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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Great Secret, by E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Great Secret
+
+Author: E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
+Posting Date: November 17, 2011 [EBook #9872]
+Release Date: February, 2006
+First Posted: October 26, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT SECRET ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT SECRET
+
+BY E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+      I. ROOM No. 317
+
+     II. A MIDNIGHT RAID
+
+    III. MISS VAN HOYT
+
+     IV. A MATCH AT LORD'S
+
+      V. ON THE TERRACE
+
+     VI. "MR. GUEST"
+
+    VII. A "TETE-A-TETE" DINNER
+
+   VIII. IN THE TOILS
+
+     IX. AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR
+
+      X. "WORTLEY FOOTE--THE SPY"
+
+     XI. A LEGACY OF DANGER
+
+    XII. OLD FRIENDS
+
+   XIII. THE SHADOW DEEPENS
+
+    XIV. GATHERING JACKALS
+
+     XV. A DYING MAN
+
+    XVI. I TAKE UP MY LEGACY
+
+   XVII. NAGASKI'S INSTINCT
+
+  XVIII. IN THE DEATH CHAMBER
+
+    XIX. AN AFFAIR OF STATE
+
+     XX. TRAVELLING COMPANIONS
+
+    XXI. "FOR YOU!"
+
+   XXII. "LOVED I NOT HONOR MORE"
+
+  XXIII. THE PRETENDER
+
+   XXIV. A PRACTICAL WOMAN
+
+    XXV. A CABLE FROM EUROPE
+
+   XXVI. FOR VALUE RECEIVED
+
+  XXVII. INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
+
+ XXVIII. DOUBLE DEALING
+
+   XXIX. I CHANGE MY NATIONALITY
+
+    XXX. THE "WAITERS' UNION"
+
+   XXXI. IN THE ENEMY'S CAMP
+
+  XXXII. SIR GILBERT HAS A SURPRISE
+
+ XXXIII. A REUNION OF HEARTS
+
+  XXXIV. RIFLE PRACTICE
+
+   XXXV. "HIRSCH'S WIFE"
+
+  XXXVI. AN URGENT WARNING
+
+ XXXVII. THE BLACK BAG
+
+XXXVIII. A LAST RESOURCE
+
+  XXXIX. WORKING _The Oracle_
+
+     XL. _The Oracle_ SPEAKS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+ROOM NO. 317
+
+
+I laid my papers down upon the broad mahogany counter, and exchanged
+greetings with the tall frock-coated reception clerk who came smiling
+towards me.
+
+"I should like a single room on the third floor east, about the middle
+corridor," I said. "Can you manage that for me? 317 I had last time."
+
+He shook his head at once. "I am very sorry, Mr. Courage," he said, "but
+all the rooms in that corridor are engaged. We will give you one on the
+second floor at the same price."
+
+I was about to close with his offer, when, with a word of excuse, he
+hurried away to intercept some one who was passing through the hall. A
+junior clerk took his place, and consulted the plan for a moment
+doubtfully.
+
+"There are several rooms exactly in the locality you asked for," he
+remarked, "which are simply being held over. If you would prefer 317, you
+can have it, and I will give 217 to our other client."
+
+"Thank you," I answered, "I should prefer 317 if you can manage it."
+
+He scribbled the number upon a ticket and handed it to the porter, who
+stood behind with my dressing-case. A page caught up the key, and I
+followed them to the lift. In the light of things which happened
+afterwards, I have sometimes wondered what became of the unfortunate
+junior clerk who gave me room number 317.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was six o'clock when I arrived at the Hotel Universal. I washed,
+changed my clothes, and was shaved in the barber's shop. Afterwards, I
+spent, I think, the ordinary countryman's evening about town--having some
+regard always to the purpose of my visit. I dined at my club, went on to
+the Empire with a couple of friends, supped at the Savoy, and, after a
+brief return visit to the club, a single game of billiards and a final
+whisky and soda, returned to my hotel contented and sleepy, and quite
+prepared to tumble into bed. By some chance--the history of nations, as
+my own did, will sometimes turn upon such slight events--I left my door
+ajar whilst I sat upon the edge of the bed finishing a cigarette and
+treeing my boots, preparatory to depositing them outside. Suddenly my
+attention was arrested by a somewhat curious sound. I distinctly heard
+the swift, stealthy footsteps of a man running at full speed along the
+corridor. I leaned forward to listen. Then, without a moment's warning,
+they paused outside my door. It was hastily pushed open and as hastily
+closed. A man, half clothed and panting, was standing facing me--a
+strange, pitiable object. The boots slipped from my fingers. I stared at
+him in blank bewilderment.
+
+"What the devil--" I began.
+
+He made an anguished appeal to me for silence. Then I heard other
+footsteps in the corridor pausing outside my closed door. There was a
+moment's silence, then a soft muffled knocking. I moved towards it, only
+to be met by the intruder's frenzied whisper--
+
+"For God's sake keep quiet!"
+
+The man's hot breath scorched my cheek, his hands gripped my arm with
+nervous force, his hysterical whisper was barely audible, although his
+lips were within a few inches of my ear.
+
+"Keep quiet," he muttered, "and don't open the door!"
+
+"Why not?" I asked.
+
+"They will kill me," he answered simply.
+
+I resumed my seat on the side of the bed. My sensations were a little
+confused. Under ordinary circumstances, I should probably have been
+angry. It was impossible, however, to persevere in such a sentiment
+towards the abject creature who cowered by my side.
+
+Yet, after all, was he abject? I looked away from the door, and, for the
+second time, studied carefully the features of the man who had sought my
+protection in so extraordinary a manner. He was clean shaven, his
+features were good; his face, under ordinary circumstances, might have
+been described as almost prepossessing. Just now it was whitened and
+distorted by fear to such an extent that it gave to his expression a
+perfectly repulsive cast. It was as though he looked beyond death and saw
+things, however dimly, more terrible than human understanding can fitly
+grapple with. There were subtleties of horror in his glassy eyes, in his
+drawn and haggard features.
+
+Nothing, perhaps, could more completely illustrate the effect his words
+and appearance had upon me than the fact that I accepted his
+extraordinary statement without any instinct of disbelief! Here was I,
+an Englishman of sound nerves, of average courage, and certainly
+untroubled with any superabundance of imagination, domiciled in a
+perfectly well-known, if somewhat cosmopolitan, London hotel, and yet
+willing to believe, on the statement of a person whom I had never seen
+before in my life, that, within a few yards of me, were unseen men bent
+upon murder.
+
+From outside I heard a warning chink of metal, and, acting upon impulse,
+I stepped forward and slipped the bolt of my door. Immediately afterwards
+a key was softly inserted in the lock and turned. The door strained
+against the bolt from some invisible pressure. Then there came the sound
+of retreating footsteps. We heard the door of the next room opened and
+closed. A moment later the handle of the communicating door was tried. I
+had, however, bolted it before I commenced to undress.
+
+"What the mischief are you about?" I cried angrily. "Can't you leave my
+room alone?"
+
+No answer; but the panels of the communicating door were bent inwards
+until it seemed as though they must burst. I crossed the room to where my
+portmanteau stood upon a luggage-rack, and took from it a small revolver.
+When I stood up with it in my hand, the effect upon my visitor was almost
+magical. He caught at my wrist and wrested it from my fingers. He grasped
+it almost lovingly.
+
+"I can at least die now like a man," he muttered. "Thank Heaven for
+this!"
+
+I sat down again upon the bed. I looked at the pillow and the unturned
+coverlet doubtfully. They had obviously not been disturbed. I glanced at
+my watch! it was barely two o'clock. I had not even been to bed. I could
+not possibly be dreaming! The door was straining now almost to bursting.
+I began to be annoyed.
+
+"What the devil are you doing there?" I called out.
+
+Again there was no answer, but a long crack had appeared on the panel. My
+companion was standing up watching it. He grasped the revolver as one
+accustomed to the use of such things. Once more I took note of him.
+
+I saw now that he was younger than I had imagined, and a trifle taller.
+The ghastly pallor, which extended even to his lips, was unabated, but
+his first paroxysm of fear seemed, at any rate, to have become lessened.
+He looked now like a man at bay indeed, but prepared to fight for his
+life. He had evidently been dressed for the evening, for his white tie
+was still hanging about his neck. Coat and waistcoat he had left behind
+in his flight, but his black trousers were well and fashionably cut, and
+his socks were of silk, with small colored clocks. The fingers were white
+and delicate, and his nails well cared for. There was one thing more, the
+most noticeable of all perhaps. Although his face was the face of a young
+man, his hair was as white as snow.
+
+"Look here," I said to him, "can't you give me some explanation as to
+what all this means? You haven't been getting yourself into trouble, have
+you?"
+
+"Trouble!" he repeated vaguely, with his eyes fixed upon the door.
+
+"With the police!" I explained.
+
+"No, these are not the police," he answered.
+
+"I don't mind a row particularly," I continued, "but I like to know
+something about it. What do these people want with you?"
+
+"My life!" he answered grimly.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"I cannot tell you!"
+
+A sudden and ridiculously obvious idea struck me for the first time. A
+small electric bell and telephone instrument were by the side of the bed.
+I leaned over and pressed the knob with my finger. My companion half
+glanced towards me, and back again instantly towards the door.
+
+"No use," he muttered, "they will not come!"
+
+Whereupon a thoroughly British sentiment was aroused in me. Of the
+liberties which had been taken with my room, both by this man and by his
+pursuers, I scarcely thought, but that any one should presume to
+interfere with my rights as an hotel guest angered me! I kept my finger
+on the knob of the bell; I summoned chambermaid, waiter, valet and boots.
+It was all to no effect. No one came. The telephone remained silent. The
+door was on the point of yielding.
+
+I abandoned my useless efforts, and turned towards the man whom I was
+sheltering.
+
+"How many are there in the next room?" I asked.
+
+"Two!"
+
+"If I stand by you, will you obey me?"
+
+He hesitated for a moment. Then he nodded.
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"Get behind the bed then, and give me the revolver."
+
+He parted with it reluctantly. I took it into my hand, only just in
+time. The door at last had burst away from its hinges. With perfect
+self-possession I saw one of the two men who had been engaged in its
+demolition calmly lean it up against the wall. The other stared at me as
+though I had been a ghost.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A MIDNIGHT RAID
+
+
+I could see at once that neither of the two men who confronted me had
+really believed that the room into which their victim had escaped was
+already occupied by any other person than the one of whom they were in
+pursuit. Their expression of surprise was altogether genuine. I myself
+was, perhaps, equally taken aback. Nothing in their appearance suggested
+in the least the midnight assassin! I turned towards the one who had
+leaned the door up against the wall, and addressed him.
+
+"May I ask to what I am indebted for the pleasure of this unexpected
+visit?" I inquired.
+
+The man took out a handkerchief and mopped his forehead. He was short and
+stout, with a bushy brown beard, and eyes which blinked at me in
+amazement from behind his gold-rimmed spectacles. He wore a grey tweed
+travelling suit, and brown boots. He had exactly the air of a prosperous
+middle-class tradesman from the provinces.
+
+"I am afraid, sir," he said, "that we have made a mistake--in which case
+we shall owe you a thousand apologies. We are in search of a friend whom
+we certainly believed that we had seen enter your room."
+
+Now all the time he was talking his eyes were never still. Every inch of
+my room that was visible they ransacked. His companion, too, was engaged
+in the same task. There were no traces of my visitor to be seen.
+
+"You can make your apologies and explanations to the management in the
+morning," I answered grimly "Pardon me!"
+
+I held out my arm across the threshold, and for the first time looked at
+the other man who had been on the point of entering. He was slight and
+somewhat sallow, with very high forehead and small deep-set eyes. He was
+dressed in ordinary evening clothes, the details of which, however,
+betrayed his status. He wore a heavy gold chain, a dinner coat, and a
+made-up white tie, with the ends tucked in under a roll collar. He
+appeared to be objectionable, but far from dangerous.
+
+"You are still a trifle over-anxious respecting the interior of my room!"
+I remarked, pushing him gently back.
+
+He spoke to me for the first time. He spoke slowly and formally, and his
+accent struck me as being a little foreign.
+
+"Sir," he said, "you may not be aware that the person of whom we are in
+search is a dangerous, an exceedingly dangerous character. If he should
+be concealed in your room the consequences to yourself might be most
+serious."
+
+"Thank you," I said, "I am quite capable of taking care of myself."
+
+Both men were standing as close to me as I was disposed to permit. I
+fancied that they were looking me over, as though to make an estimate of
+the possible amount of resistance I might be able to offer should they be
+disposed to make a rush. The odds, if any, must have seemed to them
+somewhat in my favor, for I was taller by head and shoulders than either
+of them, and a life-long devotion to athletics had broadened my
+shoulders, and given me strength beyond the average. Besides, there was
+the revolver in my right hand, which I took occasion now to display. The
+shorter of the two men again addressed me.
+
+"My dear sir," he said softly, "it is necessary that you should not
+misapprehend the situation. The person of whom we are in search is one
+whom we are pledged to find. We have no quarrel with you! Why embroil
+yourself in an affair with which you have no concern?"
+
+"I am not seeking to do so," I answered. "It is you and your friend who
+are the aggressors. You have forced an entrance into my room in a most
+unwarrantable fashion. Your missing friend is nothing to me. I desire to
+be left in peace."
+
+Even as I spoke the words, I knew that there was to be no peace for me
+that night, for, stealthy though their movements were, I saw something
+glisten in the right hands of both of them. The odds now assumed a
+somewhat different appearance. I drew back a pace, and stood prepared for
+what might happen. My _vis-a-vis_ in the gold-rimmed spectacles addressed
+me again.
+
+"Sir," he said, "we will not bandy words any longer. It is better that we
+understand one another. There is a man hidden in your room whom we mean
+to have. You will understand that we are serious, when I tell you that we
+have engaged every room in this corridor, and the wires of your telephone
+are cut. If you will permit us to come in and find him, I promise that
+nothing shall happen in your room, that you shall not be compromised in
+any way. If you refuse, I must warn you that you will become involved in
+a matter more serious than you have any idea of."
+
+For answer, I discharged my revolver twice at the ceiling, hoping to
+arouse some one, either guests or servants, and fired again at the
+shoulder of the man whose leap towards me was like the spring of a
+wild-cat. Both rooms were suddenly plunged into darkness, the elder of
+the two men, stepping back for a moment, had turned out the electric
+lights. For a short space of time everything was chaos. My immediate
+assailant I flung away from me with ease; his companion, who tried to
+rush past me in the darkness, I struck with a random blow on the side of
+the head, so that he staggered back with a groan. I knew very well that
+neither of them had passed me, and yet I fancied, as I paused to take
+breath for a moment, that I heard stealthy footsteps behind, in the room
+which I had been defending. I called again for help, and groped about on
+the wall for the electric light switches. The footsteps ceased, a sudden
+cry rang out from somewhere behind the bed-curtains, a cry so full of
+horror, that I felt the blood run cold in my veins, and the sweat break
+out upon my forehead. I sought desperately for the little brass knobs of
+the switches, listening all the while for those footsteps. I heard
+nothing save a low, sickening groan, which followed upon the cry, but I
+felt, a moment later, the hot breath of a human being upon my neck. I
+sprang aside, barely in time to escape a blow obviously aimed at me with
+some weapon or other, which cut through the air with the soft, nervous
+swish of an elastic life-preserver. I knew that some one who sought my
+life was within a few feet of me, striving to make sure before the second
+blow was aimed. In my stockinged feet I crept along by the wall. I could
+hear no sound of movement anywhere near me, and yet I knew quite well
+that my hidden assailant was close at hand. Just then, I heard at last
+what I had been listening for so long and so eagerly, footsteps and a
+voice in the corridor outside. Somebody sprang past me in the darkness,
+and, for a second, amazement kept me motionless. The thing was
+impossible, or I could have sworn that my feet were brushed by the skirts
+of a woman's gown, and that a whiff of perfume--it was like the scent of
+dying violets--floated past me. Then the door of my room, from which I
+had withdrawn the bolt, was flung suddenly open, and almost
+simultaneously my fingers touched the knob of the electric light
+fittings. The whole place was flooded with light. I looked around, half
+dazed, but eager to see what had become of my assailants. Both rooms were
+empty, or apparently so. There was no sign or evidence of any other
+person there save myself. On the threshold of my own apartment was
+standing the night porter.
+
+"Have you let them go by?" I called out. "Did you see them in the
+corridor?"
+
+"Who, sir?" the porter asked stolidly.
+
+"Two men who forced their way into my room--look at the door. One was
+short and stout and wore glasses, the other was taller and thin. They
+were here a few seconds ago. Unless they passed you, they are in one of
+the rooms now."
+
+The man came inside, and looked around him.
+
+"I can't see any one, sir! There wasn't a soul about outside."
+
+"Then we had better look for them!" I exclaimed. "Be careful, for they
+are armed."
+
+There was no one in the adjoining room. We had searched it thoroughly
+before I suddenly remembered the visitor who had been the innocent cause
+of these exciting moments.
+
+"By Jove!" I exclaimed, "there's a wounded man by the side of my bed! I
+quite forgot him, I was so anxious to catch these blackguards."
+
+The porter looked at me with distinct suspicion.
+
+"A wounded man, sir?" he remarked. "Where?"
+
+"On the other side of the bed," I answered. "It's the man all this row
+was about."
+
+I hurried round to where I had left my terrified visitor hiding behind
+the bed-curtain. There was no one there. We looked under the bed, even in
+the wardrobes. It was obvious, when we had finished our search, that not
+a soul was in either of the rooms except our two selves. The porter
+looked at me, and I looked at the porter.
+
+"It's a marvellous thing!" I declared.
+
+"It is," the porter agreed.
+
+"You can see for yourself that that door has been battered in," I
+remarked, pointing to it.
+
+The fellow smiled in such a manner, that I should have liked to have
+kicked him.
+
+"I can see that it has been battered in," he said. "Oh! yes! I can see
+that!"
+
+"You perhaps don't believe my story?" I asked calmly.
+
+"It isn't my place to believe or disbelieve it," he answered. "I
+certainly didn't meet any one outside--much less three people. I shall
+make my report to the manager in the morning, sir! Good night."
+
+So I was left alone, and, extraordinary as it may seem, I was asleep in
+less than half an hour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+MISS VAN HOYT
+
+
+I was awakened at about nine o'clock the next morning by a loud and
+persistent knocking at the door of my room. I sat up in bed and shouted,
+
+"Come in!"
+
+A waiter entered bearing a note, which he handed to me on a salver. I
+looked at him, around the room, which was still in some confusion, and
+down at the note, which was clearly addressed to me, J. Hardross Courage,
+Esq. Suddenly my eyes fell upon the smashed door, and I remembered at
+once the events of the previous night. I tore open the note. It was
+typewritten and brief:--
+
+"The manager presents his compliments to Mr. Hardross Courage, and would
+be obliged if he will arrange to vacate his room by midday. The manager
+further regrets that he is unable to offer Mr. Courage any other
+accommodation."
+
+"Tell the valet to let me have a bath in five minutes," I ordered,
+springing out of bed, "and bring me some tea. Look sharp!"
+
+I was in a furious temper. The events of the night before, strange though
+they had been, left me comparatively unmoved. I was filled, however, with
+a thoroughly British indignation at the nature of this note. My room had
+been broken into in the middle of the night; I had narrowly escaped being
+myself the victim of a serious and murderous assault; and now I was
+calmly told to leave the hotel! I hastened downstairs and into the
+office.
+
+"I wish to see the manager as soon as possible," I said to one of the
+reception clerks behind the counter.
+
+"Certainly, sir, what name?" he asked; drawing a slip of paper towards
+him.
+
+"Courage--" I told him, "Mr. Hardross Courage!"
+
+The man's manner underwent a distinct change.
+
+"I am sorry, sir," he said, "but Mr. Blumentein is engaged. Is there
+anything I can do?"
+
+"No!" I answered him bluntly. "I want the manager, and no one else will
+do. If he cannot see me now I will wait. If he does not appear in a
+reasonable time, I shall go direct to Scotland Yard and lay certain
+information before the authorities there."
+
+The clerk stared at me, and then smiled in a tolerant manner. He was
+short and dark, and wore glasses. His manner was pleasant enough, but he
+had the air of endeavoring to soothe a fractious child--which annoyed me.
+
+"I will send a message down to Mr. Blumentein, sir," he said, "but he is
+very busy this morning."
+
+He called a boy, but, after a moment's hesitation, he left the office
+himself. I lit a cigarette, and waited with as much patience as I could
+command. The people who passed in and out interested me very little.
+Suddenly, however, I gave a start and looked up quickly.
+
+A woman had entered the reception-room, passing so close to me that her
+skirts almost brushed my feet. She was tall, quietly and elegantly
+dressed, and she was followed by a most correct looking maid, who carried
+a tiny Japanese spaniel. I did not see her face, although I knew by her
+carriage and figure that she must be young. That she was a person of
+importance it was easy to see by the attention which was at once paid
+her. Her interest for me, however, lay in none of these things. I had
+been conscious, as she had passed, of a whiff of faint, very delicate
+perfume--and with it, of a sudden, sharp recollection. It was a perfume
+which I had distinguished but once before in my life, and that only a few
+hours ago.
+
+She gave her key in at the desk, received some letters, and turning round
+passed within a few feet of me. Perhaps she realized that I was watching
+her with more than ordinary attention, and her eyes fell for a moment
+carelessly upon mine. They were withdrawn at once, and she passed on with
+the slightest of frowns--just sufficient rebuke to the person who had
+forgotten himself so far as to stare at a woman in a public place. The
+maid, too, glanced towards me with a slight flash in her large black
+eyes, as though she, also, resented my impertinence, and the little
+Japanese spaniel yawned as he was carried past, and showed me a set of
+dazzling white teeth. I was in disgrace all round, because I had looked
+for a second too long into his mistress' deep blue eyes and pale, proud
+face. Nevertheless, I presumed even further. I changed my position, so
+that I could see her where she stood in the hall, talking to her maid.
+
+Like a man who looks half unwillingly into the land of hidden things,
+knowing very well that his own doom or joy is there, if he has the wit to
+see and the strength to grasp it, so did I deliberately falsify the
+tenets and obligations of my order, and, standing half in the hall, half
+in the office, I stared at the lady and the maid and the spaniel. She was
+younger even than I had thought her, and I felt that there was something
+foreign in her appearance, although of what nationality she might be I
+could not determine. Her hair was of a shade between brown and golden,
+and, as she stood now, with her back to me, I could see that it was so
+thick and abundant that her maid's art had been barely sufficient to keep
+it within bounds. In the front it was parted in the middle, and came
+rather low down over her forehead. Now I could see her profile--the
+rather long neck, which the lace scarf about her shoulders seemed to
+leave a little more than usually bare; the soft and yet firm outline of
+features, delicate enough and yet full of character. Just then her maid
+said something which seemed to call her attention to me. She half turned
+her head and looked me full in the face. Her eyes seemed to narrow a
+little, as though she were short-sighted. Then she very slowly and very
+deliberately turned her back upon me, and continued talking to her maid.
+My cheeks were tanned enough, but I felt the color burn as I prepared to
+move away. At that moment the lift stopped just opposite to her, and Mr.
+Blumentein stepped out, followed by his dapper little clerk.
+
+Mr. Blumentein was a man of less than medium height, with grey hair and
+beard, powerfully built and with a sleek, well-groomed appearance. Hat in
+hand, and with many bows and smiles, he addressed a few remarks to the
+lady, who answered him courteously, but with obvious condescension. Then
+he came on to me, and his manner was very different indeed. The dapper
+little clerk, who had pointed me out, slipped away.
+
+"Mr. Courage?" he inquired; "you wished to speak to me."
+
+I handed him the typewritten communication which I had received.
+
+"I wish for some explanation of this," I said.
+
+He glanced at it, and shrugged his shoulders. "I cannot permit such
+proceedings as took place last night in this hotel," he said. "I can find
+no trace of the two persons whom you described as having broken into your
+room, and I am not at all satisfied with the explanations which have been
+given."
+
+"Indeed," I answered. "I can assure you that I find the situation equally
+unsatisfactory. I come here in the ordinary way as a casual guest. My
+room is broken into in the middle of the night. I myself am assaulted,
+and another man, a stranger to me, is nearly murdered. If any
+explanations or apologies are due at all, I consider that they are due to
+me."
+
+Mr. Blumentein edged a little away.
+
+"You should consider yourself exceedingly fortunate," he declared, "to be
+spared the inconvenience of a police inquiry. My directors dislike very
+much any publicity given to brawls of this sort in the hotel, or you
+might find yourself in a somewhat awkward position. I have nothing more
+to say about it."
+
+He would have moved away, but I stood directly in front of him.
+
+"It happens that I have," I said. "I am not a thief or an adventurer, and
+my bona-fides are easily established. I am a magistrate in two counties;
+Sir Gilbert Hardross, who is a patron of your restaurant, is my cousin,
+and I expect him here to call for me within half an hour. I am up in town
+to play for my County against the M.C.C. at Lord's; I am a person who is
+perfectly well known, and my word as to what happened last night will be
+readily accepted. If you do not alter your tone at once, I shall take a
+cab to Scotland Yard, and insist upon a complete investigation into the
+affairs of last night."
+
+There was no doubt as to the effect of my words upon Mr. Blumentein. He
+was seriously perturbed, and wholly unable to conceal it.
+
+"You can prove what you say, Mr. Courage, I suppose?" he remarked
+hesitatingly.
+
+"Absolutely!" I answered; "look in this week's _Graphic_. You will see a
+photograph of me in the Medchestershire Cricket Team. Come into my room,
+and I will show you as many letters and papers as you please. Do you know
+that gentleman?"
+
+"Certainly!" Mr. Blumentein answered, bowing low. "Good morning, Sir
+Charles!"
+
+A young man in a flannel suit and straw hat sauntered up to us. He nodded
+condescendingly to the hotel manager, and shook hands with me.
+
+"How are you, Courage?" he said. "I'm coming down to Lord's this
+afternoon to see the match."
+
+He passed on. Mr. Blumentein was distinctly nervous.
+
+"Will you do me the favor to come down to my room for a moment, Mr.
+Courage?" he begged. "I should like to speak to you in private."
+
+I followed him down into his office. He closed the door, and set his hat
+down upon the desk.
+
+"I have caused the strictest inquiries to be made, and I have been unable
+to obtain the slightest trace either of the man whom you say took shelter
+in your room, or the two others you spoke of. Under those circumstances,
+you will understand that your story did not sound very probable."
+
+"Perhaps not," I admitted; "but I don't know what your night-porter could
+have been about, if he really saw nothing of them. I can give you a
+detailed description of all three if you like."
+
+"One moment," Mr. Blumentein said, taking up pen and paper. "Now, if you
+please!"
+
+I described the three men to the best of my ability, and Mr. Blumentein
+took down carefully all that I said.
+
+"I will have the fullest inquiries made," he promised, "and let you know
+the result. In the meantime, I trust that you will consider the letter I
+wrote you this morning unwritten. You will doubtless prefer to leave the
+hotel after what has happened, but another time, I trust that we may be
+honored by your patronage."
+
+I hesitated for a moment. It was clear that the man wanted to get rid of
+me. For the first time, the idea of remaining in the hotel occurred to
+me.
+
+"I will consider the matter," I answered. "In the meantime, I hope you
+will have inquiries made at once. The man who took refuge in my room was
+in a terrible state of fright, and from what I saw of the other two,
+I am afraid you may find this a more serious affair than you have any
+idea of. By the bye, one of the two told me that they had engaged every
+room in that corridor. You may be able to trace him by that."
+
+Mr. Blumentein shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"That statement, at any rate, was a false one," he said. "All the rooms
+in the vicinity of yours were occupied by regular customers."
+
+Now, in all probability, if Mr. Blumentein had looked  me in the face
+when he made this last statement, I should have left the hotel within
+half an hour or so for good, and the whole episode, so far as I was
+concerned, would have been ended. But I could not help noticing a
+somewhat unaccountable nervousness in the man's manner, and it flashed
+into my mind suddenly that he knew a good deal more than he meant to tell
+me. He was keeping something back. The more I watched him, the more I
+felt certain of it. I determined not to leave the hotel.
+
+"Well," I said, "we will look upon the whole affair last night as a
+misunderstanding. I will keep on my room for to-night, at any rate. I
+shall be having some friends to dine in the restaurant."
+
+The man's face expressed anything but pleasure.
+
+"Just as you like, Mr. Courage," he said. "Of course, if, under the
+circumstances, you preferred to leave us, we should quite understand it!"
+
+"I shall stay for to-night, at any rate," I answered. "I am only up for a
+day or two."
+
+He walked with me to the door. I hesitated for a moment, and then asked
+him the question which had been in my mind for some time.
+
+"By the bye, Mr. Blumentein," I said, "if it is a permissible question,
+may I ask the name of the young lady with whom you were talking in the
+hall just now--a young lady with a French maid and a Japanese spaniel?"
+
+Mr. Blumentein was perceptibly paler. His eyes were full of suspicion,
+almost fear.
+
+"Why do you ask me that?" he inquired sharply.
+
+"Out of curiosity, I am afraid," I answered readily. "I am sorry if I
+have been indiscreet!"
+
+The man made an effort to recover his composure. I could see, though,
+that, for some reason, my question had disquieted him.
+
+"The lady's name is Miss Van Hoyt," he said slowly. "I believe that she
+is of a very well-known American family. She came here with excellent
+recommendations; but, beyond her name, I really know very little about
+her. Nothing more I can do for you, Mr. Courage?"
+
+"Nothing at all, thank you," I answered, moving towards the door.
+
+"They have just telephoned down to say that a gentleman has called for
+you--Sir Gilbert Hardross, I believe."
+
+I nodded and glanced at the clock.
+
+"Thanks!" I said, "I must hurry."
+
+"I will reserve a table for you in the restaurant to-night, sir," Mr.
+Blumentein said, bowing me out.
