay Pickard that little matter of +between fifty and sixty pounds. Accordingly, in Byner's opinion, +Parrawhite had every honest intention of returning to the _Green Man_ on +the evening of the twenty-third of November after having seen Pratt. +And, in Byner's further--and very seriously considered--opinion, the +whole problem for solution--possibly involving the solution of other and +more important problems--was this: Did Parrawhite meet Pratt that night, +and if he did what took place between them which prevented Parrawhite +from returning to Pickard? + +It was in an endeavour to get at some first stage of a solution of this +problem that Byner, having breakfasted at the _Central Hotel_ on his +second day in the town, went out immediately afterwards, asked his way +to Whitcliffe, and was directed to an electric tram which started from +the Town Hall Square, and after running through a district of tall +warehouses and squat weaving-sheds, began a long and steady climb to the +heights along the town. When he left it, he found himself in a district +eminently characteristic of that part of the country. The tram set him +down at a cross-roads on a high ridge of land. Beneath him lay Barford, +its towers and spires and the gables of its tall buildings showing +amongst the smoke of its many chimneys. All about him lay open ground, +broken by the numerous stone quarries of which Eldrick had spoken, and +at a little distance along one of the four roads at the intersection of +which he stood, he saw a few houses and cottages, one of which, taller +and bigger than the rest, was distinguished by a pole, planted in front +of its stone porch and bearing a swinging sign whereon was rudely +painted the figure of a man in Lincoln green. Byner walked on to this, +entered a flagged hall, and found himself confronting Pickard, who at +sight of him, motioned him into a little parlour behind the bar. + +"Mornin', mister," said he. "You'll be all right in here--there's nobody +about just now, and if my missis or any o' t' servant lasses sees yer, +they'll tak' yer for a brewer's traveller, or summat o' that sort. Come +to hev a look round, like--what?" + +"I want to have a look at the place where you told us Parrawhite was to +meet Pratt that night," replied Byner. "I thought you would perhaps be +kind enough to show me where it is." + +"I will, an' all--wi' pleasure," said the landlord, "but ye mun hev a +drop o' summat first--try a glass o' our ale," he went on, with true +Yorkshire hospitality. "I hev some bitter beer i' my cellar such as I'll +lay owt ye couldn't get t' likes on down yonder i' Barford--no, nor i' +London neyther!--I'll just draw a jug." + +Byner submitted to this evidence of friendliness, and Pickard, after +disappearing into a dark archway and down some deeply worn stone steps, +came back with a foaming jug, the sight of which seemed to give him +great delight. He gazed admiringly at the liquor which he presently +poured into two tumblers, and drew his visitor's attention to its +colour. + +"Reight stuff that, mister--what?" he said. "I nobbut tapped that barril +two days since, and I'd been keepin' it twelve month, so you've come in +for it at what they call t' opportune moment. I say!" he went on, after +pledging Byner and smacking his lips over the ale. "I heard summat last +night 'at might be useful to you and Lawyer Eldrick--about this here +Parrawhite affair." + +"Oh!" said Byner, at once interested. "What now?" + +"You'll ha' noticed, as you come along t' road just now, 'at there's a +deal o' stone quarries i' this neighbourhood?" replied Pickard. "Well, +now, of course, some o' t' quarry men comes in here. Last night theer +wor sev'ral on 'em i' t' bar theer, talkin', and one on 'em wor readin' +t' evenin' newspaper--t' _Barford Dispatch_. An' he read out that theer +advertisement about Parrawhite--wi' your address i' London at t' foot on +it. Well, theer wor nowt said, except summat about advertisin' for +disappeared folk, but later on, one o' t' men, a young man, come to me, +private like. 'I say, Pickard,' he says, 'between you an' me, worrn't t' +name o' that man 'at used to come in here on a Sunday sometimes, +Parrawhite? It runs a' my mind,' he says, ''at I've heerd you call him +by that name.' 'Well, an' what if it wor?' I says. 'Nay, nowt much,' he +says, 'but I see fro' t' _Dispatch_ 'at he's wanted, and I could tell a +bit about him,' he says. 'What could ye tell?' says I--just like that +theer. 'Why,' he says, 'this much--one night t' last back-end----'" + +"Stop a bit, Mr. Pickard," interrupted Byner. "What does that mean--that +term 'back-end'?" + +"Why, it means t' end o' t' year!" answered the landlord. "What some +folks call autumn, d'ye understand? 'One night t' last back-end,' says +this young fellow, 'I wor hengin' about on t' quiet at t' end o' Stubbs' +Lane,' he says: 'T' truth wor,' he says, 'I wor waitin' for a word wi' a +young woman 'at lives i' that terrace at t' top o' Stubbs' Lane--she wor +goin' to come out and meet me for half an hour or so. An,' he says, 'I +see'd that theer feller 'at I think I've heerd you call Parrawhite, come +out o' Stubbs' Lane wi' that lawyer chap 'at lives i' t' Terrace--Pratt. +I know Pratt,' he says, ''cause them 'at he works for--Eldricks--once +did a bit o' law business for me.' 'Where did you see 'em go to, then?' +says I. 'I see'd 'em cross t' road into t' owd quarry ground,' he says. +'I see'd 'em plain enough, tho' they didn't see me--I wor keepin' snug +agen 't wall--it wor a moonlit night, that,' he says. 'Well,' I says, +'an' what now?' 'Why,' he says, 'd'yer think I could get owt o' this +reward for tellin that theer?' So I thowt pretty sharp then, d'ye see, +mister. 'I'll tell yer what, mi lad,' I says. 'Say nowt to nobody--keep +your tongue still--and I'll tell ye tomorrow night what ye can do--I +shall see a man 'at's on that job 'tween now and then,' I says. So theer +it is," concluded Pickard, looking hard at Byner. "D'yer think this +chap's evidence 'ud be i' your line?" + +"Decidedly I do!" replied Byner. "Where is he to be found?" + +"I couldn't say wheer he lives," answered the landlord. "But it'll be +somewhere close about; anyway, he'll be in here tonight. Bill Thomson t' +feller's name is--decent young feller enough." + +"I must contrive to see him, certainly," said Byner. "Well, now, can you +show me this Stubbs' Lane and the neighbourhood?" + +"Just step along t' road a bit and I'll join you in a few o' minutes," +assented Pickard. "We'd best not be seen leavin t' house together, or +our folk'll think it's a put-up job. Walk forrard a piece." + +Byner strolled along the road a little way, and leaned over a wall until +Mr. Pickard, wearing his white billycock hat and accompanied by a fine +fox-terrier, lounged up with his thumbs in the armholes of his +waistcoat. Together they went a little further along. + +"Now then!" said the landlord, crossing the road towards the entrance of +a narrow lane which ran between two high stone walls. "This here is +Stubbs' Lane--so called, I believe, 'cause an owd gentleman named +similar used to hev a house here 'at's been pulled down. Ye see, it runs +up fro' this high-road towards yon terrace o' houses. Folks hereabouts +calls that terrace t' World's End, 'cause they're t' last houses afore +ye get on to t' open moorlands. Now, that night 'at Parrawhite wor +aimin' to meet Pratt, it wor i' this very lane. Pratt, when he left t' +tram-car, t' other side o' my place, 'ud come up t' road, and up this +lane. And it wor at t' top o' t' lane 'at Bill Thomson see'd Pratt and +Parrawhite cross into what Bill called t' owd quarry ground." + +"Can we go into that?" asked Byner. + +"Nowt easier!" said Pickard. "It's a sort of open space where t' childer +goes and plays about: they hev'n't worked no stone theer for many a long +year--all t' stone's exhausted, like." + +He led Byner along the lane to its further end, pointed out the place +where Thomson said he had seen Pratt and Parrawhite, and indicated the +terrace of houses in which Pratt lived. Then he crossed towards the old +quarries. + +"Don't know what they should want to come in here for--unless it wor to +talk very confidential," said Pickard. "But lor bless yer!--it 'ud be +quiet enough anywheer about this neighbourhood at that time o' neet. +However, this is wheer Bill Thomson says he see'd 'em come." + +He led the way amongst the disused quarries, and Byner, following, +climbed on a mound, now grown over with grass and weed, and looked about +him. To his town eyes the place was something novel. He had never seen +the like of it before. Gradually he began to understand it. The stone +had been torn out of the earth, sometimes in square pits, sometimes in +semi-circular ones, until the various veins and strata had become +exhausted. Then, when men went away, Nature had stepped in to assert her +rights. All over the despoiled region she had spread a new clothing of +green. Turf had grown on the flooring of the quarries; ivy and bramble +had covered the deep scars; bushes had sprung up; trees were already +springing. And in one of the worn-out excavations some man had planted a +kitchen-garden in orderly and formal rows and plots. + +"Dangerous place that there!" said Pickard suddenly. "If I'd known o' +that, I shouldn't ha' let my young 'uns come to play about here. They +might be tummlin' in and drownin' theirsens! I mun tell my missis to +keep 'em away!" + +Byner turned--to find the landlord pointing at the old shaft which had +gradually become filled with water. In the morning sunlight its surface +glittered like a plane of burnished metal, but when the two men went +nearer and gazed at it from its edge, the water was black and +unfathomable to the eye. + +"Goodish thirty feet o' water in that there!" surmised Pickard. "It's +none safe for childer to play about--theer's nowt to protect 'em. Next +time I see Mestur Shepherd I shall mak' it my business to tell him so; +he owt either to drain that watter off or put a fence around it." + +"Is Mr. Shepherd the property-owner?" asked Byner. + +"Aye!--it's all his, this land," answered Pickard. He pointed to a +low-roofed house set amidst elms and chestnuts, some distance off across +the moor. "Lives theer, does Mestur Shepherd--varry well-to-do man, he +is." + +"How could that water be drained off?" asked Byner with assumed +carelessness. + +"Easy enough!" replied Pickard. "Cut through yon ledge, and let it run +into t' far quarry there. A couple o' men 'ud do that job in a day." + +Byner made no further remark. He and Pickard strolled back to the _Green +Man_ together. And declining the landlord's invitation to step inside +and take another glass, but promising to see him again very soon, the +inquiry agent walked on to the tram-car and rode down to Barford to keep +his appointment with Eldrick and Collingwood at the barrister's +chambers. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +THE DIRECT CHARGE + + +While Byner was pursuing his investigations in the neighbourhood of the +_Green Man_, Collingwood was out at Normandale Grange, discussing +certain matters with Nesta Mallathorpe. He had not only thought long and +deeply over his conversation with Cobcroft the previous evening, but had +begun to think about the crucial point of the clerk's story as soon as +he spoke in the morning, and the result of his meditations was that he +rose early, intercepted Cobcroft before he started for Mallathorpe's +Mill and asked his permission to re-tell the story to Miss Mallathorpe. +Cobcroft raised no objection, and when Collingwood had been to his +chambers and seen his letters, he chartered a car and rode out to +Normandale where he told Nesta of what he had learned and of his own +conclusions. And Nesta, having listened carefully to all he had to tell, +put a direct question to him. + +"You think this document which Pratt told me he holds is my late uncle's +will?" she said. "What do you suppose its terms to be?" + +"Frankly--these, or something like these," replied Collingwood. "And I +get at my conclusions in this way. Your uncle died intestate--consequently, +everything in the shape of real estate came to your brother and everything +in personal property to your brother and yourself. Now, supposing that +the document which Pratt boasts of holding is the will, one fact is very +certain--the property, real or personal, is not disposed of in the way +in which it became disposed of because of John Mallathorpe's intestacy. +He probably disposed of it in quite another fashion. Why do I think that? +Because the probability is that Pratt said to your mother, 'I have got +John Mallathorpe's will! It doesn't leave his property to your son and +daughter. Therefore, I have all of you at my mercy. Make it worth my +while, or I will bring the will forward.' Do you see that situation?" + +"Then," replied Nesta, after a moment's reflection, "you do think that +my mother was very anxious to get that document--a will--from Pratt?" + +Collingwood knew what she was thinking of--her mind was still uneasy +about Pratt's account of the affair of the foot-bridge. But--the matter +had to be faced. + +"I think your mother would naturally be very anxious to secure such a +document," he said. "You must remember that according to Pratt's story +to you, she tried to buy it from him--just as you did yourself, though +you, of course, had no idea of what it was you wanted to buy." + +"What I wanted to buy," she answered readily, "was necessity from +further interference! But--is there no way of compelling Pratt to give +up that document--whatever it is? Can't he be made to give it up?" + +"A way is may be being made, just now--through another affair," replied +Collingwood. "At present matters are vague. One couldn't go to Pratt and +demand something at which one is, after all, only guessing. Your mother, +of course, would deny that she knows what it is that Pratt holds. +But--there is the possibility of the duplicate to which Cobcroft +referred. Now, I want to put the question straight to you--supposing +that duplicate will can be found--and supposing--to put it plainly---its +terms dispossess you of all your considerable property--what then?" + +"Do you want the exact truth?" she asked. "Well, then, I should just +welcome anything that cleared up all this mystery! What is it at +present, this situation, but intolerable? I know that my +mother is in Pratt's power, and likely to remain so as long as ever this +goes on--probably for life. She will not give me her confidence. What is +more, I am certain that she is giving it to Esther Mawson--who is most +likely hand-in-glove with Pratt. Esther Mawson is always with her. I am +almost sure that she communicates with Pratt through Esther Mawson. It +is all what I say--intolerable! I had rather lose every penny that has +come into my hands than have this go on." + +"Answer me a plain question," said Collingwood. "Is your mother fond of +money, position--all that sort of thing?" + +"She is fond of power!" replied Nesta. "It pleased her greatly when we +came into all this wealth to know that she was the virtual +administrator. Even if she could only do it by collusion with Pratt, she +would make a fight for all that she--and I--hold. It's useless to deny +that. Don't forget," she added, looking appealingly at Collingwood, +"don't forget that she has known what it was to be poor--and if one does +come into money--I suppose one doesn't want to lose it again." + +"Oh, it's natural enough!" agreed Collingwood. "But--if things are as I +think, Pratt would be an incubus, a mill-stone, for ever. Anyway, I came +out to tell you what I've learned, and what I have an idea may be the +truth, and above all, to get your definite opinion. You want the Pratt +influence out of the way--at any cost?" + +"At any cost!" she affirmed. "Even if I have to go back to earning my +own living! Whatever pleasure in life could there be for me, knowing +that at the back of all this there is that--what?" + +"Pratt!" answered Collingwood. "Pratt! He's the shadow--with his deep +schemes. However, as I said--there may be--developing at this +moment--another way of getting at Pratt. Gentlemen like Pratt, born +schemers, invariably forget one very important factor in life--the +unexpected! Even the cleverest and most subtle schemer may have his +delicate machinery broken to pieces by a chance bit of mere dust getting +into it at an unexpected turn of the wheels. And to turn to plainer +language--I'm going back to Barford now to hear what another man has to +say concerning certain of Pratt's recent movements." + +Eldrick was already waiting when Collingwood reached his chambers: Byner +came there a few moments later. Within half an hour the barrister had +told his story of Cobcroft, and the inquiry agent his of his visit to +the _Green Man_ and the quarries. And the solicitor listened quietly and +attentively to both, and in the end turned to Collingwood. + +"I'll withdraw my opinion about the nature of the document which Pratt +got hold of," he said. "What he's got is what you think--John +Mallathorpe's will!" + +"If I may venture an opinion," remarked Byner, "that's dead certain!" + +"And now," continued Eldrick, "we're faced with a nice situation! Don't +either of you forget this fact. Not out of willingness on her part, but +because she's got to do it, Mrs. Mallathorpe and Pratt are partners in +that affair. He's got the will--but she knows its contents. She'll pay +any price to Pratt to keep them from ever becoming known or operative. +But, as I say, don't you forget something!" + +"What?" asked Collingwood. + +Eldrick tapped the edge of the table, emphasizing his words as he spoke +them. + +"They can destroy that will whenever they like!" he said. "And once +destroyed, nothing can absolutely prove that it ever existed!" + +"The duplicate?" suggested Collingwood. + +"Nothing to give us the faintest idea as to its existence!" said +Eldrick. + +"We might advertise," said Collingwood. + +"Lots of advertising was done when John Mallathorpe died," replied the +solicitor. "No!--if any person had had it in possession, it would have +turned up then. It may be--probably is--possibly must be--somewhere--and +may yet come to light. But--there's another way of getting at Pratt. +Through this Parrawhite affair. Pratt most likely had not the least +notion that he would ever hear of Parrawhite again. He is going to hear +of Parrawhite again! I am convinced now that Parrawhite knew something +about this, and that Pratt squared him and got him away. Aren't you?" he +asked, turning to Byner. + +But Byner smiled quietly and shook his head. + +"No!" he answered. "I am not, Mr. Eldrick." + +"You're not?" exclaimed Eldrick, surprised and wondering that anybody +could fail to agree with him. + +"Why not, then?" + +"Because," replied Byner. "I am certain that Pratt murdered Parrawhite +on the night of November twenty-third last. That's why. He didn't square +him. He didn't get him away. He killed him!" + +The effect of this straightforward pronouncement of opinion on the two +men who heard it was strikingly different. Collingwood's face at once +became cold and inscrutable; his lips fixed themselves sternly; his eyes +looked hard into a problematic future. But Eldrick flushed as if a +direct accusation had been levelled at himself, and he turned on the +inquiry agent almost impatiently. + +"Murder!" he exclaimed. "Oh, come! I--really, that's rather a stiff +order! I dare say Pratt's been up to all sorts of trickery, and even +deviltry--but murder is quite another thing. You're pretty ready to +accuse him!" + +Byner moved his head in Collingwood's direction--and Eldrick turned and +looked anxiously at Collingwood, who, finding the eyes of both men on +him, opened his hitherto tight-shut lips. + +"I think it quite likely!" he said. + +Byner laughed softly and looked at the solicitor. + +"Just listen to me a minute or two, Mr. Eldrick," he said. "I'll sum up +my own ideas on this matter, got from the various details that have been +supplied to me since I came to Barford. Just consider my points one by +one. Let's take them separately--and see how they fit in. + +"1. Mr. Bartle is seen by his shop-boy to take a certain paper from a +book which came from the late John Mallathorpe's office at Mallathorpe +Mill. He puts that paper in his pocket. + +"2. Immediately afterwards Mr. Bartle goes to your office. Nobody is +there but Pratt--as far as Pratt knows. + +"3. Bartle dies suddenly--after telling Pratt that the paper is John +Mallathorpe's will. Pratt steals the will. And the probability is that +Parrawhite, unknown to Pratt, was in that office, and saw him steal it. +Why is that probable? Because-- + +"4. Next night Parrawhite, who is being pressed for money by Pickard, +tells Pickard that he can get it out of Pratt, over whom he has a hold. +What hold? We can imagine what hold. Anyway-- + +"5. Parrawhite leaves Pickard to meet Pratt. He did meet Pratt--in +Stubbs' Lane. He was seen to go with Pratt into the disused quarry. And +there, in my opinion, Pratt killed him--and disposed of his body. + +"6. What does Pratt do next? He goes to your office first thing next +morning, and removes certain moneys which you say you carelessly left in +your desk the night before, and tears out certain cheque forms from your +book. When Parrawhite never turns up that morning, you--and +Pratt--conclude that he's the thief, and that he's run away. + +"7. If you want some proof of the correctness of this last suggestion, +you'll find it in the fact that no use has ever been made of those blank +cheques, and that--in all probability--the stolen bank-notes have never +reached the Bank of England. On that last point I'm making inquiry--but +my feeling is that Pratt destroyed both cheques and bank-notes when he +stole them. + +"8. This man Parrawhite out of the way, Pratt has a clear field. He's +got the will. He's already acquainted Mrs. Mallathorpe with that fact, +and with the terms of the will--whatever they may be. We may be sure, +however, that they are of such a nature as to make her willing to agree +to his demands upon her--and, accidentally, to go to any lengths--upon +which we needn't touch, at present--towards getting possession of the +will from him. + +"9. And the present situation--from Pratt's standpoint of yesterday--is +this. He's so sure of his own safety that he doesn't mind revealing to +the daughter that the mother's in his power. Why? Because Pratt, like +most men of his sort, cannot believe that self-interest isn't paramount +with everybody--it's beyond him to conceive it possible that Miss +Mallathorpe would do anything that might lose her several thousands a +year. He argued--'So long as I hold that will, nobody and nothing can +make me give it up nor divulge its contents. But I can bind one person +who benefits by it--Miss Mallathorpe, and for the mother's sake I can +keep the daughter quiet!' Well--he hasn't kept the daughter quiet! +She--spoke! + +"10. And last--in all such schemes as Pratt's, the schemer invariably +forgets something. Pratt forgot that there might arise what actually has +arisen--inquiry for Parrawhite. The search for Parrawhite is afoot--and +if you want to get at Pratt, it will have to be through what I firmly +believe to be a fact--his murder of Parrawhite and his disposal of +Parrawhite's body. + +"That's all, Mr. Eldrick," concluded Byner who had spoken with much +emphasis throughout. "It all seems very clear to me, and," he added, +with a glance at Collingwood, "I think Mr. Collingwood is inclined to +agree with most of what I've said." + +"Pretty nearly all--if not all," assented Collingwood. "I think you've +put into clear language precisely what I feel. I don't believe there's a +shadow of doubt that Pratt killed Parrawhite! And we can--and must--get +at him in that way. What do you suggest?" he continued, turning to +Byner. "You have some idea, of course?" + +"First of all," answered Byner, "we mustn't arouse any suspicion on +Pratt's part. Let us work behind the screen. But I have an idea as to +how he disposed of Parrawhite, and I'm going to follow it up this very +day--my first duty, you know, is towards the people who want Parrawhite, +or proof of his death. I propose to----" + +Just then Collingwood's clerk came in with a telegram. + +"Sent on from the _Central Hotel_, sir," he answered. "They said Mr. +Black would be found here." + +"That's mine," said the inquiry agent. "I left word at the hotel that +they were to send to your chambers if any wire came for me. Allow me." +He opened the telegram, looked it over, and waiting until the clerk had +gone, turned to his companions. "Here's a message from my partner, Mr. +Halstead," he continued. "Listen to what he wires: + + "'Wire just received from Murgatroyd, shipping agent, Peel Row, + Barford. He says Parrawhite left that town for America on + November 24th last and offers further information. Let me know + what to reply!'" + +Byner laid the message before Eldrick and Collingwood without further +comment. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + +THE CAT'SPAW + + +On the evening of the day whereon Nesta Mallathorpe had paid him the +visit which had resulted in so much plain speech on both sides, Pratt +employed his leisure in a calm review of the situation. He was by no +means dissatisfied, it seemed to him that everything was going very well +for his purposes. He was not at all sorry that Nesta had been to see +him--far from it. He regretted nothing that he had said to her. In his +desperate opinion, his own position was much stronger when she left +him than it was when he opened his office door to her. She now knew, +said Pratt, with what a strong and resourceful man she had to deal: she +would respect him, and have a better idea of him, now that she was aware +of his impregnable position. + +Herein Pratt's innate vanity and his ignorance showed themselves. He had +little knowledge of modern young women, and few ideas about them; and +such ideas as he possessed were usually mistaken ones. But one was that +it is always necessary to keep a firm hand on women--let them see and +feel your power, said Pratt. He had been secretly delighted to acquaint +Nesta Mallathorpe with his power, to drive it into her that he had the +whip hand of her mother, and through her mother, of Nesta herself. He +had seen that Nesta was much upset and alarmed by what he told her. And +though she certainly seemed to recover her spirits at the end of the +interview, and even refused to shake hands with him, he cherished the +notion that in the war of words he had come off a decided victor. He did +not believe that Nesta would utter to any other soul one word of what +had passed between them: she would be too much afraid of calling down +his vengeance on her mother. What he did believe was that as time went +by, and all progressed smoothly, Nesta would come to face and accept +facts: she would find him honest and hardworking in his dealings with +Mrs. Mallathorpe (as he fully intended to be, from purely personal and +selfish motives) and she herself would begin to tolerate and then to +trust him, and eventually--well, who knew what might or might not +happen? What said the great Talleyrand?--WITH TIME AND PATIENCE, THE +MULBERRY LEAF IS TURNED INTO SATIN. + +But Pratt's self-complacency received a shock next morning. If he had +been a reader of London newspapers, it would have received a shock the +day before. Pratt, however, was essentially parochial in his newspaper +tastes--he never read anything but the Barford papers. And when he +picked up the Barford morning journal and saw Eldrick's advertisement +for Parrawhite in a prominent place, he literally started from sheer +surprise--not unmingled with alarm. It was as if he were the occupant of +a strong position, only fortified, who suddenly finds a shell dropped +into his outworks from a totally unexpected quarter. + +Parrawhite! Advertised for by Eldrick! Why? For what reason? For what +purpose? With what idea? Parrawhite!--of all men in the +world--Parrawhite, of whom he had never wanted to hear again! And what +on earth could Eldrick want with him, or with news of him? It would +be--or might be--an uncommonly awkward thing for him, Pratt, if a really +exhaustive search were made for Parrawhite. For nobody knew better than +himself that one little thing leads to another, and--but he forbore to +follow out what might have been his train of thought. Once he was +tempted to make an excuse for going round to Eldrick & Pascoe's with the +idea of fishing for information--but he refrained. Let things +develop--that was a safer plan. Still, he was anxious and disturbed all +day. Then, towards the end of the afternoon, he bought one of the +Barford evening papers--and saw, in staring letters, the advertisement +which Byner had caused to be inserted only a few hours previously. And +at that, Pratt became afraid. + +Parrawhite wanted!--news of Parrawhite wanted!--and in two separate +quarters. Wanted by Eldrick--wanted by some London people! What in the +name of the devil did it mean? At any rate, he must see to himself. One +thing was certain--no search for Parrawhite must be permitted in +Barford. + +That evening, instead of going home to dinner, Pratt remained in town, +and dined at a quiet restaurant. When he dined, he thought, and planned, +and schemed--and after treating himself very well in the matter of food +and drink, he lighted a cigar, returned to his new offices, opened a +safe which he had just set up, and took from a drawer in it a hundred +pounds in bank-notes. With these in his pocket-book he went off to a +quiet part of the town--the part in which James Parrawhite had lodged +during his stay in Barford. + +Pratt turned into a somewhat mean and shabby street--a street of small, +poor-class shops. He went forward amongst them until he came to one +which, if anything, was meaner and shabbier than the others and bore +over its window the name Reuben Murgatroyd--Watchmaker and Jeweller. +There were few signs of jewellery in Reuben Murgatroyd's window--some +cheap clocks, some foreign-made watches of the five-shilling and +seven-and-six variety, a selection of flashy rings and chains were +spread on the shelves, equally cheap and flashy bangles, bracelets, and +brooches lay in dust-covered trays on the sloping bench beneath them. At +these things Pratt cast no more than a contemptuous glance. But he +looked with interest at the upper part of the window, in which were +displayed numerous gaily-coloured handbills and small posters relating +to shipping--chiefly in the way of assisted passages to various parts of +the globe. These set out that you could get an assisted passage to +Canada for so much; to Australia for not much more--and if the bills and +posters themselves did not tell you all you wanted to know, certain big +letters at the foot of each invited you to apply for further information +to Mr. R. Murgatroyd, agent, within. And Pratt pushed open the shop-door +and walked inside. + +An untidily dressed, careworn, anxious-looking man came forward from a +parlour at the rear of his shop. At sight of Pratt--who in the course of +business had once served him with a writ--his pale face flushed, and +then whitened, and Pratt hastened to assure him of his peaceful errand. + +"All right, Mr. Murgatroyd," he said. "Nothing to be alarmed about--I'm +out of that line, now--no papers of that sort tonight. I've a bit of +business I can put in your hands--profitable business. Look here!--have +you got a quarter of an hour to spare?" + +Murgatroyd, who looked greatly relieved to find that his visitor had +neither writ nor summons for him, glanced at his parlour door. + +"I was just going to put the shutters up, and sit down to a bite of +supper, Mr. Pratt," he answered. "Will you come in, sir?" + +"No--you come out with me," said Pratt. "Come round to the _Coach and +Horses_, and have a drink and we can talk. You'll have a better appetite +for your supper when you come back," he added, with a wink. "I've a +profitable job for you." + +"Glad to hear it, sir," replied Murgatroyd. "I can do with aught of that +sort, I assure you!" He went into the parlour, said a word or two to +some person within, and came out again. "Not much business doing at +present, Mr. Pratt," he said, as he and his visitor turned into the +street. "Gets slacker than ever." + +"Then you'll do with a slice of good luck," remarked Pratt. "It just +happens that I can put a bit in your way." + +He led Murgatroyd to the end of the street, where stood a corner tavern, +into a side-door of which Pratt turned as if he were well acquainted +with the geography of the place. Walking down a narrow passage he +conducted his companion into a small parlour, at that moment untenanted, +pointed him to a seat in the corner, and rang the bell. Five minutes +later, having provided Murgatroyd with rum and water and a cigar, he +turned on him with a direct question. + +"Look here!" he said in a low voice. "Would a hundred pounds be any use +to you?" + +Murgatroyd's cheeks flushed. + +"It 'ud be a fortune!" he answered with fervour. "A hundred pound! Lor' +bless you, Mr. Pratt, it's many a year since I saw a hundred pound--of +my own--all in one lump!" + +Pratt pulled out his roll of bank-notes, fluttered it in his companion's +face, laid it on the table, and set an ashtray on it. + +"There's a hundred pounds there!" he said, "It's yours to pick up--if +you'll do a little job for me. Easy job, too!--you'll never earn a +hundred pounds so easy in your life!" + +Murgatroyd pricked up his ears. According to his ideas, money easily +come by was seldom honestly earned. He stirred uncomfortably in his +seat. + +"So long as it's a straight job," he muttered. "I don't want----" + +"Straight enough--as straight as it's easy," answered Pratt. "It may +seem a bit mysterious, but there's reasons for that. I give you my word +it's all right--all a mere bit of diplomacy--and that nobody'll ever +know you're in it--that is, beyond a certain stage--and that there's no +danger to you." + +"What is it?" asked Murgatroyd, still uneasy and doubtful. + +Pratt pulled the evening paper out of his pocket and showed Murgatroyd +the advertisement signed Halstead & Byner. + +"You see that?" he said. "Information wanted about Parrawhite. Do you +remember Parrawhite? He once served you with some papers in that affair +in which we were against you." + +"I remember him," answered Murgatroyd. "I've seen him in here now and +again. So he's wanted, is he? I didn't know he'd left the town." + +"Left last November," said Pratt. "And--there are folks--influential +folks, as you can guess, seeing that they can throw a hundred pounds +away!--who don't want any inquiries made for him in Barford. They don't +mind--those folks--how many inquiries and searches are made for him +anywhere else, but--not here!" + +"Well?" asked Murgatroyd anxiously. + +"This is it," replied Pratt. "You do a bit now and then as agent for +some of these shipping lines. You book passages for emigrants--and for +other people, going to New Zealand or Canada or Timbuctoo--never mind +where. Now then--couldn't you remember--I'm sure you could--that you +booked a passage for Parrawhite to America last November? Come! It's an +easy matter to remember is that--for a hundred pounds." + +Murgatroyd's thin fingers trembled a little as he picked up his glass. +"What do you want me to do--exactly?" he asked. + +"This!" said Pratt. "I want you, tomorrow morning, early, to send a +telegram to these people, Halstead & Byner, St. Martin's Chambers, +London, just saying that James Parrawhite left Barford for America on +November 24th last, and that you can give further information if +necessary." + +"And what if it is necessary?" inquired Murgatroyd. + +"Then--in answer to any letter or telegram of inquiry--you'll just say +that you knew Parrawhite by sight as a clerk at Eldrick & Pascoe's in +this town, that on November 23rd he told you that he was going to +emigrate to America, that next day you booked him his passage, for which +he paid you whatever it was, and that he thereupon set off for +Liverpool. See?" + +"It's all lies, you know," muttered Murgatroyd. + +"Nobody can find 'em out, anyway," replied Pratt. "That's the one +important thing to consider. You're safe! And if you're cursed with a +conscience and it's tender--well, that'll make a good plaister for it!" + +He pointed to the little wad of bank-notes--and the man sitting at his +side followed the pointing finger with hungry eyes. Murgatroyd wanted +money badly. His business, always poor, was becoming worse: his shipping +agency rarely produced any result: his rent was in arrears: he owed +money to his neighbour-tradesmen: he had a wife and young children. To +such a man, a hundred pounds meant relief, comfort, the lifting of +pressure. + +"You're sure there's naught wrong in it, Mr. Pratt," he asked abruptly +and assiduously. "It 'ud be a bad job for my family if anything happened +to me, you know." + +"There's naught that will happen," answered Pratt confidently. "Who on +earth can contradict you? Who knows what people you sell passages +to--but yourself?" + +"There's the folks themselves," replied Murgatroyd. "Suppose Parrawhite +turns up?" + +"He won't!" exclaimed Pratt. + +"You know where he is?" suggested Murgatroyd. + +"Not exactly," said Pratt, "But--he's left this country for +another--further off than America. That's certain! And--the folks I +referred to don't want any inquiry about him here." + +"If I am asked questions--later--am I to say he booked in his own name?" +inquired Murgatroyd. + +"No--name of Parsons," responded Pratt. "Here, I'll write down for you +exactly what I want you to say in the telegram to Halstead & Byner, and +I'll make a few memoranda for you--to post you up in case they write for +further information." + +"I haven't said that I'll do it," remarked Murgatroyd. "I don't like the +looks of it. It's all a pack of lies." + +Pratt paid no heed to this moral reflection. He found some loose paper +in his pocket and scribbled on it for a while. Then, as if accidentally, +he moved the ash-tray, and the bank-notes beneath it, all new, gave +forth a crisp, rustling sound. + +"Here you are!" said Pratt, pushing notes and memoranda towards his +companion. "Take the brass, man!--you don't get a job like that every +day." + +And Murgatroyd put the money in his pocket, and presently went home, +persuading himself that everything would be all right. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + +SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN + + +Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over +Halstead's telegram. He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded +in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction. + +"There!--what did I tell you?" he exclaimed. "There's been no murder! +The man left the town. Probably, Pratt helped him off. Couldn't have +better proof than that wire!" + +"What do you take that wire to prove, then, Mr. Eldrick?" asked Byner. + +"Take it to prove!" answered Eldrick. "Why, that Parrawhite booked a +passage to America with this man Murgatroyd, last November. Clear +enough, that!" + +"What do you take it to prove, Mr. Collingwood?" continued the inquiry +agent, as he turned to the barrister with a smile. + +"Before I take it for anything," replied Collingwood, "I want to know +who Murgatroyd is." + +Byner looked at Eldrick and laughed. + +"Precisely!" he said. "Who is Murgatroyd? Perhaps Mr. Eldrick knows." + +"I do just know that he's a man who carries on a small watch and clock +business in a poorish part of the town, and that he has some sort of a +shipping agency," answered Eldrick. "But--do you mean to imply that +whatever message it is that he's sent to your partner in London this +morning has not been sent in good faith?" + +"I don't imply anything," answered Byner. "All I say is--before I attach +any value to his message I, like Collingwood, want to know something +about the sender. He may have been put up to sending it. He may be in +collusion with somebody. Now, Mr. Eldrick, you can come in +here--strongly! I don't want to be seen in this affair--yet. Will you go +and see Murgatroyd? Tell him his wire to Halstead & Byner in London has +been communicated to you here. Ask him for further particulars--and then +drop in on me at my hotel and tell me what you've learnt. I'll be found +in the smoking-room there any time after two-thirty onward." + +Eldrick's intense curiosity in what was rapidly becoming a fascinating +mystery to him, led him to accept this embassy. And a little before +three o'clock he walked into the smoking-room at the _Central Hotel_ and +discovered Byner in a comfortable corner. + +"I've seen Murgatroyd," he whispered, as he took an adjacent chair. +"Decent honest enough man--very poor, I should say. He tells a plain +enough story. Parrawhite, whom he knew as one of our clerks, told him, +last November 23rd----" + +"He was exact about dates, then, was he?" interrupted Byner. + +"He mentioned them readily enough," replied the solicitor. "But to go +on--Parrawhite mentioned to him, November 23rd last, that he wanted to +go to America at once, Murgatroyd told him about bookings. Parrawhite +called very early next morning, paid for his passage under the name of +Parsons, and went off--en route for Liverpool, of course. So--there you +are!" + +"That's all Murgatroyd could tell?" inquired Byner. + +"That's all he knows," answered Eldrick. + +"You say Murgatroyd knew Parrawhite as one of your clerks?" asked Byner +after a moment's thought. + +"We had some process in hand against this man last autumn," replied +Eldrick. "I dare say Parrawhite served him with papers." + +"Would he--Murgatroyd--be likely to know Pratt?" continued Byner. + +"He might--in the same connection," admitted Eldrick. + +Byner smoked in silence for a while. + +"Do you know what I think, Mr. Eldrick?" he said at last. "I think Pratt +put up Murgatroyd to sending that telegram to us in London this +morning." + +"You do!" exclaimed Eldrick. + +"Surely! And now," continued the inquiry agent, "if you will, you can do +more--much more--without appearing to do anything. Pratt's office is +only a few minutes away. Can you drop in there, making some excuse, and +while there, mention, more or less casually, that Parrawhite, or +information about him, is wanted; that you and a certain Halstead & +Byner are advertising for him; that you've just seen Murgatroyd in +respect of a communication which he wired to Halstead's this morning, +and that--most important of all--a fortune of twenty thousand pounds is +awaiting Parrawhite! Don't forget the last bit of news." + +"Why that particularly?" asked Eldrick. + +"Because," answered Byner solemnly, "I want Pratt to know that the +search for Parrawhite is going to be a thorough one!" + +Eldrick went off on his second mission, promising to return in due +course. Within a few minutes he was in Pratt's office, talking over some +unimportant matter of business which he had invented as he went along. +It was not until he was on the point of departure that he referred to +the real reason of his visit. + +"Did you notice that Parrawhite is being advertised for?" he asked, +suddenly turning on his old clerk. + +Pratt was ready for this--had been ready ever since Eldrick walked in. +He affected a fine surprise. + +"Parrawhite!" he exclaimed. "Why--who's advertising for him?" + +"Don't you see the newspapers?" asked Eldrick, pointing to some which +lay about the room. "It's in there--there's an advertisement of mine, +and one of Halstead & Byner's, of London." + +Pratt picked up a Barford paper and looked at the advertisements with a +clever affectation of having never seen them before. + +"I haven't had much time for newspaper reading this last day or two," he +remarked. "Advertisements for him--from two quarters!" + +"Acting together--acting together, you know!" replied Eldrick. "It's +those people who really want him--Halstead & Byner, inquiry agents, +working for a firm of City solicitors. I'm only local agent--as it +were." + +"Had any response, Mr. Eldrick?" asked Pratt, throwing aside the paper. +"Any one come forward?" + +"Yes," answered Eldrick, watching Pratt narrowly without seeming to do +so. "This morning, a man named Murgatroyd, in Peel Row, who does a bit +of shipping agency, wired to Halstead & Byner to say that he booked +Parrawhite to New York last November. Of course, they at once +communicated with me, and I've just been to see Murgatroyd. He's that +man--watchmaker--we had some proceedings against last year." + +"Oh, that man!" said Pratt. "Thought the name was familiar. I remember +him. And what does he say?" + +"Just about as much as--and little more than--he said in his wire to +London," replied Eldrick. "Booked Parrawhite to America November 24th +last, and believes he left for Liverpool there and then." + +"Ah!" remarked Pratt, "That explains it, then?" + +"Explains--what?" asked Eldrick. + +Pratt gave his old employer a look--confidential and significant. + +"Explains why he took that money out of your desk," he said. "You +remember--forty odd pounds. He'd use some of that for his passage-money. +America eh? Now--I suppose he's vanished for good, then--it's not very +likely he'll ever be heard of from across there." + +Eldrick laughed--meaningly, of set purpose. + +"We don't know that he's gone there," he observed. "He mightn't get +beyond Liverpool, you know. Anyhow, we're going to make a very good +search for him here in Barford, first. We've nothing but Murgatroyd's +word for his having set out for Liverpool." + +"What's he wanted for?" asked Pratt as unconcernedly as possible. "Been +up to something?" + +"No," answered Eldrick, as he turned on his heel. "A relation has left +him twenty thousand pounds. That's what he's wanted for--and why he must +be found--or his death proved." + +He gave Pratt another quick glance and went off--to return to the hotel +and Byner, to whom he at once gave a faithful account of what had just +taken place. + +"And he didn't turn a hair," he remarked. "Cool as a cucumber, all +through! If your theory is correct, Pratt's a cleverer hand than I ever +took him for--and I've always said he was clever." + +"Didn't show anything when you mentioned Murgatroyd?" asked Byner. + +"Not a shred of a thing!" replied Eldrick. + +"Nor when you spoke of the twenty thousand pounds?" + +"No more than what you might call polite and interested surprise!" + +Byner laughed, threw away the end of a cigar, and rose out of his +lounging posture. + +"Now, Mr. Eldrick," he said, leaning close to the solicitor, "between +ourselves, do you know what I'm going to do--next--which means at once?" + +"No," replied Eldrick. + +"The police!" whispered Byner. "That's my next move. Just now! Within a +few minutes. So--will you give me a couple of notes--one to the +principal man here--chief constable, or police superintendent, or +whatever he is; and another to the best detective there is here--in your +opinion. They'll save me a lot of trouble." + +"Of course--if you wish it," answered Eldrick. "But you don't mean to +say you're going to have Pratt arrested--on what you know up to now?" + +"Not at all!" replied Byner. "Much too soon! All I want is--detective +help of the strictly professional kind. No--we'll give Mr. Pratt a +little more rope yet--for another four-and-twenty-hours, say. But--it'll +come! Now, who is the best local detective--a quiet, steady fellow who +knows how to do his work unobtrusively?" + +"Prydale's the man!" said Eldrick "Detective-Sergeant Prydale--I've had +reason to employ him, more than once. I'll give you a note to him, and +one to Superintendent Waterson." + +He went over to a writing-table and scribbled a few lines on half-sheets +of notepaper which he enclosed in envelopes and handed to Byner. + +"I don't know what line you're taking," he said, "nor where it's going +to end--exactly. But I do know this--Pratt never turned a hair when I +let out all that to him." + +But if Eldrick went away from his old clerk's fine new offices thinking +that Pratt was quite unperturbed and unmoved by the news he had just +acquired, he was utterly mistaken. Pratt was very much perturbed, deeply +moved, not a little frightened. He had so schooled himself to keep a +straight and ever blank expression of countenance in any sudden change +of events that he had shown nothing to Eldrick--but he was none the less +upset by the solicitor's last announcement. Twenty thousand pounds was +lying to be picked up by Parrawhite--or by Parrawhite's next-of-kin! +What an unhappy turn of fortune! For the next-of-kin would never rest +until either Parrawhite came to light, or it was satisfactorily +established that he was dead--and if search begun to be made in Barford, +where might not that search end? Unmoved?--cool?--if Eldrick had turned +back, he would have found that Pratt had suddenly given way to a fit of +nerves. + +But that soon passed, and Pratt began to think. He left his office +early, and betook himself to his favourite gymnasium. Exercise did him +good--he thought a lot while he was exercising. And once more, instead +of going home to dinner, he dined in town, and he sat late over his +dinner in a snug corner of the restaurant, and he thought and planned +and schemed--and after twilight had fallen on Barford, he went out and +made his way to Peel Row. He must see Murgatroyd again--at once. + +Half-way along Peel Row, Pratt stopped, suddenly--and with sudden fear. +Out of a side street emerged a man, a quiet ordinary-looking man whom he +knew very well indeed--Detective-Sergeant Prydale. He was accompanied by +a smart-looking, much younger man, whom Pratt remembered to have seen in +Beck Street that afternoon--a stranger to him and to Barford. And as he +watched, these two covered the narrow roadway, and walked into +Murgatroyd's shop. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + +THE BETTER HALF + + +Under the warming influence of two glasses of rum and water, and lulled +by Pratt's assurance that all would be well, Murgatroyd had carried home +his hundred pounds with pretty much the same feeling which permeates a +man who, having been within measurable distance of drowning, suddenly +finds a substantial piece of timber drifting his way, and takes a firm +grip on it. After all, a hundred pounds was a hundred pounds. He would +be able to pay his rent, and his rates, and give something to the grocer +and the butcher and the baker and the milkman; the children should have +some much-needed new clothes and boots--when all this was done, there +would be a nice balance left over. And it was Pratt's affair, when all +was said and done, and if any trouble arose, why, Pratt would have to +settle it. So he ate his supper with the better appetite which Pratt had +prophesied, and he slept more satisfactorily than usual, and next +morning he went to the nearest telegraph office and sent off the +stipulated telegram to Halstead & Byner in London, and hoped that there +was the end of the matter as far as he was concerned. And then, shortly +after noon, in walked Mr. Eldrick, one of the tribe which Murgatroyd +dreaded, having had various dealings with solicitors, in the way of +writs and summonses, and began to ask questions. + +Murgatroyd emerged from that ordeal very satisfactorily. Eldrick's +questions were few, elementary, and easily answered. There were no signs +of suspicion about him, and Murgatroyd breathed more freely when he was +gone. It seemed to him that the solicitor's visit would certainly wind +things up--for him. Eldrick asked all that could be asked, as far as he +could see, and he had replied: now, he would probably be bothered no +more. His spirits had assumed quite a cheerful tone by evening--but they +received a rude shock when, summoned from his little workshop to the +front premises, he found himself confronting one man whom he certainly +knew to be a detective, and another who might be one. Do what he would +he could not conceal some agitation, and Detective-Sergeant Prydale, a +shrewdly observant man, noticed it--and affected not to. + +"Evening, Mr. Murgatroyd," he said cheerily. "We've come to see if you +can give us a bit of information. You've had Mr. Eldrick, the lawyer, +here today on the same business. You know--this affair of an old clerk +of his--Parrawhite?" + +"I told Mr. Eldrick all I know," muttered Murgatroyd. + +"Very likely," replied Prydale, "but there's a few questions this +gentleman and myself would like to ask. Can we come in?" + +Murgatroyd fetched his wife to mind the shop, and took the callers into +the parlour which she had unwillingly vacated. He knew Prydale by sight +and reputation; about Byner he wondered. Finally he set him down as a +detective from London--and was all the more afraid of him. + +"What do you want to know?" he asked, when the three men were alone. "I +don't think there's anything that I didn't tell Mr. Eldrick." + +"Oh, there's a great deal that Mr. Eldrick didn't ask," said Prydale. +"Mr. Eldrick sort of just skirted round things, like. We want to know a +bit more. This Parrawhite's got to be found, d'ye see, Mr. Murgatroyd, +and as you seem to be the last man who had aught to do with him in +Barford, why, naturally, we come to you. Now, to start with, you say he +came to you about getting a passage to America? Just so--now, when would +that be?" + +"Day before he did get it," answered Murgatroyd, rapidly thinking over +the memoranda which Pratt had jotted down for his benefit. + +"That," said Prydale, "would be on the 23rd?" + +"Yes," replied Murgatroyd, "23rd November, of course." + +"What time, now, on the 23rd?" asked the detective. + +"Time?" said Murgatroyd. "Oh--in the evening." + +"Bit vague," remarked Prydale. "What time in the evening?" + +"As near as I can recollect," replied Murgatroyd, "it 'ud be just about +half-past eight. I was thinking of closing." + +"Ah!" said Prydale, with a glance at Byner, who had already told him of +Parrawhite's presence at the _Green Man_ on the other side of the town, +a good two miles away, at the hour which Murgatroyd mentioned. "Ah!--he +was here in your shop at half-past eight on the evening of November 23rd +last? Asking about a ticket to America?" + +"New York," muttered Murgatroyd. + +"And he came next morning and bought one?" asked the detective. + +"I told Mr. Eldrick that," said Murgatroyd, a little sullenly. + +"How much did it cost?" inquired Byner. + +"Eight pound ten," replied Murgatroyd. "Usual price." + +"What did he pay for it in?" continued Prydale. + +"He gave me a ten-pound note and I gave him thirty shillings change," +answered Murgatroyd. + +"Just so," assented Prydale. "Now what line might that be by?" + +Murgatroyd was becoming uneasy under all these questions, and his +uneasiness was deepened by the way in which both his visitors watched +him. He was a man who would have been a bad witness in any +case--nervous, ill at ease, suspicious, inclined to boggle--and in this +instance he was being forced to invent answers. + +"It was--oh, the Royal Atlantic!" he answered at last. "I've an agency +for them." + +"So I noticed from the bills and placards in your window," observed the +detective. "And of course you issue these tickets on their paper--I've +seen 'em before. You fill up particulars on a form and a counterfoil, +don't you? And you send a copy of those particulars to the Royal +Atlantic offices at Liverpool?" + +Murgatroyd nodded silently--this was much more than he bargained for, +and he did not know how much further it was going. And Prydale gave him +a sudden searching look. + +"Can you show us the counterfoil in this instance?" he asked. + +Murgatroyd flushed. But he managed to get out a fairly quick reply. "No, +I can't," he answered, "I sent that book back at the end of the year." + +"Oh, well--they'll have it at Liverpool," observed Prydale. "We can get +at it there. Of course, they'll have your record of the entire +transaction. He'd be down on their passenger list--under the name of +Parsons, I think, Mr. Murgatroyd?" + +"He gave me that name," said Murgatroyd. + +Prydale gave Byner a look and both rose. + +"I think that's about all," said the detective. "Of course, our next +inquiry will be at Liverpool---at the Royal Atlantic. Thank you, Mr. +Murgatroyd--much obliged." + +Before the watchmaker could collect himself sufficiently to say or ask +more, Prydale and his companion had walked out of the shop and gone +away. And then Murgatroyd realized that he was in for--but he did not +know what he was in for. What he did know was that if Prydale went or +sent over to Liverpool the whole thing would burst like a bubble. For +the Royal Atlantic people would tell the detectives at once that no +passenger named Parsons had sailed under their auspices on November 24th +last, and that he, Murgatroyd, had been telling a pack of lies. + +Mrs. Murgatroyd, a sharp-featured woman whose wits had been sharpened by +a ten years' daily acquaintance with poverty, came out of the shop into +the parlour and looked searchingly at her husband. + +"What did them fellows want?" she demanded. "I knew one of 'em--Prydale, +the detective. Now what's up, Reuben? More trouble?" + +Murgatroyd hesitated a moment. Then he told his wife the whole story +concealing nothing. + +"If they go to the Royal Atlantic, it'll all come out," he groaned. "I +couldn't make any excuse or explanation--anyhow! What's to be done?" + +"You should ha' had naught to do wi' that Pratt!" exclaimed Mrs. +Murgatroyd. "A scoundrelly fellow, to come and tempt poor folk to do his +dirty work! Where's the money?" + +"Locked up!" answered Murgatroyd. "I haven't touched a penny of it. I +thought I'd wait a bit and see if aught happened. But he assured me it +was all right, and you know as well as I do that a hundred pound doesn't +come our way every day. We want money!" + +"Not at that price!" said his wife. "You can pay too much for money, my +lad! I wish you'd told me what that Pratt was after--he should have +heard a bit o' my tongue! If I'd only known----" + +Just then the shop door opened, and Pratt walked in. He at once saw +Murgatroyd and his wife standing between shop and parlour, and realized +at a glance that his secret in this instance was his no longer. + +"Well?" he said, walking up to the watchmaker. "You've had Prydale +here--and you'd Eldrick this morning. Of course, you knew what to say to +both?" + +"I wish we'd never had you here last night, young man!" exclaimed Mrs. +Murgatroyd fiercely. "What right have you to come here, making trouble +for folk that's got plenty already? But at any rate, ours was honest +trouble. Yours is like to land my husband in dishonesty--if it hasn't +done so already! And if my husband had only spoken to me----" + +"Just let your husband speak a bit now," interrupted Pratt, almost +insolently. "It's you that's making all the trouble or noise, anyhow! +There's naught to fuss about, missis. What's upset you, Murgatroyd?" + +"They're going to the Royal Atlantic people," muttered the watchmaker. +"Of course, it'll all come out, then. They know that I never booked any +Parsons--nor anybody else for that matter--last November. You should ha' +thought o' that!" + +Pratt realized that the man was right. He had never thought of +that--never anticipated that inquiry would go beyond Murgatroyd. But his +keen wits at once set to work. + +"What's the system?" he asked quickly. "Tell me--what's done when you +book anybody like that? Come on!--explain, quick!" + +Murgatroyd turned to a drawer and pulled out a book and some papers. +"It's simple enough," he said. "I've this book of forms, d'ye see? I +fill up this form--sort of ticket or pass for the passenger, and hand it +to him--it's a receipt as well, to him. Then I enter the same +particulars on that counterfoil. Then I fill up one of these papers, +giving just the same particulars, and post it at once to the Company +with the passage money, less my commission. When one of these books is +finished, I return the counterfoils to Liverpool--they check 'em. +Prydale's up to all that. He asked to see the counterfoil in this case. +I had to say I hadn't got it--I'd sent it to the Company. Of course, +he'll find out that I didn't." + +"Lies!" said Mrs. Murgatroyd, vindictively. "And they didn't start wi' +us neither!" + +"Who was that other man with Prydale?" asked Pratt. + +"London detective, I should say," answered the watchmaker. "And judging +by the way he watched me, a sharp 'un, too!" + +"What impression did you get--altogether?" demanded Pratt. + +"Why!--that they're going to sift this affair--whatever it is--right +down to the bottom!" exclaimed Murgatroyd. "They're either going to find +Parrawhite or get to know what became of him. That's my impression. And +what am I going to do, now! This'll lose me what bit of business I've +done with yon shipping firm." + +"Nothing of the sort!" answered Pratt scornfully. "Don't be a fool! +You're all right. You listen to me. You write--straight off--to the +Royal Atlantic. Tell 'em you had some inquiry made about a man named +Parsons, who booked a passage with you for New York last November. Say +that on looking up your books you found that you unaccountably forgot to +send them the forms for him and his passage money. Make out a form for +that date, and crumple it up--as if it had been left lying in a drawer. +Enclose the money in it--here, I'll give you ten pounds to cover it," he +went on, drawing a bank-note from his purse. "Get it off at once--you've +time now--plenty--to catch the night-mail at the General. And then, d'ye +see, you're all right. It's only a case then--as far as you're +concerned--of forgetfulness. What's that?--we all forget something in +business, now and then. They'll overlook that--when they get the money." + +"Aye, but you're forgetting something now!" remarked Murgatroyd. "You're +forgetting this--no such passenger ever went! They'll know that by their +passenger lists." + +"What the devil has that to do with it?" snarled Pratt impatiently. +"What the devil do we care whether any such passenger went or not? All +that you're concerned about is to prove that you issued a ticket to +Parrawhite, under the name of Parsons. What's it matter to you where +Parrawhite, _alias_ Parsons, went, when he'd once left your shop? You +naturally thought he'd go straight to the Lancashire and Yorkshire +Station, on his way to Liverpool and New York! But, for aught you know, +he may have fallen down a drain pipe in the next street! Don't you see, +man? There's nothing, there's nobody, not all the detectives in London +and Barford, can prove that you didn't issue a ticket to Parrawhite on +that date? It isn't up to you to prove that you did!--it's up to them to +prove that you didn't! And--they can't. It's impossible. You get that +letter off--at once--to Liverpool, with that money inside it, and you're +as safe as houses--and your hundred pounds as well. Get it done! And if +those chaps come asking any more questions, tell 'em you're not going to +answer a single one! Mind you!--do what I tell you, and you're safe!" + +With that Pratt walked out of the shop and went off towards the centre +of the town, inwardly raging and disturbed. It was very evident that +these people meant to find Parrawhite, alive or dead; evident, too, that +they had called in the aid of the Barford police. And in spite of all +his assurances to the watchmaker and his suggestion for the next move, +Pratt was far from easy about the whole matter. He would have been +easier if he had known who Prydale's companion was--probably he was, as +Murgatroyd had suggested, a London detective who might have been making +inquiries in the town for some time and knew much more than he, Pratt, +could surmise. That was the devil of the whole thing!--in Pratt's +opinion. Adept himself in working underground, he feared people who +adopted the same tactics. What was this stranger chap after? What did he +know? What was he doing? Had he let Eldrick know anything? Was there a +web of detectives already being spun around himself? Was that silly, +unfortunate affair with Parrawhite being slowly brought to light--to +wreck him on the very beginning of what he meant to be a brilliant +career? He cursed Parrawhite again and again as he left Peel Row behind +him. + +The events of the day had made Pratt cautious as well as anxious. He +decided to keep away from his lodgings that night, and when he reached +the centre of the town he took a room at a quiet hotel. He was up early +next morning; he had breakfasted by eight o'clock; by half-past eight he +was at his office. And in his letter-box he found one letter--a thickish +package which had not come by post, but had been dropped in by hand, and +was merely addressed to Mr. Pratt. + +Pratt tore that package open with a conviction of imminent disaster. He +pulled out a sheet of cheap note-paper--and a wad of bank-notes. His +face worked curiously as he read a few lines, scrawled in illiterate, +female handwriting. + + "MR PRATT,--My husband and me don't want any more to do with + either you or your money which it is enclosed. Been honest up to + now though poor, and intending to remain so our purpose is to + make a clean breast of everything to the police first thing + tomorrow morning for which you have nobody but yourself to blame + for wickedness in tempting poor people to do wrong. + + "Yours, MRS. MURGATROYD." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + +DRY SHERRY + + +Pratt wasted no time in cursing Mrs. Murgatroyd. There would be plenty +of opportunity for such relief to his feelings later on. Just then he +had other matters to occupy him--fully. He tore the indignant letter to +shreds; he hastily thrust the bank-notes into one pocket and drew his +keys from another. Within five minutes he had taken from his safe a +sealed packet, which he placed in an inside pocket of his coat, and had +left his office--for the last time, as he knew very well. That part of +the game was up--and it was necessary to be smart in entering on another +phase of it. + +Since Eldrick's visit of the previous day, Pratt had been prepared for +all eventuality. He had made ready for flight. And he was not going +empty-handed. He had a considerable amount of Mrs. Mallathorpe's money +in his possession; by obtaining her signature to one or two documents he +could easily obtain much more in London, at an hour's notice. Those +documents were all ready, and in the sealed packet which he had just +taken from the safe; in it, too, were some other documents--John +Mallathorpe's will; the letter which Mrs. Mallathorpe had written to him +on the evening previous to her son's fatal accident; and the power of +attorney which Pratt had obtained from her at his first interview after +that occurrence. All was ready--and now there was nothing to do but to +get to Normandale Grange, see Mrs. Mallathorpe, and--vanish. He had +planned it all out, carefully, when he perceived the first danger +signals, and knew that his other plans and schemes were doomed to +failure. Half an hour at Normandale Grange--a journey to London--a +couple of hours in the City--and then the next train to the Continent, +on his way to regions much further off. Here, things had turned out +badly, unexpectedly badly--but he would carry away considerable, easily +transported wealth, to a new career in a new country. + +Pratt began his flight in methodical fashion. He locked up his office, +and left the building by a back entrance which took him into a network +of courts and alleys at the rear of the business part of Barford. He +made his way in and out of these places until he reached a +bicycle-dealer's shop in an obscure street, whereat he had left a +machine of his own on the previous evening under the excuse of having it +thoroughly cleaned and oiled. It was all ready for him on his arrival, +and he presently mounted it and rode away through the outskirts of the +town, carefully choosing the less frequented streets and roads. He rode +on until he was clear of Barford: until, in fact, he was some miles from +it, and had reached a village which was certainly not on the way to +Normandale. And then, at the post-office he dismounted, and going +inside, wrote out and dispatched a telegram. It was a brief message +containing but three words--"One as usual"--and it was addressed Esther +Mawson, The Grange, Normandale. This done, he remounted his bicycle, +rode out of the village, and turned across country in quite a different +direction. It was not yet ten o'clock--he had three hours to spare +before the time came for keeping the appointment which he had just made. + +At an early stage of his operations, Pratt had found that even the +cleverest of schemers cannot work unaided. It had been absolutely +necessary to have some tool close at hand to Normandale Grange and its +inhabitants; to have some person there upon whom he could depend for +news. He had found that person, that tool, in Esther Mawson, who, as +Mrs. Mallathorpe's maid, had opportunities which he at once recognized +as being likely to be of the greatest value to him. The circumstances of +Harper Mallathorpe's death had thrown Pratt and the maid together, and +he had quickly discovered that she was to be bought, and would do +anything for money. He had soon come to an understanding with her; soon +bargained with her, and made her a willing accomplice in certain of his +schemes, without letting her know their full meaning and extent: all, +indeed, that she had learned from Pratt was that he had some +considerable hold on her mistress. + +But it is dangerous work to play with edged tools, and if Pratt had only +known it, he was running great risks in using Esther Mawson as a +semi-accomplice. Esther Mawson was in constant touch with her mistress, +and Mrs. Mallathorpe, afraid of her daughter, and not greatly in +sympathy with her, badly needed a confidante. Little by little the +mistress began to confide in the maid, and before long Esther Mawson +knew the secret--and thenceforward she played a double game. Pratt found +her useful in arranging meetings with Mrs. Mallathorpe unknown to Nesta, +and he believed her to be devoted to him. But the truth was that Esther +Mawson had only one object of devotion--herself--and she was waiting and +watching for an opportunity to benefit that object--at Pratt's expense. + +Pratt knew nothing of this as he slowly made his way to Normandale that +morning. Having plenty of time he went by devious and lonely roads and +by-lanes. Eventually he came to the boundary of Normandale Park at a +point far away from the Grange. There he dismounted, hid his bicycle in +a coppice wherein he had often left it before, and went on towards the +house through the woods and plantations. He knew every yard of the +ground he traversed, and was skilled in taking cover if he saw any sign +of woodman or gamekeeper. And in the end, just as one o'clock chimed +from the clock over the stables, he came to a quiet spot in the +shrubberies behind the Grange, and found Esther Mawson waiting for him +in an old summer-house in which they had met on previous and similar +occasions. + +Esther Mawson immediately realized that something unusual was in the +air. Clever as Pratt was at concealing his feelings, she was cleverer in +seeing small signs, and she saw that this was no ordinary visit. + +"Anything wrong?" she asked at once. + +"Bit of bother--nothing much--it'll blow over," answered Pratt, who knew +that a certain amount of candour was necessary in dealing with this +woman. "But--I shall have to be away for a bit--week or two, perhaps." + +"You want to see her?" inquired Esther. + +"Of course! I've some papers for her to sign," replied Pratt. "How do +things stand? Coast clear?" + +"Miss Mallathorpe's going into Barford after lunch," answered Esther. +"She'll be driving in about half-past two. I can manage it then. How +long shall you want to be with her?" + +"Oh, a quarter of an hour'll do," said Pratt. "Ten minutes, if it comes +to that." + +"And after that?" asked Esther. + +"Then I want to get a train at Scaleby," replied Pratt, mentioning a +railway junction which lay ten miles across country in another +direction. "So make it as soon after two-thirty as you can." + +"You can see her as soon as Miss Mallathorpe's gone," said Esther. +"You'd better come into the house--I've got the key of the turret door, +and all's clear--the servants are all at dinner." + +"I could do with something myself," observed Pratt, who, in his anxiety, +had only made a light breakfast that morning. "Can it be managed?" + +"I'll manage it," she answered. "Come on--now." + +Behind the summer-house in which they had met a narrow path led through +the shrubberies to an old part of the Grange which was never used, and +was, in fact, partly ruinous. Esther Mawson led the way along this until +she and Pratt came to a turret in the grey walls, in the lower story of +which a massive oaken door, heavily clamped with iron, gave entrance to +a winding stair, locked it from inside when she and Pratt had entered, +and preceded her companion up the stair, and across one or two empty and +dust-covered chambers to a small room in which a few pieces of ancient +furniture were slowly dropping to decay. Pratt had taken refuge in this +room before, and he sat down in one of the old chairs and mopped his +forehead. + +"I want something to drink, above everything," he remarked. "What can +you get?" + +"Nothing but wine," answered Esther Mawson. "As much as you like of +that, because I've a stock that's kept up in Mrs. Mallathorpe's room. I +couldn't get any ale without going to the butler. I can get wine and +sandwiches without anybody knowing." + +"That'll do," said Pratt. "What sort of wine?" + +"Port, sherry, claret," she replied. "Whichever you like." + +"Sherry, then," answered Pratt. "Bring a bottle if you can get it--I +want a good drink." + +The woman went away--through the disused part of the old house into the +modern portion. She went straight to a certain store closet and took +from it a bottle of old dry sherry which had been brought there from a +bin in the cellars--it was part of a quantity of fine wine laid down by +John Mallathorpe, years before, and its original owner would have been +disgusted to think that it should ever be used for the mere purpose of +quenching thirst. But Esther Mawson had another purpose in view, with +respect to that bottle. Carrying it to her own sitting-room, she +carefully cut off the thick mass of sealing-wax at its neck, drew the +cork, and poured a little of the wine away. And that done, she unlocked +a small box which stood on a corner of her dressing table, and took from +it a glass phial, half full of a colourless liquid. With steady hands +and sure fingers, she dropped some of that liquid into the wine, +carefully counting the drops. Then she restored the phial to its +hiding-place and re-locked the box--after which, taking up a spoon which +lay on her table, she poured out a little of the sherry and smelled and +tasted it. No smell--other than that which ought to be there; no +taste--other than was proper. Pratt would suspect nothing even if he +drunk the whole bottle. + +Esther Mawson had anticipated Pratt's desires in the way of refreshment, +and she now went to a cupboard and took from it a plate of sandwiches, +carefully swathed in a napkin. Carrying these in one hand, and the +bottle of sherry and a glass in the other, she stole quietly back to the +disused part of the house, and set her provender before its expectant +consumer. Pratt poured out a glassful of the sherry, and drank it +eagerly. + +"Good stuff that!" he remarked, smacking his lips. "Some of old John +Mallathorpe's--no doubt." + +"It was here when we came, anyhow," replied Esther. "Well--I shall have +to go. You'll be all right until I come back." + +"What time do you think it'll be?" asked Pratt. "Make it as soon as the +coast's clear--I want to be off." + +"As soon as ever she's gone," agreed Esther. "I heard her order the +carriage for half-past two." + +"And no fear of anybody else being about?" asked Pratt. "That butler +man, for instance? Or servants?" + +"I'll see to it," replied Esther reassuringly. "I'll lock this door and +take the key until I come back--make yourself comfortable." + +She locked Pratt in the old room and went off, and the willing prisoner +ate his sandwiches and drank his sherry, and looked out of a mullioned +window on the wide stretches of park and coppice and the breezy +moorlands beyond. He indulged in some reflections--not wholly devoid of +sentiment. He had cherished dreams of becoming the virtual owner of +Normandale. Always confident in his own powers, he had believed that +with time and patience he could have persuaded Nesta Mallathorpe to +marry him--why not? Now--all owing to that cursed and unfortunate +contretemps with Parrawhite, that seemed utterly impossible--all he +could do now was to save himself--and to take as much as he could get. +More than once that morning, as he made his way across country, he had +remembered Parrawhite's advice to take cash and be done with +it--perhaps, he reflected, it might have been better. Still--when he +presently began his final retreat, he would carry away with him a lot of +the Mallathorpe money. + +But before long Pratt indulged in no more reflections--sentiment or +practical. He had eaten all his sandwiches; he had drunk three-quarters +of the bottle of sherry. And suddenly he felt unusually drowsy, and he +laid his head back in his big chair, and fell soundly asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + +THE TELEPHONE MESSAGE + + +If Pratt had only known what was going on in the old quarries at +Whitcliffe, about the very time that he was riding slowly out to Barford +on his bicycle, he would not only have accelerated his pace, but would +have taken good care to have chosen another route: he would also have +made haste to exchange bicycle for railway train as quickly as possible, +and to have got himself far away before anybody could begin looking for +him in his usual haunts, or at places wherein there was a possibility of +his being found. But Pratt knew nothing of what Byner had done. He was +conscious of Byner's visit to the _Green Man_. He did not know what +Pickard had been told by Bill Thomson. He was unaware of anything which +Pickard had told to Byner. If he had known that Byner, guided by +Pickard, had been to the old quarries, had fixed his inquiring eye on +the shaft which was filled to its brim with water, and had got certain +ideas from the mere sight of it, Pratt would have hastened to put +hundreds of miles between himself and Barford as quickly as possible. +But all that Pratt knew was that there was a possibility of +suspicion--which might materialize eventually, but not immediately. + +On the previous evening, Pratt--had he but known it--made a great +mistake. Instead of going into Murgatroyd's shop after he had watched +Byner and Prydale away from it--he should have followed those two astute +and crafty persons, and have ascertained something of their movements. +Had he done so, he would certainly not have troubled to return to Peel +Row, nor to remain in Barford an hour longer than was absolutely +necessary. For Pratt was sharp-witted enough when it came to a question +of putting one and two together, and if he had tracked Prydale and the +unknown man who was with him to a certain house whereto they repaired as +soon as they quitted Murgatroyd's shop, he would have drawn an inference +from the mere fact of their visit which would have thrown him into a +cold sweat of fear. But Pratt, after all, was only one man, one brain, +one body, and could not be in two places, nor go in two ways, at the +same time. He took his own way--ignorant of his destruction. + +Byner also took a way of his own. As soon as he and Prydale left +Murgatroyd's shop, they chartered the first cab they met with, and +ordered its driver to go to Whitcliffe Moor. + +"It's the quickest thing to do--if my theory's correct," observed Byner, +as they drove along, "Of course, it is all theory--mere theory! But I've +grounds for it. The place--the time--mere lonely situation--that scrap +iron lying about, which would be so useful in weighting a dead body!--I +tell you, I shall be surprised if we don't find Parrawhite at the bottom +of that water!" + +"I shouldn't wonder," agreed Prydale. "One thing's very certain, as we +shall prove before we're through with it--Pratt's put that poor devil +Murgatroyd up to this passage-to-America business. And a bit clumsily, +too--fancy Murgatroyd being no better posted up than to tell me that +Parrawhite called on him at a certain hour that night!" + +"But you've got to remember that Pratt didn't know of Parrawhite's +affairs with Pickard, nor that he was at the _Green Man_ at that hour," +rejoined Byner. "My belief is that Pratt thinks himself safe--that he +fancies he's provided for all contingencies. If things turn out as I +think they will, I believe we shall find Pratt calmly seated at his desk +tomorrow morning." + +"Well--if things do turn out as you expect, we'll lose no time in +seeking him there!" observed Prydale dryly. "We'd better arrange to get +the job done first thing." + +"This Mr. Shepherd'll make no objection, I suppose?" asked Byner. + +"Objection! Lor' bless you--he'll love it!" exclaimed Prydale. "It'll be +a bit of welcome diversion to a man like him that's naught to do. He'll +object none, not he!" + +Shepherd, a retired quarry-owner, who lived in a picturesque old stone +house in the middle of Whitcliffe Moor, with nothing to occupy his +attention but the growing of roses and vegetables, and an occasional +glance at the local newspapers, listened to Prydale's request with +gradually rising curiosity. Byner had at once seen that this call was +welcome to this bluff and hearty Yorkshireman, who, without any question +as to their business, had immediately welcomed them to his hearth and +pressed liquor and cigars on them: he sized up Shepherd as a man to whom +any sort of break in the placid course of retired life was a delightful +event. + +"A dead man i' that old shaft i' one o' my worked out quarries!" he +exclaimed. "Ye don't mean to say so! An' how long d'yer think he might +ha' been there, now, Prydale?" + +"Some months, Mr. Shepherd," replied the detective. + +"Why, then it's high time he were taken out," said Shepherd. "When might +you be thinkin' o' doin' t' job, like?" + +"As soon as possible," said Prydale. "Tomorrow morning, early, if that's +convenient to you." + +"I'll tell you what I'll do," observed the retired quarry-owner. "You +leave t' job to me. I'll get two or three men first thing tomorrow +morning, and we'll do it reight. You be up there by half-past eight +o'clock, and we'll soon satisfy you as to whether there's owt i' t' +shape of a dead man or not i' t' pit. You hev' grounds for believin' 'at +theer is----what?" + +"Strong grounds!" replied the detective, "and equally strong ones for +believing the man came there by foul play, too." + +"Say no more!" said Shepherd. "T' mystery shall be cleared up. Deary me! +An' to think 'at I've walked past yon theer pit many a dozen times +within this last few o' months, and nivver dreamed 'at theer wor owt in +it but watter! Howivver, gentlemen, ye can put yer minds at ease--we'll +investigate the circumstances, as the sayin' goes, before noon +tomorrow." + +"One other matter," remarked Prydale. "We want things kept quiet. We +don't want all the folk of the neighbourhood round about, you know." + +"Leave it to me," answered Shepherd. "There'll be me, and these men, and +yourselves--and a pair of grapplin' irons. We'll do it quiet and +comfortable--and we'll do it reight." + +"Odd character!" remarked Byner, when he and Prydale went away. + +"Useful man--for a job of that sort," said the detective laconically. +"Now then--are we going to let anybody else know what we're after--Mr. +Eldrick or Mr. Collingwood, for instance? Do you want them, or either of +them, to be present?" + +"No!" answered Byner, after a moment's reflection. "Let us see what +results. We can let them know, soon enough, if we've anything to tell. +But--what about Pratt?" + +"Keeping an eye on him--you mean?" said Prydale. "You said just now that +in your opinion we should find him at his desk." + +"Just so--but that's no reason why he shouldn't be looked after tomorrow +morning," answered Byner. + +"All right--I'll put a man on to shadow him, from the time he leaves his +lodgings until--until we want him," said the detective. "That is--if we +do want him." + +"It will be one of the biggest surprises I ever had in my life if we +don't!" asserted Byner. "I never felt more certain of anything than I do +of finding Parrawhite's body in that pit!" + +It was this certainty which made Byner appear extraordinarily cool and +collected, when next day, about noon, he walked into Eldrick's private +room, where Collingwood was at that moment asking the solicitor what was +being done. The certainty was now established, and it seemed to Byner +that it would have been a queer thing if he had not always had it. He +closed the door and gave the two men an informing glance. + +"Parrawhite's body has been found," he said quietly. + +Eldrick started in his chair, and Collingwood looked a sharp inquiry. + +"Little doubt about his having been murdered, just as I conjectured," +continued Byner. "And his murderer had pretty cleverly weighted his body +with scrap iron, before dropping it into a pit full of water, where it +might have remained for a long time undiscovered. However--that's +settled!" + +Eldrick got out the first question. + +"Pratt?" + +"Prydale's after him," answered Byner. "I expect we shall hear something +in a few minutes--if he's in town. But I confess I'm a bit doubtful and +anxious now, on that score. Because, when Prydale and I got down from +Whitcliffe half an hour ago--where the body's now lying, at the _Green +Man_, awaiting the inquest--we found Murgatroyd hanging about the police +station. He'd come to make a clean breast of it--about Pratt. And it +unfortunately turns out that Pratt saw Prydale and me go to Murgatroyd's +shop last night, and afterwards went in there himself, and of course +pumped Murgatroyd dry as to why we'd been." + +"Why unfortunately?" asked Collingwood. + +"Because that would warn Pratt that something was afoot," said Byner. +"And--he may have disappeared during the night. He----" + +But just then Prydale came in, shaking his head. + +"I'm afraid he's off!" he announced. "I'd a man watching for him outside +his lodgings from an early hour this morning, but he never came out, and +finally my man made an excuse and asked for him there, and then he heard +that he'd never been home last night. And his office is closed." + +"What steps are you taking?" asked Byner. + +"I've got men all over the place already," replied Prydale. "But--if he +got off in the night, as I'm afraid he did, we shan't find him in +Barford. It's a most unlucky thing that he saw us go to Murgatroyd's +last evening! That, of course, would set him off: he'd know things were +reaching a crisis." + +Eldrick and Collingwood had arranged to lunch together that day, and +they presently went off, asking the detective to keep them informed of +events. But up to half-past three o 'clock they heard no more--then, as +they were returning along the street Byner came running up to them. + +"Prydale's just had a telephone message from the butler at Normandale!" +he exclaimed. "Pratt is there!--and something extraordinary is going on: +the butler wants the police. We're off at once--there's Prydale in a +motor, waiting for me. Will you follow?" + +He darted away again, and Eldrick looking round for a car, suddenly +recognized the Mallathorpe livery. + +"Great Scott!" he said. "There's Miss Mallathorpe--just driving in. +Better tell her!" + +A moment later, he and Collingwood had joined Nesta in her carriage, and +the horses' heads were turned in the direction towards which Byner and +Prydale were already hastening. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + +RESTORED TO ENERGY + + +Esther Mawson, leaving Pratt to enjoy his sherry and sandwiches at his +leisure, went away through the house, out into the gardens, and across +the shrubbery to the stables. The coachman and grooms were at +dinner--with the exception of one man who lived in a cottage at the +entrance to the stable-yard. This was the very man she wanted to see, +and she found him in the saddle-room, and beckoned him to its door. + +"Mrs. Mallathorpe wants me to go over to Scaleby on an errand for her +this afternoon," she said. "Can you have the dog-cart ready, at the +South Garden gate at three o'clock sharp? And--without saying anything +to the coachman? It's a private errand." + +Of late this particular groom had received several commissions of this +sort, and being a sharp fellow he had observed that they were generally +given to him when Miss Mallathorpe was out. + +"All right," he answered. "The young missis is going out in the carriage +at half-past two. South Garden gate--three sharp. Anybody but you?" + +"Only me," replied Esther. "Don't say anything to anybody about where +we're going. Get the dog-cart ready after the carriage has gone." + +The groom nodded in comprehension, and Esther went back to the house and +to her own room. She ought at that time of day to have been eating her +dinner with the rest of the upper servants, but she had work to do which +was of much more importance than the consumption of food and drink. +There was going to be a flight that afternoon--but it would not be Pratt +who would undertake it. Esther Mawson had carefully calculated all her +chances as soon as Pratt told her that he was going to be away for a +while. She knew that Pratt would not have left Barford for any +indefinite period unless something had gone seriously wrong. But she +knew more--by inference and intuition. If Pratt was going away--rather, +since he was going away, he would have on his person things of +value--documents, money. She meant to gain possession of everything that +he had; she meant to have a brief interview with Mrs. Mallathorpe; then +she meant to drive to Scaleby--and to leave that part of the country +just as thoroughly and completely as Pratt had meant to leave it. And +now in her own room she was completing her preparations. There was +little to do. She knew that if her venture came off successfully, she +could easily afford to leave her personal possessions behind her, and +that she would be all the more free and unrestricted in her movements if +she departed without as much as a change of clothes and linen. And so by +two o'clock she had arrayed herself in a neat and unobtrusive +tailor-made travelling costume, had put on an equally neat and plain +hat, had rolled her umbrella, and laid it, her gloves, and a cloak where +they could be readily picked up, and had attached to her slim waist a +hand-bag--by means of a steel chain which she secured by a small padlock +as soon as she had arranged it to her satisfaction. She was not the sort +of woman to leave a hand-bag lying about in a railway carriage at any +time, but in this particular instance she was not going to run any risk +of even a moment's forgetfulness. + +Everything was in readiness by twenty minutes past two, and she took up +her position in a window from which she could see the front door of the +house. At half-past two the carriage and its two fine bay horses came +round from the stables; a minute or two later Nesta Mallathorpe emerged +from the hall; yet another minute and the carriage was whirling down the +park in the direction of Barford. And then Esther moved from the window, +picked up the umbrella, the cloak, the gloves, and went off in the +direction of the room wherein she had left Pratt. + +No one ever went near those old rooms except on some special errand or +business, and there was a dead silence all around her as she turned the +key in the lock and slipped inside the door--to lock it again as soon as +she had entered. There was an equally deep silence within the room--and +for a moment she glanced a little fearfully at the recumbent figure in +the old, deep-backed chair. Pratt had stretched himself fully in his +easy quarters---his legs lay extended across the moth-eaten hearth-rug; +his head and shoulders were thrown far back against the faded tapestry, +and he was so still that he might have been supposed to be dead. But +Esther Mawson had tried the effect of that particular drug on a good +many people, and she knew that the victim in this instance was merely +plunged in a sleep from which nothing whatever could wake him yet +awhile. And after one searching glance at him, and one lifting of an +eyelid by a practised finger, she went rapidly and thoroughly through +Pratt's pockets, and within a few minutes of entering the room had +cleared them of everything they contained. The sealed packet which he +had taken from his safe that morning; the bank-notes which Mrs. +Murgatroyd had returned in her indignant letter; another roll of notes, +of considerable value, in a note-case; a purse containing notes and gold +to a large amount--all those she laid one by one on a dust-covered +table. And finally--and as calmly as if she were sorting linen--she +swept bank-notes, gold, and purse into her steel-chained bag, and tore +open the sealed envelope. + +There were five documents in that envelope--Esther examined each with +meticulous care. The first was an authority to Linford Pratt to sell +certain shares standing in the name of Ann Mallathorpe. The second was a +similar document relating to other shares: each was complete, save for +Ann Mallathorpe's signature. The third document was the power of +attorney which Ann Mallathorpe had given to Linford Pratt: the fourth, +the letter which she had written to him on the evening before the fatal +accident to Harper. And the fifth was John Mallathorpe's will. + +At last she held in her hand the half-sheet of foolscap paper of which +Mrs. Mallathorpe, driven to distraction, and knowing that she would get +no sympathy from her own daughter, had told her. She was a woman of a +quick and an understanding mind, and she had read the will through and +grasped its significance as swiftly as her eyes ran over it. And those +eyes turned to the unconscious Pratt with a flash of contempt--she, at +any rate, would not follow his foolish example, and play for too high a +stake--no, she would make hay while the sun shone its hottest! She was +of the Parrawhite persuasion--better, far better one good bird in the +hand than a score of possible birds in the bush. + +She presently restored the five documents to the stout envelope, picked +up her other belongings, and without so much as a glance at Pratt, left +the room. She turned the key in the door and took it away with her. And +now she went straight to a certain sitting-room which Mrs. Mallathorpe +had tenanted by day ever since her illness. The final and most important +stage of Esther's venture was at hand. + +Mrs. Mallathorpe sat at an open window, wearily gazing out on the park. +Ever since her son's death she had remained in a more or less torpid +condition, rarely talking to any person except Esther Mawson: it had +been manifest from the first that her daughter's presence distressed and +irritated her, and by the doctor's advice Nesta had gone to her as +little as possible, while taking every care to guard her and see to her +comfort. All day long she sat brooding--and only Esther Mawson, now for +some time in her full confidence, knew that her brooding was rapidly +developing into a monomania. Mrs. Mallathorpe, indeed, had but one +thought in her mind--the eventual circumventing of Pratt, and the +destruction of John Mallathorpe's will. + +She turned slowly as the maid came in and carefully closed the door +behind her, and her voice was irritable and querulous as she at once +began to complain. + +"You've never been near me for two hours!" she said. "Your dinner time +was over long since! I might have been wanting all sorts of things for +aught you cared!" + +"I've had something else to do--for you!" retorted Esther, coming close +to her mistress. "Listen, now!--I've got it!" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe's attitude and manner suddenly changed. She caught +sight of the packet of papers in the woman's hand, and at once sprang to +her feet, white and trembling. Instinctively she held out her own hands +and moved a little nearer to the maid. And Esther quickly put the table +between them, and shook her head. + +"No--no!" she exclaimed. "No handling of anything--yet! You keep your +hands off! You were ready enough to bargain with Pratt--now you'll have +to bargain with me. But I'm not such a fool as he was--I'll take cash +down, and be done with it." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe rested her trembling hands on the table and bent +forward across it. + +"Is it--is it--really--the will?" she whispered hoarsely. + +Instead of replying in words, Esther, taking care to keep at a safe +distance behind the table, and with the door only a yard or two in her +rear, drew out the documents one by one and held them up. + +"The will!" she said. "Your letter to Pratt. The power of attorney. Two +papers that he brought for you to sign. That's the lot! And now, as I +said, we'll bargain." + +"Where is--he?" asked Mrs. Mallathorpe. "How--how did you get them? Does +he know--did he give them up?" + +"If you want to know, he's safe and sound asleep in one of the rooms in +the old part of the house," answered Esther. "I drugged him. There's +something afoot--something gone wrong with his schemes--at Barford, and +he came here on his way--elsewhere. And so--I took the chance. Now +then--what are you going to give me?" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe, whose nervous agitation was becoming more and more +marked, wrung her hands. + +"I've nothing to give!" she cried. "You know very well he's had the +management of everything--I don't know how things are----" + +"Stuff!" exclaimed Esther. "I know better than that. You've a lot of +ready money in that desk there--you know you drew a lot out of the bank +some time ago, and it's there now. You kept it for a contingency--the +contingency's here. And--you've your rings--the diamond and ruby +rings--I know what they're worth! Come on, now--I mean to have the whole +lot, so it's no use hesitating." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe looked at the maid's bold and resolute eyes--and then +at the papers. And she glanced from eyes and papers to a bright fire +which burned in the grate close by. + +"You'll give everything up?" she asked nervously. + +"Put those bank-notes that you've got in your desk, and those rings that +are in your jewel-case, on the table between us," answered Esther, "and +I'll hand over these papers on the instant! I'm not going to be such a +fool as to keep them--not I! Come on, now!--isn't this the chance you've +wanted?" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe drew a small bunch of keys from her gown, and went over +to the desk which Esther had pointed to. Within a minute she was back +again at the table, a roll of bank notes in one hand, half a dozen +magnificent rings in the other. She put both hands halfway across and +unclasped them. And Esther Mawson, with a light laugh, threw the papers +over the table, and hastily swept their price into her handbag. + +Mrs. Mallathorpe's nerves suddenly became steady. With a deep sigh she +caught up the various documents and looked them quickly and thoroughly +over. Then she tore them into fragments and flung the fragments in the +fire--and as they blazed up, she turned and looked at Esther Mawson in a +way which made Esther shrink a little. But she was already at the +door--and she opened it and walked out and down the stair. + +She was half-way across the hall beneath, where the butler and one of +the footmen were idly talking, when a sharp cry from above made her then +look up. Mrs. Mallathorpe, suddenly restored to life and energy, was +leaning over the balustrade. + +"Stop that woman, you men!" she said. "Seize her! Fasten her up!--lock +the door wherever you put her! She's stolen my rings, and a lot of money +out of my desk! And telephone instantly to Barford, and tell them to +send the police here--at once!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + +THE WOMAN IN BLACK + + +Nesta Mallathorpe, who had just arrived in Barford when Eldrick caught +sight of her, was seriously startled as he and Collingwood came running +up to her carriage. The solicitor entered it without ceremony or +explanation, and turning to the coachman bade him drive back to +Normandale as fast as he could make his horses go. Meanwhile Collingwood +turned to Nesta. "Don't be alarmed!" he said. "Something is happening at +the Grange--your mother has just telephoned to the police here to go +there at once--there they are--in front of us, in that car!" + +"Did my mother say if she was in danger?" demanded Nesta. + +"She can't be!" exclaimed Eldrick, turning from the coachman, as the +horses were whipped round and the carriage moved off. "She evidently +gave orders for the message. No--Pratt's there! And--but of course, you +don't know--the police want Pratt. They've been searching for him since +noon. He's wanted for murder!" + +"Don't frighten Miss Mallathorpe," said Collingwood. "The murder has +nothing to do with present events," he went on reassuringly. "It's +something that happened some time ago. Don't be afraid about your +mother--there are plenty of people round her, you know." + +"I can't help feeling anxious if Pratt is there," she answered. "How did +he come to be there? It's not an hour since I left home. This is all +some of Esther Mawson's work! And we shall have to wait nearly an hour +before we know what is going on!--it's all uphill work to Normandale, +and the horses can't do it in the time." + +"Eldrick!" said Collingwood, as the carriage came abreast of the Central +Station and a long line of motorcars. "Stop the coachman! Let's get one +of those cars--we shall get to Normandale twice as quickly. The main +thing is to relieve Miss Mallathorpe of anxiety. Now!" he went on, as +they hastily left the carriage and transferred themselves to a car +quickly scented by Eldrick as the most promising of the lot. "Tell the +driver to go as fast as he can--the other car's not very far in +front--tell him to catch it up." + +Eldrick leaned over and gave his orders. + +"I've told him not only to catch him up, but to get in front of 'em," he +said, settling down again in his seat. "This is a better car than +theirs, and we shall be there first. Now, Miss Mallathorpe, don't you +bother--this is probably going to be the clearing-up point of +everything. One feels certain, at any rate--Pratt has reached the end of +his tether!" + +"If I seem to bother," replied Nesta, "it's because I know that he and +Esther Mawson are at Normandale--working mischief." + +"We shall be there in half an hour," said Collingwood, as their own car +ran past that in which the detectives and Byner were seated. "They can't +do much mischief in that time." + +None of the three spoke again until the car pulled up suddenly at the +gates of Normandale Park. The lodge-keeper, an old man, coming out to +open them, approached the door of the car on seeing Nesta within. + +"There's a young woman just gone up to the house that wants to see you +very particular, miss," he said. "I tell'd her that you'd gone to +Barford, but she said she'd come a long way, and she'd wait till you +come back. She's going across the park there--crossin' yon path." + +He pointed over the level sward to the slight figure of a woman in +black, who was obviously taking a near cut up to the Grange. Nesta +looked wonderingly across the park as the car cleared the gate and went +on up the drive. + +"Who can she be?" she said musingly. "A woman from a long way--to see +me?" + +"She'll get to the house soon after we reach it," said Eldrick. "Let's +attend to this more pressing business first. We should know what's afoot +here in a minute or two." + +But it was somewhat difficult to make out or to discover what really was +afoot. The car stopped at the hall door: the second car came close +behind it; Nesta, Collingwood, Eldrick, Byner, and the detectives poured +into the hall--encountered a much mystified-looking butler, a couple of +footmen, and the groom whose services Esther Mawson had requisitioned, +and who, weary of waiting for her, had come up to the house. + +"What's all this?" asked Eldrick, taking the situation into his own +hands. "What's the matter? Why did you send for the police?" + +"Mrs. Mallathorpe's orders, sir," answered the butler, with an +apologetic glance at his young mistress. "Really, sir, I don't +know--exactly--what is the matter! We are all so confused! What happened +was, that not very long after Miss Mallathorpe had left for town in the +carriage, Esther Mawson, the maid, came downstairs from Mrs. +Mallathorpe's room, and was crossing the lower part of the hall, when +Mrs. Mallathorpe suddenly appeared up there and called to me and James +to stop her and lock her up, as she'd stolen money and jewels! We were +to lock her up and telephone for the police, sir, and to add that Mr. +Pratt was here." + +"Well?" demanded Eldrick. + +"We did lock her up, sir! She's in my pantry," continued the butler, +ruefully. "We've got her in there because there are bars to the +windows--she can't get out of that. A terrible time we had, too, +sir--she fought us like--like a maniac, protesting all the time that +Mrs. Mallathorpe had given her what she had on her. Of course, sir, we +don't know what she may have on her--we simply obeyed Mrs. Mallathorpe." + +"Where is Mrs. Mallathorpe?" asked Collingwood. "Is she safe?" + +"Oh, quite safe, sir!" replied the butler. "She returned to her room +after giving those orders. Mrs. Mallathorpe appeared to be--quite calm, +sir." + +Prydale pushed himself forward--unceremoniously and insistently. + +"Keep that woman locked up!" he said. "First of all--where's Pratt?" + +"Mrs. Mallathorpe said he would be found in a room in the old part of +the house," answered the butler, shaking his head as if he were +thoroughly mystified. "She said you would find him fast asleep--Mawson +had drugged him!" + +Prydale looked at Byner and at his fellow-detectives. Then he turned to +the butler. + +"Come on!" he said brusquely. "Take us there at once!" He glanced at +Eldrick. "I'm beginning to see through it, Mr. Eldrick!" he whispered. +"This maid's caught Pratt for us. Let's hope he's still----" + +But before he could say more, and just as the butler opened a door which +led into a corridor at the rear of the hall, a sharp crack which was +unmistakably that of a revolver, rang through the house, waking equally +sharp echoes in the silent room. And at that, Nesta hurried up the +stairway to her mother's apartment, and the men, after a hurried glance +at each other, ran along the corridor after the butler and the footmen. + +Pratt came out of his stupor much sooner than Esther Mawson had reckoned +on. According to her previous experiments with the particular drug which +she had administered to him, he ought to have remained in a profound and +an undisturbed slumber until at least five o'clock. But he woke at +four--woke suddenly, sharply, only conscious at first of a terrible pain +in his head, which kept him groaning and moaning in his chair for a +minute or two before he fairly realized where he was and what had +happened. As the pain became milder and gave way to a dull throbbing and +a general sense of discomfort, he looked round out of aching eyes and +saw the bottle of sherry. And so dull were his wits that his only +thought at first was that the wine had been far stronger than he had +known, and that he had drunk far too much of it, and that it had sent +him to sleep--and just then his wandering glance fell on some papers +which Esther Mawson had taken from one of his pockets and thrown aside +as of no value. + +He leapt to his feet, trembling and sweating. His hands, shaking as if +smitten with a sudden palsy, went to his pockets--he tore off his coat +and turned his pockets out, as if touch and feeling were not to be +believed, and his eyes must see that there was really nothing there. +Then he snatched up the papers on the floor and found nothing but +letters, and odd scraps of unimportant memoranda. He stamped his feet on +those things, and began to swear and curse, and finally to sob and +whine. The shock of his discovery had driven all his stupefaction away +by that time, and he knew what had happened. And his whining and sobbing +was not that of despair, but the far worse and fiercer sobbing and +whining of rage and terrible anger. If the woman who had tricked him had +been there he would have torn her limb from limb, and have glutted +himself with revenge. But--he was alone. + +And presently, after moving around his prison more like a wild beast +than a human being, his senses having deserted him for a while, he +regained some composure, and glanced about him for means of escape. He +went to the door and tried it. But the old, substantial oak stood firm +and fast--nothing but a crow-bar would break that door. And so he turned +to the mullioned window, set in a deep recess. + +He knew that it was thirty or forty feet above the level of the +ground--but there was much thick ivy growing on the walls of Normandale +Grange, and it might be possible to climb down by its aid. With a great +effort he forced open one of the dirt-encrusted sashes and looked +out--and in the same instant he drew in his head with a harsh groan. The +window commanded a full view of the hall door--and he had seen Prydale, +and two other detectives, and the stranger from London whom he believed +to be a detective, hurrying from their motorcar into the house. + +There was but one thing for it, now. Esther Mawson had robbed him of +everything that was on him in the way of papers and money. But in his +hip-pocket she had left a revolver which Pratt had carried, always +loaded, for some time. And now, without the least hesitation, he drew it +out and sent one of its bullets through his brain. + + * * * * * + +Eldrick and Collingwood, returning to the hall from the room in which +they and the detectives had found Pratt's dead body, stood a little +later in earnest conversation with Prydale, who had just come there from +an interview with Esther Mawson. Nesta Mallathorpe suddenly called to +them from the stairs, at the same time beckoning them to go up to her. + +"Will you come with me and speak to my mother?" she said. "She knows you +are here, and she wants to say something about what has +happened--something about that document which Pratt said he possessed." + +Eldrick and Collingwood exchanged glances without speaking. They +followed Nesta into her mother's sitting-room. And instead of the +semi-invalid whom they had expected to find there, they saw a woman who +had evidently regained not only her vivacity and her spirits but her +sense of authority and her inclination to exercise it. + +"I am sorry that you gentlemen should have been drawn into all this +wretched business!" she exclaimed, as she pointed the two men to chairs. +"Everything must seem very strange, and indeed have seemed so for some +time. But I have been the victim of as bad a scoundrel as ever +lived--I'm not going to be so hypocritical as to pretend that I'm sorry +he's dead--I'm not! I only wish he'd met his proper fate--on the +scaffold. I don't know what you may have heard, or gathered--my daughter +herself, from what she tells me, has only the vaguest notions--but I +wanted to tell you, Mr. Eldrick, and you, Mr. Collingwood--seeing that +you're one a solicitor and the other a barrister, that Pratt invented a +most abominable plot against me, which, of course, hasn't a word of +truth in it, yet was so clever that----" + +Eldrick suddenly raised his hand. + +"Mrs. Mallathorpe!" he said quietly. "I think you had better let me +speak before you go any further. Perhaps we--Mr. Collingwood and I--know +more than you think. Don't trifle, Mrs. Mallathorpe, for your own and +your daughter's sake! Tell the truth--and answer a plain question, which +I assure you, is asked in your own interest. What have you done with +John Mallathorpe's will?" + +Collingwood, anxious for Nesta, was watching her closely, and now he saw +her turn a startled and inquiring look on her mother, who, in her turn, +dashed a surprised glance at Eldrick. But if Mrs. Mallathorpe was +surprised, she was also indignant, or she simulated indignation, and she +replied to the solicitor's question with a sharp retort. + +"What do you mean?--John Mallathorpe's will!" she exclaimed. "What do I +know of John Mallathorpe's will? There never was----" + +"Mrs. Mallathorpe!" interrupted Eldrick. "Don't! I'm speaking in your +interest, I tell you! There was a will! It was made on the morning of +John Mallathorpe's death. It was found by Mr. Collingwood's late +grandfather, Antony Bartle: when he died suddenly in my office, it fell +into Pratt's hands. That is the document which Pratt held over you--and +not an hour ago, Esther Mawson took it from Pratt, and she gave it to +you. Again I ask you--what have you done with it?" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe hesitated a moment. Then she suddenly faced Eldrick +with a defiant look. "Let them--let everybody--do what they like!" she +exclaimed. "It's burnt! I threw it in that fire as soon as I got it! And +now----" + +Nesta interrupted her mother. + +"Does any one know the terms of that will?" she asked, looking at +Eldrick. "Tell me!--if you know. Hush!" she went on, as Mrs. Mallathorpe +tried to speak again. "I will know!" + +"Yes!" answered Eldrick. "Esther Mawson knows them. She read the will +carefully. She told Prydale just now what they were. With the exception +of three legacies of ten thousand pounds each to your mother, your +brother, and yourself, John Mallathorpe left everything he possessed to +the town of Barford for an educational trust." + +"Then," asked Nesta quietly, as she made a peremptory sign to her mother +to be silent, "we--never had any right to be here--at all?" + +"I'm afraid not," replied Eldrick. + +"Then of course we shall go," said Nesta. "That's certain! Do you hear +that, mother? That's my decision. It's final!" + +"You can do what you like," retorted Mrs. Mallathorpe sullenly. "I am +not going to be frightened by anything that Esther Mawson says. Nor by +what you say!" she continued, turning on Eldrick. "All that has got to +be proved. Who can prove it? What can prove it? Do you think I am going +to give up my rights without fighting for them? I shall swear that every +word of Esther Mawson's is a lie! No one can bring forward a will that +doesn't exist. And what concern is it of yours, Mr. Eldrick? What right +have you?" + +"You are quite right, Mrs. Mallathorpe," said Eldrick. "It is no concern +of mine. And so----" + +He turned to the door--and as he turned the door opened, to admit the +old butler who looked apologetically but earnestly at Nesta as he +stepped forward. + +"A Mrs. Gaukrodger wishes to see you on very particular business," he +murmured. "She's been waiting some little time--something, she says, +about some papers she has just found--belonging to the late Mr. John +Mallathorpe." + +Collingwood, who was standing close to Nesta, caught all the butler +said. + +"Gaukrodger!" he exclaimed, with a quick glance at Eldrick. "That was +the name of the manager--a witness. See the woman at once," he whispered +to Nesta. + +"Bring Mrs. Gaukrodger in, Dickenson," said Nesta. "Stay--I'll come with +you, and bring her in myself." + +She returned a moment later with a slightly built, rather careworn woman +dressed in deep mourning--the woman in black whom they had seen crossing +the park--who looked nervously round her as she entered. + +"What is it you have for me, Mrs. Gaukrodger?" asked Nesta. "Papers +belonging to the late Mr. John Mallathorpe? How--where did you get +them?" + +Mrs. Gaukrodger drew a large envelope from under her cloak. "This, +miss," she answered. "One paper--I only found it this morning. In this +way," she went on, addressing herself to Nesta. "When my husband was +killed, along with Mr. John Mallathorpe, they, of course, brought home +the clothes he was wearing. There were a lot of papers in the pockets of +the coat--two pockets full of them. And I hadn't heart or courage to +look at them at that time, miss!--I couldn't, and I locked them up in a +box. I never looked at them until this very day--but this morning I +happened to open that box, and I saw them, and I thought I'd see what +they were. And this was one--you see, it's in a plain envelope--it was +sealed, but there's no writing on it. I cut the envelope open, and drew +the paper out, and I saw at once it was Mr. John Mallathorpe's will--so +I came straight to you with it." + +She handed the envelope over to Nesta, who at once gave it to Eldrick. +The solicitor hastily drew out the enclosure, glanced it over, and +turned sharply to Collingwood with a muttered exclamation. + +"Good gracious!" he said. "That man Cobcroft was right! There _was_ a +duplicate! And here it is!" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe had come nearer. The sight of the half sheet of +foolscap in Eldrick's hands seemed to fascinate her. And the expression +of her face as she came close to his side was so curious that the +solicitor involuntarily folded up the will and hastily put it behind his +back--he had not only seen that expression but had caught sight of Mrs. +Mallathorpe's twitching fingers. + +"Is--that--that--another will?" she whispered. "John Mallathorpe's?" + +"Precisely the same--another copy--duly signed and witnessed!" answered +Eldrick firmly. "What you foolishly did was done for nothing. And--it's +the most fortunate thing in the world, Mrs. Mallathorpe, that this has +turned up!--most fortunate for you!" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe steadied herself on the edge of the table and looked at +him fixedly. "Everything'll have to be given up?" she asked. + +"The terms of this will will be carried out," answered Eldrick. + +"Will--will they make me give up--what we've--saved?" she whispered. + +"Mother!" said Nesta appealingly. "Don't! Come away somewhere and let me +talk to you--come!" + +But Mrs. Mallathorpe shook off her daughter's hand and turned again to +Eldrick. + +"Will they?" she demanded. "Answer!" + +"I don't think you'll find the trustees at all hard when it comes to a +question of account," answered Eldrick. "They'll probably take matters +over from now and ignore anything that's happened during the past two +years." + +Again Nesta tried to lead her mother away, and again Mrs. Mallathorpe +pushed the appealing hand from her. All her attention was fixed on +Eldrick. "And--and will the police give me--now--what they found on that +woman?" she whispered. + +"I have no doubt they will," replied Eldrick. "It's--yours." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe drew a sigh of relief. She looked at the solicitor +steadily for a moment--then without another word she turned and went +away--to find Prydale. + +Eldrick turned to Nesta. + +"Don't forget," he said in a low voice, "it's a terrible blow to her, +and she's been thinking of your interests! Leave her alone for a +while--she'll get used to the altered circumstances. I'm sorry for +her--and for you!" + +But Nesta made a sign of dissent. + +"There's no need to be sorry for me, Mr. Eldrick," she answered. "It's a +greater relief than you can realize." She turned from him and went over +to Mrs. Gaukrodger who had watched this scene without fully +comprehending it. "Come with me," she said. "You look very tired and you +must have some tea and rest awhile--come now." + +Eldrick and Collingwood, left alone, looked at each, other in silence +for a moment. Then the solicitor shook his head expressively. + +"Well, that's over!" he exclaimed. "I must go back and hand this will +over to the two trustees. But you, Collingwood--stay here a bit--if ever +that girl needs company and help, it's now!" + +"I'm stopping," said Collingwood. + +He remained for a time where Eldrick left him; at last he went down to +the hall and out into the gardens. And presently Nesta came to him +there, and as if with a mutual understanding they walked away into the +nearer stretches of the park. Normandale had never looked more beautiful +than it did that afternoon, and in the midst of a silence which up to +then neither of them had cared to break, Collingwood suddenly turned to +the girl who had just lost it. + +"Are you sure that you won't miss all this--greatly?" he asked. "Just +think!" + +"I'd rather lose more than this, however fond I'd got of it, than go +through what I've gone through lately," she answered frankly. "Do you +know what I want to do?" + +"No--I think not," he said. "What?" + +"If it's possible--to forget all about this," she replied. "And--if +that's also possible--to help my mother to forget, too. Don't think too +hardly of her--I don't suppose any of us know how much all this +place--and the money--meant to her." + +"I've got no hard thoughts about her," said Collingwood. "I'm sorry for +her. But--is it too soon to talk about the future?" + +Nesta looked at him in a way which showed him that she only half +comprehended the question. But there was sufficient comprehension in her +eyes to warrant him in taking her hands in his. + +"You know why I didn't go to India?" he said, bending his face to hers. + +"I--guessed!" she answered shyly. + +Then Collingwood, at this suddenly arrived supreme moment, became +curiously bereft of speech. And after a period of silence, during which, +being in the shadow of a grove of beech-trees which kindly concealed +them from the rest of the world, they held each other's hands, all that +he could find to say was one word. + +"Well?" + +Nesta laughed. + +"Well--what?" she whispered. + +Collingwood suddenly laughed too and put his arm round her. + +"It's no good!" he said. "I've often thought of what I'd to say to +you--and now I've forgotten all. Shall I say it all at once!" + +"Wouldn't it be best?" she murmured with another laugh. + +"Then--you're going to marry me?" he asked. + +"Am I to answer--all at once?" she said. + +"One word will do!" he exclaimed, drawing her to him. + +"Ah!" she whispered as she lifted her face to his. "I couldn't say it +all in one word. But--we've lots of time before us!" + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Talleyrand Maxim, by J. S. 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Fletcher + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9834] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 22, 2003] +[Date last updated: April 12, 2005] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALLEYRAND MAXIM *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Sandra Brown +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +THE TALLEYRAND MAXIM + + +BY J. S. FLETCHER + + +1920 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + +I DEATH BRINGS OPPORTUNITY + +II IN TRUST + +III THE SHOP-BOY + +IV THE FORTUNATE POSSESSORS + +V POINT-BLANK + +VI THE UNEXPECTED + +VII THE SUPREME INDUCEMENT + +VIII TERMS + +IX UNTIL NEXT SPRING + +X THE FOOT-BRIDGE + +XI THE PREVALENT ATMOSPHERE + +XII THE POWER OF ATTORNEY + +XIII THE FIRST TRICK + +XIV CARDS ON THE TABLE + +XV PRATT OFFERS A HAND + +XVI A HEADQUARTERS CONFERENCE + +XVII ADVERTISEMENT + +XVIII THE CONFIDING LANDLORD + +XIX THE EYE-WITNESS + +XX THE _Green Man_ + +XXI THE DIRECT CHARGE + +XXII THE CAT'SPAW + +XXIII SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN + +XXIV THE BETTER HALF + +XXV DRY SHERRY + +XXVI THE TELEPHONE MESSAGE + +XXVII RESTORED TO ENERGY + +XXVIII THE WOMAN IN BLACK + + + + + + +THE TALLEYRAND MAXIM + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +DEATH BRINGS OPPORTUNITY + + +Linford Pratt, senior clerk to Eldrick & Pascoe, solicitors, of Barford, +a young man who earnestly desired to get on in life, by hook or by +crook, with no objection whatever to crookedness, so long as it could be +performed in safety and secrecy, had once during one of his periodical +visits to the town Reference Library, lighted on a maxim of that other +unscrupulous person, Prince Talleyrand, which had pleased him greatly. +"With time and patience," said Talleyrand, "the mulberry leaf is turned +into satin." This seemed to Linford Pratt one of the finest and soundest +pieces of wisdom which he had ever known put into words. + +A mulberry leaf is a very insignificant thing, but a piece of satin is a +highly marketable commodity, with money in it. Henceforth, he regarded +himself as a mulberry leaf which his own wit and skill must transform +into satin: at the same time he knew that there is another thing, in +addition to time and patience, which is valuable to young men of his +peculiar qualities, a thing also much beloved by Talleyrand--opportunity. +He could find the patience, and he had the time--but it would give him +great happiness if opportunity came along to help in the work. In +everyday language, Linford Pratt wanted a chance--he waited the arrival +of the tide in his affairs which would lead him on to fortune. + +Leave him alone--he said to himself--to be sure to take it at the flood. +If Pratt had only known it, as he stood in the outer office of Eldrick & +Pascoe at the end of a certain winter afternoon, opportunity was slowly +climbing the staircase outside--not only opportunity, but temptation, +both assisted by the Devil. They came at the right moment, for Pratt was +alone; the partners had gone: the other clerks had gone: the office-boy +had gone: in another minute Pratt would have gone, too: he was only +looking round before locking up for the night. Then these things +came--combined in the person of an old man, Antony Bartle, who opened +the door, pushed in a queer, wrinkled face, and asked in a quavering +voice if anybody was in. + +"I'm in, Mr. Bartle," answered Pratt, turning up a gas jet which he had +just lowered. "Come in, sir. What can I do for you?" + +Antony Bartle came in, wheezing and coughing. He was a very, very old +man, feeble and bent, with little that looked alive about him but his +light, alert eyes. Everybody knew him--he was one of the institutions of +Barford--as well known as the Town Hall or the Parish Church. For fifty +years he had kept a second-hand bookshop in Quagg Alley, the narrow +passage-way which connected Market Street with Beck Street. It was not +by any means a common or ordinary second-hand bookshop: its proprietor +styled himself an "antiquarian bookseller"; and he had a reputation in +two Continents, and dealt with millionaire buyers and virtuosos in both. + +Barford people sometimes marvelled at the news that Mr. Antony Bartle +had given two thousand guineas for a Book of Hours, and had sold a +Missal for twice that amount to some American collector; and they got a +hazy notion that the old man must be well-to-do--despite his snuffiness +and shabbiness, and that his queer old shop, in the window of which +there was rarely anything to be seen but a few ancient tomes, and two or +three rare engravings, contained much that he could turn at an hour's +notice into gold. All that was surmise--but Eldrick & Pascoe--which term +included Linford Pratt--knew all about Antony Bartle, being his +solicitors: his will was safely deposited in their keeping, and Pratt +had been one of the attesting witnesses. + +The old man, having slowly walked into the outer office, leaned against +a table, panting a little. Pratt hastened to open an inner door. + +"Come into Mr. Eldrick's room, Mr. Bartle," he said. "There's a nice +easy chair there--come and sit down in it. Those stairs are a bit +trying, aren't they? I often wish we were on the ground floor." + +He lighted the gas in the senior partner's room, and turning back, took +hold of the visitor's arm, and helped him to the easy chair. Then, +having closed the doors, he sat down at Eldrick's desk, put his fingers +together and waited. Pratt knew from experience that old Antony Bartle +would not have come there except on business: he knew also, having been +at Eldrick & Pascoe's for many years, that the old man would confide in +him as readily as in either of his principals. + +"There's a nasty fog coming on outside," said Bartle, after a fit of +coughing. "It gets on my lungs, and then it makes my heart bad. Mr. +Eldrick in?" + +"Gone," replied Pratt. "All gone, Mr. Bartle--only me here." + +"You'll do," answered the old bookseller. "You're as good as they are." +He leaned forward from the easy chair, and tapped the clerk's arm with a +long, claw-like finger. "I say," he continued, with a smile that was +something between a wink and a leer, and suggestive of a pleased +satisfaction. "I've had a find!" + +"Oh!" responded Pratt. "One of your rare books, Mr. Bartle? Got +something for twopence that you'll sell for ten guineas? You're one of +the lucky ones, you know, you are!" + +"Nothing of the sort!" chuckled Bartle. "And I had to pay for my +knowledge, young man, before I got it--we all have. No--but I've found +something: not half an hour ago. Came straight here with it. Matters for +lawyers, of course." + +"Yes?" said Pratt inquiringly. "And--what may it be?" He was expecting +the visitor to produce something, but the old man again leaned forward, +and dug his finger once more into the clerk's sleeve. + +"I say!" he whispered. "You remember John Mallathorpe and the affair +of--how long is it since?" + +"Two years," answered Pratt promptly. "Of course I do. Couldn't very +well forget it, or him." + +He let his mind go back for the moment to an affair which had provided +Barford and the neighbourhood with a nine days' sensation. One winter +morning, just two years previously, Mr. John Mallathorpe, one of the +best-known manufacturers and richest men of the town, had been killed by +the falling of his own mill-chimney. The condition of the chimney had +been doubtful for some little time; experts had been examining it for +several days: at the moment of the catastrophe, Mallathorpe himself, +some of his principal managers, and a couple of professional +steeple-jacks, were gathered at its base, consulting on a report. The +great hundred-foot structure above them had collapsed without the +slightest warning: Mallathorpe, his principal manager, and his cashier, +had been killed on the spot: two other bystanders had subsequently died +from injuries received. No such accident had occurred in Barford, nor in +the surrounding manufacturing district, for many years, and there had +been much interest in it, for according to the expert's conclusions the +chimney was in no immediate danger. + +Other mill-owners then began to examine their chimneys, and for many +weeks Barford folk had talked of little else than the danger of living +in the shadows of these great masses of masonry. + +But there had soon been something else to talk of. It sprang out of the +accident--and it was of particular interest to persons who, like Linford +Pratt, were of the legal profession. John Mallathorpe, so far as anybody +knew or could ascertain, had died intestate. No solicitor in the town +had ever made a will for him. No solicitor elsewhere had ever made a +will for him. No one had ever heard that he had made a will for himself. +There was no will. Drastic search of his safes, his desks, his drawers +revealed nothing--not even a memorandum. No friend of his had ever heard +him mention a will. He had always been something of a queer man. He was +a confirmed bachelor. The only relation he had in the world was his +sister-in-law, the widow of his deceased younger brother, and her two +children--a son and a daughter. And as soon as he was dead, and it was +plain that he had died intestate, they put in their claim to his +property. + +John Mallathorpe had left a handsome property. He had been making money +all his life. His business was a considerable one--he employed two +thousand workpeople. His average annual profit from his mills was +reckoned in thousands--four or five thousands at least. And some years +before his death, he had bought one of the finest estates in the +neighbourhood, Normandale Grange, a beautiful old house, set amidst +charming and romantic scenery in a valley, which, though within twelve +miles of Barford, might have been in the heart of the Highlands. +Therefore, it was no small thing that Mrs. Richard Mallathorpe and her +two children laid claim to. Up to the time of John Mallathorpe's death, +they had lived in very humble fashion--lived, indeed, on an allowance +from their well-to-do kinsman--for Richard Mallathorpe had been as much +of a waster as his brother had been of a money-getter. And there was no +withstanding their claim when it was finally decided that John +Mallathorpe had died intestate--no withstanding that, at any rate, of +the nephew and niece. The nephew had taken all the real estate: he and +his sister had shared the personal property. And for some months they +and their mother had been safely installed at Normandale Grange, and in +full possession of the dead man's wealth and business. + +All this flashed through Linford Pratt's mind in a few seconds--he knew +all the story: he had often thought of the extraordinary good fortune of +those young people. To be living on charity one week--and the next to be +legal possessors of thousands a year!--oh, if only such luck would come +his way! + +"Of course!" he repeated, looking thoughtfully at the old bookseller. +"Not the sort of thing one does forget in a hurry, Mr. Bartle. What of +it?" + +Antony Bartle leaned back in his easy chair and chuckled--something, +some idea, seemed to be affording him amusement. + +"I'm eighty years old," he remarked. "No, I'm more, to be exact. I shall +be eighty-two come February. When you've lived as long as that, young +Mr. Pratt, you'll know that this life is a game of topsy-turvy--to some +folks, at any rate. Just so!" + +"You didn't come here to tell me that, Mr. Bartle," said Pratt. He was +an essentially practical young man who dined at half-past six every +evening, having lunched on no more than bread-and-cheese and a glass of +ale, and he also had his evenings well mapped out. "I know that already, +sir." + +"Aye, aye, but you'll know more of it later on," replied Bartle. +"Well--you know, too, no doubt, that the late John Mallathorpe was a +bit--only a bit--of a book-collector; collected books and pamphlets +relating to this district?" + +"I've heard of it," answered the clerk. + +"He had that collection in his private room at the mill," continued the +old bookseller, "and when the new folks took hold, I persuaded them to +sell it to me. There wasn't such a lot--maybe a hundred volumes +altogether--but I wanted what there was. And as they were of no interest +to them, they sold 'em. That's some months ago. I put all the books in a +corner--and I never really examined them until this very afternoon. +Then--by this afternoon's post--I got a letter from a Barford man who's +now out in America. He wanted to know if I could supply him with a nice +copy of Hopkinson's _History of Barford_. I knew there was one in that +Mallathorpe collection, so I got it out, and examined it. And in the +pocket inside, in which there's a map, I found--what d'ye think?" + +"Couldn't say," replied Pratt. He was still thinking of his dinner, and +of an important engagement to follow it, and he had not the least idea +that old Antony Bartle was going to tell him anything very important. +"Letters? Bank-notes? Something of that sort?" + +The old bookseller leaned nearer, across the corner of the desk, until +his queer, wrinkled face was almost close to Pratt's sharp, youthful +one. Again he lifted the claw-like finger: again he tapped the clerk's +arm. + +"I found John Mallathorpe's will!" he whispered. "His--will!" + +Linford Pratt jumped out of his chair. For a second he stared in +speechless amazement at the old man; then he plunged his hands deep into +his trousers' pockets, opened his mouth, and let out a sudden +exclamation. + +"No!" he said. "No! John Mallathorpe's--will? His--will!" + +"Made the very day on which he died," answered Bartle, nodding +emphatically. + +"Queer, wasn't it? He might have had some--premonition, eh?" + +Pratt sat down again. + +"Where is it?" he asked. + +"Here in my pocket," replied the old bookseller, tapping his rusty coat. +"Oh, it's all right, I assure you. All duly made out, signed, and +witnessed. Everything in order, I know!--because a long, a very long +time ago, I was like you, an attorney's clerk. I've drafted many a will, +and witnessed many a will, in my time. I've read this, every word of +it--it's all right. Nothing can upset it." + +"Let's see it," said Pratt, eagerly. + +"Well--I've no objection--I know you, of course," answered Bartle, "but +I'd rather show it first to Mr. Eldrick. Couldn't you telephone up to +his house and ask him to run back here?" + +"Certainly," replied Pratt. "He mayn't be there, though. But I can try. +You haven't shown it to anybody else?" + +"Neither shown it to anybody, nor mentioned it to a soul," said Bartle. +"I tell you it's not much more than half an hour since I found it. It's +not a long document. Do you know how it is that it's never come out?" he +went on, turning eagerly to Pratt, who had risen again. "It's easily +explained. The will's witnessed by those two men who were killed at the +same time as John Mallathorpe! So, of course, there was nobody to say +that it was in evidence. My notion is that he and those two +men--Gaukrodger and Marshall, his manager and cashier--had signed it not +long before the accident, and that Mallathorpe had popped it into the +pocket of that book before going out into the yard. Eh? But see if you +can get Mr. Eldrick down here, and we'll read it together. And I +say--this office seems uncommonly stuffy--can you open the window a bit +or something?--I feel oppressed, like." + +Pratt opened a window which looked out on the street. He glanced at the +old man for a moment and saw that his face, always pallid, was even +paler than usual. + +"You've been talking too much," he said. "Rest yourself, Mr. Bartle, +while I ring up Mr. Eldrick's house. If he isn't there, I'll try his +club--he often turns in there for an hour before going home." + +He went out by a private door to the telephone box, which stood in a +lobby used by various occupants of the building. And when he had rung up +Eldrick's private house and was waiting for the answer, he asked himself +what this discovery would mean to the present holders of the Mallathorpe +property, and his curiosity--a strongly developed quality in him--became +more and more excited. If Eldrick was not at home, if he could not get +in touch with him, he would persuade old Bartle to let him see his +find--he would cheerfully go late to his dinner if he could only get a +peep at this strangely discovered document. Romance! Why, this indeed +was romance; and it might be--what else? Old Bartle had already chuckled +about topsy-turvydom: did that mean that-- + +The telephone bell rang: Eldrick had not yet reached his house. Pratt +got on to the club: Eldrick had not been there. He rang off, and went +back to the private room. + +"Can't get hold of him, Mr. Bartle," he began, as he closed the door. +"He's not at home, and he's not at the club. I say!--you might as well +let me have a look at----" + +Pratt suddenly stopped. There was a strange silence in the room: the old +man's wheezy breathing was no longer heard. And the clerk moved forward +quickly and looked round the high back of the easy chair.... + +He knew at once what had happened--knew that old Bartle was dead before +he laid a finger on the wasted hand which had dropped helplessly at his +side. He had evidently died without a sound or a movement--died as +quietly as he would have gone to sleep. Indeed, he looked as if he had +just laid his old head against the padding of the chair and dropped +asleep, and Pratt, who had seen death before, knew that he would never +wake again. He waited a moment, listening in the silence. Once he +touched the old man's hand; once, he bent nearer, still listening. And +then, without hesitation, and with fingers that remained as steady as if +nothing had happened, he unbuttoned Antony Bartle's coat, and drew a +folded paper from the inner pocket. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +IN TRUST + + +As quietly and composedly as if he were discharging the most ordinary of +his daily duties, Pratt unfolded the document, and went close to the +solitary gas jet above Eldrick's desk. What he held in his hand was a +half-sheet of ruled foolscap paper, closely covered with writing, which +he at once recognized as that of the late John Mallathorpe. He was +familiar with that writing--he had often seen it. It was an +old-fashioned writing--clear, distinct, with every letter well and fully +formed. + +"Made it himself!" muttered Pratt. "Um!--looks as if he wanted to keep +the terms secret. Well----" + +He read the will through--rapidly, but with care, murmuring the +phraseology half aloud. + +"This is the last will of me, John Mallathorpe, of Normandale Grange, in +the parish of Normandale, in the West Riding of the County of York. I +appoint Martin William Charlesworth, manufacturer, of Holly Lodge, +Barford, and Arthur James Wyatt, chartered accountant, of 65, Beck +Street, Barford, executors and trustees of this my will. I give and +devise all my estate and effects real and personal of which I may die +possessed or entitled to unto the said Martin William Charlesworth and +Arthur James Wyatt upon trust for the following purposes to be carried +out by them under the following instructions, namely:--As soon after my +death as is conveniently possible they will sell all my real estate, +either by private treaty or by public auction; they shall sell all my +personal property of any nature whatsoever; they shall sell my business +at Mallathorpe's mill in Barford as a going concern to any private +purchaser or to any company already in existence or formed for the +purpose of acquiring it; and they shall collect all debts and moneys due +to me. And having sold and disposed of all my property, real and +personal, and brought all the proceeds of such sales and of such +collection of debts and moneys into one common fund they shall first pay +all debts owing by me and all legal duties and expenses arising out of +my death and this disposition of my property and shall then distribute +my estate as follows, namely: to each of themselves, Martin William +Charlesworth and Arthur James Wyatt, they shall pay the sum of five +thousand pounds; to my sister-in-law, Ann Mallathorpe, they shall pay +the sum of ten thousand pounds; to my nephew, Harper John Mallathorpe, +they shall pay the sum of ten thousand pounds; to my niece, Nesta +Mallathorpe, they shall pay the sum of ten thousand pounds. And as to +the whole of the remaining residue they shall pay it in one sum to the +Mayor and Corporation of the borough of Barford in the County of York to +be applied by the said Mayor and Corporation at their own absolute +discretion and in any manner which seems good to them to the +establishment, furtherance and development of technical and commercial +education in the said borough of Barford. Dated this sixteenth day of +November, 1906. + + Signed by the testator in + the presence of us both + present at the same + time who in his presence } JOHN MALLATHORPE + and in the presence + of each other + have hereunto set our + names as witnesses. + + HENRY GAUKRODGER, 16, Florence Street, + Barford, Mill Manager. + + CHARLES WATSON MARSHALL, 56, Laburnum Terrace, + Barford, Cashier." + +As the last word left his lips Pratt carefully folded up the will, +slipped it into an inner pocket of his coat, and firmly buttoned the +coat across his chest. Then, without as much as a glance at the dead +man, he left the room, and again visited the telephone box. He was +engaged in it for a few minutes. When he came out he heard steps coming +up the staircase, and looking over the banisters he saw the senior +partner, Eldrick, a middle-aged man. Eldrick looked up, and saw Pratt. + +"I hear you've been ringing me up at the club, Pratt," he said. "What is +it?" + +Pratt waited until Eldrick had come up to the landing. Then he pointed +to the door of the private room, and shook his head. + +"It's old Mr. Bartle, sir," he whispered. "He's in your room +there--dead!" + +"Dead?" exclaimed Eldrick. "Dead!" + +Pratt shook his head again. + +"He came up not so long after you'd gone, sir," he said. "Everybody had +gone but me--I was just going. Wanted to see you about something I don't +know what. He was very tottery when he came in--complained of the stairs +and the fog. I took him into your room, to sit down in the easy chair. +And--he died straight off. Just," concluded Pratt, "just as if he was +going quietly to sleep!" + +"You're sure he is dead?--not fainting?" asked Eldrick. + +"He's dead, sir--quite dead," replied Pratt. "I've rung up Dr. +Melrose--he'll be here in a minute or two--and the Town Hall--the +police--as well. Will you look at him, sir?" + +Eldrick silently motioned his clerk to open the door; together they +walked into the room. And Eldrick looked at his quiet figure and wan +face, and knew that Pratt was right. + +"Poor old chap!" he murmured, touching one of the thin hands. "He was a +fine man in his time, Pratt; clever man! And he was very, very old--one +of the oldest men in Barford. Well, we must wire to his grandson, Mr. +Bartle Collingwood. You'll find his address in the book. He's the only +relation the old fellow had." + +"Come in for everything, doesn't he, sir?" asked Pratt, as he took an +address book from the desk, and picked up a sheaf of telegram forms. + +"Every penny!" murmured Eldrick. "Nice little fortune, too--a fine thing +for a young fellow who's just been called to the Bar. As a matter of +fact, he'll be fairly well independent, even if he never sees a brief in +his life." + +"He has been called, has he, sir?" asked Pratt, laying a telegram form +on Eldrick's writing pad and handing him a pen. "I wasn't aware of +that." + +"Called this term--quite recently--at Gray's Inn," replied Eldrick, as +he sat down. "Very promising, clever young man. Look here!--we'd better +send two wires, one to his private address, and one to his chambers. +They're both in that book. It's six o'clock, isn't it?--he might be at +his chambers yet, but he may have gone home. I'll write both +messages--you put the addresses on, and get the wire off--we must have +him down here as soon as possible." + +"One address is 53x, Pump Court; the other's 96, Cloburn Square," +remarked Pratt consulting the book. "There's an express from King's +Cross at 8.15 which gets here midnight." + +"Oh, it would do if he came down first thing in the morning--leave it to +him," said Eldrick. "I say, Pratt, do you think an inquest will be +necessary?" + +Pratt had not thought of that--he began to think. And while he was +thinking, the doctor whom he had summoned came in. He looked at the dead +man, asked the clerk a few questions, and was apparently satisfied. "I +don't think there's any need for an inquest," he said in reply to +Eldrick. "I knew the old man very well--he was much feebler than he +would admit. The exertion of coming up these stairs of yours, and the +coughing brought on by the fog outside--that was quite enough. Of +course, the death will have to be reported in the usual way, but I have +no hesitation in giving a certificate. You've let the Town Hall people +know? Well, the body had better be removed to his rooms--we must send +over and tell his housekeeper. He'd no relations in the town, had he?" + +"Only one in the world that he ever mentioned--his grandson--a young +barrister in London," answered Eldrick. "We've just been wiring to him. +Here, Pratt, you take these messages now, and get them off. Then we'll +see about making all arrangements. By-the-by," he added, as Pratt moved +towards the door, "you don't know what--what he came to see me about?" + +"Haven't the remotest idea, sir," answered Pratt, readily and glibly. +"He died--just as I've told you--before he could tell me anything." + +He went downstairs, and out into the street, and away to the General +Post Office, only conscious of one thing, only concerned about one +thing--that he was now the sole possessor of a great secret. The +opportunity which he had so often longed for had come. And as he hurried +along through the gathering fog he repeated and repeated a fragment of +the recent conversation between the man who was now dead, and +himself--who remained very much alive. + +"You haven't shown it to anybody else?" Pratt had asked. + +"Neither shown it to anybody, nor mentioned it to a soul," Antony Bartle +had answered. So, in all that great town of Barford, he, Linford Pratt, +he, alone out of a quarter of a million people, knew--what? The +magnitude of what he knew not only amazed but exhilarated him. There +were such possibilities for himself in that knowledge. He wanted to be +alone, to think out those possibilities; to reckon up what they came to. +Of one thing he was already certain--they should be, must be, turned to +his own advantage. + +It was past eight o'clock before Pratt was able to go home to his +lodgings. His landlady, meeting him in the hall, hoped that his dinner +would not be spoiled: Pratt, who relied greatly on his dinner as his one +great meal of the day, replied that he fervently hoped it wasn't, but +that if it was it couldn't be helped, this time. For once he was +thinking of something else than his dinner--as for his engagement for +that evening, he had already thrown it over: he wanted to give all his +energies and thoughts and time to his secret. Nevertheless, it was +characteristic of him that he washed, changed his clothes, ate his +dinner, and even glanced over the evening newspaper before he turned to +the real business which was already deep in his brain. But at last, when +the maid had cleared away the dinner things, and he was alone in his +sitting-room, and had lighted his pipe, and mixed himself a drop of +whisky-and-water--the only indulgence in such things that he allowed +himself within the twenty-four hours--he drew John Mallathorpe's will +from his pocket, and read it carefully three times. And then he began to +think, closely and steadily. + +First of all, the will was a good will. Nothing could upset it. It was +absolutely valid. It was not couched in the terms which a solicitor +would have employed, but it clearly and plainly expressed John +Mallathorpe's intentions and meanings in respect to the disposal of his +property. Nothing could be clearer. The properly appointed trustees were +to realize his estate. They were to distribute it according to his +specified instructions. It was all as plain as a pikestaff. Pratt, who +was a good lawyer, knew what the Probate Court would say to that will if +it were ever brought up before it, as he did, a quite satisfactory will. +And it was validly executed. Hundreds of people, competent to do so, +could swear to John Mallathorpe's signature; hundreds to Gaukrodger's; +thousands to Marshall's--who as cashier was always sending his signature +broadcast. No, there was nothing to do but to put that into the hands of +the trustees named in it, and then.... + +Pratt thought next of the two trustees. They were well-known men in the +town. They were comparatively young men--about forty. They were men of +great energy. Their chief interests were in educational matters--that, +no doubt, was why John Mallathorpe had appointed them trustees. Wyatt +had been plaguing the town for two years to start commercial schools: +Charlesworth was a devoted champion of technical schools. Pratt knew how +the hearts of both would leap, if he suddenly told them that enormous +funds were at their disposal for the furtherance of their schemes. And +he also knew something else--that neither Charlesworth nor Wyatt had the +faintest, remotest notion or suspicion that John Mallathorpe had ever +made such a will, or they would have moved heaven and earth, pulled down +Normandale Grange and Mallathorpe's Mill, in their efforts to find it. + +But the effect--the effect of producing the will--now? Pratt, like +everybody else, had been deeply interested in the Mallathorpe affair. +There was so little doubt that John Mallathorpe had died intestate, such +absolute certainty that his only living relations were his deceased +brother's two children and their mother, that the necessary proceedings +for putting Harper Mallathorpe and his sister Nesta in possession of the +property, real and personal, had been comparatively simple and speedy. +But--what was it worth? What would the two trustees have been able to +hand over to the Mayor and Corporation of Barford, if the will had been +found as soon as John Mallathorpe died? Pratt, from what he remembered +of the bulk and calculations at the time, made a rapid estimate. As near +as he could reckon, the Mayor and Corporation would have got about +£300,000. + +That, then--and this was what he wanted to get at--was what these young +people would lose if he produced the will. Nay!--on second thoughts, it +would be much more, very much more in some time; for the manufacturing +business was being carried on by them, and was apparently doing as well +as ever. It was really an enormous amount which they would lose--and +they would get--what? Ten thousand apiece and their mother a like sum. +Thirty thousand pounds in all--in comparison with hundreds of thousands. +But they would have no choice in the matter. Nothing could upset that +will. + +He began to think of the three people whom the production of this will +would dispossess. He knew little of them beyond what common gossip had +related at the time of John Mallathorpe's sudden death. They had lived +in very quiet fashion, somewhere on the outskirts of the town, until +this change in their fortunes. Once or twice Pratt had seen Mrs. +Mallathorpe in her carriage in the Barford streets--somebody had pointed +her out to him, and had observed sneeringly that folk can soon adapt +themselves to circumstances, and that Mrs. Mallathorpe now gave herself +all the airs of a duchess, though she had been no more than a hospital +nurse before she married Richard Mallathorpe. And Pratt had also seen +young Harper Mallathorpe now and then in the town--since the good +fortune arrived--and had envied him: he had also thought what a strange +thing it was that money went to young fellows who seemed to have no +particular endowments of brain or energy. Harper was a very ordinary +young man, not over intelligent in appearance, who, Pratt had heard, was +often seen lounging about the one or two fashionable hotels of the +place. As for the daughter, Pratt did not remember having ever set eyes +on her--but he had heard that up to the time of John Mallathorpe's death +she had earned her own living as a governess, or a nurse, or something +of that sort. + +He turned from thinking of these three people to thoughts about himself. +Pratt often thought about himself, and always in one direction--the +direction of self-advancement. He was always wanting to get on. He had +nobody to help him. He had kept himself since he was seventeen. His +father and mother were dead; he had no brothers or sisters--the only +relations he had, uncles and aunts, lived--some in London, some in +Canada. He was now twenty-eight, and earning four pounds a week. He had +immense confidence in himself, but he had never seen much chance of +escaping from drudgery. He had often thought of asking Eldrick & Pascoe +to give him his articles--but he had a shrewd idea that his request +would be refused. No--it was difficult to get out of a rut. And yet--he +was a clever fellow, a good-looking fellow, a sharp, shrewd, able--and +here was a chance, such a chance as scarcely ever comes to a man. He +would be a fool if he did not take it, and use it to his own best and +lasting advantage. + +And so he locked up the will in a safe place, and went to bed, resolved +to take a bold step towards fortune on the morrow. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +THE SHOP-BOY + + +When Pratt arrived at Eldrick & Pascoe's office at his usual hour of +nine next morning, he found the senior partner already there. And with +him was a young man whom the clerk at once set down as Mr. Bartle +Collingwood, and looked at with considerable interest and curiosity. He +had often heard of Mr. Bartle Collingwood, but had never seen him. He +knew that he was the only son of old Antony Bartle's only child--a +daughter who had married a London man; he knew, too, that Collingwood's +parents were both dead, and that the old bookseller had left their son +everything he possessed--a very nice little fortune, as Eldrick had +observed last night. And since last night he had known that Collingwood +had just been called to the Bar, and was on the threshold of what +Eldrick, who evidently knew all about it, believed to be a promising +career. Well, there he was in the flesh; and Pratt, who was a born +observer of men and events, took a good look at him as he stood just +within the private room, talking to Eldrick. + +A good-looking fellow; what most folk would call handsome; dark, +clean-shaven, tall, with a certain air of reserve about his well-cut +features, firm lips, and steady eyes that suggested strength and +determination. He would look very well in wig and gown, decided Pratt, +viewing matters from a professional standpoint; he was just the sort +that clients would feel a natural confidence in, and that juries would +listen to. Another of the lucky ones, too; for Pratt knew the contents +of Antony Bartle's will, and that the young man at whom he was looking +had succeeded to a cool five-and-twenty thousand pounds, at least, +through his grandfather's death. + +"Here is Pratt," said Eldrick, glancing into the outer office as the +clerk entered it. "Pratt, come in here--here is Mr. Bartle Collingwood, +He would like you to tell him the facts about Mr. Bartle's death." + +Pratt walked in--armed and prepared. He was a clever hand at foreseeing +things, and he had known all along that he would have to answer +questions about the event of the previous night. + +"There's very little to tell, sir," he said, with a polite +acknowledgment of Collingwood's greeting. "Mr. Bartle came up here just +as I was leaving--everybody else had left. He wanted to see Mr. Eldrick. +Why, he didn't say. He was coughing a good deal when he came in, and he +complained of the fog outside, and of the stairs. He said +something--just a mere mention--about his heart being bad. I lighted the +gas in here, and helped him into the chair. He just sat down, laid his +head back, and died." + +"Without saying anything further?" asked Collingwood. + +"Not a word more, Mr. Collingwood," answered Pratt. "He--well, it was +just as if he had dropped off to sleep. Of course, at first I thought +he'd fainted, but I soon saw what it was--it so happens that I've seen a +death just as sudden as that, once before--my landlady's husband died in +a very similar fashion, in my presence. There was nothing I could do, +Mr. Collingwood--except ring up Mr. Eldrick, and the doctor, and the +police." + +"Mr. Pratt made himself very useful last night in making arrangements," +remarked Eldrick, looking at Collingwood. "As it is, there is very +little to do. There will be no need for any inquest; Melrose has given +his certificate. So--there are only the funeral arrangements. We can +help you with that matter, of course. But first you'd no doubt like to +go to your grandfather's place and look through his papers? We have his +will here, you know--and I've already told you its effect." + +"I'm much obliged to you, Mr. Pratt," said Collingwood, turning to the +clerk. He turned again to Eldrick. "All right," he went on. "I'll go +over to Quagg Alley. Bye-the-bye, Mr. Pratt--my grandfather didn't tell +you anything of the reason of his call here?" + +"Not a word, sir," replied Pratt. "Merely said he wanted Mr. Eldrick." + +"Had he any legal business in process?" asked Collingwood. + +Eldrick and his clerk both shook their heads. No, Mr. Bartle had no +business of that sort that they knew of. Nothing--but there again Pratt +was prepared. + +"It might have been about the lease of that property in Horsebridge +Land, sir," he said, glancing at his principal. "He did mention that, +you know, when he was in here a few weeks ago." + +"Just so," agreed Eldrick. "Well, you'll let me know if we can be of +use," he went on, as Collingwood turned away. "Pratt can be at your +disposal, any time." + +Collingwood thanked him and went off. He had travelled down from London +by the earliest morning train, and leaving his portmanteau at the hotel +of the Barford terminus, had gone straight to Eldrick & Pascoe's office; +accordingly this was his first visit to the shop in Quagg Alley. But he +knew the shop and its surroundings well enough, though he had not been +in Barford for some time; he also knew Antony Bartle's old housekeeper, +Mrs. Clough, a rough and ready Yorkshirewoman, who had looked after the +old man as long as he, Collingwood, could remember. She received him as +calmly as if he had merely stepped across the street to inquire after +his grandfather's health. + +"I thowt ye'd be down here first thing, Mestur Collingwood," she said, +as he walked into the parlor at the back of the shop. "Of course, +there's naught to be done except to see after yer grandfather's burying. +I don't know if ye were surprised or no when t' lawyers tellygraphed to +yer last night? I weren't surprised to hear what had happened. I'd been +expecting summat o' that sort this last month or two." + +"You mean--he was failing?" asked Collingwood. + +"He were gettin' feebler and feebler every day," said the housekeeper. +"But nobody dare say so to him, and he wouldn't admit it his-self. He +were that theer high-spirited 'at he did things same as if he were a +young man. But I knew how it 'ud be in the end--and so it has been--I +knew he'd go off all of a sudden. And of course I had all in +readiness--when they brought him back last night there was naught to do +but lay him out. Me and Mrs. Thompson next door, did it, i' no time. +Wheer will you be for buryin' him, Mestur Collingwood?" + +"We must think that over," answered Collingwood. + +"Well, an' theer's all ready for that, too," responded Mrs. Clough. +"He's had his grave all ready i' the cemetery this three year--I +remember when he bowt it--it's under a yew-tree, and he told me 'at he'd +ordered his monnyment an' all. So yer an' t' lawyers'll have no great +trouble about them matters. Mestur Eldrick, he gev' orders for t' coffin +last night." + +Collingwood left these gruesome details--highly pleasing to their +narrator--and went up to look at his dead grandfather. He had never seen +much of him, but they had kept up a regular correspondence, and always +been on terms of affection, and he was sorry that he had not been with +the old man at the last. He remained looking at the queer, quiet, old +face for a while; when he went down again, Mrs. Clough was talking to a +sharp-looking lad, of apparently sixteen or seventeen years, who stood +at the door leading into the shop, and who glanced at Collingwood with +keen interest and speculation. + +"Here's Jabey Naylor wants to know if he's to do aught, Mestur," said +the housekeeper. "Of course, I've telled him 'at we can't have the shop +open till the burying's over--so I don't know what theer is that he can +do." + +"Oh, well, let him come into the shop with me," answered Collingwood. He +motioned the lad to follow him out of the parlour. "So you were Mr. +Bartle's assistant, eh?" he asked. "Had he anybody else?" + +"Nobody but me, sir," replied the lad. "I've been with him a year." + +"And your name's what?" inquired Collingwood. + +"Jabez Naylor, sir, but everybody call me Jabey." + +"I see--Jabey for short, eh?" said Collingwood good-humouredly. He +walked into the shop, followed by the boy, and closed the door. The +outer door into Quagg Alley was locked: a light blind was drawn over the +one window; the books and engravings on the shelves and in the presses +were veiled in a half-gloom. "Well, as Mrs. Clough says, we can't do any +business for a few days, Jabey--after that we must see what can be done. +You shall have your wages just the same, of course, and you may look in +every day to see if there's anything you can do. You were here +yesterday, of course? Were you in the shop when Mr. Bartle went out?" + +"Yes, sir," replied the lad. "I'd been in with him all the afternoon. I +was here when he went out--and here when they came to say he'd died at +Mr. Eldrick's." + +Collingwood sat down in his grandfather's chair, at a big table, piled +high with books and papers, which stood in the middle of the floor. + +"Did my grandfather seem at all unwell when he went out?" he asked. + +"No, sir. He had been coughing a bit more than usual--that was all. +There was a fog came on about five o'clock, and he said it bothered +him." + +"What had he been doing during the afternoon? Anything particular?" + +"Nothing at all particular before half-past four or so, sir." + +Collingwood took a closer look at Jabez Naylor. He saw that he was an +observant lad, evidently of superior intelligence--a good specimen of +the sharp town lad, well trained in a modern elementary school. + +"Oh?" he said. "Nothing particular before half-past four, eh? Did he do +something particular after half-past four?" + +"There was a post came in just about then, sir," answered Jabey. "There +was an American letter--that's it, sir--just in front of you. Mr. Bartle +read it, and asked me if we'd got a good clear copy of Hopkinson's +_History of Barford_. I reminded him that there was a copy amongst the +books that had been bought from Mallathorpe's Mill some time ago." + +"Books that had belonged to Mr. John Mallathorpe, who was killed?" asked +Collingwood, who was fully acquainted with the chimney accident. + +"Yes, sir, Mr. Bartle bought a lot of books that Mr. Mallathorpe had at +the Mill--local books. They're there in that corner: they were put there +when I fetched them, and he'd never looked over them since, +particularly." + +"Well--and this _History of Barford_? You reminded him of it?" + +"I got it out for him, sir. He sat down--where you're sitting--and began +to examine it. He said something about it being a nice copy, and he'd +get it off that night--that's it, sir: I didn't read it, of course. And +then he took some papers out of a pocket that's inside it, and I heard +him say 'Bless my soul--who'd have thought it!'" + +Collingwood picked up the book which the boy indicated--a thick, +substantially bound volume, inside one cover of which was a linen +pocket, wherein were some loose maps and plans of Barford. + +"These what he took out?" he asked, holding them up. + +"Yes, sir, but there was another paper, with writing on it--a biggish +sheet of paper--written all over." + +"Did you see what the writing was? Did you see any of it?" + +"No, sir--only that it was writing, I was dusting those shelves out, +over there; when I heard Mr. Bartle say what he did. I just looked +round, over my shoulder--that was all." + +"Was he reading this paper that you speak of?" + +"Yes, sir--he was holding it up to the gas, reading it." + +"Do you know what he did with it?" + +"Yes, sir--he folded it up and put it in his pocket." + +"Did he say any more--make any remark?" + +"No, sir. He wrote a letter then." + +"At once?" + +"Yes, sir--straight off. But he wasn't more than a minute writing it. +Then he sent me to post it at the pillar-box, at the end of the Alley." + +"Did you read the address?" + +The lad turned to a book which stood with others in a rack over the +chimney-piece, and tapped it with his finger. + +"Yes, sir--because Mr. Bartle gave orders when I first came here that a +register of every letter sent out was to be kept--I've always entered +them in this book." + +"And this letter you're talking about--to whom was it addressed?" + +"Miss Mallathorpe, Normandale Grange, sir." + +"You went and posted it at once?" + +"That very minute, sir." + +"Was it soon afterwards that Mr. Bartle went out?" + +"He went out as soon as I came back, sir." + +"And you never saw him again?" + +Jabey shook his head. + +"Not alive, sir," he answered. "I saw him when they brought him back." + +"How long had he been out when you heard he was dead?" + +"About an hour, sir--just after six it was when they told Mrs. Clough +and me. He went out at ten minutes past five." + +Collingwood got up. He gave the lad's shoulder a friendly squeeze. + +"All right!" he said. "Now you seem a smart, intelligent lad--don't +mention a word to any one of what we've been talking about. You have not +mentioned it before, I suppose? Not a word? That's right--don't. Come in +again tomorrow morning to see if I want you to be here as usual. I'm +going to put a manager into this shop." + +When the boy had gone Collingwood locked up the shop from the house +side, put the key in his pocket, and went into the kitchen. + +"Mrs. Clough," he said. "I want to see the clothes which my grandfather +was wearing when he was brought home last night. Where are they?" + +"They're in that little room aside of his bed-chamber, Mestur +Collingwood," replied the housekeeper. "I laid 'em all there, on the +clothes-press, just as they were taken off of him, by Lawyer Eldrick's +orders--he said they hadn't been examined, and wasn't to be, till you +came. Nobody whatever's touched 'em since." + +Collingwood went upstairs and into the little room--a sort of box-room +opening out of that in which the old man lay. There were the clothes; he +went through the pockets of every garment. He found such things as keys, +a purse, loose money, a memorandum book, a bookseller's catalogue or +two, two or three letters of a business sort--but there was no big +folded paper, covered with writing, such as Jabey Naylor had described. + +The mention of that paper had excited Collingwood's curiosity. He +rapidly summed up what he had learned. His grandfather had found a +paper, closely written upon, in a book which had been the property of +John Mallathorpe, deceased. The discovery had surprised him, for he had +given voice to an exclamation of what was evidently astonishment. He had +put the paper in his pocket. Then he had written a letter--to Mrs. +Mallathorpe of Normandale Grange. When his shop-boy had posted that +letter, he himself had gone out--to his solicitor. What, asked +Collingwood, was the reasonable presumption? The old man had gone to +Eldrick to show him the paper which he had found. + +He lingered in the little room for a few minutes, thinking. No one but +Pratt had been with Antony Bartle at the time of his seizure and sudden +death. What sort of a fellow was Pratt? Was he honest? Was his word to +be trusted? Had he told the precise truth about the old man's death? He +was evidently a suave, polite, obliging sort of fellow, this clerk, but +it was a curious thing that if Antony Bartle had that paper, whatever it +was--in his pocket when he went to Eldrick's office it should not be in +his pocket still--if his clothing had really remained untouched. Already +suspicion was in Collingwood's mind--vague and indefinable, but there. + +He was half inclined to go straight back to Eldrick & Pascoe's and tell +Eldrick what Jabey Naylor had just told him. But he reflected that while +Naylor went out to post the letter, the old bookseller might have put +the paper elsewhere; locked it up in his safe, perhaps. One thing, +however, he, Collingwood, could do at once--he could ask Mrs. +Mallathorpe if the letter referred to the paper. He was fully acquainted +with all the facts of the Mallathorpe history; old Bartle, knowing they +would interest his grandson, had sent him the local newspaper accounts +of its various episodes. It was only twelve miles to Normandale +Grange--a motor-car would carry him there within the hour. He glanced at +his watch--just ten o 'clock. + +An hour later, Collingwood found himself standing in a fine oak-panelled +room, the windows of which looked out on a romantic valley whose thickly +wooded sides were still bright with the red and yellow tints of autumn. +A door opened--he turned, expecting to see Mrs. Mallathorpe. Instead, he +found himself looking at a girl, who glanced inquiringly at him, and +from him to the card which he had sent in on his arrival. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +THE FORTUNATE POSSESSORS + + +Collingwood at once realized that he was in the presence of one of the +two fortunate young people who had succeeded so suddenly--and, according +to popular opinion, so unexpectedly--to John Mallathorpe's wealth. This +was evidently Miss Nesta Mallathorpe, of whom he had heard, but whom he +had never seen. She, however, was looking at him as if she knew him, and +she smiled a little as she acknowledged his bow. + +"My mother is out in the grounds, with my brother," she said, motioning +Collingwood towards a chair. "Won't you sit down, please?--I've sent for +her; she will be here in a few minutes." + +Collingwood sat down; Nesta Mallathorpe sat down, too, and as they +looked at each other she smiled again. + +"I have seen you before, Mr. Collingwood," she said. "I knew it must be +you when they brought up your card." + +Collingwood used his glance of polite inquiry to make a closer +inspection of his hostess. He decided that Nesta Mallathorpe was not so +much pretty as eminently attractive--a tall, well-developed, +warm-coloured young woman, whose clear grey eyes and red lips and +general bearing indicated the possession of good health and spirits. And +he was quite certain that if he had ever seen her before he would not +have forgotten it. + +"Where have you seen me?" he asked, smiling back at her. + +"Have you forgotten the mock-trial--year before last?" she asked. + +Collingwood remembered what she was alluding to. He had taken part, in +company with various other law students, in a mock-trial, a breach of +promise case, for the benefit of a certain London hospital, to him had +fallen one of the principal parts, that of counsel for the plaintiff. +"When I saw your name, I remembered it at once," she went on. "I was +there--I was a probationer at St. Chad's Hospital at that time." + +"Dear me!" said Collingwood, "I should have thought our histrionic +efforts would have been forgotten. I'm afraid I don't remember much +about them, except that we had a lot of fun out of the affair. So you +were at St. Chad's?" he continued, with a reminiscence of the +surroundings of the institution they were talking of. "Very different to +Normandale!" + +"Yes," she replied. "Very--very different to Normandale. But when I was +at St. Chad's, I didn't know that I--that we should ever come to +Normandale." + +"And now that you are here?" he asked. + +The girl looked out through the big window on the valley which lay in +front of the old house, and she shook her head a little. + +"It's very beautiful," she answered, "but I sometimes wish I was back at +St. Chad's--with something to do. Here--there's nothing to do but to do +nothing." Collingwood realized that this was not the complaint of the +well-to-do young woman who finds time hang heavy--it was rather +indicative of a desire for action. + +"I understand!" he said. "I think I should feel like that. One wants--I +suppose--is it action, movement, what is it?" + +"Better call it occupation--that's a plain term," she answered. "We're +both suffering from lack of occupation here, my brother and I. And it's +bad for us--especially for him." + +Before Collingwood could think of any suitable reply to this remarkably +fresh and candid statement, the door opened, and Mrs. Mallathorpe came +in, followed by her son. And the visitor suddenly and immediately +noticed the force and meaning of Nesta Mallathorpe's last remark. Harper +Mallathorpe, a good-looking, but not remarkably intelligent appearing +young man, of about Collingwood's own age, gave him the instant +impression of being bored to death; the lack-lustre eye, the aimless +lounge, the hands thrust into the pockets of his Norfolk jacket as if +they took refuge there from sheer idleness--all these things told their +tale. Here, thought Collingwood, was a fine example of how riches can be +a curse--relieved of the necessity of having to earn his daily bread by +labour, Harper Mallathorpe was finding life itself laborious. + +But there was nothing of aimlessness, idleness, or lack of vigour in +Mrs. Mallathorpe. She was a woman of character, energy, of +brains--Collingwood saw all that at one glance. A little, neat-figured, +compact sort of woman, still very good-looking, still on the right side +of fifty, with quick movements and sharp glances out of a pair of shrewd +eyes: this, he thought, was one of those women who will readily +undertake the control and management of big affairs. He felt, as Mrs. +Mallathorpe turned inquiring looks on him, that as long as she was in +charge of them the Mallathorpe family fortunes would be safe. + +"Mother," said Nesta, handing Collingwood's card to Mrs. Mallathorpe, +"this gentleman is Mr. Bartle Collingwood. He's--aren't you?--yes, a +barrister. He wants to see you. Why, I don't know. I have seen Mr. +Collingwood before--but he didn't remember me. Now he'll tell you what +he wants to see you about." + +"If you'll allow me to explain why I called on you, Mrs. Mallathorpe," +said Collingwood, "I don't suppose you ever heard of me--but you know, +at any rate, the name of my grandfather, Mr. Antony Bartle, the +bookseller, of Barford? My grandfather is dead--he died very suddenly +last night." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe and Nesta murmured words of polite sympathy. Harper +suddenly spoke--as if mere words were some relief to his obvious +boredom. + +"I heard that, this morning," he said, turning to his mother. "Hopkins +told me--he was in town last night. I meant to tell you." + +"Dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Mallathorpe, glancing at some letters which +stood on a rack above the mantelpiece. "Why--I had a letter from Mr. +Bartle this very morning!" + +"It is that letter that I have come to see you about," said Collingwood. +"I only got down here from London at half-past eight this morning, and +of course, I have made some inquiries about the circumstances of my +grandfather's sudden death. He died very suddenly indeed at Mr. +Eldrick's office. He had gone there on some business about which nobody +knows nothing--he died before he could mention it. And according to his +shop-boy, Jabey Naylor, the last thing he did was to write a letter to +you. Now--I have reason for asking--would you mind telling me, Mrs. +Mallathorpe, what that letter was about?" Mrs. Mallathorpe moved over to +the hearth, and took an envelope from the rack. She handed it to +Collingwood, indicating that he could open it. And Collingwood drew out +one of old Bartle's memorandum forms, and saw a couple of lines in the +familiar crabbed handwriting: + + "MRS. MALLATHORPE, Normandale Grange. + + "Madam,--If you should drive into town tomorrow, will you kindly + give me a call? I want to see you particularly. + + "Respectfully, A. BARTLE." + +Collingwood handed back the letter. + +"Have you any idea to what that refers?" he asked. + +"Well, I think I have--perhaps," answered Mrs. Mallathorpe. "Mr. Bartle +persuaded us to sell him some books--local books--which my late +brother-in-law had at his office in the mill. And since then he has been +very anxious to buy more local books and pamphlets about this +neighbourhood, and he had some which Mr. Bartle was very anxious indeed +to get hold of. I suppose he wanted to see me about that." Collingwood +made no remarks for the moment. He was wondering whether or not to tell +what Jabey Naylor had told him about this paper taken from the linen +pocket inside the _History of Barford_. But Mrs. Mallathorpe's ready +explanation had given him a new idea, and he rose from his chair. + +"Thank you," he said. "I suppose that's it. You may think it odd that I +wanted to know what he'd written about, but as it was certainly the last +letter he wrote----" + +"Oh, I'm quite sure it must have been that!" exclaimed Mrs. Mallathorpe. +"And as I am going into Barford this afternoon, in any case, I meant to +call at Mr. Bartle's. I'm sorry to hear of his death, poor old +gentleman! But he was very old indeed, wasn't he?" + +"He was well over eighty," replied Collingwood. "Well, thank you +again--and good-bye--I have a motorcar waiting outside there, and I have +much to do in Barford when I get back." + +The two young people accompanied Collingwood into the hall. And Harper +suddenly brightened. + +"I say!" he said. "Have a drink before you go. It's a long way in and +out. Come into the dining-room." + +But Collingwood caught Nesta's eye, and he was quick to read a signal in +it. + +"No, thanks awfully!" he answered. "I won't really--I must get +back--I've such a lot of things to attend to. This is a very beautiful +place of yours," he went on, as Harper, whose face had fallen at the +visitor's refusal, followed with his sister to where the motor-car +waited. "It might be a hundred miles from anywhere." + +"It's a thousand miles from anywhere!" muttered Harper. "Nothing to do +here!" + +"No hunting, shooting, fishing?" asked Collingwood. "Get tired of 'em? +Well, why not make a private golf-links in your park? You'd get a fine +sporting course round there." + +"That's a good notion, Harper," observed Nesta, with some eagerness. +"You could have it laid out this winter." + +Harper suddenly looked at Collingwood. + +"Going to stop in Barford?" he asked. + +"Till I settle my grandfather's affairs--yes," answered Collingwood. + +"Come and see us again," said Harper. "Come for the night--we've got a +jolly good billiard table." + +"Do!" added Nesta heartily. + +"Since you're so kind, I will, then," replied Collingwood. "But not for +a few days." + +He drove off--to wonder why he had visited Normandale Grange at all. For +Mrs. Mallathorpe's explanation of the letter was doubtless the right +one: Collingwood, little as he had seen of Antony Bartle, knew what a +veritable sleuth-hound the old man was where rare books or engravings +were concerned. Yet--why the sudden exclamation on finding that paper? +Why the immediate writing of the letter to Mrs. Mallathorpe? Why the +setting off to Eldrick & Pascoe's office as soon as the letter was +written? It all looked as if the old man had found some document, the +contents of which related to the Mallathorpe family, and was anxious to +communicate its nature to Mrs. Mallathorpe, and to his own solicitor, as +soon as possible. + +"But that's probably only my fancy," he mused, as he sped back to +Barford; "the real explanation is doubtless that suggested by Mrs. +Mallathorpe. Something made the old man think of the collection of local +books at Normandale Grange--and he immediately wrote off to ask her to +see him, with the idea of persuading her to let him have them. That's +all there is in it--what a suspicious sort of party I must be getting! +And suspicious of whom--and of what? Anyhow, I'm glad I went out +there--and I'll certainly go again." + +On his way back to Barford he thought a good deal of the two young +people he had just left. There was something of the irony of fate about +their situation. There they were, in possession of money and luxury and +youth--and already bored because they had nothing to do. He felt what +closely approached a contemptuous pity for Harper--why didn't he turn to +some occupation? There was their own business--why didn't he put in so +many hours a day there, instead of leaving it to managers? Why didn't he +interest himself in local affairs?--work at something? Already he had +all the appearance of a man who is inclined to slackness--and in that +case, mused Collingwood, his money would do him positive harm. But he +had no thoughts of that sort about Nesta Mallathorpe: he had seen that +she was of a different temperament. + +"She'll not stick there--idling," he said. "She'll break out and do +something or other. What did she say? 'Suffering from lack of +occupation'? A bad thing to suffer from, too--glad I'm not similarly +afflicted!" + +There was immediate occupation for Collingwood himself when he reached +the town. He had already made up his mind as to his future plans. He +would sell his grandfather's business as soon as he could find a +buyer--the old man had left a provision in his will, the gist of which +Eldrick had already communicated to Collingwood, to the effect that his +grandson could either carry on the business with the help of a competent +manager until the stock was sold out, or could dispose of it as a going +concern--Collingwood decided to sell it outright, and at once. But first +it was necessary for him to look round the collection of valuable books +and prints, and get an idea of what it was that he was about to sell. +And when he had reached Barford again, and had lunched at his hotel, he +went to Quagg Alley, and shut himself in the shop, and made a careful +inspection of the treasures which old Bartle had raked up from many +quarters. + +Within ten minutes of beginning his task Collingwood knew that he had +gone out to Normandale Grange about a mere nothing. Picking up the +_History of Barford_ which Jabey Naylor had spoken of, and turning over +its leaves, two papers dropped out; one a half sheet of foolscap, +folded; the other, a letter from some correspondent in the United +States. Collingwood read the letter first--it was evidently that which +Naylor had referred to as having been delivered the previous afternoon. +It asked for a good, clear copy of Hopkinson's _History of Barford_--and +then it went on, "If you should come across a copy of what is, I +believe, a very rare tract or pamphlet, _Customs of the Court Leet of +the Manor of Barford_, published, I think, about 1720, I should be glad +to pay you any price you like to ask for it--in reason." So much for the +letter--Collingwood turned from it to the folded paper. It was headed +"List of Barford Tracts and Pamphlets in my box marked B.P. in the +library at N Grange," and it was initialled at the foot J.M. Then +followed the titles of some twenty-five or thirty works--amongst them +was the very tract for which the American correspondent had inquired. +And now Collingwood had what he believed to be a clear vision of what +had puzzled him--his grandfather having just read the American buyer's +request had found the list of these pamphlets inside the _History of +Barford_, and in it the entry of the particular one he wanted, and at +once he had written to Mrs. Mallathorpe in the hope of persuading her to +sell what his American correspondent desired to buy. It was all quite +plain--and the old man's visit to Eldrick & Pascoe's had nothing to do +with the letter to Mrs. Mallathorpe. Nor had he carried the folded paper +in his pocket to Eldrick's--when Jabey Naylor went out to post the +letter, Antony had placed the folded paper and the American letter +together in the book and left them there. Quite, quite simple!--he had +had his run to Normandale Grange and back all about nothing, and for +nothing--except that he had met Nesta Mallathorpe, whom he was already +sufficiently interested in to desire to see again. But having arrived at +an explanation of what had puzzled him and made him suspicious, he +dismissed that matter from his mind and thought no more of it. + +But across the street, all unknown to Collingwood, Linford Pratt was +thinking a good deal. Collingwood had taken his car from a rank +immediately opposite Eldrick & Pascoe's windows; Pratt, whose desk +looked on to the street, had seen him drive away soon after ten o'clock +and return about half-past twelve. Pratt, who knew everybody in the +business centre of the town, knew the man who had driven Collingwood, +and when he went out to his lunch he asked him where he had been that +morning. The man, who knew no reason for secrecy, told him--and Pratt +went off to eat his bread and cheese and drink his one glass of ale and +to wonder why young Collingwood had been to Normandale Grange. He became +slightly anxious and uneasy. He knew that Collingwood must have made +some slight examination of old Bartle's papers. Was it--could it be +possible that the old man, before going to Eldrick's, had left some +memorandum of his discovery in his desk--or in a diary? He had said that +he had not shown the will, nor mentioned the will, to a soul--but he +might;--old men were so fussy about things--he might have set down in +his diary that he had found it on such a day, and under such-and-such +circumstances. + +However, there was one person who could definitely inform him of the +reason of Collingwood's visit to Normandale Grange--Mrs. Mallathorpe. He +would see her at once, and learn if he had any grounds for fear. And so +it came about that at nine o'clock that evening, Mrs. Mallathorpe, for +the second time that day, found herself asked to see a limb of the law. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +POINT-BLANK + + +Mrs. Mallathorpe was alone when Pratt's card was taken to her. Harper +and Nesta were playing billiards in a distant part of the big house. +Dinner had been over for an hour; Mrs. Mallathorpe, who had known what +hard work and plenty of it was, in her time, was trifling over the +newspapers--rest, comfort, and luxury were by no means boring to her. +She looked at the card doubtfully--Pratt had pencilled a word or two on +it: "Private and important business." Then she glanced at the butler--an +elderly man who had been with John Mallathorpe many years before the +catastrophe occurred. + +"Who is he, Dickenson?" she asked. "Do you know him?" + +"Clerk at Eldrick & Pascoe's, in the town, ma'am," replied the butler. +"I know the young man by sight." + +"Where is he?" inquired Mrs. Mallathorpe. + +"In the little morning room, at present, ma'am," said Dickenson. + +"Take him into the study," commanded Mrs. Mallathorpe. "I'll come to him +presently." She was utterly at a loss to understand Pratt's presence +there. Eldrick & Pascoe were not her solicitors, and she had no business +of a legal nature in which they could be in any way concerned. But it +suddenly struck her that that was the second time she had heard +Eldrick's name mentioned that day--young Mr. Collingwood had said that +his grandfather's death had taken place at Eldrick & Pascoe's office. +Had this clerk come to see her about that?--and if so, what had she to +do with it? Before she reached the room in which Pratt was waiting for +her, Mrs. Mallathorpe was filled with curiosity. But in that curiosity +there was not a trace of apprehension; nothing suggested to her that her +visitor had called on any matter actually relating to herself or her +family. + +The room into which Pratt had been taken was a small apartment opening +out of the library--John Mallathorpe, when he bought Normandale Grange, +had it altered and fitted to suit his own tastes, and Pratt, as soon as +he entered it, saw that it was a place in which privacy and silence +could be ensured. He noticed that it had double doors, and that there +were heavy curtains before the window. And during the few minutes which +elapsed between his entrance and Mrs. Mallathorpe's, he took the +precaution to look behind those curtains, and to survey his +surroundings--what he had to say was not to be overheard, if he could +help it. + +Mrs. Mallathorpe looked her curiosity as soon as she came in. She did +not remember that she had ever seen this young man before, but she +recognized at once that he was a shrewd and sharp person, and she knew +from his manner that he had news of importance to give her. She quietly +acknowledged Pratt's somewhat elaborate bow, and motioned him to take a +chair at the side of the big desk which stood before the fireplace--she +herself sat down at the desk itself, in John Mallathorpe's old +elbow-chair. And Pratt thought to himself that however much young Harper +John Mallathorpe might be nominal master of Normandale Grange, the real +master was there, in the self-evident, quiet-looking woman who turned to +him in business-like fashion. + +"You want to see me?" said Mrs. Mallathorpe. "What is it?" + +"Business, Mrs. Mallathorpe," replied Pratt. "As I said on my card--of a +private and important sort." + +"To do with me?" she asked. + +"With you--and with your family," said Pratt. "And before we go any +further, not a soul knows of it but--me." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe took another searching look at her visitor. Pratt was +leaning over the corner of the desk, towards her; already he had lowered +his tones to the mysterious and confidential note. + +"I don't know what you're talking about," she said. "Go on." + +Pratt bent a little nearer. + +"A question or two first, if you please, Mrs. Mallathorpe. And--answer +them! They're for your own good. Young Mr. Collingwood called on you +today." + +"Well--and what of it?" + +"What did he want?" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe hesitated and frowned a little. And Pratt hastened to +reassure her. "I'm using no idle words, Mrs. Mallathorpe, when I say +it's for your own good. It is! What did he come for?" + +"He came to ask what there was in a letter which his grandfather wrote +to me yesterday afternoon." + +"Antony Bartle had written to you, had he? And what did he say, Mrs. +Mallathorpe? For that is important!" + +"No more than that he wanted me to call on him today, if I happened to +be in Barford." + +"Nothing more?" + +"Nothing more--not a word." + +"Nothing as to--why he wanted to see you?" + +"No! I thought that he probably wanted to see me about buying some books +of the late Mr. Mallathorpe's." + +"Did you tell Collingwood that?" asked Pratt, eagerly. + +"Yes--of course." + +"Did it satisfy him?" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe frowned again. + +"Why shouldn't I?" she demanded. "It was the only explanation I could +possibly give him. How do I know what the old man really wanted?" + +Pratt drew his chair still nearer to the desk. His voice dropped to a +whisper and his eyes were full of meaning. + +"I'll tell you what he wanted!" he said speaking very slowly. "It's what +I've come for. Listen! Antony Bartle came to our office soon after five +yesterday afternoon. I was alone--everybody else had gone. I took him +into Eldrick's room. He told me that in turning over one of the books +which he had bought from Mallathorpe Mill, some short time ago, he had +found--what do you think?" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe's cheek had flushed at the mention of the books from +the Mill. Now, at Pratt's question, and under his searching eye, she +turned very pale, and the clerk saw her fingers tighten on the arms of +her chair. + +"What?" she asked. "What?" + +"John Mallathorpe's will!" he answered. "Do you understand? His--will!" + +The woman glanced quickly about her--at the doors, the uncurtained +window. + +"Safe enough here," whispered Pratt. "I made sure of that. Don't be +afraid--no one knows--but me." + +But Mrs. Mallathorpe seemed to find some difficulty in speaking, and +when she at last got out a word her voice sounded hoarse. + +"Impossible!" + +"It's a fact!" said Pratt. "Nothing was ever more a fact as you'll see. +But let me finish my story. The old man told me how he'd found the +will--only half an hour before--and he asked me to ring up Eldrick, so +that we might all read it together. I went to the telephone--when I came +back, Bartle was dead--just dead. And--I took the will out of his +pocket." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe made an involuntary gesture with her right hand. And +Pratt smiled, craftily, and shook his head. + +"Much too valuable to carry about, Mrs. Mallathorpe," he said. "I've got +it--all safe--under lock and key. But as I've said--nobody knows of it +but myself. Not a living soul. No one has any idea! No one can have any +idea. I was a bit alarmed when I heard that young Collingwood had been +to you, for I thought that the old man, though he didn't tell me of any +such thing, might have dropped you a line saying what he'd found. But as +he didn't--well, not one living soul knows that the will's in +existence, except me--and you!" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe was regaining her self-possession. She had had a great +shock, but the worst of it was over. Already she knew, from Pratt's +manner, insidious and suggesting, that the will was of a nature that +would dispossess her and hers of this recently acquired wealth--the +clerk had made that evident by look and tone. So--there was nothing but +to face things. + +"What--what does it--say?" she asked, with an effort. + +Pratt unbuttoned his overcoat, plunged a hand into the inner pocket, +drew out a sheet of paper, unfolded it and laid it on the desk. + +"An exact copy," he said tersely. "Read it for yourself." + +In spite of the determined effort which she made to be calm, Mrs. +Mallathorpe's fingers still trembled as she took up the sheet on which +Pratt had made a fair copy of the will. The clerk watched her narrowly +as she read. He knew that presently there would be a tussle between +them: he knew, too, that she was a woman who would fight hard in defence +of her own interest, and for the interests of her children. + +Always keeping his ears open to local gossip, especially where money was +concerned, Pratt had long since heard that Mrs. Mallathorpe was a keen +and sharp business woman. And now he was not surprised when, having +slowly and carefully read the copy of the will from beginning to end, +she laid it down, and turned to him with a business-like question. + +"The effect of that?" she asked. "What would it be--curtly?" + +"Precisely what it says," answered Pratt. "Couldn't be clearer!" + +"We--should lose all?" she demanded, almost angrily. "All?" + +"All--except what he says--there," agreed Pratt. + +"And that," she went on, drumming her fingers on the paper, "that--would +stand?" + +"What it's a copy of would stand," said Pratt. "Oh, yes, don't you make +any mistake about it, Mrs. Mallathorpe! Nothing can upset that will. It +is plain as a pikestaff how it came to be made. Your late brother-in-law +evidently wrote his will out--it's all in his own handwriting--and took +it down to the Mill with him the very day of the chimney accident. Just +as evidently he signed it in the presence of his manager, Gaukrodger, +and his cashier, Marshall--they signed at the same time, as it says, +there. Now I take it that very soon after that, Mr. Mallathorpe went out +into his mill yard to have a look at the chimney--Gaukrodger and +Marshall went with him. Before he went, he popped the will into the +book, where old Bartle found it yesterday--such things are easily done. +Perhaps he was reading the book--perhaps it lay handy--he slipped the +will inside, anyway. And then--he was killed--and, what's more the two +witnesses were killed with him. So there wasn't a man left who could +tell of that will! But--there's half Barford could testify to these +three signatures! Mrs. Mallathorpe, there's not a chance for you if I +put that will into the hands of the two trustees!" + +He leaned back in his chair after that--nodding confidently, watching +keenly. And now he saw that the trembling fingers were interlacing each +other, twisting the rings on each other, and that Mrs. Mallathorpe was +thinking as she had most likely never thought in her life. After a +moment's pause Pratt went on. "Perhaps you didn't understand," he said. +"I mean, you don't know the effect. Those two trustees--Charlesworth & +Wyatt--could turn you all clean out of this--tomorrow, in a way of +speaking. Everything's theirs! They can demand an account of every penny +that you've all had out of the estate and the business--from the time +you all took hold. If anything's been saved, put aside, they can demand +that. You're entitled to nothing but the three amounts of ten thousand +each. Of course, thirty thousand is thirty thousand--it means, at five +per cent., fifteen hundred a year--if you could get five per cent. +safely. But--I should say your son and daughter are getting a few +thousand a year each, aren't they, Mrs. Mallathorpe? It would be a nice +come-down! Five hundred a year apiece--at the outside. A small house +instead of Normandale Grange. Genteel poverty--comparatively +speaking--instead of riches. That is--if I hand over the will to +Charlesworth & Wyatt." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe slowly turned her eyes on Pratt. And Pratt suddenly +felt a little afraid--there was anger in those eyes; anger of a curious +sort. It might be against fate--against circumstance: it might not--why +should it?--be against him personally, but it was there, and it was +malign and almost evil, and it made him uncomfortable. + +"Where is the will!" she asked. + +"Safe! In my keeping," answered Pratt. + +She looked him all over--surmisingly. + +"You'll sell it to me?" she suggested. "You'll hand it over--and let me +burn it--destroy it?" + +"No!" answered Pratt. "I shall not!" + +He saw that his answer produced personal anger at last. Mrs. Mallathorpe +gave him a look which would have warned a much less observant man than +Pratt. But he gave her back a look that was just as resolute. + +"I say no--and I mean no!" he continued. "I won't sell--but I'll +bargain. Let's be plain with each other. You don't want that will to be +handed over to the trustees named in it, Charlesworth & Wyatt?" + +"Do you think I'm a fool--man!" she flashed out. + +"I should be a fool myself if I did," replied Pratt calmly. "And I'm not +a fool. Very well--then you'll square me. You'll buy me. Come to terms +with me, and nobody shall ever know. I repeat to you what I've said +before--not a soul knows now, no nor suspects! It's utterly impossible +for anybody to find out. The testator's dead. The attesting witnesses +are dead. The man who found this will is dead. No one but you and myself +ever need know a word about all this. If--you make terms with me, Mrs. +Mallathorpe." + +"What do you want?" she asked sullenly. "You forget--I've nothing of my +own. I didn't come into anything." + +"I've a pretty good notion who's real master here--and at Mallathorpe +Mill, too," retorted Pratt. "I should say you're still in full control +of your children, Mrs. Mallathorpe, and that you can do pretty well what +you like with them." + +"With one of them perhaps," she said, still angry and sullen. "But--I +tell you, for you may as well know--if my daughter knew of what you've +told me, she'd go straight to these trustees and tell! That's a fact +that you'd better realize. I can't control her." + +"Oh!" remarked Pratt. "Um!--then we must take care that she doesn't +know. But we don't intend that anybody should know but you and me, Mrs. +Mallathorpe. You needn't tell a soul--not even your son. You mustn't +tell! Listen, now--I've thought out a good scheme which'll profit me, +and make you safe. Do you know what you want on this estate?" + +She stared at him as if wondering what this question had to do with the +matter which was of such infinite importance. And Pratt smiled, and +hastened to enlighten her. + +"You want--a steward," he said. "A steward and estate agent. John +Mallathorpe managed everything for himself, but your son can't, and +pardon me if I say that you can't--properly. You need a man--you need +me. You can persuade your son to that effect. Give me the job of steward +here. I'll suggest to you how to do it in such a fashion that it'll +arouse no suspicion, and look just like an ordinary--very +ordinary--business job--at a salary and on conditions to be arranged, +and--you're safe! Safe, Mrs. Mallathorpe--you know what that means!" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe suddenly rose from her chair. + +"I know this!" she said. "I'll discuss nothing, and do nothing, till +I've seen that will!" + +Pratt rose, too, nodding his head as if quite satisfied. He took up the +copy, tore it in two pieces, and carefully dropped them into the glowing +fire. + +"I shall be at my lodgings at any time after five-thirty tomorrow +evening," he answered quietly. "Call there. You have the address. And +you can then read the will with your own eyes. I shan't bring it here. +The game's in my hands, Mrs. Mallathorpe." + +Within a few minutes he was out in the park again, and making his way to +the little railway station in the valley below. He felt triumphant--he +knew that the woman he had just left was at his mercy and would accede +to his terms. And all the way back to town, and through the town to his +lodgings, he considered and perfected the scheme he was going to suggest +to Mrs. Mallathorpe on the morrow. + +Pratt lived in a little hamlet of old houses on the very outskirts of +Barford--on the edge of a stretch of Country honeycombed by +stone-quarries, some in use, some already worked out. It was a lonely +neighbourhood, approached from the nearest tramway route by a narrow, +high-walled lane. He was half-way along that lane when a stealthy foot +stole to his side, and a hand was laid on his arm--just as stealthily +came the voice of one of his fellow-clerks at Eldrick & Pascoe's. + +"A moment, Pratt! I've been waiting for you. I want--a word or two--in +private!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +THE UNEXPECTED + + +Pratt started when he heard that voice and felt the arresting hand. He +knew well enough to whom they belonged--they were those of one James +Parrawhite, a little, weedy, dissolute chap who had been in Eldrick & +Pascoe's employ for about a year. It had always been a mystery to him +and the other clerks that Parrawhite had been there at all, and that +being there he was allowed to stop. He was not a Barford man. Nobody +knew anything whatever about him, though his occasional references to it +seemed to indicate that he knew London pretty thoroughly. Pratt shrewdly +suspected that he was a man whom Eldrick had known in other days, +possibly a solicitor who had been struck off the rolls, and to whom +Eldrick, for old times' sake, was disposed to extend a helping hand. + +All that any of them knew was that one morning some fifteen months +previously, Parrawhite, a complete stranger, had walked into the office, +asked to see Eldrick, had remained closeted with him half an hour, and +had been given a job at two pounds a week, there and then. That he was a +clever and useful clerk no one denied, but no one liked him. + +He was always borrowing half-crowns. He smelt of rum. He was altogether +undesirable. It was plain to the clerks that Pascoe disliked him. But he +was evidently under Eldrick's protection, and he did his work and did it +well, and there was no doubt that he knew more law than either of the +partners, and was better up in practice than Pratt himself. But--he was +not desirable ... and Pratt never desired him less than on this +occasion. + +"What are you after--coming on a man like that!" growled Pratt. + +"You," replied Parrawhite. "I knew you'd got to come up this lane, so I +waited for you. I've something to say." + +"Get it said, then!" retorted Pratt. + +"Not here," answered Parrawhite. "Come down by the quarry--nobody about +there." + +"And suppose I don't?" asked Pratt. + +"Then you'll be very sorry for yourself--tomorrow," replied Parrawhite. +"That's all!" + +Pratt had already realized that this fellow knew something. Parrawhite's +manner was not only threatening but confident. He spoke as a man speaks +who has got the whip hand. And so, still growling, and inwardly raging +and anxious, he turned off with his companion into a track which lay +amongst the stone quarries. It was a desolate, lonely place; no house +was near; they were as much alone as if they had been in the middle of +one of the great moors outside the town, the lights of which they could +see in the valley below them. In the grey sky above, a waning moon gave +them just sufficient light to see their immediate surroundings--a +grass-covered track, no longer used, and the yawning mouths of the old +quarries, no longer worked, the edges of which were thick with gorse and +bramble. It was the very place for secret work, and Pratt was certain +that secret work was at hand. + +"Now then!" he said, when they had walked well into the wilderness. +"What is it? And no nonsense!" + +"You'll get no nonsense from me," sneered Parrawhite. "I'm not that +sort. This is what I want to say. I was in Eldrick's office last night +all the time you were there with old Bartle." + +This swift answer went straight through Pratt's defences. He was +prepared to hear something unpleasant and disconcerting, but not that. +And he voiced the first thought that occurred to him. + +"That's a lie!" he exclaimed. "There was nobody there!" + +"No lie," replied Parrawhite. "I was there. I was behind the curtain of +that recess--you know. And since I know what you did, I don't mind +telling you--we're in the same boat, my lad!--what I was going to do. +You thought I'd gone--with the others. But I hadn't. I'd merely done +what I've done several times without being found out--slipped in +there--to wait until you'd gone. Why? Because friend Eldrick, as you +know, is culpably careless about leaving loose cash in the unlocked +drawer of his desk, culpably careless, too, about never counting it. +And--a stray sovereign or half-sovereign is useful to a man who only +gets two quid a week. Understand?" + +"So you're a thief?" said Pratt bitterly. + +"I'm precisely what you are--a thief!" retorted Parrawhite. "You stole +John Mallathorpe's will last night. I heard everything, I tell you!--and +saw everything. I heard the whole business--what the old man said--what +you, later, said to Eldrick. I saw old Bartle die--I saw you take the +will from his pocket, read it, and put it in your pocket. I know +all!--except the terms of the will. But--I've a pretty good idea of what +those terms are. Do you know why? Because I watched you set off to +Normandale by the eight-twenty train tonight!" + +"Hang you for a dirty sneak!" growled Pratt. + +Parrawhite laughed, and flourished a heavy stick which he carried. + +"Not a bit of it!" he said, almost pleasantly. "I thought you were more +of a philosopher--I fancied I'd seen gleams--mere gleams--of philosophy +in you at times. Fortunes of war, my boy! Come now--you've seen enough +of me to know I'm an adventurer. This is an adventure of the sort I +love. Go into it heart and soul, man! Own up!--you've found out that the +will leaves the property away from the present holders, and you've been +to Normandale to--bargain? Come, now!" + +"What then!" demanded Pratt. + +"Then, of course, I come in at the bargaining," answered Parrawhite. +"I'm going to have my share. That's a certainty. You'd better take my +advice. Because you're absolutely in my power. I've nothing to do but to +tell Eldrick tomorrow morning." + +"Suppose I tell Eldrick tomorrow morning of what you've told me?" +interjected Pratt. + +"Eldrick will believe me before you," retorted Parrawhite, +imperturbably. "I'm a much cleverer, more plausible man than you are, my +friend--I've had an experience of the world which you haven't, I can +easily invent a fine excuse for being in that room. For two pins I'll +incriminate you! See? Be reasonable--for if it comes to a contest of +brains, you haven't a rabbit's chance against a fox. Tell me all about +the will--and what you've done. You've got to--for, by the Lord +Harry!--I'm going to have my share. Come, now!" + +Pratt stood, in a little hollow wherein they had paused, and thought, +rapidly and angrily. There was no doubt about it--he was trapped. This +fearful scoundrel at his side, who boasted of his cleverness, would +stick to him like a leach--he would have to share. All his own smart +schemes for exploiting Mrs. Mallathorpe, for ensuring himself a +competence for life, were knocked on the head. There was no helping +it--he would have to tell--and to share. And so, sullenly, resentfully, +he told. + +Parrawhite listened in silence, taking in every point. Pratt, knowing +that concealment was useless, told the truth about everything, +concisely, but omitting nothing. + +"All right!" remarked Parrawhite at the end, "Now, then, what terms do +you mean to insist on?" + +"What's the good of going into that?" growled Pratt. "Now that you've +stuck your foot in it, what do my terms matter?" + +"Quite right," agreed Parrawhite, "They don't. What matter is--our +terms. Now let me suggest--no, insist on--what they must be. Cash! Do +you know why I insist on that? No? Then I'll tell you. Because this +young barrister chap, Collingwood, has evidently got some suspicion +of--something." + +"I can't see it," said Pratt uneasily. "He was only curious to know what +that letter was about." + +"Never mind," continued Parrawhite. "He had some suspicion--or he +wouldn't have gone out there almost as soon as he reached Barford after +his grandfather's death. And even if suspicion is put to sleep for +awhile, it can easily be reawakened, so--cash! We must profit at +once--before any future risk arises. But--what terms were you thinking +of?" + +"Stewardship of this estate for life," muttered Pratt gloomily. + +"With the risk of some discovery being made, some time, any time!" +sneered Parrawhite. "Where are your brains, man? The old fellow, John +Mallathorpe, probably made a draft or two of that will before he did his +fair copy--he may have left those drafts among his papers." + +"If he did, Mrs. Mallathorpe 'ud find 'em," said Pratt slowly. "I don't +believe there's the slightest risk. I've figured everything out. I don't +believe there's any danger from Collingwood or from anybody--it's +impossible! And if we take cash now--we're selling for a penny what we +ought to get pounds for." + +"The present is much more important than the future, my friend," +answered Parrawhite. "To me, at any rate. Now, then, this is my +proposal. I'll be with you when this lady calls at your place tomorrow +evening. We'll offer her the will, to do what she likes with, for ten +thousand pounds. She can find that--quickly. When she pays--as she +will!--we share, equally, and then--well, you can go to the devil! I +shall go--somewhere else. So that's settled." + +"No!" said Pratt. + +Parrawhite turned sharply, and Pratt saw a sinister gleam in his eyes. + +"Did you say no?" he asked. + +"I said--no!" replied Pratt. "I'm not going to take five thousand pounds +for a chance that's worth fifty thousand. Hang you!--if you hadn't been +a black sneak-thief, as you are, I'd have had the whole thing to myself! +And I don't know that I will give way to you. If it comes to it, my +word's as good as yours--and I don't believe Eldrick would believe you +before me. Pascoe wouldn't anyway. You've got a past!--in quod, I should +think--my past's all right. I've a jolly good mind to let you do your +worst--after all, I've got the will. And by george! now I come to think +of it, you can do your worst! Tell what you like tomorrow morning. I +shall tell 'em what you are--a scoundrel." + +He turned away at that--and as he turned, Parrawhite, with a queer cry +of rage that might have come from some animal which saw its prey +escaping, struck out at him with the heavy stick. The blow missed +Pratt's head, but it grazed the tip of his ear, and fell slantingly on +his left shoulder. And then the anger that had been boiling in Pratt +ever since the touch on his arm in the dark lane, burst out in activity, +and he turned on his assailant, gripped him by the throat before +Parrawhite could move, and after choking and shaking him until his teeth +rattled and his breath came in jerking sobs, flung him violently against +the masses of stone by which they had been standing. + +Pratt was of considerable physical strength. He played cricket and +football; he visited a gymnasium thrice a week. His hands had the grip +of a blacksmith; his muscles were those of a prize-fighter. He had put +more strength than he was aware of into his fierce grip on Parrawhite's +throat; he had exerted far more force than he knew he was exerting, when +he flung him away. He heard a queer cracking sound as the man struck +something, and for the moment he took no notice of it--the pain of that +glancing blow on his shoulder was growing acute, and he began to rub it +with his free hand and to curse its giver. + +"Get up, you fool, and I'll give you some more!" he growled. "I'll teach +you to----" + +He suddenly noticed the curiously still fashion in which Parrawhite was +lying where he had flung him--noticed, too, as a cloud passed the moon +and left it unveiled, how strangely white the man's face was. And just +as suddenly Pratt forgot his own injury, and dropped on his knees beside +his assailant. An instant later, and he knew that he was once more +confronting death. For Parrawhite was as dead as Antony Bartle--violent +contact of his head with a rock had finished what Pratt had nearly +completed with that vicious grip. There was no questioning it, no +denying it--Pratt was there in that lonely place, staring half +consciously, half in terror, at a dead man. + +He stood up at last, cursing Parrawhite with the anger of despair. He +had not one scrap of pity for him. All his pity was for himself. That he +should have been brought into this!--that this vile little beast, +perfect scum that he was, should have led him to what might be the utter +ruin of his career!--it was shameful, it was abominable, it was cruel! +He felt as if he could cheerfully tear Parrawhite's dead body to pieces. +But even as these thoughts came, others of a more important nature +crowded on them. For--there lay a dead man, who was not to be put in +one's pocket, like a will. It was necessary to hide that thing from the +light--ever that light. Within a few hours, morning would break, and +lonely and deserted as that place was nowadays, some one might pass that +way. Out of sight with him, then!--and quickly. + +Pratt was very well acquainted with the spot at which he stood. Those +old quarries had a certain picturesqueness. They had become grass-grown; +ivy, shrubs, trees had clustered about them--the people who lived in the +few houses half a mile away, sometimes walked around them; the children +made a playground of the place: Pratt himself had often gone into some +quiet corner to read and smoke. And now his quick mind immediately +suggested a safe hiding place for this thing that he could not carry +away with him, and dare not leave to the morning sun--close by was a +pit, formerly used for some quarrying purpose, which was filled, always +filled, with water. It was evidently of considerable depth; the water +was black in it; the mouth was partly obscured by a maze of shrub and +bramble. It had been like that ever since Pratt came to lodge in that +part of the district--ten or twelve years before; it would probably +remain like that for many a long year to come. That bit of land was +absolutely useless and therefore neglected, and as long as rain fell and +water drained, that pit would always be filled to its brim. + +He remembered something else: also close by where he stood--a heap of +old iron things--broken and disused picks, smashed rails, fragments +thrown aside when the last of the limestone had been torn out of the +quarries. Once more luck was playing into his hands--those odds and ends +might have been put there for the very purpose to which he now meant to +turn them. And being certain that he was alone, and secure, Pratt +proceeded to go about his unpleasant task skilfully and methodically. He +fetched a quantity of the iron, fastened it to the dead man's clothing, +drew the body, thus weighted, to the edge of the pit, and prepared to +slide it into the black water. But there an idea struck him. While he +made these preparations he had had hosts of ideas as to his operations +next morning--this idea was supplementary to them. Quickly and +methodically he removed the contents of Parrawhite's pockets to his +own--everything: money, watch and chain, even a ring which the dead man +had been evidently vain of. Then he let Parrawhite glide into the +water--and after him he sent the heavy stick, carefully fastened to a +bar of iron. + +Five minutes later, the surface of the water in that pit was as calm and +unruffled as ever--not a ripple showed that it had been disturbed. And +Pratt made his way out of the wilderness, swearing that he would never +enter it again. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +THE SUPREME INDUCEMENT + + +Pratt was in Eldrick & Pascoe's office soon after half-past eight next +morning, and for nearly forty minutes he had the place entirely to +himself. But it took only a few of those minutes for him to do what he +had carefully planned before he went to bed the previous night. Shutting +himself into Eldrick's private room, and making sure that he was alone +that time, he immediately opened the drawer in the senior partner's +desk, wherein Eldrick, culpably enough, as Parrawhite had sneeringly +remarked, was accustomed to put loose money. Eldrick was strangely +careless in that way: he would throw money into that drawer in presence +of his clerks--notes, gold, silver. If it happened to occur to him, he +would take the money out at the end of the afternoon and hand it to +Pratt to lock up in the safe; but as often as not, it did not occur. +Pratt had more than once ventured on a hint which was almost a +remonstrance, and Eldrick had paid no attention to him. He was a +careless, easy-going man in many respects, Eldrick, and liked to do +things in his own way. And after all, as Pratt had decided, when he +found that his hints were not listened to, it was Eldrick's own affair +if he liked to leave the money lying about. + +There was money lying about in that drawer when Pratt drew it open; it +was never locked, day or night, or, if it was, the key was left in it. +As soon as he opened it, he saw gold--two or three sovereigns--and +silver--a little pile of it. And, under a letter weight, four banknotes +of ten pounds each. But this was precisely what Pratt had expected to +see; he himself had handed banknotes, gold, and silver to Eldrick the +previous evening, just after receiving them from a client who had called +to pay his bill. And he had seen Eldrick place them in the drawer, as +usual, and soon afterwards Eldrick had walked out, saying he was going +to the club, and he had never returned. + +What Pratt now did was done as the result of careful thought and +deliberation. There was a cheque-book lying on top of some papers in the +drawer; he took it up and tore three cheques out of it. Then he picked +up the bank-notes, tore them and the abstracted blank cheques into +pieces, and dropped the pieces in the fire recently lighted by the +caretaker. He watched these fragments burn, and then he put the gold and +silver in his hip-pocket, where he already carried a good deal of his +own, and walked out. + +Nine o'clock brought the office-boy; a quarter-past nine brought the +clerks; at ten o'clock Eldrick walked in. According to custom, Pratt +went into Eldrick's room with the letters, and went through them with +him. One of them contained a legal document over which the solicitor +frowned a little. + +"Ask Parrawhite's opinion about that," he said presently, indicating a +marked paragraph. + +"Parrawhite has not come in this morning, sir," observed Pratt, +gathering up letters and papers. "I'll draw his attention to it when he +arrives." + +He went into the outer office, only to be summoned back to Eldrick a few +minutes later. The senior partner was standing by his desk, looking a +little concerned, and, thought Pratt, decidedly uncomfortable. He +motioned the clerk to close the door. + +"Has Parrawhite come?" he asked. + +"No," replied Pratt, "Not yet, Mr. Eldrick." + +"Is--is he usually late?" inquired Eldrick. + +"Usually quite punctual--half-past nine," said Pratt. + +Eldrick glanced at his watch; then at his clerk. + +"Didn't you give me some cash last night?" he asked. + +"Forty-three pounds nine," answered Pratt. "Thompson's bill of costs--he +paid it yesterday afternoon." + +Eldrick looked more uncomfortable than ever. + +"Well--the fact is," he said, "I--I meant to hand it to you to put in +the safe, Pratt, but I didn't come back from the club. And--it's gone!" + +Pratt simulated concern--but not astonishment. And Eldrick pulled open +the drawer, and waved a hand over it. + +"I put it down there," he said. "Very careless of me, no doubt--but +nothing of this sort has ever happened before, and--however, there's the +unpleasant fact, Pratt. The money's gone!" + +Pratt, who had hastily turned over the papers and other contents of the +drawer, shook his head and used his privilege as an old and confidential +servant. "I've always said, sir, that it was a great mistake to leave +loose money lying about," he remarked mournfully. "If there'd only been +a practice of letting me lock anything of that sort up in the safe every +night--and this chequebook, too, sir--then----" + +"I know--I know!" said Eldrick. "Very reprehensible on my part--I'm +afraid I am careless--no doubt of it. But----" + +He in his turn was interrupted by Pratt, who was turning over the +cheque-book. + +"Some cheque forms have been taken out of this," he said. "Three! at the +end. Look there, sir!" + +Eldrick uttered an exclamation of intense annoyance and disgust. He +looked at the despoiled cheque-book, and flung it into the drawer. + +"Pratt!" he said, turning half appealingly, half confidentially to the +clerk. "Don't say a word of this--above all, don't mention it to Mr. +Pascoe. It's my fault and I must make the forty-three pounds good. +Pratt, I'm afraid this is Parrawhite's work. I--well, I may as well tell +you--he'd been in trouble before he came here. I gave him another +chance--I'd known him, years ago. I thought he'd go straight. But--I +fear he's been tempted. He may have seen me leave money about. Was he in +here last night?" + +Pratt pointed to a document which lay on Eldrick's desk. + +"He came in here to leave that for your perusal," he answered. "He was +in here--alone--a minute or two before he left." + +All these lies came readily and naturally--and Eldrick swallowed each. +He shook his head. + +"My fault--all my fault!" he said. "Look here--keep it quiet. But--do +you know where Parrawhite has lived--lodged?" + +"No!" replied Pratt. "Some of the others may, though!" + +"Try to find out--quickly," continued Eldrick; "Then, make some excuse +to go out--take papers somewhere, or something--and find if he's left +his lodgings! I--I don't want to set the police on him. He was a decent +fellow, once. See what you can make out, Pratt. In strict secrecy, you +know---I do not want this to go further." + +Pratt could have danced for joy when he presently went out into the +town. There would be no hue-and-cry after Parrawhite--none! Eldrick +would accept the fact that Parrawhite had robbed him and flown--and +Parrawhite would never be heard of--never mentioned again. It was the +height of good luck for him. Already he had got rid of any small scraps +of regret or remorse about the killing of his fellow-clerk. Why should +he be sorry? The scoundrel had tried to murder him, thinking no doubt +that he had the will on him. And he had not meant to kill him--what he +had done, he had done in self-defence. No--everything was working most +admirably--Parrawhite's previous bad record, Eldrick's carelessness and +his desire to shut things up: it was all good. From that day forward, +Parrawhite would be as if he had never been. Pratt was not even afraid +of the body being discovered--though he believed that it would remain +where it was for ever--for the probability was that the authorities +would fill up that pit with earth and stones. But if it was brought to +light? Why, the explanation was simple. + +Parrawhite, having robbed his employer, had been robbed himself, +possibly by men with whom he had been drinking, and had been murdered in +the bargain. No suspicion could attach to him, Pratt--he had nothing to +fear--nothing! + +For the form of the thing, he called at the place whereat Parrawhite had +lodged--they had seen nothing of him since the previous morning. They +were poor, cheap lodgings in a mean street. The woman of the house said +that Parrawhite had gone out as usual the morning before, and had never +been in again. In order to find out all he could, Pratt asked if he had +left much behind him in the way of belongings, and--just as he had +expected--he learned that Parrawhite's personal property was remarkably +limited: he possessed only one suit of clothes and not over much +besides, said the landlady. + +"Is there aught wrong?" she asked, when Pratt had finished his +questions. "Are you from where he worked?" + +"That's it," answered Pratt, "And he hasn't turned up this morning, and +we think he's left the town. Owe you anything, missis?" + +"Nay, nothing much," she replied. "Ten shillings 'ud cover it, mister." + +Pratt gave her half a sovereign. It was not out of consideration for +her, nor as a concession to Parrawhite's memory: it was simply to stop +her from coming down to Eldrick & Pascoe's. + +"Well, I don't think you'll see him again," he remarked. "And I dare say +you won't care if you don't." + +He turned away then, but before he had gone far, the woman called him +back. + +"What am I to do with his bits of things, mister, if he doesn't come +back?" she asked. + +"Aught you please," answered Pratt, indifferently. "Throw 'em on the +dust-heap." + +As he went back to the centre of the town, he occupied himself in +considering his attitude to Mrs. Mallathorpe when she called on him that +evening. In spite of his own previous notion, and of his +carefully-worked-out scheme about the stewardship, he had been impressed +by what Parrawhite has said as to the wisdom of selling the will for +cash. Pratt did not believe that there was anything in the Collingwood +suggestion--no doubt whatever, he had decided, that old Bartle had meant +to tell Mrs. Mallathorpe of his discovery when she called in answer to +his note, but as he had died before she could call, and as he had told +nobody but him, Pratt, what possible danger could there be from +Collingwood? And a stewardship for life appealed to him. He knew, from +observation of the world, what a fine thing it is to have a certainty. + +Once he became steward and agent of the Normandale Grange estate, he +would stick there, until he had saved a tidy heap of money. Then he +would retire--with a pension and a handsome present--and enjoy himself. +To be provided for, for life!--what more could a wise man want? And +yet--there was something in what that devil Parrawhite had urged. + +For there was a risk--however small--of discovery, and if discovery were +made, there would be a nice penalty to pay. It might, after all, be +better to sell the will outright--for as much ready money as ever he +could get, and to take his gains far away, and start out on a career +elsewhere. After all, there was much to be said for the old proverb. The +only question was--was the bird in hand worth the two; or the money, +which he believed he would net in the bush? + +Pratt's doubts on this point were settled in a curious fashion. He had +reached the centre of the town in his return to Eldrick's, and there, in +the fashionable shopping street, he ran up against an acquaintance. He +and the acquaintance stopped and chatted--about nothing. And as they +lounged on the curb, a smart victoria drew up close by, and out of it, +alone, stepped a girl who immediately attracted Pratt's eyes. He watched +her across the pavement; he watched her into the shop. And his companion +laughed. + +"That's the sort!" he remarked flippantly. "If you and I had one each, +old man--what?" + +"Who is she?" demanded Pratt. + +The acquaintance stared at him in surprise. + +"What!" he exclaimed. "You don't know. That's Miss Mallathorpe." + +"I didn't know," said Pratt. "Fact!" + +He waited until Nesta Mallathorpe came out and drove away--so that he +could get another and a closer look at her. And when she was gone, he +went slowly back to the office, his mind made up. Risk or no risk, he +would carry out his original notion. Whatever Mrs. Mallathorpe might +offer, he would stick to his idea of close and intimate connection with +Normandale Grange. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +TERMS + + +Mrs. Mallathorpe, left to face the situation which Pratt had revealed to +her in such sudden and startling fashion, had been quick to realize its +seriousness. It had not taken much to convince her that the clerk knew +what he was talking about. She had no doubt whatever that he was right +when he said that the production of John Mallathorpe's will would mean +dispossession to her children, and through them to herself. Nor had she +any doubt, either, of Pratt's intention to profit by his discovery. She +saw that he was a young man of determination, not at all scrupulous, +eager to seize on anything likely to turn to his own advantage. She was, +in short, at his mercy. And she had no one to turn to. Her son was weak, +purposeless, almost devoid of character; he cared for nothing beyond +ease and comfort, and left everything to her so long as he was allowed +to do what he liked. She dared not confide in him--he was not fit to be +entrusted with such a secret, nor endowed with the courage to carry it +boldly and unflinchingly. Nor dare she confide it to her daughter--Nesta +was as strong as her brother was weak: Mrs. Mallathorpe had only told +the plain truth when she said to Pratt that if her daughter knew of the +will she would go straight to the two trustees. No--she would have to do +everything herself. And she could do nothing save under Pratt's +dictation. So long as he had that will in his possession, he could make +her agree to whatever terms he liked to insist upon. + +She spent a sleepless night, resolving all sorts of plans; she resolved +more plans and schemes during the day which followed. But they all ended +at the same point--Pratt. All the future depended upon--Pratt. And by +the end of the day it had come to this--she must make a determined +effort to buy Pratt clean out, so that she could get the will into her +own possession and destroy it. She knew that she could easily find the +necessary money--Harper Mallathorpe had such a natural dislike of all +business matters and was so little fitted to attend to them that he was +only too well content to leave everything relating to the estate and the +mill at Barford to his mother. Up to that time Mrs. Mallathorpe had +managed the affairs of both, and she had large sums at her disposal, out +of which she could pay Pratt without even Harper being aware that she +was paying him anything. And surely no young man in Pratt's position--a +mere clerk, earning a few pounds a week--would refuse a big sum of ready +money! It seemed incredible to her--and she went into Barford towards +evening hoping that by the time she returned the will would have been +burned to grey ashes. + +Mrs. Mallathorpe used some ingenuity in making her visit to Pratt. +Giving out that she was going to see a friend in Barford, of whose +illness she had just heard, she drove into the town, and on arriving +near the Town Hall dismissed her carriage, with orders to the coachman +to put up his horses at a certain livery stable, and to meet her at the +same place at a specified time. Then she went away on foot, and drew a +thick veil over her face before hiring a cab in which she drove up to +the outskirt on which Pratt had his lodging. She was still veiled when +Pratt's landlady showed her into the clerk's sitting-room. + +"Is it safe here?" she asked at once. "Is there no fear of anybody +hearing what we may say?" + +"None!" answered Pratt reassuringly. "I know these folks--I've lived +here several years. And nobody could hear however much they put their +ears to the keyhole. Good thick old walls, these, Mrs. Mallathorpe, and +a solid door. We're as safe here as we were in your study last night." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe sat down in the chair which Pratt politely drew near +his fire. She raised her veil and looked at him, and the clerk saw at +once how curious and eager she was. + +"That--will!" she said, in a low voice. "Let me see it--first." + +"One moment," answered Pratt. "First--you understand that I'm not going +to let you handle it. I'll hold it before you, so you can read it. +Second--you give me your promise--I'm trusting you--that you'll make no +attempt to seize it. It's not going out of my hands." + +"I'm only a woman--and you're a strong man," she retorted sullenly. + +"Quite so," said Pratt. "But women have a trick of snatching at things. +And--if you please--you'll do exactly what I tell you to do. Put your +hands behind you! If I see you make the least movement with them--back +goes the will into my pocket!" + +If Pratt had looked more closely at her just then, he would have taken +warning from the sudden flash of hatred and resentment which swept +across Mrs. Mallathorpe's face--it would have told him that he was +dealing with a dangerous woman who would use her wits to circumvent and +beat him--if not now, then later. But he was moving the gas bracket over +the mantelpiece, and he did not see. + +"Very well--but I had no intention of touching it," said Mrs. +Mallathorpe. "All I want is to see it--and read it." + +She obediently followed out Pratt's instructions, and standing in front +of her he produced the will, unfolded it, and held it at a convenient +distance before her eyes. He watched her closely, as she read it, and he +saw her grow very pale. + +"Take your time--read it over two or three times," he said quietly. "Get +it well into your mind, Mrs. Mallathorpe." + +She nodded her head at last, and Pratt stepped back, folded up the will, +and turning to a heavy box which lay open on the table, placed it +within, under lock and key. And that done, he turned back and took a +chair, close to his visitor. + +"Safe there, Mrs. Mallathorpe," he said with a glance that was both +reassuring and cunning. "But only for the night. I keep a few securities +of my own at one of the banks in the town--never mind which--and that +will shall be deposited with them tomorrow morning." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe shook her head. + +"No!" she said. "Because--you'll come to terms with me." + +Pratt shook his head, too, and he laughed. + +"Of course I shall come to terms with you," he answered. "But they'll be +my terms--and they don't include any giving up of that document. That's +flat, Mrs. Mallathorpe!" + +"Not if I make it worth your while?" she asked. "Listen!--you don't know +what ready money I can command. Ready money, I tell you--cash down, on +the spot!" + +"I've a pretty good notion," responded Pratt. "It's generally understood +in the town that your son's a mere figure-head, and that you're the real +boss of the whole show. I know that you're at the mill four times a +week, and that the managers are under your thumb. I know that you manage +everything connected with the estate. So, of course, I know you've lots +of ready money at your disposal." + +"And I know that you don't earn more than four or five pounds a week, at +the outside," said Mrs. Mallathorpe quietly. "Come, now--just think what +a nice, convenient thing it would be to a young man of your age to +have--a capital. Capital! It would be the making of you. You could go +right away--to London, say, and start out on whatever you liked. Be +sensible--sell me that paper--and be done with the whole thing." + +"No!" replied Pratt. + +Mrs. Mallathorpe looked at him for a full moment. She was a shrewd judge +of character, and she felt that Pratt was one of those men who are hard +to stir from a position once adopted. But she had to make her +effort--and she made it in what she thought the most effective way. + +"I'll give you five thousand pounds--cash--for it," she said. "Meet me +with it tomorrow--anywhere you like in the town--any time you like--and +I'll hand you the money--in notes." + +"No!" said Pratt. "No!" + +Once more she looked at him. And Pratt looked back--and smiled. + +"When I say no, I mean no," he went on. "And I never meant 'No' more +firmly than I do now." + +"I don't believe you," she answered, affecting a doubt which she +certainly did not feel. "You're only holding out for more money." + +"If I were holding out for more money, Mrs. Mallathorpe," replied Pratt, +"if I meant to sell you that will for cash payment, I should have stated +my terms to you last night. I should have said precisely how much I +wanted--and I shouldn't have budged from the amount. Mrs. +Mallathorpe!--it's no good. I've got my own schemes, and my own +ideas--and I'm going to carry 'em out. I want you to appoint me steward +to your property, your affairs, for life." + +"Life!" she exclaimed. "Life!" + +"My life," answered Pratt. "And let me tell you--you'll find me a +first-class man--a good, faithful, honest servant. I'll do well by you +and yours. You'll never regret it as long as you live. It'll be the best +day's work you've ever done. I'll look after your son's +interests--everybody's interests--as if they were my own. As indeed," he +added, with a sly glance, "they will be." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe realized the finality, the resolve, in all this--but +she made one more attempt. + +"Ten thousand!" she said. "Come, now!--think what ten thousand pounds in +cash would mean to you!" + +"No--nor twenty thousand," replied Pratt. "I've made up my mind. I'll +have my own terms. It's no use--not one bit of use--haggling or +discussing matters further. I'm in possession of the will--and therefore +of the situation, Mrs. Mallathorpe, you've just got to do what I tell +you!" + +He got up from his chair, and going over to a side-table took from it a +blotting-pad, some writing paper and a pencil. For the moment his back +was turned--and again he did not see the look of almost murderous hatred +which came into his visitor's eyes; had he seen and understood it, he +might even then have reconsidered matters and taken Mrs. Mallathorpe's +last offer. But the look had gone when he turned again, and he noticed +nothing as he handed over the writing materials. + +"What are these for?" she asked. + +"You'll see in a moment," replied Pratt, reseating himself, and drawing +his chair a little nearer her own. "Now listen--because it's no good +arguing any more. You're going to give me that stewardship and agency. +You'll simply tell your son that it's absolutely necessary to have a +steward. He'll agree. If he doesn't, no matter--you'll convince him. +Now, then, we must do it in a fashion that won't excite any suspicion. +Thus--in a few days--say next week--you'll insert in the Barford +papers--all three of them--the advertisement I'm going to dictate to +you. We'll put it in the usual, formal phraseology. Write this down, if +you please, Mrs. Mallathorpe." + +He dictated an advertisement, setting forth the requirements of which he +had spoken, and Mrs. Mallathorpe obeyed him and wrote. She hated Pratt +more than ever at that moment--there was a quiet, steadfast +implacability about him that made her feel helpless. But she restrained +all sign of it, and when she had done his bidding she looked at him as +calmly as he looked at her. + +"I am to insert this in the Barford papers next week," she said. +"And--what then?" + +"Then you'll get a lot of applications for the job," chuckled Pratt. +"There'll be mine amongst them. You can throw most of 'em in the fire. +Keep a few for form's sake. Profess to discuss them with Mr. Harper--but +let the discussion be all on your side. I'll send two or three good +testimonials--you'll incline to me from the first. You'll send for me. +Your interview with me will be highly satisfactory. And you'll give me +the appointment." + +"And--your terms?" asked Mrs. Mallathorpe. Now that her own scheme had +failed, she seemed quite placable to all Pratt's proposals--a sure sign +of danger to him if he had only known it. "Better let me know them +now--and have done with it." + +"Quite so," agreed Pratt. "But first of all--can you keep this secret to +yourself and me? The money part, any way?" + +"I can--and shall," she answered. + +"Good!" said Pratt. "Very well. I want a thousand a year. Also I want +two rooms--and a business room--at the Grange. I shall not interfere +with you or your family, or your domestic arrangements, but I shall +expect to have all my meals served to me from your kitchen, and to have +one of your servants at my disposal. I know the Grange--I've been over +it more than once. There's much more room there than you can make use +of. Give me the rooms I want in one of the wings. I shan't disturb any +of you. You'll never see me except on business--and if you want to." + +Again the calm acquiescence which would have surprised some men. Why +Pratt failed to be surprised by it was because he was just then feeling +exceedingly triumphant--he believed that Mrs. Mallathorpe was, +metaphorically, at his feet. He had more than a little vanity in him, +and it pleased him greatly, that dictating of terms: he saw himself a +conqueror, with his foot on the neck of his victim. + +"Is that all, then?" asked the visitor. + +"All!" answered Pratt. + +Mrs. Mallathorpe calmly folded up the draft advertisement and placed it +in her purse. Then she rose and adjusted her veil. + +"Then--there is nothing to be done until I get your answer to this--your +application?" she asked. "Very well." + +Pratt showed her out, and walked to the cab with her. He went back to +his rooms highly satisfied--and utterly ignorant of what Mrs. +Mallathorpe was thinking as she drove away. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +UNTIL NEXT SPRING + + +Within a week of his sudden death in Eldrick's private office, old +Antony Bartle was safely laid in the tomb under the yew-tree of which +Mrs. Clough had spoken with such appreciation, and his grandson had +entered into virtual possession of all that he had left. Collingwood +found little difficulty in settling his grandfather's affairs. +Everything had been left to him: he was sole executor as well as sole +residuary legatee. He found his various tasks made uncommonly easy. +Another bookseller in the town hurried to buy the entire stock and +business, goodwill, book debts, everything--Collingwood was free of all +responsibility of the shop in Quagg Alley within a few days of the old +man's funeral. And when he had made a handsome present to the +housekeeper, a suitable one to the shop-boy, and paid his grandfather's +last debts, he was free to depart--a richer man by some five-and-twenty +thousand pounds than when he hurried down to Barford in response to +Eldrick's telegram. + +He sat in Eldrick's office one afternoon, winding up his affairs with +him. There were certain things that Eldrick & Pascoe would have to do; +as for himself it was necessary for him to get back to London. + +"There's something I want to propose to you," said Eldrick, when they +had finished the immediate business. "You're going to practise, of +course?" + +"Of course!" replied Collingwood, with a laugh. "If I get the chance!" + +"You'll get the chance," said Eldrick. "What were you going in for?" + +"Commercial law--company law--as a special thing," answered Collingwood. + +"Why?" + +"I'll tell you what it is," continued Eldrick eagerly. "There's a career +for you if you'll take my advice. Leave London--come down here and take +chambers in the town, and go the North-Eastern Circuit. I'll promise +you--for our firm alone--plenty of work. You'll get more--there's lots +of work waiting here for a good, smart young barrister. Ah!--you smile, +but I know what I'm talking about. You don't know Barford men. They +believe in the old adage that one should look at home before going +abroad. They're terribly litigious, too, and if you were here, on the +spot, they'd give you work. What do you say, Collingwood?" + +"That sounds very tempting. But I was thinking of sticking to London." + +"Not one hundredth part of the chance in London that there is here!" +affirmed Eldrick. "We badly want two or three barristers in this place. A +man who's really well up in commercial and company law would soon have +his hands full. There's work, I tell you. Take my advice, and come!" + +"I couldn't come--in any case--for a few months," said Collingwood, +musingly. "Of course, if you really think there's an opening----" + +"I know there is!" asserted Eldrick. "I'll guarantee you lots of +work--our work. I'm sick of fetching men down all the way from town, or +getting them from Leeds. Come!--and you'll see." + +"I might come in a few months' time, and try things for a year or two," +replied Collingwood. "But I'm off to India, you know, next week, and I +shall be away until the end of spring--four months or so." + +"To India!" exclaimed Eldrick. "What are you going to do there?" + +"Sir John Standridge," said Collingwood, mentioning a famous legal +luminary of the day, "is going out to Hyderabad to take certain +evidence, and hold a sort of inquiry, in a big case, and I'm going with +him as his secretary and assistant--I was in his chambers for two years, +you know. We leave next week, and we shall not be back until the end of +April." + +"Lucky man!" remarked the solicitor. "Well, when you return, don't +forget what I've said. Come back!--you'll not regret it. Come and settle +down. Bye-the-bye, you're not engaged, are you?" + +"Engaged?" said Collingwood. "To what--to whom--what do you mean?" + +"Engaged to be married," answered Eldrick coolly. "You're not? Good! If +you want a wife, there's Miss Mallathorpe. Nice, clever girl, my +boy--and no end of what Barford folk call brass. The very woman for +you." + +"Do you Barford people ever think of anything else but what you call +brass?" asked Collingwood, laughing. + +"Sometimes," replied Eldrick. "But it's generally of something that +nothing but brass can bring or produce. After all, a rich wife isn't a +despicable thing, nowadays. You've seen this young lady?" + +"I've been there once," asserted Collingwood. + +"Go again--before you leave," counselled Eldrick. "You're just the right +man. Listen to the counsels of the wise! And while you're in India, +think well over my other advice. I tell you there's a career for you, +here in the North, that you'd never get in town." + +Collingwood left him and went out--to find a motorcar and drive off to +Normandale Grange, not because Eldrick had advised him to go, but +because of his promise to Harper and Nesta Mallathorpe. And once more he +found Nesta alone, and though he had no spice of vanity in his +composition it seemed to him that she was glad when he walked into the +room in which they had first met. + +"My mother is out--gone to town--to the mill," she said. "And Harper is +knocking around the park with a gun--killing rabbits--and time. He'll be +in presently to tea--and he'll be delighted to see you. Are you going to +stay in Barford much longer?" + +"I'm going up to town this evening--seven o'clock train," answered +Collingwood, watching her keenly. "All my business is finished now--for +the present." + +"But--you'll be coming back?" she asked. + +"Perhaps," he said. "I may come back--after a while." + +"When you do come back," she went on, a little hurriedly, "will you come +and see us again? I--it's difficult to explain--but I do wish Harper +knew more men--the right sort of men. Do you understand?" + +"You mean--he needs more company?" + +"More company of the right kind. He doesn't know many nice men. And he +has so little to occupy him. He's no head for business--my mother +attends to all that--and he doesn't care much about sport--and when he +goes into Barford he only hangs about the club, and, I'm afraid, at two +or three of the hotels there, and--it's not good for him." + +"Can't you get him interested in anything?" suggested Collingwood. "Is +there nothing that he cares about?" + +"He never did care about anything," replied Nesta with a sigh. "He's +apathetic! He just moves along. Sometimes I think he was born half +asleep, and he's never been really awakened. Pity, isn't it?" + +"Considering everything--a great pity," agreed Collingwood. "But--he's +provided for." + +Nesta gave him a swift glance. + +"It might have been a good deal better for him if he hadn't been +provided for!" she said. "He'd have just had to do something, then. +But--if you come back, you'll come here sometimes?" + +"Of course!" answered Collingwood. "And if I come back, it will probably +be to stop here. Mr. Eldrick says there's a lot of work going begging in +Barford--for a smart young barrister well up in commercial law. Perhaps +I may try to come up to his standard--I'm certainly young, but I don't +know whether I'm smart." + +"Better come and try," she said, smiling. "Don't forget that I've seen +you look the part, anyway--your wig and gown suited you very well." + +"Theatrical properties," he replied, laughing. "The wig was too small, +and the gown too long. Well--we'll see. But in the meantime, I'm going +away for four months--to India." + +"To India--four months!" she exclaimed. "That sounds nice." + +"Legal business," said Collingwood. "I shall be back about the end of +April--and then I shall probably come down here again, and seriously +consider Eldrick's suggestion. I'm very much inclined to take it." + +"Then--you'd leave London?" she asked. + +"I've little to leave there," replied Collingwood. "My father and mother +are dead, and I've no brothers, no sisters--no very near relations. +Sounds lonely, doesn't it?" + +"One can feel lonely when one has relations," said Nesta. + +"Are you saying that from--experience?" he asked. + +"I often wish I had more to do," she answered frankly. "What's the use +of denying it? I've next to nothing to do, here. I liked my work at the +hospital--I was busy all day. Here----" + +"If I were you," interrupted Collingwood, "I'd set to work nursing in +another fashion. Look after your brother! Get him going at +something--even if it's playing golf. Play with him! It would do +him--and you--all the good in the world if you got thoroughly infatuated +with even a game. Don't you see?" + +"You mean--anything is better than nothing," she replied. "All +right--I'll try that, anyway. For--I'm anxious about Harper. All this +money!--and no occupation!" + +Collingwood, who was sitting near the windows, looked out across the +park and into the valley beyond. + +"I should have thought that a man who had come into an estate like this +would have found plenty of occupation," he remarked. "What is there, +beside the house and this park?" + +Nesta, who had busied herself with some fancy-work since Collingwood's +entrance, laid it down and came to the windows. She pointed to certain +roofs and gables in the valley. + +"There's the whole village of Normandale," she said. "A busy place, no +doubt, but it's all Harper's--he's lord of the manor. He's patron of the +living, too. It's all his--farms, cottages, everything. And the woods, +and the park, and this house, and a stretch of the moors, as well. Of +course, he ought to find a lot to do--but he doesn't. Perhaps because my +mother does everything. She really is a business woman." + +Collingwood looked out over the area which Nesta had indicated. Harper +Mallathorpe, he calculated, must be possessed of some three or four +thousand acres. + +"A fine property!" he said. "He's a very fortunate fellow!" + +Just then this very fortunate fellow came in. His face, dull enough as +he entered, lighted up at sight of a visitor, and fell again when +Collingwood explained that his visit was a mere flying one, and that he +was returning to London that night. Collingwood led him on to the +project which he had mentioned at his previous visit--the making of golf +links in the park, and pointed out, as a devotee of the sport, what a +fine course could be made. Before he left he had succeeded in arousing +like interest in Harper--he promised to go into the matter, and to +employ a man whom Collingwood recommended as an expert in laying out +golf courses. + +"You'll have got your greens in something like order by this time next +year, if you start operations soon," said Collingwood. "And then, if I +settle down at Barford, I'll come out now and then, if you'll let me." + +"Let you!" exclaimed Harper. "By Jove!--we're only too glad to have +anybody out here--aren't we, Nesta?" + +"We shall always be glad to see Mr. Collingwood," said Nesta. + +Collingwood went away with that last intimation warm in his memory. He +had an idea that the girl meant what she said--and for a moment he was +sorry that he was going to India. He might have settled down at Barford +there and then, and--but at that he laughed at himself. + +"A young woman with several thousands a year of her own!" he said. "Of +course, she'll marry some big pot in the county. They feel a little +lonely, those two, just now, because everything's new to them, and +they're new to their changed circumstances. But when I get back--ah!--I +guess they'll have got plenty of people around them." + +And he determined, being a young man of sense, not to think any +more--for already he had thought a good deal of Nesta Mallathorpe, until +he returned from his Indian travels. Let him attend to his business, and +leave possibilities until they came nearer. + +"All the same." he mused, as he drew near the town again, "I'm pretty +sure I shall come back here next spring--I feel like it." + +He called in at Eldrick's office on his way to the hotel, to take some +documents which had been preparing for him. It was then late in the +afternoon, and no one but Pratt was there--Pratt, indeed, had been +waiting until Collingwood called. + +"Going back to town, Mr. Collingwood?" asked Pratt as he handed over a +big envelope. "When shall we have the pleasure of seeing you again, +sir?" + +Something in the clerk's tone made Collingwood think--he could not tell +why--that Pratt was fishing for information. And--also for reasons which +he could not explain--Collingwood had taken a curious dislike to Pratt, +and was not inclined to give him any confidence. + +"I don't know," he answered, a little icily. "I am leaving for India +next week." + +He bade the clerk a formal farewell and went off, and Pratt locked the +office door and slowly followed him downstairs. + +"To India!" he said to himself, watching the young barrister's +retreating figure. "To India, eh? For a time--or for--what?" + +Anyway, that was good news, Pratt had seen in Collingwood a possible +rival. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +THE FOOT-BRIDGE + + +Collingwood's return to London was made on a Friday evening: next day he +began the final preparations for his departure to India on the following +Thursday. He was looking forward to his journey and his stay in India +with keen expectation. He would have the society of a particularly +clever and brilliant man; they were to break their journey in Italy and +in Egypt; he would enjoy exceptional facilities for seeing the native +life of India; he would gain valuable experience. It was a chance at +which any young man would have jumped, and Collingwood had been greatly +envied when it was known that Sir John Standridge had offered it to him. +And yet he was conscious that if he could have done precisely what he +desired, he would have stayed longer at Barford, in order to see more of +Nesta Mallathorpe. Already it seemed a long time to the coming spring, +when he would be back--and free to go North again. + +But Collingwood was fated to go North once more much sooner than he had +dreamed of. As he sat at breakfast in his rooms on the Monday morning +after his departure from Barford, turning over his newspaper with no +particular aim or interest, his attention was suddenly and sharply +arrested by a headline. Even that headline might not have led him to +read what lay beneath. But in the same instant in which he saw it he +also saw a name--Mallathorpe. In the next he knew that heavy trouble had +fallen on Normandale Grange, the very day after he had left it. + +This is what Collingwood read as he sat, coffee-cup in one hand, +newspaper in the other--staring at the lines of unleaded type: + + TRAGIC FATE OF YOUNG YORKSHIRE SQUIRE + + "A fatal accident, of a particularly sad and disturbing nature, + occurred near Barford, Yorkshire, on Saturday. About four + o'clock on Saturday afternoon, Mr. Linford Pratt, managing clerk + to Messrs. Eldrick & Pascoe, Solicitors, of Barford, who was + crossing the grounds of Normandale Grange on his way to a + business appointment, discovered the dead body of Mr. H. J. + Mallathorpe, the owner of the Normandale Estate, lying in a + roadway which at that point is spanned, forty feet above, by a + narrow foot-bridge. The latter is an ancient construction of + wood, and there is no doubt that it was in extremely bad repair, + and had given way when the unfortunate young gentleman, who was + out shooting in his park, stepped upon it. Mr. Mallathorpe, who + was only twenty-four years of age, succeeded to the Normandale + estates, one of the finest properties in the neighbourhood of + Barford, about two years ago, under somewhat romantic--and also + tragic--circumstances, their previous owner, his uncle, Mr. John + Mallathorpe, a well-known Barford manufacturer, meeting a sudden + death by the falling of his mill chimney--a catastrophe which + also caused the deaths of several of his employees. Mr. John + Mallathorpe died intestate, and the estate at Normandale passed + to the young gentleman who met such a sad fate on Saturday + afternoon. Mr. H.J. Mallathorpe was unmarried, and it is + understood that Normandale (which includes the village of that + name, the advowson of the living, and about four thousand acres + of land) now becomes the property of his sister, Miss Nesta + Mallathorpe." + +Collingwood set down his cup, and dropped the newspaper. He was but half +way through his breakfast, but all his appetite had vanished. All that +he was conscious of was that here was trouble and grief for a girl in +whom--it was useless to deny it--he had already begun to take a warm +interest. And suddenly he started from his chair and snatched up a +railway guide. As he turned over its pages, he thought rapidly. The +preparations for his journey to India were almost finished--what was not +done he could do in a few hours. He had no further appointment with Sir +John Standridge until nine o'clock on Thursday morning, when he was to +meet him at the train for Dover and Paris. Monday--Tuesday--Wednesday--he +had three days--ample time to hurry down to Normandale, to do what he +could to help there, and to get back in time to make his own last +arrangements. He glanced at his watch--he had forty minutes in which to +catch an express from King's Cross to Barford. Without further delay he +picked up a suit-case which was already packed and set out for the +station. + +He was in Barford soon after two o'clock--in Eldrick's office by +half-past two. Eldrick shook his head at sight of him. + +"I can guess what's brought you down, Collingwood," he said. "Good of +you, of course--I don't think they've many friends out there." + +"I can scarcely call myself that--yet," answered Collingwood. "But--I +thought I might be of some use. I'll drive out there presently. But +first--how was it?" + +Eldrick shook his head. + +"Don't know much more than what the papers say," he answered. "There's +an old foot-bridge there that spans a road in the park--road cut through +a ravine. They say it was absolutely rotten, and the poor chap's weight +was evidently too much for it. And there was a drop of forty feet into a +hard road. Extraordinary thing that nobody on the estate seems to have +known of the dangerous condition of that bridge!--but they say it was +little used--simply a link between one plantation and another. +However;--it's done, now. Our clerk--Pratt, you know--found the body. +Hadn't been dead five minutes, Pratt says." + +"What was Pratt doing there?" asked Collingwood. + +"Oh, business of his own," replied Eldrick. "Not ours. There was an +advertisement in Saturday's papers which set out that a steward was +wanted for the Normandale estate, and Pratt mentioned it to me in the +morning that he thought of applying for the job if we'd give him a good +testimonial. I suppose he'd gone out there to see about the +preliminaries. Anyway, he was walking through the park when he found +young Mallathorpe's body. I understand he made himself very useful, too, +and I've sent him out there again today, to do anything he can--smart +chap, Pratt!" + +"Possibly, then, there is nothing I can do," remarked Collingwood. + +"I should say you'll do a lot by merely going there," answered Eldrick. +"As I said just now, they've few friends, and no relations, and I hear +that Mrs. Mallathorpe is absolutely knocked over. Go, by all means--a +bit of sympathy goes a long way on these occasions. I say!--what a +regular transformation an affair of this sort produces. Do you know, +that young fellow, just like his uncle, had not made any will! Fact!--I +had it from Robson, their solicitor, this very morning. The whole of the +estate comes to the sister, of course--she and the mother will share the +personal property. By that lad's death, Nesta Mallathorpe becomes one of +the wealthiest young women in Yorkshire!" + +Collingwood made no reply to this communication. But as he drove off to +Normandale Grange, it was fresh in his mind. And it was not very +pleasant to him. One of the wealthiest young women in Yorkshire!