+
+"For three, at eight o'clock," I answered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A MATCH AT LORD'S
+
+
+My cousin, Gilbert Hardross, was eight years older than I, and of
+intensely serious proclivities. He was, I believe, a very useful member
+of the House, and absolutely conscientious in the discharge of what he
+termed his duty to his constituents. We drove down together to Lord's,
+and knowing him to be a person almost entirely devoid of imagination, I
+forbore to make any mention of the events of the previous night. One
+question, however, I did ask him.
+
+"What sort of an hotel is the Universal supposed to be, Gilbert? Rather a
+queer lot of people staying there, I thought."
+
+My cousin implied by a gesture that he was not surprised.
+
+"Very cosmopolitan indeed," he declared. "It is patronized chiefly, I
+believe, by a certain class of Americans and gentlemen of the sporting
+persuasion. The restaurant, of course, is good, and a few notabilities
+stay there now and then. I should have thought the Carlton would have
+suited you better."
+
+I changed the subject.
+
+"How are politics?" I asked.
+
+He looked at me as though in reproach at the levity of my question.
+
+"You read the papers, I suppose?" he remarked. "You know for yourself
+that we are passing through a very critical time. Never," he added,
+"since I have been in the House, have I known such a period of anxiety."
+
+Considering that Gilbert represented a rural constituency, and that his
+party was not even in office, I felt inclined to smile. However, I took
+him seriously.
+
+"Same old war scare, I suppose?" I remarked.
+
+"It has been a 'scare' for a good many years," he replied seriously.
+"People seem inclined to forget that behind the shadow all the time there
+is the substance. I happen to know that there is a great deal of tension
+just now at the Foreign Office!"
+
+"Things seem pretty much as they were six months ago," I remarked. "There
+is no definite cause for alarm, is there?"
+
+"No definite cause, perhaps, that we know of," my cousin answered; "but
+there is no denying the fact that an extraordinary amount of apprehension
+exists in the best informed circles. As Lord Kestelen said to me
+yesterday, one seems to feel the thunder in the air."
+
+I was thoughtful for a moment. Perhaps, after all, I was inclined to envy
+my cousin. My own life was a simple and wholesome one enough, but it was
+far removed indeed from the world of great happenings. Just then, I felt
+the first premonitions of dissatisfaction.
+
+"I believe I'm sorry after all, that I didn't go in for a career of some
+sort," I remarked.
+
+My cousin looked gratified. He accepted my regret as a tribute to his own
+larger place in the world.
+
+"In some respects," he admitted, "it is regrettable. Yet you must
+remember that you are practically the head of the family. I have the
+title, but you have the estates and the money. You should find plenty to
+do!"
+
+I nodded.
+
+"Naturally! That isn't exactly what I meant, though. Here we are, and by
+Jove, I'm late!"
+
+My cousin cared for cricket no more than for any other sports, but
+because he represented Medchestershire, he made a point of coming to see
+his County play. He took up a prominent position in the pavilion
+enclosure, and requested me to inform the local reporters, who had come
+up from Medchester, of his presence. I changed into my flannels quickly,
+and was just in time to go out into the field with the rest of the team.
+
+The morning's cricket was not particularly exciting, and I had hard work
+to keep my thoughts fixed upon the game. Our bowling was knocked about
+rather severely, but wickets fell with reasonable frequency. It was just
+before luncheon time that the most surprising event of the day happened
+to me. The captain of the M.C.C., who had just made his fifty, drove a
+full pitch hard towards the boundary on the edge of which I was fielding.
+By fast sprinting, and a lot of luck, I brought off the catch, and,
+amidst the applause from the pavilion within a few feet of me, I heard my
+cousin's somewhat patronizing congratulations:--
+
+"Fine catch, Jim! Very fine catch indeed!"
+
+I glanced round, and stood for a moment upon the cinder-path as though
+turned to stone. My cousin, who had changed his seat, was smiling kindly
+upon me a few yards away, and by his side, talking to him, was a young
+lady with golden-brown hair, a French maid dressed in black, and a
+Japanese spaniel. Her eyes met mine without any shadow of recognition.
+She looked upon me from her raised seat, as though I were a performer in
+some comedy being played for her amusement, in which she found it hard,
+however, to take any real interest. I went back to my place in the field,
+without any clear idea of whether I was upon my head or my heels, and my
+fielding for the rest of the time was purely mechanical.
+
+In about half an hour the luncheon bell rang. I made straight for my
+cousin's seat, and, to my intense relief, saw that neither of them had as
+yet quitted their places. Gilbert seemed somewhat surprised to see me!
+
+"Well," he remarked, "you haven't done so badly after all. Five wickets
+for 120 isn't it? You ought to get them out by four o'clock."
+
+He hesitated. I glanced towards his companion, and he had no alternative.
+
+"Miss Van Hoyt," he said, "will you allow me to introduce my cousin, Mr.
+Hardross Courage?"
+
+She bowed a little absently.
+
+"Are you interested in cricket, Miss Van Hoyt?" I asked inanely.
+
+"Not in the least," she answered. "I have a list somewhere--in my purse,
+I think--of English institutions which must be studied before one can
+understand your country-people. Cricket, I believe, is second on the
+list. Your cousin was kind enough to tell me about this match, and how to
+get here."
+
+"We are staying at the same hotel, I think," I remarked.
+
+"Very likely," she answered, "I am only in London for a short time. Is
+the cricket over for the day now?"
+
+I hastened to explain the luncheon arrangements. She rose at once.
+
+"Then we will go," she said, turning to her maid and addressing her in
+French. "Janette, we depart!"
+
+The maid rose with suspicious alacrity. The spaniel yawned and looked at
+me out of the corner of his black eye. I believe that he recognized me.
+
+"Dare I ask you to honor us by lunching with my cousin and myself here,
+Miss Van Hoyt?" I asked eagerly.
+
+She smiled very slightly, but the curve of her lips was delightful.
+
+"And see more cricket?" she asked. "No! I think not--many thanks all the
+same!"
+
+"I will put you in a hansom," my cousin said, turning towards her and
+ignoring me.
+
+She looked over her shoulder and nodded. The maid looked at me out of her
+great black eyes, as though daring me to follow them, and, was it my
+fancy, or did that little morsel of canine absurdity really show me its
+white teeth on purpose? Anyhow, they strolled away, and left me there. I
+waited for Gilbert.
+
+He reappeared in about five minutes, with a hateful smirk upon his
+well-cut but somewhat pasty features. I laid my hand upon his arm.
+
+"Where did you meet her, Gilbert?" I asked. "Who is she? Where does she
+come from? How long have you known her?"
+
+"Gently, my dear fellow!" he answered calmly. "I met her at Lady
+Tredwell's about a fortnight ago. I really know very little about her,
+except that she seems a charming young lady."
+
+"Where does she come from?" I asked--"what country, I mean? She speaks
+like a foreigner!"
+
+"Oh! she's American, of course," he told me--"a young American lady of
+fortune, I believe."
+
+"American," I repeated vaguely, "are you sure?"
+
+"Perfectly!" he answered.
+
+"Any relatives here?" I asked.
+
+"None that I know of," he admitted.
+
+"Any connection with the stage?"
+
+"Certainly not! I told you that I met her at Lady Tredwell's."
+
+We walked into the luncheon room in silence. Presently my cousin showed
+signs of irritation.
+
+"What the mischief are you so glum about?" he asked.
+
+I looked up.
+
+"I am not glum," I answered. "I was just thinking that the Hotel
+Universal seemed rather a queer place for a young lady with a French
+maid, a Japanese spaniel, and--no chaperon."
+
+"You are an ass!" my cousin declared.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was not until the evening that Gilbert unbent. When, however, he
+studied the menu of the dinner which I had ordered for his delectation,
+and learned that I had invited his particular friend, Lord Kestelen, to
+meet him, he invited me to descend below to the American bar and take a
+cocktail while we waited for our guest.
+
+"By the bye, Jim," he remarked, slipping his arm through mine, "I thought
+that Miss Van Hoyt was particularly inquisitive about you this morning."
+
+"In what way?" I asked, at once interested.
+
+"She wanted to know what you did--how you spent your time. When I told
+her that you had no profession, that you did nothing except play cricket
+and polo, and hunt and shoot, she seemed most unaccountably surprised.
+She appeared almost incredulous when I told her that you seldom came to
+London, and still more seldom went abroad. I wonder what she had in her
+head?"
+
+"I have no idea," I answered thoughtfully. "I suppose it was only
+ordinary curiosity. In America all the men do something."
+
+"That must be so, no doubt," my cousin admitted, "but it didn't sound
+like it. I wonder whether we shall see her this evening?"
+
+I did not wonder at all! It seemed to me that I knew!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+ON THE TERRACE
+
+
+It was not until after my guests had departed, and I had almost given up
+hope, that I caught sight of her. She was seated at a table in the
+writing-room, and was in the act of sealing a letter. She looked up as I
+entered, and, after a second's hesitation, bowed coldly. I summoned up
+all my pluck, however, and approached her.
+
+"Good evening, Miss Van Hoyt!" I said.
+
+"Good evening, Mr. Courage!" she answered, proceeding to stamp her
+envelope.
+
+"Have you been to the theatre?" I asked.
+
+"Not this evening," she replied; "I have been to a meeting."
+
+"A meeting!" I repeated; "that sounds interesting!"
+
+"I doubt whether you would have found it so," she answered dryly.
+
+Her manner, without being absolutely repellent, was far from encouraging.
+I found myself in the embarrassing position of having nothing left to
+say. I gave up all attempt at conversational philandering.
+
+"May I talk to you for a few minutes, Miss Van Hoyt?" I asked.
+
+She raised her head and looked at me meditatively. Her eyes were the
+color of early violets, but they were also very serious and very steady.
+She appeared to be deliberately taking stock of me, but I could not
+flatter myself that there was anything of personal interest in her
+regard.
+
+"Yes!" she answered at last, "for a few minutes. Not here though. Go
+through the drawing-room on to the terrace, and wait for me there. Don't
+go at once. Go downstairs and have a drink or something first."
+
+I could see her looking through the glass doors, and divining her wishes,
+I turned away at once. Mr. Blumentein was standing there, looking upon
+us. His smile was almost ghastly in its attempted cordiality. He took off
+his hat as I passed, and we exchanged some commonplace remark. I went
+downstairs and strolled up and down. The minutes passed ridiculously
+slowly. I looked at my watch a dozen times. At last I decided that I had
+waited long enough. I ascended the stairs, and made my way through the
+drawing-room on to the terrace. The place was deserted, but I had
+scarcely walked to the farther end, before I heard the soft trailing of a
+woman's skirt close at hand. I looked up eagerly, and she stepped out
+from the drawing-room. For a moment she hesitated. I remained motionless.
+I could do nothing but look at her. She wore a black evening dress--net I
+think it was, with deep flounces of lace. Her neck and arms were
+dazzlingly white in the half light; her lips were a little parted as she
+stood and listened. Her whole expression was natural, almost childlike.
+Suddenly she dropped the curtain and came swiftly towards me.
+
+"Well," she said softly, "now that I am here, what have you to say to
+me?"
+
+I was horribly tempted to say things which must have sounded unutterably
+foolish. With an effort I restrained myself. I addressed her almost
+coldly.
+
+"Miss Van Hoyt," I said, "I want to know whether you are the only woman
+in this hotel who uses--that perfume."
+
+She took out her handkerchief. A little whiff of faint fragrance came
+floating out from its crumpled lace.
+
+"You recognize it?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"So much the better!" she declared. "Let me tell you this at once. I have
+not come here to answer questions. I have come to ask them. Are you
+content?"
+
+"I am content--so long as you are here," I murmured.
+
+"The man whom you protected last night--whose life you probably saved--on
+your honor, was he a stranger to you?"
+
+"On my honor he was," I answered gravely.
+
+"You have never seen him before?"
+
+"To my knowledge--no!"
+
+"You have never spoken to him before?"
+
+"Never!"
+
+She drew a little sigh.
+
+"Your defence of him then," she said, "was simply accidental?"
+
+"Entirely!" I answered.
+
+"Has he communicated with you since?"
+
+"Not in any way," I assured her.
+
+She drew a little away from me. Her eyes were still fixed eagerly upon my
+face.
+
+"Are you inclined to believe in me--to believe what I say?" she asked.
+
+"Absolutely," I answered.
+
+"Then listen to me now," she said. "That man, never mind his name, is one
+of nature's criminals. He is a traitor, a renegade, a malefactor. He has
+sinned against every law, he has written his own death-warrant. He
+deserves to die, he will die! That is a certain thing. He would have been
+dead before now, but for me! Do you know why I have made them spare his
+life?"
+
+"No!" I answered. "Who are they? and who is to be his executioner?
+Surely, if he is all that you say there are laws under whose ban he must
+have come. It is not safe to talk like this of life and death here. All
+those things are arranged nowadays in the courts."
+
+She smiled at me scornfully.
+
+"Never mind that," she said. "You speak now of things which you do not
+understand. I want to tell you why I would not let them kill him."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"It is because if he is killed the secret goes with him. Never mind how
+he came by it, or who he is. It is sufficient for you to know that he has
+it. Up to now, he has resisted even torture. You remember the color of
+his hair? It went like that in a night, but he held out. Now he knows
+that he is going to die, and he is seeking for some one to whom he may
+pass it on."
+
+"What is this secret then?" I asked, perplexed.
+
+"Don't be absurd," she answered. "If I knew it, should I be likely to
+tell it to you? I have an idea of the nature of it, of course. But that
+is not enough."
+
+"But--who is he then?" I asked. "How came he to obtain possession of it?"
+
+"Now you are asking questions," she reminded me. "Believe me, you are
+safer, very much safer knowing nothing. If I were your friend--"
+
+She hesitated. All the time her eyes were fixed upon me. She seemed to be
+trying to read the thoughts which were passing through my brain.
+
+"If you were my friend," I repeated--"well?"
+
+"I would give you some excellent advice," she said slowly.
+
+"I am ready to take it!" I declared.
+
+"On trust?"
+
+"I believe so," I answered. "At least, you might give me the chance." She
+sank down upon the settee at the extreme end of the terrace. There was
+little chance here of being overheard, as we had a clear view of the only
+approach.
+
+"After all," she said, "I do not think that it would be worth while. You
+belong to a class which I do not understand--which I do not pretend to
+understand. The things which seemed reasonable to me would probably seem
+banal to you. I am sure that it would be useless!"
+
+"But why?" I persisted. "You have said so much, you must say more. I
+insist!"
+
+A little wearily she pushed back the masses of hair from her forehead.
+Her head rested for a moment upon her fingers. Her eyes deliberately
+sought mine.
+
+"Let me warn you," she said; "I am not the sort of woman whom you know
+anything about. The usual things do not attract me; I have never been in
+love with a man. I hope that I never shall be. And yet I think that I
+find my way a little further into life than most of my sex."
+
+"You have other interests," I murmured.
+
+"I have! What they are it is not for you to know. I am only interested in
+your sex so far as they are useful to me. You, if you were a different
+sort of man, might be very useful to me."
+
+"At least give me the chance," I begged.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"This morning," she said, "it seemed to me that I saw in one moment an
+epitome of your life. I saw every nerve of your body strained, I saw you
+wound up to a great effort. It was to catch a ball! You succeeded, I
+believe."
+
+I laughed a little awkwardly.
+
+"Yes! I caught it!" I remarked. "Success is something after all, isn't
+it?"
+
+"I suppose so," she admitted. "Afterwards I spoke to your cousin about
+you. He told me that you lived on your estates, that you played games
+well, that you shot birds and rabbits, and sent to prison drunken men
+and poachers. 'But about his life?' I asked. 'This is his life,' your
+cousin answered. 'He has never gone in for a career!'"
+
+"I suppose," I said slowly, "that this seems to you a very unambitious
+sort of existence!"
+
+"Existence!" she answered scornfully, "it does not seem like existence at
+all! Your joys are the joys of a highly trained animal; your sorrows and
+your passions and your disappointments--they are at best those of the
+yokel. What has life to do with games and sports? These things may have
+their place and their use, but to make them all in all! The men whom I
+have met are not like that!"
+
+"I am sorry," I said. "You see the other things have not come my way!"
+
+"You mean that you have not been out to seek them," she declared. "The
+pulse of the world beats only for those who care to feel it."
+
+"Let us take it for granted, for a moment, that you are right," I said,
+"and that I am a convert. I am willing to abjure my sports and my quiet
+days for a plunge into the greater world. Who will be my guide? Which
+path shall I follow?"
+
+"You are not in earnest," she murmured.
+
+"Perhaps I am, perhaps not," I answered. "At any rate, there have been
+times when I have found life a tame thing. Such a feeling came to me two
+years ago, and I went to Africa to shoot lions."
+
+She leaned towards me.
+
+"You should hunt men, not lions," she whispered. "It is only the animal
+courage in you which keeps you cool when you face wild beasts. It is a
+different thing when you measure wits and strength with one of your own
+race!"
+
+"Count me a willing listener and go on," I said. "If you can show me the
+way, I am willing to take it."
+
+"Why not?" she said, half to herself. "You have strength, you have
+courage! Why shouldn't you come a little way into life?"
+
+"If it is by your side," I began passionately.
+
+She stopped me with a look.
+
+"Please go away," she said firmly. "You only weary me! If it is to gain
+an opportunity of saying this sort of rubbish that you have induced me to
+take you seriously, I can only say that I am sorry I have wasted a second
+of my time upon you!"
+
+"The two things are apart," I answered. "I will not allude to the one
+again. My interest in what you have said is genuine. I am waiting for
+your advice."
+
+She rose slowly to her feet. She looked me in the eyes, but there was no
+shadow of kindness in their expression.
+
+"If I were a man," she said--"if I were you, I would seek out the person
+whom you befriended--he goes by the name of Guest--and I would learn from
+him--the secret!"
+
+"Where can I find him?" I asked eagerly. "He seems to have disappeared
+entirely."
+
+Her voice sank to a whisper. Her breath fanned my cheek, so that I felt
+half mad with the desire to hold her in my arms, if only for a moment. I
+think that she must have seen the light flash in my eyes, but she ignored
+it altogether.
+
+"Go to your room," she said, "and wait till a messenger comes to you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+"MR. GUEST"
+
+
+I had been alone for nearly an hour before there came a cautious tapping
+at my door, I opened it at once, and stared at my visitor in surprise. It
+was the man in the grey tweed suit, who had broken into my room the night
+before.
+
+"You!" I exclaimed; "what the mischief are you doing here?"
+
+"If you will permit me to enter," he said, "I shall be glad to explain."
+
+He stepped past me into the room. I closed the door behind him.
+
+"What do you want with me?" I asked.
+
+My visitor regarded me thoughtfully through his gold-rimmed spectacles.
+I, too, was taking careful note of him. Any one more commonplace--with
+less of the bearing of a conspirator--it would be impossible to imagine.
+His features, his clothes, his bearing, were all ordinary. His face had
+not even the shrewdness of the successful business man. His brown beard
+was carefully trimmed, his figure was a little podgy, his manner
+undistinguished. I found it hard to associate him in my mind with such
+things as the woman whom I had left a few moments ago had spoken of.
+
+"I understand," he said, "that you wish for an interview with your
+friend, Mr. Leslie Guest. His room happens to be close to mine. I shall
+be pleased to conduct you there!"
+
+"You have seen Miss Van Hoyt then?" I exclaimed.
+
+"I have just left her!" he answered.
+
+I stared at him incredulously.
+
+"Do you mean to tell me," I said, "that, after last night, you have dared
+to remain in the hotel--that you have a room here?"
+
+My visitor smiled.
+
+"But certainly," he said, "you are under some curious apprehension as to
+the events of last night. My friend and I are most harmless individuals.
+We only wanted a little business conversation with Mr. Guest, which he
+was foolish enough to try and avoid. That is all arranged, now, however!"
+
+"Is it?" I answered curtly. "Then I am sorry for Mr. Guest!"
+
+Again my visitor smiled--quite a harmless smile it was, as of pity for
+some unaccountably foolish person.
+
+"You do not seem," he remarked, "if I may be pardoned for saying so, a
+very imaginative person, Mr. Courage, but you certainly have some strange
+ideas as to my friend and myself. Possibly Mr. Guest himself is
+responsible for them! A very excitable person at times!"
+
+"You had better take me to him, if that is your errand," I said shortly.
+"This sort of conversation between you and me is rather a waste of time."
+
+"Certainly!" he answered. "Will you follow me?"
+
+We took the lift to the sixth floor, traversed an entire corridor, and
+then, mounting a short and narrow flight of stairs, we arrived at a
+passage with three or four doors on either side, and no exit at the
+further end. We seemed to be entirely cut off from the main portion of
+the hotel, and I noticed that there were no numbers on the doors of the
+rooms. A very tall and powerful-looking man came to the head of the
+stairs, on hearing our footsteps, and regarded us suspiciously. Directly
+he recognized my companion, however, he allowed us to pass.
+
+"A nice quiet part of the hotel this," my guide remarked,
+glancing towards me.
+
+"Very!" I answered dryly.
+
+"A man might be hidden here very securely," he added.
+
+"I can well believe it," I assented.
+
+He knocked softly at the third door on the left. A woman's voice answered
+him. A moment later, the door was opened by a nurse in plain hospital
+dress.
+
+"Good evening, nurse!" my companion said cheerfully. "This gentleman
+would like to see Mr. Guest! Is he awake?"
+
+The nurse opened the door a little wider, which I took for an invitation
+to enter. She closed it softly behind me. My guide remained outside.
+
+The room was a very small one, and furnished after the usual hotel
+fashion. The only light burning was a heavily-shaded electric lamp,
+placed by the bedside. The nurse raised it a little, and looked down upon
+the man who lay there motionless.
+
+"He is asleep," she remarked. "It is time he took his medicine. I must
+wake him!"
+
+She spoke with a pronounced foreign accent. Her fair hair and stolid
+features left me little doubt as to her nationality. I was conscious of a
+strong and instinctive dislike to her from the moment I heard her speak
+and watched her bending over the bed. I think that her face was one of
+the most unsympathetic which I had ever seen.
+
+She poured some medicine into a glass, and turned on another electric
+light. Her patient woke at once. Directly he opened his eyes, he
+recognized me with a little start.
+
+"You!" he exclaimed. "You!"
+
+I sat down on the edge of the bed.
+
+"You haven't forgotten me then?" I remarked. "I'm sorry you're queer!
+Nothing serious, I hope?"
+
+He ignored my words. He was looking at me all the time, as though
+inclined to doubt the evidence of his senses.
+
+"Who let you come--up here?" he asked in a whisper.
+
+"I made inquiries about you, and got permission to come up," I answered.
+"How are you feeling this evening?"
+
+"I don't understand why they let you come," he said uneasily. "Stoop
+down!"
+
+The nurse came forward with a wineglass.
+
+"Will you take your medicine, please?" she said.
+
+"Presently," he answered, "put it down."
+
+She glanced at the clock and held the glass out once more.
+
+"It is past the time," she said.
+
+"I have had two doses to-day," he answered. "Quite enough, I think. Set
+it down and go away, please. I want to talk with this gentleman."
+
+"Talking is not good for you," she said, without moving. "Better take
+your medicine and go to sleep!"
+
+He took the glass from her hand, and, with a glance at its contents which
+puzzled me, drank it off.
+
+"Now will you go?" he asked, handing back the glass to her.
+
+She dragged her chair to the bedside.
+
+"If you will talk," she said stolidly, "I must watch that you do not
+excite yourself too much!"
+
+He glanced meaningly at me.
+
+"I have private matters to discuss!" he said.
+
+"You are not well enough to talk of private matters, or anything else
+important," she declared. "You will excite yourself. You will bring on
+the fever. I remain here to watch. It is by the doctor's orders."
+
+She sat down heavily within a few feet of us.
+
+"You speak French?" Guest asked me.
+
+I nodded.
+
+"Fairly well!"
+
+"Watch her! See whether she seems to understand. I want to speak of what
+she must not hear."
+
+She half rose from her chair. So far as her features could express
+anything, they expressed disquietude.
+
+"She does not understand," I said. "Go on!"
+
+She bent over the bedside.
+
+"You must not talk any more," she said. "It excites you! Your temperature
+is rising."
+
+He ignored her altogether.
+
+"Listen," he said to me, "why they have let you come here I cannot tell!
+You know that I am in prison--that I am not likely to leave here alive!"
+
+"I don't think that it is so bad as that," I assured him.
+
+"It is worse! I am likely to die without the chance of finishing--my
+work. Great things will die with me. God knows what will happen."
+
+"You have a doctor and a hospital nurse," I remarked. "That doesn't look
+as though they meant you to die!"
+
+"You don't know who I am, and you don't know who they are," he answered,
+dropping his voice almost to a whisper.
+
+"I want a month, one more month, and I might cheat them yet!"
+
+"I don't think that they mean you to die," I said. "They have an idea
+that you are in possession of some marvellous secret. They want to get
+possession of that first."
+
+"They persevere," he murmured. "In Paris--but never mind. They know very
+well that that secret, if I die before I can finish my work, dies with
+me, or--"
+
+The nurse, who had left us a few moments before, re-entered the room. She
+went straight to a chair at the further end of the apartment, and took up
+a book. Guest looked at me with a puzzled expression.
+
+"Stranger still!" he said, "we are allowed to talk."
+
+"It may be only for a moment," I reminded him.
+
+"Or pass it on to a successor who will complete my work," he said slowly.
+"I fear that I shall not find him. The time is too short now."
+
+"Have you no friends I could send for?" I asked.
+
+"Not one!" he answered.
+
+I looked at him curiously. A man does not often confess himself entirely
+friendless.
+
+"I need a strong, brave man," he said slowly--"one who is not afraid of
+Death, one who has the courage to dare everything in a great cause!"
+
+"A great cause!" I repeated. "They are few and far between nowadays."
+
+He looked at me steadily.
+
+"You are an Englishman!"
+
+I laughed.
+
+"Saxon to the backbone," I admitted.
+
+"You would consider it a great cause to save your country from ruin, from
+absolute and complete ruin!"
+
+"My imagination," I declared, "cannot conceive such a situation."
+
+"A flock of geese once saved an empire," he said, "a child's little
+finger in the crack of the dam kept a whole city from destruction. One
+man may yet save this pig-headed country of ours from utter disaster. It
+may be you--it may be I!"
+
+"You are also an Englishman!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Perhaps!" he answered shortly. "Never mind what I am. Think! Think hard!
+By to-morrow you must decide! Are you content with your life? Does it
+satisfy you? You have everything else; have you ambition?"
+
+"I am not sure," I answered slowly. "Remember that this is all new to me.
+I must think!"
+
+He raised himself a little in the bed. At no time on this occasion had he
+presented to me the abject appearance of the previous night. His cheeks
+were perfectly colorless, and this pallor, together with his white hair,
+and the spotless bed-linen, gave to his face a somewhat ghastly cast, but
+his dark eyes were bright and piercing, his features composed and
+natural.
+
+"Listen," he said, "they may try to kill me, but I have a will, too, and
+I say that I will not die till I have found a successor to carry on--to
+the end--what I have begun. Mind, it is no coward's game! It is a walk
+with death, hand in hand, all the way."
+
+He raised suddenly a warning finger. There was a knock at the door. The
+nurse who answered it came to the bedside.
+
+"The gentleman has stayed long enough," she announced. "He must go now!"
+
+I rose and held out my hand. He held it between his for a moment, and his
+eyes sought mine.
+
+"You will come--to-morrow?"
+
+"I will come," I promised. "To-morrow evening."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+A TETE-A-TETE DINNER
+
+
+At about nine o'clock the following morning a note was brought to my room
+addressed to me in a lady's handwriting. I tore it open at once. It was,
+as I bad expected, from Miss Van Hoyt.
+
+"DEAR MR. COURAGE,--
+
+"I should like to see you for a few minutes at twelve o'clock in the
+reading-room.
+
+"Yours sincerely,
+
+"ADELE VAN HOYT."
+
+I wrote a reply immediately:--
+
+"DEAR MISS VAN HOYT,--
+
+"I regret that I am engaged for the day, and have to leave the hotel in
+an hour. I shall return about seven o'clock. Could you not dine with me
+this evening, either in the hotel or elsewhere?
+
+"Yours sincerely,
+
+"J. HARDROSS COURAGE."
+
+Over my breakfast I studied the handwriting of her note. It might indeed
+have served for an index to so much of her character as had become
+apparent to me. The crisp, clear formation of the letters, the bold
+curves and angular terminations, seemed to denote a personality free from
+all feminine weaknesses. I was reminded at once of the unfaltering gaze
+of her deep blue eyes, of the chill precision of her words and manner. I
+asked myself, then, why a character so free, apparently, from all the
+lovable traits of her sex, should have proved so attractive to me. I had
+known other beautiful women, I was not untravelled, and I had met women
+in Paris and Vienna who also possessed the more subtle charms of perfect
+toilet and manners, and were free from the somewhat hopeless obviousness
+of most of the women of our country. There was something beneath all
+that. At the moment, I could not tell what it was. I simply realized
+that, for the first time, a woman stood easily first in my life, that my
+whole outlook upon the world was undermined.
+
+Just as I was leaving the hotel, I saw her maid coming down the hall with
+a note in her hand. I waited, and she accosted me.
+
+"Monsieur Courage!"
+
+"Yes!" I answered.
+
+She gave me the note.
+
+"There is no reply at present," she said, dropping her voice almost to a
+whisper. "Monsieur might open it in his cab."
+
+She gave me a glance of warning, and I saw that the hall porter and one
+of his subordinates were somewhat unnecessarily near me. Then she glided
+away, and I drove off in my cab. Directly we had started, I tore open the
+envelope and read these few lines.
+
+"DEAR MR. COURAGE,--
+
+"I will dine with you to-night at the Cafe Francais at eight o'clock.
+Please take a table upstairs. Do not ask for me again or send me any
+further message until we meet there.
+
+"Yours sincerely,
+
+"ADELE VAN HOYT."
+
+At Lord's I was compelled to spend half the day hanging about the
+pavilion, smoking a good many more cigarettes than I was accustomed to,
+and finding the cricket much less interesting than usual. My own innings
+fortunately kept me distracted for a little more than two hours, and the
+effort of it soothed my nerves and did me good all round. On my way back
+to the hotel, I determined to forget everything except that I was going
+to dine alone with the one companion I would have chosen first out of the
+whole world. In that frame of mind I bathed, changed my clothes, and made
+my way a little before the appointed time to the Cafe Francais.