--and he +was already realizing that he would like to make Nesta Mallathorpe his +wife: it was because he felt what he did for her that he had rushed down +to do anything he could that would be of help. Supposing--only +supposing--that people--anybody--said that he was fortune-hunting! +Somewhat unduly sensitive, proud, almost to a fault, he felt his cheek +redden at the thought, and for a moment he wished that old John +Mallathorpe's wealth had never passed to his niece. But then he sneered +at himself for his presumption. + +"Ass!" he said. "She's never even thought of me--in that way, most +likely! Anyway, I'm a stupid fool for thinking of these things at +present." + +But he knew, within a few minutes of entering the big, desolate-looking +house, that Nesta had been thinking of him. She came to him in the room +where they had first met, and quietly gave him her hand. + +"I was not surprised when they told me you were here," she said. "I was +thinking about you--or, rather, expecting to hear from you." + +"I came at once," answered Collingwood, who had kept her hand in his. +"I--well, I couldn't stop away. I thought, perhaps, I could do +something--be of some use." + +"It's a great deal of use to have just--come," she said. "Thank you! +But--I suppose you'll have to go?" + +"Not for two days, anyway," he replied. "What can I do?" + +"I don't know that you can actually do anything," she answered. +"Everything is being done. Mr. Eldrick sent his clerk, Mr. Pratt--who +found Harper--he's been most kind and useful. He--and our own +solicitor--are making all arrangements. There's got to be an inquest. +No--I don't know that you can do actual things. But--while you're +here--you can look in when you like. My mother is very ill--she has +scarcely spoken since Saturday." + +"I'll tell you what I will do," said Collingwood determinedly. "I +noticed in coming through the village just now that there's quite a +decent inn there. I'll go down and arrange to stay there until Wednesday +evening--then I shall be close by--if you should need me." + +He saw by her look of quick appreciation and relief that this suggestion +pleased her. She pressed his hand and withdrew her own. "Thank you +again!" she said. "Do you know--I can't quite explain--I should be glad +if you were close at hand? Everybody has been very kind--but I do feel +that there is nobody I can talk to. If you arrange this, will you come +in again this evening?" + +"I shall arrange it," answered Collingwood. "I'll see to it now. Tell +your people I am to be brought in whenever I call. And--I'll be close by +whenever you want me." + +It seemed little to say, little to do, but he left her feeling that he +was being of some use. And as he went off to make his arrangements at +the inn he encountered Pratt, who was talking to the butler in the outer +hall. + +The clerk looked at Collingwood with an unconcern and a composure which +he was able to assume because he had already heard of his presence in +the house. Inwardly, he was malignantly angry that the young barrister +was there, but his voice was suave, and polite enough when he spoke. + +"Good afternoon, Mr. Collingwood," he said quietly. "Very sad occasion +on which we meet again, sir. Come to offer your sympathy, Mr. +Collingwood, of course--very kind of you." + +"I came," answered Collingwood, who was not inclined to bandy phrases +with Pratt, "to see if I could be of any practical use." + +"Just so, sir," said Pratt. "Mr. Eldrick sent me here for the same +purpose. There's really not much to do--beyond the necessary +arrangements, which are already pretty forward. Going back to town, +sir?" he went on, following Collingwood out to his motor-car, which +stood waiting in the drive. + +"No!" replied Collingwood. "I'm going to send this man to Barford to +fetch my bag to the inn down there in the village, where I'm going to +stay for a few days. Did you hear that?" he continued, turning to the +driver. "Go back to Barford--get my bag from the _Station Hotel_ +there--bring it to the _Normandale Arms_--I'll meet you there on your +return." + +The car went off, and Collingwood, with a nod to Pratt, was about to +turn down a side path towards the village. But Pratt stopped him. + +"Would you care to see the place where the accident happened, Mr. +Collingwood?" he said. "It's close by--won't take five minutes." + +Collingwood hesitated a moment; then he turned back. It might be well, +he reflected, if he made himself acquainted with all the circumstances +of this case, simple as they seemed. + +"Thank you," he said. "If it's so near." + +"This way, sir," responded Pratt. He led his companion along the front +of the house, through the shrubberies at the end of a wing, and into a +plantation by a path thickly covered with pine needles. Presently they +emerged upon a similar track, at right angles to that by which they had +come, and leading into a denser part of the woods. And at the end of a +hundred yards of it they came to a barricade, evidently of recent +construction, over which Pratt stretched a hand. "There!" he said. +"That's the bridge, sir." Collingwood looked over the barricade. He saw +that he and Pratt were standing at the edge of one thick plantation of +fir and pine; the edge of a similar plantation stretched before them +some ten yards away. But between the two lay a deep, dark ravine, which, +immediately in front of the temporary barricade, was spanned by a narrow +rustic bridge--a fragile-looking thing of planks, railed in by boughs of +trees. And in the middle was a jagged gap in both floor and side-rails, +showing where the rotten wood had given way. + +"I'll explain, Mr. Collingwood," said the clerk presently. "I knew this +park, sir--I knew it well, before the late Mr. John Mallathorpe bought +the property. That path at the other end of the bridge makes a short cut +down to the station in the valley--through the woods and the lower part +of the park. I came up that path, from the station, on Saturday +afternoon, intending to cross this bridge and go on to the house, where +I had private business. When I got to the other end of the bridge, +there, I saw the gap in the middle. And then I looked down into the +cut--there's a road--a paved road--down there, and I saw--him! And so I +made shift to scramble down--stiff job it was!--to get to him. But he +was dead, Mr. Collingwood--stone dead, sir!--though I'm certain he +hadn't been dead five minutes. And----" + +"Aye, an' he'd never ha' been dead at all, wouldn't young Squire, if +only his ma had listened to what I telled her!" interrupted a voice +behind them. "He'd ha' been alive at this minute, he would, if his ma +had done what I said owt to be done--now then!" + +Collingwood turned sharply--to confront an old man, evidently one of the +woodmen on the estate who had come up behind them unheard on the thick +carpeting of pine needles. And Pratt turned, too--with a keen look and a +direct question. + +"What do you mean?" he asked. "What are you talking about?" + +"I know what I'm talking about, young gentleman," said the man doggedly. +"I ain't worked, lad and man, on this one estate nine-and-forty +years--and happen more--wi'out knowin' all about it. I tell'd Mrs. +Mallathorpe on Friday noon 'at that there owd brig 'ud fall in afore +long if it worn't mended. I met her here, at this very place where we're +standin', and I showed her 'at it worn't safe to cross it. I tell'd her +'t she owt to have it fastened up theer an' then. It's been rottin' for +many a year, has this owd brig--why, I mind when it wor last repaired, +and that wor years afore owd Mestur Mallathorpe bowt this estate!" + +"When do you say you told Mrs. Mallathorpe all that?" asked Pratt. + +"Friday noon it were, sir," answered the woodman. "When I were on my way +home--dinner time. 'Cause I met the missis here, and I made bold to tell +her what I'd noticed. That there owd brig!--lor' bless yer, gentlemen! +it were black rotten i' the middle, theer where poor young maister he +fell through it. 'Ye mun hev' that seen to at once, missis,' I says. +'Sartin sure, 'tain't often as it's used,' I says, 'but surely sartin +'at if it ain't mended, or closed altogether,' I says, 'summun 'll be +going through and brekkin' their necks,' I says. An' reight, too, +gentlemen--forty feet it is down to that road. An' a mortal hard road, +an' all, paved wi' granite stone all t' way to t' stable-yard." + +"You're sure it was Friday noon?" repeated Pratt. + +"As sure as that I see you," answered the woodman. "An' Mrs. Mallathorpe +she said she'd hev it seen to. Dear-a-me!--it should ha' been closed!" + +The old man shook his head and went off amongst the trees, and Pratt, +giving his vanishing figure a queer look, turned silently back along the +path, followed by Collingwood. At the point where the other path led to +the house, he glanced over his shoulder at the young barrister. + +"If you keep straight on, Mr. Collingwood," he said, "you'll get +straight down to the village and the inn. I must go this way." + +He went off rapidly, and Collingwood walked on through the plantation +towards the _Normandale Arms_--wondering, all the way, why Pratt was so +anxious to know exactly when it was that Mrs. Mallathorpe had been +warned about the old bridge. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +THE PREVALENT ATMOSPHERE + + +Until that afternoon Collingwood had never been in the village to which +he was now bending his steps; on that and his previous visits to the +Grange he had only passed the end of its one street. Now, descending +into it from the slopes of the park, he found it to be little more than +a hamlet--a church, a farmstead or two, a few cottages in their gardens, +all clustering about a narrow stream spanned by a high-arched bridge of +stone. The _Normandale Arms_, a roomy, old-fashioned place, stood at one +end of the bridge, and from the windows of the room into which +Collingwood was presently shown he could look out on the stream itself +and on the meadows beyond it. A peaceful, pretty, quiet place--but the +gloom which was heavy at the big house or the hill seemed to have spread +to everybody that he encountered. + +"Bad job, this, sir!" said the landlord, an elderly, serious-faced man, +to whom Collingwood had made known his wants, and who had quickly formed +the opinion that his guest was of the legal profession. "And a queer +one, too! Odd thing, sir, that our old squire, and now the young one, +should both have met their deaths in what you might term violent +fashion." + +"Accident--in both cases," remarked Collingwood. + +The landlord nodded his head--and then shook it in a manner which seemed +to indicate that while he agreed with this proposition in one respect he +entertained some sort of doubt about it in others. + +"Ay, well!" he answered. "Of course, a mill chimney falling, without +notice, as it were, and a bridge giving way--them's accidents, to be +sure. But it's a very strange thing about this foot-bridge, up yonder at +the Grange--very strange indeed! There's queer talk about it, already." + +"What sort of talk?" asked Collingwood. Ever since the old woodman had +come up to him and Pratt, as they stood looking at the foot-bridge, he +had been aware of a curious sense of mystery, and the landlord's remark +tended to deepen it. "What are people talking about?" + +"Nay--it's only one or two," replied the landlord. "There's been two men +in here since the affair happened that crossed that bridge Friday +afternoon--and both of 'em big, heavy men. According to what one can +learn that there bridge wasn't used much by the Grange people--it led to +nowhere in particular for them. But there is a right of way across that +part of the park, and these two men as I'm speaking of--they made use of +it on Friday--getting towards dark. I know 'em well--they'd both of 'em +weigh four times as much--together--as young Squire Mallathorpe, and yet +it didn't give way under them. And then--only a few hours later, as you +might say, down it goes with him!" + +"I don't think you can form any opinion from that!" said Collingwood. +"These things, these old structures, often give way quite suddenly and +unexpectedly." + +"Ay, well, they did admit, these men too, that it seemed a bit tottery, +like," remarked the landlord. "Talking it over, between themselves, in +here, they agreed, to be sure, that it felt to give a bit. All the same, +there's them as says that it's a queer thing it should ha' given +altogether when young squire walked on it." + +Collingwood clinched matters with a straight question. + +"You don't mean to say that people are suggesting that the foot-bridge +had been tampered with?" he asked. + +"There is them about as wouldn't be slow to say as much," answered the +landlord. "Folks will talk! You see, sir--nobody saw what happened. And +when country folk doesn't see what takes place, with their own eyes, +then they----" + +"Make mysteries out of it," interrupted Collingwood, a little +impatiently. "I don't think there's any mystery here, landlord--I +understood that this foot-bridge was in a very unsafe condition. No! I'm +afraid the whole affair was only too simple." + +But he was conscious, as he said this, that he was not precisely voicing +his own sentiments. He himself was mystified. He was still wondering why +Pratt had been so pertinacious in asking the old woodman when, +precisely, he had told Mrs. Mallathorpe about the unsafe condition of +the bridge--still wondering about a certain expression which had come +into Pratt's face when the old man told them what he did--still +wondering at the queer look which Pratt had given the information as he +went off into the plantation. Was there, then, something--some secret +which was being kept back by--somebody? + +He was still pondering over these things when he went back to the +Grange, later in the evening--but he was resolved not to say anything +about them to Nesta. And he saw Nesta only for a few minutes. Her +mother, she said, was very ill indeed--the doctor was with her then, and +she must go back to them. Since her son's death, Mrs. Mallathorpe had +scarcely spoken, and the doctor, knowing that her heart was not strong, +was somewhat afraid of a collapse. + +"If there is anything that I can do,--or if you should want me, during +the night," said Collingwood, earnestly, "promise me that you'll send at +once to the inn!" + +"Yes," answered Nesta. "I will. But--I don't think there will be any +need. We have two nurses here, and the doctor will stop. There is +something I should be glad if you would do tomorrow," she went on, +looking at him a little wistfully, "You know about--the inquest?" + +"Yes," said Collingwood. + +"They say we--that is I, because, of course, my mother couldn't--that I +need not be present," she continued. "Mr. Robson--our solicitor--says it +will be a very short, formal affair. He will be there, of +course,--but--would you mind being there, too!--so that you +can--afterwards--tell me all about it?" + +"Will you tell me something--straight out?" answered Collingwood, +looking intently at her. "Have you any doubt of any description about +the accepted story of your brother's death? Be plain with me!" + +Nesta hesitated for awhile before answering. + +"Not of the actual circumstances," she replied at last,--"none at all of +what you call the accepted story. The fact is, I'm not a good hand at +explaining anything, and perhaps I can't convey to you what I mean. But +I've a feeling--an impression--that there is--or was some mystery on +Saturday which might have--and might not have--oh, I can't make it +clear, even to myself. + +"If you would be at the inquest tomorrow, and listen carefully to +everything--and then tell me afterwards--do you understand?" + +"I understand," answered Collingwood. "Leave it to me." + +Whether he expected to hear anything unusual at the inquest, whether he +thought any stray word, hint, or suggestion would come up during the +proceedings, Collingwood was no more aware than Nesta was certain of her +vague ideas. But he was very soon assured that there was going to be +nothing beyond brevity and formality. He had never previously been +present at an inquest--his legal mind was somewhat astonished at the way +in which things were done. It was quickly evident to him that the twelve +good men and true of the jury--most of them cottagers and labourers +living on the estate--were quite content to abide by the directions of +the coroner, a Barford solicitor, whose one idea seemed to be to get +through the proceedings as rapidly and smoothly as possible. And +Collingwood felt bound to admit that, taking the evidence as it was +brought forward, no simpler or more straightforward cause of +investigation could be adduced. It was all very simple indeed--as it +appeared there and then. + +The butler, a solemn-faced, respectable type of the old family +serving-man, spoke as to his identification of the dead master's body, +and gave his evidence in a few sentences. Mr. Mallathorpe, he said, had +gone out of the front door of the Grange at half-past two on Saturday +afternoon, carrying a gun, and had turned into the road leading towards +the South Shrubbery. At about three o'clock Mr. Pratt had come running +up the drive to the house, and told him and Miss Mallathorpe that he had +just found Mr. Mallathorpe lying dead in the sunken cut between the +South and North Shrubbery. Nobody had any question to ask the butler. +Nor were any questions asked of Pratt--the one really important witness. + +Pratt gave his evidence tersely and admirably. On Saturday morning he +had seen an advertisement in the Barford newspapers which stated that a +steward and agent was wanted for the Normandale Estate, and all +applications were to be made to Mrs. Mallathorpe. Desirous of applying +for the post, he had written out a formal letter during Saturday +morning, had obtained a testimonial from his present employers, Messrs. +Eldrick & Pascoe, and, anxious to present his application as soon as +possible, had decided to take it to Normandale Grange himself, that +afternoon. He had left Barford by the two o'clock train, which arrived +at Normandale at two-thirty-five. Knowing the district well, he had +taken the path through the plantations. Arrived at the foot-bridge, he +had at once noticed that part of it had fallen in. Looking into the +cutting, he had seen a man lying in the roadway beneath--motionless. He +had scrambled down the side of the cutting, discovered that the man was +Mr. Harper Mallathorpe, and that he was dead, and had immediately +hurried up the road to the house, where he had informed the last witness +and Miss Mallathorpe. + +A quite plain story, evidently thought everybody--no questions needed. +Nor were there any questions needed in the case of the only other +witnesses--the estate carpenter who said that the foot-bridge was very +old, but that he had not been aware that it was in quite so bad a +condition, and who gave it as his opinion that the recent heavy rains +had had something to do with the matter; and the doctor who testified +that the victim had suffered injuries which would produce absolutely +instantaneous death. A clear case--nothing could be clearer, said the +coroner to his obedient jury, who presently returned the only +verdict--one of accidental death--which, on the evidence, was possible. + +Collingwood heard no comments on the inquest from those who were +present. But that evening, as he sat in his parlour at the _Normandale +Arms_, the landlord, coming in on pretence of attending to the fire, +approached him with an air of mystery and jerked his thumb in the +direction of the regions which he had just quitted. + +"You remember what we were talking of this afternoon when you come in, +sir?" he whispered. "There's some of 'em--regular nightly customers, +village folk, you understand--talking of the same thing now, and of this +here inquest. And if you'd like to hear a bit of what you may call local +opinion--and especially one man's--I'll put you where you can hear it, +without being seen. It's worth hearing, anyway." + +Collingwood, curious to know what the village wiseacres had to say, +rose, and followed the landlord into a small room at the back of the +bar-parlour. + +An open hatchment in the wall, covered by a thin curtain, allowed him to +hear every word which came from what appeared to be a full company. But +it was quickly evident that in that company there was one man who either +was, or wished to be dictator and artifex--a man of loud voice and +domineering tone, who was laying down the law to the accompaniment of +vigorous thumpings of the table at which he sat. "What I say is--and I +say it agen---I reckon nowt at all o' crowners' quests!" he was +affirming, as Collingwood and his guide drew near the curtained opening. +"What is a crowner's quest, anyway? It's nowt but formality--all form +and show--it means nowt. All them 'at sits on t' jury does and says just +what t' crowner tells 'em to say and do. They nivver ax no questions out +o' their own mouths--they're as dumb as sheep--that's what yon jury wor +this mornin'--now then!" + +"That's James Stringer, the blacksmith," whispered the landlord, coming +close to Collingwood's elbow. "He thinks he knows everything!" + +"And pray, what would you ha' done, Mestur Stringer, if you'd been on +yon jury?" inquired a milder voice. "I suppose ye'd ha' wanted to know a +bit more, what?" "Mestur Stringer 'ud ha' wanted to know a deal more," +observed another voice. "He would do!" + +"There's a many things I want to know," continued the blacksmith, with a +stout thump of the table. "They all tak' it for granted 'at young squire +walked on to yon bridge, an' 'at it theer and then fell to pieces. Who +see'd it fall to pieces? Who was theer to see what did happen?" + +"What else did happen or could happen nor what were testified to?" asked +a new voice. "Theer wor what they call circumstantial evidence to show +how all t' affair happened!" + +"Circumstantial evidence be blowed!" sneered the blacksmith heartily. "I +reckon nowt o' circumstantial evidence! Look ye here! How do you +know--how does anybody know 'at t' young squire worn't thrown off that +bridge, and 'at t' bridge collapsed when he wor thrown? He might ha' met +somebody on t' bridge, and quarrelled wi' 'em, and whoivver it wor might +ha' been t' strongest man, and flung him into t' road beneath!" + +"Aye, but i' that case t' other feller--t' assailant--'ud ha' fallen wi' +him," objected somebody. + +"Nowt o' t' sort!" retorted the blacksmith. "He'd be safe on t' sound +part o' t' bridge--it's only a piece on 't that gave way. I say that +theer idea wants in-quirin' into. An' theer's another thing--what wor +that lawyer-clerk chap fro' Barford--Pratt--doin' about theer? What +reight had he to be prowlin' round t' neighbourhood o' that bridge, and +at that time? Come, now!--theer's a tickler for somebody." + +"He telled that," exclaimed several voices. "He had business i' t' +place. He had some papers to 'liver." + +"Then why didn't he go t' nearest way to t' house t' 'liver 'em?" +demanded Stringer. "T' shortest way to t' house fro' t' railway station +is straight up t' carriage drive--not through them plantations. I ax +agen--what wor that feller doin' theer? It's important." + +"Why, ye don't suspect him of owt, do yer, Mestur Stringer?" asked +somebody. "A respectable young feller like that theer--come!" + +"I'm sayin' nowt about suspectin' nobody!" vociferated the blacksmith. +"I'm doin' nowt but puttin' a case, as t' lawyers 'ud term it. I say 'at +theer's a lot o' things 'at owt to ha' comed out. I'll tell ye one on +'em--how is it 'at nowt--not a single word--wor said at yon inquest +about Mrs. Mallathorpe and t' affair? Not one word!" + +A sudden silence fell on the company, and the landlord tapped +Collingwood's arm and took the liberty of winking at him. + +"Why," inquired somebody, at last, "what about Mrs. Mallathorpe and t' +affair? What had she to do wi' t' affair?" + +The blacksmith's voice became judicial in its solemnity. + +"Ye listen to me!" he said with emphasis. "I know what I'm talking +about. Ye know what came out at t' inquest. When this here Pratt ran to +tell t' news at t' house he returned to what they term t' fatal spot i' +company wi' t' butler, and a couple of footmen, and Dan Scholes, one o' +t' grooms. Now theer worn't a word said at t' inquest about what that +lot--five on em, mind yer--found when they reached t' dead corpse--not +one word! But I know--Dan Scholes tell'd me!" + +"What did they find, then, Mestur Stringer?" asked an eager member of +the assemblage. "What wor it?" + +The blacksmith's voice sank to a mysterious whisper. + +"I'll tell yer!" he replied. "They found Mrs. Mallathorpe, lyin' i' a +dead faint--close by! And they say 'at she's nivver done nowt but go out +o' one faint into another, ivver since. So, of course, she's nivver been +able to tell if she saw owt or knew owt! And what I say is," he +concluded, with a heavy thump of the table, "that theer crowner's quest +owt to ha' been what they term adjourned, until Mrs. Mallathorpe could +tell if she did see owt, or if she knew owt, or heer'd owt! She mun ha' +been close by--or else they wo'dn't ha' found her lyin' theer aside o' +t' corpse. What did she see? What did she hear? Does she know owt? I +tell ye 'at theer's questions 'at wants answerin'--and theer's trouble +ahead for somebody if they aren't answered--now then!" + +Collingwood went away from his retreat, beckoning the landlord to +follow. In the parlour he turned to him. + +"Have you heard anything of what Stringer said just now?" he asked. "I +mean--about Mrs. Mallathorpe?" + +"Heard just the same--and from the same chap, Scholes, the groom, sir," +replied the landlord. "Oh, yes! Of course, people will wonder why they +didn't get some evidence from Mrs. Mallathorpe--just as Stringer says." + +Collingwood sat a long time that night, thinking over the things he had +heard. He came to the conclusion that the domineering blacksmith was +right in one of his dogmatic assertions--there was trouble ahead. And +next morning, before going up to the Grange, he went to the nearest +telegraph office, and sent Sir John Standridge a lengthy message in +which he resigned the appointment that would have taken him to India. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +THE POWER OF ATTORNEY + + +Collingwood had many things to think over as he walked across Normandale +Park that morning. He had deliberately given up his Indian appointment +for Nesta's sake, so that he might be near her in case the trouble which +he feared arose suddenly. But it was too soon yet to let her know that +she was the cause of his altered arrangements--in any case, that was not +the time to tell her that it was on her account that he had altered +them. + +He must make some plausible excuse: then he must settle down in Barford, +according to Eldrick's suggestion. He would then be near at hand--and if +the trouble, whatever it might be, took tangible form, he would be able +to help. But he was still utterly in the dark as to what that possible +trouble might be--yet, of one thing he felt convinced--it would have +some connection with Pratt. + +He remembered, as he walked along, that he had formed some queer, uneasy +suspicion about Pratt when he first hurried down to Barford on hearing +of Antony Bartle's death: that feeling, subsequently allayed to some +extent, had been revived. There might be nothing in it, he said to +himself, over and over again; everything that seemed strange might be +easily explained; the evidence of Pratt at the inquest had appeared +absolutely truthful and straightforward, and yet the blunt, rough, +downright question of the blacksmith, crudely voiced as it was, found a +ready agreement in Collingwood's mind. As he drew near the house he +found himself repeating Stringer's broad Yorkshire--"What wor that +lawyer-clerk chap fro' Barford--Pratt--doin' about theer? What reight +had he to be prowlin' round t' neighbourhood o' that bridge, and at that +time? Come, now--theer's a tickler for somebody!" And even as he smiled +at the remembrance of the whole rustic conversation of the previous +evening, and thought that the blacksmith's question certainly might be a +ticklish one--for somebody--he looked up from the frosted grass at his +feet, and saw Pratt. + +Pratt, a professional-looking bag in his hand, a morning newspaper under +the other arm, was standing at the gate of one of the numerous +shrubberies which flanked the Grange, talking to a woman who leaned over +it. Collingwood recognized her as a person whom he had twice seen in the +house during his visits on the day before---a middle-aged, slightly +built woman, neatly dressed in black, and wearing a sort of nurse's cap +which seemed to denote some degree of domestic servitude. She was a +woman who had once been pretty, and who still retained much of her good +looks; she was also evidently of considerable shrewdness and +intelligence and possessed a pair of remarkably quick eyes--the sort of +eyes, thought Collingwood, that see everything that happens within their +range of vision. And she had a firm chin and a mouth which expressed +determination; he had seen all that as she exchanged some conversation +with the old butler in Collingwood's presence--a noticeable woman +altogether. She was evidently in close conference with Pratt at that +moment--but as Collingwood drew near she turned and went slowly in the +direction of the house, while Pratt, always outwardly polite, stepped +towards the interrupter of this meeting, and lifted his hat. + +"Good morning, Mr. Collingwood," he said. "A fine, sharp morning, sir! I +was just asking Mrs. Mallathorpe's maid how her mistress is this +morning--she was very ill when I left last night. Better, sir, I'm glad +to say--Mrs. Mallathorpe has had a much better night." + +"I'm very pleased to hear it," replied Collingwood. He was going towards +the front of the Grange, and Pratt walked at his side, evidently in the +same direction. "I am afraid she has had a great shock. You are still +here, then?" he went on, feeling bound to make some remark, and saying +the first obvious thing. "Still busy?" + +"Mr. Eldrick has lent me--so to speak--until the funeral's over, +tomorrow," answered Pratt. "There are a lot of little things in which I +can be useful, you know, Mr. Collingwood. I suppose your +arrangements--you said you were sailing for India--won't permit of your +being present tomorrow, sir?" + +Collingwood was not sure if the clerk was fishing for information. +Pratt's manner was always polite, his questions so innocently put, that +it was difficult to know what he was actually after. But he was not +going to give him any information--either then, or at any time. + +"I don't quite know what my arrangements may be," he answered. And just +then they came to the front entrance, and Collingwood was taken off in +one direction by a footman, while Pratt, who already seemed to be fully +acquainted with the house and its arrangements, took himself and his bag +away in another. + +Nesta came to Collingwood looking less anxious than when he had left her +at his last call the night before. He had already told her what his +impressions of the inquest were, and he was now wondering whether to +tell her of the things he had heard said at the village inn. But +remembering that he was now going to stay in the neighbourhood, he +decided to say nothing at that time--if there was anything in these +vague feelings and suspicions it would come out, and could be dealt with +when it arose. At present he had need of a little diplomacy. + +"Oh!--I wanted to tell you," he said, after talking to her awhile about +Mrs. Mallathorpe. "I--there's a change in my arrangements, I'm not going +to India, after all." + +He was not prepared for the sudden flush that came over the girl's face. +It took him aback. It also told him a good deal that he was glad to +know--and it was only by a strong effort of will that he kept himself +from taking her hands and telling her the truth. But he affected not to +see anything, and he went on talking rapidly. "Complete change in the +arrangements at the last minute," he said. "I've just been writing about +it. So--as that's off, I think I shall follow Eldrick's advice, and take +chambers in Barford for a time, and see how things turn out. I'm going +into Barford now, to see Eldrick about all that." + +Nesta, who was conscious of her betrayal of more than she cared to show +just then, tried to speak calmly. + +"But--isn't it an awful disappointment?" she said. "You were looking +forward so to going there, weren't you?" + +"Can't be helped," replied Collingwood. "All these affairs +are--provisional. I thought I'd tell you at once, however--so that +you'll know--if you ever want me--that I shall be somewhere round about. +In fact, as it's quite comfortable there, I shall stop at the inn until +I've got rooms in the town." + +Then, not trusting himself to remain longer, he went off to Barford, +certain that he was now definitely pledged in his own mind to Nesta +Mallathorpe, and not much less that when the right time came she would +not be irresponsive to him. And on that, like a cold douche, came the +remembrance of her actual circumstances--she was what Eldrick had said, +one of the wealthiest young women in Yorkshire. The thought of her +riches made Collingwood melancholy for a while--he possessed a curious +sort of pride which made him hate and loathe the notion of being taken +for a fortune-hunter. But suddenly, and with a laugh, he remembered that +he had certain possessions of his own--ability, knowledge, and +perseverance. Before he reached Eldrick's office, he had had a vision of +the Woolsack. + +Eldrick received Collingwood's news with evident gratification. He +immediately suggested certain chambers in an adjacent building; he +volunteered information as to where the best rooms in the town were to +be had. And in proof of his practical interest in Collingwood's career, +he there and then engaged his professional services for two cases which +were to be heard at a local court within the following week. + +"Pratt shall deliver the papers to you at once," he said. "That is, as +soon as he's back from Normandale this afternoon. I sent him there again +to make himself useful." + +"I saw him this morning," remarked Collingwood. "He appears to be a very +useful person." + +"Clever chap," asserted Eldrick, carelessly. "I don't know what'll be +done about that stewardship that he was going to apply for. Everything +will be altered now that young Mallathorpe's dead. Of course, I, +personally, shouldn't have thought that Pratt would have done for a job +like that, but Pratt has enough self-assurance and self-confidence for a +dozen men, and he thought he would do, and I couldn't refuse him a +testimonial. And as he's made himself very useful out there, it may be +that if this steward business goes forward, Pratt will get the +appointment. As I say, he's a smart chap." + +Collingwood offered no comment. But he was conscious that it would not +be at all pleasing to him to know that Linford Pratt held any official +position at Normandale. Foolish as it might be, mere inspiration though +it probably was, he could not get over his impression that Eldrick's +clerk was not precisely trustworthy. And yet, he reflected, he himself +could do nothing--it would be utter presumption on his part to offer any +gratuitous advice to Nesta Mallathorpe in business matters. He was very +certain of what he eventually meant to say to her about his own personal +hopes, some time hence, when all the present trouble was over, but in +the meantime, as regarded anything else, he could only wait and watch, +and be of service to her if she asked him to render any. + +Some time went by before Collingwood was asked to render service of any +sort. At Normandale Grange, events progressed in apparently ordinary and +normal fashion. Harper Mallathorpe was buried; his mother began to make +some recovery from the shock of his death; the legal folk were busied in +putting Nesta in possession of the estate, and herself and her mother in +proprietorship of the mill and the personal property. In Barford, things +went on as usual, too. Pratt continued his round of duties at Eldrick & +Pascoe's; no more was heard--by outsiders, at any rate--of the +stewardship at Normandale. As for Collingwood, he settled down in +chambers and lodgings and, as Eldrick had predicted, found plenty of +work. And he constantly went out to Normandale Grange, and often met +Nesta elsewhere, and their knowledge of each other increased, and as the +winter passed away and spring began to show on the Normandale woods and +moors, Collingwood felt that the time was coming when he might speak. He +was professionally engaged in London for nearly three weeks in the early +part of that spring--when he returned, he had made up his mind to tell +Nesta the truth, at once. He had faced it for himself--he was by that +time so much in love with her that he was not going to let monetary +considerations prevent him from telling her so. + +But Collingwood found something else than love to talk about when he +presented himself at Normandale Grange on the morning after his arrival +from his three weeks' absence in town. As soon as he met her, he saw +that Nesta was not only upset and troubled, but angry. + +"I am glad you have come," she said, when they were alone. "I want some +advice. Something has happened--something that bothers--and puzzles--me +very, very much! I'm dreadfully bothered." + +"Tell me," suggested Collingwood. + +Nesta frowned--at some recollection or thought. + +"Yesterday afternoon," she answered, "I was obliged to go into Barford, +on business. I left my mother fairly well---she has been recovering fast +lately, and she only has one nurse now. Unfortunately, she, too, was out +for the afternoon. I came back to find my mother ill and much +upset---and there's no use denying it--she'd all the symptoms of having +been--well, frightened. I can't think of any other term than +that--frightened. And then I learned that, in my absence, Mr. Eldrick's +clerk, Mr. Pratt--you know him--had been here, and had been with her for +quite an hour. I am furiously angry!" + +Collingwood had expected this announcement as soon as she began to +explain. So--the trouble was beginning! + +"How came Pratt to be admitted to your mother?" he asked. + +"That makes me angry, too," answered Nesta. "Though I confess I ought to +be angry with myself for not giving stricter orders. I left the house +about two--he came about three, and asked to see my mother's maid, +Esther Mawson. He told her that it was absolutely necessary for him to +see my mother on business, and she told my mother he was there. My +mother consented to see him--and he was taken up. And as I say, I found +her ill--and frightened--and that's not the worst of it!" + +"What is the worst of it?" asked Collingwood, anxiously. "Better tell +me!--I may be able to do something." + +"The worst of it," she said, "is just this--my mother won't tell me what +that man came about! She flatly refuses to tell me anything! She will +only say that it was business of her own. She won't trust me with it, +you see!--her own daughter! What business can that man have with +her?--or she with him? Eldrick & Pascoe are not our solicitors! There's +some secret and----" + +"Will you answer one or two questions?" said Collingwood quietly. He had +never seen Nesta angry before, and he now realized that she had certain +possibilities of temper and determination which would be formidable when +roused. "First of all, is that maid you speak of, Esther Mawson, +reliable?" + +"I don't know!" answered Nesta. "My mother has had her two years--she's +a Barford woman. Sometimes I think she's sly and cunning. But I've given +her such strict orders now that she'll never dare to let any one see my +mother again without my consent." + +"The other question's this," said Collingwood. "Have you any idea, any +suspicion of why Pratt wanted to see your mother?" + +"Not unless it was about that stewardship," replied Nesta. "But--how +could that frighten her? Besides, all that's over. Normandale is +mine!--and if I have a steward, or an estate agent, I shall see to the +appointment myself. No!--I do not know why he should have come here! +But--there's some mystery. The curious thing is----" + +"What?" asked Collingwood, as she paused. + +"Why," she said, shaking her head wonderingly, "that I'm absolutely +certain that my mother never even knew this man Pratt--I don't I think +she even knew his name--until quite recently. I know when she got to +know him, too. It was just about the time that you first called here--at +the time of Mr. Bartle's death. Our butler told me this morning that +Pratt came here late one evening--just about that time!--and asked to +see my mother, and was with her for some time in the study. Oh! what is +it all about?--and why doesn't she tell me?" + +Collingwood stood silently staring out of the window. At the time of +Antony Bartle's death? An evening visit?--evidently of a secret nature. +And why paid to Mrs. Mallathorpe at that particular time? He suddenly +turned to Nesta. + +"What do you wish me to do?" he asked. + +"Will you speak to Mr. Eldrick?" she said. "Tell him that his clerk must +not call upon, or attempt to see, my mother. I will not have it!" + +Collingwood went off to Barford, and straight to Eldrick's office. He +noticed as he passed through the outer rooms that Pratt was not in his +accustomed place--as a rule, it was impossible to get at either Eldrick +or Pascoe without first seeing Pratt. + +"Hullo!" said Eldrick. "Just got in from town? That's lucky--I've got a +big case for you." + +"I got in last night," replied Collingwood. "But I went out to +Normandale first thing this morning: I've just come back from there. I +say, Eldrick, here's an unpleasant matter to tell you of"; and he told +the solicitor all that Nesta had just told him, and also of Pratt's +visit to Mrs. Mallathorpe about the time of Antony Bartle's death. +"Whatever it is," he concluded sternly, "it's got to stop! If you've any +influence over your clerk----" + +Eldrick made a grimace and waved his hand. + +"He's our clerk no longer!" he said. "He left us the week after you went +up to town, Collingwood. He was only a weekly servant, and he took +advantage of that to give me a week's notice. Now, what game is Master +Pratt playing? He's smart, and he's deep, too. He----" + +Just then an office-boy announced Mr. Robson, the Mallathorpe family +solicitor, a bustling, rather rough-and-ready type of man, who came into +Eldrick's room looking not only angry but astonished. He nodded to +Collingwood, and flung himself into a chair at the side of Eldrick's +desk. + +"Look here, Eldrick!" he exclaimed. "What on earth has that clerk of +yours, Pratt, got to do with Mrs. Mallathorpe? Do you know what Mrs. +Mallathorpe has done? Hang it, she must be out of her senses,--or--or +there's something I can't fathom. She's given your clerk, Linford Pratt, +a power of attorney to deal with all her affairs and all her property! +Oh, it's all right, I tell you! Pratt's been to my office, and exhibited +it to me as if--as if he were the Lord Chancellor!" + +Eldrick turned to Collingwood, and Collingwood to Eldrick--and then both +turned to Robson. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +THE FIRST TRICK + + +The Mallathorpe family solicitor shook his head impatiently under those +questioning glances. + +"It's not a bit of use appealing to me to know what it means!" he +exclaimed. "I know no more than what I've told you. That chap walked +into my office as bold as brass, half an hour ago, and exhibited to me a +power of attorney, all duly drawn up and stamped, executed in his favour +by Mrs. Mallathorpe yesterday. And as Mrs. Mallathorpe is, as far as I +know, in her senses,--why--there you are!" + +"What is it?" asked Eldrick. "A general power? Or a special?" + +"General!" answered Robson, with an air of disgust. "Authorizes him to +act for her in all business matters. It means, of course, that that +fellow now has full control over--why, a tremendous amount of money! The +estate, of course, is Miss Mallathorpe's--he can't interfere with that. +But Mrs. Mallathorpe shares equally with her daughter as regards the +personal property of Harper Mallathorpe--his share in the business, and +all that he left, and what's more, Mrs. Mallathorpe is administratrix of +the personal property. She's simply placed in Pratt's hands an enormous +power! And--for what reason? Who on earth is Pratt--what right, title, +age, or qualification, has he to be entrusted with such a big affair? I +never knew of such a business in the whole course of my professional +experiences!" + +"Nor I!" agreed Eldrick. "But there's one thing in which you're +mistaken, Robson. You ask what qualification Pratt has for a post of +that sort? Pratt's a very smart, clever, managing chap!" + +"Oh, of course! He's your clerk!" retorted Robson, a little sneeringly. +"Naturally, you've a big idea of his abilities. But----" + +"He's not our clerk any longer," said Eldrick. "He left us about a week +ago. I heard this morning that he's set up an office in Market +Street--in the Atlas Building--and I wondered for what purpose." + +"Purpose of fleecing Mrs. Mallathorpe, I should say!" grumbled Robson. +"Of course, everything of hers must pass through his hands. What on +earth can her daughter have been thinking of to allow----" + +"Stop a bit!" interrupted Eldrick. "Collingwood came in to tell me about +that--he's just come from Normandale Grange. Miss Mallathorpe complains +that Pratt called there yesterday in her absence. That's probably when +this power of attorney was signed. But Miss Mallathorpe doesn't know +anything of it--she insists that Pratt shall not visit her mother." + +Robson stirred impatiently in his chair. + +"That's all bosh!" he said. "She can't prevent it. I saw Mrs. +Mallathorpe myself three days ago--she's recovering very well, and she's +in her right senses, and she's capable of doing business. Her daughter +can't prevent her from doing anything she likes! And if she did what she +liked yesterday when she signed that document--why, everybody's +powerless--except Pratt." + +"There's the question of how the document was obtained," remarked +Collingwood. "There may have been undue influence." + +The two solicitors looked at each other. Then Eldrick rose from his +chair. "I'll tell you what I'll do," he said. "It's no affair of mine, +but we employed Pratt for years, and he'll confide in me. I'll go and +see him, and ask him what it's all about. Wait here a while, you two." + +He went out of his office and across into Market Street, where the Atlas +Building, a modern range of offices and chambers, towered above the +older structures at its foot. In the entrance hall a man was gilding the +name of a new tenant on the address board--that name was Pratt's, and +Eldrick presently found himself ascending in the lift to Pratt's +quarters on the fifth floor. Within five minutes of leaving Collingwood +and Robson, he was closeted with Pratt in a well-furnished and appointed +little office of two rooms, the inner one of which was almost luxurious +in its fittings. And Pratt himself looked extremely well satisfied, and +confident--and quite at his ease. He wheeled forward an easy chair for +his visitor, and pushed a box of cigarettes towards him. + +"Glad to see you, Mr. Eldrick," he said, with a cordial politeness which +suggested, however, somehow, that he and the solicitor were no longer +master and servant. "How do you like my little place of business?" + +"You're making a comfortable nest of it, anyhow, Pratt," answered +Eldrick, looking round. "And--what sort of business are you going to do, +pray?" + +"Agency," replied Pratt, promptly. "It struck me some little time ago +that a smart man,--like myself, eh?--could do well here in Barford as an +agent in a new sort of fashion--attending to things for people who +aren't fitted or inclined to do 'em for themselves--or are rich enough +to employ somebody to look after their affairs. Of course, that +Normandale stewardship dropped out when young Harper died, and I don't +suppose the notion 'll be revived now that his sister's come in. But +I've got one good job to go on with---Mrs. Mallathorpe's given me her +affairs to look after." + +Eldrick took one of the cigarettes and lighted it--as a sign of his +peaceable and amicable intentions. + +"Pratt!" he said. "That's just what I've come to see you about. +Unofficially, mind--in quite a friendly way. It's like this"; and he +went on to tell Pratt of what had just occurred at his own office. +"So--there you are," he concluded. "I'm saying nothing, you know, it's +no affair of mine--but if these people begin to say that you've used any +undue influence----" + +"Mr. Collingwood, and Mr. Robson, and Miss Mallathorpe--and anybody," +answered Pratt, slowly and firmly, "had better mind what they are +saying, Mr. Eldrick. There's such a thing as slander, as you're well +aware. I'm not the man to be slandered, or libelled, or to have my +character defamed--without fighting for my rights. There has been no +undue influence! I went to see Mrs. Mallathorpe yesterday at her own +request. The arrangement between me and her is made with her approval +and free will. If her daughter found her a bit upset, it's because she'd +such a shock at the time of her son's death. I did nothing to frighten +her, not I! The fact is, Miss Mallathorpe doesn't know that her mother +and I have had a bit of business together of late. And all that Mrs. +Mallathorpe has entrusted to me is the power to look after her affairs +for her. And why not? You know that I'm a good man of business, a really +good hand at commercial accountancy, and well acquainted with the trade +of this town. You know too, Mr. Eldrick, that I'm scrupulously +honest--I've had many and many a thousand pounds of yours and your +partner's through my hands! Who's got anything to say against me? I'm +only trying to earn an honest living." + +"Well, well!" said Eldrick, who, being an easy-going and +kindly-dispositioned man, was somewhat inclined to side with his old +clerk. "I suppose Mr. Robson thinks that if Mrs. Mallathorpe wished to +put her affairs in anybody's hands, she should have put them in his. +He's their family solicitor, you know, Pratt, while you're a young man +with no claim on Mrs. Mallathorpe." + +Pratt smiled--a queer, knowing smile--and reached out his hand to some +papers which lay on his desk. + +"You're wrong there, Mr. Eldrick," he said. "But of course, you don't +know. I didn't know myself, nor did Mrs. Mallathorpe, until lately. But +I have a claim--and a good one--to get a business lift from Mrs. +Mallathorpe. I'm a relation." + +"What--of the Mallathorpe family?" exclaimed Eldrick, whose legal mind +was at once bitten by notion of kinship and succession, and who knew +that Harper Mallathorpe was supposed to have no male relatives at all, +of any degree. "You don't mean it?" + +"No!--but of hers, Mrs. Mallathorpe," answered Pratt. "My mother was her +cousin. I found that out by mere chance, and when I'd found it, I worked +out the facts from our parish church register. They're all here--fairly +copied--Mrs. Mallathorpe has seen them. So I have some claim--even if +it's only that of a poor relation." + +Eldrick took the sheets of foolscap which Pratt handed to him, and +looked them over with interest and curiosity. He was something of an +expert in such matters, and had helped to edit a print more than once of +the local parish registers. He soon saw from a hasty examination of the +various entries of marriages and births that Pratt was quite right in +what he said. + +"I call it a poor--and a mean--game," remarked Pratt, while his old +master was thus occupied, "a very mean game indeed, of well-to-do folk +like Mr. Collingwood and Mr. Robson to want to injure me in a matter +which is no business of theirs. I shall do my duty by Mrs. +Mallathorpe--you yourself know I'm fully competent to do it--and I shall +fully earn the percentage that she'll pay me. What right have these +people--what right has her daughter--to come between me and my living?" + +"Oh, well, well!" said Eldrick, as he handed back the papers and rose. +"It's one of those matters that hasn't been understood. You made a +mistake, you know, Pratt, when you went to see Mrs. Mallathorpe yesterday +in her daughter's absence. You shouldn't have done that." + +Pratt pulled open a drawer and, after turning over some loose papers, +picked out a letter. + +"Do you know Mrs. Mallathorpe's handwriting?" he asked. "Very +well--there it is! Isn't that a request from her that I should call on +her yesterday afternoon? Very well then!" + +Eldrick looked at the letter with some surprise. He had a good memory, +and he remembered that Collingwood had told him that Nesta had said that +Pratt had gone to Normandale Grange, seen Esther Mawson, and told her +that it was absolutely necessary for him to see Mrs. Mallathorpe. And +though Eldrick was naturally unsuspicious, an idea flashed across his +mind--had Pratt got Mrs. Mallathorpe to write that letter while he was +there--yesterday--and brought it away with him? + +"I think there's a good deal of misunderstanding," he said. "Mr. +Collingwood says that you went there and told her maid that it was +absolutely necessary for you to see her mistress--sort of forced +yourself in, you see, Pratt." + +"Nothing of the sort!" retorted Pratt. He flourished the letter in his +hand. "Doesn't it say there, in Mrs. Mallathorpe's own handwriting, that +she particularly desires to see me at three o'clock? It does! Then it +was absolutely necessary for me to see her. Come, now! And Mr. +Collingwood had best attend to his own business. What's he got to do +with all this? After Miss Mallathorpe and her money, I should +think!--that's about it!" + +Eldrick said another soothing word or two, and went back to his own +office. He was considerably mystified by certain things, but inclined to +be satisfied about others, and in giving an account of what had just +taken place he unconsciously seemed to take Pratt's side--much to +Robson's disgust, and to Collingwood's astonishment. + +"You can't get over this, you know, Robson," said Eldrick. "Pratt went +there yesterday by appointment--went at Mrs. Mallathorpe's own express +desire, made in her own handwriting. And it's quite certain that what he +says about the relationship is true---I examined the proof myself. It's +not unnatural that Mrs. Mallathorpe should desire to do something for +her own cousin's son." + +"To that extent?" sneered Robson. "Bless me, you talk as if it were no +more than presenting him with a twenty pound note, instead of its being +what it is--giving him the practical control of many a thousand pounds +every year. There'll be more heard of this--yet!" + +He went away angrier than when he came, and Eldrick looked at +Collingwood and shook his head. + +"I don't see what more there is to do," he said. "So far as I can make +out, or see, Pratt is within his rights. If Mrs. Mallathorpe liked to +entrust her business to him, what is to prevent it? I see nothing at all +strange in that. But there is a fact which does seem uncommonly strange +to me! It's this--how is it that Mrs. Mallathorpe doesn't consult, +hasn't consulted--doesn't inform, hasn't informed--her daughter about +all this?" + +"That," answered Collingwood, "is precisely what strikes me--and I can't +give any explanation. Nor, I believe, can Miss Mallathorpe." + +He felt obliged to go back to Normandale, and tell Nesta the result of +the afternoon's proceedings. And having seen during his previous visit +how angry she could be, he was not surprised to see her become angrier +and more determined than ever. + +"I will not have Mr. Pratt coming here!" she exclaimed. "He shall not +see my mother--under my roof, at any rate. I don't believe she sent for +him." + +"Mr. Eldrick saw her letter!" interrupted Collingwood quietly. + +"Then that man made her write it while he was here!" exclaimed Nesta. +"As to the relationship--it may be so. I never heard of it. But I don't +care what relation he is to my mother--he is not going to interfere with +her affairs!" + +"The strange thing," said Collingwood, as pointedly as was consistent +with kindness, "is that your mother--just now, at any rate--doesn't seem +to be taking you into her confidence." + +Nesta looked steadily at him for a moment, without speaking. When she +did speak it was with decision. + +"Quite so!" she said. "She is keeping something from me! And if she +won't tell me things--well, I must find them out for myself." + +She would say no more than that, and Collingwood left her. And as he +went back to Barford he cursed Linford Pratt soundly for a deep and +underhand rogue who was most certainly playing some fine game. + +But Pratt himself was quite satisfied--up to that point. He had won his +first trick and he had splendid cards still left in his hand. And he was +reckoning his chances on them one morning a little later when a ring at +his bell summoned him to his office door--whereat stood Nesta +Mallathorpe, alone. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +CARDS ON THE TABLE + + +Had any third person been present, closely to observe the meeting of +these two young people, he would have seen that the one to whom it was +unexpected and a surprise was outwardly as calm and self-possessed as if +the other had come there to keep an ordinary business appointment. + +Nesta Mallathorpe, looking very dignified and almost stately in her +mourning, was obviously angry, indignant, and agitated. But Pratt was as +cool and as fully at his ease as if he were back in Eldrick's office, +receiving the everyday ordinary client. He swept his door open and +executed his politest bow--and was clever enough to pretend that he saw +nothing of his visitor's agitation. Yet deep within himself he felt more +tremors than one, and it needed all his powers of dissimulation to act +and speak as if this were the most usual of occurrences. + +"Good morning, Miss Mallathorpe!" he said. "You wish to see me? Come +into my private office, if you please. I haven't fixed on a clerk yet," +he went on, as he led his visitor through the outer room, and to the +easy chair by his desk. "I have several applications from promising +aspirants, but I have to be careful, you know, Miss Mallathorpe--it's a +position of confidence. And now," he concluded, as he closed the door +upon Nesta and himself, "how is Mrs. Mallathorpe today? Improving, I +hope?" + +Nesta made no reply to these remarks, or to the question. And instead of +taking the easy chair which Eldrick had found so comfortable, she went +to one which stood against the wall opposite Pratt's desk and seated +herself in it in as upright a position as the wall behind her. + +"I wish to speak to you--plainly!" she said, as Pratt, who now regarded +her somewhat doubtfully, realizing that he was in for business of a +serious nature, sat down at his desk. "I want to ask you a plain +question--and I expect a plain answer. Why are you blackmailing my +mother?" + +Pratt shook his head--as if he felt more sorrow than anger. He glanced +deprecatingly at his visitor. + +"I think you'll be sorry--on reflection--that you said that, Miss +Mallathorpe," he answered. "You're a little--shall we say--upset? A +little--shall we say--angry? If you were calmer, you wouldn't say such +things--you wouldn't use such a term as--blackmailing. It's--dear me, I +dare say you don't know it!--it's actionable. If I were that sort of +man, Miss Mallathorpe, and you said that of me before witnesses--ah! I +don't know what mightn't happen. However--I'm not that sort of man. +But--don't say it again, if you please!" + +"If you don't answer my question--and at once," said Nesta, whose cheeks +were pale with angry determination, "I shall say it again in a fashion +you won't like--not to you, but to the police!" + +Pratt smiled--a quiet, strange smile which made his visitor feel a +sudden sense of fear. And again he shook his head, slowly and +deprecatingly. + +"Oh, no!" he said gently. "That's a bigger mistake than the other, Miss +Mallathorpe! The police! Oh, not the police, I think, Miss Mallathorpe. +You see--other people than you might go to the police--about something +else." + +Nesta's anger cooled down under that scarcely veiled threat. The sight +of Pratt, of his self-assurance, his comfortable offices, his general +atmosphere of almost sleek satisfaction, had roused her temper, already +strained to breaking point. But that smile, and the quiet look which +accompanied his last words, warned her that anger was mere foolishness, +and that she was in the presence of a man who would have to be dealt +with calmly if the dealings were to be successful. Yet--she repeated her +words, but this time in a different tone. + +"I shall certainly go to the police authorities," she said, "unless I +get some proper explanation from you. I shall have no option. You are +forcing--or have forced--my mother to enter into some strange +arrangements with you, and I can't think it is for anything but what I +say--blackmail. You've got--or you think you've got--some hold on her. +Now what is it? I mean to know, one way or another!" + +"Miss Mallathorpe," said Pratt. "You're taking a wrong course--with me. +Now who advised you to come here and speak to me like this, as if I were +a common criminal? Mr. Collingwood, no doubt? Or perhaps Mr. Robson? Now +if either----" + +"Neither Mr. Robson nor Mr. Collingwood know anything whatever about my +coming here!" retorted Nesta. "No one knows! I am quite competent to +manage my own affairs--of this sort. I want to know why my mother has +been forced into that arrangement with you--for I am sure you have +forced her! If you will not tell me why--then I shall do what I said." + +"You'll go to the police authorities?" asked Pratt. "Ah!--but let us +consider things a little, Miss Mallathorpe. Now, to start with, who says +there has been any forcing? I know one person who won't say so--and +that's your mother herself!" + +Nesta felt unable to answer that assertion. And Pratt smiled +triumphantly and went on. + +"She'll tell you--Mrs. Mallathorpe'll tell you--that she's very pleased +indeed to have my poor services," he said. "She knows that I shall serve +her well. She's glad to do a kind service to a poor relation. And since +I am your mother's relation, Miss Mallathorpe, I'm yours, too. I'm some +degree of cousin to you. You might think rather better, rather more +kindly, of me!" + +"Are you going to tell me anything more than that?" asked Nesta +steadily. Pratt shrugged his shoulders and waved his hands. + +"What more can I tell?" he asked. "The fact is, there's a business +arrangement between me and your mother--and you object to it. Well--I'm +sorry, but I've my own interests to consider." + +"Are you going to tell me what it was that induced my mother to sign +that paper you got from her the other day?" asked Nesta. + +"Can I say more than that it was--a business arrangement?" pleaded +Pratt. "There's nothing unusual in one party in a business arrangement +giving a power of attorney to another party. Nothing!" + +"Very well!" said Nesta, rising from the straight-backed chair, and +looking very rigid herself as she stood up. "You won't tell me anything! +So--I am now going to the police. I don't know what they'll do. I don't +know what they can do. But--I can tell them what I think and feel about +this, at any rate. For as sure as I am that I see you, there's something +wrong! And I'll know what it is." + +Pratt recognized that she had passed beyond the stage of mere anger to +one of calm determination. And as she marched towards the door he called +her back--as the result of a second's swift thought on his part. + +"Miss Mallathorpe," he said. "Oblige me by sitting down again. I'm not +in the least afraid of your going to the police. But my experience is +that if one goes to them on errands of this sort, it sets all sorts of +things going--scandal, and suspicion, and I don't know what! You don't +want any scandal. Sit down, if you please, and let us think for a +moment. And I'll see if I can tell you--what you want to know." + +Nesta already had a hand on the door. But after looking at him for a +second or two, she turned back, and sat down in her old position. And +Pratt, still seated at his desk, plunged his hands in his trousers +pockets, tilted back his chair, and for five minutes stared with knitted +brows at his blotting pad. A queer silence fell on the room. The windows +were double-sashed; no sound came up from the busy street below. But on +the mantelpiece a cheap Geneva clock ticked and ticked, and Nesta felt +at last that if it went on much longer, without the accompaniment of a +human voice, she should suddenly snatch it up, and hurl it--anywhere. + +Pratt was in the position of the card-player, who, confronted by a +certain turn in the course of a game which he himself feels sure he is +bound to win, wonders whether he had better not expedite matters by +laying his cards on the table, and asking his opponent if he can +possibly beat their values and combination. He had carefully reckoned up +his own position more than once during the progress of recent events, +and the more carefully he calculated it the more he felt convinced that +he had nothing to fear. He had had to alter his ground in consequence of +the death of Harper Mallathorpe, and he had known that he would have to +fight Nesta. But he had not anticipated that hostilities would come so +soon, or begin with such evident determination on her part. How would it +be, then, at this first stage to make such a demonstration in force that +she would recognize his strength? + +He looked up at last and saw Nesta regarding him sternly. But Pratt +smiled--the quiet smile which made her uneasy. + +"Miss Mallathorpe!" he said. "I was thinking of two things just then--a +game at cards--and the science of warfare. In both it's a good thing +sometimes to let your adversary see what a strong hand you've got. Now, +then, a question, if you please--are you and I adversaries?" + +"Yes!" answered Nesta unflinchingly. "You're acting like an enemy--you +are an enemy!" + +"I've hoped that you and I would be friends--good friends," said Pratt, +with something like a sigh. "And if I may say so, I've no feeling of +enmity towards you. When I speak of us being adversaries, I mean it +in--well, let's say a sort of legal sense. But now I'll show you my +hand--that is, as far as I please. Will you listen quietly to me?" + +"I've no choice," replied Nesta bluntly. "And I came here to know what +you've got to say for yourself. Say it!" + +Pratt moved his chair a little nearer to his visitor. + +"Now," he said, speaking very quietly and deliberately, "I'll go through +what I have to say to you carefully, point by point. I shall ask you to +go back a little way. It is now some time since I discovered a secret +about your mother, Mrs. Mallathorpe. Ah, you start!