+
+I found out my table, sent for some more flowers, and ordered the wine.
+Then I descended to the hall just in time to meet my guest.
+
+She wore nothing over her evening dress save a lace scarf, which she
+untwisted as we ascended the stairs. For some reason I fancied that she
+was not very well pleased with me. Her greeting was certainly cool.
+
+"Is this your favorite restaurant?" I asked, as the head-waiter ushered
+us to our table.
+
+"I have no favorite restaurant," she answered; "only to-night I felt in
+the humor for French cooking--and French service."
+
+I fancied that there was some meaning in the latter part of her sentence;
+but at that time I did not understand. I had ordered the dinner
+carefully; and I was glad to see that, although she ate sparingly, she
+showed appreciation. Wine she scarcely touched.
+
+"So you have been particularly engaged to-day," was almost her first
+remark.
+
+"I was forced to go to Lord's," I reminded her. "A cricket match lasts
+three days."
+
+"Three whole days!" she exclaimed, raising her eyebrows.
+
+"Certainly! unless it is over before," I replied.
+
+"And you mean to say that you are a prisoner there all that time--that
+you could not leave if you chose to?"
+
+"I am afraid not," I answered. "Cricket is a serious thing in this
+country, you know. If you are chosen to play and commence in the match,
+you must go through with it. Surely you have met with something of the
+same sort of thing in the football matches in America!"
+
+"I have never been interested in such things," she said. "I suppose
+that is why I have never realized their importance. I am afraid, Mr.
+Courage--"
+
+"Well?"
+
+She lifted her eyes to mine. What a color!--and what a depth. Then I
+knew, as though by inspiration, how it was that I found myself passing
+into bondage. Cold she might seem, and self-engrossed! It was because
+the right chord had never been struck. Some day another light should
+shine in those wonderful eyes. I saw her before me transformed, saw color
+in her still, marble cheeks, saw her lips drift into a softer curve,
+heard the tremor of passion in her quiet, languid tone.
+
+"Do you know that you are staring at me?" she remarked, calmly.
+
+I apologized profusely.
+
+"It is a bad habit of mine," I assured her. "I was looking--beyond."
+
+There was real interest then in her face. She leaned a little forward.
+Perhaps it was my fancy, but I thought that she seemed to regard me
+differently.
+
+"How interesting!" she said. "Do you know I had not given you credit for
+much imagination. You must tell me what you saw!"
+
+"Impossible!" I declared.
+
+"Rubbish!" she answered, "nothing is impossible. Besides, I ask it,"
+
+"I do not know you well enough," I declared, helping myself to an
+artichoke, "to be personal."
+
+"The liberties you take in your thoughts," she answered, "I permit you to
+render into speech. It is the same thing."
+
+"One's thoughts," I answered, "are too phantasmagorial. One cannot
+collect them into speech."
+
+"You must try," she declared, "or I shall never, never dine with you
+again. Nothing is so interesting as to see yourself from another's point
+of view!"
+
+"Is it understood," I asked, "that I am not held personally responsible
+for my thoughts--that if I try to clothe them with words, I am held free
+from offence?"
+
+She considered for a moment.
+
+"I suppose so," she said. "Yes! Go on."
+
+I drank off my glass of wine, and waited until the waiter, who had been
+carving a Rouen duckling on a stand by the side of the table, had stepped
+back into the background.
+
+"Very well!" I said. "I am thirty-three years old and a bachelor, well
+off, and I have never been a stay-at-home. I know something of society in
+Paris, in Vienna, in Rome, as well as London. I have always found women
+agreeable companions, and I have never avoided them. The sex, as a whole,
+has attracted me. From individual members of it I have happened to remain
+absolutely heart-whole."
+
+"Marvellous," she murmured in gentle derision. "Please pass the toast.
+Thank you!"
+
+"I have been compelled," I said, "to be egotistical. I must now become
+personal. I saw you for the first time in the hall at the Universal, the
+morning before yesterday. I encountered you the night before under
+extremely dubious circumstances. I spoke to you for the first time
+yesterday. I have met other women as beautiful, I have met many others
+who have been more gracious to me. These things do not seem to count. You
+have asked for truth, mind, and you are going to have it. As surely as we
+are sitting here together, I know that, from henceforth, for me there
+will be--there could be--no other woman in the world!"
+
+She moved in her chair a little restlessly. Her eyes avoided mine. Her
+eyebrows had contracted a little, but I could not see that she was angry.
+
+"What am I to think of such a declaration as that?" she asked quietly.
+"You are not a wizard. You have seen of me what I chose, and you have
+seen nothing which a man should find lovable, except my looks."
+
+I smiled as I leaned a little forward.
+
+"Don't do me an injustice," I begged. "You have brought me now to the
+very moment when I forgot myself, and prompted your question. Remember
+that one has always one's fancy. I looked at you to-night, and I thought
+that I saw another woman--or rather I thought that I saw the woman that
+you might be, that I would pray to make you. The other woman is there,
+I think. I only hope that it may be my good fortune to call her into
+life."
+
+Her head was bent over her plate. She seemed to be listening to the
+music--or was there something there which she did not wish me to see? I
+could not tell. The waiter intervened with another course. When she spoke
+to me again, her tone was almost cold, but it troubled me very little.
+There was a softness in her eyes which she could not hide.
+
+"It seems to me," she said, "that we have been very frivolous. I agreed
+to dine with you that we might speak together of this unfortunate person,
+Leslie Guest. You saw him last night?"
+
+"Yes," I answered, "I saw him."
+
+My tone had become grave, and my face overcast. She was watching me
+curiously.
+
+"Well!"
+
+"I am bothered," I admitted. "I don't quite know what I ought to do!"
+
+"Explain!"
+
+"It seemed to me," I said, "that the man was neither more nor less than a
+prisoner there in the hands of those who, for some reason or other, are
+his enemies."
+
+"That," she admitted, "is fairly obvious; what of it?"
+
+"Well," I said, "the most straightforward thing for me to do, I believe,
+would be to go to the nearest police-station and tell them all I know."
+
+She laughed softly.
+
+"What an Englishman you are!" she exclaimed. "The law, or a letter to the
+_Times_. These are your final resources, are they not? Well, in this
+case, let me assure you that neither would help you in the least."
+
+"I am not so sure," I answered. "At any rate, I do not see the fun of
+letting him remain there, to be done to death by those mysterious enemies
+of his."
+
+"Then why not take him away?" she asked quietly.
+
+"Where to?" I asked.
+
+"Your own home, if you are sufficiently interested in him!"
+
+"Do you mean that?" I asked.
+
+"I do! Listen! I have no pity for the man who calls himself Leslie Guest!
+Death he has deserved, and his fate, whomever might intervene, is
+absolutely inevitable. But I do not wish him to die--at present!"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"You can imagine, I think. He has the secret."
+
+"He does not seem to me," I remarked, "the sort of man likely to part
+with it."
+
+"Not to me," she answered quickly, "not to those others. From us he would
+guard it with his life! With you it is different."
+
+"I am not sure," I said slowly, "that I wish to become a sharer of such
+dangerous knowledge."
+
+"You are afraid?" she asked coldly.
+
+"I do not see what I have to gain by it," I admitted. "I am not curious,
+and the possession of it certainly seems to entail some inconvenience, if
+not danger."
+
+Her lip curled a little. She nodded as though she quite understood my
+point of view.
+
+"You have said enough," she declared; "I perceive that I was not
+mistaken! You are exactly the sort of man I thought you were from the
+first. It is better for you to return to your cricket and your sports.
+You are at home with them; in the great world you would soon be weary and
+lost. Call for your bill, please, and put me in a cab. I have a call to
+make before I return to the hotel"
+
+"One moment more," I begged. "You have not altogether understood me! I
+have spoken from my own point of view only. I have no interest in the
+salvation of Leslie Guest, beyond an Englishman's natural desire to see
+fair play. I have no wish to be burdened with a secret which seems to
+spell life or death in capital letters. But show me where your interest
+lies, and I promise you that I will be zealous enough! Tell me what to do
+and I will do it. My time and my life are yours. Do what you will with
+them! Can I say more than that?"
+
+She flashed a wonderful look at me across the table--such a look that my
+heart beat, and my pulses flowed to a strange, new music. Her tone was
+soft, almost caressing.
+
+"You mean this?"
+
+"Upon my honor I do!" I answered.
+
+"Then take Leslie Guest with you back to your home in the country," she
+said. "Keep him with you, keep every one else away from him. In less than
+a week he will tell you his secret!"
+
+"I will do it," I answered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+IN THE TOILS
+
+
+"This," the nurse said, after a moment's somewhat awkward pause, "is the
+doctor--Dr. Kretznow!"
+
+A tall, awkwardly built man, wearing heavy glasses, turned away from the
+bedside, and looked at me inquiringly.
+
+"My name is Courage, doctor," I said; "I am an acquaintance of your
+patient's."
+
+The doctor frowned on me as he picked up his hat.
+
+"I have given no permission," he said, "for my patient to receive
+visitors."
+
+"I trust that you don't consider him too ill," I answered. "I was hoping
+to hear that he was better!"
+
+"He is doing well enough," the doctor declared, "if he is left alone.
+But," he added, in a lower tone, "he is a sick man--a very sick man."
+
+I glanced towards the bedside, and was shocked at the deathly pallor of
+his face. His eyes were half closed. He had not the air of hearing
+anything that we said. I walked towards the door with the doctor.
+
+"What is the matter with him, doctor?" I asked.
+
+He glanced towards me suspiciously.
+
+"I was told," he said, "that my patient was without friends here, or any
+one for whom he could send."
+
+"I have only known him a very short time," I answered, "but I am
+interested in him. If I may be allowed to say so, I am perfectly willing
+to defray any charges--"
+
+He stopped me impatiently.
+
+"I am physician to the hotel," he said, "Mr. Blumentein arranges all that
+with me!"
+
+"Then perhaps as I have told you I am interested in him, I can trespass
+so far upon your courtesy as to inquire into the nature of his ailment,"
+I said.
+
+"I am afraid," he said, "that as you are not a medical man, I could
+scarcely make you understand."
+
+"There was--an accident, I think," I began.
+
+"A trifle! Nothing at all," the doctor declared hastily. "The trouble is
+with his heart. You will excuse me! I have many calls to make this
+evening."
+
+"Perhaps you would kindly give me your address," I said. "Dr. Mumford,
+the heart specialist, is an acquaintance of mine. You would not object to
+meet him in consultation?"
+
+He looked at me for a moment fixedly.
+
+"It is not at all necessary!" he declared. "If Mr. Blumentein is not
+satisfied with my conduct of the case, I will withdraw from it at once!
+Otherwise, I shall not tolerate any interference!"
+
+He left me without another word. I returned to the bedside. As I
+approached, Guest deliberately opened one eye and then closed it again. I
+addressed him in French:
+
+"How are you?"
+
+"About as I am meant to be," he answered.
+
+The nurse came over to the bedside.
+
+"It is not well for the gentleman to talk to-night," she said. "The
+doctor has said that he must be quite quiet."
+
+"I shall only stay a few minutes," I answered; "and I will be careful not
+to disturb him."
+
+She stood quite still for a moment, looking sullenly at us. Then she
+turned away and left the room. Guest raised himself a little in the bed.
+
+"She has gone to fetch one of my--guardians," he remarked grimly.
+
+"I am going to take you away from here--down to my home in the country,"
+I said. "Do you think you can stand the journey?"
+
+"Whether I can or not makes no difference," he answered. "I shall never
+be allowed to leave this room alive."
+
+The Britisher in me was touched.
+
+"Rubbish," I answered, "if you talk like that, I shall go to Scotland
+Yard at once. I tell you frankly, I don't like your nurse. I don't like
+your doctor, I don't like their shutting you up in this lonely part of
+the hotel, and I can't understand the attitude of Mr. Blumentein at all.
+He must know what he is risking in attempting this sort of thing, in
+London of all places in the world."
+
+He interrupted me impatiently.
+
+"Don't talk about Scotland Yard," he said. "These people are not fools.
+They would have a perfect answer to any charge you might bring."
+
+"You don't mean that you intend to lie here and be done to death?" I
+protested.
+
+"Death for me is a certain thing," he answered. "I have been a doomed man
+for months. There was never a chance for me after I entered the portals
+of this hotel. I knew that; but I backed my luck. I thought that I might
+have had time to finish my work--to lay the match to the gunpowder."
+
+"Listen," I said, "there is a lady--a young lady staying here, a Miss Van
+Hoyt."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"It was her suggestion that I should take you away with me!"
+
+His eyes seemed to dilate as he stared at me.
+
+"Say that again," he murmured.
+
+I repeated my words. He raised himself a little in the bed.
+
+"What do you know of her?" he asked.
+
+"Not much," I answered. "She came to Lord's cricket ground. My cousin was
+with her. We have spoken about you."
+
+"You know--"
+
+"I know that she is or appears to be one of your--what shall I
+say--enemies."
+
+"She is willing," he repeated, "for me to go away with you! Ah!"
+
+A sudden understanding came into his face.
+
+"Yes!" he declared hoarsely, "I think that I understand. Go back to her!
+Say that I consent. She--she is different to those others. She plays--the
+great game! Hush! I go to sleep!"
+
+He closed his eyes. The door opened, and the nurse entered, followed by a
+man who bowed gravely to me. He was still wearing a grey tweed suit and a
+red tie; his eyes beamed upon me from behind his gold-rimmed spectacles.
+
+"Ah!" he exclaimed softly, "so you have come to see your friend. It is
+very kind of you! I trust that you find him better."
+
+I pointed to the nurse.
+
+"Send her away," I said. "I want to talk to you!"
+
+"We will talk with pleasure," the newcomer answered, "but why here? We
+shall disturb our friend. Come into my room, and we will drink a whisky
+and soda together."
+
+"Thank you, no!" I answered dryly. "I will drink with you at the bar, or
+in the smoking-room if you like--not in your room."
+
+He bowed.
+
+"An admirable precaution, sir," he declared. "We will go to the
+smoking-room."
+
+I glanced towards the bed. Guest was sleeping, or feigning sleep. My
+companion's eyes followed mine sympathetically.
+
+"Poor fellow!" he exclaimed. "I am afraid that he is very ill!"
+
+I opened the door and pushed him gently outside.
+
+"We will go downstairs and have that talk," I said.
+
+We found a quiet corner in the smoking-room, where there was a little
+recess partitioned off from the rest of the room. My companion drew a
+small card-case from his pocket.
+
+"Permit me, Mr. Courage," he said, "to introduce myself. My name is
+Stanley, James Stanley, and I come from Liverpool. Waiter, two best
+Scotch whiskies, and a large Schweppe's soda."
+
+"Mr. Stanley," I said, "I am glad to know a name by which I can call you,
+but this is going to be a straight talk between you and me; and I may as
+well tell you that I do not believe that your name is Stanley, or that
+you come from Liverpool!"
+
+"Ah! It is immaterial," he declared softly.
+
+"I want to speak to you," I said, "about the man Guest upstairs. It seems
+to me that there is a conspiracy going on against him in this hotel. I
+want you to understand that I am not prepared to stand quietly aside and
+see him done to death!"
+
+My companion laughed softly. He took off his spectacles, and wiped them
+with a silk handkerchief.
+
+"A conspiracy," he repeated, "in the Hotel Universal. My dear sir, you
+are letting your indignation run away with you! Consider for a moment
+what you are saying. The hotel is full of visitors from all parts of
+England. It is one of the largest and best known in London. Its
+reputation--"
+
+"Oh! spare me all this rot," I interrupted rudely. "Let me remind you of
+what happened two nights ago, when you broke into my room in search of
+Guest."
+
+"Ah!" he remarked, "that, no doubt, must have seemed an odd proceeding to
+you. But, in the first place, you must remember we had no idea that the
+room was occupied. We were very anxious to have an explanation with our
+friend, purely a business matter, and he had irritated us both by his
+persistent avoidance of it. We have had our little talk now, and the
+matter is over. My partner has already left, and I am returning to
+Liverpool myself to-morrow or the next day. I fear that you were misled
+by my language and manner on that unfortunate evening. I am sorry; but
+I must admit that I was over-excited."
+
+"Very good," I said. "Then, perhaps, as you are so fluent with your
+explanations, you will tell me why Mr. Guest has been removed to a part
+of the hotel which I am quite sure that no one knows anything about, is
+being attended by a doctor of most unprepossessing appearance, and a
+nurse who treats him as a jailer would!"
+
+Mr. Stanley's face beamed with good-humored mirth.
+
+"You young men," he declared, "are so imaginative. Mr. Guest has simply
+been removed to the part of the hotel which is reserved for sick people.
+No one likes to know that they have anybody next door to them who is
+seriously ill. As for the doctor, he is a highly qualified practitioner,
+and visits the hotel every day by arrangement with the manager; and the
+nurse was sent from the nearest nurses' home."
+
+"You think, then," I continued, "that if I were to go to Scotland Yard,
+and tell them all that I know, that I should be making a fool of myself."
+
+Mr. Stanley's eyes twinkled.
+
+"Why not try it?" he suggested. "There is a detective always in
+attendance on the premises. Send for him now, and let us hear what he
+says."
+
+"Very well, Mr. Stanley," I said, "your explanations all sound very
+reasonable. I am to take it, then, that if Mr. Guest desired to--say
+leave the hotel to-morrow, no one would make any objection!"
+
+Mr. Stanley was almost distressed.
+
+"Objection! My dear sir! Mr. Guest is his own master, is he not? He pays
+his own bill, and he leaves when he likes. At present, of course, he is
+not able to, but that is simply a matter of health."
+
+"I am proposing," I said, "to take Mr. Guest away with me into the
+country to-morrow."
+
+Mr. Stanley looked at me steadily. There was a subtle change in his face.
+I was watching him closely, and I saw the glint of his eyes behind his
+spectacles. I began to think I had been rash to lay my cards upon the
+table.
+
+"I am afraid," he said gently, "that you are proposing what would
+be--certain death to Mr. Guest--in his present state of health."
+
+"I am afraid," I replied, "that if I leave him here, it will also be--to
+certain death!"
+
+Mr. Stanley called to the waiter.
+
+"One small drink more, and I must go to bed," he said. "Up to a certain
+point, I agree with you. I believe that Leslie Guest is a dying man.
+Whether he stays here or goes makes little difference--very little
+difference indeed to me. Your health, Mr. Courage! A farewell drink this,
+I am afraid!"
+
+I raised my tumbler to my lips, and nodded to him. Then I rose to my
+feet, but almost as I did so, I realized what had happened. The floor
+heaved up beneath my feet, my knees trembled, I felt the perspiration
+break out upon my forehead. Through the mist which was gathering in front
+of my eyes, I could see the half-curious, half-derisive glances of the
+other occupants of the room; and opposite, Mr. Stanley, his eyes blinking
+at me from behind his spectacles, his expression one of grieved concern.
+I leaned over toward him.
+
+"You d----d scoundrel!" I exclaimed.
+
+After that, my head fell forward upon my folded arms, and I remembered no
+more!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR
+
+
+I sat up in bed, heavy, unrefreshed, and with a splitting headache. The
+clock on the mantelpiece was striking three o'clock; from below I could
+hear the clatter of vehicles in the courtyard, and the distant roar of
+traffic from the streets beyond. Slowly I realized that it was three
+o'clock in the afternoon; the events of the night before re-formed
+themselves in my mind. I rang the bell for the valet and sprang out of
+bed.
+
+"Why didn't you call me this morning?" I asked angrily.
+
+"You gave no orders, sir," the man answered. "I have been in the room
+once or twice, but you were sleeping so soundly that I didn't like to
+disturb you."
+
+I began tearing on my clothes.
+
+"What sort of weather has it been?" I asked.
+
+"Pouring rain since seven o'clock, sir!" the man answered. "No chance of
+play at Lord's, sir!"
+
+"Thank Heaven!" I exclaimed fervently. "Order me a cup of tea, will you,
+and--stop a minute--take this note round to Miss Van Hoyt--367."
+
+He returned in a few minutes with the tea; but he brought my note back
+again.
+
+"Miss Van Hoyt left the hotel this morning, sir," he announced.
+
+I turned round quickly.
+
+"She is coming back, of course!" I exclaimed.
+
+"The chambermaid thought not, sir," the man declared. "She has given up
+her room, at any rate. They would know for certain down in the office."
+
+I finished the rest of my toilet in a hurry, and went straight to the
+reception bureau. I fancied that the clerk to whom I addressed myself
+eyed me queerly.
+
+"Can you tell me if Miss Van Hoyt has left the hotel?" I asked.
+
+"She left this morning, sir," he replied.
+
+"Is there any message for me--Mr. Courage?" I asked.
+
+He disappeared for a moment, but I fancied that his search was only
+perfunctory.
+
+"Nothing at all for you, sir," he announced.
+
+I concealed my surprise as well as I could.
+
+"Will you send my card up and ascertain if I can see Mr. Leslie Guest?" I
+asked. "He is staying somewhere in the south wing."
+
+"Mr. Leslie Guest left just before one o'clock, sir," the clerk answered.
+
+"Left the hotel!" I repeated. "Why! He was in bed yesterday, and scarcely
+able to move."
+
+The clerk shrugged his shoulders. He had the air of being a little tired
+of me.
+
+"He was probably better to-day," he answered. "At any rate, he was well
+enough to travel."
+
+"Is Mr. James Stanley, of Liverpool, in?" I asked.
+
+"Mr. Stanley paid his bill and went away at eight o'clock this morning,"
+the man answered, going back to his ledger.
+
+"I must see the manager at once," I declared firmly.
+
+The clerk called a page-boy.
+
+"Take this gentleman's name down to Mr. Blumentein," he ordered shortly.
+
+I waited for several minutes. Then the boy returned, and beckoned me to
+follow him.
+
+"Mr. Blumentein will see you in his office, sir," he announced. "Will you
+come this way?"
+
+It was a very different Mr. Blumentein who looked up now, as I was shown
+into his private room. He regarded me with a frown, and his manner was
+indubitably hostile.
+
+"You wish to speak to me, sir?" he asked curtly.
+
+"I do!" I answered. "There is a good deal going on in your hotel which I
+do not understand; and I may as well tell you that I am determined to get
+to the bottom of it. I was drugged in the public smoking-room last night
+by a man who called himself Stanley, acting in collusion with one of the
+waiters."
+
+Mr. Blumentein looked at me superciliously.
+
+"Mr. Courage," he said, "the events of last night preclude my taking you
+seriously any more; but I should like you to understand that you have
+proved yourself an extremely troublesome guest here."
+
+"What do you mean by the events of last night?" I asked.
+
+"You were drunk in the smoking-room," Mr. Blumentein replied curtly, "and
+had to be assisted to your room. Don't trouble to deny it. There are a
+dozen witnesses, if necessary. I shall require you to leave the hotel
+within the next few hours."
+
+"You know very well that I was nothing of the sort," I answered hotly.
+
+"It is easily proved," Mr. Blumentein asserted. "Please understand that I
+am not prepared to discuss the matter with you."
+
+"Very well," I answered. "Let it go at that. Whilst I was safely put out
+of the way, several of your guests seem to have left. Will you give me
+Miss Van Hoyt's address?"
+
+"I will not," the manager answered.
+
+"Mr. Leslie Guest's then?"
+
+"I do not know it," he declared.
+
+I turned towards the door.
+
+"Very well, Mr. Blumentein," I said; "but if you imagine that this matter
+is going to rest where it is, you are very much mistaken. I am going
+straight to a private detective's, who is also a friend of mine!"
+
+"Then for Heaven's sake go to him!" Mr. Blumentein declared irritably.
+"We have nothing to conceal here! All that we desire is to be left alone
+by guests whose conduct about the place is discreditable. Good afternoon,
+Mr. Courage!"
+
+I returned to my room and had my bag packed. Then I sat down to think. I
+reviewed the course of events carefully since the night before last. Try
+how I could, I found it absolutely impossible to arrive at any clear
+conclusion with regard to them. The whole thing was a phantasmagoria. The
+one person in whom I had believed, and at whose bidding I was willing to
+take a hand in this mysterious game, had disappeared without a word of
+explanation or farewell. There could be only one reasonable course of
+action for me to pursue, and that was to shrug my shoulders and go my
+way. I had my own life to live, and although its limitations might be a
+little obvious, it was yet a reasonable and sane sort of life. Of Adele I
+refused resolutely to think. I knew very well that I should not be able
+to forget her. On the other hand, I was convinced now that she was simply
+making use of me. I would go back home and forget these two days. I would
+reckon them as belonging to some one else's life, not mine.
+
+I paid my bill, left the hotel, and caught the five o'clock train from
+St. Pancras to Medchester. From there I had a ten-mile drive, and it
+was almost dusk when we turned off the main road into the private
+approach to Saxby Hall--my old home. Every yard of the land around, half
+meadow-land, half park, I knew almost by heart; every corner and chimney
+of the long irregular house was familiar to me. It all looked very
+peaceful as we drove up to the front; the blue smoke from the chimneys
+going straight up in a long, thin line; not a rustle of breeze or
+movement anywhere. Perkins, my butler, came out to the steps to meet me,
+and successfully concealed his surprise at my return two days before I
+was expected.
+
+"Any news, Perkins?" I inquired, as he helped me off with my coat.
+
+"Nothing in any way special, sir," Perkins replied. "The cricket team
+from Romney Court were over here yesterday, sir, for the day."
+
+"Gave 'em a licking, I hope?" I remarked.
+
+"We won by thirty runs, sir," Perkins informed me. "Johnson was bowling
+remarkably well, sir. He took seven wickets for fifteen!"
+
+I nodded, and was passing on to my study. Perkins followed me.
+
+"We got your first telegram early this morning, sir!" he remarked.
+
+I stopped short.
+
+"What telegram?" I asked.
+
+"The one telling us to prepare for the gentleman, sir," Perkins
+explained. "We had to guess at the train; but we sent the brougham in for
+the twelve o'clock, and Johnson waited. We've given him the south room,
+sir, and I think that he's quite comfortable."
+
+"What the devil are you talking about?" I asked.
+
+It was Perkins' turn to stare, which he did for a moment blankly.
+
+"The gentleman whose arrival you wired about, sir," he answered. "Mr.
+Guest, I believe his name is."
+
+"Mr. Guest is here now?" I asked.
+
+"Certainly, sir! In the south room, sir! He asked to be told directly you
+arrived, sir!"
+
+I turned abruptly towards the staircase. I said not another word to
+Perkins, but made my way to the room which he had spoken of. I knocked at
+the door, and it was Guest's voice which bade me enter. It was Guest
+himself, who in a grey travelling suit, which made him look smaller and
+frailer than ever, lay stretched upon the sofa over by the great south
+windows!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+"WORTLEY FOOTE--THE SPY"
+
+
+He sat up at once, but he did not attempt to rise. His eyes watched me
+anxiously. My surprise seemed to trouble him.
+
+"I am afraid--" he began hesitatingly.
+
+"You need be afraid of nothing," I interrupted, going over and taking his
+hand. "Only how on earth did you get here?"
+
+He looked around before replying. The old habits had not deserted him.
+
+"Your friend, Miss Van Hoyt, arranged it," he said. "The others had
+another plan; but they were no match for her."
+
+"But how did you come?" I asked. "You were not well enough to travel
+alone."
+
+"She left me at Medchester station," he answered. "Your carriage brought
+me over here, and your servants have been most kind. But--but before I go
+to bed to-night, there are things which I must say to you. We must not
+sleep under the same roof until we have arrived at an understanding."
+
+I looked at him with compassion. He had shaved recently, and his face,
+besides being altogether colorless, seemed very wan and pinched. His
+clothes seemed too big for him, his eyes were unnaturally clear and
+luminous.
+
+"We will talk later on," I said, "if it is really necessary. Shall you
+feel well enough to come down and have dinner with me, or would you like
+something served up here?"
+
+"I should like to come down," he answered, "if you will lend me your man
+to help me dress."
+
+"Come as you are," I said. "We shall be alone!"
+
+He smiled a little curiously.
+
+"I should like to change," he declared. "A few hours of civilization,
+after all I have been through, will be rather a welcome experience."
+
+"Very well," I told him, "I will send my man at once. There is just
+another thing which I should like to ask you. Have you any objection to
+seeing my doctor?"
+
+"None whatever," he answered. "I think perhaps," he added, "that it would
+be advisable, in case anything should happen while I am here."
+
+I laughed cheerfully.
+
+"Come," I declared, "nothing of that sort is going to happen now. You are
+perfectly safe here, and this country air is going to do wonders for
+you."
+
+He made no answer in words. His expression, however, plainly showed me
+what he thought. I did not pursue the subject.
+
+"I will send a man round at once," I said, turning away. "We dine at
+eight."
+
+My guest at dinner-time revealed traces of breeding and distinction which
+I had not previously observed in him. He was obviously a man of birth,
+and one who had mixed in the very best society of other capitals, save
+London alone. He ate very little, but he drank two glasses of my
+"Regents" Chambertin, with the air of a critic. He declined cigars, but
+he carried my cigarette box off with him into the study; and he accepted
+without hesitation some '47 brandy with his coffee. All the time,
+however, he had the air of a man with something on his mind, and we had
+scarcely been alone for a minute, before he brushed aside the slighter
+conversation which I was somewhat inclined to foster, and plunged into
+the great subject.
+
+"Mr. Courage," he said, "I want to speak to you seriously." I nodded.
+
+"Why don't you wait for a few days, until you have pulled up a little?" I
+suggested. "There is no hurry. You are perfectly safe down here."
+
+He looked at me as one might look at a child.
+
+"There is very urgent need for hurry," he asserted, "and apart from
+that, death waits for no man, and my feet are very near indeed to the
+borderland. There must be an understanding between us."
+
+"As you will," I answered, "although I won't admit that you are as ill as
+you think you are!"
+
+He smiled faintly.
+
+"That," he said, "is because you do not know. Now listen. You have to
+make, within the next few minutes, a great decision. Very likely, after
+you have chosen, you will curse me all your days. It was a freak of fate
+which brought us together. But I must say this. You are the sort of man
+whom I would have chosen, if any measure of choice had fallen to my lot.
+And yet," he looked around, "I am almost afraid to speak now that I have
+seen you in your home, now that I have realized something of what your
+life must be."
+
+All the time, underneath the flow of his level words, there trembled the
+sub-note of a barely controlled emotion. The man's eyes were like fire.
+His cigarette had gone out. He lit another with restless, twitching
+fingers.
+
+"Words, at any rate, can do me no harm," I said encouragingly. "Go on! I
+should like to hear what you have to say."
+
+"Words," he exclaimed, "bring knowledge, and with knowledge comes all the
+majesty or the despair of life. One does not need to be a student of
+character to know that you are a contented man. You are well off. You
+have a beautiful home, you are a sportsman, your days are well-ordered,
+life itself slips easily by for you. You have none of the wanderer's
+discontent, none of the passionate heart longings of the man who has
+lifted even the corner of the veil to see what lies beyond. If I speak,
+all this may be changed to you. Why should I do it?"
+
+His words stirred me. The eloquence of real conviction trembled in his
+tone. I felt some answering spark of excitement creep into my own blood.
+
+"Let me hear what you have to say, at all events!" I exclaimed. "Don't
+take too much for granted. Mine has been a simple life, but there have
+been seasons when I would have changed it. I come of an adventurous race,
+though the times have curbed our spirits. It was my grandfather, Sir
+Hardross Courage, who was ambassador at Paris when Napoleon--"
+
+"I know! I know!" he exclaimed. "Your grandfather! Good! And Nicholas
+Courage--what of him?"
+
+"My uncle!" I answered. "You have heard of him in Teheran."
+
+A spot of color burned in his pallid cheeks.
+
+"I hesitate no longer," he cried. "These were great men; but I will show
+you the way to deeds which shall leave their memory pale. Listen! Did you
+ever hear of Wortley Foote?"
+
+"The spy," I answered, "of course!"
+
+He started as though he were stung even to death. His cheeks were
+flushed, and then as suddenly livid. He seemed to have grown smaller in
+his chair, to be shrinking away as though I had threatened him with a
+blow.
+
+"I forgot," he muttered. "I forgot. Never mind. I am Wortley Foote. At
+least it has been my name for a time."
+
+It was my turn to be astonished. I looked at him for a moment petrified.
+Was this indeed the man who had brought all Europe to the verge of war,
+who was held responsible for the greatest international complication of
+the century? Years had passed, but I remembered well that week of fierce
+excitement when the clash of arms rang through Europe, when three great
+fleets were mobilized, and the very earth seemed to reverberate with the
+footsteps of the gathering millions, moving always towards one spot.
+Disaster was averted by what seemed then to be a miracle; but no one ever
+doubted but that one man, and one man alone, was responsible for what
+might have been the most awful catastrophe of civilized times. And it was
+that man who sat in my study and watched me now, with ghastly face and
+passionately inquiring eyes. When he spoke, his voice sounded thin and
+cracked.
+
+"I had forgotten," he said, "that I was speaking to one of the million.
+To you, mine must seem a name to shudder at. Yet listen to me. My life is
+finished. I have lied before now in great causes. No man in my position
+could have avoided it. To-day, I speak the truth. You must believe me! Do
+you hear?"
+
+"Yes!" I answered, "I hear!"
+
+"Death is my bedfellow," he continued. "Death is by my side like my own
+shadow. In straits like mine, the uses of chicanery are past. I come of a
+family of English gentlemen, even as you, Hardross Courage. We are of the
+same order, and I speak to you man to man, with the dew of death upon my
+lips. You will listen?"
+
+"Yes!" I answered, "I will listen!"
+
+"You will believe?"
+
+"Yes!" I answered, "I will believe!"
+
+He drew a breath of relief. A wonderful change lightened his face.
+
+"Diplomacy demanded a victim," he said, "and I never flinched. Two men
+knew the truth, and they are dead. My scheme was a bold one. If it had
+succeeded, it would have meant an alliance with Germany, an absolute
+incontrovertible alliance and an imperishable peace. France and Russia
+would have been powerless--the balance of strength, of accessible
+strength, must always have been with us. Every German statesman of note
+was with me. The falsehood, the vilely egotistic ambition of one man,
+chock-full to the lips with personal jealousy, a madman posing as a
+genius, wrecked all my plans. My life's work went for nothing. We escaped
+disaster by a miracle and my name is written in the pages of history as a
+scheming spy--I who narrowly escaped the greatest diplomatic triumph of
+all ages. That is the epitome of my career. You believe me?"
+
+"I must," I answered.
+
+"I was reported to have committed suicide," he continued. "Nothing was
+ever farther from my thoughts."
+
+I followed an ancient maxim. I sought safety in the shadow of the enemy.
+I went to Berlin."
+
+"The man who foiled you--" I said slowly.
+
+"You know who it was," he interrupted. "The man who believes that he
+hears voices from heaven, that by the side of his Divine wisdom his
+ministers are fools and children, crying for they know not what! I may
+not see it, but you most surely will see the pricking of the bubble of
+his reputation. His name may stand for little more than mine, when the
+book of fate is finally closed."
+
+He was silent for a moment, and glanced towards the sideboard. I could
+see the perspiration standing out in little white beads upon his
+forehead; he had the air of a man utterly exhausted. I poured him out a
+glass of wine, and brought it over. He drank it slowly, and reached out
+his hand for a cigarette.
+
+"Never mind these things," he said more quietly. "A man in my condition
+should avoid talking of his enemies. I lived for two years quietly in
+Berlin. I changed as much of my appearance as illness had left
+recognizable; and during all that time I lived the ordinary life of a
+German citizen of moderate means, without my identity being once
+suspected. I frequented the cafes, I made friends with people in official
+positions. At the end of that time, I commenced to shape my plans. You
+can imagine of what nature they were. You can imagine what it was that I
+desired. I wanted to catch my enemy tripping."
+
+I looked across at him a little incredulously. This was a strange story
+which he was telling me, and I knew very well, from the growing
+excitement of his manner, that its culmination was to come.
+
+"But how could you in Berlin, alone, hope to accomplish this?" I asked.
+
+"I knew the ropes," he answered simply, "and I lived for nothing else. I
+saw him drive amongst his people every day, and I bowed with the rest, I
+who could have spat in his face, I who carried with me the secret of his
+miserable perfidy, who knew alone why his ministers regarded him as a
+spoilt and fretful child. But I waited. Gradually I wormed my way a
+little into the fringe of the German Secret Service. I took them scraps
+of information; but such scraps that they were always hungry for more. I
+posed as a Dutch South African. They even chaffed me about my hatred for
+England. All the time I progressed, until, by chance, I stumbled across
+one of the threads which led--to the great Secret!"
+
+There was a discreet knocking at the door. We both turned impatiently
+around. A servant was just ushering in our village doctor.
+
+"Dr. Rust, sir," he announced.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A LEGACY OF DANGER
+
+
+I was scarcely aware myself to what an extent my attention had been
+riveted upon this strange story of my guest's, until the interruption
+came. The entry of the cheerful little village doctor seemed to dissolve
+an atmosphere thick with sensation. I drew a long breath as I rose to my
+feet. There was a certain measure of relief in the escape from such high
+tension.
+
+"Glad to see you, doctor," I said mechanically. "My friend here, Mr.
+Guest, Dr. Rust," I added, completing the introduction, "is a little run
+down. I thought that I would like you to have a look at him."
+
+The doctor sniffed the air disparagingly as he shook hands.
+
+"Those beastly cigarettes," he remarked. "If you young men would only
+take to pipes!"
+
+"Our insides aren't strong enough for your sort of tobacco, doctor," I
+answered. "I will leave you with Mr. Guest for a few minutes. You may
+like to overhaul him a little."
+
+I made my way into the gardens, and stood for a few minutes looking out
+across the park. It was a still, hot evening; the scene was perhaps as
+peaceful a one as a man could conceive. The tall elms stood out like
+painted trees upon a painted sky, the only movement in the quiet pastoral
+landscape was where a little string of farm laborers were trudging
+homeward across the park, with their baskets over their shoulders.
+Beyond, the land sloped into a pleasant tree-encompassed hollow, and I
+could see the red-tiled roofs of the cottages, and the worn, grey spire
+of the village church. There was scarcely a breath of wind. Everything
+around me seemed to stand for peace. Many a night before I had stood
+here, smoking my pipe and drinking it all in--absolutely content with
+myself, my surroundings, and my life. And to-night I felt, with a certain
+measure of sadness, that it could never be the same again. A few yards
+behind me, in the room which I had just quitted, a man was looking death
+in the face; a man, the passionate, half-told fragments of whose life had
+kindled in me a whole world of new desires. These two, the man and the
+girl, enemies perhaps, speaking from the opposite poles of life, had made
+sad havoc with my well-ordered days. The excitement of his appeal was
+perhaps more directly potent; yet there was something far more subtle,
+far stranger, in my thoughts of her. She and her maid and her queer,
+black-eyed poodle were creatures of flesh and blood without a doubt; yet
+they had come into my life so strangely, and passed into so wonderful a
+place there, that I thought of them with something of the awe which
+belongs to things having in themselves some element of the mystic, if not
+of the supernatural. The blue of her eyes was not more wonderful than the
+flawless grace of her person and her environment. I could compare her
+only with visions one has read and dreamed about in the unreal worlds of
+poetry and romance. Her actual existence as a woman of the moment, a
+possible adventuress, certainly a very material and actual person, was
+hard indeed to realize.
+
+I moved a little farther away into the gardens. The still air was full of
+the perfume of sweet-smelling flowers, of honeysuckle and roses, climbing
+about the maze of arches which sheltered the lower walks. To-night their
+sweetness seemed to mean new things to me. The twilight was falling
+rapidly; the shadows were blotting out the landscape. Out beyond there,
+beyond the boundaries of my walled garden, I seemed to be looking into a
+new and untravelled world. I knew very well that the old days were over.
+Already the change had come.
+
+I turned my head at the sound of a footstep upon the gravel path. The
+doctor was standing beside me.
+
+"Well," I asked, "what do you think of him?"
+
+He answered me a little evasively. The cheerful optimism which had made
+him a very popular practitioner seemed for the moment to have deserted
+him.
+
+"Your friend is in rather a curious state of health," he said slowly. "To
+tell you the truth, I scarcely know how to account for certain of his
+symptoms."
+
+I smiled.
+
+"He seems in a very weak state," I remarked supinely.
+
+"Is he a very old friend?" the doctor asked.
+
+"Why do you ask that?" I inquired curiously.
+
+"Simply because I thought that you might know something of his
+disposition," the doctor answered. "Whether, for instance, he is the sort
+of man who would be likely to indulge in drugs."
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"I cannot tell," I said.
+
+"There is something a little peculiar about his indifference," the doctor
+continued. "He answers my questions and submits to my examination, and
+all the time he has the air of a man who would say, 'I could tell you
+more about myself, if I would, than you could ever discover.' He has had
+a magnificent constitution in his time."
+
+"Is he likely to die?" I asked.
+
+"Not from any symptoms that I can discover," the doctor answered. "Yet,
+as I told you before, there are certain things about his condition which
+I do not understand. I should like to see him again in the morning!
+I am giving him a tonic, more as a matter of form. I scarcely think his
+system will respond to it!"
+
+"It has not occurred to you, I suppose," I remarked, "that he might be
+suffering from poisoning?"
+
+The doctor shook his head.
+
+"There are no traces of anything of the sort," he declared. "My own
+impression is that he has been taking some sort of drug."
+
+"Will you come in and have something?" I asked, as we neared the house.
+
+The doctor shook his head.
+
+"Not to-night," he answered; "I have another call to pay."
+
+So I went back into the house alone, and found my guest waiting for me in
+some impatience. He was lying upon a sofa, piled up with cushions, and
+the extreme pallor of his face alarmed me.
+
+"Give me some brandy and soda," he demanded. "Your village Aesculapius
+has been prodding me about, till I scarcely know where I am."
+
+I hastened to the sideboard and attended to his wants.
+
+"Well, did he invent a new disease for me?" he asked.
+
+"No!" I answered. "On the contrary, he admitted that he was puzzled."
+
+"Honest man! What did he suggest?"
+
+"He asked whether you were in the habit of taking drugs," I answered.
+
+"Never touched such a thing in my life," he declared.
+
+"Neither did I," I remarked grimly, "until last night." And then I told
+him what had happened to me. He listened eagerly to my story.
+
+"So there is a division in the camp," he murmured softly. "I imagined as
+much. As usual, it is the woman who plays the whole game."
+
+"I wonder," I said, "whether you would mind telling me what you know of
+Miss Van Hoyt?"
+
+He moved on the couch a little uneasily. The request, for some reason or
+other, seemed to disquiet him. Nevertheless, he answered me.
+
+"Miss Van Hoyt," he said, "is an American young lady of excellent family
+and great fortune. She has lived for the last few years in Berlin and
+other European capitals. She has intimate friends, I believe, attached to
+the court at Berlin. She is a young person of an adventurous turn of
+mind, and she has, I believe, no particular love for England and English
+institutions."
+
+"You number her," I remarked, "amongst your enemies?"
+
+"And amongst yours," he answered dryly.
+
+"Yet it was through her that I was able to bring you away," I remarked.
+
+He turned his head towards me.
+
+"You are not supposing, for one moment," he said, "that any measure of
+kindness was included in her motive."
+
+"I suppose not," I answered doubtfully.
+
+"Listen!" he said, "I fell into a trap at the Universal. I have been in
+danger too often not to recognize a hopeless position when I see one. I
+knew that escape for me was impossible. It was not as though my task were
+finished. I had months of work before me, and I was tracked down, so that
+I could not have moved except on sufferance. Our genial friend, whom you
+will remember in the grey tweed suit and glasses, and who has the knack
+of sticking to any one in whom he is interested like a leech, thought
+that my death, with as much dispatch as was wise, would be the simplest
+and pleasantest way out of the difficulty. The young lady, however, plays
+for the great stakes, She wanted to succeed where others have failed."
+
+He paused for a moment, and drank from his tumbler. There were dark lines
+under his eyes, and I felt that I ought to stop him talking.
+
+"Tell me the rest in the morning," I suggested. "I am sure that you ought
+to go to bed."
+
+"You forget," he remarked grimly, "that for me there may be no morning. I
+am drawing very near the end, or even she would not have dared to let me
+come. Besides, you must understand, for it must be through you that she
+hopes--to succeed. She expects that I shall tell you, that you will be
+the legatee of this knowledge, which she would give so much to gain. And
+I suppose--don't be offended--that she counts you amongst the fools whom
+a woman's lips can tempt to any dishonor. You needn't glare at me like
+that. Miss Van Hoyt is very young and very beautiful. She has not yet
+learnt all the lessons of life--amongst which are her limitations. You
+see I do not ask you for any pledge--for any promise. But I do ask you,
+as an Englishman--and a man of honor--to take my burden from my back, and
+carry it on--to the end!"
+
+I came over to his side.
+
+"What does it mean?" I asked quietly.
+
+"Death, very likely," he answered. "Danger always. No more sport, no more
+living in the easy places. But in the end glory--and afterwards peace. A
+man can die but once, Courage!"
+
+"I am not afraid," I answered slowly. "But am I the man, do you think,
+for a task like this?"
+
+"None better," he answered. "Listen, where do you sleep?"
+
+"In the next room to yours," I answered.
+
+"Good! Will you leave your door open, so that if I call in the night you
+may hear?"
+
+"Certainly! You can have a servant sleep on the couch in your room, if
+you like."
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"I would rather not," he answered. "Just now I cannot talk any more. If
+my time comes in the night, I shall wake you. If not--to-morrow!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+OLD FRIENDS
+
+
+A flavor of unreality hung about the events of the last few days. I felt
+myself slowly waking as though from a nightmare. The dazzling sunshine
+was everywhere around us; the whir of reaping machines, the slighter
+humming of bees, and the song of birds, were in our ears; the perfume
+of all manner of flowers, and of the new-mown hay, made the air
+wonderfully sweet. My guest, in a cool grey flannel suit and a Panama
+hat, was by my side, looking like a man who has taken a new lease of
+life. He had patted my shire horses, and admired those of my hunters
+which were on view. He had walked three times round my walled garden, and
+amazed my head-gardener by his intimate acquaintance with the science of
+pruning. We had talked country talk and nothing else. From the moment
+when, somewhat to my surprise, he had appeared upon the terrace just as I
+was finishing my after-breakfast pipe, no word of any more serious
+subject had passed our lips. We had talked and passed the time very much
+as any other host and guest the first morning in a quiet country house.
+We were standing now upon a little knoll in the park, and I was pointing
+out my deer. He looked beyond to where the turrets and chimneys of a
+large, grey, stone house were half visible through the trees.
+
+"Who is your neighbor?" he asked.
+
+"Lord Dennisford," I answered. "A very decent fellow, too, although I
+don't see much of him. He spends most of his time abroad."
+
+"Lord Dennisford!"
+
+I turned to look at my companion. He had repeated the name very softly,
+yet with a peculiar intonation, which made me at once aware that the name
+was of interest to him.
+
+"Yes! Do you know him?" I asked inanely.
+
+"Is his wife here?" he asked.
+
+"Lady Dennisford is seldom away," I answered. "She entertains a good deal
+down here. A very popular woman in the county."
+
+He seemed to be measuring the distance across the park with his eyes.
+
+"Let us go across and see her," he said.
+
+I looked at him doubtfully.
+
+"Can you walk as far?" I asked.
+
+He nodded.
+
+"Yes! I have my stick, and, if necessary, you can help me!"
+
+So we set out across the park. I asked him no questions. He told me
+nothing. But when we had crossed the road, and were on our way up the
+avenue to Dennisford House, he clutched at my arm.
+
+"I want to see her--alone," he muttered.
+
+"I will see what I can do," I answered. "Lady Dennisford and I are old
+friends."
+
+We reached the great sweep in front of the house. I pointed to the
+terrace, on which were several wicker chairs.
+
+"The windows from the drawing-room, where I shall probably see Lady
+Dennisford, open out there," I remarked. "If you could give me any
+message which would interest her, perhaps--"
+
+"Tell her," he muttered, "that you have a guest who walked with her once
+under the orange trees at Seville, and who--in a few days--will walk no
+more anywhere! She will come!"
+
+He made his way along the terrace, leaning heavily upon his stick, and
+sank with a little sigh of relief into one of the cushion-laden wicker
+chairs. I watched him lean back with half-closed eyes; and I realized
+then what an effort this walk must have been to him. Before me the great
+front doors stood open, and with the familiarity of close neighborship, I
+passed into the cool shaded hall, with its palms and flowers, its
+billiard-table invitingly uncovered, its tiny fountain playing in its
+marble basin. There was no one in sight; but, stretched upon a bright
+crimson cushion, set back in the heart of a great easy-chair, was a small
+Japanese spaniel.
+
+Our recognition was mutual. The dog rose slowly to his haunches, and sat
+there looking at me. His apple-green bow had wandered to the side of his
+neck, and one ear was turned back. Yet notwithstanding the fact that his
+appearance was so far grotesque, I felt no inclinations whatever towards
+mirth. His coal-black eyes were fixed upon me steadfastly, his tiny
+wrinkled face seemed like the shrivelled and age-worn caricature of some
+Eastern magician. He showed no signs of pleasure or of welcome at my
+coming, nor did he share any of the bewilderment with which I gazed at
+him. But for the absurdity of the thing, I should have said that he had
+been sitting there waiting for me.
+
+While I stood there dumfounded, not so much in wonder at this meeting
+with the dog, but amazed beyond measure at the things which his presence
+there seemed to indicate, he descended carefully from his chair, and
+crossing the smooth oak-laid floor, he made his way to the foot of the
+great staircase, and after a premonitory yawn, he indulged in one sharp
+penetrating bark. Almost immediately, the French maid came gliding down
+the stairs, still gowned in the sombrest black, still as pale as a woman
+could be. The dog looked at her and looked at me. Then, apparently
+conceiving that his duty was finished, he returned to his chair and
+curled himself up. I spoke to the maid.
+
+"Is your mistress staying here?" I asked.
+
+"But yes, monsieur!" she answered. "We arrived yesterday."
+
+"Is she in now?" I asked. "Could I see her?"
+
+"I will inquire," the maid answered. "Mademoiselle is in her room."
+
+She turned and left me, and almost immediately the butler entered the
+hall. He was one of the local cricket eleven, and had been in service in
+the neighborhood all his life, so he knew me well, and greeted me at once
+with respectful interest.
+
+"Is her Ladyship in, Murray?" I asked.
+
+"I believe so, sir," he answered. "Will you come into the drawing-room?"
+
+I followed him into Lady Dennisford's presence. She was writing letters
+in a small sanctum leading out of the drawing-room, and she looked round
+and nodded a cheery greeting to me.
+
+"In one moment, Hardross," she exclaimed. "I've just finished."
+
+I had known Lady Dennisford all my life; but I found myself studying her
+now with altogether a new interest. She was a slim, elegant woman, pale
+and perhaps a little insipid looking at ordinary times, but a famous and
+reckless rider to hounds, and an enthusiastic sportswoman. She was one of
+the few women concerning whom I never heard a single breath of scandal,
+notwithstanding her husband's long and frequent absences. She gave me
+little time, however, to revise my impressions of her; for, with a little
+spluttering of her pen, she finished her letter and came towards me.
+
+"I hope you've come to lunch," she remarked; "I have the most delightful
+young person staying with me. You'll be charmed with her."
+
+"A young lady?" I remarked.
+
+"Yes! An American girl who talks English--and doesn't enthuse. Seems to
+know something about horses too!"
+
+"Where did you discover this paragon?" I asked.
+
+"My cousin sent her down. She knows everybody," Lady Dennisford answered.
+"I met her at lunch last week, and she spoke of hunting with the Pytchley
+next season. She's going to have a look at the country. Sorry the rain
+spoilt your match."
+
+I hesitated a moment.
+
+"Lady Dennisford," I said, "I had a particular reason for coming to see
+you this morning."
+
+She raised her eyebrows.
+
+"My dear Jim!"
+
+"I, too, have a visitor," I told her; "rather a more mysterious person
+than yours seems to be. He is very ill indeed; and he is almost a
+stranger to me. But he was once, I believe, a friend of yours."
+
+"A friend of mine!" she repeated. "How interesting! Do tell me his name!"
+
+"I cannot do that," I answered, "because I do not know it--not his real
+name. But in the park this morning, I happened to tell him who lived
+here, and although he is very weak, he insisted upon paying you an
+immediate visit."
+
+She looked around the room.
+
+"But where is he?" she asked.
+
+"He is outside on the terrace," I answered.
+
+"My dear Jim!" she exclaimed, "really, all this mystery isn't like you.
+Aren't you overdoing it a little? Do call your friend in, and let me see
+who he is!"
+
+"Lady Dennisford," I said, "of course, my guest may have misled me; but
+he seemed to think that an abrupt meeting might be undesirable. He wished
+me to tell you that he used once to walk with you under the orange trees
+of Seville, and to ask you to go out to him alone!"
+
+Lady Dennisford sat quite still for several seconds. Her eyes were fixed
+upon me; but I am quite certain that I had passed from within the orbit
+of her vision. The things which she saw were of another world--somehow
+it seemed sacrilege on my part to dream of peering even into the dimmest
+corner of it. So I looked away, and I could never tell altogether what
+effect my words had had upon her. For when I looked up, she was gone! ...
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE SHADOW DEEPENS
+
+
+"Mr. Courage!"
+
+I looked up quickly. She was within a few feet of me, although I had not
+heard even the rustling of her gown. The dog, with his apple-green bow
+now put to rights, was sitting upon her shoulder. By the side of his
+uncanny features, it seemed to me that I had never sufficiently
+appreciated the fresh girlishness, the almost ingenuous beauty of her own
+face. She wore a plain, white, linen gown, and a magnificent blossom of
+scarlet geraniums in her bosom.
+
+"Miss Van Hoyt!" I exclaimed.
+
+She nodded, but glanced warningly at the window.
+
+"They must not hear," she said softly. "Remember your cousin introduced
+you to me at Lord's--our only meeting."
+
+My heart sank. I hated all this incomprehensible secrecy; a moment before
+she had seemed so different.
+
+"Come out into the other room," she said. "They cannot hear us from
+there." We passed into the drawing-room. An uncomfortable thought struck
+me.
+
+"You were here all the time!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Certainly! I wanted to hear you and Lady Dennisford converse!"
+
+"Eavesdropping, in fact," I remarked savagely.
+
+"Precisely!" she agreed.
+
+We were silent for a moment. Her eyes were full of mild amusement.
+
+"I thought," she said demurely, "that you would be glad to see me."
+
+"Glad! of course I am glad," I answered. "I'm such a poor fool that I
+can't help it. Why did you leave me in London without a word?"
+
+"Why on earth not!" she exclaimed, smiling. "Besides, I knew that I
+should see you here very soon. I had to act quickly too! They did not
+want"--she glanced towards the terrace--"him to leave London."
+
+"It was you, then," I remarked, "who had him sent down to my place?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+"It was not easy," she said. "If they had known that you were going to
+have a doctor to visit him, it would have been impossible."
+
+"He has been poisoned, I suppose?" I said calmly.
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"He will die, and die very soon," she answered. "That is certain. But I
+think you will find no doctor here who will have anything to say about
+poison."
+
+She moved a little nearer to me. The overhanging bunch of scarlet
+geraniums from her waistband brushed against my coat; the beady black
+eyes of the dog upon her shoulder were fixed steadily upon me.
+
+"Has he said anything?" she murmured.
+
+"Not yet," I answered.
+
+"He will do so," she declared confidently, "and before long. That is why
+I am here. You must come to me the moment--the very moment you know! You
+understand that?"
+
+"Yes!" I answered, a little discontentedly, "I understand!"
+
+Her expression suddenly changed. A frown darkened her face.
+
+"Perhaps," she said, "you have already repented."
+
+"Repented of what?" I asked quickly.
+
+"That you have moved a little out of the rut, that you have taken a hand,
+even if it is a dummy's hand, in the game of life! Do you wish to draw
+back?"
+
+"No!" I answered.
+
+"Do you wish to be relieved of Leslie Guest? I could arrange it; it would
+be a matter of a few hours only."
+
+"No!" I answered again. "I wish for one thing only!"
+
+"And that?"
+
+"You know!" I declared.
+
+She turned a little way from me.
+
+"I am not a magician," she declared.
+
+"And yet you know," I answered. "A woman always does! I have no idea
+what these ties are, which seem to bind you to a life of mystery and
+double-dealing, but I should like to cut them loose. You have talked to
+me of ambition, of a larger life, where excitement and tragedy walk hand
+in hand! I should like to sweep all that away. I should like to convert
+you to my point of view."
+
+She looked at me curiously. Never in my experience of her sex had I seen
+any one who varied so quickly in appearance, who seemed to pass with such
+effortless facility from the girl with the Madonna-like face and dreamy
+eyes, to the thoughtful and scheming woman of the world. Her rapid
+changes were a torture to me! I felt the elusiveness of her attitude.
+
+"You would like me," she said scornfully, "to lead your village life, to
+watch the seasons pass from behind your windows. I was not born for that
+sort of thing! The thirst for life was in my veins from the nursery. You
+and I are as far apart as the North Star and the unknown land over which
+it watches! Sin itself would be less terrible to me than the indolence of
+such a life!"
+
+"You have never tried it," I remarked.
+
+"Nor shall I ever," she answered, "unless--"
+
+"Unless what?"
+
+She raised her eyebrows and flashed a sudden strange look upon me. There
+was mockery in it, subtlety, and a certain uneasiness which pleased me
+most. After all, she was like a beautiful wild young creature. The ways
+of her life were not yet wholly decreed.
+
+"Unless the great magician comes and waves his wand," she declared. "The
+magic may fall upon my eyes, you know, and I may see new things."
+
+I touched her hand for a moment. The dog's face was wrinkled like a
+monkey's, he growled, and his narrow red tongue shot out threateningly.
+
+"It is that," I murmured, "which I shall pray for!"
+
+She raised her head suddenly. We heard Lady Dennisford moving upon the
+terrace. She leaned over towards me.
+
+"Leslie Guest," she whispered, "will not live for more than forty-eight
+hours. Make him tell you--to-night! To-morrow may be too late. Do you
+hear?--to-night!"
+
+I was absolutely tongue-tied. Wherever else she failed, she was certainly
+a superb actress. A moment ago, she had been keeping my earnestness at
+bay with bantering words; then, at the sound of Lady Dennisford's
+approach, had come those few dramatic words; and now, at her entrance, I
+felt at once that I was the casual guest, being entertained as a matter
+of duty during my hostess' absence.
+
+"I told you, didn't I, that I had met Mr. Courage in town?" she remarked,
+looking up. "After all, it is such a small world, isn't it?"
+
+Lady Dennisford was scarcely in a condition to be observant. I believe
+that if we had been sitting hand in hand, she would scarcely have noticed
+the fact. She was very pale, and her eyes were exceedingly bright. She
+passed half-way through the room without even seeming to realize our
+presence. Then she stopped suddenly and addressed me.
+
+"I am ordering a pony-cart," she said, "to take Mr. Guest back. He seems
+over-fatigued."
+
+"Very thoughtful of you, Lady Dennisford," I answered. "We certainly did
+not mean to walk so far when we came out into the park."
+
+A servant entered the room. She gave him some orders, and then, with a
+word of excuse to Adele, she came over to my side.
+
+"Hardross," she said softly, "what is the matter with him?"
+
+"General breakdown," I answered; "I do not know of anything else."
+
+"What does the doctor say?"
+
+"The London doctor," I admitted, "gave little hope. Rust cannot discover
+that anything much is the matter with him."
+
+"You yourself--what do you think?"
+
+I hesitated. Her fingers gripped my arm.
+
+"I think that he is very ill," I answered.
+
+"Dying?"