--it may be with +indignation, but I assure you I'm telling you, and am going to tell you, +the absolute truth. I say--a secret! No one knows it but myself--not one +living soul! Except, of course, your mother. I shall not reveal it to +you--under any consideration, or in any circumstances--but I can tell +you this--if that secret were revealed, your mother would be ruined for +life--and you yourself would suffer in more ways than one." + +Nesta looked at him incredulously--and yet she began to feel he was +telling some truth. And Pratt shook his head at the incredulous +expression. + +"It's quite so!" he said. "You'll begin to believe it---from other +things. Now, it was in connection with this that I paid a visit to +Normandale Grange one evening some months ago. Perhaps you never heard +of that? I was alone with your mother for some time in the study." + +"I have heard of it," she answered. + +"Very good," said Pratt. "But you haven't heard that your mother came to +see me at my rooms here in Barford--my lodgings--the very next night! On +the same business, of course. But she did--I know how she came, too. +Secretly--heavily veiled--naturally, she didn't want anybody to know. +Are you beginning to see something in it, Miss Mallathorpe?" + +"Go on with your--story," answered Nesta. + +"I go on, then, to the day before your brother's death," continued +Pratt. "Namely, a certain Friday. Now, if you please, I'll invite you to +listen carefully to certain facts--which are indisputable, which I can +prove, easily. On that Friday, the day before your brother's death, Mrs. +Mallathorpe was in the shrubbery at Normandale Grange which is near the +north end of the old foot-bridge. She was approached by Hoskins, an old +woodman, who has been on the estate a great many years--you know him +well enough. Hoskins told Mrs. Mallathorpe that the foot-bridge between +the north and south shrubberies, spanning the cut which was made there a +long time since so that a nearer road could be made to the stables, was +in an extremely dangerous condition--so dangerous, in fact, that in his +opinion, it would collapse under even a moderate weight. I impress this +fact upon you strongly." + +"Well?" said Nesta. + +"Hoskins," Pratt went on, "urged upon Mrs. Mallathorpe the necessity of +having the bridge closed at once, or barricaded. He pointed out to her +from where they stood certain places in the bridge, and in the railing +on one side of it, which already sagged in such a fashion, that he, as a +man of experience, knew that planks and railings were literally rotten +with damp. Now what did Mrs. Mallathorpe do? She said nothing to +Hoskins, except that she'd have the thing seen to. But she immediately +went to the estate carpenter's shop, and there she procured two short +lengths of chain, and two padlocks, and she herself went back to the +foot-bridge and secured its wicket gates at both ends. I beg you will +bear that in mind, too, Miss Mallathorpe." + +"I am bearing everything in mind," said Nesta resolutely. "Don't be +afraid that I shall forget one word that you say." + +"I hear that sneer in your voice," answered Pratt, as he turned, +unlocked a drawer, and drew out some papers. "But I think you will soon +learn that the sneer at what I'm telling you is foolish. Mrs. +Mallathorpe had a set purpose in locking up those gates--as you will see +presently. You will see it from what I am now going to tell you. Oblige +me, if you please, by looking at that letter. Do you recognize your +mother's handwriting?" + +"Yes!" admitted Nesta, with a sudden feeling of apprehension. "That is +her writing." + +"Very good," said Pratt. "Then before I read it to you, I'll just tell +you what this letter is. It formed, when it was written, an invitation +from Mrs. Mallathorpe to me--an invitation to walk, innocently, into +what she knew--knew, mind you!--to be a death-trap! She meant _me_ to +fall through the bridge!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +PRATT OFFERS A HAND + + +For a full moment of tense silence Nesta and Pratt looked at each other +across the letter which he held in his outstretched hand--looked +steadily and with a certain amount of stern inquiry. And it was Nesta's +eyes which first gave way--beaten by the certainty in Pratt's. She +looked aside; her cheeks flamed; she felt as if something were rising in +her throat--to choke her. + +"I can't believe that!" she muttered. "You're--mistaken! Oh--utterly +mistaken!" + +"No mistake!" said Pratt confidently. "I tell you your mother meant +me--me!--to meet my death at that bridge. Here's the proof in this +letter! I'll tell you, first, when I received it: then I'll read you +what's in it, and if you doubt my reading of it, you shall read it +yourself--but it won't go out of my hands! And first as to my getting +it, for that's important. It reached me, by registered post, mind you, +on the Saturday morning on which your brother met his death. It was +handed in at Normandale village post-office for registration late on the +Friday afternoon. And--by whom do you think?" + +"I--don't know!" replied Nesta faintly. This merciless piling up of +details was beginning to frighten her--already she felt as if she +herself were some criminal, forced to listen from the dock to the +opening address of a prosecuting counsel. "How should I know?--how can I +think?" + +"It was handed in for registration by your mother's maid, Esther +Mawson," said Pratt with a dark look. "I've got her evidence, anyway! +And that was all part of a plan--just as a certain something that was +enclosed was a part of the same plan--a plot. And now I'll read you the +letter--and you'll bear it in mind that I got it by first post that +Saturday morning. This is what it--what your mother--says:-- + + "I particularly wish to see you again, at once, about the matter + between us and to have another look at _that document_. Can you + come here, bringing it with you, tomorrow, Saturday afternoon, + by the train which leaves soon after two o'clock? As I am most + anxious that your visit should be private and unknown to any one + here, do not come to the house. Take the path across the park to + the shrubberies near the house, so that if you are met people + would think you were taking a near cut to the village. I will + meet you in the shrubbery on the house side of the little + foot-bridge. The gates--'" + +Pratt suddenly paused, and before proceeding looked hard at his visitor. + +"Now listen to what follows--and bear in mind what your mother knew, and +had done, at the time she wrote this letter. This is how the letter goes +on---let every word fix itself in your mind, Miss Mallathorpe!" + + "'The gates of the foot-bridge are locked, but the enclosed keys + will open them. I will meet you amongst the trees on the further + side. Be sure to come and to bring _that document_--I have + something to say about it on seeing it again.'" + +Pratt turned to the drawer from which he had taken the letter and took +out two small keys, evidently belonging to patent padlocks. He held them +up before Nesta. + +"There they are!" he said triumphantly. "Been in my possession ever +since--and will remain there. Now--do you wish to read the letter? I've +read it to you word for word. You don't? Very good--back it goes in +there, with these keys. And now then," he continued, having replaced +letter and keys in his drawer, and turned to her again, "now then, you +see what a diabolical scheme it was that was in your mother's mind +against me. She meant me to meet with the fate which overtook her own +son! She meant me to fall through that bridge. Why? She hoped that I +should break my neck--as he did! She wanted to silence me--but she also +wanted more--she wanted to take from my dead body, or my unconscious +body, the certain something which she was so anxious I should bring with +me, which she referred to as _that document_. She was willing to risk +anything--even to murder!--to get hold of that. And now you know why I +went to Normandale Grange that Saturday--you know, now, the real reason. +I told a deliberate lie at the inquest, for your mother's sake--for your +sake, if you know it. I did not go there to hand in my application for +the stewardship--I went in response to the letter I've just read. Is all +this clear to you?" + +Nesta could only move her head in silent acquiescence. She was already +convinced, that whether all this was entirely true or not, there was +truth of some degree in what Pratt had told her. And she was thinking of +her mother--and of the trap which she certainly appeared to have +laid--and of her brother's fate--and for the moment she felt sick and +beaten. But Pratt went on in that cold, calculating voice, telling his +story point by point. + +"Now I come to what happened that Saturday afternoon," he said. "I may +as well tell you that in my own interest I have carefully collected +certain evidence which never came out at the inquest--which, indeed, has +nothing to do with the exact matter of the inquest. Now, that Saturday, +your mother and you had lunch together--your brother, as we shall see in +a moment, being away--at your lunch time--a quarter to two. About twenty +minutes past two your mother left the house. She went out into the +gardens. She left the gardens for the shrubberies. And at twenty-five +minutes to three, she was seen by one of your gardeners, Featherstone, +in what was, of course, hiding, amongst the trees at the end of the +north shrubbery. What was she doing there, Miss Mallathorpe? She was +waiting!--waiting until a certain hoped-for accident happened--to me. +Then she would come out of her hiding-place in the hope of getting that +document from my pocket! Do you see how cleverly she'd laid her +plans--murderous plans?" + +Nesta was making a great effort to be calm. She knew now that she was +face to face with some awful mystery which could only be solved by +patience and strenuous endeavour. She knew, too, that she must show no +sign of fear before this man! + +"Will you finish your story, if you please?" she asked. + +"In my own way--in my own time," answered Pratt. "I now come to--your +mother. On the Friday noon, the late Mr. Harper Mallathorpe went to +Barford to visit a friend--young Stemthwaite, at the Hollies. He was to +stay the night there, and was not expected home until Saturday evening. +He did stay the night, and remained in Barford until noon on Saturday; +but he--unexpectedly--returned to the house at half past two. And almost +as soon as he'd got in, he picked up a gun and strolled out--into the +gardens and the north shrubbery. And, as you know, he went to the +foot-bridge. You see, Miss Mallathorpe, your mother, clever as she was, +had forgotten one detail--the gates of that footbridge were merely low, +four-barred things, and there was nothing to prevent an active young man +from climbing them. She forgot another thing, too--that warning had not +been given at the house that the bridge was dangerous. And, of course, +she'd never, never calculated that your brother would return sooner than +he was expected, or that, on his return, he'd go where he did. And +so--but I'll spare you any reference to what happened. Only--you know +now how it was that Mrs. Mallathorpe was found by her son's body. She'd +been waiting about--for me! But--the fate she'd meant for me was dealt +out to--him!" + +In spite of herself Nesta gave way to a slight cry. + +"I can't bear any more of that!" she said. "Have you finished?" + +"There's not much more to say--now at any rate," replied Pratt. "And +what I have to say shall be to the point. I'm sorry enough to have been +obliged to say all that I have said. But, you know, you forced me to it! +You threatened me. The real truth, Miss Mallathorpe, is just this--you +don't understand me at all. You come here--excuse my plain +speech--hectoring and bullying me with talk about the police, and +blackmail, and I don't know what! It's I who ought to go to the police! +I could have your mother arrested, and put in the dock, on a charge of +attempted murder, this very day! I've got all the proofs." + +"I suppose you held that out as a threat to her when you forced her to +sign that power of attorney?" observed Nesta. + +For the first time since her arrival Pratt looked at his visitor in an +unfriendly fashion. His expression changed and his face flushed a +little. + +"You think that, do you?" he said. "Well, you're wrong. I'm not a fool. +I held out no such threat. I didn't even tell your mother what I'd found +out. I wasn't going to show her my hand all at once--though I've shown +you a good deal of it." + +"Not all?" she asked quickly. + +"Not all," answered Pratt with a meaning glance. "To use more +metaphors--I've several cards up my sleeve, Miss Mallathorpe. But you're +utterly wrong about the threats. I'll tell you--I don't mind that--how I +got the authority you're speaking about. Your mother had promised me +that stewardship--for life. I'd have been a good steward. But we +recognized that your brother's death had altered things--that you, +being, as she said, a self-willed young woman--you see how plain I +am--would insist on looking after your own affairs. So she gave +me--another post. I'll discharge its duties honestly." + +"Yes," said Nesta, "but you've already told me that you'd a hold on my +mother before any of these recent events happened, and that you possess +some document which she was anxious to get into her hands. So it comes +to this--you've a double hold on her, according to your story." + +"Just so," agreed Pratt. "You're right, I have--a double hold." + +Nesta looked at him silently for a while: Pratt looked at her. + +"Very well," she said at last. "How much do you want--to be bought out?" + +Pratt laughed. + +"I thought that would be the end of it!" he remarked. "Yes--I thought +so!" + +"Name your price!" said Nesta. + +"Miss Mallathorpe!" answered Pratt, bending forward and speaking with a +new earnestness. "Just listen to me. It's no good. I'm not to be bought +out. Your mother tried that game with me before. She offered me first +five, then ten thousand pounds--cash down--for that document, when she +came to see me at my rooms. I dare say she'd have gone to twenty +thousand--and found the money there and then. But I said no then--and I +say no to you! I'm not to be purchased in that way. I've my own ideas, +my own plans, my own ambitions, my own--hopes. It's not any use at all +for you to dangle your money before me. But--I'll suggest something +else--that you can do." + +Nesta made no answer. She continued to look steadily at the man who +evidently had her mother in his power, and Pratt, who was watching her +intently, went on speaking quietly but with some intensity of tone. + +"You can do this," he said. "To start with--and it'll go a long +way--just try and think better of me. I told you, you don't understand +me. Try to! I'm not a bad lot. I've great abilities. I'm a hard worker. +Eldrick & Pascoe could tell you that I'm scrupulously honest in money +matters. You'll see that I'll look after your mother's affairs in a +fashion that'll commend itself to any firm of auditors and accountants +who may look into my accounts every year. I'm only taking the salary +from her that I was to have had for the stewardship. So--why not leave +it at that? Let things be! Perhaps--in time you'll come to see that--I'm +to be trusted." + +"How can I trust a man who deliberately tells me that he holds a secret +and a document over a woman's head?" demanded Nesta. "You've admitted a +previous hold on my mother. You say you're in possession of a secret +that would ruin her--quite apart from recent events. Is that honest?" + +"It was none of my seeking," retorted Pratt. "I gained the knowledge by +accident." + +"You're giving yourself away," said Nesta. "Or you've some mental twist +or defect which prevents you from seeing things straight. It's not how +you got your knowledge, but the use you're making of it that's the +important thing! You're using it to force my mother to----" + +"Excuse me!" interrupted Pratt with a queer smile. "It's you who don't +see things straight. I'm using my knowledge to protect--all of you. Let +your mind go back to what was said at first--to what I said at first. I +said that I'd discovered a secret which, if revealed, would ruin your +mother and injure--you! So it would--more than ever, now. So, you see, +in keeping it, I'm taking care, not only of her interests, but +of--yours!" + +Nesta rose. She realized that there was no more to be said--or done. And +Pratt rose, too, and looked at her almost appealingly. + +"I wish you'd try to see things as I've put them, Miss Mallathorpe," he +said. "I don't bear malice against your mother for that scheme she +contrived--I'm willing to put it clear out of my head. Why not accept +things as they are? I'll keep that secret for ever--no one shall ever +know about it. Why not be friends, now--why not shake hands?" + +He held out his hand as he spoke. But Nesta drew back. + +"No!" she said. "My opinion is just what it was when I came here." + +Before Pratt could move she had turned swiftly to the door and let +herself out, and in another minute she was amongst the crowds in the +street below. For a few minutes she walked in the direction of Robson's +offices, but when she had nearly reached them, she turned, and went +deliberately to those of Eldrick & Pascoe. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +A HEADQUARTERS CONFERENCE + + +By the time she had been admitted to Eldrick's private room, Nesta had +regained her composure; she had also had time to think, and her present +action was the result of at any rate a part of her thoughts. She was +calm and collected enough when she took the chair which the solicitor +drew forward. + +"I called on you for two reasons, Mr. Eldrick," she said. "First, to +thank you for your kindness and thoughtfulness at the time of my +brother's death, in sending your clerk to help in making the +arrangements." + +"Very glad he was of any assistance, Miss Mallathorpe," answered +Eldrick. "I thought, of course, that as he had been on the spot, as it +were, when the accident happened, he could do a few little things----" + +"He was very useful in that way," said Nesta. "And I was very much +obliged to him. But the second reason for my call is--I want to speak to +you about him." + +"Yes?" responded Eldrick. He had already formed some idea as to what was +in his visitor's mind, and he was secretly glad of the opportunity of +talking to her. "About Pratt, eh? What about him, Miss Mallathorpe?" + +"He was with you for some years, I believe?" she asked. + +"A good many years," answered Eldrick. "He came to us as office-boy, and +was head-clerk when he left us." + +"Then you ought to know him--well," she suggested. + +"As to that," replied Eldrick, "there are some people in this world whom +other people never could know well--that's to say, really well. I know +Pratt well enough for what he was--our clerk. Privately, I know little +about him. He's clever--he's ability--he's a chap who reads a good +deal--he's got ambitions. And I should say he is a bit--subtle." + +"Deceitful?" she asked. + +"I couldn't say that," replied Eldrick. "It wouldn't be true if I said +so. I think he's possibilities of strategy in him. But so far as we're +concerned, we found him hardworking, energetic, truthful, dependable and +honest, and absolutely to be trusted in money matters. He's had many and +many a thousand pounds of ours through his hands." + +"I believe you're unaware that my mother, for some reason or other, +unknown to me, has put him in charge of her affairs?" asked Nesta. + +"Yes--Mr. Collingwood told me so," answered Eldrick. "So, too, did your +own solicitor, Mr. Robson--who's very angry about it." + +"And you?" she said, putting a direct question. "What do you think? Do +please, tell me!" + +"It's difficult to say, Miss Mallathorpe," replied Eldrick, with a smile +and a shake of the head. "If your mother--who, of course, is quite +competent to decide for herself--wishes to have somebody to look after +her affairs, I don't see what objection can be taken to her procedure. +And if she chooses to put Linford Pratt in that position--why not? As I +tell you, I, as his last--and only--employer, am quite convinced of his +abilities and probity. I suppose that as your mother's agent, he'll +supervise her property, collect money due to her, advise her in +investments, and so on. Well, I should say--personally, mind--he's quite +competent to do all that, and that he'll do it honestly, I should +certainly say so." + +"But--why should he do it at all?" asked Nesta. + +Eldrick waved his hands. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed. "Now you ask me a very different question! But--I +understand--in fact, I know--that Pratt turns out to be a relation of +yours--distant, but it's there. Perhaps your mother--who, of course, is +much better off since your brother's sad death--is desirous of +benefiting Pratt--as a relation." + +"Do you advise anything?" asked Nesta. + +"Well, you know, Miss Mallathorpe," replied Eldrick, smiling. "I'm not +your legal adviser. What about Mr. Robson?" + +"Mr. Robson is so very angry about all this--with my mother," said +Nesta, "that I don't even want to ask his advice. What I really do want +is the advice, counsel, of somebody--perhaps more as a friend than as a +solicitor." + +"Delighted to give you any help I can--either professionally or as a +friend," exclaimed Eldrick. "But--let me suggest something. And first of +all--is there anything--something--in all this that you haven't told to +anybody yet?" + +"Yes--much!" she answered. "A great deal!" + +"Then," said Eldrick, "let me advise a certain counsel. Two heads are +better than one. Let me ask Mr. Collingwood to come here." + +He was watching his visitor narrowly as he said this, and he saw a faint +rise of colour in her cheeks. But for the moment she did not answer, and +Eldrick saw that she was thinking. + +"I can get him across from his chambers in a few minutes," he said. +"He's sure to be in just now." + +"Can I have a few minutes to decide?" asked Nesta. + +Eldrick jumped up. + +"Of course!" he said. "I'll leave you a while. It so happens I want to +see my partner, I'll go up to his room, and return to you presently." + +Nesta, left alone, gave herself up to deep thought, and to a careful +reckoning of her position. She was longing to confide in some +trustworthy person or persons, for Pratt's revelations had plunged her +into a maze of perplexity. But her difficulties were many. First of all, +she would have to tell all about the terrible charge brought by Pratt +against her mother. Then about the second which he professed to--or +probably did--hold. What sort of a secret could it be? And supposing her +advisers suggested strong measures against Pratt--what then, about the +danger to her mother, in a twofold direction? + +Would it be better, wiser, if she kept all this to herself at present, +and waited for events to develop? But at the mere thought of that, she +shrank, feeling mentally and physically afraid--to keep all that +knowledge to herself, to brood over it in secret, to wonder what it all +meant, what lay beneath, what might develop, that was more than she felt +able to bear. And when Eldrick came back she looked at him and nodded. + +"I should like to talk to you and Mr. Collingwood," she said quietly. + +Collingwood came across to Eldrick's office at once. And to these two +Nesta unbosomed herself of every detail that she could remember of her +interview with Pratt--and as she went on, from one thing to another, she +saw the men's faces grow graver and graver, and realized that this was a +more anxious matter than she had thought. + +"That's all," she said in the end. "I don't think I've forgotten +anything. And even now, I don't know if I've done right to tell you all +this. But--I don't think I could have faced it--alone!" + +"My dear Miss Mallathorpe!" said Eldrick earnestly. "You've done the +wisest thing you probably ever did in your life! Now," he went on, +looking at Collingwood, "just let us all three realize what is to me a +more important fact. Nobody would be more astonished than Pratt to know +that you have taken the wise step you have. You agree, Collingwood?" + +"Yes!" answered Collingwood, after a moment's reflection. "I think so." + +"Miss Mallathorpe doesn't quite see what we mean," said Eldrick, turning +to Nesta. "We mean that Pratt firmly believed, when he told you what he +did, that for your mother's sake and your own, you would keep his +communication a dead secret. He firmly believed that you would never +dare to tell anybody what he told you. Most people--in your +position--wouldn't have told. They'd have let the secret eat their lives +out. You're a wise and a sensible young woman! And the thing is--we +must let Pratt remain under the impression that you are keeping your +knowledge to yourself. Let him continue to believe that you'll remain +silent under fear. And let us meet his secret policy with a secret +strategy of our own!" + +Again he glanced at Collingwood, and again Collingwood nodded assent. + +"Now," continued Eldrick, "just let us consider matters for a few +minutes from the position which has newly arisen. To begin with. Pratt's +account of your mother's dealings about the foot-bridge is a very clever +and plausible one. I can see quite well that it has caused you great +pain; so before I go any further, just let me say this to you--don't you +attach one word of importance to it!" + +Nesta uttered a heartfelt cry of relief. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed. "If you knew how thankful I should be to know that +it's all lies--that he was lying! Can I really think that--after what I +saw?" + +"I won't ask you to think that he's telling lies--just now," answered +Eldrick, with a glance at Collingwood, "but I'll ask you to believe that +your mother could put a totally different aspect and complexion on all +her actions and words in connection with the entire affair. My +impression, of course," he went on, with something very like a wink at +Collingwood, "is that Mrs. Mallathorpe, when she wrote that letter to +Pratt, intended to have the bridge mended first thing next morning, and +that something prevented that being done, and that when she was seen +about the shrubberies in the afternoon, she was on her way to meet Pratt +before he could reach the dangerous point, so that she could warn him. +What do you say, Collingwood?" + +"I should say," answered Collingwood, regarding the solicitor earnestly, +and speaking with great gravity of manner, "that that would make an +admirable line of defence to any charge which Pratt was wicked enough to +prefer." + +"You don't think my mother meant--meant to----" exclaimed Nesta, eagerly +turning from one man to the other. "You--don't?" + +"There is no evidence worth twopence against your mother!" replied +Eldrick soothingly. "Put everything that Pratt has said against her +clear out of your mind. Put all recent events out of your mind! Don't +interfere with Pratt--just now. The thing to be done about Pratt is +this--and it's the only thing. We must find out--exactly, as secretly as +possible--what this secret is of which he speaks. What is this hold on +Mrs. Mallathorpe? What is this document to which he refers? In other +words, we must work back to some point which at present we can't see. At +least, I can't see it. But--we may discover it. What do you say, +Collingwood?" + +"I agree entirely," answered Collingwood. "Let Pratt rest in his fancied +security. The thing is, certainly, to go back. But--to what point?" + +"That we must consider later," said Eldrick. "Now--for the present, Miss +Mallathorpe,--you are, I suppose, going back home?" + +"Yes, at once," answered Nesta. "I have my car at the _Crown Hotel_." + +"I should just like to know something," continued Eldrick again, looking +at Collingwood as if for approval. "That is--Mrs. Mallathorpe's present +disposition towards affairs in general and Pratt in particular. Miss +Mallathorpe!--just do something which I will now suggest to you. When +you reach home, see your mother--she is still, I understand, an invalid, +though evidently able to transact business. Just approach her gently and +kindly, and tell her that you are a little--should we say +uncomfortable?--about certain business arrangements which you hear she +has made with Mr. Pratt, and ask her, if she won't talk them over with +you, and give you her full confidence. It's now half-past twelve," +continued Eldrick, looking at his watch. "You'll be home before lunch. +See your mother early in the afternoon, and then telephone, briefly, the +result to me, here, at four o'clock. Then--Mr. Collingwood and I will +have a consultation." + +He motioned Collingwood to remain where he was, and himself saw Nesta +down to the street. When he came back to his room he shook his head at +the young barrister. + +"Collingwood!" he said. "There's some dreadful business afloat in all +this! And it's all the worse because of the fashion in which Pratt +talked to that girl. She's evidently a very good memory--she narrated +that conversation clearly and fully. Pratt must be very sure of his hand +if he showed her his cards in that way--his very confidence in himself +shows what a subtle network he's either made or is making. I question if +he'd very much care if he knew that we know. But he mustn't know +that--yet. We must reply to his mine with a counter-mine!" + +"What do you think of Pratt's charge against Mrs. Mallathorpe?" asked +Collingwood. + +Eldrick made a wry face. + +"Looks bad!--very, very bad, Collingwood!" he answered. "Art and scheme +of a desperate woman, of course. But--we mustn't let her daughter think +we believe it. Let her stick to the suggestion I made--which, as you +remarked, would certainly make a very good line of defence, supposing +Pratt even did accuse her. But now--what on earth is this document +that's been mentioned--this paper of which Pratt has possession? Has +Mrs. Mallathorpe at some time committed forgery--or bigamy--or--what is +it? One thing's sure, however--we've got to work quietly. We mustn't let +Pratt know that we're working. I hope he doesn't know that Miss +Mallathorpe came here. Will you come back about four and hear what +message she sends me? After that, we could consult." + +Collingwood went away to his chambers. He was much occupied just then, +and had little time to think of anything but the work in hand. But as he +ate his lunch at the club which he had joined on settling in Barford, he +tried to get at some notion of the state of things, and once more his +mind reverted to the time of his grandfather's death, and his own +suspicions about Pratt at that period. Clearly that was a point to which +they must hark back--he himself must make more inquiries about the +circumstances of Antony Bartle's last hours. For this affair would not +have to rest where it was--it was intolerable that Nesta Mallathorpe +should in any way be under Pratt's power. He went back to Eldrick at +four o'clock with a suggestion or two in his mind. And at the sight of +him Eldrick shook his head. + +"I've had that telephone message from Normandale," he said, "five +minutes ago. Pretty much what I expected--at this juncture, anyway. Mrs. +Mallathorpe absolutely declines to talk business with even her daughter +at present--and earnestly desires that Mr. Linford Pratt may be left +alone." + +"Well?" asked Collingwood after a pause. "What now?" + +"We must do what we can--secretly, privately, for the daughter's sake," +said Eldrick. "I confess I don't quite see a beginning, but----" + +Just then the private door opened, and Pascoe, a somewhat +lackadaisical-mannered man, who always looked half-asleep, and was in +reality remarkably wide-awake, lounged in, nodded to Collingwood, and +threw a newspaper in front of his partner. + +"I say, Eldrick," he drawled, as he removed a newly-lighted cigar from +his lips. "There's an advertisement here which seems to refer to that +precious protégé of yours, who left you with such scant ceremony. Same +name, anyhow!" + +Eldrick snatched up the paper, glanced at it and read a few words aloud. + +"INFORMATION WANTED about James Parrawhite, at one time in practice as a +solicitor." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +ADVERTISEMENT + + +Eldrick looked up at his partner with a sharp, confirmatory glance. + +"That's our Parrawhite, of course!" he said. "Who's after him, now?" And +he went on to read the rest of the advertisement, murmuring its +phraseology half-aloud: "'in practice as a solicitor at Nottingham and +who left that town six years ago. If the said James Parrawhite will +communicate with the undersigned he will hear something greatly to his +advantage. Any person able to give information as to his whereabouts +will be suitably rewarded. Apply to Halstead & Byner, 56B, St. Martin's +Chambers, London, W.C.' Um!--Pascoe, hand over that Law List." + +Collingwood looked on in silence while Eldrick turned over the pages of +the big book which his partner took down from a shelf. He wondered at +Eldrick's apparent and almost eager interest. + +"Halstead & Byner are not solicitors," announced Eldrick presently. +"They must be inquiry agents or something of that sort. Anyway, I'll +write to them, Pascoe, at once." + +"You don't know where the fellow is," said Pascoe. "What's the good?" + +"No--but we know where he last was," retorted Eldrick. He turned to +Collingwood as the junior partner sauntered out of the room. "Rather odd +that Pascoe should draw my attention to that just now," he remarked. +"This man Parrawhite was, in a certain sense, mixed up with Pratt--at +least, Pratt and I are the only two people who know the secret of +Parrawhite's disappearance from these offices. That was just about the +time of your grandfather's death." + +Collingwood immediately became attentive. His first suspicions of Pratt +were formed at the time of which Eldrick spoke, and any reference to +events contemporary excited his interest. + +"Who was or is--this man you're talking of?" he asked. + +"Bad lot--very!" answered Eldrick, shaking his head. "He and I were +articled together, at the same time, to the same people: we saw a lot of +each other as fellow articled clerks. He afterwards practised in +Nottingham, and he held some good appointments. But he'd a perfect mania +for gambling--the turf--and he went utterly wrong, and misappropriated +clients' money, and in the end he got into prison, and was, of course, +struck off the rolls. I never heard anything of him for years, and then +one day, some time ago, he turned up here and begged me to give him a +job. I did--and I'll do him the credit to say that he earned his money. +But--in the end, his natural badness broke out. One afternoon--I'm +careless about some things--I left some money lying in this +drawer--about forty pounds in notes and gold--and next morning +Parrawhite never came to business. We've never seen or heard of him +since." + +"You mentioned Pratt," said Collingwood. + +"Only Pratt and I know--about the money," replied Eldrick. "We kept it +secret--I didn't want Pascoe to know I'd been so careless. Pascoe didn't +like Parrawhite--and he doesn't know his record. I only told him that +Parrawhite was a chap I'd known in better circumstances and wanted to +give a hand to." + +"You said it was about the time of my grandfather's death?" asked +Collingwood. + +"It was just about then--between his death and his funeral I should +say," answered Eldrick, "The two events are associated in my mind. +Anyway, I'd like to know what it is that these people want Parrawhite +for. If it's money that's come to him, it'll be of no advantage--it'll +only go where all the rest's gone." + +Collingwood lost interest in Parrawhite. Parrawhite appeared to have +nothing to do with the affairs in which he was interested. He sat down +and began to tell Eldrick about his own suspicions of Pratt at the time +of Antony Bartle's death; of what Jabey Naylor had told him about the +paper taken from the _History of Barford_; of the lad's account of the +old man's doings immediately afterwards; and of his own proceedings +which had led him to believe for the time being that his suspicions were +groundless. + +"But now," he went on, "a new idea occurs to me. Suppose that that +paper, found by my grandfather in a book which had certainly belonged to +the late John Mallathorpe, was something important relating to Mrs. +Mallathorpe? Suppose that my grandfather brought it across here to you? +Suppose that finding you out, he showed it to Pratt? As my grandfather +died suddenly, with nobody but Pratt there, what was there to prevent +Pratt from appropriating that paper if he saw that it would give him a +hold over Mrs. Mallathorpe? We know now that he has some document in his +possession which does give him a hold--may it not be that of which the +boy Naylor told me?" + +"Might be," agreed Eldrick. "But--my opinion is, taking things all +together, that the paper which Antony Bartle found was the one you +yourself discovered later--the list of books. No--I'll tell you what I +think. I believe that the document which Pratt told Miss Mallathorpe he +holds, and to which her mother referred in the letter asking Pratt to +meet her, is probably--most probably!--one which he discovered in +searching out his relationship to Mrs. Mallathorpe. He's a cute +chap--and he may have found some document which--well, I'll tell you +what it might be--something which would upset the rights of Harper +Mallathorpe to his uncle's estates. No other relatives came forward, or +were heard of, or were discoverable when John Mallathorpe was killed in +that chimney accident; but there may be some--there may be one in +particular. That's my notion!--and I intend, in the first place, to make +a personal search of the parish registers from which Pratt got his +information. He may have discovered something there which he's keeping +to himself." + +"You think that is the course to adopt?" asked Collingwood, after a +moment's reflection. + +"At present--yes," replied Eldrick. "And while I'm making it--I'll do it +myself--we'll just go on outwardly--as if nothing had happened. If I +meet Pratt--as I shall--I shall not let him see that I know anything. Do +you go on in just the usual way. Go out to Normandale Grange now and +then--and tell Miss Mallathorpe to think no more of her interview with +Pratt until we've something to talk to her about. You talk to her +about--something else." + +When Collingwood had left him Eldrick laid a telegram form on his +plotting pad, and after a brief interval of thought wrote out a message +addressed to the people whose advertisement had attracted Pascoe's +attention. + + "HALSTEAD & BYNER, 56B, St. Martin's Chambers, London, W.C. + + "I can give you definite information concerning James Parrawhite + if you will send representative to see me personally. + + "CHARLES ELDRICK, Eldrick & Pascoe, Solicitors, Barford." + +After Eldrick had sent off a clerk with this message to the nearest +telegraph office, he sat thinking for some time. And at the close of his +meditations, and after some turning over of a diary which lay on his +desk, he picked up pen and paper, and drafted an advertisement of his +own. + + "TEN POUNDS REWARD will be paid to any person who can give + reliable and useful information as to James Parrawhite, who + until November last was a clerk in the employ of Messrs. Eldrick + & Pascoe, Solicitors, Barford, and who is believed to have left + the town on the evening of November 23.--Apply to Mr. CHARLES + ELDRICK, of the above firm." + +"Worth risking ten pounds on--anyway," muttered Eldrick. "Whether these +London people will cover it or not. Here!" he went on, turning to a +clerk who had just entered the room. "Make three copies of this +advertisement, and take one to each of the three newspaper offices, and +tell 'em to put it in their personal column tonight." + +He sat musing for some time after he was left alone again, and when he +at last rose, it was with a shake of the head. + +"I wonder if Pratt told me the truth that morning?" he said to himself. +"Anyway, he's now being proved to be even deeper than I'd ever +considered him. Well--other folk than Pratt are possessed of pretty good +wits." + +Before he left the office that evening Eldrick was handed a telegram +from Messrs. Halstead & Byner, of St. Martin's Chambers, informing him +that their Mr. Byner would travel to Barford by the first express next +morning, and would call upon him at eleven o'clock. + +"Then they have some important news for Parrawhite," mused Eldrick, as +he put the message in his pocket and went off to his club. "Inquiry +agents don't set off on long journeys at a moment's notice for a matter +of a trifling agency. But--where is Parrawhite?" + +He awaited the arrival of Mr. Byner next morning with considerable +curiosity. And soon after eleven there was shown in to him, a smart, +well-dressed, alert-looking young man, who, having introduced himself as +Mr. Gerald Byner, immediately plunged into business. + +"You can tell me something of James Parrawhite, Mr. Eldrick?" he began. +"We shall be glad--we've been endeavouring to trace him for some months. +It's odd that you didn't see our advertisement before." + +"I don't look at that sort of advertisement," replied Eldrick. "I +believe it was by mere accident that my partner saw yours yesterday +afternoon. But now, a question or two first. What are you--inquiry +agents?" + +"Just so, sir--inquiry agents--with a touch of private detective +business," answered Mr. Gerald Byner with a smile. "We undertake to find +people, to watch people, to recover lost property, and so on. In this +case we're acting for Messrs. Vickers, Marshall & Hebbleton, Solicitors, +of Cannon Street. They want James Parrawhite badly." + +"Why?" asked Eldrick. + +"Because," replied Byner with a dry laugh, "there's about twenty +thousand pounds waiting for him, in their hands." + +Eldrick whistled with astonishment. + +"Whew!" he said. "Twenty thousand--for Parrawhite! My good sir--if +that's so, and if, as you say, you've been advertising----" + +"Advertising in several papers," interrupted Byner. "Dailies, weeklies, +provincials. Never had one reply, till your wire." + +"Then--Parrawhite must be dead!" said Eldrick. "Or--in gaol, under +another name. Twenty thousand pounds--waiting for Parrawhite! If +Parrawhite was alive, man, or at liberty, he wouldn't let twenty +thousand pence wait five minutes! I know him!" + +"What can you tell me, Mr. Eldrick?" asked the inquiry agent. + +Eldrick told all he knew--concealing nothing. And Byner listened +silently and eagerly. + +"There's something strikes me at once," he said. "You say that with him +disappeared three or four ten-pound notes of yours. Have you the numbers +of those notes?" + +"I can't say," replied Eldrick, doubtfully. "I haven't, certainly. +But--they were paid in to our head-clerk, Pratt, and I think he used to +enter such things in a sort of day-ledger. I'll get it." + +He went into the clerks' office and presently returned with an oblong, +marble-backed book which he began to turn over. + +"This may be what you ask about," he said at last. "Here, under date +November 23, are some letters and figures which obviously refer to +bank-notes. You can copy them if you like." + +"Another question, Mr. Eldrick," remarked Byner as he made a note of the +entries. "You say some cheque forms were abstracted from a book of yours +at the same time. Have you ever heard of any of these cheque forms being +made use of?" + +"Never!" replied Eldrick. + +"No forgery of your name or anything?" suggested the caller. + +"No," said Eldrick. "There's been nothing of that sort." + +"I can soon ascertain if these bank-notes have reached the Bank of +England," said Byner. "That's a simple matter. Now suppose they +haven't!" + +"Well?" asked Eldrick. + +"You know, of course," continued Byner, "that it doesn't take long for a +Bank of England note, once issued, to get back to the Bank? You know, +too, that it's never issued again. Now if those notes haven't been +presented at the Bank--where are they? And if no use has been made of +your stolen cheques--where are they?" + +"Good!" agreed Eldrick. "I see that you ought to do well in your special +line of business. Now--are you going to pursue inquiries for Parrawhite +here in Barford, after what I've told you?" + +"Certainly!" said Byner. "I came down prepared to stop awhile. It's +highly important that this man should be found--highly important," he +added smiling, "to other people than Parrawhite himself." + +"In what way?" asked Eldrick. + +"Why," replied Byner, "if he's dead--as he may be--this money goes to +somebody else--a relative. The relative would be very glad to hear he is +dead! But--definite news will be welcome, in any case. Oh, yes, now that +I've got down here, I shall do my best to trace him. You have the +address of the woman he lodged with, you say. I shall go there first, of +course. Then I must try to find out what he did with himself in his +spare time. But, from all you tell me, it's my impression he's +dead--unless, as you say, he's got into prison again--possibly under +another name. It seems impossible that he should not have seen our +advertisements." + +"You never advertised in any Yorkshire newspapers?" asked Eldrick. + +"No," said Byner. "Because we'd no knowledge of his having come so far +North. We advertised in the Midland papers. But then, all the London +papers, daily and weekly, that we used come down to Yorkshire." + +"Parrawhite," said Eldrick reflectively, "was a big newspaper reader. He +used to go to the Free Library reading-room a great deal. I begin to +think he must certainly be dead--or locked up. However, in supplement of +your endeavours, I did a little work of my own last night. There you +are!" he went on, picking up the local papers and handing them over. "I +put that in--we'll see if any response comes. But now a word, Mr. Byner, +since you've come to me. You have heard me mention my late +clerk--Pratt?" + +"Yes," answered Byner. + +"Pratt has left us, and is in business as a sort of estate agent in the +next street," continued Eldrick. "Now I have particular reasons--most +particular reasons!--why Pratt should remain in absolute ignorance of +your presence in the town. If you should happen to come across him--as +you may, for though there are a quarter of a million of us here, it's a +small place, compared with London--don't let him know your business." + +"I'm not very likely to do that, Mr. Eldrick," remarked Byner quietly. + +"Aye, but you don't take my meaning," said Eldrick eagerly. "I mean +this--it's just possible that Pratt may see that advertisement of yours, +and that he may write to your firm. In that case, as he's here, and +you're here, your partner would send his letter to you. Don't deal with +it--here. Don't--if you should come across Pratt, even let him know your +name!" + +"When I've a job of this sort," replied Byner, "I don't let anybody know +my name--except people like you. When I register at one of your hotels +presently, I shall be Mr. Black of London. But--if this Pratt wanted to +give any information about Parrawhite, he'd give it to you, surely, now +that you've advertised." + +"No, he wouldn't!" asserted Eldrick. "Why? Because he's told me all he +knows--or says he knows--already!" + +The inquiry agent looked keenly at the solicitor for a moment during +which they both kept silence. Then Byner smiled. + +"You said--'or says he knows,'" he remarked. "Do you think he didn't +tell the truth about Parrawhite?" + +"I should say--now--it's quite likely he didn't," answered Eldrick. "The +truth is, I'm making some inquiry myself about Pratt--and I don't want +this to interfere with it. You keep me informed of what you find out, +and I'll help you all I can while you're here. It may be----" + +A clerk came into the room and looked at his master. + +"Mr. George Pickard, of the _Green Man_ at Whitcliffe, sir," he said. + +"Well?" asked Eldrick. + +"Wants to see you about that advertisement in the paper this morning, +sir," continued the clerk. + +Eldrick looked at Byner and smiled significantly. Then he turned towards +the door. + +"Bring Mr. Pickard in," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +THE CONFIDING LANDLORD + + +The clerk presently ushered in a short, thick-set, round-faced man, +apparently of thirty to thirty-five years of age, whose chief personal +characteristics lay in a pair of the smallest eyes ever set in a human +countenance and a mere apology for a nose. But both nose and eyes +combined somehow to communicate an idea of profound inquiry as the round +face in which they were placed turned from the solicitor to the man from +London, and a podgy forefinger was lifted to a red forehead. + +"Servant, gentlemen," said the visitor. "Fine morning for the time of +year!" + +"Take a chair, Mr. Pickard," replied Eldrick. "Let me see--from the +_Green Man_, at Whitcliffe, I believe?" + +"Landlord, sir--had that house a many years," answered Pickard, as he +took a seat near the wall. "Seven year come next Michaelmas, any road." + +"Just so--and you want to see me about the advertisement in this +morning's paper?" continued Eldrick. "What about it--now?" + +The landlord looked at Eldrick and then at Eldrick's companion. The +solicitor understood that look: it meant that what his caller had to say +was of a private nature. + +"It's all right, Mr. Pickard," he remarked reassuringly. "This gentleman +is here on just the same business--whatever you say will be treated as +confidential--it'll go no further. You've something to tell about my +late clerk, James Parrawhite." + +Pickard, who had been nervously fingering a white billycock hat, now put +it down on the floor and thrust his hands into the pockets of his +trousers as if to keep them safe while he talked. + +"It's like this here," he answered. "When I saw that there advertisement +in the paper this mornin', says I to my missus, 'I'll away,' I says, +'an' see Lawyer Eldrick about that there, this very day!' 'Cause you +see, Mr. Eldrick, there is summat as I can tell about yon man 'at you +mention--James Parrawhite. I've said nowt about it to nobody, up to now, +'cause it were private business atween him and me, as it were, but I +lost money over it, and of course, ten pound is ten pound, gentlemen." + +"Quite so," agreed Eldrick, "And you shall have your ten pounds if you +can tell anything useful." + +"I don't know owt about it's being useful, sir, nor what use is to be +made on it," said Pickard, "but I can tell you a bit o' truth, and you +can do what you like wi' what I tell. But," he went on, lowering his +voice and glancing at the door by which he had just entered, "there's +another name 'at 'll have to be browt in--private, like. Name, as it so +happens, o' one o' your clerks--t' head clerk, I'm given to +understand--Mr. Pratt." + +Eldrick showed no sign of surprise. But he continued to look +significantly at Byner as he turned to the landlord. + +"Mr. Pratt has left me," he said. "Left me three weeks ago. So you +needn't be afraid, Mr. Pickard--say anything you like." + +"Oh, I didn't know," remarked Pickard. "It's not oft that I come down in +t' town, and we don't hear much Barford news up our way. Well, it's this +here, Mr. Eldrick--you know where my place is, of course?" + +Eldrick nodded, and turned to Byner. + +"I'd better explain to you," he said. "Whitcliffe is an outlying part of +the town, well up the hills--a sort of wayside hamlet with a lot of our +famous stone quarries in its vicinity. The _Green Man_, of which our +friend here is the landlord, is an old-fashioned tavern by the +roadside--where people are rather fond of dropping in on a Sunday, I +fancy, eh, Mr. Pickard?" + +"You're right, sir," replied the landlord. "It makes a nice walk out on +a Sunday. And it were on a Sunday, too, 'at I got to know this here +James Parrawhite as you want to know summat about. He began coming to my +place of a Sunday evenin', d'ye see, gentlemen?--he'd walk across t' +valley up there to Whitcliffe and stop an hour or two, enjoyin' hisself. +Well, now, as you're no doubt well aweer, Mr. Eldrick, he were a reight +hand at talkin', were yon Parrawhite--he'd t' gift o' t' gab reight +enough, and talked well an' all. And of course him an' me, we hed bits +o' conversation at times, 'cause he come to t' house reg'lar and +sometimes o' week-nights an' all. An' he tell'd me 'at he'd had a deal +o' experience i' racin' matters--whether it were true or not, I couldn't +say, but----" + +"True enough!" said Eldrick. "He had." + +"Well, so he said," continued Pickard, "and he was allus tellin' me 'at +he could make a pile o' brass on t' turf if he only had capital. An' i' +t' end, he persuaded me to start what he called investin' money with him +i' that way--i' plain language, it meant givin' him brass to put on +horses 'at he said was goin' to win, d'ye understand?" + +"Perfectly," replied Eldrick. "You gave him various amounts which he was +to stake for you." + +"Just so, sir! And at first," said Pickard, with a shake of the head, +"at first I'd no great reason to grumble. He cert'ny wor a good hand at +spottin' a winner. But as time went on, I' t' greatest difficulty in +gettin' a settlement wi' him, d'ye see? He wor just as good a hand at +makin' excuses as he wor at pickin' out winners--better, I think! I +nivver knew wheer I was wi' him--he'd pay up, and then he'd persuade me +to go in for another do wi' t' brass I'd won, and happen we should lose +that time, and then of course we had to hev another investment to get +back what we'd dropped, and so it went on. But t' end wor this +here--last November theer wor about fifty to sixty pound o' mine i' his +hands, and I wanted it. I'd a spirit merchant's bill to settle, and I +wanted t' brass badly for that. I knew Parrawhite had been paid, d'ye +see, by t' turf agent, 'at he betted wi', and I plagued him to hand t' +brass over to me. He made one excuse and then another--howsumivver, it +come to that very day you're talkin' about i' your advertisement, Mr. +Eldrick--the twenty-third o' November----" + +"Stop a minute, Mr. Pickard," interrupted Eldrick. "Now, how do you +know--for a certainty--that this day you're going to talk about was the +twenty-third of November?" + +The landlord, who had removed his hands from his pockets, and was now +twiddling a pair of fat thumbs as he talked, chuckled slyly. + +"For a very good reason," he answered. "I had to pay that spirit bill I +tell'd about just now on t' twenty-fourth, and that I'm going to tell +you happened t' night afore t' twenty-fourth, so of course it were t' +twenty-third. D'ye see?" + +"I see," asserted Eldrick. "That'll do! And now--what did happen?" + +"This here," replied Pickard. "On that night--t' twenty-third +November--Parrawhite came into t' _Green Man_ at about, happen, +half-past eight. He come into t' little private parlour to me, bold as +brass--as indeed, he allers wor. 'Ye're a nice un!' I says. 'I've +written yer three letters durin' t' last week, and ye've nivver answered +one o' 'em!' 'I've come to answer i' person,' he says. 'There's nobbut +one answer I want,' says I. 'Wheer's my money?' 'Now then, be quiet a +bit,' he says. 'You shall have your money before the evening's over,' he +says. 'Or, if not, as soon as t' banks is open tomorrow mornin',' he +says. 'Wheer's it coomin' from?' says I. 'Now, never you mind,' he says. +'It's safe!' 'I don't believe a word you're sayin',' says I. 'Ye're +havin' me for t' mug!--that's about it.' An' I went on so at him, 'at i' +t' end he tell'd me 'at he wor presently goin' to meet Pratt, and 'at he +could get t' brass out o' Pratt an' as much more as iwer he liked to ax +for. Well, I don't believe that theer, and I said so. 'What brass has +Pratt?' says I. 'Pratt's nowt but a clerk, wi' happen three or four +pound a week!' 'That's all you know,' he says. 'Pratt's become a gold +mine, and I'm going to dig in it a bit. What's it matter to you,' he +says, 'so long as you get your brass?' Well, of course, that wor true +enough--all 'at I wanted just then were to handle my brass. And I tell'd +him so. 'I'll brek thy neck, Parrawhite,' I says, 'if thou doesn't bring +me that theer money eyther to-night or t' first thing tomorrow--so now!' +'Don't talk rot!' he says. 'I've told you!' And he had money wi' him +then--'nough to pay for drinks and cigars, any road, and we had a drink +or two, and a smoke or two, and then he went out, sayin' he wor goin' to +meet Pratt, and he'd be back at my place before closin' time wi' either +t' cash or what 'ud be as good. An' I waited--and waited after closin' +time, an' all. But I've nivver seen Parrawhite from that day to +this---nor heerd tell on him neither!" + +Eldrick and Byner looked at each other for a moment. Then the solicitor +spoke--quietly and with a significance which the agent understood. + +"Do you want to ask Mr. Pickard any questions?" he said. + +Byner nodded and turned to the landlord. + +"Did Parrawhite tell you where he was going to meet Pratt?" he asked. + +"He did," replied Pickard. "Near Pratt's lodgin' place." + +"Did--or does--Pratt live near you, then?" + +"Closish by--happen ten minutes' walk. There's few o' houses--a sort o' +terrace, like, on t' edge o' what they call Whitcliffe Moor. Pratt +lodged--lodges now for all I know to t' contrary--i' one o' them." + +"Did Parrawhite give you any idea that he was going to the house in +which Pratt lodged?" + +"No! He were not goin' to t' house. I know he worn't. He tell'd me 'at +he'd a good idea what time Pratt 'ud be home, 'cause he knew where he +was that evening and he were goin' to meet him just afore Pratt got to +his place. I know where he'd meet him." + +"Where?" asked Byner. "Tell me exactly. It's important." + +"Pratt 'ud come up fro' t' town i' t' tram," answered Pickard. "He'd +approach this here terrace I tell'd you about by a narrow lane that runs +off t' high road. He'd meet him there, would Parrawhite." + +"Did you ever ask any question of Pratt about Parrawhite?" + +"No--never! I'd no wish that Pratt should know owt about my dealin's +with Parrawhite. When Parrawhite never come back--why, I kep' it all to +myself, till now." + +"What do you think happened to Parrawhite, Mr. Pickard?" asked Byner. + +"Gow, I know what I think!" replied Pickard disgustedly. "I think 'at if +he did get any brass out o' Pratt--which is what I know nowt about, and +hewn't much belief in--he went straight away fro' t' town--vanished! I +do know this--he nivver went back to his lodgin's that neet, 'cause I +went theer mysen next day to inquire." + +Eldrick pricked up his ears at that. He remembered that he had sent +Pratt to make inquiry at Parrawhite's lodgings on the morning whereon +the money was missing. + +"What time of the day--on the twenty-fourth--was that, Mr. Pickard?" he +asked. + +"Evenin', sir," replied the landlord. "They'd nivver seen naught of him +since he went out the day before. Oh, he did me, did Parrawhite! Of +course, I lost mi brass--fifty odd pounds!" + +Byner gave Eldrick a glance. + +"I think Mr. Pickard has earned the ten pounds you offered," he said. + +Eldrick took the hint and pulled out his cheque-book. + +"Of course, you're to keep all this private--strictly private, Mr. +Pickard," he said as he wrote. "Not a word to a soul!" + +"Just as you order, sir," agreed Pickard. "I'll say nowt--to nobody." + +"And--perhaps tomorrow--perhaps this afternoon--you'll see me at the +_Green Man_," remarked Byner. "I shall just drop in, you know. You +needn't know me--if there's anybody about." + +"All right, sir--I understand," said Pickard. + +"Quiet's the word--what? Very good--much obliged to you, gentlemen." + +When the landlord had gone Eldrick motioned Byner to pick up his hat. +"Come across the street with me," he said. "I want us to have a +consultation with a friend of mine, a barrister, Mr. Collingwood. For +this matter is assuming a very queer aspect, and we can't move too +warily, nor consider all the features too thoroughly." + +Collingwood listened with deep interest to Eldrick's account of the +morning's events. And once again he was struck by the fact that all +these various happenings in connection with Pratt, and now with +Parrawhite, took place at the time of Antony Bartle's death, and he said +so. + +"True enough!" agreed Eldrick. + +"And once more," pointed out Collingwood. "We're hearing of a hold! +Pratt claims to have a hold on Mrs. Mallathorpe--now it turns out that +Parrawhite boasted of a hold on Pratt. Suppose all these things have a +common origin? Suppose the hold which Parrawhite had--or has--on Pratt +is part and parcel of the hold which Pratt has on Mrs. Mallathorpe? In +that case--or cases--what is the best thing to do?" + +"Will you gentlemen allow me to suggest something?" said Byner. "Very +well--find Parrawhite! Of all the people concerned in this, Parrawhite, +from your account of him, anyway, Mr. Eldrick, is the likeliest person +to extract the truth from." + +"There's a great deal in that suggestion," said Eldrick. "Do you know +what I think?" he went on, turning to Collingwood, "Mr. Byner tells me +he means to stay here until he has come across some satisfactory news of +Parrawhite or solved the mystery of his disappearance. Well, now that +we've found that there is some ground for believing that Parrawhite was +in some fashion mixed up with Pratt about that time, why not place the +whole thing in Mr. Byner's hands--let him in any case see what he can do +about the Parrawhite-Pratt business of November twenty-third, eh?" + +"I take it," answered Collingwood, looking at the inquiry agent, "that +Mr. Byner having heard what he has, would do that quite apart from us?" + +"Yes," said Byner. "Now that I've heard what Pickard had to say, I +certainly shall follow that up." + +"I am following out something of my own," said Collingwood, turning to +Eldrick. "I shall know more by this time tomorrow. Let us have a +conference here--at noon." + +They separated on that understanding, and Byner went his own ways. His +first proceeding was to visit, one after another, the Barford newspaper +offices, and to order the insertion in large type, and immediately, of +the Halstead-Byner advertisement for news of Parrawhite. His second was +to seek the General Post Office, where he wrote out and dispatched a +message to his partner in London. That message was in cypher--translated +into English, it read as follows:-- + + "If person named Pratt sends any communication to us _re_ + Parrawhite, on no account let him know I am in Barford, but + forward whatever he sends to me at once, addressed to H.D. + Black, Central Station Hotel." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +THE EYE-WITNESS + + +When Collingwood said that he was following out something of his own, he +was thinking of an interesting discovery which he had made. It was one +which might have no significance in relation to the present +perplexities--on the other hand, out of it might come a good deal of +illumination. Briefly, it was that on the evening before this +consultation with Eldrick & Byner, he had found out that he was living +in the house of a man who had actually witnessed the famous catastrophe +at Mallathorpe's Mill, whereby John Mallathorpe, his manager, and his +cashier, together with some other bystanders, had lost their lives. + +On settling down in Barford, Collingwood had spent a couple of weeks in +looking about him for comfortable rooms of a sort that appealed to his +love of quiet and retirement. He had found them at last in an old house +on the outskirts of the town--a fine old stone house, once a farmstead, +set in a large garden, and tenanted by a middle-aged couple, who having +far more room than they needed for themselves, had no objection to +letting part of it to a business gentleman. Collingwood fell in love +with this place as soon as he saw it. The rooms were large and full of +delightful nooks and corners; the garden was rich in old trees; from it +there were fine views of the valley beneath, and the heather-clad hills +in the distance; within two miles of the town and easily approached by a +convenient tram-route, it was yet quite out in the country. + +He was just as much set up by his landlady--a comfortable, middle-aged +woman, who fostered true Yorkshire notions about breakfast, and knew how +to cook a good dinner at night. With her Collingwood had soon come to +terms, and to his new abode had transferred a quantity of books and +pictures from London. He soon became acquainted with the domestic +menage. There was the landlady herself, Mrs. Cobcroft, who, having no +children of her own, had adopted a niece, now grown up, and a teacher in +an adjacent elementary school: there was a strapping, rosy-cheeked +servant-maid, whose dialect was too broad for the lodger to understand +more than a few words of it; finally there was Mr. Cobcroft, a +mild-mannered, quiet man who disappeared early in the morning, and was +sometimes seen by Collingwood returning home in the evening. + +Lately, with the advancing spring, this unobtrusive individual was seen +about the garden at the end of the day: Collingwood had so seen him on +the evening before the talk with Eldrick and Byner, busied in setting +seeds in the flower-beds. And he had asked Mrs. Cobcroft, just then in +his sitting-room, if her husband was fond of gardening. + +"It's a nice change for him, sir," answered the landlady. "He's kept +pretty close at it all day in the office yonder at Mallathorpe's Mill, +and it does him good to get a bit o' fresh air at nights, now that the +fine weather's coming on. That was one reason why we took this old +place--it's a deal better air here nor what it is in the town." + +"So your husband is at Mallathorpe's Mill, eh?" asked Collingwood. + +"Been there--in the counting-house--boy and man, over thirty years, +sir," replied Mrs. Cobcroft. + +"Did he see that terrible affair then--was it two years ago?" + +The landlady shook her head and let out a weighty sigh. + +"Aye, I should think he did!" she answered. "And a nice shock it gave +him, too!