+
+"I should not be surprised."
+
+She looked back towards the terrace. Her eyes were full of tears.
+
+"Do what you can for him," she said softly. "He was once a great friend
+of mine. He was different then! Will you go out to him now? I promised to
+send you."
+
+Guest was sitting upon the terrace, exactly as I had left him. His eyes
+were fixed upon vacancy, his lips were slightly curled in a meditative
+smile. There was a distinct change in his appearance. His expression was
+more peaceful, the slight restlessness had disappeared from his manner.
+But he had never looked to me more like a dying man.
+
+"Lady Dennisford sent me out," I remarked, "She has ordered a pony-cart
+to take us home."
+
+He nodded.
+
+"I am quite ready," he said.
+
+He tried to rise, but the effort seemed too much for him. I hastened to
+his aid, or I think that he would have fallen. He leaned on my arm
+heavily as we passed on our way to the avenue, where a carriage was
+already awaiting us.
+
+"I was once," he remarked, in an ordinary conversational tone, "engaged
+to be married to Lady Dennisford."
+
+"There was no--disagreement between you?" I asked.
+
+"None that has not been healed," he answered softly.
+
+"You would consider her to-day as a friend--not a likely enemy?" I asked.
+
+He looked at me curiously.
+
+"She is my friend," he answered softly. "Of that there is no doubt at
+all. Why do you ask?"
+
+"Because," I answered, "for your friend, she has a strange guest."
+
+"Whom do you mean?" he asked.
+
+"Mademoiselle, and her maid--and poodle," I answered. "They are all
+here!"
+
+I felt him shiver, for he was leaning heavily upon me. Nevertheless, he
+answered me with confidence.
+
+"It is the gathering of the jackals," he muttered--"the jackals who are
+going to be disappointed. But you may be sure of one thing, my friend.
+The young lady is here as an ordinary guest! That was a matter very easy
+to arrange. There is a great social backing behind her. She can come and
+go where she pleases. But Lady Dennisford's knowledge of her is wholly
+innocent."
+
+We drove back almost in silence. Rust was waiting for us when we arrived,
+and he eyed his patient curiously, and hurried him off to the house. They
+were alone together for some time, and when he came out his face was very
+grave. He came out into the garden in search of me!
+
+"Courage," he said, "I wish to heavens I had never seen your guest!"
+
+"What do you mean?" I asked. "Have you been quarrelling?"
+
+"Quarrelling, no! One doesn't quarrel with a dying man," he answered.
+
+"A dying man!" I repeated.
+
+He nodded.
+
+"He was on the verge of a collapse just now," he said. "I honestly fear
+that he will not live many more hours. Yet, though I could fill in his
+death certificate plausibly enough, if you were to ask me honestly to-day
+what was the matter with him, I could not tell you. Do you mind if I wire
+for a friend of mine to come down and see him?"
+
+"By all means," I answered; "you mean a specialist, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"On the heart?" I asked.
+
+"No! a toxicologist!" Rust remarked dryly.
+
+I glanced into his face. He was in deadly earnest.
+
+"You believe--"
+
+"What the devil is one to believe?" the doctor exclaimed irritably. "The
+man is sound, but he is dying. If I told you that I understood his
+symptoms, I should be a liar. I can think only of one thing. You yourself
+gave me the idea."
+
+"Wire by all means," I said.
+
+"I shall go to the village," Rust said, "and return immediately. Don't
+let him be left alone. He has a draught to take in case of necessity."
+
+I turned back to the house with a sigh. I am afraid that I had as little
+faith in medicine as Guest himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+GATHERING JACKALS
+
+
+Guest for the remainder of the morning seemed to have fallen into a sort
+of stupor. He declined to sit in the garden or come down to lunch.
+When I went up to his room, he was lying upon a couch, half undressed,
+and with a dressing-gown wrapped around him. He opened his eyes when I
+came in, but waved me away.
+
+"I am thinking," he said. "Don't interrupt me; I want to be alone for an
+hour or so."
+
+"But you must have something to eat," I insisted. "You will lose your
+strength if you don't."
+
+"Quite right," he admitted. "Send me up some soup, and let me have pencil
+and paper."
+
+He was supplied with both. When I went up an hour later, he was smoking a
+cigarette and writing.
+
+"I do not wish," he said, "to be worried with any more doctors. It is
+only a farce, and I have little time to spare."
+
+"Nonsense!" I answered. "Rust declares that there is very little the
+matter with you. He has sent for a friend to come and have a look at
+you."
+
+A little gesture of impatience escaped him.
+
+"My dear Courage," he said, "I am obliged to you for all this care; but I
+am quite sure that, in your inner consciousness, you realize as I do that
+it is sheer waste of time."
+
+He drew his dressing-gown a little closer around him. The hollows under
+his eyes seemed to have grown deeper since the morning.
+
+"I am fairly run to earth," he continued. "Even these few hours of life I
+owe to my enemies. They hope to profit by them, of course. If you are the
+man I think you are, they will be mistaken. But don't waste my time with
+doctors."
+
+He began to write again. I made some perfunctory remark which he entirely
+ignored. Just then I was called away. He watched my departure with
+obvious relief.
+
+I was told that a stranger was waiting to see me in the library. My first
+thought was of the doctor. When I arrived there, I found a young man
+whose face was familiar, but whom I could not at once place. Then, like a
+flash, I remembered. It was the younger of the two men who had forced
+their way into my room at the Hotel Universal.
+
+Now I was in no very good humor for dealing with these gentry. I had a
+distinct inclination to take him by the collar of the coat and throw him
+out. I fancy that he divined from my face how I was feeling, for he began
+hastily to explain his presence.
+
+"I am very sorry to be an intruder, Mr. Courage," he said in his slow,
+precise English. "I had no wish to come at all. We were willing to leave
+you undisturbed. But we do not understand why you have sent for a doctor
+from London--and especially Professor Kauppmann!"
+
+I looked at him deliberately. He was wearing English clothes--a dark
+tweed suit, ill-cut, and apparently ready-made; but the foreigner was
+written large all over him, from the tie of his bow to his narrow patent
+boots. His eyes were fixed anxiously upon me--large black eyes with long,
+feminine eyelashes. I think that if he had not been under the shelter of
+my own roof, I must have laid violent hands upon him.
+
+"Why the devil should you understand?" I exclaimed. "Mr. Guest is my
+visitor, and if I choose to send for a doctor to see him, it is my
+business and nobody else's. If you have come here with any idea of
+bullying me, I am afraid you have wasted your time."
+
+"You have evidently," he answered, "not troubled yourself to understand
+the situation! Mr. Guest is our prisoner!"
+
+"Your what?" I exclaimed.
+
+"Our prisoner," the young man answered. "Let me ask you this! Has Mr.
+Guest himself encouraged you in your attempt to interfere between him and
+his inevitable fate? No! I am sure that he has not! He accepts what he
+knows must happen! A few days more or less of life--what do they matter?"
+
+"You make me feel inclined," I said grimly, "to test your theory."
+
+The young man stepped back. My fingers were itching to take him by the
+throat, and I think that he read the desire in my face.
+
+"Will you allow me to see Mr. Guest?" he asked.
+
+"No! I'm d----d if I will," I answered. "I shall give you," I added, with
+my hand upon the bell, "exactly two minutes to leave this house."
+
+The young man smiled superciliously, but he picked up his hat.
+
+"I suppose, Mr. Courage, I must not blame you," he remarked, "You have
+all the characteristics of your country-people. You meet a delicate
+situation with the tactics of a bull!"
+
+I laid my hand gently, but firmly upon his shoulder. We were half-way
+down the hall now, and the front door was wide open. I longed to throw
+him out, but I restrained myself. He was perfectly conscious, I am sure,
+of my inclination, but he showed no signs of uneasiness.
+
+"I admit," I said calmly, "that you seem, all of you, to be engaged in
+proceedings of an extraordinary nature, which I do not in the least
+understand. But under my own roof, at any rate, I am master. I will not
+tolerate any interference with my guests; and as for Mr. Stanley from
+Liverpool and you, whatever you may call yourself, I will not have you
+near the place! You see my lodge gates," I added, pointing down the
+avenue, "I shall stand here until you have passed through them. If you
+come again, you will meet with a different reception!"
+
+The young man laughed unpleasantly.
+
+"Never fear, Mr. Courage," he answered. "Always we try first the simple
+means. If they should fail, we have many surer ways of gaining our ends.
+Au revoir!"
+
+He left me and walked briskly off down the avenue. I fetched a pair of
+field-glasses, and watched him until he reached the lodge gates. A few
+moments later I saw him climb into a motor car, and vanish in a cloud
+of dust....
+
+Later in the afternoon a victoria drew up before my front door just as I
+was starting for the village. Lady Dennisford leaned forward as I
+approached. She was closely veiled, but her voice shook with anxiety.
+
+"How is he?" she asked.
+
+"It is hard to say," I answered. "He has been writing for the last three
+hours. I was just going down to see if Rust has heard from the London man
+he wired for."
+
+"Do you know why," she whispered, "he is so sure that he is going to
+die?"
+
+I hesitated for a moment.
+
+"He seems to imagine," I said, "that he has some enemies."
+
+She sighed.
+
+"I am afraid," she said, "that it is no imagination."
+
+I looked at her in surprise.
+
+"He has told me, perhaps," she said, a little hastily, "more than he has
+told you, and perhaps I am in a better position to understand. Mr.
+Courage, I wonder whether it would be possible for me to have an
+interview with any one of these men who are watching him."
+
+"If you had been here a few hours ago," I said, "it would have been very
+possible indeed. One of them was here."
+
+"What did he want?" she asked sharply.
+
+"To see Mr. Guest, for one thing!"
+
+"Did you allow it?"
+
+"No! Guest is writing secrets with a loaded revolver by his side. He
+certainly does not want to see any of that crew."
+
+"Oh! he is mad," she murmured. "Why should he not buy his life? What else
+is there that counts?"
+
+"There are two to a bargain," I answered. "I do not think that he has
+value to give."
+
+"Oh! he has," she answered, "if only he would be reasonable."
+
+We were silent for a moment. In the distance, coming up the avenue, was
+the figure of a man. I watched him with curiosity. Finally I pointed him
+out to Lady Dennisford.
+
+"Do you see this man coming up to the house?" I said--"a sleek,
+middle-aged man smoking a cigar?"
+
+"I see him," she answered.
+
+"What do you think he looks like?" I asked.
+
+"A prosperous tradesman," she answered. "A friend of your bailiff's,
+perhaps."
+
+"He calls himself Mr. Stanley from Liverpool," I answered, "and you can
+bargain with him for Guest's life."
+
+"He is one of them!" she exclaimed.
+
+"He is," I answered grimly, for I had good reason to know it.
+
+She got out of the carriage at once.
+
+"I am going to meet him," she said. "No! please let me go alone," she
+added, as I prepared to accompany her. "Afterwards we may need you."
+
+I sent her carriage round to the stables, and I stood upon my steps
+watching her. Slim and elegant, she walked with swift level footsteps
+towards the approaching figure. I saw him shade his eyes with his hand as
+she approached; when she was within a few yards of him he took his cigar
+from his mouth and raised his hat. They stood for a moment or two
+talking; then Lady Dennisford turned, and they both came slowly towards
+the house. As they drew near me, she came on rapidly ahead.
+
+"He is willing," she declared. "He will make terms. Where can we talk
+alone, we three?"
+
+I led the way to my study. Mr. Stanley greeted me affably and with a
+commendable assumption of bluff respect.
+
+"Fine place of yours, Mr. Courage," he declared. "Very fine place indeed.
+No wonder you prefer a country life. Finest thing in the world."
+
+I made a pretence of answering him. But when we were in the study and the
+door was closed behind us, I felt that there was no longer any need to
+mince words.
+
+"Mr. Stanley," I said, "Lady Dennisford says that you are willing to
+abandon your persecution of my guest for a consideration."
+
+He smiled upon us slowly.
+
+"Persecution," he remarked thoughtfully, "well, it is a harmless word.
+Mind, I admit nothing. But I am willing to hear what you have to say."
+
+"This first, then," I declared. "Will you tell me why, as a magistrate of
+this county, I should not be justified in signing a warrant for your
+apprehension?"
+
+"On what charge?" he asked.
+
+"Conspiracy to murder," I answered.
+
+He seemed to consider the suggestion with perfect seriousness.
+
+"Yes!" he admitted, "it could be done. Putting myself in your place I
+should even imagine that it might be the most obvious course. But have
+you considered what the probable result would be?"
+
+"It would keep you out of mischief for a time, at any rate."
+
+"Not for a day," he answered softly. "In the first place, the slenderness
+of your evidence, which, by the by, when the affair came to trial would
+disappear altogether, would necessitate bail; and, in the second, were I
+to be swept off the face of the earth, there are thousands ready to take
+my place. Besides, no man likes to make himself the laughing stock of his
+friends and the press; and, forgive me, Mr. Courage, if I remind you that
+that is precisely what would happen in your case."
+
+"Suppose, for a moment, then," said, "that I abandon that possibility.
+Make your own proposals. I do not know who you are or what you stand for.
+I do not know whether this is an affair of private vengeance, or whether
+you stand for others. That poor fellow upstairs cannot have a long life
+before him in any case. What is there we can offer you to leave him in
+peace?"
+
+"You two--nothing," Mr. Stanley said gravely. "He himself can buy his
+life from us, if he wills."
+
+"Then can I--or Lady Dennisford here," I asked, "be your ambassador? Can
+we tell him your terms?"
+
+Mr. Stanley shook his head.
+
+"It is impossible," he said. "Matters would have to be discussed between
+us which may not even be mentioned before any other person."
+
+"You mean that you would have to see him alone?"
+
+"Precisely!"
+
+I turned to Lady Dennisford.
+
+"He would never consent!" I declared.
+
+"You must make him," she answered. "Mr. Courage!"
+
+"Lady Dennisford!"
+
+"Let me speak to you alone for a moment," she begged, laying her hand
+upon my arm. "Mr. Stanley will excuse us, I am sure."
+
+"By all means," he declared, selecting an easy-chair.
+
+"You will await us here?" I asked.
+
+"Certainly!"
+
+"On parole?"
+
+"On parole, if you will give me a cigar."
+
+I rang the bell for refreshments. Then Lady Dennisford and I left the
+room together.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+A DYING MAN
+
+
+I had known Lady Dennisford for a good many years in a neighborly sort
+of way; but the woman who stood before me in the small sitting-room to
+which I had led her was a stranger to me. She had raised her veil; she
+was as pale as a woman may be, and her mouth, usually so firm and
+uncompromising, was now relaxed and tremulous. Before she spoke, I knew
+that tragedy was in the room with me. She tried to speak twice before the
+words came.
+
+"Mr. Courage," she said, "may I speak to you as a friend?"
+
+"Most certainly you can, Lady Dennisford," I answered.
+
+I said and I meant it, for I was exceedingly sorry for her.
+
+"Once I was to have married him," she said, "and I have cared for no one
+else all my life. There was a great scandal--a political scandal--and it
+was he upon whom the burden fell. His lips were sealed. I did not
+understand then, but I understand now. I sent him away! I joined with the
+others who persecuted him. And all the time--all the time he was
+innocent!"
+
+Her last words were almost a wail. I was relieved to see that the tears
+were in her eyes at last.
+
+"It was very hard fortune," I said awkwardly.
+
+"His life has been one long exile," she said. "He has never married; he
+has been dead to the world for many years. His name, of course, is not
+Leslie Guest! If I dared tell you, you would understand I want him--oh! I
+want him so much to have a few years of happiness."
+
+"What can we do, Lady Dennisford?" I asked earnestly.
+
+"Take me up to him. Leave me with him alone."
+
+I opened the door.
+
+"At once!" I said.
+
+He was still writing. The air of the room was thick with cigarette smoke.
+I opened the door gently, and Lady Dennisford glided past me. I myself
+hastened downstairs.
+
+Mr. Stanley was apparently very comfortable. He was smoking one of my
+best cigars, and a whisky and soda stood at his elbow. He looked up from
+behind the _Times_ as I entered.
+
+"Lady Dennisford is with him," I said. "She will endeavor to persuade him
+to see you."
+
+"Excellent!" he remarked. "Pray do not trouble to stay with me, if you
+have other matters to attend to. I have both time and patience to spare."
+
+I went out into the garden. I began to feel the need of being alone.
+Events had marched rapidly with me during the last few hours and I was
+not used to such eruptions in my quiet life. I gave a few orders to my
+bailiff and gamekeeper, who were waiting to see me. I little guessed then
+how unimportant to me would be the prospects of the coming sport. It must
+have been nearly an hour before a servant found me, and announced that my
+guest desired to see me in his room. I hastened there at once.
+
+Lady Dennisford was sitting at the table by Guest's side. She looked up
+as I entered, and I saw that the shadows lay deeper still upon her face.
+
+"He chooses death!" she said simply.
+
+He leaned over and touched her hand. His tone and manner had softened
+wonderfully.
+
+"Eleanor," he said earnestly, "it is not I who choose. There is no
+choice! Your friend downstairs would say, 'Tell me all that you know of a
+certain matter, and the sentence which has been passed upon you shall be
+held over.' But when I had told him, when he knew everything, no
+agreement, no promise, could possibly be binding. I could not myself
+expect it. In his place I should make very sure that in a matter of hours
+I was a dead man. I say that myself, whose whole life has been sacrificed
+to a matter in which honor was largely concerned."
+
+Lady Dennisford began to weep softly. He laid his hand upon hers.
+
+"Are you sure, Mr. Guest," I said, "that you are not exaggerating the
+importance of this secret knowledge of yours? I dare say that Mr.
+Stanley, like every other man, has his price. If money--"
+
+He interrupted me with a slight gesture of impatience.
+
+"My young friend," he said, "I am not a poor man. Mr. Stanley is not to
+be dealt with as a single individual. He represents a system. I do not
+blame you for not being able to grasp these things. There is scarcely one
+Englishman in a thousand who would. I think that you have shown a great
+amount of trust as it is. Believe me now when I tell you that there are
+only two things in the world which can be done for me. The first is that
+you leave me a few minutes to say good-bye to Lady Dennisford; and the
+second that you keep every one away from me for one hour, while I
+Finish--these documents."
+
+I left them alone! There was nothing else which I could do, and I waited
+in the hall below for Lady Dennisford.
+
+When she came, she walked like a woman in a dream. Her veil was close
+drawn, and I could not see her face; but I was very sure that she had
+been weeping. I had already ordered her carriage round, and she took her
+place in it without a word.
+
+I went back to the man whom I had left in the library.
+
+He had lighted a fresh cigar, and was showing no signs of impatience.
+
+"Our friend," I said, "has asked for one hour for consideration. If you
+will allow me, I should be pleased to show you the gardens and stables."
+
+He accepted my offer at once, and proved himself an intelligent
+sightseer. He seemed to know a little about everything, including horses.
+I took him on to the orchid-houses, and it was quite an hour and a half
+before we returned to the house. I left him once more in the library, and
+I was on my way upstairs, when I came face to face with Rust and another
+man on their way down. For a moment I was speechless.
+
+"Professor Kauppmann was unfortunately indisposed," Rust explained; "but
+he has sent this gentleman down--Dr. Kretznow, Mr. Courage. Curiously
+enough, Dr. Kretznow has already been called in to attend our friend
+upstairs."
+
+"Mr. Courage no doubt remembers me," the newcomer remarked. "I am sorry
+to find our patient no better."
+
+I looked him steadily in the face.
+
+"You think that he will die?" I asked.
+
+"I must admit," the doctor answered, "that I think he has very little
+chance of recovery. His constitution has gone. He has no recuperative
+powers."
+
+Rust drew me a little on one side.
+
+"You will be relieved to hear," he said, "that Dr. Kretznow considers
+his state quite a natural one. He does not encourage in any way the
+suspicions which, I must admit, I had formed."
+
+"Indeed!" I answered.
+
+"We are going to try an altogether new treatment," Rust continued, as we
+stood together upon the landing. "I think perhaps you ought to know,
+however, that our friend here gives very little hope."
+
+I nodded.
+
+"I shall leave you to entertain Dr. Kretznow," I said, "for a few
+minutes. I want to see Mr. Guest!"
+
+I found him anxiously awaiting me. He had ceased writing but he held a
+roll of papers in his hand, and there was an ominous bulge in the pocket
+of his dressing-gown. He had more color than I had yet seen him with, and
+his eyes were unusually bright.
+
+"For Heaven's sake come in, Courage, and close the door," he said
+irritably. "You see the result of your little doctor meddling with things
+he does not understand. I could have told you that no one would be
+allowed to enter these doors who might possibly give them away."
+
+"We sent for Kauppmann," I explained.
+
+"Of course! You will not realize what you are up against. You might as
+well have sent for the Angel Gabriel. Now will you do exactly as I ask
+you?"
+
+"Go on," I said.
+
+"Ring for your man and let him sit in the room with me. Go downstairs and
+get rid of those doctors. Then come up yourself, and be prepared to spend
+at least three hours here."
+
+I obeyed him. I kept silent as to the fact that Stanley was in the house.
+I thought that he was already sufficiently excited. Downstairs I found
+that Dr. Kretznow was on the eve of departure. I did not seek to detain
+him for a moment. Rust, I think, wondered a little at my apparent lack of
+courtesy; but I almost bundled them out of the house.
+
+He offered me his hand as he climbed up into the dog-cart, which I
+pretended, however, not to see.
+
+"Mind, I give you very little hope, Mr. Courage," he said. "I studied the
+case very seriously in London, and I perceived symptoms which our friend
+here has not yet had the opportunity of observing. My own opinion is that
+his time is short."
+
+"I am sorry to hear you say so, doctor," I answered; "for I quite believe
+that you are in a position to know."
+
+He blinked at me for a moment from behind his thick spectacles, and I
+fancied that he was going to say something more. Apparently, however, he
+changed his mind, and the carriage drove off. I made my way at once into
+the library. Mr. Stanley was still awaiting me.
+
+"My mission," I announced, "has been a failure. He declines even to
+discuss the matter."
+
+Mr. Stanley knocked the ash off his cigar and rose to his feet. His face
+showed neither disappointment nor surprise.
+
+"The lady, I am afraid," he remarked, "will be sorry."
+
+"It will be a great blow to her," I answered, "if he should die!"
+
+Mr. Stanley shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"He will die, and very soon," he declared. "You and I know that very
+well. You are a young man, Mr. Courage," he added very slowly, and with
+his eyes fixed intently upon me. "You have a beautiful home and a simple,
+useful life--a long one, I trust--before you! Mr. Guest is not by any
+means old, but he made enemies! It is never wise to make enemies."
+
+"Is this a warning?" I asked.
+
+"Accept it as one, if a warning is necessary," he answered. "Take my
+advice. If Leslie Guest, or the man who is dying upstairs, has a legacy
+to leave, let him choose another legatee! There is death in that legacy
+for you!"
+
+"Death comes to all of us," I answered. "We must take our risks."
+
+He picked up his hat.
+
+"Number 317, was it not?" he repeated thoughtfully, "an unlucky number
+for you, I fear! ... By the bye, Mademoiselle is in the neighborhood."
+
+"What of it?" I asked.
+
+He looked at me long and curiously. Then he sighed and lit still another
+of my finest Havanas as he prepared to depart.
+
+"You will be better off," he said, "without that legacy!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+I TAKE UP MY LEGACY
+
+
+Towards dawn I lit another lamp in my study and chanced to catch a
+glimpse of my face in a small mirror which stood upon my writing-table.
+Almost involuntarily I glanced over my shoulder, expecting to find
+another man there. It was a moment's madness, but as a matter of fact I
+did not recognize myself. It seemed to me that the change in the man
+upstairs, who had passed from the world of living things with breath in
+his body and life in his brain to the cold negation of death, was a
+change no greater than had come to me. For I was passing, as I knew very
+well, from behind the fences of my somewhat narrow but well-contained
+life into the great world of tragical happenings, where life and death
+are but small things, and one's self but a pawn in the great game. This,
+because I believed, because I had accepted the trust of the man who, a
+few hours ago, had closed his eyes with his hand in mine, and the faint
+welcoming smile upon his lips of a brave but weary man, who finds nothing
+terrible in death.
+
+There was something almost fearful in a change so absolute and vital as
+that which had come over my life. I realized this as I allowed myself a
+few moments' rest, and threw myself upon the sofa. The old outlook, the
+old ideas had been torn up by the root. The things which had seemed to be
+of life itself only a few hours ago seemed now to have lapsed into the
+insignificance of trifles. I thought of myself and my old life with the
+tolerance of one who watches a child at play. Sport and all its kindred
+delights--the whole glorification of the physical life--I viewed as a
+Stock Exchange man might view the gambling for marbles of his youth. It
+was incredible that I had ever even fancied myself content. My brain was
+still in a whirl, but it seemed to me that I was already conscious of new
+powers. My thoughts travelled more quickly, I felt a greater alertness of
+brain, a swifter rush of ideas. But it seemed to me, also, that something
+had gone, that never again would I find my way lie through the rose
+gardens of life.
+
+I must have dozed for a time upon the sofa, and was awakened by a soft
+tapping upon the low, old-fashioned windows, which opened upon the
+terrace. I sprang up, and, for a moment, it seemed to me that I must be
+dreaming. It was Adele who stood there, all in white, with sunlight
+around her.... I gasped for a moment, and then recovered myself. It was
+Adele sure enough, in a white linen riding habit, and morning had come
+while I slept. But I knew then that one link at least remained with the
+old life.
+
+She tapped upon the window-pane a little imperiously, and I threw open
+the sash. Her eyes were fixed upon my face. I think that she, too, saw
+the change. With the opening of the window came a rush of sweet fresh
+air. She stepped into the room.
+
+"Don't look at me as though I were something unreal!" she exclaimed. "I
+told them that I was fond of early morning rides, and I saw your light
+burning here from the park. Tell me--is he worse?"
+
+I was suddenly calm. I realized that this was the beginning.
+
+"He is dead," I answered. "He died about midnight."
+
+There was a momentary horror in her face, for which I was grateful--I
+scarcely knew why.
+
+"Dead," she repeated softly, "so soon!"
+
+She looked around the room and back at me.
+
+"Turn out the lamps," she said. "This light is ghastly."
+
+There was little more color in her face than mine. Even the sunlight
+seemed cold and cheerless. She came a little nearer to me.
+
+"He was conscious--at the end?"
+
+"Yes!" I answered.
+
+Her breath seemed to be coming a little faster. Her eyes were full of
+eager questioning.
+
+"You were with him?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+Again there was a pause. I was steadfastly silent.
+
+"Don't keep me in suspense," she muttered. "He told you?"
+
+"Yes!" I answered, "he told me--certain things."
+
+She drew a long breath of relief. I could see that she was trembling all
+over. She sank into a chair.
+
+"I felt that he would," she declared. "I knew that he could not carry his
+secret to the grave. Is the door locked?"
+
+"Yes!" I answered. "The door is locked."
+
+She was still pale, but her eyes were burning.
+
+"Go on!" she said; "don't lose a moment. I am waiting."
+
+"For what?" I asked calmly.
+
+"To hear everything," she answered quickly.
+
+"I have nothing to tell you," I said.
+
+She stamped her foot with the petulance of a spoilt child.
+
+"Oh! how dense you are!" she exclaimed. "Repeat to me exactly what he
+said to you--now, before you forget a single word!"
+
+"I cannot do that," I said.
+
+She leaned a little forward in her chair. Even then she did not
+understand.
+
+"What do you mean?" she asked.
+
+"I mean that the things which he told me with his last breath were for my
+own ear and my own knowledge alone," I answered. "I cannot share that
+knowledge even with you."
+
+It seemed to me that there was something unreal, almost hideous, about
+the silence which followed. Through the open window there drifted into
+the room the early morning sounds of an awakening world--the whistling of
+birds in the shrubberies and upon the lawn, the more distant whir of a
+reaping machine at work in the cornfields. But between us--silence. I
+could not move my eyes from her face. There was no anger there, only a
+slowly dawning horror. She seemed to be looking upon me as a man doomed.
+I lit a match, and, taking some papers from my pocket, I slowly destroyed
+them.
+
+"There go the last records," I said, blowing the ashes away, "I have
+learnt them by heart."
+
+"I never thought of this," she murmured. "I never thought that you might
+be--oh! you cannot understand," she broke off. "You cannot know what you
+are doing."
+
+"I have an idea," I answered grimly. "He warned me."
+
+"Yet you cannot understand," she persisted. "Do you know that, even in
+saying this much to me, you are signing your death-warrant--that from
+this moment your life will not be safe for a single moment?"
+
+"I know that there is danger," I answered; "but I am not an easy person
+to kill. I have had narrow escapes before, and escaped without a
+scratch."
+
+She rose to her feet.
+
+"If only I could make you understand," she muttered.
+
+"Leslie Guest did his best," I answered. "He told me what the last few
+years of his life had been. I know that I have to face great odds. I can
+but do my best. We only die once."
+
+Then she came swiftly over to me and laid her hands upon my shoulders.
+There was now something more human in her face. Her eyes seemed to plead
+with mine, and the joy of her near presence was a very real and subtle
+thing. I felt my eyes kindle and my heart beat fast. There was no other
+danger to be compared with this.
+
+"I did not dream that this might happen," she said softly. "I meant to
+use you as a tool, I even thought that you had consented. Oh! I am sorry.
+I shall be sorry all my life that I asked you to bring him here. Will you
+listen to me for a moment?"
+
+"I am listening all the time," I answered, taking one of her hands in
+mine.
+
+"Have you realized what all this means?" she continued. "Are you prepared
+to give up your life here, your sports, your beautiful home, to feel
+that you have spies and enemies on every side, working always in the
+dark against you? The man who lies dead upstairs knew every move of the
+game--yet you see what has happened to him. How can you hope to succeed
+when he failed? Forget last night, my friend! I Believe that it was a
+nightmare, and I, too, will forget what you have told me. Come, it is not
+too late. We will say that he died suddenly in a stupor, and that,
+whatever his secrets were, he carried them with him. Is it agreed?"
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"One cannot break faith with the dead," I answered. "That is amongst the
+impossible things. Let us speak no more of it."
+
+She leaned towards me. Her breath was upon my cheek, and her eyes shone
+into mine.
+
+"Men have done more than this," she murmured, "when a woman has
+pleaded--and--it is for your own sake. Think! Must I count you amongst
+my enemies?"
+
+"God only knows why you should," I answered. "I am no judge of others;
+but if I betrayed the trust of a dead man, even for the sake of the woman
+I loved, I should put a bullet in my brain sooner or later. What I cannot
+understand, dear, is why you are not on my side. You are practically an
+Englishwoman. What have you to do with Leslie Guest's enemies?"
+
+She turned away sadly.
+
+"There are some things," she said, "which cannot be altered. You and I
+are on opposite sides. We may as well say good-bye. We shall never meet
+again like this."
+
+"I cannot believe it," I answered. "There are many things which seem dark
+enough in the future to me, but I shall never believe that this is our
+good-bye."
+
+It seemed to me strange afterwards, that of the immediate future neither
+of us spoke. I did not even ask her how long she was going to stay with
+Lady Dennisford; she did not speak to me of my plans. As she had come, so
+she went, silently and unexpectedly. She would not even let me follow her
+out onto the terrace; from the window I watched her mount her horse and
+ride away. Only just before she went she had looked back.
+
+"I must see you again," she said. "You, too, must have time to think. I
+am going to forget this morning, I am going to forget that I have seen
+you. You, too, must do the same!"
+
+Forget! She asked a hard thing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+NAGASKI'S INSTINCT
+
+
+I was busy all the morning sending and receiving telegrams, and making
+certain plans on my own account. Rust was with me a good deal of the
+time; but the visitor whose coming I was expecting every minute did not
+arrive till early in the afternoon. I sent out word to Mr. Stanley that I
+was exceedingly busy, and should be glad to be excused; but, as I had
+confidently expected, he was insistent. In about a quarter of an hour I
+received him in the library.
+
+He sank softly into the chair towards which I had pointed. For a moment
+he sat and blinked at me behind his gold-rimmed spectacles.
+
+"So our friend," he murmured, "has passed away! It is very sad--very sad
+indeed."
+
+I leaned back in my chair and regarded him steadfastly.
+
+"Mr. Stanley," I said, "you did not come here to express your sympathy
+with the man whom you have done your best, if not to kill, at least to
+frighten to death. Ask me all the questions you want to--say anything you
+think necessary. Only finish it up. When you leave this room, let me feel
+that circumstances will not require any further meeting between us."
+
+My words seemed to afford Mr. Stanley matter for thought. His brows were
+slightly puckered. I knew that from behind his glasses I was being
+subjected to a very keen examination.
+
+"I only trust, Mr. Courage,"' he said softly, "that the wish you have
+expressed may become a possibility. I myself have always regretted your
+intervention in this affair. You are, if you will forgive my saying so,
+in strange waters."
+
+"I don't know about that," I answered curtly. "I don't see now how I
+could have done other than I have done. But anyhow, I'm sick of it. I
+don't want to seem discourteous, but if you could manage to say to me, in
+the course of a quarter of an hour, all that you have to say, and ask all
+the questions you want to, I should be glad to have done with the whole
+business, once and for all!"
+
+My visitor nodded thoughtfully.
+
+"Very good, Mr. Courage," he said. "I will endeavor to imitate your
+frankness. Is there to be a post-mortem?"
+
+"There is not," I answered. "Dr. Rust does not consider it necessary, and
+I am forced to confess that I cannot see anything to be gained by it. You
+and your friends may have been responsible for his death. I cannot say!
+At any rate, I am sure that we should never be able to fix the guilt in
+the proper quarter."
+
+Mr. Stanley shrugged his shoulders slightly.
+
+"I must congratulate you upon your common sense, Mr. Courage," he said.
+"I pass on now to a more important question. Did our friend, before he
+died, impart to you any of the hallucinations under which he suffered?
+Are you his legatee?"
+
+"I am not," I answered. "I believe that he meant me to be; but his death,
+when it came, was quite sudden. All the secret information I had from him
+was his name, and the address of his lawyers."
+
+There was a short silence. I was able to bear with perfect calmness the
+keen scrutiny to which my visitor was subjecting me.
+
+"I congratulate you heartily, Mr. Courage," he said at last. "Mr. Guest's
+story, if he had told it to you, would have been a mixture of stolen
+facts and hallucinations, which might have influenced your life very
+forcibly for evil. I wished for his death! I admit it freely. But I
+wished it for this reason: because in all Europe yesterday, there did not
+breathe a more dangerous man than the man who called himself Leslie
+Guest."
+
+"Well, he has gone," I said, "and his life, so far as I know of it, has
+been a very sad one. I have already explained to you my wishes in the
+matter. I want to forget as speedily as possible the events of the last
+eight days."
+
+"I should like," Mr. Stanley said, "to see him."
+
+"I am sorry," I answered, "but that is impossible. The nurses are busy in
+the room now, and apart from that, the dead, at least, should have peace
+from their enemies. Of one thing I can assure you. Every scrap of paper
+he had with him is burnt. There is nothing about him or the room which
+could be of interest to you. I have sent for his lawyer, and am making
+arrangements for the funeral. There is nothing more to be said or done,
+except to say good afternoon to you, Mr. Stanley,"
+
+He rose slowly up from his chair.
+
+"You are a little precipitate, Mr. Courage," he said, "but I do not know
+that I can blame you. Do you object to telling me when the funeral will
+be?"
+
+"I am not myself informed, at present," I answered. "I am waiting for the
+arrival of the lawyer."
+
+I had risen to my feet, and was standing with the handle of the door in
+my hand. Mr. Stanley took the hint, yet I fancied that he departed
+unwillingly.
+
+"I should like," he admitted, "to have seen--him, and also the lawyer."
+
+"Then you can find another opportunity," I answered stiffly. "Mr. Guest's
+friends would receive every consideration from me. His enemies, I must
+admit, I cannot, under the circumstances, see the back of too quickly."
+
+Mr. Stanley had no alternative but to depart, which he did with as good a
+grace as possible. I was glad to be alone for a few minutes. My ordinary
+share of the vices of life, both great and small, I was, without a doubt,
+possessed of. But I had never been a liar. I had never looked a man in
+the face and made statements which I had known at the time were
+absolutely and entirely false. This was my first essay in a new role.
+
+My next visitor was a very different sort of person, a fair, florid
+little man, with easy, courteous manners, and dressed in deep mourning.
+He introduced himself as Mr. Raynes, of Raynes and Bishop, Solicitors,
+Lincoln's Inn, and alluded to the telegram which I had sent him earlier
+in the morning.
+
+"May I inquire," he asked, after we had exchanged a few commonplaces, "if
+you are aware that Mr. Leslie Guest was an assumed name of the deceased?"
+
+"I was in his confidence towards the last," I answered. "He told me a
+good deal of his history."
+
+The lawyer nodded sympathetically.
+
+"A very sad one, I fear you found it," he remarked.
+
+"Very sad indeed," I assented.
+
+"I have here," he continued, "Lord Leslie's will, and instructions as to
+his burial. I presume you would like me to take entire charge of all the
+arrangements?"
+
+"Certainly," I answered.
+
+"His Lordship wished to be buried very quietly in the nearest churchyard
+to the place where he died," the lawyer continued. "I presume that can be
+arranged."
+
+"Quite easily," I answered. "The clergyman is waiting to see you now; if
+you like I will take you to him."
+
+In the hall we met Lady Dennisford. She was plainly dressed in black, and
+she carried a great bunch of white roses. I introduced Mr. Raynes to the
+vicar, and hurried back to her.
+
+"You would like to see him?" I asked.
+
+She nodded, and I led the way upstairs. I opened the door and closed it
+again softly, leaving them alone....
+
+I descended into the hall, and there upon the steps, looking at me with
+black, beady eyes, deep set in his wrinkled face, was my friend, or
+rather my enemy, Nagaski. He eyed my approach with gloomy disfavor.
+He opened his mouth in a seeming yawn, a little, red tongue shot out from
+between his ivory teeth. Then I heard him called by a familiar voice, and
+passing out, I found his mistress leaning back in the corner of Lady
+Dennisford's victoria.
+
+She welcomed me with a slow, curious smile.
+
+"I will get out," she said. "There is something I should like to say to
+you."
+
+I handed her down. She led the way on to the terrace. A few paces behind,
+Nagaski, with drooping head and depressed mien, followed us. When we
+halted, he sat upon his haunches and watched me.
+
+"Nagaski," I remarked, "does not seem to be quite himself to-day."
+
+"It is your presence," she answered, "which affects him. He dislikes
+you."
+
+I looked at him thoughtfully. If Nagaski disliked me, I was very sure
+that I returned the sentiment to a most unreasonable extent.
+
+"I wonder why," I said. "I have always been decent to him."
+
+"Nagaski has antipathies," she said quietly. "It is a good thing that we
+are not in his own country. There his breed are supposed to have some of
+the qualities of seers, and his dislike would be a very ominous thing."
+
+"Are you superstitious?" I asked.
+
+"I am not sure," she answered gravely. "If I were, I should certainly
+avoid you. His attitude is a distinct warning."
+
+I drew a little nearer to her. It seemed to me that she was very pale,
+and there was trouble in her face.
+
+"Do you think it possible?" I asked, "that I could bring sorrow upon
+you?"
+
+"Very possible indeed," she murmured, avoiding my eyes, and looking
+steadily across the park.
+
+"Since when have you discovered this?" I asked.
+
+"Within the last hour," she answered.
+
+I laid my hand upon hers. She withdrew it at once. There was a distinct
+change in her manner towards me.
+
+"I suppose," she remarked, "that I ought to congratulate you. You are
+certainly cleverer than I gave you credit for. You have deceived Mr.
+Stanley, and he is not at all an easy person for a beginner to deceive."
+
+I kept silence. I began to see the trouble into which I was drifting.
+
+"But," she continued, "you did not attempt to deceive me. And in this
+matter, Mr. Stanley and I are one!"
+
+"You have told him!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Not yet," she answered, "but I am forced to do so, unless--"
+
+"Unless what?"
+
+She looked me in the face.
+
+"Unless you give me your word of honor that you make no attempt to carry
+on the task which Leslie Guest had assigned himself, that you do not
+regard yourself in any shape or form as his successor. Don't you see that
+it must be so? You plead that you must keep faith with the dead. I, at
+least, must keep faith with the living. I offer you a chance of safety,
+and I beg you to take it. I can do no more."
+
+There was a sharp, little yap from Nagaski. We looked around, Lady
+Dennisford had come out. We turned towards her. Nagaski trotted on ahead.
+His demeanor was generally more brisk, and his expression one of relief.
+A cloud of anxiety seemed to have rolled away from his small brain. Adele
+pointed to him significantly.
+
+"You see," she said, "his instinct is right. There are evil things
+between you and me. If I speak, there is no hope for you, and if I keep
+silent, there is danger for me, and I am a woman forsworn. If only I had
+never gone to Lord's and seen you play cricket!"
+
+"Would that have helped us?" I asked.
+
+"Of course! I should never have counted upon you as a possible tool! I
+saw you strain every nerve in your body to catch a ball, and I judged you
+by your pursuits, and--all this has come of it. Nagaski was right. We go
+ill together, you and I, and one of us must suffer."
+
+"I can only pray then," I answered, as I handed her into the carriage,
+"that it may be I."
+
+Nagaski sprang upon his mistress' lap, and his was the only farewell I
+received as the carriage drove away. His upper lip was drawn back over
+his red gums; there was something fiendish and uncanny in his snarl, and
+the hatred which shone from his tiny black eyes. I watched the carriage
+until it disappeared. He had not moved. He was still looking back at me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+IN THE DEATH CHAMBER
+
+
+I sat up suddenly in bed and turned on the light. It was barely two
+o'clock by my watch, but I felt sure that I had not been mistaken. Some
+one had knocked at my door.
+
+In the act of springing out of bed the sound was repeated. This time
+there was certainly no mistake about it, and I heard my name called--
+
+"Mr. Courage! Mr. Courage!"
+
+I opened the door. The landing was dimly lit, and I could see little else
+except the figure of the woman who stood there. With one hand she was
+leaning against the wall, her face was as white as a sheet; she wore a
+hastily thrown on dressing-gown of dingy red. Her whole appearance was
+that of a person convulsed with fright.
+
+"Who are you?" I asked. "What do you want?"
+
+Her lips parted. She seemed to have the intention of speaking, but no
+words came. Her teeth began to chatter.
+
+"Come," I said brusquely, "you must--why you are the nurse whom Dr. Rust
+sent, aren't you?" I asked, suddenly recognizing her. "What is the matter
+with you? Are you ill?"
+
+All the time, although she was silent, her eyes, distended and
+terror-stricken, were fixed upon me. She nodded feebly.
+
+"Something--is wrong!" she faltered at last. "Come!"
+
+She turned away, still with one hand holding on to the wall. She
+evidently wished me to follow her.
+
+"One moment," I said. "Wait while I put something on."
+
+I turned back into my room and wrapped my dressing-gown around me. Then I
+followed her along the corridor. She led the way to the room which had
+been occupied by Leslie Guest. Outside the door she hesitated. She turned
+and faced me abruptly. She was white to the lips. Her appearance was
+horrible.
+
+"I dare not go in!" she moaned. "I have been a nurse for fifteen years,
+and I have never known anything like this!"
+
+"Like what?" I asked, bewildered. "What is it that has happened?"
+
+She shivered, but she did not answer me. I was beginning to feel
+impatient.
+
+"Are you hysterical?" I asked. "I wish you would try and tell me what is
+the matter."
+
+"Go in," she answered; "go in, and see--if you can see anything."
+
+I opened the door and entered. The room was dimly lit by a lamp, placed
+on the table near the window. Upon the bed, covered by a sheet, his
+waxen-like face alone visible, was the body of the man who had been my
+guest. Beyond, with the connecting door wide open, was the anteroom where
+the nurse had been sleeping. Except for the ticking of a clock, there was
+no sound to be heard; there was no sign anywhere of any disturbance or
+disorder. I looked back at the nurse for an explanation.
+
+"What is it that has upset you so?" I asked. "I can see nothing wrong."
+
+She pointed to the bed.
+
+"His eyes!" she murmured. "Go and look!"
+
+I walked over to the bedside, and leaned reverently over the still
+figure. Suddenly I felt as though I were turned to stone. The blood in my
+veins ran cold, I staggered back. My gaze had been met with an upturned
+glassy stare from a pair of wide-opened, deep-set eyes!
+
+"Good God!" I cried, "his eyes are open!"
+
+The nurse, who had gained a little courage, came to my side.
+
+"I closed them myself," she whispered. "I closed them carefully. I
+thought that I heard a noise and I came in. I lit a lamp and I saw--what
+you can see! Fifteen years I have been a nurse, and I have watched by the
+dead more times than I can count. But I have never known that happen!"
+
+Once more I approached the bedside. One arm was drawn up a little from
+under the clothes. I noticed its somewhat unnatural position and pointed
+it out to the nurse.
+
+"Did you leave it like that?" I asked.
+
+Her teeth chattered.
+
+"No!" she answered, "The arms were quite straight. Some one has been in
+the room--or--"
+
+"Or what?" Tasked.
+
+"He must have moved," she whispered in an unnatural tone.
+
+Once more I bent over the still form. The pupils of the wide-open eyes
+were slightly dilated; they seemed to meet mine with a horrible, unseeing
+directness. There was no sign about his waxen face or still, cold mouth
+that life had lingered for a moment beyond the stated period. And yet
+something of the nurse's terror was slowly becoming communicated to me. I
+felt that I was in close company with mysterious things.
+
+I turned towards the nurse.
+
+"Go to your room," I said, "and shut yourself in there. I am going to
+send for Dr. Rust. Understand it is you that are ill. I do not want a
+word of this to be spoken of amongst the servants."
+
+She passed into her room and closed the door without a word. I had a
+telephone from my room to the stables, and in a few moments I had
+succeeded in awakening one of the grooms.
+
+"The nurse is ill," I told him. "Take a dog-cart and go down and fetch
+Dr. Rust. Ask him to come back with you at once."
+
+I heard his answer, and a few minutes later the sound of wheels in the
+avenue. Then I put on my clothes, and going downstairs, fetched some
+brandy and took it up to the nurse. She, too, was dressed; and, although
+she was still pale, she had recovered her self-possession.
+
+"I am very sorry to have been so foolish, sir," she said, declining the
+brandy. "I have never had an experience like this before, and it rather
+upset me."
+
+"You think," I asked, "that he has lived, since--"
+
+"I am sure of it," she answered. "His was a very peculiar illness, and I
+know that it puzzled the doctor very much. It was just the sort of
+illness to have led to a case of suspended animation."
+
+"You think it possible," I asked, "that he is alive now?"
+
+"It is quite possible," she answered, "but not very likely. He probably
+died with the slight effort he made in moving his arm. I am quite willing
+to go in and examine him, if you like, or would you prefer to wait until
+the doctor comes?"
+
+"We will wait," I answered. "He cannot be more than a few minutes."
+
+Almost as I spoke, I heard the dog-cart returning. I hurried downstairs
+and admitted the doctor. It was almost daybreak and very cold. A thin,
+grey mist hung over the park; a few stars were still visible. Eastwards,
+there was a faint break in the clouds.
+
+"What's wrong?" he asked, as I closed the door behind him.
+
+"Something very extraordinary, doctor," I answered, hurrying him
+upstairs. "Come and hear what the nurse has to say."
+
+He looked at me in a puzzled manner, but I hurried him upstairs. The
+nurse met him on the landing. She whispered something in his ear, and
+they entered the bedchamber together. I remained outside.
+
+In about ten minutes the door was thrown open, and the doctor appeared
+upon the threshold. He was in his shirt-sleeves, and there was a look
+upon his face which I had never seen there before. He had the appearance
+of a man who has been in touch with strange things.
+
+"Some hot water," said he--"boiling, if possible. Don't ask me any
+questions, there's a good fellow!"
+
+I had already aroused some of the servants, telling them that the nurse
+had been taken ill, and I was able to bring what he had asked for in a
+few minutes. But when I returned with it and tried the handle of the
+door, I found it locked. Rust opened it after I had knocked twice, and
+took the can from me.
+
+"Go away, there's a good fellow," he begged. "I will come to you as soon
+as I can--as soon as there is anything to tell."
+
+I obeyed him without demur. I went into my study, ordered some tea, and
+tried to read. It must have been an hour before the door was opened, and
+Rust appeared.
+
+"Courage," he said, "I have some extraordinary news for you."
+
+"I am quite prepared for it," I answered calmly.
+
+"He is alive!"
+
+I nodded.
+
+"I judged as much."
+
+"More than that! I believe he will recover!"
+
+There was a short silence. I had never seen Rust so agitated.
+
+"You don't seem to grasp quite all that this means," he continued. "For
+the first time in my life, I have signed a certificate of death for a
+living person!"
+
+"You have signed the certificate?" I asked.
+
+He nodded.
+
+"The undertaker has it."
+
+The maid entered just then with the tea. I ordered another cup for Rust,
+and when it had arrived, I made him sit down opposite to me.
+
+"His was exactly the kind of illness," he remarked thoughtfully, "to lead
+to something of this sort. I am quite sure now, whatever Kauppmann's
+friend may say, that his disease was not a natural one. He has been
+suffering from some strange form of poisoning. It is the most interesting
+case I have ever come in contact with. There were certain symptoms--"
+
+"Rust," I interrupted, "forgive me, but I don't want to hear about
+symptoms. I want to talk to you as man to man. We are old friends! You
+must listen carefully to what I have to say."
+
+Rust's good-humored, weather-beaten, little face was almost pitiful.
+
+"You're going to pitch into me, of course," he remarked. "Well, I
+suppose I deserve it. You may not believe it, but I can assure you
+that ninety-nine out of every hundred medical men would have signed
+the certificate in my case."
+
+"I have no doubt of it," I answered. "That is not the matter I want to
+discuss with you at all. There is something more serious, terribly
+serious, behind all this. Frankly, if I did not know you so well, Rust, I
+should offer you the biggest fee you had ever received in your life, to
+leave the place this morning and be called to--Timbuctoo. As it is," I
+continued more slowly, "I am going to appeal to you as a sportsman! I am
+going to take you into my confidence as far as I dare. I want, if I can,
+to justify a very extraordinary request."
+
+Rust took off his spectacles and laid them upon the table.
+
+"The request being--" he asked.
+
+"That you start for the holiday you were speaking of the other day," I
+said, "within twelve hours."
+
+He glanced at me curiously. I think that he was beginning to wonder
+whether I might not be the next person to need medical advice.
+
+"Go on," he said. "I am prepared to listen at any rate...."
+
+He listened. And at 10.30 that morning, he left Saxby--for the South
+Coast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+AN AFFAIR OF STATE
+
+
+My cousin met me at St. Pancras. I saw him before my own carriage had
+reached the platform, peering into the window of every compartment
+in his short-sighted way. He recognized me at last with a little wave of
+the hand.
+
+"Glad to see you, Hardross! These your things? We'll have a hansom. Where
+are you staying?"
+
+"At the club, if I can get a room," I answered. "I shall try there before
+I go to an hotel, at any rate."
+
+"Come and have some lunch first," Sir Gilbert said firmly. "You can see
+about your room afterwards. Remember your appointment is at three
+o'clock."
+
+I acquiesced, and got into a cab with my cousin. I was perfectly aware
+that he was almost consumed with curiosity. He scarcely waited until we
+were off before he began.
+
+"Hardross!" he asked, "what's up?"
+
+"Nothing particular," I answered lamely.
+
+"Rubbish!" he declared, "you are the last man in the world I should have
+expected to see in town the second week in September! You haven't come
+for nothing, have you? And then this interview with Lord Polloch. What on
+earth can you have to say to the Prime Minister?"
+
+"I'm afraid, Gilbert," I answered, "that I can't tell you--just yet. You
+see it isn't my own affair at all. It's--another man's secret."
+
+My cousin was palpably disappointed.
+
+"Well," he said, a little curtly, "whatever sort of a secret it is, it
+hasn't agreed with you very well. I never saw you look so seedy--and
+years older too! What on earth have you been doing with yourself?"
+
+I shrugged my shoulders.
+
+"I've had a cold," I said. "Got wet through shooting one day last week."
+
+My cousin regarded me incredulously.
+
+"A cold! You!" he remarked. "I like that! I don't believe you ever had
+such a thing in your life!"
+
+I leaned forward in the cab to look at the placards of the afternoon
+papers.
+
+"Any news in town?" I asked.
+
+"None at all," Gilbert answered. "There's scarcely any one about. I'm off
+to Hamburg to-morrow myself."
+
+"And Lord Polloch?" I asked.
+
+"He's off to Scotland to-night for a fortnight's golf. Afterwards I
+believe he's going abroad. You must confess that your appearance here is
+a little extraordinary. If I hadn't been on particularly good terms with
+Polloch, I could not possibly have got you an interview. He's up to his
+eyes in work, and as keen as a schoolboy on getting away for his
+holiday."
+
+"It's very good of you," I answered.
+
+My cousin regarded me critically.
+
+"You'll forgive my suggesting it, I'm sure, Hardross," he said, "but you
+have got something particular to say to him, I suppose? These fellows
+don't like being bothered about trifles. The responsibility is on my
+shoulders, you see."
+
+"I have something quite important to say to him," I declared. "In all
+probability, he will give you a seat in the Cabinet for having arranged
+the meeting."
+
+Gilbert abandoned the subject for the moment. A sense of humor was not
+amongst his characteristics, and I do not think that he approved
+altogether of my levity. But later on, as we sat at luncheon, he returned
+to it.
+
+"Have you ever thought of Parliament, Hardross?" he asked.
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"One in the family," I murmured, "is sufficient."
+
+"The diplomatic service," he remarked, "you are, of course, too old for."
+
+"Naturally," I agreed; "as a matter of fact, I have no hankerings for
+what you would call a career."
+
+"And yet--" he began.
+
+"And yet," I interrupted, "I am anxious for an interview with the Prime
+Minister. I am afraid I cannot tell you very much, Gilbert, but I will
+tell you this. Some rather important information has come into my
+possession in a very curious fashion. I conceive it to be my duty to pass
+it on to the government of this country. Lord Polloch can decide whether
+or not it is of any real value. It is for this purpose that I am seeking
+this interview with him. I tell you this much in confidence. I cannot
+tell you more."
+
+My cousin smiled in a somewhat superior manner.
+
+"You have got a cheek," he said. "As though any information you could
+pick up would be worth bothering Polloch with!"
+
+I glanced at the clock and leaned back in my chair.
+
+"Well," I said, "in about a quarter of an hour his Lordship will have an
+opportunity of judging for himself. By the bye, Gilbert, do you mind
+keeping what I have told you entirely to yourself?"
+
+"You haven't told me anything," he grunted.
+
+"I have told you enough to get me into pretty considerable trouble," I
+remarked grimly. "Shall I see you later?"
+
+"I shall wait till you return," he answered firmly. "I am rather anxious
+to hear how you get on with the chief."
+
+"I am a little anxious about it myself," I admitted, as we went out into
+the hall.
+
+I walked the short distance to Downing Street. The afternoon was
+brilliantly fine, and the pavements were thronged with foot-passengers. I
+passed down the club steps into what seemed to me to be a new world. I
+did not recognize myself or my kinship with my fellow-creatures. For the
+first time in my life, I was affected with forebodings. I scanned the
+faces of the passers-by. I had an uneasy suspicion all the time that I
+was watched. As I turned in to Downing Street, the feeling grew stronger.
+There were several loiterers in the roadway. I watched them suspiciously.
+The idea grew stronger within me that I should not be allowed to reach my
+destination. I found myself measuring the distance, almost counting the
+yards which separated me from that quiet, grey stone house, almost the
+last in the street. It was with a sense of immense relief that I pushed
+open the gate and found myself behind the high iron palings. A butler in
+sombre black opened the door, almost before my hand had left the bell. I
+was myself again immediately. My vague fears melted away. I handed in my
+card, and explained that I had an appointment with Lord Polloch. In less
+than five minutes I was ushered into his presence.
+
+"I am very glad to see you, Mr. Courage," he said. "I understand that
+you have some information which you wish to give me. I have exactly
+twenty-five minutes to give you. Take that easy-chair and go ahead...."
+
+In less than three-quarters of an hour, I was back in the club. I
+found my cousin almost alone in the smoking-room. He looked up with
+ill-suppressed eagerness as I entered.
+
+"Well?"
+
+I lit a cigarette and threw myself into an easy-chair.
+
+"Quiet afternoon here?" I remarked.
+
+"You saw Lord Polloch?"
+
+I nodded.
+
+"I was with him exactly twenty-five minutes," I answered.
+
+"Well?" he repeated.
+
+I called a waiter and ordered something to drink. I felt that I needed
+it.
+
+"My dear Gilbert," I said, "I will not affect to misunderstand you! You
+want to know how Lord Polloch received me, what the nature of my business
+with him was, and its final result. That is so, isn't it?"
+
+"To a certain extent, yes!" he admitted; "as I was responsible for the
+interview, I naturally feel some interest in it," he added stiffly.
+
+"Lord Polloch was most civil," I assured him. "He thanked me very much
+for coming to see him. He hoped that I would call again immediately on
+his return from Scotland, and--I have no doubt that by this time he has
+forgotten all about me."
+
+"Your information, after all, then," Gilbert exclaimed, "was not really
+important!"
+
+"He did not appear to find it so," I admitted.
+
+"I wonder," Gilbert said, looking at me curiously "what sort of a mare's
+nest you have got hold of. Rather out of your line, this sort of thing,
+isn't it?"
+
+The walls of the club smoking-room seemed suddenly to break away. I was
+looking out into the great work where men and women faced the whirlwinds,
+and were torn away, struggling and fighting always, into the Juggernaut
+of destruction. I looked into the quiet corners where the cowards lurked,
+and I seemed to see my own empty place there.
+
+"Oh! I don't know," I answered calmly. "We are all the slaves of
+opportunity. Lord Polloch very courteously, but with little apparent
+effort, has made me feel like a fool. Perhaps I am one! Perhaps Lord
+Polloch is too much of an Englishman. That remains to be discovered."
+
+"What do you mean by 'too much of an Englishman'?" Gilbert asked.
+
+I shrugged my shoulders.
+
+"Too much self-confidence, too little belief in the possibility of the
+unusual," I answered.
+
+"Suppose you appoint me arbitrator," Gilbert suggested.
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"I cannot, Gilbert," I answered. "As I have said, the issue is between
+Lord Polloch and myself, and I hope to Heaven that Lord Polloch is in the
+right, or there will be trouble."
+
+"You are extraordinarily mysterious," Gilbert remarked.
+
+"I must seem so," I answered, "I cannot help it. Have a drink, Gilbert,
+and wish me God speed!"
+
+"Are you off back to Medchestershire to-night?" Gilbert asked.
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"No! but I thought of running over to the States next week."
+
+Gilbert laid down his cigar, and looked at me anxiously.
+
+"Have you seen a doctor lately, Hardross?" he asked.
+
+"Not necessary," I answered. "I'm as fit as I can be!"
+
+"Then will you tell me," he asked, "why, with the shooting just on, and
+the hunting in full view, you are talking of going to America?"
+
+"I've had a good many years of hunting and shooting and cricket and sport
+of all sorts, Gilbert," I answered. "Perhaps I'm not quite so keen as I
+was."
+
+"If you are not going to America for sport," my cousin asked, "what are
+you going for?"
+
+I rose to my feet.
+
+"Gilbert," I said, "it's no use. Some day or other you will know all
+about it--perhaps very soon. But, for the present, I can tell you
+nothing. I've stumbled into a queer place, and I've got to get out of it
+somehow. Wish me good luck, old chap!" I added, holding out my hand;
+"and--if anything should happen to me abroad--look after the old
+place--it'll be yours, you know, every stick and stone."