--he actually saw that chimney fall--him and another clerk were +looking out o' the counting-house window when it gave way." + +Collingwood said no more then--except to remark that such a sight must +indeed have been trying to the nerves. But for purposes of his own he +determined to have a talk with Cobcroft, and the next evening, seeing +him in his garden again, he went out to him and got into conversation, +and eventually led up to the subject of Mallathorpe's Mill, the new +chimney of which could be seen from a corner of the garden. + +"Your wife tells me," observed Collingwood, "that you were present when +the old chimney fell at the mill yonder?" + +Cobcroft, a quiet, unassuming man, usually of few words, looked along +the hillside at the new chimney, and nodded his head. A curious, +far-away look came into his eyes. + +"I was, sir!" he said. "And I hope I may never see aught o' that sort +again, as long as ever I live. It was one o' those things a man can +never forget!" + +"Don't talk about it if you don't want to," remarked Collingwood. "But +I've heard so much about that affair that----" + +"Oh, I don't mind talking about it," replied Cobcroft. He leaned over +the fence of his garden, still gazing at the mill in the distance. +"There were others that saw it, of course: lots of 'em. But I was close +at hand--our office was filled with the dust in a few seconds." + +"It was a sudden affair?" asked Collingwood. + +"It was one of those affairs," answered Cobcroft slowly, "that some folk +had been expecting for a long time--only nobody had the sense to see +that it might happen at some unexpected minute. It was a very old +chimney. It looked all right--stood plumb, and all that. But Mr. +Mallathorpe--my old master, Mr. John Mallathorpe, I'm talking of--he got +an idea from two or three little things, d'ye see, that it wasn't as +safe as it ought to be. And he got a couple of these professional +steeplejacks to examine it. They made a thorough examination, too--so +far as one could tell by what they did. They'd been at the job several +days when the accident happened. One of 'em had only just come down when +the chimney fell. Mr. Mallathorpe, himself, and his manager, and his +cashier, had just stepped out of the counting-house and crossed the yard +to hear what this man had got to say when--down it came! Not the +slightest warning at the time. It just--collapsed!" + +"You saw the actual collapse?" asked Collingwood. + +"Aye--didn't I?" exclaimed Cobcroft. "Another man and myself were +looking out of the office window, right opposite. It fell in the +queerest way--like this," he went on, holding up his garden-rake. +"Supposing this shaft was the chimney--standing straight up. As we +looked we saw it suddenly bulge out, on all sides--it was a square +chimney, same size all the way up till you got to the cornice at the +top--bulge out, d'ye see, just about half-way up--simultaneous, like. +Then--down it came with a roar that they heard over half the town! O' +course, there were some two or three thousands of tons of stuff in that +chimney--and when the dust was cleared a bit there it was in one great +heap, right across the yard. And it was a good job," concluded Cobcroft, +reflectively, "that it fell straight--collapsed in itself, as you might +say--for if it had fallen slanting either way, it 'ud ha' smashed right +through some of the sheds, and there'd ha' been a terrible loss of +life." + +"Mr. John Mallathorpe was killed on the spot, I believe?" suggested +Collingwood. + +"Aye--and Gaukrodger, and Marshall, and the steeplejack that had just +come down, and another or two," said Cobcroft. "They'd no chance--they +were standing in a group at the very foot, talking. They were all killed +there and then--instantaneous. Some others were struck and injured--one +or two died. Yes, sir,--I'm not very like to forget that!" + +"A terrible experience!" agreed Collingwood. "It would naturally fix +itself on your memory." + +"Aye--my memory's very keen about it," said Cobcroft. "I remember every +detail of that morning. And," he continued, showing a desire to become +reminiscent, "there was something happened that morning, before the +accident, that I've oft thought over and has oft puzzled me. I've never +said aught to anybody about it, because we Yorkshiremen we're not given +to talking about affairs that don't concern us, and after all, it was +none o' mine! But you're a law gentleman, and I dare say you get things +told to you in confidence now and then, and, of course, this is between +you and me. I'll not deny that I have oft thought that I would like to +tell it to a lawyer of some sort, and find out how it struck him." + +"Anything that you like to tell me, Mr. Cobcroft, I shall treat as a +matter of confidence--until you tell me it's no longer a secret," +answered Collingwood. + +"Why," continued Cobcroft, "it isn't what you rightly would call a +secret--though I don't think anybody knows aught about it but myself! It +was just this--and it may be there's naught in it but a mere fancy o' +mine. That morning, before the accident happened, I was in and out of +the private office a good deal--carrying in and out letters, and account +books, and so on. Mr. John Mallathorpe's private office, ye'll +understand, sir, opened out of our counting-house--as it does still--the +present manager, Mr. Horsfall, has it, just as it was. Well, now, on one +occasion, when I went in there, to take a ledger back to the safe, Mr. +Mallathorpe had his manager and cashier, Gaukrodger and Marshall in with +him. Mr. Mallathorpe, he always used a stand-up desk to write at--never +wrote sitting down, though he had a big desk in the middle of the room +that he used to sit at to look over accounts or talk to people. Now when +I went in, he and Gaukrodger and Marshall were all at this stand-up +desk--in the window-place--and they were signing some papers. At least +Gaukrodger had just signed a paper, and Marshall was taking the pen from +him. 'Sign there, Marshall,' says Mr. Mallathorpe. And then he went on, +'Now we'll sign this other--it's well to have these things in duplicate, +in case one gets lost.' And then--well, then, I went out, and--why, that +was all." + +"You've some idea in your mind about that," said Collingwood, who had +watched Cobcroft closely as he talked. "What is it?" + +Cobcroft smiled--and looked round as if to ascertain that they were +alone. "Why!" he answered in a low voice. "I'll tell you what I did +wonder--some time afterwards. I dare say you're aware--it was all in the +papers--that Mr. John Mallathorpe died intestate?" + +"Yes," asserted Collingwood. "I know that." + +"I've oft wondered," continued Cobcroft, "if that could ha' been his +will that they were signing! But then I reflected a bit on matters. And +there were two or three things that made me say naught at all--not a +word. First of all, I considered it a very unlikely thing that a rich +man like Mr. John Mallathorpe would make a will for himself. Second--I +remembered that very soon after I'd been in his private office Marshall +came out into the counting-house and gave the office lad a lot of +letters and documents to take to the post--some of 'em big +envelopes--and I thought that what I'd seen signed was some agreement or +other that was in one of them. And third--and most important--no will +was ever found in any of Mr. John Mallathorpe's drawers or safes or +anywhere, though they turned things upside down at the office, and, I +heard, at his house as well. Of course, you see, sir, supposing that to +have been a will--why, the only two men who could possibly have proved +it was were dead and gone! They were killed with him. And of course, the +young people, the nephew and niece, they came in for everything--so +there was an end of it. But--I've oft wondered what those papers were. +One thing is certain, anyway!" concluded Cobcroft, with a grim laugh, +"when those three signed 'em, they were picking up their pens for the +last time!" + +"How long was it--after you saw the signing of those papers--that the +accident occurred?" asked Collingwood. + +"It 'ud be twelve or fifteen minutes, as near as I can recollect," +replied Cobcroft. "A few minutes after I'd left the private office, +Gaukrodger came out of it, alone, and stood at the door leading into the +yard, looking up at the chimney. The steeple-jack was just coming down, +and his mate was waiting for him at the bottom. Gaukrodger turned back +to the private office and called Mr. Mallathorpe out. All three of 'em, +Mallathorpe, Gaukrodger, Marshall, went out and walked across the yard +to the chimney foot. They stood there talking a bit--and then--down it +came!" + +Collingwood thought matters over. Supposing that the document which +Cobcroft spoke of as being in process of execution before him were +indeed duplicate copies of a will. What could have been done with them, +in the few minutes which elapsed between the signing and the catastrophe +to the chimney? It was scarcely likely that John Mallathorpe would have +sent them away by post. If they had been deposited in his own pocket, +they would have been found when his clothing was removed and examined. +If they were in the private office when the three men left it---- + +"You're sure the drawers, safe and so on in Mr. Mallathorpe's room were +thoroughly searched--after his death?" he asked. + +"I should think they were!" answered Cobcroft laconically. "I helped at +that, myself. There wasn't as much as an old invoice that was not well +fingered and turned over. No!--I came to the conclusion that what I'd +seen signed was some contract or something--sent off there and then by +the lad to post." + +Collingwood made no further remark and asked no more questions. But he +thought long and seriously that night, and he came to certain +conclusions. First: what Cobcroft had seen signed was John Mallathorpe's +will. Second: John Mallathorpe had made it himself and had taken the +unusual course of making a duplicate copy. Third: John Mallathorpe had +probably slipped the copy into the _History of Barford_ which was in his +private office when he went out to speak to the steeple-jack. Fourth: +that copy had come into Linford Pratt's hands through Antony Bartle. + +And now arose two big questions. What were the terms of that will? +And--where was the duplicate copy? He was still putting these to himself +when noon of the next day came and brought Eldrick and Byner for the +promised serious consultation. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +THE _GREEN MAN_ + + +Byner, in taking his firm's advertisement for Parrawhite to the three +Barford newspaper offices, had done so with a special design--he wanted +Pratt to see that a serious wish to discover Parrawhite was alive in +more quarters than one. He knew that Pratt was almost certain to see +Eldrick's advertisement in his own name; now he wanted Pratt to see +another advertisement of the same nature in another name. Already he had +some suspicion that Pratt had not told Eldrick the truth about +Parrawhite, and that nothing would suit him so well as that Parrawhite +should never be heard of or mentioned again: now he wished Pratt to +learn that Parrawhite was much wanted, and was likely to be much +mentioned--wherefore the supplementary advertisements with Halstead & +Byner's name attached. It was extremely unlikely that Pratt could fail +to see those advertisements. + +There were three newspapers in Barford: one a morning journal of large +circulation throughout the county; the other two, evening journals, +which usually appeared in three or four editions. As Byner stipulated +for large type, and a prominent position, in the personal column of +each, it was scarcely within the bounds of probability that a townsman +like Pratt would miss seeing the advertisement. Most likely he would see +it in all three newspapers. And if he had also seen Eldrick's similar +advertisement, he would begin to think, and then---- + +"Why, then," mused Byner, ruminating on his design, "then we will see +what he will do!" + +Meanwhile, there was something he himself wanted to do, and on the +morning following his arrival in the town, he set out to do it. Byner +had been much struck by Pickard's account of his dealings with James +Parrawhite on the evening which appeared to be the very last wherein +Parrawhite was ever seen. He had watched the landlord of the _Green Man_ +closely as he told his story, and had set him down for an honest, if +somewhat sly and lumpish soul, who was telling a plain tale to the best +of his ability. Byner believed all the details of that story--he even +believed that when Parrawhite told Pickard that he would find him fifty +pounds that evening, or early next day, he meant to keep his word. In +the circumstances--as far as Byner could reckon them up from what he had +gathered--it would not have paid Parrawhite to do otherwise. Byner put +the situation to himself in this fashion--Pratt had got hold of some +secret which was being, or could be made to be, highly profitable to +him. Parrawhite had discovered this, and was in a position to blackmail +Pratt. Therefore Parrawhite would not wish to leave Pratt's +neighbourhood--so long as there was money to be got out of Pratt, +Parrawhite would stick to him like a leech. But if Parrawhite was to +abide peaceably in Barford, he must pay Pickard that little matter of +between fifty and sixty pounds. Accordingly, in Byner's opinion, +Parrawhite had every honest intention of returning to the _Green Man_ on +the evening of the twenty-third of November after having seen Pratt. +And, in Byner's further--and very seriously considered--opinion, the +whole problem for solution--possibly involving the solution of other and +more important problems--was this: Did Parrawhite meet Pratt that night, +and if he did what took place between them which prevented Parrawhite +from returning to Pickard? + +It was in an endeavour to get at some first stage of a solution of this +problem that Byner, having breakfasted at the _Central Hotel_ on his +second day in the town, went out immediately afterwards, asked his way +to Whitcliffe, and was directed to an electric tram which started from +the Town Hall Square, and after running through a district of tall +warehouses and squat weaving-sheds, began a long and steady climb to the +heights along the town. When he left it, he found himself in a district +eminently characteristic of that part of the country. The tram set him +down at a cross-roads on a high ridge of land. Beneath him lay Barford, +its towers and spires and the gables of its tall buildings showing +amongst the smoke of its many chimneys. All about him lay open ground, +broken by the numerous stone quarries of which Eldrick had spoken, and +at a little distance along one of the four roads at the intersection of +which he stood, he saw a few houses and cottages, one of which, taller +and bigger than the rest, was distinguished by a pole, planted in front +of its stone porch and bearing a swinging sign whereon was rudely +painted the figure of a man in Lincoln green. Byner walked on to this, +entered a flagged hall, and found himself confronting Pickard, who at +sight of him, motioned him into a little parlour behind the bar. + +"Mornin', mister," said he. "You'll be all right in here--there's nobody +about just now, and if my missis or any o' t' servant lasses sees yer, +they'll tak' yer for a brewer's traveller, or summat o' that sort. Come +to hev a look round, like--what?" + +"I want to have a look at the place where you told us Parrawhite was to +meet Pratt that night," replied Byner. "I thought you would perhaps be +kind enough to show me where it is." + +"I will, an' all--wi' pleasure," said the landlord, "but ye mun hev a +drop o' summat first--try a glass o' our ale," he went on, with true +Yorkshire hospitality. "I hev some bitter beer i' my cellar such as I'll +lay owt ye couldn't get t' likes on down yonder i' Barford--no, nor i' +London neyther!--I'll just draw a jug." + +Byner submitted to this evidence of friendliness, and Pickard, after +disappearing into a dark archway and down some deeply worn stone steps, +came back with a foaming jug, the sight of which seemed to give him +great delight. He gazed admiringly at the liquor which he presently +poured into two tumblers, and drew his visitor's attention to its +colour. + +"Reight stuff that, mister--what?" he said. "I nobbut tapped that barril +two days since, and I'd been keepin' it twelve month, so you've come in +for it at what they call t' opportune moment. I say!" he went on, after +pledging Byner and smacking his lips over the ale. "I heard summat last +night 'at might be useful to you and Lawyer Eldrick--about this here +Parrawhite affair." + +"Oh!" said Byner, at once interested. "What now?" + +"You'll ha' noticed, as you come along t' road just now, 'at there's a +deal o' stone quarries i' this neighbourhood?" replied Pickard. "Well, +now, of course, some o' t' quarry men comes in here. Last night theer +wor sev'ral on 'em i' t' bar theer, talkin', and one on 'em wor readin' +t' evenin' newspaper--t' _Barford Dispatch_. An' he read out that theer +advertisement about Parrawhite--wi' your address i' London at t' foot on +it. Well, theer wor nowt said, except summat about advertisin' for +disappeared folk, but later on, one o' t' men, a young man, come to me, +private like. 'I say, Pickard,' he says, 'between you an' me, worrn't t' +name o' that man 'at used to come in here on a Sunday sometimes, +Parrawhite? It runs a' my mind,' he says, ''at I've heerd you call him +by that name.' 'Well, an' what if it wor?' I says. 'Nay, nowt much,' he +says, 'but I see fro' t' _Dispatch_ 'at he's wanted, and I could tell a +bit about him,' he says. 'What could ye tell?' says I--just like that +theer. 'Why,' he says, 'this much--one night t' last back-end----'" + +"Stop a bit, Mr. Pickard," interrupted Byner. "What does that mean--that +term 'back-end'?" + +"Why, it means t' end o' t' year!" answered the landlord. "What some +folks call autumn, d'ye understand? 'One night t' last back-end,' says +this young fellow, 'I wor hengin' about on t' quiet at t' end o' Stubbs' +Lane,' he says: 'T' truth wor,' he says, 'I wor waitin' for a word wi' a +young woman 'at lives i' that terrace at t' top o' Stubbs' Lane--she wor +goin' to come out and meet me for half an hour or so. An,' he says, 'I +see'd that theer feller 'at I think I've heerd you call Parrawhite, come +out o' Stubbs' Lane wi' that lawyer chap 'at lives i' t' Terrace--Pratt. +I know Pratt,' he says, ''cause them 'at he works for--Eldricks--once +did a bit o' law business for me.' 'Where did you see 'em go to, then?' +says I. 'I see'd 'em cross t' road into t' owd quarry ground,' he says. +'I see'd 'em plain enough, tho' they didn't see me--I wor keepin' snug +agen 't wall--it wor a moonlit night, that,' he says. 'Well,' I says, +'an' what now?' 'Why,' he says, 'd'yer think I could get owt o' this +reward for tellin that theer?' So I thowt pretty sharp then, d'ye see, +mister. 'I'll tell yer what, mi lad,' I says. 'Say nowt to nobody--keep +your tongue still--and I'll tell ye tomorrow night what ye can do--I +shall see a man 'at's on that job 'tween now and then,' I says. So theer +it is," concluded Pickard, looking hard at Byner. "D'yer think this +chap's evidence 'ud be i' your line?" + +"Decidedly I do!" replied Byner. "Where is he to be found?" + +"I couldn't say wheer he lives," answered the landlord. "But it'll be +somewhere close about; anyway, he'll be in here tonight. Bill Thomson t' +feller's name is--decent young feller enough." + +"I must contrive to see him, certainly," said Byner. "Well, now, can you +show me this Stubbs' Lane and the neighbourhood?" + +"Just step along t' road a bit and I'll join you in a few o' minutes," +assented Pickard. "We'd best not be seen leavin t' house together, or +our folk'll think it's a put-up job. Walk forrard a piece." + +Byner strolled along the road a little way, and leaned over a wall until +Mr. Pickard, wearing his white billycock hat and accompanied by a fine +fox-terrier, lounged up with his thumbs in the armholes of his +waistcoat. Together they went a little further along. + +"Now then!" said the landlord, crossing the road towards the entrance of +a narrow lane which ran between two high stone walls. "This here is +Stubbs' Lane--so called, I believe, 'cause an owd gentleman named +similar used to hev a house here 'at's been pulled down. Ye see, it runs +up fro' this high-road towards yon terrace o' houses. Folks hereabouts +calls that terrace t' World's End, 'cause they're t' last houses afore +ye get on to t' open moorlands. Now, that night 'at Parrawhite wor +aimin' to meet Pratt, it wor i' this very lane. Pratt, when he left t' +tram-car, t' other side o' my place, 'ud come up t' road, and up this +lane. And it wor at t' top o' t' lane 'at Bill Thomson see'd Pratt and +Parrawhite cross into what Bill called t' owd quarry ground." + +"Can we go into that?" asked Byner. + +"Nowt easier!" said Pickard. "It's a sort of open space where t' childer +goes and plays about: they hev'n't worked no stone theer for many a long +year--all t' stone's exhausted, like." + +He led Byner along the lane to its further end, pointed out the place +where Thomson said he had seen Pratt and Parrawhite, and indicated the +terrace of houses in which Pratt lived. Then he crossed towards the old +quarries. + +"Don't know what they should want to come in here for--unless it wor to +talk very confidential," said Pickard. "But lor bless yer!--it 'ud be +quiet enough anywheer about this neighbourhood at that time o' neet. +However, this is wheer Bill Thomson says he see'd 'em come." + +He led the way amongst the disused quarries, and Byner, following, +climbed on a mound, now grown over with grass and weed, and looked about +him. To his town eyes the place was something novel. He had never seen +the like of it before. Gradually he began to understand it. The stone +had been torn out of the earth, sometimes in square pits, sometimes in +semi-circular ones, until the various veins and strata had become +exhausted. Then, when men went away, Nature had stepped in to assert her +rights. All over the despoiled region she had spread a new clothing of +green. Turf had grown on the flooring of the quarries; ivy and bramble +had covered the deep scars; bushes had sprung up; trees were already +springing. And in one of the worn-out excavations some man had planted a +kitchen-garden in orderly and formal rows and plots. + +"Dangerous place that there!" said Pickard suddenly. "If I'd known o' +that, I shouldn't ha' let my young 'uns come to play about here. They +might be tummlin' in and drownin' theirsens! I mun tell my missis to +keep 'em away!" + +Byner turned--to find the landlord pointing at the old shaft which had +gradually become filled with water. In the morning sunlight its surface +glittered like a plane of burnished metal, but when the two men went +nearer and gazed at it from its edge, the water was black and +unfathomable to the eye. + +"Goodish thirty feet o' water in that there!" surmised Pickard. "It's +none safe for childer to play about--theer's nowt to protect 'em. Next +time I see Mestur Shepherd I shall mak' it my business to tell him so; +he owt either to drain that watter off or put a fence around it." + +"Is Mr. Shepherd the property-owner?" asked Byner. + +"Aye!--it's all his, this land," answered Pickard. He pointed to a +low-roofed house set amidst elms and chestnuts, some distance off across +the moor. "Lives theer, does Mestur Shepherd--varry well-to-do man, he +is." + +"How could that water be drained off?" asked Byner with assumed +carelessness. + +"Easy enough!" replied Pickard. "Cut through yon ledge, and let it run +into t' far quarry there. A couple o' men 'ud do that job in a day." + +Byner made no further remark. He and Pickard strolled back to the _Green +Man_ together. And declining the landlord's invitation to step inside +and take another glass, but promising to see him again very soon, the +inquiry agent walked on to the tram-car and rode down to Barford to keep +his appointment with Eldrick and Collingwood at the barrister's +chambers. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +THE DIRECT CHARGE + + +While Byner was pursuing his investigations in the neighbourhood of the +_Green Man_, Collingwood was out at Normandale Grange, discussing +certain matters with Nesta Mallathorpe. He had not only thought long and +deeply over his conversation with Cobcroft the previous evening, but had +begun to think about the crucial point of the clerk's story as soon as +he spoke in the morning, and the result of his meditations was that he +rose early, intercepted Cobcroft before he started for Mallathorpe's +Mill and asked his permission to re-tell the story to Miss Mallathorpe. +Cobcroft raised no objection, and when Collingwood had been to his +chambers and seen his letters, he chartered a car and rode out to +Normandale where he told Nesta of what he had learned and of his own +conclusions. And Nesta, having listened carefully to all he had to tell, +put a direct question to him. + +"You think this document which Pratt told me he holds is my late uncle's +will?" she said. "What do you suppose its terms to be?" + +"Frankly--these, or something like these," replied Collingwood. "And I +get at my conclusions in this way. Your uncle died intestate--consequently, +everything in the shape of real estate came to your brother and everything +in personal property to your brother and yourself. Now, supposing that +the document which Pratt boasts of holding is the will, one fact is very +certain--the property, real or personal, is not disposed of in the way +in which it became disposed of because of John Mallathorpe's intestacy. +He probably disposed of it in quite another fashion. Why do I think that? +Because the probability is that Pratt said to your mother, 'I have got +John Mallathorpe's will! It doesn't leave his property to your son and +daughter. Therefore, I have all of you at my mercy. Make it worth my +while, or I will bring the will forward.' Do you see that situation?" + +"Then," replied Nesta, after a moment's reflection, "you do think that +my mother was very anxious to get that document--a will--from Pratt?" + +Collingwood knew what she was thinking of--her mind was still uneasy +about Pratt's account of the affair of the foot-bridge. But--the matter +had to be faced. + +"I think your mother would naturally be very anxious to secure such a +document," he said. "You must remember that according to Pratt's story +to you, she tried to buy it from him--just as you did yourself, though +you, of course, had no idea of what it was you wanted to buy." + +"What I wanted to buy," she answered readily, "was necessity from +further interference! But--is there no way of compelling Pratt to give +up that document--whatever it is? Can't he be made to give it up?" + +"A way is may be being made, just now--through another affair," replied +Collingwood. "At present matters are vague. One couldn't go to Pratt and +demand something at which one is, after all, only guessing. Your mother, +of course, would deny that she knows what it is that Pratt holds. +But--there is the possibility of the duplicate to which Cobcroft +referred. Now, I want to put the question straight to you--supposing +that duplicate will can be found--and supposing--to put it plainly---its +terms dispossess you of all your considerable property--what then?" + +"Do you want the exact truth?" she asked. "Well, then, I should just +welcome anything that cleared up all this mystery! What is it at +present, this situation, but intolerable? I know that my +mother is in Pratt's power, and likely to remain so as long as ever this +goes on--probably for life. She will not give me her confidence. What is +more, I am certain that she is giving it to Esther Mawson--who is most +likely hand-in-glove with Pratt. Esther Mawson is always with her. I am +almost sure that she communicates with Pratt through Esther Mawson. It +is all what I say--intolerable! I had rather lose every penny that has +come into my hands than have this go on." + +"Answer me a plain question," said Collingwood. "Is your mother fond of +money, position--all that sort of thing?" + +"She is fond of power!" replied Nesta. "It pleased her greatly when we +came into all this wealth to know that she was the virtual +administrator. Even if she could only do it by collusion with Pratt, she +would make a fight for all that she--and I--hold. It's useless to deny +that. Don't forget," she added, looking appealingly at Collingwood, +"don't forget that she has known what it was to be poor--and if one does +come into money--I suppose one doesn't want to lose it again." + +"Oh, it's natural enough!" agreed Collingwood. "But--if things are as I +think, Pratt would be an incubus, a mill-stone, for ever. Anyway, I came +out to tell you what I've learned, and what I have an idea may be the +truth, and above all, to get your definite opinion. You want the Pratt +influence out of the way--at any cost?" + +"At any cost!" she affirmed. "Even if I have to go back to earning my +own living! Whatever pleasure in life could there be for me, knowing +that at the back of all this there is that--what?" + +"Pratt!" answered Collingwood. "Pratt! He's the shadow--with his deep +schemes. However, as I said--there may be--developing at this +moment--another way of getting at Pratt. Gentlemen like Pratt, born +schemers, invariably forget one very important factor in life--the +unexpected! Even the cleverest and most subtle schemer may have his +delicate machinery broken to pieces by a chance bit of mere dust getting +into it at an unexpected turn of the wheels. And to turn to plainer +language--I'm going back to Barford now to hear what another man has to +say concerning certain of Pratt's recent movements." + +Eldrick was already waiting when Collingwood reached his chambers: Byner +came there a few moments later. Within half an hour the barrister had +told his story of Cobcroft, and the inquiry agent his of his visit to +the _Green Man_ and the quarries. And the solicitor listened quietly and +attentively to both, and in the end turned to Collingwood. + +"I'll withdraw my opinion about the nature of the document which Pratt +got hold of," he said. "What he's got is what you think--John +Mallathorpe's will!" + +"If I may venture an opinion," remarked Byner, "that's dead certain!" + +"And now," continued Eldrick, "we're faced with a nice situation! Don't +either of you forget this fact. Not out of willingness on her part, but +because she's got to do it, Mrs. Mallathorpe and Pratt are partners in +that affair. He's got the will--but she knows its contents. She'll pay +any price to Pratt to keep them from ever becoming known or operative. +But, as I say, don't you forget something!" + +"What?" asked Collingwood. + +Eldrick tapped the edge of the table, emphasizing his words as he spoke +them. + +"They can destroy that will whenever they like!" he said. "And once +destroyed, nothing can absolutely prove that it ever existed!" + +"The duplicate?" suggested Collingwood. + +"Nothing to give us the faintest idea as to its existence!" said +Eldrick. + +"We might advertise," said Collingwood. + +"Lots of advertising was done when John Mallathorpe died," replied the +solicitor. "No!--if any person had had it in possession, it would have +turned up then. It may be--probably is--possibly must be--somewhere--and +may yet come to light. But--there's another way of getting at Pratt. +Through this Parrawhite affair. Pratt most likely had not the least +notion that he would ever hear of Parrawhite again. He is going to hear +of Parrawhite again! I am convinced now that Parrawhite knew something +about this, and that Pratt squared him and got him away. Aren't you?" he +asked, turning to Byner. + +But Byner smiled quietly and shook his head. + +"No!" he answered. "I am not, Mr. Eldrick." + +"You're not?" exclaimed Eldrick, surprised and wondering that anybody +could fail to agree with him. + +"Why not, then?" + +"Because," replied Byner. "I am certain that Pratt murdered Parrawhite +on the night of November twenty-third last. That's why. He didn't square +him. He didn't get him away. He killed him!" + +The effect of this straightforward pronouncement of opinion on the two +men who heard it was strikingly different. Collingwood's face at once +became cold and inscrutable; his lips fixed themselves sternly; his eyes +looked hard into a problematic future. But Eldrick flushed as if a +direct accusation had been levelled at himself, and he turned on the +inquiry agent almost impatiently. + +"Murder!" he exclaimed. "Oh, come! I--really, that's rather a stiff +order! I dare say Pratt's been up to all sorts of trickery, and even +deviltry--but murder is quite another thing. You're pretty ready to +accuse him!" + +Byner moved his head in Collingwood's direction--and Eldrick turned and +looked anxiously at Collingwood, who, finding the eyes of both men on +him, opened his hitherto tight-shut lips. + +"I think it quite likely!" he said. + +Byner laughed softly and looked at the solicitor. + +"Just listen to me a minute or two, Mr. Eldrick," he said. "I'll sum up +my own ideas on this matter, got from the various details that have been +supplied to me since I came to Barford. Just consider my points one by +one. Let's take them separately--and see how they fit in. + +"1. Mr. Bartle is seen by his shop-boy to take a certain paper from a +book which came from the late John Mallathorpe's office at Mallathorpe +Mill. He puts that paper in his pocket. + +"2. Immediately afterwards Mr. Bartle goes to your office. Nobody is +there but Pratt--as far as Pratt knows. + +"3. Bartle dies suddenly--after telling Pratt that the paper is John +Mallathorpe's will. Pratt steals the will. And the probability is that +Parrawhite, unknown to Pratt, was in that office, and saw him steal it. +Why is that probable? Because-- + +"4. Next night Parrawhite, who is being pressed for money by Pickard, +tells Pickard that he can get it out of Pratt, over whom he has a hold. +What hold? We can imagine what hold. Anyway-- + +"5. Parrawhite leaves Pickard to meet Pratt. He did meet Pratt--in +Stubbs' Lane. He was seen to go with Pratt into the disused quarry. And +there, in my opinion, Pratt killed him--and disposed of his body. + +"6. What does Pratt do next? He goes to your office first thing next +morning, and removes certain moneys which you say you carelessly left in +your desk the night before, and tears out certain cheque forms from your +book. When Parrawhite never turns up that morning, you--and +Pratt--conclude that he's the thief, and that he's run away. + +"7. If you want some proof of the correctness of this last suggestion, +you'll find it in the fact that no use has ever been made of those blank +cheques, and that--in all probability--the stolen bank-notes have never +reached the Bank of England. On that last point I'm making inquiry--but +my feeling is that Pratt destroyed both cheques and bank-notes when he +stole them. + +"8. This man Parrawhite out of the way, Pratt has a clear field. He's +got the will. He's already acquainted Mrs. Mallathorpe with that fact, +and with the terms of the will--whatever they may be. We may be sure, +however, that they are of such a nature as to make her willing to agree +to his demands upon her--and, accidentally, to go to any lengths--upon +which we needn't touch, at present--towards getting possession of the +will from him. + +"9. And the present situation--from Pratt's standpoint of yesterday--is +this. He's so sure of his own safety that he doesn't mind revealing to +the daughter that the mother's in his power. Why? Because Pratt, like +most men of his sort, cannot believe that self-interest isn't paramount +with everybody--it's beyond him to conceive it possible that Miss +Mallathorpe would do anything that might lose her several thousands a +year. He argued--'So long as I hold that will, nobody and nothing can +make me give it up nor divulge its contents. But I can bind one person +who benefits by it--Miss Mallathorpe, and for the mother's sake I can +keep the daughter quiet!' Well--he hasn't kept the daughter quiet! +She--spoke! + +"10. And last--in all such schemes as Pratt's, the schemer invariably +forgets something. Pratt forgot that there might arise what actually has +arisen--inquiry for Parrawhite. The search for Parrawhite is afoot--and +if you want to get at Pratt, it will have to be through what I firmly +believe to be a fact--his murder of Parrawhite and his disposal of +Parrawhite's body. + +"That's all, Mr. Eldrick," concluded Byner who had spoken with much +emphasis throughout. "It all seems very clear to me, and," he added, +with a glance at Collingwood, "I think Mr. Collingwood is inclined to +agree with most of what I've said." + +"Pretty nearly all--if not all," assented Collingwood. "I think you've +put into clear language precisely what I feel. I don't believe there's a +shadow of doubt that Pratt killed Parrawhite! And we can--and must--get +at him in that way. What do you suggest?" he continued, turning to +Byner. "You have some idea, of course?" + +"First of all," answered Byner, "we mustn't arouse any suspicion on +Pratt's part. Let us work behind the screen. But I have an idea as to +how he disposed of Parrawhite, and I'm going to follow it up this very +day--my first duty, you know, is towards the people who want Parrawhite, +or proof of his death. I propose to----" + +Just then Collingwood's clerk came in with a telegram. + +"Sent on from the _Central Hotel_, sir," he answered. "They said Mr. +Black would be found here." + +"That's mine," said the inquiry agent. "I left word at the hotel that +they were to send to your chambers if any wire came for me. Allow me." +He opened the telegram, looked it over, and waiting until the clerk had +gone, turned to his companions. "Here's a message from my partner, Mr. +Halstead," he continued. "Listen to what he wires: + + "'Wire just received from Murgatroyd, shipping agent, Peel Row, + Barford. He says Parrawhite left that town for America on + November 24th last and offers further information. Let me know + what to reply!'" + +Byner laid the message before Eldrick and Collingwood without further +comment. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + +THE CAT'SPAW + + +On the evening of the day whereon Nesta Mallathorpe had paid him the +visit which had resulted in so much plain speech on both sides, Pratt +employed his leisure in a calm review of the situation. He was by no +means dissatisfied, it seemed to him that everything was going very well +for his purposes. He was not at all sorry that Nesta had been to see +him--far from it. He regretted nothing that he had said to her. In his +desperate opinion, his own position was much stronger when she left +him than it was when he opened his office door to her. She now knew, +said Pratt, with what a strong and resourceful man she had to deal: she +would respect him, and have a better idea of him, now that she was aware +of his impregnable position. + +Herein Pratt's innate vanity and his ignorance showed themselves. He had +little knowledge of modern young women, and few ideas about them; and +such ideas as he possessed were usually mistaken ones. But one was that +it is always necessary to keep a firm hand on women--let them see and +feel your power, said Pratt. He had been secretly delighted to acquaint +Nesta Mallathorpe with his power, to drive it into her that he had the +whip hand of her mother, and through her mother, of Nesta herself. He +had seen that Nesta was much upset and alarmed by what he told her. And +though she certainly seemed to recover her spirits at the end of the +interview, and even refused to shake hands with him, he cherished the +notion that in the war of words he had come off a decided victor. He did +not believe that Nesta would utter to any other soul one word of what +had passed between them: she would be too much afraid of calling down +his vengeance on her mother. What he did believe was that as time went +by, and all progressed smoothly, Nesta would come to face and accept +facts: she would find him honest and hardworking in his dealings with +Mrs. Mallathorpe (as he fully intended to be, from purely personal and +selfish motives) and she herself would begin to tolerate and then to +trust him, and eventually--well, who knew what might or might not +happen? What said the great Talleyrand?--WITH TIME AND PATIENCE, THE +MULBERRY LEAF IS TURNED INTO SATIN. + +But Pratt's self-complacency received a shock next morning. If he had +been a reader of London newspapers, it would have received a shock the +day before. Pratt, however, was essentially parochial in his newspaper +tastes--he never read anything but the Barford papers. And when he +picked up the Barford morning journal and saw Eldrick's advertisement +for Parrawhite in a prominent place, he literally started from sheer +surprise--not unmingled with alarm. It was as if he were the occupant of +a strong position, only fortified, who suddenly finds a shell dropped +into his outworks from a totally unexpected quarter. + +Parrawhite! Advertised for by Eldrick! Why? For what reason? For what +purpose? With what idea? Parrawhite!--of all men in the +world--Parrawhite, of whom he had never wanted to hear again! And what +on earth could Eldrick want with him, or with news of him? It would +be--or might be--an uncommonly awkward thing for him, Pratt, if a really +exhaustive search were made for Parrawhite. For nobody knew better than +himself that one little thing leads to another, and--but he forbore to +follow out what might have been his train of thought. Once he was +tempted to make an excuse for going round to Eldrick & Pascoe's with the +idea of fishing for information--but he refrained. Let things +develop--that was a safer plan. Still, he was anxious and disturbed all +day. Then, towards the end of the afternoon, he bought one of the +Barford evening papers--and saw, in staring letters, the advertisement +which Byner had caused to be inserted only a few hours previously. And +at that, Pratt became afraid. + +Parrawhite wanted!--news of Parrawhite wanted!--and in two separate +quarters. Wanted by Eldrick--wanted by some London people! What in the +name of the devil did it mean? At any rate, he must see to himself. One +thing was certain--no search for Parrawhite must be permitted in +Barford. + +That evening, instead of going home to dinner, Pratt remained in town, +and dined at a quiet restaurant. When he dined, he thought, and planned, +and schemed--and after treating himself very well in the matter of food +and drink, he lighted a cigar, returned to his new offices, opened a +safe which he had just set up, and took from a drawer in it a hundred +pounds in bank-notes. With these in his pocket-book he went off to a +quiet part of the town--the part in which James Parrawhite had lodged +during his stay in Barford. + +Pratt turned into a somewhat mean and shabby street--a street of small, +poor-class shops. He went forward amongst them until he came to one +which, if anything, was meaner and shabbier than the others and bore +over its window the name Reuben Murgatroyd--Watchmaker and Jeweller. +There were few signs of jewellery in Reuben Murgatroyd's window--some +cheap clocks, some foreign-made watches of the five-shilling and +seven-and-six variety, a selection of flashy rings and chains were +spread on the shelves, equally cheap and flashy bangles, bracelets, and +brooches lay in dust-covered trays on the sloping bench beneath them. At +these things Pratt cast no more than a contemptuous glance. But he +looked with interest at the upper part of the window, in which were +displayed numerous gaily-coloured handbills and small posters relating +to shipping--chiefly in the way of assisted passages to various parts of +the globe. These set out that you could get an assisted passage to +Canada for so much; to Australia for not much more--and if the bills and +posters themselves did not tell you all you wanted to know, certain big +letters at the foot of each invited you to apply for further information +to Mr. R. Murgatroyd, agent, within. And Pratt pushed open the shop-door +and walked inside. + +An untidily dressed, careworn, anxious-looking man came forward from a +parlour at the rear of his shop. At sight of Pratt--who in the course of +business had once served him with a writ--his pale face flushed, and +then whitened, and Pratt hastened to assure him of his peaceful errand. + +"All right, Mr. Murgatroyd," he said. "Nothing to be alarmed about--I'm +out of that line, now--no papers of that sort tonight. I've a bit of +business I can put in your hands--profitable business. Look here!--have +you got a quarter of an hour to spare?" + +Murgatroyd, who looked greatly relieved to find that his visitor had +neither writ nor summons for him, glanced at his parlour door. + +"I was just going to put the shutters up, and sit down to a bite of +supper, Mr. Pratt," he answered. "Will you come in, sir?" + +"No--you come out with me," said Pratt. "Come round to the _Coach and +Horses_, and have a drink and we can talk. You'll have a better appetite +for your supper when you come back," he added, with a wink. "I've a +profitable job for you." + +"Glad to hear it, sir," replied Murgatroyd. "I can do with aught of that +sort, I assure you!" He went into the parlour, said a word or two to +some person within, and came out again. "Not much business doing at +present, Mr. Pratt," he said, as he and his visitor turned into the +street. "Gets slacker than ever." + +"Then you'll do with a slice of good luck," remarked Pratt. "It just +happens that I can put a bit in your way." + +He led Murgatroyd to the end of the street, where stood a corner tavern, +into a side-door of which Pratt turned as if he were well acquainted +with the geography of the place. Walking down a narrow passage he +conducted his companion into a small parlour, at that moment untenanted, +pointed him to a seat in the corner, and rang the bell. Five minutes +later, having provided Murgatroyd with rum and water and a cigar, he +turned on him with a direct question. + +"Look here!" he said in a low voice. "Would a hundred pounds be any use +to you?" + +Murgatroyd's cheeks flushed. + +"It 'ud be a fortune!" he answered with fervour. "A hundred pound! Lor' +bless you, Mr. Pratt, it's many a year since I saw a hundred pound--of +my own--all in one lump!" + +Pratt pulled out his roll of bank-notes, fluttered it in his companion's +face, laid it on the table, and set an ashtray on it. + +"There's a hundred pounds there!" he said, "It's yours to pick up--if +you'll do a little job for me. Easy job, too!--you'll never earn a +hundred pounds so easy in your life!" + +Murgatroyd pricked up his ears. According to his ideas, money easily +come by was seldom honestly earned. He stirred uncomfortably in his +seat. + +"So long as it's a straight job," he muttered. "I don't want----" + +"Straight enough--as straight as it's easy," answered Pratt. "It may +seem a bit mysterious, but there's reasons for that. I give you my word +it's all right--all a mere bit of diplomacy--and that nobody'll ever +know you're in it--that is, beyond a certain stage--and that there's no +danger to you." + +"What is it?" asked Murgatroyd, still uneasy and doubtful. + +Pratt pulled the evening paper out of his pocket and showed Murgatroyd +the advertisement signed Halstead & Byner. + +"You see that?" he said. "Information wanted about Parrawhite. Do you +remember Parrawhite? He once served you with some papers in that affair +in which we were against you." + +"I remember him," answered Murgatroyd. "I've seen him in here now and +again. So he's wanted, is he? I didn't know he'd left the town." + +"Left last November," said Pratt. "And--there are folks--influential +folks, as you can guess, seeing that they can throw a hundred pounds +away!--who don't want any inquiries made for him in Barford. They don't +mind--those folks--how many inquiries and searches are made for him +anywhere else, but--not here!" + +"Well?" asked Murgatroyd anxiously. + +"This is it," replied Pratt. "You do a bit now and then as agent for +some of these shipping lines. You book passages for emigrants--and for +other people, going to New Zealand or Canada or Timbuctoo--never mind +where. Now then--couldn't you remember--I'm sure you could--that you +booked a passage for Parrawhite to America last November? Come! It's an +easy matter to remember is that--for a hundred pounds." + +Murgatroyd's thin fingers trembled a little as he picked up his glass. +"What do you want me to do--exactly?" he asked. + +"This!" said Pratt. "I want you, tomorrow morning, early, to send a +telegram to these people, Halstead & Byner, St. Martin's Chambers, +London, just saying that James Parrawhite left Barford for America on +November 24th last, and that you can give further information if +necessary." + +"And what if it is necessary?" inquired Murgatroyd. + +"Then--in answer to any letter or telegram of inquiry--you'll just say +that you knew Parrawhite by sight as a clerk at Eldrick & Pascoe's in +this town, that on November 23rd he told you that he was going to +emigrate to America, that next day you booked him his passage, for which +he paid you whatever it was, and that he thereupon set off for +Liverpool. See?" + +"It's all lies, you know," muttered Murgatroyd. + +"Nobody can find 'em out, anyway," replied Pratt. "That's the one +important thing to consider. You're safe! And if you're cursed with a +conscience and it's tender--well, that'll make a good plaister for it!" + +He pointed to the little wad of bank-notes--and the man sitting at his +side followed the pointing finger with hungry eyes. Murgatroyd wanted +money badly. His business, always poor, was becoming worse: his shipping +agency rarely produced any result: his rent was in arrears: he owed +money to his neighbour-tradesmen: he had a wife and young children. To +such a man, a hundred pounds meant relief, comfort, the lifting of +pressure. + +"You're sure there's naught wrong in it, Mr. Pratt," he asked abruptly +and assiduously. "It 'ud be a bad job for my family if anything happened +to me, you know." + +"There's naught that will happen," answered Pratt confidently. "Who on +earth can contradict you? Who knows what people you sell passages +to--but yourself?" + +"There's the folks themselves," replied Murgatroyd. "Suppose Parrawhite +turns up?" + +"He won't!" exclaimed Pratt. + +"You know where he is?" suggested Murgatroyd. + +"Not exactly," said Pratt, "But--he's left this country for +another--further off than America. That's certain! And--the folks I +referred to don't want any inquiry about him here." + +"If I am asked questions--later--am I to say he booked in his own name?" +inquired Murgatroyd. + +"No--name of Parsons," responded Pratt. "Here, I'll write down for you +exactly what I want you to say in the telegram to Halstead & Byner, and +I'll make a few memoranda for you--to post you up in case they write for +further information." + +"I haven't said that I'll do it," remarked Murgatroyd. "I don't like the +looks of it. It's all a pack of lies." + +Pratt paid no heed to this moral reflection. He found some loose paper +in his pocket and scribbled on it for a while. Then, as if accidentally, +he moved the ash-tray, and the bank-notes beneath it, all new, gave +forth a crisp, rustling sound. + +"Here you are!" said Pratt, pushing notes and memoranda towards his +companion. "Take the brass, man!--you don't get a job like that every +day." + +And Murgatroyd put the money in his pocket, and presently went home, +persuading himself that everything would be all right. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + +SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN + + +Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over +Halstead's telegram. He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded +in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction. + +"There!--what did I tell you?" he exclaimed. "There's been no murder! +The man left the town. Probably, Pratt helped him off. Couldn't have +better proof than that wire!" + +"What do you take that wire to prove, then, Mr. Eldrick?" asked Byner. + +"Take it to prove!" answered Eldrick. "Why, that Parrawhite booked a +passage to America with this man Murgatroyd, last November. Clear +enough, that!" + +"What do you take it to prove, Mr. Collingwood?" continued the inquiry +agent, as he turned to the barrister with a smile. + +"Before I take it for anything," replied Collingwood, "I want to know +who Murgatroyd is." + +Byner looked at Eldrick and laughed. + +"Precisely!" he said. "Who is Murgatroyd? Perhaps Mr. Eldrick knows." + +"I do just know that he's a man who carries on a small watch and clock +business in a poorish part of the town, and that he has some sort of a +shipping agency," answered Eldrick. "But--do you mean to imply that +whatever message it is that he's sent to your partner in London this +morning has not been sent in good faith?" + +"I don't imply anything," answered Byner. "All I say is--before I attach +any value to his message I, like Collingwood, want to know something +about the sender. He may have been put up to sending it. He may be in +collusion with somebody. Now, Mr. Eldrick, you can come in +here--strongly! I don't want to be seen in this affair--yet. Will you go +and see Murgatroyd? Tell him his wire to Halstead & Byner in London has +been communicated to you here. Ask him for further particulars--and then +drop in on me at my hotel and tell me what you've learnt. I'll be found +in the smoking-room there any time after two-thirty onward." + +Eldrick's intense curiosity in what was rapidly becoming a fascinating +mystery to him, led him to accept this embassy. And a little before +three o'clock he walked into the smoking-room at the _Central Hotel_ and +discovered Byner in a comfortable corner. + +"I've seen Murgatroyd," he whispered, as he took an adjacent chair. +"Decent honest enough man--very poor, I should say. He tells a plain +enough story. Parrawhite, whom he knew as one of our clerks, told him, +last November 23rd----" + +"He was exact about dates, then, was he?" interrupted Byner. + +"He mentioned them readily enough," replied the solicitor. "But to go +on--Parrawhite mentioned to him, November 23rd last, that he wanted to +go to America at once, Murgatroyd told him about bookings. Parrawhite +called very early next morning, paid for his passage under the name of +Parsons, and went off--en route for Liverpool, of course. So--there you +are!" + +"That's all Murgatroyd could tell?" inquired Byner. + +"That's all he knows," answered Eldrick. + +"You say Murgatroyd knew Parrawhite as one of your clerks?" asked Byner +after a moment's thought. + +"We had some process in hand against this man last autumn," replied +Eldrick. "I dare say Parrawhite served him with papers." + +"Would he--Murgatroyd--be likely to know Pratt?" continued Byner. + +"He might--in the same connection," admitted Eldrick. + +Byner smoked in silence for a while. + +"Do you know what I think, Mr. Eldrick?" he said at last. "I think Pratt +put up Murgatroyd to sending that telegram to us in London this +morning." + +"You do!" exclaimed Eldrick. + +"Surely! And now," continued the inquiry agent, "if you will, you can do +more--much more--without appearing to do anything. Pratt's office is +only a few minutes away. Can you drop in there, making some excuse, and +while there, mention, more or less casually, that Parrawhite, or +information about him, is wanted; that you and a certain Halstead & +Byner are advertising for him; that you've just seen Murgatroyd in +respect of a communication which he wired to Halstead's this morning, +and that--most important of all--a fortune of twenty thousand pounds is +awaiting Parrawhite! Don't forget the last bit of news." + +"Why that particularly?" asked Eldrick. + +"Because," answered Byner solemnly, "I want Pratt to know that the +search for Parrawhite is going to be a thorough one!" + +Eldrick went off on his second mission, promising to return in due +course. Within a few minutes he was in Pratt's office, talking over some +unimportant matter of business which he had invented as he went along. +It was not until he was on the point of departure that he referred to +the real reason of his visit. + +"Did you notice that Parrawhite is being advertised for?" he asked, +suddenly turning on his old clerk. + +Pratt was ready for this--had been ready ever since Eldrick walked in. +He affected a fine surprise. + +"Parrawhite!" he exclaimed. "Why--who's advertising for him?" + +"Don't you see the newspapers?" asked Eldrick, pointing to some which +lay about the room. "It's in there--there's an advertisement of mine, +and one of Halstead & Byner's, of London." + +Pratt picked up a Barford paper and looked at the advertisements with a +clever affectation of having never seen them before. + +"I haven't had much time for newspaper reading this last day or two," he +remarked. "Advertisements for him--from two quarters!" + +"Acting together--acting together, you know!" replied Eldrick. "It's +those people who really want him--Halstead & Byner, inquiry agents, +working for a firm of City solicitors. I'm only local agent--as it +were." + +"Had any response, Mr. Eldrick?" asked Pratt, throwing aside the paper. +"Any one come forward?" + +"Yes," answered Eldrick, watching Pratt narrowly without seeming to do +so. "This morning, a man named Murgatroyd, in Peel Row, who does a bit +of shipping agency, wired to Halstead & Byner to say that he booked +Parrawhite to New York last November. Of course, they at once +communicated with me, and I've just been to see Murgatroyd. He's that +man--watchmaker--we had some proceedings against last year." + +"Oh, that man!" said Pratt. "Thought the name was familiar. I remember +him. And what does he say?" + +"Just about as much as--and little more than--he said in his wire to +London," replied Eldrick. "Booked Parrawhite to America November 24th +last, and believes he left for Liverpool there and then." + +"Ah!" remarked Pratt, "That explains it, then?" + +"Explains--what?" asked Eldrick. + +Pratt gave his old employer a look--confidential and significant. + +"Explains why he took that money out of your desk," he said. "You +remember--forty odd pounds. He'd use some of that for his passage-money. +America eh? Now--I suppose he's vanished for good, then--it's not very +likely he'll ever be heard of from across there." + +Eldrick laughed--meaningly, of set purpose. + +"We don't know that he's gone there," he observed. "He mightn't get +beyond Liverpool, you know. Anyhow, we're going to make a very good +search for him here in Barford, first. We've nothing but Murgatroyd's +word for his having set out for Liverpool." + +"What's he wanted for?" asked Pratt as unconcernedly as possible. "Been +up to something?" + +"No," answered Eldrick, as he turned on his heel. "A relation has left +him twenty thousand pounds. That's what he's wanted for--and why he must +be found--or his death proved." + +He gave Pratt another quick glance and went off--to return to the hotel +and Byner, to whom he at once gave a faithful account of what had just +taken place. + +"And he didn't turn a hair," he remarked. "Cool as a cucumber, all +through! If your theory is correct, Pratt's a cleverer hand than I ever +took him for--and I've always said he was clever." + +"Didn't show anything when you mentioned Murgatroyd?" asked Byner. + +"Not a shred of a thing!" replied Eldrick. + +"Nor when you spoke of the twenty thousand pounds?" + +"No more than what you might call polite and interested surprise!" + +Byner laughed, threw away the end of a cigar, and rose out of his +lounging posture. + +"Now, Mr. Eldrick," he said, leaning close to the solicitor, "between +ourselves, do you know what I'm going to do--next--which means at once?" + +"No," replied Eldrick. + +"The police!" whispered Byner. "That's my next move. Just now! Within a +few minutes. So--will you give me a couple of notes--one to the +principal man here--chief constable, or police superintendent, or +whatever he is; and another to the best detective there is here--in your +opinion. They'll save me a lot of trouble." + +"Of course--if you wish it," answered Eldrick. "But you don't mean to +say you're going to have Pratt arrested--on what you know up to now?" + +"Not at all!" replied Byner. "Much too soon! All I want is--detective +help of the strictly professional kind. No--we'll give Mr. Pratt a +little more rope yet--for another four-and-twenty-hours, say. But--it'll +come! Now, who is the best local detective--a quiet, steady fellow who +knows how to do his work unobtrusively?" + +"Prydale's the man!" said Eldrick "Detective-Sergeant Prydale--I've had +reason to employ him, more than once. I'll give you a note to him, and +one to Superintendent Waterson." + +He went over to a writing-table and scribbled a few lines on half-sheets +of notepaper which he enclosed in envelopes and handed to Byner. + +"I don't know what line you're taking," he said, "nor where it's going +to end--exactly. But I do know this--Pratt never turned a hair when I +let out all that to him." + +But if Eldrick went away from his old clerk's fine new offices thinking +that Pratt was quite unperturbed and unmoved by the news he had just +acquired, he was utterly mistaken. Pratt was very much perturbed, deeply +moved, not a little frightened. He had so schooled himself to keep a +straight and ever blank expression of countenance in any sudden change +of events that he had shown nothing to Eldrick--but he was none the less +upset by the solicitor's last announcement. Twenty thousand pounds was +lying to be picked up by Parrawhite--or by Parrawhite's next-of-kin! +What an unhappy turn of fortune! For the next-of-kin would never rest +until either Parrawhite came to light, or it was satisfactorily +established that he was dead--and if search begun to be made in Barford, +where might not that search end? Unmoved?--cool?--if Eldrick had turned +back, he would have found that Pratt had suddenly given way to a fit of +nerves. + +But that soon passed, and Pratt began to think. He left his office +early, and betook himself to his favourite gymnasium. Exercise did him +good--he thought a lot while he was exercising. And once more, instead +of going home to dinner, he dined in town, and he sat late over his +dinner in a snug corner of the restaurant, and he thought and planned +and schemed--and after twilight had fallen on Barford, he went out and +made his way to Peel Row. He must see Murgatroyd again--at once. + +Half-way along Peel Row, Pratt stopped, suddenly--and with sudden fear. +Out of a side street emerged a man, a quiet ordinary-looking man whom he +knew very well indeed--Detective-Sergeant Prydale. He was accompanied by +a smart-looking, much younger man, whom Pratt remembered to have seen in +Beck Street that afternoon--a stranger to him and to Barford. And as he +watched, these two covered the narrow roadway, and walked into +Murgatroyd's shop. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + +THE BETTER HALF + + +Under the warming influence of two glasses of rum and water, and lulled +by Pratt's assurance that all would be well, Murgatroyd had carried home +his hundred pounds with pretty much the same feeling which permeates a +man who, having been within measurable distance of drowning, suddenly +finds a substantial piece of timber drifting his way, and takes a firm +grip on it. After all, a hundred pounds was a hundred pounds. He would +be able to pay his rent, and his rates, and give something to the grocer +and the butcher and the baker and the milkman; the children should have +some much-needed new clothes and boots--when all this was done, there +would be a nice balance left over. And it was Pratt's affair, when all +was said and done, and if any trouble arose, why, Pratt would have to +settle it. So he ate his supper with the better appetite which Pratt had +prophesied, and he slept more satisfactorily than usual, and next +morning he went to the nearest telegraph office and sent off the +stipulated telegram to Halstead & Byner in London, and hoped that there +was the end of the matter as far as he was concerned. And then, shortly +after noon, in walked Mr. Eldrick, one of the tribe which Murgatroyd +dreaded, having had various dealings with solicitors, in the way of +writs and summonses, and began to ask questions. + +Murgatroyd emerged from that ordeal very satisfactorily. Eldrick's +questions were few, elementary, and easily answered. There were no signs +of suspicion about him, and Murgatroyd breathed more freely when he was +gone. It seemed to him that the solicitor's visit would certainly wind +things up--for him. Eldrick asked all that could be asked, as far as he +could see, and he had replied: now, he would probably be bothered no +more. His spirits had assumed quite a cheerful tone by evening--but they +received a rude shock when, summoned from his little workshop to the +front premises, he found himself confronting one man whom he certainly +knew to be a detective, and another who might be one. Do what he would +he could not conceal some agitation, and Detective-Sergeant Prydale, a +shrewdly observant man, noticed it--and affected not to. + +"Evening, Mr. Murgatroyd," he said cheerily. "We've come to see if you +can give us a bit of information. You've had Mr. Eldrick, the lawyer, +here today on the same business. You know--this affair of an old clerk +of his--Parrawhite?" + +"I told Mr. Eldrick all I know," muttered Murgatroyd. + +"Very likely," replied Prydale, "but there's a few questions this +gentleman and myself would like to ask. Can we come in?" + +Murgatroyd fetched his wife to mind the shop, and took the callers into +the parlour which she had unwillingly vacated. He knew Prydale by sight +and reputation; about Byner he wondered. Finally he set him down as a +detective from London--and was all the more afraid of him. + +"What do you want to know?" he asked, when the three men were alone. "I +don't think there's anything that I didn't tell Mr. Eldrick." + +"Oh, there's a great deal that Mr. Eldrick didn't ask," said Prydale. +"Mr. Eldrick sort of just skirted round things, like. We want to know a +bit more. This Parrawhite's got to be found, d'ye see, Mr. Murgatroyd, +and as you seem to be the last man who had aught to do with him in +Barford, why, naturally, we come to you. Now, to start with, you say he +came to you about getting a passage to America? Just so--now, when would +that be?" + +"Day before he did get it," answered Murgatroyd, rapidly thinking over +the memoranda which Pratt had jotted down for his benefit. + +"That," said Prydale, "would be on the 23rd?" + +"Yes," replied Murgatroyd, "23rd November, of course." + +"What time, now, on the 23rd?" asked the detective. + +"Time?" said Murgatroyd. "Oh--in the evening." + +"Bit vague," remarked Prydale. "What time in the evening?" + +"As near as I can recollect," replied Murgatroyd, "it 'ud be just about +half-past eight. I was thinking of closing." + +"Ah!" said Prydale, with a glance at Byner, who had already told him of +Parrawhite's presence at the _Green Man_ on the other side of the town, +a good two miles away, at the hour which Murgatroyd mentioned. "Ah!