+
+Then I got away as soon as I could. Gilbert was by way of becoming
+incoherent, and, so far as I was concerned, there was nothing more to be
+said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+TRAVELLING COMPANIONS
+
+
+I locked the door of my state-room, and seated myself upon the edge of
+the lower bunk with a little sigh of relief. The slow pounding of the
+engines had commenced, the pulse of the great liner was beating, and
+through the port-hole I could see the docks, with their line of people,
+gliding past us. We were well out in the Mersey already.
+
+"We're off, Guest!" I exclaimed, "and off safely, too, I think. Chuck
+that now, there's a good fellow."
+
+Guest was engaged in emptying the contents of one of my bags. He turned
+slowly round and faced me, with a pair of my trousers upon his arm.
+
+"I shall do nothing of the sort," he answered calmly. "I am here as your
+servant, Courage, and your servant I intend to remain. We can't hope to
+keep the thing up on the other side, if we are all the time drifting back
+to our old relations. I wish I could make you understand this."
+
+I opened the port-hole as far as it would go, and lit a cigarette.
+
+"That's all very well," I said; "but I don't see any need to keep the
+farce up in private, and I'm sure I can unpack my own things a thundering
+sight better than you can."
+
+"Very likely," he answered, "but you certainly won't do it. Can't you
+understand that, unless we grow into our parts, they will never come
+naturally to us? Besides, we may be watched. You cannot tell."
+
+"The door is locked," I remarked dryly.
+
+"For the moment, no doubt, we're all right," Guest answered; "but you
+won't be able to lock it often upon the voyage. Remember that we are up
+against a system with a thousand eyes and a thousand ears. It's no good
+running risks. I am Peters, your man, and Peters I mean to be."
+
+"Do you propose," I asked, "to have your meals in the servants' saloon?"
+
+"Most certainly I do," was the curt answer. "I expect to make
+acquaintances there who will be most useful. Did you get the passengers'
+list?"
+
+I drew it from my pocket. Guest came and looked over my shoulder.
+Half-way down the list he pointed to a name.
+
+"Mr. de Valentin and valet!" he murmured. "That is our friend. I
+recognize the name. He has used it before! Now let us see."
+
+Again his forefinger travelled down the list--again it paused.
+
+"Mrs. Van Reinberg, and the Misses Van Reinberg! Ah!" he said, "that is
+the lady whose acquaintance you must contrive to make."
+
+"One of the court?" I asked,
+
+He nodded.
+
+"There are others, of course, but I do not recognize their names. They
+will sort themselves up naturally enough. Now unlock that door, and go up
+on deck. The stewards will be in directly for orders."
+
+I rose and stretched out my hand towards the door. Suddenly, from
+outside, an unexpected sound almost paralyzed me--the sharp, shrill
+yapping of a small dog!
+
+I felt the color leave my cheeks. Guest looked at me in amazement.
+
+"What's the matter with you?" he asked. "You're not frightened of a toy
+terrier, are you?"
+
+I opened the door. Of course, my sudden fear had been absurd. I peered
+out into the passage, and a little exclamation broke from my lips.
+Sitting on his haunches just outside, his mouth open, his little, red
+tongue hanging out, was a small Japanese spaniel. There may have been
+thousands of others in the world, but that one I was very sure, from the
+first, that I recognized, and I was equally sure that he recognized me. I
+stared at him fascinated. His bead-like, black eyes blinked and blinked
+again; and his teeth, like a row of ivory needles, gleamed white from his
+red gums. He neither growled nor wagged his tail, but it seemed to me
+that the expression of his aged, puckered-up little face was the
+incarnation of malevolence. I pointed to him, and whispered hoarsely to
+Guest:
+
+"Her dog!"
+
+"Whose?" he asked sharply.
+
+"Miss Van Hoyt's," I answered.
+
+"Rubbish!" he declared. "There are hundreds of dogs like that."
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"Never another in the wide world," I said. "Look how the little brute is
+scowling at me!"
+
+The bedroom steward came round the corner at that moment. I pointed to
+the dog.
+
+"I always understood that dogs were not permitted in the state-rooms,
+steward," I remarked.
+
+"They are not, sir," the man answered promptly. "The young lady to whom
+this one belongs has a special permission; but he is not allowed to be
+out alone. He must have run away."
+
+There was the sound of rustling petticoats. A young woman in black came
+hurrying down the passage. She caught up the dog without a word, and
+hastened away.
+
+"At what time would you like to be called, sir?" the man asked.
+
+"Send me the bath-room steward, and I will let you know," I answered,
+stepping back into the state-room.
+
+"He'll be round in a few minutes, sir," the man answered, and passed on.
+
+Guest leaned towards me. His eyes were bright and alert, and his manner
+was perfectly composed. He was more used to such crises than I was. He
+asked no question; he waited for me to speak.
+
+"It was her maid!" I exclaimed. "I was sure of the dog."
+
+"Miss Van Hoyt's?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+He caught up the passengers list. There was no such name there.
+
+"If it is she," he said quietly, "she is here to watch you! It proves
+nothing else. I shall be seasick all the way over, and at New York we
+must part. Go to the purser's office and find out, Courage. There is no
+reason why you shouldn't. You are interested, of course?"
+
+I nodded and left the state-room, but I had no need to visit the purser.
+I met her face to face coming out of the saloon. If appearances were in
+any way to be trusted, the meeting was as much a shock to her as to
+me. She was wearing a thick veil, which partially obscured her features,
+but I saw her stop short, and clutch at a pillar as though for support,
+as she recognized me. If the amazement in her tone was counterfeited,
+she was indeed an actress.
+
+"You!" she exclaimed. "Where are you going?"
+
+"America, I hope," I answered. "And you? I did not see your name on the
+passengers' list."
+
+"I am going--home," she answered. "I made up my mind, at the last moment,
+to come on this steamer, to cross with my stepmother."
+
+I did not like the way she said it. It was too apt--a little too
+mechanical. And yet I could not get it out of my head that her surprise
+was natural.
+
+A little, fair woman, wearing a magnificent fur cloak, and with an
+eyeglass dangling at her bosom, suddenly bore down upon us.
+
+"Adele!" she exclaimed, "have you seen my woman? I've forgotten the
+number of my state-room."
+
+"It is opposite mine," Adele answered. "I can show it to you."
+
+They passed on together. The fair, little lady had favored me with a very
+perfunctory and somewhat insolent glance; Adele herself left me without a
+word. I went into the saloon, took my place for dinner, and then sought
+the deck for some fresh air. I felt that I needed it.
+
+A slight, drizzling rain was falling, but I took no notice of it. I
+walked backwards and forwards along the promenade deck, my pipe in my
+mouth, my hands clasped behind me. The appearance of Adele had been
+so utterly unexpected that I felt myself almost unnerved. For six days we
+should be living in the close intimacy which fellow passengers upon a
+steamer find it almost difficult to avoid. Our opportunities for
+conversation would be practically unlimited. If indeed Guest's suspicions
+as to the reason of her presence here were well founded, a single slip on
+my part might mean disaster. And yet, beneath it all, I knew quite well
+that her near presence was a delight to me! My blood was running more
+warmly, my heart was the lighter for the thought of her near presence.
+Danger might come of it, the success of our undertaking itself might be
+imperilled--yet I was glad. I leaned over the vessel's side, and gazed
+through the gathering twilight at the fast receding shores, with their
+maze of yellow lights. Life had changed for me during the last few weeks.
+The old, placid days of content were over; already I was in a new world,
+a world of bigger things, where the great game was being played, with the
+tense desperateness of those who gamble with life and death. I had not
+sought the change! Rather it had been forced upon me. I had no ambitions
+to gratify; the old life had pleased me very well. I had quitted it
+simply upon compulsion. And here I was with unfamiliar thoughts in my
+brain, groping my way along paths which were strange to me, face to face
+now with the greatest happening which Heaven or Hell can let loose upon a
+man. It was a queer trick this, which fortune had played me.
+
+After all we are very human. The dressing bugle brought me back to
+the present, and I remembered that I was hungry. I descended into my
+state-room, and found all my things neatly laid out, and Guest sitting on
+the opposite bunk regarded them critically.
+
+"You shouldn't have bothered about my clothes, Guest," I protested.
+
+"Nonsense," he answered curtly. "I can't play the part without a few
+rehearsals. What about Miss Van Hoyt?"
+
+"She is on board," I answered.
+
+"You have spoken to her?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"Did she offer any explanations as to her presence?"
+
+"She appeared to be surprised to see me," I answered. "She said that she
+was going home."
+
+Guest nodded thoughtfully.
+
+"Her stepmother is an American," he remarked. "I don't suppose you knew
+that?"
+
+"I did not," I admitted. "I wish you would tell me all that you know of
+Miss Van Hoyt."
+
+"No time now," he answered. "You will be late for dinner as it is. Don't
+seem too eager about it, but remember it is absolutely necessary that you
+get an introduction to Mrs. Van Reinberg."
+
+I nodded.
+
+"I'll do my best," I promised.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+"FOR YOU!"
+
+
+I found that a place had been allotted to me about half-way down the
+captain's table, on the right-hand side. My immediate neighbors were an
+Englishman, on his way to the States to buy some commodity in which he
+dealt, and a very old lady, quite deaf, in charge of a spinster daughter.
+Neither of them imposed upon me the necessity for conversation. I had,
+therefore, plenty of time to look around me, and take note of the people
+in whom I was interested.
+
+They were all seated together, at a small table in the far corner of the
+saloon. At the head of that table was a man whom I had not yet seen, but
+whom I at once knew to be Mr. de Valentin. He was tall, rather sallow,
+with a pointed, black beard, and he continually wore an eyeglass, set in
+a horn rim, with a narrow, black ribbon. On his right was the woman to
+whom Adele had spoken upon the stairs. She wore a plain but elegant
+dinner-gown of some dark material. She was exquisitely coiffured, and
+obviously turned out by a perfectly trained maid. There were two girls at
+the table, whom I judged to be her daughters, and--Adele.
+
+Adele was seated so that I could see only her profile. I noticed,
+however, that she seemed to be eating little, and to be taking but a very
+small part in the conversation. Once or twice she leaned back in her
+chair, and looked round the saloon as though in search of some one. On
+the last of these occasions our eyes met, and she smiled slightly. Mrs.
+Van Reinberg, who was sitting opposite to her, leaned forward and asked
+some question. I judged that it concerned me, for immediately afterwards
+that lady herself raised her gold eyeglass, and favored me with a
+somewhat deliberate stare. Then she leaned forward again and made some
+remark to Adele, the purport of which I could not guess.
+
+Dinner lasted a long time, but I was all the while interested. I was
+facing Adele and her friends, so I could observe them all the time
+without being myself conspicuous. I was able to take note of the somewhat
+wearied graciousness of Mr. de Valentin, who seemed always to be
+struggling with a profound boredom; the almost feverish amiability of
+Mrs. Van Reinberg, and, in a lesser degree, her daughters; and the
+undoubted reserve with which Adele seemed to protect herself from Mr. de
+Valentin's attentions. When at last they rose and left the saloon, I
+quickly followed their example.
+
+I put on an ulster, lit a cigar, and went up on deck. I found my chair on
+the sheltered side of the ship, and wrapping myself in a rug, prepared to
+spend a comfortable half-hour. But I had scarcely settled down before a
+little group of people came along the deck and halted close to me. A
+smooth-faced manservant, laden with a pile of magnificent rugs, struck a
+match and began to examine the labels on the chairs. Its flickering light
+was apparently sufficient for Adele to recognize my features.
+
+"So you are going to join the fresh-air brigade, Mr. Courage," she
+remarked. "I think you are very wise. We found the music-room
+insufferable."
+
+"I can assure you that the smoke-room is worse, Miss Van Hoyt," I
+answered, struggling to my feet. "Can I find your chair for you?"
+
+"Thanks, the deck steward is bringing it," she answered. "Let me
+introduce you to my friends--Mrs. Van Reinberg--my stepmother, Miss Van
+Reinberg, Miss Sara Van Reinberg, Mr. de Valentin--Mr. Hardross Courage."
+
+I bowed collectively. Mr. de Valentin greeted me stiffly, Mrs. Van
+Reinberg and the Misses Van Reinberg, with a cordiality which somewhat
+surprised me.
+
+"I met your cousin, Sir Gilbert, in London, I think, Mr. Courage," she
+remarked. "He was kind enough to give us tea on the terrace at the House
+of Commons."
+
+I bowed.
+
+"Gilbert is rather fond of entertaining his friends there," I remarked.
+"It is the one form of frivolity which seems to appeal to him."
+
+"He was very kind," she continued. "He introduced a number of interesting
+people to us. The Duke of Westlingham is a relation of yours, is he not?"
+
+"My second cousin," I remarked.
+
+"Is this your first visit to America?" she asked.
+
+"I was once in Canada," I answered. "I have never been in the States."
+
+She smiled at me a little curiously. All the time I felt somehow that she
+was taking very careful note of my answers.
+
+"We say in my country, you know," she remarked, "that you Englishmen come
+to us for one of two things only--sport or a wife!"
+
+"I hope to get some of the former, at any rate," I answered. "As for the
+latter!"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"I have always thought of myself as a bachelor," I said; "but one's good
+fortune comes sometimes when one least expects it."
+
+I looked across at Adele, and Mrs. Van Reinberg followed the direction of
+my eyes. She laughed shrilly, but she did not seem displeased.
+
+"If you Englishmen only made as good husbands as you do acquaintances,"
+she said, "I should settle down in London with my girls and study
+matchmaking. I am afraid, though, that you have your drawbacks."
+
+"Tell me what they are," I begged, "and I will do my best to prove myself
+an exception."
+
+"You have too much spare time," she declared. "And you know what that
+leads to?"
+
+"Mr. Courage has not," Adele interrupted. "He works really very hard
+indeed."
+
+"Works!" Mrs. Van Reinberg repeated incredulously.
+
+"At games!" Adele declared. "He plays in cricket matches that last three
+days long. I saw him once at Lord's, and I can assure you that it looked
+like very hard work indeed."
+
+Mrs. Van Reinberg turned away with a laugh, and settled herself down into
+the little nest of rugs which her maid had prepared.
+
+"You young people can walk about, if you like," she said. "I am going to
+be comfortable. My cigarette case, Annette, and electric lamp. I shall
+read for half an hour."
+
+She dismissed us all. Adele and I moved away as though by common consent.
+Mr. de Valentin followed with the two other girls, though I had noticed
+that his first impulse had been to take possession of Adele. She avoided
+the others skilfully, however, and we strolled off to the farther end of
+the ship.
+
+"Your stepmother," I remarked, "seems to be a very amiable person!"
+
+"She can be anything she likes," Adele answered--"upon occasions."
+
+We turned on to the weather side of the ship, which was almost deserted.
+Adele glanced behind. Mr. de Valentin and the two girls were still within
+a few feet of us.
+
+"Do you mind walking on the lower deck?" she asked. "I want to talk to
+you, and I am sure that we shall be disturbed here."
+
+"With pleasure!" I answered quickly. "I, too, have something to say to
+you."
+
+We descended in silence to the promenade deck. Here we had the place
+almost to ourselves. Adele did not beat about the bush.
+
+"Mr. Courage," she said, "tell me what you thought when you saw me on
+this steamer!"
+
+She looked me full in the face. Her beautiful eyes were full of anxiety.
+There was about her manner a nervousness which I had never before
+noticed. Her cheeks were paler, and with these indications of emotion,
+something of the mystery which had seemed to me always to cling to her
+personality had departed. She was more natural--more lovable.
+
+"I thought," I answered, "that it was part of the game!--that you were
+here to watch me. Isn't that the natural conclusion?"
+
+"Mr. Courage," she said, "please look at me."
+
+I faced her at once. Her eyes were fixed upon mine.
+
+"I am not here to watch you," she said quietly. "I came because I have
+decided to go back to my home in America, and live there quietly for a
+time. Whatever share I had in the events which led to Leslie Guest's
+death, these things do not interest me any more. I have finished."
+
+"I congratulate you," I answered.
+
+"I cannot tell you anything about those events, or my connection with
+them," she went on, "but I want you to believe that I have no longer any
+association with those who planned them. I am not here to spy upon you. I
+am not in communication with any one to whom your actions are of any
+interest. Will you believe this?"
+
+I hesitated for a moment. Her eyes held mine. It was not possible for me
+to disbelieve her.
+
+"I am glad to hear this," I said seriously.
+
+"You do not doubt me?"
+
+"I cannot," I answered.
+
+She drew a little sigh of relief.
+
+"And now," she said, "about yourself. Be as frank with me as I have been
+with you. Are you really the legatee of Guest's secret?"
+
+"You know that he told me certain things--before he died," I answered
+slowly.
+
+"Yes! But what are you going to do with the knowledge? Are you going to
+be wise and let fate take its course, or are you going to meddle in
+affairs which you know nothing about? Don't do it, Mr. Courage!" she
+exclaimed, with a sudden catch in her voice. "Leslie Guest was a
+diplomatist and a schemer all his life, and you know the penalty he paid.
+You have not the training or the disposition for this sort of thing. You
+would be foredoomed to failure. Don't do it!"
+
+I turned and looked at her. She was so much in earnest that her whole
+expression was transformed. The mysterious smile which was so often upon
+her lips, half supercilious, half mocking, was gone, and with it
+something of that elusiveness which had so often puzzled me! Her eyes met
+mine frankly and pleadingly, her fingers were upon my arm, and she was
+swaying a little towards me with the motion of the boat, so that I was
+tempted almost beyond measure to take her into my arms, and, with my lips
+upon hers, promise whatever she would have had me promise. It was only a
+moment of madness. The memory of other things came back to me.
+
+"It is very good of you," I said slowly, "to warn me. I know that I am
+not made of the stuff that Guest was. It is possible that I may--"
+
+"It is true, then," she interrupted breathlessly, "you are really meaning
+to go with his schemes?"
+
+"You take too much for granted," I answered.
+
+"Oh! don't let us misunderstand one another," she begged. "Tell me why
+you are on your way to America! Tell me why you are on this steamer, of
+all others."
+
+"I am going to shoot--out West," I said, "and I want to know something of
+your wonderful country-people!"
+
+She let her fingers slip from my arm.
+
+"You will tell me no more than that," she murmured.
+
+"I have nothing more to tell you," I answered.
+
+Once more she leaned towards me. The wind was blowing around us, she
+came closer as though seeking for the shelter of my body. I could smell
+the crushed violets, which she was still wearing at her bosom; her eyes
+were soft and bright, her lips were slightly parted. I took her into my
+arms--she clung to me for a moment--one long, delicious moment.
+
+"I have given it all up," she whispered, "for you! If I had told the
+truth, if I had told them that you knew, it would have meant death! You
+must forget, you must swear to forget."
+
+I held her tightly.
+
+"Dear Adele," I whispered, "you are a woman who understands. Life and
+death come to all of us, but a coward could never deserve your love--you
+could never stoop to care for a man who thought of his life before his
+honor."
+
+"You are pledged!" she cried.
+
+"I must do what I can," I answered.
+
+She staggered away from me.
+
+"God help us both!" she murmured.
+
+I would have caught her to me again, but a dark figure was coming slowly
+down the deck. A little, yapping bark came from the deck at her feet.
+Nagaski was leaping up at his mistress. She stooped and picked him up. He
+showed me his teeth and snarled.
+
+"You really must make friends with Nagaski, Mr. Courage," she remarked,
+turning away. "Come, we must go back to the others! My stepmother will
+think that I am lost."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+"LOVED I NOT HONOR MORE"
+
+
+I told Guest exactly what had passed between Adele and myself, leaving
+out only the personal element, at which I allowed him to guess. He was
+thoughtful for some time afterwards.
+
+"What is to be the end of it between you and her?" he asked me presently.
+"Exactly on what terms do you stand at present?"
+
+"Some day," I answered, "I shall marry her--or no other woman. As regards
+other matters, I believe that she is neutral."
+
+"You do not think, then, that she will obstruct our plans?" he asked. "Of
+course, a word from her, and our journey to America can only end in
+failure."
+
+"She will not speak it," I answered confidently. "I do not know, of
+course, how deeply she was involved in the schemes of those whom we may
+call our enemies, but I am perfectly certain that she has finished with
+them now."
+
+Guest nodded.
+
+"I hope so," he remarked shortly. "At any rate, it is one of the risks
+which we must take."
+
+We said no more about the subject then, and I very soon perceived that
+the intimacy between Adele and myself was likely to be of the greatest
+use to us. For the next two days neither of us referred to those things
+which lay in the background. We walked and sat together, played
+shuffleboard, and in every way made the most of all those delightful
+opportunities of _tete-a-tetes_ which a sea voyage affords. Mrs. Van
+Reinberg, for some reason or other, watched our intimacy with increasing
+satisfaction. Mr. de Valentin, on the other hand, though he concealed his
+feelings admirably, seemed to find it equally distasteful. Gradually the
+situation became clear to me. Mrs. Van Reinberg desired to reserve the
+whole interest of Mr. de Valentin for herself and her daughters; he, on
+the other hand, had shown signs of a partiality for Adele. The fates were
+certainly working for me.
+
+On the third night out we were all together on deck after dinner. I was
+standing near Mrs. Van Reinberg, who had been exceedingly gracious to me.
+
+"Tell me, Mr. Courage," she asked, "what are your plans when you land?"
+
+"I thought of using some of my letters of introduction," I answered, "and
+going West after Christmas. I have been told that the country round Lenox
+and Pittsfield is very beautiful just now, and I shall stay, I expect,
+with a man I know fairly well, who lives up there--Plaskett White."
+
+"Why, isn't that strange?" Mrs. Van Reinberg exclaimed. "The Plaskett
+Whites are our nearest neighbors. If you really are coming that way, you
+must stay with us for a week, or as long as you can manage it. We are
+going straight to Lenox."
+
+"I shall be delighted," I answered heartily.
+
+Mr. de Valentin dropped his eyeglass and polished it deliberately. His
+usually expressionless face was black with anger. Even the two girls
+looked a little surprised at their mother's invitation. I felt that the
+situation was a delicate one.
+
+"I should not be able to intrude upon you for more than a day or two," I
+remarked, a little diffidently, "but if you will really put me up for
+that length of time, I shall look forward to my visit with a great deal
+of pleasure."
+
+Mrs. Van Reinberg was looking across at Mr. de Valentin with a very
+determined expression on her pale, hard face. She was obviously a woman
+who was accustomed to have her own way, and meant to have it in this
+particular instance.
+
+"It is settled, then, Mr. Courage," she declared. "Come whenever you
+like. We can always make room for you."
+
+I bowed my gratitude, and, to relieve the situation, I took Adele away
+with me for a walk. We were scarcely out of hearing, before I heard Mr.
+de Valentin's cold but angry voice.
+
+"My dear Madame, do you consider that invitation of yours a prudent
+one? ..."
+
+We walked on the other side of the deck. Adele was silent for several
+moments. Then she turned towards me, and the old smile was upon her
+lips--the smile which had always half fascinated, half irritated me.
+
+"So," she remarked, "I have become your unwilling ally."
+
+"In what way?" I asked.
+
+"I suppose," she said, "that an invitation to Lenox _was_ necessary to
+your plans, wasn't it?"
+
+"I had fairly obvious reasons for hoping for one," I answered, smiling.
+
+She passed her arm through mine, and leaned a little towards me. It was
+at such moments that I found her so dangerously sweet.
+
+"Ah!" she murmured, "I wish that that were the only reason!"
+
+I pressed her arm to mine, but I said nothing. When I could avoid it, I
+preferred not to discuss those other matters. We walked to the ship's
+side, and leaned over to watch the phosphorus. Suddenly she whispered in
+my ear, her lips were so close to my cheek that I felt her warm breath.
+
+"Jim," she said, "do you love me very much?"
+
+I would have kissed the lips which dared to ask such a question, but she
+drew a little away. It was not that which she wanted--just then.
+
+"Listen," she murmured, "but do not look at me. Watch that star there,
+sinking down towards the sea--there near the horizon. Now listen. When
+we land at New York, let us run away from everything, from everybody. We
+can go west to Mexico and beyond! There are beautiful countries there
+which I have always wanted to see. Let us lose ourselves for a year, two
+years--longer even. I will not let you be weary! Oh! I promise you that.
+I will give you myself and all my life. Think! We can only live once, and
+you and I have found what life is. Don't let us trifle with it. Jim, will
+you come?"
+
+Soft though her voice was, there was passion quivering in every sentence.
+When I turned to look at her, her eyes and face seemed aflame with it.
+The color had streamed into her cheeks, she had drifted into my arms, and
+her clinging lips yielded unresistingly to mine.
+
+"Oh! Jim," she murmured, "the rest isn't worth anything. Tell me that you
+will come."
+
+I did not answer her at once, and she seemed content to lie where she
+was. My own senses were in a wild tumult of delight, but there was a pain
+in my heart. Presently she drew a little away. There was a new note in
+her tone--a note of half-alarmed surprise.
+
+"Answer me, Jim! Oh! answer me please," she begged. "Don't let me
+think--that you mean to refuse."
+
+I held her tightly in my arms. The memory of that moment might have to
+last me all my life.
+
+"My dear heart," I whispered, "it would be Paradise! Some day we will do
+it. But in your heart, you know very well that you would love me no more
+if I forgot my honor and my duty--even for the love of you!"
+
+"It is not your task," she pleaded. "Tell what you know, and leave it to
+others. You are too honest to play the spy. You will fail, and it will
+cost you your life."
+
+"I shall not fail," I answered steadfastly, "and my life is insured in
+Heaven for the sake of the things I carry with me. Have faith in me,
+Adele. I swear that I will do my duty and live to realize--everything."
+
+She shook her head sadly.
+
+"There are others," she said, "who could do what you are doing. But for
+me there is no one else in the world."
+
+"You shall not need any one else," I declared. "Mine is, after all, a
+simple task. You know that I went to see Lord Polloch in London."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"He would not believe me. Why should he? My story sounded wild enough,
+and I had no proofs. I only need to gather together a few of these loose
+ends, to weave something tangible out of them and show him the results,
+and my task is finished."
+
+"Do you suppose," she asked quietly, "that you will be allowed to do
+that?"
+
+"I must do my best,"' I answered. "It is inevitable. There will be more
+Mr. Stanleys and such like, no doubt. They may hinder me, but I think
+that, in the end, I shall pull through. And I promise you, dear, that
+when I have something definite to show, I shall have finished with the
+whole business. It is no more to my liking than yours."
+
+"I cannot move you then," she murmured.
+
+"You must not try," I answered.
+
+She laughed a little unnaturally.
+
+"I do not feel any longer," she said, "that you belong to me. There is
+something else which comes first."
+
+"Without that something, dear," I answered, "I should not be worthy of
+your love."
+
+"With men, there is always something else," she said sadly. "It is the
+woman only who realizes what love is, who puts it before body and soul
+and honor. A man cannot do that."
+
+"No!" I answered softly, "a man cannot do that."
+
+She turned away, and I walked by her side in silence. When she reached
+the companion-way, she stepped inside a little abruptly.
+
+"I am going to my state-room," she said. "Good night!"
+
+"You are not angry with me, Adele?" I asked anxiously.
+
+"No! not that," she answered. "Of course, you are right. Only I have been
+a little mad, and I dreamed a beautiful dream. It is all impossible, of
+course; but I don't feel like bridge or my stepmother's questions. Say I
+am coming up again. It will save trouble!"
+
+I played bridge later with Mrs. Van Reinberg for a partner. Mr. de
+Valentin's manner to me was coldly frigid, and a general air of restraint
+seemed to indicate that the evening had scarcely been a cheerful one. I
+myself did not feel much like contributing towards a more hilarious state
+of affairs. We had one rubber only, and then Mrs. Van Reinberg, who as a
+rule hated to go to bed before midnight, announced her intention of
+retiring. She accepted my escort to the door, and bade Mr. de Valentin a
+cold good-night.
+
+"I hope you will understand, Mr. Courage," she said, as we shook hands,
+"that I shall expect you at Lenox. You won't disappoint us?"
+
+"There isn't the faintest chance that I shall do so, Mrs. Van Reinberg,"
+I answered. "I have the best of reasons for wishing to come."
+
+She smiled at me encouragingly.
+
+"May I guess at the attraction?" she asked.
+
+"I fancy," I answered, "that it is fairly apparent. May I, by the way,
+Mrs. Van Reinberg," I continued, "ask you a question?"
+
+"Certainly," she answered.
+
+"It is rather a delicate matter to allude to," I said; "but your friend,
+Mr. de Valentin, seemed to find your invitation to me a matter for
+personal disapproval. I hope that I have not unwillingly been the cause
+of any unpleasantness?"
+
+Mrs. Van Reinberg was a little embarrassed. She hesitated, and dropped
+her voice a little in answering me.
+
+"Since you have mentioned it, Mr. Courage," she said, "I will treat you
+confidentially. Mr. de Valentin has shown a desire to become an admirer
+of my stepdaughter. For several reasons, I find it necessary to
+discourage his advances. In fact, between ourselves, Mr. de Valentin,
+although he is a person for whom I have a great respect and esteem, would
+be an altogether impossible suitor for Adele. I am sure he will realize
+that directly he thinks the matter over seriously; but you see he is a
+person who has been very much spoilt, and he annoyed me to-night very
+much. I do not care to have my invitations criticised by my other guests,
+whoever they may be. Now you understand the position, Mr. Courage."
+
+"Perfectly," I answered. "I am exceedingly obliged to you for being so
+frank with me."
+
+"And we shall expect you at Lenox?"
+
+"Without fail!" I answered confidently.
+
+She passed down the stairs, humming a tune to herself, followed a few
+steps behind by her maid. Her wonderfully arranged, fair hair was ablaze
+with diamonds, her gown was more suitable to a London drawing-room than
+the deck of a steamer. And yet she seemed neither over-jewelled nor
+over-dressed. She had all the marvellous "aplomb" of her countrywomen,
+who can transgress all laws of fashion or taste, and through sheer
+self-confidence remain correct.
+
+I felt a touch upon my shoulder and turned around. It was Mr. de Valentin
+who stood there.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Mr. Courage," he said, "but if you have nothing
+particular to do for a few minutes, will you smoke a cigarette with me?"