--he +was here in your shop at half-past eight on the evening of November 23rd +last? Asking about a ticket to America?" + +"New York," muttered Murgatroyd. + +"And he came next morning and bought one?" asked the detective. + +"I told Mr. Eldrick that," said Murgatroyd, a little sullenly. + +"How much did it cost?" inquired Byner. + +"Eight pound ten," replied Murgatroyd. "Usual price." + +"What did he pay for it in?" continued Prydale. + +"He gave me a ten-pound note and I gave him thirty shillings change," +answered Murgatroyd. + +"Just so," assented Prydale. "Now what line might that be by?" + +Murgatroyd was becoming uneasy under all these questions, and his +uneasiness was deepened by the way in which both his visitors watched +him. He was a man who would have been a bad witness in any +case--nervous, ill at ease, suspicious, inclined to boggle--and in this +instance he was being forced to invent answers. + +"It was--oh, the Royal Atlantic!" he answered at last. "I've an agency +for them." + +"So I noticed from the bills and placards in your window," observed the +detective. "And of course you issue these tickets on their paper--I've +seen 'em before. You fill up particulars on a form and a counterfoil, +don't you? And you send a copy of those particulars to the Royal +Atlantic offices at Liverpool?" + +Murgatroyd nodded silently--this was much more than he bargained for, +and he did not know how much further it was going. And Prydale gave him +a sudden searching look. + +"Can you show us the counterfoil in this instance?" he asked. + +Murgatroyd flushed. But he managed to get out a fairly quick reply. "No, +I can't," he answered, "I sent that book back at the end of the year." + +"Oh, well--they'll have it at Liverpool," observed Prydale. "We can get +at it there. Of course, they'll have your record of the entire +transaction. He'd be down on their passenger list--under the name of +Parsons, I think, Mr. Murgatroyd?" + +"He gave me that name," said Murgatroyd. + +Prydale gave Byner a look and both rose. + +"I think that's about all," said the detective. "Of course, our next +inquiry will be at Liverpool---at the Royal Atlantic. Thank you, Mr. +Murgatroyd--much obliged." + +Before the watchmaker could collect himself sufficiently to say or ask +more, Prydale and his companion had walked out of the shop and gone +away. And then Murgatroyd realized that he was in for--but he did not +know what he was in for. What he did know was that if Prydale went or +sent over to Liverpool the whole thing would burst like a bubble. For +the Royal Atlantic people would tell the detectives at once that no +passenger named Parsons had sailed under their auspices on November 24th +last, and that he, Murgatroyd, had been telling a pack of lies. + +Mrs. Murgatroyd, a sharp-featured woman whose wits had been sharpened by +a ten years' daily acquaintance with poverty, came out of the shop into +the parlour and looked searchingly at her husband. + +"What did them fellows want?" she demanded. "I knew one of 'em--Prydale, +the detective. Now what's up, Reuben? More trouble?" + +Murgatroyd hesitated a moment. Then he told his wife the whole story +concealing nothing. + +"If they go to the Royal Atlantic, it'll all come out," he groaned. "I +couldn't make any excuse or explanation--anyhow! What's to be done?" + +"You should ha' had naught to do wi' that Pratt!" exclaimed Mrs. +Murgatroyd. "A scoundrelly fellow, to come and tempt poor folk to do his +dirty work! Where's the money?" + +"Locked up!" answered Murgatroyd. "I haven't touched a penny of it. I +thought I'd wait a bit and see if aught happened. But he assured me it +was all right, and you know as well as I do that a hundred pound doesn't +come our way every day. We want money!" + +"Not at that price!" said his wife. "You can pay too much for money, my +lad! I wish you'd told me what that Pratt was after--he should have +heard a bit o' my tongue! If I'd only known----" + +Just then the shop door opened, and Pratt walked in. He at once saw +Murgatroyd and his wife standing between shop and parlour, and realized +at a glance that his secret in this instance was his no longer. + +"Well?" he said, walking up to the watchmaker. "You've had Prydale +here--and you'd Eldrick this morning. Of course, you knew what to say to +both?" + +"I wish we'd never had you here last night, young man!" exclaimed Mrs. +Murgatroyd fiercely. "What right have you to come here, making trouble +for folk that's got plenty already? But at any rate, ours was honest +trouble. Yours is like to land my husband in dishonesty--if it hasn't +done so already! And if my husband had only spoken to me----" + +"Just let your husband speak a bit now," interrupted Pratt, almost +insolently. "It's you that's making all the trouble or noise, anyhow! +There's naught to fuss about, missis. What's upset you, Murgatroyd?" + +"They're going to the Royal Atlantic people," muttered the watchmaker. +"Of course, it'll all come out, then. They know that I never booked any +Parsons--nor anybody else for that matter--last November. You should ha' +thought o' that!" + +Pratt realized that the man was right. He had never thought of +that--never anticipated that inquiry would go beyond Murgatroyd. But his +keen wits at once set to work. + +"What's the system?" he asked quickly. "Tell me--what's done when you +book anybody like that? Come on!--explain, quick!" + +Murgatroyd turned to a drawer and pulled out a book and some papers. +"It's simple enough," he said. "I've this book of forms, d'ye see? I +fill up this form--sort of ticket or pass for the passenger, and hand it +to him--it's a receipt as well, to him. Then I enter the same +particulars on that counterfoil. Then I fill up one of these papers, +giving just the same particulars, and post it at once to the Company +with the passage money, less my commission. When one of these books is +finished, I return the counterfoils to Liverpool--they check 'em. +Prydale's up to all that. He asked to see the counterfoil in this case. +I had to say I hadn't got it--I'd sent it to the Company. Of course, +he'll find out that I didn't." + +"Lies!" said Mrs. Murgatroyd, vindictively. "And they didn't start wi' +us neither!" + +"Who was that other man with Prydale?" asked Pratt. + +"London detective, I should say," answered the watchmaker. "And judging +by the way he watched me, a sharp 'un, too!" + +"What impression did you get--altogether?" demanded Pratt. + +"Why!--that they're going to sift this affair--whatever it is--right +down to the bottom!" exclaimed Murgatroyd. "They're either going to find +Parrawhite or get to know what became of him. That's my impression. And +what am I going to do, now! This'll lose me what bit of business I've +done with yon shipping firm." + +"Nothing of the sort!" answered Pratt scornfully. "Don't be a fool! +You're all right. You listen to me. You write--straight off--to the +Royal Atlantic. Tell 'em you had some inquiry made about a man named +Parsons, who booked a passage with you for New York last November. Say +that on looking up your books you found that you unaccountably forgot to +send them the forms for him and his passage money. Make out a form for +that date, and crumple it up--as if it had been left lying in a drawer. +Enclose the money in it--here, I'll give you ten pounds to cover it," he +went on, drawing a bank-note from his purse. "Get it off at once--you've +time now--plenty--to catch the night-mail at the General. And then, d'ye +see, you're all right. It's only a case then--as far as you're +concerned--of forgetfulness. What's that?--we all forget something in +business, now and then. They'll overlook that--when they get the money." + +"Aye, but you're forgetting something now!" remarked Murgatroyd. "You're +forgetting this--no such passenger ever went! They'll know that by their +passenger lists." + +"What the devil has that to do with it?" snarled Pratt impatiently. +"What the devil do we care whether any such passenger went or not? All +that you're concerned about is to prove that you issued a ticket to +Parrawhite, under the name of Parsons. What's it matter to you where +Parrawhite, _alias_ Parsons, went, when he'd once left your shop? You +naturally thought he'd go straight to the Lancashire and Yorkshire +Station, on his way to Liverpool and New York! But, for aught you know, +he may have fallen down a drain pipe in the next street! Don't you see, +man? There's nothing, there's nobody, not all the detectives in London +and Barford, can prove that you didn't issue a ticket to Parrawhite on +that date? It isn't up to you to prove that you did!--it's up to them to +prove that you didn't! And--they can't. It's impossible. You get that +letter off--at once--to Liverpool, with that money inside it, and you're +as safe as houses--and your hundred pounds as well. Get it done! And if +those chaps come asking any more questions, tell 'em you're not going to +answer a single one! Mind you!--do what I tell you, and you're safe!" + +With that Pratt walked out of the shop and went off towards the centre +of the town, inwardly raging and disturbed. It was very evident that +these people meant to find Parrawhite, alive or dead; evident, too, that +they had called in the aid of the Barford police. And in spite of all +his assurances to the watchmaker and his suggestion for the next move, +Pratt was far from easy about the whole matter. He would have been +easier if he had known who Prydale's companion was--probably he was, as +Murgatroyd had suggested, a London detective who might have been making +inquiries in the town for some time and knew much more than he, Pratt, +could surmise. That was the devil of the whole thing!--in Pratt's +opinion. Adept himself in working underground, he feared people who +adopted the same tactics. What was this stranger chap after? What did he +know? What was he doing? Had he let Eldrick know anything? Was there a +web of detectives already being spun around himself? Was that silly, +unfortunate affair with Parrawhite being slowly brought to light--to +wreck him on the very beginning of what he meant to be a brilliant +career? He cursed Parrawhite again and again as he left Peel Row behind +him. + +The events of the day had made Pratt cautious as well as anxious. He +decided to keep away from his lodgings that night, and when he reached +the centre of the town he took a room at a quiet hotel. He was up early +next morning; he had breakfasted by eight o'clock; by half-past eight he +was at his office. And in his letter-box he found one letter--a thickish +package which had not come by post, but had been dropped in by hand, and +was merely addressed to Mr. Pratt. + +Pratt tore that package open with a conviction of imminent disaster. He +pulled out a sheet of cheap note-paper--and a wad of bank-notes. His +face worked curiously as he read a few lines, scrawled in illiterate, +female handwriting. + + "MR PRATT,--My husband and me don't want any more to do with + either you or your money which it is enclosed. Been honest up to + now though poor, and intending to remain so our purpose is to + make a clean breast of everything to the police first thing + tomorrow morning for which you have nobody but yourself to blame + for wickedness in tempting poor people to do wrong. + + "Yours, MRS. MURGATROYD." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + +DRY SHERRY + + +Pratt wasted no time in cursing Mrs. Murgatroyd. There would be plenty +of opportunity for such relief to his feelings later on. Just then he +had other matters to occupy him--fully. He tore the indignant letter to +shreds; he hastily thrust the bank-notes into one pocket and drew his +keys from another. Within five minutes he had taken from his safe a +sealed packet, which he placed in an inside pocket of his coat, and had +left his office--for the last time, as he knew very well. That part of +the game was up--and it was necessary to be smart in entering on another +phase of it. + +Since Eldrick's visit of the previous day, Pratt had been prepared for +all eventuality. He had made ready for flight. And he was not going +empty-handed. He had a considerable amount of Mrs. Mallathorpe's money +in his possession; by obtaining her signature to one or two documents he +could easily obtain much more in London, at an hour's notice. Those +documents were all ready, and in the sealed packet which he had just +taken from the safe; in it, too, were some other documents--John +Mallathorpe's will; the letter which Mrs. Mallathorpe had written to him +on the evening previous to her son's fatal accident; and the power of +attorney which Pratt had obtained from her at his first interview after +that occurrence. All was ready--and now there was nothing to do but to +get to Normandale Grange, see Mrs. Mallathorpe, and--vanish. He had +planned it all out, carefully, when he perceived the first danger +signals, and knew that his other plans and schemes were doomed to +failure. Half an hour at Normandale Grange--a journey to London--a +couple of hours in the City--and then the next train to the Continent, +on his way to regions much further off. Here, things had turned out +badly, unexpectedly badly--but he would carry away considerable, easily +transported wealth, to a new career in a new country. + +Pratt began his flight in methodical fashion. He locked up his office, +and left the building by a back entrance which took him into a network +of courts and alleys at the rear of the business part of Barford. He +made his way in and out of these places until he reached a +bicycle-dealer's shop in an obscure street, whereat he had left a +machine of his own on the previous evening under the excuse of having it +thoroughly cleaned and oiled. It was all ready for him on his arrival, +and he presently mounted it and rode away through the outskirts of the +town, carefully choosing the less frequented streets and roads. He rode +on until he was clear of Barford: until, in fact, he was some miles from +it, and had reached a village which was certainly not on the way to +Normandale. And then, at the post-office he dismounted, and going +inside, wrote out and dispatched a telegram. It was a brief message +containing but three words--"One as usual"--and it was addressed Esther +Mawson, The Grange, Normandale. This done, he remounted his bicycle, +rode out of the village, and turned across country in quite a different +direction. It was not yet ten o'clock--he had three hours to spare +before the time came for keeping the appointment which he had just made. + +At an early stage of his operations, Pratt had found that even the +cleverest of schemers cannot work unaided. It had been absolutely +necessary to have some tool close at hand to Normandale Grange and its +inhabitants; to have some person there upon whom he could depend for +news. He had found that person, that tool, in Esther Mawson, who, as +Mrs. Mallathorpe's maid, had opportunities which he at once recognized +as being likely to be of the greatest value to him. The circumstances of +Harper Mallathorpe's death had thrown Pratt and the maid together, and +he had quickly discovered that she was to be bought, and would do +anything for money. He had soon come to an understanding with her; soon +bargained with her, and made her a willing accomplice in certain of his +schemes, without letting her know their full meaning and extent: all, +indeed, that she had learned from Pratt was that he had some +considerable hold on her mistress. + +But it is dangerous work to play with edged tools, and if Pratt had only +known it, he was running great risks in using Esther Mawson as a +semi-accomplice. Esther Mawson was in constant touch with her mistress, +and Mrs. Mallathorpe, afraid of her daughter, and not greatly in +sympathy with her, badly needed a confidante. Little by little the +mistress began to confide in the maid, and before long Esther Mawson +knew the secret--and thenceforward she played a double game. Pratt found +her useful in arranging meetings with Mrs. Mallathorpe unknown to Nesta, +and he believed her to be devoted to him. But the truth was that Esther +Mawson had only one object of devotion--herself--and she was waiting and +watching for an opportunity to benefit that object--at Pratt's expense. + +Pratt knew nothing of this as he slowly made his way to Normandale that +morning. Having plenty of time he went by devious and lonely roads and +by-lanes. Eventually he came to the boundary of Normandale Park at a +point far away from the Grange. There he dismounted, hid his bicycle in +a coppice wherein he had often left it before, and went on towards the +house through the woods and plantations. He knew every yard of the +ground he traversed, and was skilled in taking cover if he saw any sign +of woodman or gamekeeper. And in the end, just as one o'clock chimed +from the clock over the stables, he came to a quiet spot in the +shrubberies behind the Grange, and found Esther Mawson waiting for him +in an old summer-house in which they had met on previous and similar +occasions. + +Esther Mawson immediately realized that something unusual was in the +air. Clever as Pratt was at concealing his feelings, she was cleverer in +seeing small signs, and she saw that this was no ordinary visit. + +"Anything wrong?" she asked at once. + +"Bit of bother--nothing much--it'll blow over," answered Pratt, who knew +that a certain amount of candour was necessary in dealing with this +woman. "But--I shall have to be away for a bit--week or two, perhaps." + +"You want to see her?" inquired Esther. + +"Of course! I've some papers for her to sign," replied Pratt. "How do +things stand? Coast clear?" + +"Miss Mallathorpe's going into Barford after lunch," answered Esther. +"She'll be driving in about half-past two. I can manage it then. How +long shall you want to be with her?" + +"Oh, a quarter of an hour'll do," said Pratt. "Ten minutes, if it comes +to that." + +"And after that?" asked Esther. + +"Then I want to get a train at Scaleby," replied Pratt, mentioning a +railway junction which lay ten miles across country in another +direction. "So make it as soon after two-thirty as you can." + +"You can see her as soon as Miss Mallathorpe's gone," said Esther. +"You'd better come into the house--I've got the key of the turret door, +and all's clear--the servants are all at dinner." + +"I could do with something myself," observed Pratt, who, in his anxiety, +had only made a light breakfast that morning. "Can it be managed?" + +"I'll manage it," she answered. "Come on--now." + +Behind the summer-house in which they had met a narrow path led through +the shrubberies to an old part of the Grange which was never used, and +was, in fact, partly ruinous. Esther Mawson led the way along this until +she and Pratt came to a turret in the grey walls, in the lower story of +which a massive oaken door, heavily clamped with iron, gave entrance to +a winding stair, locked it from inside when she and Pratt had entered, +and preceded her companion up the stair, and across one or two empty and +dust-covered chambers to a small room in which a few pieces of ancient +furniture were slowly dropping to decay. Pratt had taken refuge in this +room before, and he sat down in one of the old chairs and mopped his +forehead. + +"I want something to drink, above everything," he remarked. "What can +you get?" + +"Nothing but wine," answered Esther Mawson. "As much as you like of +that, because I've a stock that's kept up in Mrs. Mallathorpe's room. I +couldn't get any ale without going to the butler. I can get wine and +sandwiches without anybody knowing." + +"That'll do," said Pratt. "What sort of wine?" + +"Port, sherry, claret," she replied. "Whichever you like." + +"Sherry, then," answered Pratt. "Bring a bottle if you can get it--I +want a good drink." + +The woman went away--through the disused part of the old house into the +modern portion. She went straight to a certain store closet and took +from it a bottle of old dry sherry which had been brought there from a +bin in the cellars--it was part of a quantity of fine wine laid down by +John Mallathorpe, years before, and its original owner would have been +disgusted to think that it should ever be used for the mere purpose of +quenching thirst. But Esther Mawson had another purpose in view, with +respect to that bottle. Carrying it to her own sitting-room, she +carefully cut off the thick mass of sealing-wax at its neck, drew the +cork, and poured a little of the wine away. And that done, she unlocked +a small box which stood on a corner of her dressing table, and took from +it a glass phial, half full of a colourless liquid. With steady hands +and sure fingers, she dropped some of that liquid into the wine, +carefully counting the drops. Then she restored the phial to its +hiding-place and re-locked the box--after which, taking up a spoon which +lay on her table, she poured out a little of the sherry and smelled and +tasted it. No smell--other than that which ought to be there; no +taste--other than was proper. Pratt would suspect nothing even if he +drunk the whole bottle. + +Esther Mawson had anticipated Pratt's desires in the way of refreshment, +and she now went to a cupboard and took from it a plate of sandwiches, +carefully swathed in a napkin. Carrying these in one hand, and the +bottle of sherry and a glass in the other, she stole quietly back to the +disused part of the house, and set her provender before its expectant +consumer. Pratt poured out a glassful of the sherry, and drank it +eagerly. + +"Good stuff that!" he remarked, smacking his lips. "Some of old John +Mallathorpe's--no doubt." + +"It was here when we came, anyhow," replied Esther. "Well--I shall have +to go. You'll be all right until I come back." + +"What time do you think it'll be?" asked Pratt. "Make it as soon as the +coast's clear--I want to be off." + +"As soon as ever she's gone," agreed Esther. "I heard her order the +carriage for half-past two." + +"And no fear of anybody else being about?" asked Pratt. "That butler +man, for instance? Or servants?" + +"I'll see to it," replied Esther reassuringly. "I'll lock this door and +take the key until I come back--make yourself comfortable." + +She locked Pratt in the old room and went off, and the willing prisoner +ate his sandwiches and drank his sherry, and looked out of a mullioned +window on the wide stretches of park and coppice and the breezy +moorlands beyond. He indulged in some reflections--not wholly devoid of +sentiment. He had cherished dreams of becoming the virtual owner of +Normandale. Always confident in his own powers, he had believed that +with time and patience he could have persuaded Nesta Mallathorpe to +marry him--why not? Now--all owing to that cursed and unfortunate +contretemps with Parrawhite, that seemed utterly impossible--all he +could do now was to save himself--and to take as much as he could get. +More than once that morning, as he made his way across country, he had +remembered Parrawhite's advice to take cash and be done with +it--perhaps, he reflected, it might have been better. Still--when he +presently began his final retreat, he would carry away with him a lot of +the Mallathorpe money. + +But before long Pratt indulged in no more reflections--sentiment or +practical. He had eaten all his sandwiches; he had drunk three-quarters +of the bottle of sherry. And suddenly he felt unusually drowsy, and he +laid his head back in his big chair, and fell soundly asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + +THE TELEPHONE MESSAGE + + +If Pratt had only known what was going on in the old quarries at +Whitcliffe, about the very time that he was riding slowly out to Barford +on his bicycle, he would not only have accelerated his pace, but would +have taken good care to have chosen another route: he would also have +made haste to exchange bicycle for railway train as quickly as possible, +and to have got himself far away before anybody could begin looking for +him in his usual haunts, or at places wherein there was a possibility of +his being found. But Pratt knew nothing of what Byner had done. He was +conscious of Byner's visit to the _Green Man_. He did not know what +Pickard had been told by Bill Thomson. He was unaware of anything which +Pickard had told to Byner. If he had known that Byner, guided by +Pickard, had been to the old quarries, had fixed his inquiring eye on +the shaft which was filled to its brim with water, and had got certain +ideas from the mere sight of it, Pratt would have hastened to put +hundreds of miles between himself and Barford as quickly as possible. +But all that Pratt knew was that there was a possibility of +suspicion--which might materialize eventually, but not immediately. + +On the previous evening, Pratt--had he but known it--made a great +mistake. Instead of going into Murgatroyd's shop after he had watched +Byner and Prydale away from it--he should have followed those two astute +and crafty persons, and have ascertained something of their movements. +Had he done so, he would certainly not have troubled to return to Peel +Row, nor to remain in Barford an hour longer than was absolutely +necessary. For Pratt was sharp-witted enough when it came to a question +of putting one and two together, and if he had tracked Prydale and the +unknown man who was with him to a certain house whereto they repaired as +soon as they quitted Murgatroyd's shop, he would have drawn an inference +from the mere fact of their visit which would have thrown him into a +cold sweat of fear. But Pratt, after all, was only one man, one brain, +one body, and could not be in two places, nor go in two ways, at the +same time. He took his own way--ignorant of his destruction. + +Byner also took a way of his own. As soon as he and Prydale left +Murgatroyd's shop, they chartered the first cab they met with, and +ordered its driver to go to Whitcliffe Moor. + +"It's the quickest thing to do--if my theory's correct," observed Byner, +as they drove along, "Of course, it is all theory--mere theory! But I've +grounds for it. The place--the time--mere lonely situation--that scrap +iron lying about, which would be so useful in weighting a dead body!--I +tell you, I shall be surprised if we don't find Parrawhite at the bottom +of that water!" + +"I shouldn't wonder," agreed Prydale. "One thing's very certain, as we +shall prove before we're through with it--Pratt's put that poor devil +Murgatroyd up to this passage-to-America business. And a bit clumsily, +too--fancy Murgatroyd being no better posted up than to tell me that +Parrawhite called on him at a certain hour that night!" + +"But you've got to remember that Pratt didn't know of Parrawhite's +affairs with Pickard, nor that he was at the _Green Man_ at that hour," +rejoined Byner. "My belief is that Pratt thinks himself safe--that he +fancies he's provided for all contingencies. If things turn out as I +think they will, I believe we shall find Pratt calmly seated at his desk +tomorrow morning." + +"Well--if things do turn out as you expect, we'll lose no time in +seeking him there!" observed Prydale dryly. "We'd better arrange to get +the job done first thing." + +"This Mr. Shepherd'll make no objection, I suppose?" asked Byner. + +"Objection! Lor' bless you--he'll love it!" exclaimed Prydale. "It'll be +a bit of welcome diversion to a man like him that's naught to do. He'll +object none, not he!" + +Shepherd, a retired quarry-owner, who lived in a picturesque old stone +house in the middle of Whitcliffe Moor, with nothing to occupy his +attention but the growing of roses and vegetables, and an occasional +glance at the local newspapers, listened to Prydale's request with +gradually rising curiosity. Byner had at once seen that this call was +welcome to this bluff and hearty Yorkshireman, who, without any question +as to their business, had immediately welcomed them to his hearth and +pressed liquor and cigars on them: he sized up Shepherd as a man to whom +any sort of break in the placid course of retired life was a delightful +event. + +"A dead man i' that old shaft i' one o' my worked out quarries!" he +exclaimed. "Ye don't mean to say so! An' how long d'yer think he might +ha' been there, now, Prydale?" + +"Some months, Mr. Shepherd," replied the detective. + +"Why, then it's high time he were taken out," said Shepherd. "When might +you be thinkin' o' doin' t' job, like?" + +"As soon as possible," said Prydale. "Tomorrow morning, early, if that's +convenient to you." + +"I'll tell you what I'll do," observed the retired quarry-owner. "You +leave t' job to me. I'll get two or three men first thing tomorrow +morning, and we'll do it reight. You be up there by half-past eight +o'clock, and we'll soon satisfy you as to whether there's owt i' t' +shape of a dead man or not i' t' pit. You hev' grounds for believin' 'at +theer is----what?" + +"Strong grounds!" replied the detective, "and equally strong ones for +believing the man came there by foul play, too." + +"Say no more!" said Shepherd. "T' mystery shall be cleared up. Deary me! +An' to think 'at I've walked past yon theer pit many a dozen times +within this last few o' months, and nivver dreamed 'at theer wor owt in +it but watter! Howivver, gentlemen, ye can put yer minds at ease--we'll +investigate the circumstances, as the sayin' goes, before noon +tomorrow." + +"One other matter," remarked Prydale. "We want things kept quiet. We +don't want all the folk of the neighbourhood round about, you know." + +"Leave it to me," answered Shepherd. "There'll be me, and these men, and +yourselves--and a pair of grapplin' irons. We'll do it quiet and +comfortable--and we'll do it reight." + +"Odd character!" remarked Byner, when he and Prydale went away. + +"Useful man--for a job of that sort," said the detective laconically. +"Now then--are we going to let anybody else know what we're after--Mr. +Eldrick or Mr. Collingwood, for instance? Do you want them, or either of +them, to be present?" + +"No!" answered Byner, after a moment's reflection. "Let us see what +results. We can let them know, soon enough, if we've anything to tell. +But--what about Pratt?" + +"Keeping an eye on him--you mean?" said Prydale. "You said just now that +in your opinion we should find him at his desk." + +"Just so--but that's no reason why he shouldn't be looked after tomorrow +morning," answered Byner. + +"All right--I'll put a man on to shadow him, from the time he leaves his +lodgings until--until we want him," said the detective. "That is--if we +do want him." + +"It will be one of the biggest surprises I ever had in my life if we +don't!" asserted Byner. "I never felt more certain of anything than I do +of finding Parrawhite's body in that pit!" + +It was this certainty which made Byner appear extraordinarily cool and +collected, when next day, about noon, he walked into Eldrick's private +room, where Collingwood was at that moment asking the solicitor what was +being done. The certainty was now established, and it seemed to Byner +that it would have been a queer thing if he had not always had it. He +closed the door and gave the two men an informing glance. + +"Parrawhite's body has been found," he said quietly. + +Eldrick started in his chair, and Collingwood looked a sharp inquiry. + +"Little doubt about his having been murdered, just as I conjectured," +continued Byner. "And his murderer had pretty cleverly weighted his body +with scrap iron, before dropping it into a pit full of water, where it +might have remained for a long time undiscovered. However--that's +settled!" + +Eldrick got out the first question. + +"Pratt?" + +"Prydale's after him," answered Byner. "I expect we shall hear something +in a few minutes--if he's in town. But I confess I'm a bit doubtful and +anxious now, on that score. Because, when Prydale and I got down from +Whitcliffe half an hour ago--where the body's now lying, at the _Green +Man_, awaiting the inquest--we found Murgatroyd hanging about the police +station. He'd come to make a clean breast of it--about Pratt. And it +unfortunately turns out that Pratt saw Prydale and me go to Murgatroyd's +shop last night, and afterwards went in there himself, and of course +pumped Murgatroyd dry as to why we'd been." + +"Why unfortunately?" asked Collingwood. + +"Because that would warn Pratt that something was afoot," said Byner. +"And--he may have disappeared during the night. He----" + +But just then Prydale came in, shaking his head. + +"I'm afraid he's off!" he announced. "I'd a man watching for him outside +his lodgings from an early hour this morning, but he never came out, and +finally my man made an excuse and asked for him there, and then he heard +that he'd never been home last night. And his office is closed." + +"What steps are you taking?" asked Byner. + +"I've got men all over the place already," replied Prydale. "But--if he +got off in the night, as I'm afraid he did, we shan't find him in +Barford. It's a most unlucky thing that he saw us go to Murgatroyd's +last evening! That, of course, would set him off: he'd know things were +reaching a crisis." + +Eldrick and Collingwood had arranged to lunch together that day, and +they presently went off, asking the detective to keep them informed of +events. But up to half-past three o 'clock they heard no more--then, as +they were returning along the street Byner came running up to them. + +"Prydale's just had a telephone message from the butler at Normandale!" +he exclaimed. "Pratt is there!--and something extraordinary is going on: +the butler wants the police. We're off at once--there's Prydale in a +motor, waiting for me. Will you follow?" + +He darted away again, and Eldrick looking round for a car, suddenly +recognized the Mallathorpe livery. + +"Great Scott!" he said. "There's Miss Mallathorpe--just driving in. +Better tell her!" + +A moment later, he and Collingwood had joined Nesta in her carriage, and +the horses' heads were turned in the direction towards which Byner and +Prydale were already hastening. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + +RESTORED TO ENERGY + + +Esther Mawson, leaving Pratt to enjoy his sherry and sandwiches at his +leisure, went away through the house, out into the gardens, and across +the shrubbery to the stables. The coachman and grooms were at +dinner--with the exception of one man who lived in a cottage at the +entrance to the stable-yard. This was the very man she wanted to see, +and she found him in the saddle-room, and beckoned him to its door. + +"Mrs. Mallathorpe wants me to go over to Scaleby on an errand for her +this afternoon," she said. "Can you have the dog-cart ready, at the +South Garden gate at three o'clock sharp? And--without saying anything +to the coachman? It's a private errand." + +Of late this particular groom had received several commissions of this +sort, and being a sharp fellow he had observed that they were generally +given to him when Miss Mallathorpe was out. + +"All right," he answered. "The young missis is going out in the carriage +at half-past two. South Garden gate--three sharp. Anybody but you?" + +"Only me," replied Esther. "Don't say anything to anybody about where +we're going. Get the dog-cart ready after the carriage has gone." + +The groom nodded in comprehension, and Esther went back to the house and +to her own room. She ought at that time of day to have been eating her +dinner with the rest of the upper servants, but she had work to do which +was of much more importance than the consumption of food and drink. +There was going to be a flight that afternoon--but it would not be Pratt +who would undertake it. Esther Mawson had carefully calculated all her +chances as soon as Pratt told her that he was going to be away for a +while. She knew that Pratt would not have left Barford for any +indefinite period unless something had gone seriously wrong. But she +knew more--by inference and intuition. If Pratt was going away--rather, +since he was going away, he would have on his person things of +value--documents, money. She meant to gain possession of everything that +he had; she meant to have a brief interview with Mrs. Mallathorpe; then +she meant to drive to Scaleby--and to leave that part of the country +just as thoroughly and completely as Pratt had meant to leave it. And +now in her own room she was completing her preparations. There was +little to do. She knew that if her venture came off successfully, she +could easily afford to leave her personal possessions behind her, and +that she would be all the more free and unrestricted in her movements if +she departed without as much as a change of clothes and linen. And so by +two o'clock she had arrayed herself in a neat and unobtrusive +tailor-made travelling costume, had put on an equally neat and plain +hat, had rolled her umbrella, and laid it, her gloves, and a cloak where +they could be readily picked up, and had attached to her slim waist a +hand-bag--by means of a steel chain which she secured by a small padlock +as soon as she had arranged it to her satisfaction. She was not the sort +of woman to leave a hand-bag lying about in a railway carriage at any +time, but in this particular instance she was not going to run any risk +of even a moment's forgetfulness. + +Everything was in readiness by twenty minutes past two, and she took up +her position in a window from which she could see the front door of the +house. At half-past two the carriage and its two fine bay horses came +round from the stables; a minute or two later Nesta Mallathorpe emerged +from the hall; yet another minute and the carriage was whirling down the +park in the direction of Barford. And then Esther moved from the window, +picked up the umbrella, the cloak, the gloves, and went off in the +direction of the room wherein she had left Pratt. + +No one ever went near those old rooms except on some special errand or +business, and there was a dead silence all around her as she turned the +key in the lock and slipped inside the door--to lock it again as soon as +she had entered. There was an equally deep silence within the room--and +for a moment she glanced a little fearfully at the recumbent figure in +the old, deep-backed chair. Pratt had stretched himself fully in his +easy quarters---his legs lay extended across the moth-eaten hearth-rug; +his head and shoulders were thrown far back against the faded tapestry, +and he was so still that he might have been supposed to be dead. But +Esther Mawson had tried the effect of that particular drug on a good +many people, and she knew that the victim in this instance was merely +plunged in a sleep from which nothing whatever could wake him yet +awhile. And after one searching glance at him, and one lifting of an +eyelid by a practised finger, she went rapidly and thoroughly through +Pratt's pockets, and within a few minutes of entering the room had +cleared them of everything they contained. The sealed packet which he +had taken from his safe that morning; the bank-notes which Mrs. +Murgatroyd had returned in her indignant letter; another roll of notes, +of considerable value, in a note-case; a purse containing notes and gold +to a large amount--all those she laid one by one on a dust-covered +table. And finally--and as calmly as if she were sorting linen--she +swept bank-notes, gold, and purse into her steel-chained bag, and tore +open the sealed envelope. + +There were five documents in that envelope--Esther examined each with +meticulous care. The first was an authority to Linford Pratt to sell +certain shares standing in the name of Ann Mallathorpe. The second was a +similar document relating to other shares: each was complete, save for +Ann Mallathorpe's signature. The third document was the power of +attorney which Ann Mallathorpe had given to Linford Pratt: the fourth, +the letter which she had written to him on the evening before the fatal +accident to Harper. And the fifth was John Mallathorpe's will. + +At last she held in her hand the half-sheet of foolscap paper of which +Mrs. Mallathorpe, driven to distraction, and knowing that she would get +no sympathy from her own daughter, had told her. She was a woman of a +quick and an understanding mind, and she had read the will through and +grasped its significance as swiftly as her eyes ran over it. And those +eyes turned to the unconscious Pratt with a flash of contempt--she, at +any rate, would not follow his foolish example, and play for too high a +stake--no, she would make hay while the sun shone its hottest! She was +of the Parrawhite persuasion--better, far better one good bird in the +hand than a score of possible birds in the bush. + +She presently restored the five documents to the stout envelope, picked +up her other belongings, and without so much as a glance at Pratt, left +the room. She turned the key in the door and took it away with her. And +now she went straight to a certain sitting-room which Mrs. Mallathorpe +had tenanted by day ever since her illness. The final and most important +stage of Esther's venture was at hand. + +Mrs. Mallathorpe sat at an open window, wearily gazing out on the park. +Ever since her son's death she had remained in a more or less torpid +condition, rarely talking to any person except Esther Mawson: it had +been manifest from the first that her daughter's presence distressed and +irritated her, and by the doctor's advice Nesta had gone to her as +little as possible, while taking every care to guard her and see to her +comfort. All day long she sat brooding--and only Esther Mawson, now for +some time in her full confidence, knew that her brooding was rapidly +developing into a monomania. Mrs. Mallathorpe, indeed, had but one +thought in her mind--the eventual circumventing of Pratt, and the +destruction of John Mallathorpe's will. + +She turned slowly as the maid came in and carefully closed the door +behind her, and her voice was irritable and querulous as she at once +began to complain. + +"You've never been near me for two hours!" she said. "Your dinner time +was over long since! I might have been wanting all sorts of things for +aught you cared!" + +"I've had something else to do--for you!" retorted Esther, coming close +to her mistress. "Listen, now!--I've got it!" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe's attitude and manner suddenly changed. She caught +sight of the packet of papers in the woman's hand, and at once sprang to +her feet, white and trembling. Instinctively she held out her own hands +and moved a little nearer to the maid. And Esther quickly put the table +between them, and shook her head. + +"No--no!" she exclaimed. "No handling of anything--yet! You keep your +hands off! You were ready enough to bargain with Pratt--now you'll have +to bargain with me. But I'm not such a fool as he was--I'll take cash +down, and be done with it." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe rested her trembling hands on the table and bent +forward across it. + +"Is it--is it--really--the will?" she whispered hoarsely. + +Instead of replying in words, Esther, taking care to keep at a safe +distance behind the table, and with the door only a yard or two in her +rear, drew out the documents one by one and held them up. + +"The will!" she said. "Your letter to Pratt. The power of attorney. Two +papers that he brought for you to sign. That's the lot! And now, as I +said, we'll bargain." + +"Where is--he?" asked Mrs. Mallathorpe. "How--how did you get them? Does +he know--did he give them up?" + +"If you want to know, he's safe and sound asleep in one of the rooms in +the old part of the house," answered Esther. "I drugged him. There's +something afoot--something gone wrong with his schemes--at Barford, and +he came here on his way--elsewhere. And so--I took the chance. Now +then--what are you going to give me?" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe, whose nervous agitation was becoming more and more +marked, wrung her hands. + +"I've nothing to give!" she cried. "You know very well he's had the +management of everything--I don't know how things are----" + +"Stuff!" exclaimed Esther. "I know better than that. You've a lot of +ready money in that desk there--you know you drew a lot out of the bank +some time ago, and it's there now. You kept it for a contingency--the +contingency's here. And--you've your rings--the diamond and ruby +rings--I know what they're worth! Come on, now--I mean to have the whole +lot, so it's no use hesitating." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe looked at the maid's bold and resolute eyes--and then +at the papers. And she glanced from eyes and papers to a bright fire +which burned in the grate close by. + +"You'll give everything up?" she asked nervously. + +"Put those bank-notes that you've got in your desk, and those rings that +are in your jewel-case, on the table between us," answered Esther, "and +I'll hand over these papers on the instant! I'm not going to be such a +fool as to keep them--not I! Come on, now!--isn't this the chance you've +wanted?" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe drew a small bunch of keys from her gown, and went over +to the desk which Esther had pointed to. Within a minute she was back +again at the table, a roll of bank notes in one hand, half a dozen +magnificent rings in the other. She put both hands halfway across and +unclasped them. And Esther Mawson, with a light laugh, threw the papers +over the table, and hastily swept their price into her handbag. + +Mrs. Mallathorpe's nerves suddenly became steady. With a deep sigh she +caught up the various documents and looked them quickly and thoroughly +over. Then she tore them into fragments and flung the fragments in the +fire--and as they blazed up, she turned and looked at Esther Mawson in a +way which made Esther shrink a little. But she was already at the +door--and she opened it and walked out and down the stair. + +She was half-way across the hall beneath, where the butler and one of +the footmen were idly talking, when a sharp cry from above made her then +look up. Mrs. Mallathorpe, suddenly restored to life and energy, was +leaning over the balustrade. + +"Stop that woman, you men!" she said. "Seize her! Fasten her up!--lock +the door wherever you put her! She's stolen my rings, and a lot of money +out of my desk! And telephone instantly to Barford, and tell them to +send the police here--at once!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + +THE WOMAN IN BLACK + + +Nesta Mallathorpe, who had just arrived in Barford when Eldrick caught +sight of her, was seriously startled as he and Collingwood came running +up to her carriage. The solicitor entered it without ceremony or +explanation, and turning to the coachman bade him drive back to +Normandale as fast as he could make his horses go. Meanwhile Collingwood +turned to Nesta. "Don't be alarmed!" he said. "Something is happening at +the Grange--your mother has just telephoned to the police here to go +there at once--there they are--in front of us, in that car!" + +"Did my mother say if she was in danger?" demanded Nesta. + +"She can't be!" exclaimed Eldrick, turning from the coachman, as the +horses were whipped round and the carriage moved off. "She evidently +gave orders for the message. No--Pratt's there! And--but of course, you +don't know--the police want Pratt. They've been searching for him since +noon. He's wanted for murder!" + +"Don't frighten Miss Mallathorpe," said Collingwood. "The murder has +nothing to do with present events," he went on reassuringly. "It's +something that happened some time ago. Don't be afraid about your +mother--there are plenty of people round her, you know." + +"I can't help feeling anxious if Pratt is there," she answered. "How did +he come to be there? It's not an hour since I left home. This is all +some of Esther Mawson's work! And we shall have to wait nearly an hour +before we know what is going on!--it's all uphill work to Normandale, +and the horses can't do it in the time." + +"Eldrick!" said Collingwood, as the carriage came abreast of the Central +Station and a long line of motorcars. "Stop the coachman! Let's get one +of those cars--we shall get to Normandale twice as quickly. The main +thing is to relieve Miss Mallathorpe of anxiety. Now!" he went on, as +they hastily left the carriage and transferred themselves to a car +quickly scented by Eldrick as the most promising of the lot. "Tell the +driver to go as fast as he can--the other car's not very far in +front--tell him to catch it up." + +Eldrick leaned over and gave his orders. + +"I've told him not only to catch him up, but to get in front of 'em," he +said, settling down again in his seat. "This is a better car than +theirs, and we shall be there first. Now, Miss Mallathorpe, don't you +bother--this is probably going to be the clearing-up point of +everything. One feels certain, at any rate--Pratt has reached the end of +his tether!" + +"If I seem to bother," replied Nesta, "it's because I know that he and +Esther Mawson are at Normandale--working mischief." + +"We shall be there in half an hour," said Collingwood, as their own car +ran past that in which the detectives and Byner were seated. "They can't +do much mischief in that time." + +None of the three spoke again until the car pulled up suddenly at the +gates of Normandale Park. The lodge-keeper, an old man, coming out to +open them, approached the door of the car on seeing Nesta within. + +"There's a young woman just gone up to the house that wants to see you +very particular, miss," he said. "I tell'd her that you'd gone to +Barford, but she said she'd come a long way, and she'd wait till you +come back. She's going across the park there--crossin' yon path." + +He pointed over the level sward to the slight figure of a woman in +black, who was obviously taking a near cut up to the Grange. Nesta +looked wonderingly across the park as the car cleared the gate and went +on up the drive. + +"Who can she be?" she said musingly. "A woman from a long way--to see +me?" + +"She'll get to the house soon after we reach it," said Eldrick. "Let's +attend to this more pressing business first. We should know what's afoot +here in a minute or two." + +But it was somewhat difficult to make out or to discover what really was +afoot. The car stopped at the hall door: the second car came close +behind it; Nesta, Collingwood, Eldrick, Byner, and the detectives poured +into the hall--encountered a much mystified-looking butler, a couple of +footmen, and the groom whose services Esther Mawson had requisitioned, +and who, weary of waiting for her, had come up to the house. + +"What's all this?" asked Eldrick, taking the situation into his own +hands. "What's the matter? Why did you send for the police?" + +"Mrs. Mallathorpe's orders, sir," answered the butler, with an +apologetic glance at his young mistress. "Really, sir, I don't +know--exactly--what is the matter! We are all so confused! What happened +was, that not very long after Miss Mallathorpe had left for town in the +carriage, Esther Mawson, the maid, came downstairs from Mrs. +Mallathorpe's room, and was crossing the lower part of the hall, when +Mrs. Mallathorpe suddenly appeared up there and called to me and James +to stop her and lock her up, as she'd stolen money and jewels! We were +to lock her up and telephone for the police, sir, and to add that Mr. +Pratt was here." + +"Well?" demanded Eldrick. + +"We did lock her up, sir! She's in my pantry," continued the butler, +ruefully. "We've got her in there because there are bars to the +windows--she can't get out of that. A terrible time we had, too, +sir--she fought us like--like a maniac, protesting all the time that +Mrs. Mallathorpe had given her what she had on her. Of course, sir, we +don't know what she may have on her--we simply obeyed Mrs. Mallathorpe." + +"Where is Mrs. Mallathorpe?" asked Collingwood. "Is she safe?" + +"Oh, quite safe, sir!" replied the butler. "She returned to her room +after giving those orders. Mrs. Mallathorpe appeared to be--quite calm, +sir." + +Prydale pushed himself forward--unceremoniously and insistently. + +"Keep that woman locked up!" he said. "First of all--where's Pratt?" + +"Mrs. Mallathorpe said he would be found in a room in the old part of +the house," answered the butler, shaking his head as if he were +thoroughly mystified. "She said you would find him fast asleep--Mawson +had drugged him!" + +Prydale looked at Byner and at his fellow-detectives. Then he turned to +the butler. + +"Come on!" he said brusquely. "Take us there at once!" He glanced at +Eldrick. "I'm beginning to see through it, Mr. Eldrick!" he whispered. +"This maid's caught Pratt for us. Let's hope he's still----" + +But before he could say more, and just as the butler opened a door which +led into a corridor at the rear of the hall, a sharp crack which was +unmistakably that of a revolver, rang through the house, waking equally +sharp echoes in the silent room. And at that, Nesta hurried up the +stairway to her mother's apartment, and the men, after a hurried glance +at each other, ran along the corridor after the butler and the footmen. + +Pratt came out of his stupor much sooner than Esther Mawson had reckoned +on. According to her previous experiments with the particular drug which +she had administered to him, he ought to have remained in a profound and +an undisturbed slumber until at least five o'clock. But he woke at +four--woke suddenly, sharply, only conscious at first of a terrible pain +in his head, which kept him groaning and moaning in his chair for a +minute or two before he fairly realized where he was and what had +happened. As the pain became milder and gave way to a dull throbbing and +a general sense of discomfort, he looked round out of aching eyes and +saw the bottle of sherry. And so dull were his wits that his only +thought at first was that the wine had been far stronger than he had +known, and that he had drunk far too much of it, and that it had sent +him to sleep--and just then his wandering glance fell on some papers +which Esther Mawson had taken from one of his pockets and thrown aside +as of no value. + +He leapt to his feet, trembling and sweating. His hands, shaking as if +smitten with a sudden palsy, went to his pockets--he tore off his coat +and turned his pockets out, as if touch and feeling were not to be +believed, and his eyes must see that there was really nothing there. +Then he snatched up the papers on the floor and found nothing but +letters, and odd scraps of unimportant memoranda. He stamped his feet on +those things, and began to swear and curse, and finally to sob and +whine. The shock of his discovery had driven all his stupefaction away +by that time, and he knew what had happened. And his whining and sobbing +was not that of despair, but the far worse and fiercer sobbing and +whining of rage and terrible anger. If the woman who had tricked him had +been there he would have torn her limb from limb, and have glutted +himself with revenge. But--he was alone. + +And presently, after moving around his prison more like a wild beast +than a human being, his senses having deserted him for a while, he +regained some composure, and glanced about him for means of escape. He +went to the door and tried it. But the old, substantial oak stood firm +and fast--nothing but a crow-bar would break that door. And so he turned +to the mullioned window, set in a deep recess. + +He knew that it was thirty or forty feet above the level of the +ground--but there was much thick ivy growing on the walls of Normandale +Grange, and it might be possible to climb down by its aid. With a great +effort he forced open one of the dirt-encrusted sashes and looked +out--and in the same instant he drew in his head with a harsh groan. The +window commanded a full view of the hall door--and he had seen Prydale, +and two other detectives, and the stranger from London whom he believed +to be a detective, hurrying from their motorcar into the house. + +There was but one thing for it, now. Esther Mawson had robbed him of +everything that was on him in the way of papers and money. But in his +hip-pocket she had left a revolver which Pratt had carried, always +loaded, for some time. And now, without the least hesitation, he drew it +out and sent one of its bullets through his brain. + + * * * * * + +Eldrick and Collingwood, returning to the hall from the room in which +they and the detectives had found Pratt's dead body, stood a little +later in earnest conversation with Prydale, who had just come there from +an interview with Esther Mawson. Nesta Mallathorpe suddenly called to +them from the stairs, at the same time beckoning them to go up to her. + +"Will you come with me and speak to my mother?" she said. "She knows you +are here, and she wants to say something about what has +happened--something about that document which Pratt said he possessed." + +Eldrick and Collingwood exchanged glances without speaking. They +followed Nesta into her mother's sitting-room. And instead of the +semi-invalid whom they had expected to find there, they saw a woman who +had evidently regained not only her vivacity and her spirits but her +sense of authority and her inclination to exercise it. + +"I am sorry that you gentlemen should have been drawn into all this +wretched business!" she exclaimed, as she pointed the two men to chairs. +"Everything must seem very strange, and indeed have seemed so for some +time. But I have been the victim of as bad a scoundrel as ever +lived--I'm not going to be so hypocritical as to pretend that I'm sorry +he's dead--I'm not! I only wish he'd met his proper fate--on the +scaffold. I don't know what you may have heard, or gathered--my daughter +herself, from what she tells me, has only the vaguest notions--but I +wanted to tell you, Mr. Eldrick, and you, Mr. Collingwood--seeing that +you're one a solicitor and the other a barrister, that Pratt invented a +most abominable plot against me, which, of course, hasn't a word of +truth in it, yet was so clever that----" + +Eldrick suddenly raised his hand. + +"Mrs. Mallathorpe!" he said quietly. "I think you had better let me +speak before you go any further. Perhaps we--Mr. Collingwood and I--know +more than you think. Don't trifle, Mrs. Mallathorpe, for your own and +your daughter's sake! Tell the truth--and answer a plain question, which +I assure you, is asked in your own interest. What have you done with +John Mallathorpe's will?" + +Collingwood, anxious for Nesta, was watching her closely, and now he saw +her turn a startled and inquiring look on her mother, who, in her turn, +dashed a surprised glance at Eldrick. But if Mrs. Mallathorpe was +surprised, she was also indignant, or she simulated indignation, and she +replied to the solicitor's question with a sharp retort. + +"What do you mean?--John Mallathorpe's will!" she exclaimed. "What do I +know of John Mallathorpe's will? There never was----" + +"Mrs. Mallathorpe!" interrupted Eldrick. "Don't! I'm speaking in your +interest, I tell you! There was a will! It was made on the morning of +John Mallathorpe's death. It was found by Mr. Collingwood's late +grandfather, Antony Bartle: when he died suddenly in my office, it fell +into Pratt's hands. That is the document which Pratt held over you--and +not an hour ago, Esther Mawson took it from Pratt, and she gave it to +you. Again I ask you--what have you done with it?" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe hesitated a moment. Then she suddenly faced Eldrick +with a defiant look. "Let them--let everybody--do what they like!" she +exclaimed. "It's burnt! I threw it in that fire as soon as I got it! And +now----" + +Nesta interrupted her mother. + +"Does any one know the terms of that will?" she asked, looking at +Eldrick. "Tell me!--if you know. Hush!" she went on, as Mrs. Mallathorpe +tried to speak again. "I will know!" + +"Yes!" answered Eldrick. "Esther Mawson knows them. She read the will +carefully. She told Prydale just now what they were. With the exception +of three legacies of ten thousand pounds each to your mother, your +brother, and yourself, John Mallathorpe left everything he possessed to +the town of Barford for an educational trust." + +"Then," asked Nesta quietly, as she made a peremptory sign to her mother +to be silent, "we--never had any right to be here--at all?" + +"I'm afraid not," replied Eldrick. + +"Then of course we shall go," said Nesta. "That's certain! Do you hear +that, mother? That's my decision. It's final!" + +"You can do what you like," retorted Mrs. Mallathorpe sullenly. "I am +not going to be frightened by anything that Esther Mawson says. Nor by +what you say!" she continued, turning on Eldrick. "All that has got to +be proved. Who can prove it? What can prove it? Do you think I am going +to give up my rights without fighting for them? I shall swear that every +word of Esther Mawson's is a lie! No one can bring forward a will that +doesn't exist. And what concern is it of yours, Mr. Eldrick? What right +have you?" + +"You are quite right, Mrs. Mallathorpe," said Eldrick. "It is no concern +of mine. And so----" + +He turned to the door--and as he turned the door opened, to admit the +old butler who looked apologetically but earnestly at Nesta as he +stepped forward. + +"A Mrs. Gaukrodger wishes to see you on very particular business," he +murmured. "She's been waiting some little time--something, she says, +about some papers she has just found--belonging to the late Mr. John +Mallathorpe." + +Collingwood, who was standing close to Nesta, caught all the butler +said. + +"Gaukrodger!" he exclaimed, with a quick glance at Eldrick. "That was +the name of the manager--a witness. See the woman at once," he whispered +to Nesta. + +"Bring Mrs. Gaukrodger in, Dickenson," said Nesta. "Stay--I'll come with +you, and bring her in myself." + +She returned a moment later with a slightly built, rather careworn woman +dressed in deep mourning--the woman in black whom they had seen crossing +the park--who looked nervously round her as she entered. + +"What is it you have for me, Mrs. Gaukrodger?" asked Nesta. "Papers +belonging to the late Mr. John Mallathorpe? How--where did you get +them?" + +Mrs. Gaukrodger drew a large envelope from under her cloak. "This, +miss," she answered. "One paper--I only found it this morning. In this +way," she went on, addressing herself to Nesta. "When my husband was +killed, along with Mr. John Mallathorpe, they, of course, brought home +the clothes he was wearing. There were a lot of papers in the pockets of +the coat--two pockets full of them. And I hadn't heart or courage to +look at them at that time, miss!--I couldn't, and I locked them up in a +box. I never looked at them until this very day--but this morning I +happened to open that box, and I saw them, and I thought I'd see what +they were. And this was one--you see, it's in a plain envelope--it was +sealed, but there's no writing on it. I cut the envelope open, and drew +the paper out, and I saw at once it was Mr. John Mallathorpe's will--so +I came straight to you with it." + +She handed the envelope over to Nesta, who at once gave it to Eldrick. +The solicitor hastily drew out the enclosure, glanced it over, and +turned sharply to Collingwood with a muttered exclamation. + +"Good gracious!" he said. "That man Cobcroft was right! There _was_ a +duplicate! And here it is!" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe had come nearer. The sight of the half sheet of +foolscap in Eldrick's hands seemed to fascinate her. And the expression +of her face as she came close to his side was so curious that the +solicitor involuntarily folded up the will and hastily put it behind his +back--he had not only seen that expression but had caught sight of Mrs. +Mallathorpe's twitching fingers. + +"Is--that--that--another will?" she whispered. "John Mallathorpe's?" + +"Precisely the same--another copy--duly signed and witnessed!" answered +Eldrick firmly. "What you foolishly did was done for nothing. And--it's +the most fortunate thing in the world, Mrs. Mallathorpe, that this has +turned up!--most fortunate for you!" + +Mrs. Mallathorpe steadied herself on the edge of the table and looked at +him fixedly. "Everything'll have to be given up?" she asked. + +"The terms of this will will be carried out," answered Eldrick. + +"Will--will they make me give up--what we've--saved?" she whispered. + +"Mother!" said Nesta appealingly. "Don't! Come away somewhere and let me +talk to you--come!" + +But Mrs. Mallathorpe shook off her daughter's hand and turned again to +Eldrick. + +"Will they?" she demanded. "Answer!" + +"I don't think you'll find the trustees at all hard when it comes to a +question of account," answered Eldrick. "They'll probably take matters +over from now and ignore anything that's happened during the past two +years." + +Again Nesta tried to lead her mother away, and again Mrs. Mallathorpe +pushed the appealing hand from her. All her attention was fixed on +Eldrick. "And--and will the police give me--now--what they found on that +woman?" she whispered. + +"I have no doubt they will," replied Eldrick. "It's--yours." + +Mrs. Mallathorpe drew a sigh of relief. She looked at the solicitor +steadily for a moment--then without another word she turned and went +away--to find Prydale. + +Eldrick turned to Nesta. + +"Don't forget," he said in a low voice, "it's a terrible blow to her, +and she's been thinking of your interests! Leave her alone for a +while--she'll get used to the altered circumstances. I'm sorry for +her--and for you!" + +But Nesta made a sign of dissent. + +"There's no need to be sorry for me, Mr. Eldrick," she answered. "It's a +greater relief than you can realize." She turned from him and went over +to Mrs. Gaukrodger who had watched this scene without fully +comprehending it. "Come with me," she said. "You look very tired and you +must have some tea and rest awhile--come now." + +Eldrick and Collingwood, left alone, looked at each, other in silence +for a moment. Then the solicitor shook his head expressively. + +"Well, that's over!" he exclaimed. "I must go back and hand this will +over to the two trustees. But you, Collingwood--stay here a bit--if ever +that girl needs company and help, it's now!" + +"I'm stopping," said Collingwood. + +He remained for a time where Eldrick left him; at last he went down to +the hall and out into the gardens. And presently Nesta came to him +there, and as if with a mutual understanding they walked away into the +nearer stretches of the park. Normandale had never looked more beautiful +than it did that afternoon, and in the midst of a silence which up to +then neither of them had cared to break, Collingwood suddenly turned to +the girl who had just lost it. + +"Are you sure that you won't miss all this--greatly?" he asked. "Just +think!" + +"I'd rather lose more than this, however fond I'd got of it, than go +through what I've gone through lately," she answered frankly. "Do you +know what I want to do?" + +"No--I think not," he said. "What?" + +"If it's possible--to forget all about this," she replied. "And--if +that's also possible--to help my mother to forget, too. Don't think too +hardly of her--I don't suppose any of us know how much all this +place--and the money--meant to her." + +"I've got no hard thoughts about her," said Collingwood. "I'm sorry for +her. But--is it too soon to talk about the future?" + +Nesta looked at him in a way which showed him that she only half +comprehended the question. But there was sufficient comprehension in her +eyes to warrant him in taking her hands in his. + +"You know why I didn't go to India?" he said, bending his face to hers. + +"I--guessed!" she answered shyly. + +Then Collingwood, at this suddenly arrived supreme moment, became +curiously bereft of speech. And after a period of silence, during which, +being in the shadow of a grove of beech-trees which kindly concealed +them from the rest of the world, they held each other's hands, all that +he could find to say was one word. + +"Well?" + +Nesta laughed. + +"Well--what?" she whispered. + +Collingwood suddenly laughed too and put his arm round her. + +"It's no good!" he said. "I've often thought of what I'd to say to +you--and now I've forgotten all. Shall I say it all at once!" + +"Wouldn't it be best?" she murmured with another laugh. + +"Then--you're going to marry me?" he asked. + +"Am I to answer--all at once?" she said. + +"One word will do!" he exclaimed, drawing her to him. + +"Ah!" she whispered as she lifted her face to his. "I couldn't say it +all in one word. But--we've lots of time before us!" + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Talleyrand Maxim, by J. S. 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