+
+"With pleasure!" I answered. "I was just going into the smoke-room."
+
+He stalked solemnly ahead, and I followed him along the corridor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE PRETENDER
+
+
+Mr. de Valentin led the way to a secluded corner of the smoke-room, and
+laid a well-filled cigarette case upon the table. He beckoned to the
+steward.
+
+"You will take something?" he asked.
+
+I ordered a whisky and soda and lit a cigarette. I had tasted nothing
+like them since I had left England. Mr. de Valentin leaned across the
+table towards me.
+
+"Mr. Courage," he said, "I am going to ask you to accept a confidence
+from me. You are an English gentleman, and although I have not the honor
+to be myself an Englishman, my associations with your country have always
+been very close, and I am well aware that a special significance attaches
+itself to that term."
+
+He paused and looked across at me somewhat anxiously. His speech was slow
+but very distinct. He had little accent, but I had known quite well that
+he was not an Englishman.
+
+"I shall be very glad to hear anything that you have to say, Mr. de
+Valentin," I answered.
+
+He beat with his forefinger upon the table for a few moments absently.
+I found myself studying him critically. His appearance was without doubt
+distinguished. His sallow face, his pointed black beard, his high,
+well-shaped nose, and almost brilliant eyes gave him the appearance of a
+Spaniard; but the scrupulous exactness of his plain dinner clothes, his
+well-manicured nails, and the ring upon his little finger, with its
+wonderful green stone, were all suggestive of the French aristocrat. His
+eyebrows were knit just now, as though with thought. Presently he looked
+up from the table and continued:
+
+"If you will permit me," he said, "I should like to introduce myself. My
+name is not Mr. de Valentin. I am Victor Louis, Comte de Valentin,
+Marquis de St. Auteuil, Duc de Bordera and Escault, Prince of Normandy."
+
+I nodded gravely.
+
+"And according to some," I remarked in a low tone, "King of France!"
+
+He looked at me in keen surprise. He was evidently taken aback.
+
+"You knew me?" he exclaimed.
+
+"I felt very sure," I answered, "that you were the person whom you have
+declared yourself to be. I have seen you twice in Paris, and you must
+remember that this is an age of illustrated papers and journalistic
+enterprise."
+
+"You have not mentioned your recognition of me?" he asked quickly.
+
+"Certainly not," I answered. "It was not my affair, and in your position
+I can conceive that there may be many reasons for your desiring to travel
+incognito."
+
+He smiled a little wearily.
+
+"Yet it would tax your ingenuity, I imagine," he continued, "to account
+for my travelling in company with Mrs. Van Reinberg and her daughters."
+
+"It is not my affair," I answered. "We Englishmen are supposed to have
+learnt the secret of minding our own business."
+
+"You Englishmen, certainly," he answered, "but not always your servants."
+
+I looked at him a little puzzled. His words had seemed to possess some
+special significance.
+
+"You will not, I am sure, take offence at what I am about to say, Mr.
+Courage," he continued; "but may I ask if you have confidence in the
+manservant who is now travelling with you?"
+
+It was a shock, but I fancy that I remained unmoved.
+
+"You mean my man Peters?" I inquired. "I can guarantee his honesty
+certainly."
+
+"Can you also guarantee," Mr. de Valentin asked me, "that he is simply
+what he professes to be--a valet, and not, for instance, a spy?"
+
+"My dear sir," I protested, "we scarcely know the meaning of that word in
+England. To say the least of it, such a suggestion would be wildly
+improbable."
+
+He sighed.
+
+"In France," he said, "one looks for spies everywhere. I myself have
+suffered painfully on more than one occasion from espionage. One grows
+suspicious, and, in this instance, I have grounds for my suspicions."
+
+"May I know what they are?" I asked.
+
+"I was about to tell you," Mr. de Valentin answered. "I have with me in
+my cabin certain papers, which are of great importance to me. I had
+occasion to look them through last night, and although none were missing,
+yet there was every indication of their having been tampered with. I
+questioned my servant, who is a very faithful fellow, and I found that
+the only person with whom he had made friends, and who had entered my
+cabin, was your man, Peters I think you called him."
+
+Mr. de Valentin was watching me closely, and the test was a severe one. I
+was annoyed with Guest for having kept me in ignorance of what he had
+done.
+
+"I do not see how your private papers could have been of the slightest
+use to Peters," I said; "but if you like to come down to my state-room
+you can question him yourself."
+
+"That," he answered, "I will leave to you. I take it then that you have
+no suspicion that your servant is any other than he professes to be?"
+
+"I am perfectly convinced that he is not," I declared.
+
+Mr. de Valentin bowed.
+
+"For the moment," he said, "we will quit the subject. I have another
+matter, equally delicate, which I should like to discuss with you."
+
+"I am quite at your service," I assured him.
+
+"You have a saying in English," he continued, "which, if I remember it
+rightly, says that necessity makes strange bedfellows. I myself am going
+into a strange country upon a strange errand. I do not consider myself a
+person of hyper-exclusive tastes, but I must confess that I do not find
+myself in sympathy with the country-people and friends of Mrs. Van
+Reinberg!"
+
+I shrugged my shoulders.
+
+"Then why go amongst them?" I asked. "You are surely at liberty to do as
+you choose!"
+
+Mr. de Valentin took up his case and chose another cigarette.
+
+"In this instance," he said coldly, "I am not entirely my own master.
+There were powerful reasons why I should have taken this voyage to
+America, and there are reasons why I should have done so with Mrs. Van
+Reinberg. Which brings me, by the bye, to the second matter concerning
+which I wished to speak to you."
+
+I accepted another of Mr. de Valentin's excellent cigarettes, and
+composed myself once more to listen.
+
+"I am going to Lenox," he continued, "to meet there a few American
+friends, with whom I have certain affairs of importance to discuss. You,
+also, have been invited to Lenox. My request is that you defer your visit
+there until after my departure."
+
+I raised my eyebrows at this. It seemed to me that Mr. de Valentin was
+going a little too far.
+
+"May I inquire," I asked politely, "in what respect you find my presence
+there undesirable? We are not bound, I presume, to come much into contact
+with one another."
+
+"You misunderstand me," Mr. de Valentin declared. "It is not a personal
+matter at all. My visit to Lenox has been arranged solely to discuss a
+certain matter with certain people. The presence of those who are not
+interested in it would be an embarrassment to all of us. Further, to
+recur to a matter which we have already spoken of, I cannot divest myself
+of certain suspicions concerning your servant."
+
+I considered my reply for a moment or two.
+
+"As regards the latter," I said after a pause, "I can not take you
+seriously. Besides, it is very unlikely that my servant would accompany
+me to Lenox. If my presence there would be an embarrassment, I really do
+not see why Mrs. Van Reinberg asked me."
+
+"She did so thoughtlessly," Mr. de Valentin answered. "Her reasons were
+tolerably clear to me, perhaps to you. With regard to them, I have
+nothing to say, except that your visit could be paid just as well, say in
+a fortnight after we land."
+
+"Unfortunately," I answered, "that would not suit me. To be frank with
+you, Miss Van Hoyt would have left."
+
+"If I can arrange," Mr. de Valentin continued, with some eagerness, "that
+she should not have left!"
+
+I hesitated for a moment.
+
+"Mr. de Valentin," I said, "I cannot conceive what cause for
+embarrassment could arise from my presence in Lenox at the same time as
+yourself. I do not ask you to tell me your secrets; but, in the absence
+of some more valid reason for staying away, I shall certainly not break
+my present engagement."
+
+There was a silence between us for several moments. Mr. de Valentin was
+fingering his cigarette case nervously.
+
+"I am perhaps asking too much of a stranger, Mr. Courage," he said. "The
+matter is of the deepest importance to me, or I would not have troubled
+you. Supposing Miss Van Hoyt should herself fix the date of your visit,
+and engage to be there?"
+
+"That," I answered, "would, of course, be sufficient for me."
+
+Mr. de Valentin rose from his seat.
+
+"We will leave it like that then," he said. "I must apologize, Mr.
+Courage, for having troubled you with my private affairs, and wish you
+good-night!"
+
+We separated a few moments later, and I went down to my state-room. I
+found Guest busy writing in a pocket-book, seated on the edge of his
+bunk. I told him of my conversation with Mr. de Valentin.
+
+"I knew it was risky," he remarked when I had finished, "but it was an
+opportunity which I dared not miss."
+
+"You might have told me about it," I protested. "I was altogether
+unprepared."
+
+"The less you know," he answered, "the better. If you like, I will show
+you tracings of some letters which I discovered in Mr. de Valentin's
+portfolio. They were quite worth the journey to America, apart from
+anything else. Personally, I should advise you not to see them until our
+return to England."
+
+"Very well," I answered. "Don't show them to me. But I shouldn't try it
+again. Mr. de Valentin is on his guard."
+
+Guest smiled a little wearily.
+
+"I am not likely to make such a mistake as that," he answered. "Besides,
+I have been through all his papers. His secrets are ours now, only we
+must know what is decided upon at Lenox. Then we can return to England,
+and the first part of our task will be done!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+A PRACTICAL WOMAN
+
+
+Mrs. Van Reinberg on the steamer was a somewhat formidable person; Mrs.
+Van Reinberg in her own house was despotism personified. Her word was
+law, her rule was absolute. Consequently, when she swept out on to the
+sunny piazza, where a little party of us were busy discussing our plans
+for the day, we all turned towards her expectantly. We might propose, but
+Mrs. Van Reinberg would surely dispose. We waited to hear what she might
+have to say.
+
+"I want to talk to Mr. Courage," she declared. "All the rest of you go
+away!"
+
+They obeyed her at once. We were alone in less than a minute. Mrs. Van
+Reinberg established herself in a low wicker chair, and I took up my
+position within a few feet of her, leaning against the wooden rail.
+
+"I am entirely at your service, Mrs. Van Reinberg," I declared. "What is
+it to be about--Adele?"
+
+"No! not Adele," she answered. "I leave you and Adele to arrange your own
+affairs. You can manage that without any interference from me."
+
+I smiled and waited for her to proceed. She was evidently thinking out
+her way. Her brows were knitted, her eyes were fixed upon a distant spot
+in the forest landscape of orange and red. Yet I was very sure that at
+that moment, the wonderful autumnal tints, which she seemed to be so
+steadily regarding, held no place in her thoughts.
+
+"Mr. Courage," she said at last, "you are a sensible man, and a man of
+honor. I should like to talk to you confidentially."
+
+I murmured something about being flattered, but I do not think that she
+heard me.
+
+"I should like," she continued, "to have you understand certain things
+which are in my mind just now, and which concern also--Mr. de Valentin."
+
+I nodded. The Prince's identity was an open secret, but his incognito was
+jealously observed.
+
+"I wonder," she said slowly, looking for the first time directly towards
+me, "whether you have ever seriously considered the question of the
+American woman--such as myself, for instance!"
+
+I was a little puzzled, and no doubt I looked it. Mrs. Van Reinberg
+proceeded calmly. It was made clear to me that, for the present, at any
+rate, my role was to be simply that of listener.
+
+"My own case," she said, "is typical. At least I suppose so! I speak for
+myself; and there are others in the house, at the present moment, who
+profess to feel as I do, and suffer--as I have done. In this country, we
+are taught that wealth is power. We, or rather our husbands, acquire or
+inherit it; afterwards we set ourselves to test the truth of that little
+maxim. We begin at home. In about three years, more or less, we reach our
+limitations. Then it begins to dawn upon us that, whatever else America
+is good for, it's no place for a woman with ambitions. We're on the top
+too soon, and when we're there it doesn't amount to anything."
+
+"Which accounts," I remarked, "for the invasion of Europe!"
+
+Mrs. Van Reinberg leaned her fair, little head upon her white
+be-ringed fingers, and looked steadily at me. I had never for a moment
+under-estimated her, but she had probably never so much impressed me.
+There was something Napoleonic about this slow unfolding of her carefully
+thought-out plans.
+
+"Naturally," she answered. "What, however, so few of us are able to
+realize is our utter and miserable failure in what you are pleased to
+call that invasion."
+
+"Failure!" I repeated incredulously. "I do not understand that. One hears
+everywhere of the social triumphs of the American woman."
+
+Mrs. Van Reinberg's eyes shone straight into mine. Her face expressed the
+most unmitigated contempt.
+
+"Social triumphs!" she repeated scornfully. "What clap-trap! I tell you
+that a season in London or Paris, much more Vienna, is enough to drive a
+real American woman crazy. Success, indeed! What does it amount to?"
+
+She paused for a moment to take breath. I realized then that the woman
+whom I had known was something of a fraud, a puppet hung out with the
+rags of a European manner, according to the study and observation of the
+shrewd, little lady who pulled the strings. It was Mrs. Van Reinberg of
+London and Paris whom I had met upon the steamer; it was Mrs. Van
+Reinberg of New York who was talking to me now, and she was speaking in
+her own language.
+
+"Look here, Mr. Courage," she said, leaning towards me with her elbows
+upon her knees, and nothing left of that elegant pose which she had at
+first assumed. "I suppose I've got my full share of the American spirit,
+and I tell you I'm a bad hand at taking a back seat anywhere, or even a
+front one on sufferance. And yet, wherever we go in Europe, that's what
+we've got to put up with! You think we're mad on titles over here! We
+aren't, but we are keen on what a title brings over your side. Take your
+Debrett--there are I don't know how many baronets and lords and marquises
+and earls, and all the rest of it. Do you realize that whatever public
+place I'm in, or even at a friend's dinner-party, the homely, stupid
+wives of those men have got to go in before me, and if they don't--why I
+know all the time it's a matter of courtesy? That's what makes me mad!
+Don't you dare to smile at me now. I'm in deadly earnest. In this
+country, so far as society goes, I'm at the top. You may say it doesn't
+amount to much, and you're right. But it makes it all the worse when I'm
+in Europe, and see the sort of women I have to give place to. Say, don't
+you sit there, Mr. Courage, and look at me as though I were a woman with
+some cranky grievance to talk about. It's got beyond that, let me tell
+you!"
+
+"I can assure you, Mrs. Van Reinberg--" I began.
+
+"Now listen here, Mr. Courage," she interrupted. "I'm not the sort of
+woman to complain at what I don't try to alter. What's the good of having
+a husband whose nod is supposed to shake the money markets of the world,
+if you don't make use of him?"
+
+I nodded sagely.
+
+"You are quite right," I said. "Money, after all, is the greatest power
+in the world to-day. Money will buy anything!"
+
+"I guess so, if it's properly spent," Mrs. Van Reinberg agreed. "Only
+very few of my country-people have any idea how to use it to get what
+they want. They go over the other side and hire great houses, and bribe
+your great ladies to call themselves their friends, and bribe your young
+men with wonderful entertainments to come to their houses. They spend,
+spend, spend, and think they are getting value for their money. Idiots!
+The great lady whom they are proud to entertain one night is as likely as
+not to cut them the next. Half the people who go to their parties go out
+of curiosity, and half to meet their own friends. Not one to see them!
+Not one because it does them the slightest good to be seen there. They
+are there in the midst of it all, and that is all you can say. Their
+motto should be 'on sufferance.' That's what I call going to work the
+wrong way."
+
+"You have," I suggested, "some other scheme?"
+
+She drew her chair a little closer to mine, and looked around cautiously.
+
+"I have," she admitted. "That is what we are all here for--to discuss it
+and make our final plans."
+
+"And Prince Victor?" I murmured.
+
+"Precisely! He is in it, of course. I may as well tell you that he's
+dead against my making a confidant of you; but I've a sort of fancy to
+hear what you might have to say about it. You see I'm a practical woman,
+and though I've thought this scheme out myself, and I believe in it,
+there are times when it seems to me a trifle airy. Now you're a kind of
+level-headed person, and living over there, your point of view would be
+interesting."
+
+"I should be glad to hear anything you might have to tell me, Mrs. Van
+Reinberg," I said slowly; "but you must please remember that I am an
+Englishman."
+
+"Oh! we don't want to hurt your old country," she declared. "I consider
+that for all the talk about kinship, and all that sort of thing, she
+treats us--I mean women like myself--disgracefully. But that's neither
+here nor there. I've finished with England for the present. We're going
+to play a greater game than that!"
+
+Mrs. Van Reinberg had dropped her voice a little. There was a somewhat
+uncomfortable pause. I could see that, even at the last moment, she
+realized that, in telling me these things, she was guilty of what might
+well turn out to be a colossal indiscretion. I myself was almost in a
+worse dilemma. If I accepted her confidence, I was almost, if not quite,
+bound in honor to respect it. If, as I suspected, it fitted in with the
+great scheme, if it indeed formed ever so small a part of these impending
+happenings in which Guest so firmly believed, what measure of respect
+were we likely to pay to it? None at all! If I stopped her, I should be
+guilty, from Guest's point of view, of incredible folly; if I let her go
+on, it must be with the consciousness that I was accepting her
+confidences under wholly false pretences. It was a big problem for a man
+like myself, new to the complexities of life. I could only think of
+Guest's words: "Conscience! For Heaven's sake, man, lock it up until we
+have done our duty."
+
+I leaned against the wooden rail of the piazza, looking across the
+grounds. Within a dozen yards or so of us, several of Mrs. Van Reinberg's
+guests, with a collection of golf sticks, were clambering into a huge
+automobile. Beyond the pleasure gardens was a range of forest-covered
+hills, yellow and gold now with the glory of the changing foliage. In the
+valley was a small steeplechase course, towards which several people were
+riding. The horse which had been saddled for me was still being led about
+a little way down the avenue. With the exception that there was no
+shooting party, it was very much like the usual sort of gathering at an
+English country house. And yet it all seemed wholly unreal to me! I felt
+a strong inclination--perhaps a little hysterical--to burst out laughing.
+This was surely a gigantic joke, planned against the proverbial lack of
+humor of my countrymen! I was not expected to take it seriously! And yet,
+in a moment, I remembered certain established facts, of which these
+things were but the natural sequel. I remembered, too, a certain air of
+seriousness, and a disposition towards confidential talk, manifested
+among the older members of the party. Mrs. Van Reinberg's suppressed but
+earnest voice again broke the silence. She called me back to her side.
+
+"Mr. Courage," she said, "you are going to marry Adele?"
+
+"I hope so," I answered confidently, glancing away to where she stood
+talking to Mr. de Valentin on the piazza steps.
+
+"I shall treat you then," she declared, "as one of the family. To-night,
+after dinner, we are going to hold the meeting for which this houseful
+of people was really brought together. I invite you to come to it.
+Afterwards you will understand everything! Now I must hurry off, and so
+must you! Your horse is getting the fidgets."
+
+She swept off down the piazza. Mr. de Valentin came forward eagerly to
+meet her. I saw his face darken as she whispered in his ear.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+A CABLE FROM EUROPE
+
+
+Dinner that night was a somewhat oppressive meal. Several new guests had
+arrived, some of whom bore names which were well known to me. There was a
+sense of some hidden excitement, which formed an uneasy background to the
+spasmodic general conversation. The men especially seemed uncomfortable
+and ill at ease.
+
+"Poor father," Adele whispered to me, "he would give a good many of his
+dollars not to be in this."
+
+I glanced across at our host, who had come down from New York specially
+in his magnificent private car, which was now awaiting his return on a
+siding of the little station. He was a hard-faced, elderly man, with a
+shrewd mouth and keen eyes, sparely built, yet a man you would be
+inclined to glance at twice in any assemblage. He wore a most
+unconventional evening suit, the waistcoat cut very high, and a plain
+black tie. Two footmen stood behind his chair, and a large florid lady,
+wearing a crown of diamonds, and with a European reputation for opulence,
+sat on his right hand. Neither seemed to embarrass him in the least, for
+the simple reason that he took no notice of them. He drank water, ate
+sparingly, and talked Wall Street with a man a few places down the table
+on the left. His speech was crisp and correct, but his intonation more
+distinctly American than any of his guests'. On the whole, I think he
+interested me more than any one else there.
+
+"By the bye," I remarked, "I ought to be having a little private
+conversation with your father this time, oughtn't I?"
+
+She smiled at me faintly.
+
+"It is usual," she assented. "I don't think you will find that he will
+have much to say. I am my own mistress, and he is too wise to interfere
+in such a matter. But--"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"You are a very confident person," she murmured.
+
+"I am confident of one thing, at any rate," I answered, "and that is that
+you are going to be my wife!"
+
+She rebuked me with a glance, which was also wonderfully sweet.
+
+"Some one will hear you," she whispered.
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"Every one is too busy talking about the mysteries to come," I declared.
+
+She shrugged her dazzlingly white shoulders.
+
+"Perhaps even you," she murmured, "may take them more seriously some
+day."
+
+A few minutes later Mrs. Van Reinberg rose.
+
+"We shall all meet," she remarked, looking round the table, "at eleven
+o'clock in the library."
+
+In common with most of the younger men, I left the table at the same
+time, the usual custom, I had discovered, here, where cigarettes were
+smoked indiscriminately. There was baccarat in the hall; billiards and
+bridge for those who care for them. Mrs. Van Reinberg waited for me in
+the first of the long suite of reception-rooms. Mr. de Valentin, who had
+been talking earnestly to her most of the time during the service of
+dinner, remained only a few paces off. It struck me that Mrs. Van
+Reinberg was not in the best of humors.
+
+"Mr. Courage," she said, "I think it only right that I should let you
+know that Mr. de Valentin strongly objects to your presence at our
+meeting to-night."
+
+"I am very sorry to hear it," I answered. "May I ask upon what grounds?"
+
+"He seems to imagine," she declared, "that you are not trustworthy."
+
+Mr. de Valentin hastily intervened.
+
+"My dear Mrs. Van Reinberg!" he exclaimed.
+
+"I hope you will believe, Mr. Courage," he continued, turning towards me,
+"that nothing was further from my thoughts. I simply say that as you are
+not interested in the matter which we are going to discuss, your presence
+is quite unnecessary, and might become a source of mutual embarrassment."
+
+"On the contrary," I assured him, "I am very much interested. Perhaps Mr.
+de Valentin does not know," I added, turning towards Mrs. Van Reinberg,
+"that your stepdaughter has done me the honor of promising to be my
+wife."
+
+There was a moment's breathless pause. I saw Mrs. Van Reinberg falter,
+and I saw something which I did not understand flash across Mr. de
+Valentin's face.
+
+"Even in that case," he said in a very low tone, "Miss Van Hoyt will
+herself be present. It is not necessary that you should accompany her."
+
+"I regret to say that I think differently," I answered. "Unless Mrs. Van
+Reinberg withdraws her invitation, I shall certainly be present."
+
+"That," Mrs. Van Reinberg declared, "I shall not do. Mr. Courage must do
+as he thinks best."
+
+Mr. de Valentin bowed slightly, and turned away. His lips were parted in
+a very unpleasant and most peculiar smile.
+
+"I am very sorry," I said to Mrs. Van Reinberg, "to be the cause of any
+uneasiness."
+
+"The Prince," she answered, departing for the first time from the use of
+his incognito, "is very nervous. He is used to advisers and friends, and,
+for almost the first time in his life, he is entirely alone. I sometimes
+wonder whether he has really sufficient nerve to take up a great part in
+life."
+
+"Circumstances," I remarked, "often create the man!"
+
+"I hope," she said a little grimly, "that they will make a man of Mr. de
+Valentin."
+
+She took a cigarette from the little gold case which hung from her
+chatelaine, and lit it.
+
+"I will tell you, Mr. Courage," she said, "why I am rather anxious for
+you to be present at the meeting to-night. You are altogether
+disinterested, and you should be able to form a sane opinion of Mr. de
+Valentin's proposals. I should like to hear how they appeal to you."
+
+I bowed.
+
+"I will tell you exactly what I think," I answered.
+
+She dismissed me with a little nod.
+
+I went in search of Adele, but could find no trace of her in any of the
+rooms. At last, in one of the corridors, I heard Nagaski barking, and
+found him sitting outside the closed door of a small reading-room.
+Directly I moved towards him, however, he flew at me, and seized my
+trousers between his teeth. His eyes were fierce with anger, his whole
+skin seemed to be quivering with excitement. At the sound of his angry
+growls, the door was opened, and Adele appeared.
+
+"Nagaski, you naughty dog!" she exclaimed.
+
+Nagaski let go of my trousers, but continued to growl. Adele stooped to
+pick him up, and he immediately attempted to lick her face. I saw then,
+to my surprise, that she was very pale, and had all the appearance of
+having received a shock.
+
+"What has happened?" I asked.
+
+She motioned me to enter the room, and closed the door behind us.
+
+"I have just received a cable from Europe," she said in a low tone. "It
+concerns you!"
+
+I looked at her keenly.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Something has been found out. A friend of Mr. Stanley's left Havre
+yesterday for New York. You will not be safe for a moment after he
+arrives. And in the meantime, I have a message for Mr. de Valentin. I
+wonder," she added, with a faint smile, "what chance you would have of
+being at the meeting to-night, if I should deliver it now?"
+
+"Then please don't deliver it," I begged. "I am really getting curious
+about this affair. You can hold it back for an hour or so, can't you?"
+
+"Yes!" she answered quietly, "I can do that."
+
+She was a changed being during the last hour. Her eyes were full of fear,
+she seemed to have lost alike her brilliancy and her splendid courage.
+She did not resist me when I took her into my arms, but her very
+passiveness was ominous.
+
+"Come," I said cheerfully, "this really isn't so serious as it seems. I
+shall be away from here before Mr. Stanley's friend arrives, I may even
+be out of the country. Why shouldn't you come with me, Adele?"
+
+She disengaged herself gently from my arms.
+
+"You are a very thoughtless person," she said quietly. "Not only would it
+be impossible for me to do that, but there must not be a word about our
+engagement. Remember that I have given false information about you. It is
+not the risk for myself that I mind so much, but--there are other things!
+To-morrow you or I must leave here!"
+
+"It shall be I, of course," I answered. "I was going anyhow. Don't lose
+heart, Adele. If we are to be separated, it shall not be for long!"
+
+She shook her head, but she smiled at me, although it was a little sadly.
+
+"We may not have the power to decide that for ourselves," she answered.
+"Listen!"
+
+The great clock in the tower over the stables was striking eleven. We
+listened until it had finished.
+
+"Now kiss me, dear," she said, leaning towards me.
+
+I stooped down, and her arms were suddenly around me like a vise. She
+clung to me with her whole body, and held me so that I could scarcely
+breathe.
+
+"I will not let you go," she cried. "It is death for you if you learn
+their plans. Fate has given you to me, and no one shall take you away.
+Oh! stay with me, Jim--my sweetheart--my dear! dear! dear!"
+
+Her lips were upon mine before I could speak. She was drawing me away
+from the door. Her eyes, her arms, her whole body seemed to be pleading
+with me. Then suddenly there came a low knocking at the door. I stood
+away--no longer a prisoner. It was a wonderful intervention this! How
+else could I have escaped?
+
+The door opened slowly. It was the French maid who stood there. She
+looked around the room and beckoned to the dog.
+
+"I beg mademoiselle's pardon," she said. "I came for Nagaski. I heard him
+whine, and I thought that he was alone."
+
+She stood there motionless, her pale, expressionless face turned towards
+us, her full black eyes turned hurriedly away. I think that she knew what
+she had done. Adele sank down upon the sofa, and Nagaski, with a low
+growl at me, sprang into her lap. I left the room ungracefully enough,
+with only a muttered word of farewell. As I passed along the corridor, I
+heard Nagaski's bark of joy!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+FOR VALUE RECEIVED
+
+
+There were exactly twelve people present when I entered the room and took
+my place at the long table--six men and six women, Mr. de Valentin sat at
+the extreme end, and as I entered his face grew dark with sudden anger.
+He glanced quickly at Mrs. Van Reinberg, who, however, was whispering to
+her husband, and declined to look. Then he half rose to his feet and
+addressed me.
+
+"Mr. Courage," he said, "this is a little private gathering between these
+friends of mine and myself, to discuss a private matter in which we are
+all much interested. Under these circumstances, I trust that you will not
+think it discourteous if I ask you to withdraw. Your presence might very
+possibly tend to check free discussion, and, I might add, would be a
+source of embarrassment to myself."
+
+I glanced towards Mrs. Van Reinberg.
+
+"I am here," I said, "by the invitation of our hostess. If Mrs. Van
+Reinberg asks me to withdraw, I should, of course, have no alternative
+but to do so. I should like to say, however, that it would give me very
+much pleasure to be admitted to your conference, and any advice I might
+be able to offer as an impartial person would be entirely at your
+service."
+
+Mrs. Van Reinberg whispered for a moment with her husband, who then
+leaned over towards me.
+
+"Mr. Courage," he said, "I believe you to be a person of common sense. I
+am not sure that I can say the same for the rest of us here. Seems to me
+I'd like to have you stop; but there is one thing I think should be
+understood. This is a private meeting of friends. Are you prepared, as a
+man of honor, to give your word to keep secret whatever passes here?"
+
+I was afraid that some condition of this sort would be imposed, but I was
+ready with my answer.
+
+"Most certainly I am, Mr. Van Reinberg," I declared, "with one
+reservation, and that is that nothing is proposed which is inimical to my
+country. I presume that I may take that for granted?"
+
+"You may," Mr. Van Reinberg answered shortly. "We are not such fools as
+to run up against the old country. On the contrary, Mr. de Valentin has
+assured us that his scheme has a little more than the moral support of
+your government."
+
+Mr. de Valentin intervened with a little gesture of excitement.
+
+"No!" he exclaimed, "I do not. I must not go so far as that. I do not
+mention any government by name."
+
+"Quite right," Mr. Van Reinberg assented, "but the fact's there all the
+same. I guess you can stay where you are, Mr. Courage!"
+
+Mr. de Valentin shot an evil glance at me, but he leaned back in his
+chair with the air of a man who has no more to say. Mr. Van Reinberg, on
+the other hand, cleared his throat and stood up.
+
+"Well," he said, "we'll get to business. I've a word or two to say first
+to you, Hickson, and my other friends. We've none of us been idlers in
+the world. We started out to make money, and we've made it. We're
+probably worth more than any other five men in the world. We can control
+the finance of every nation, we can rule the money markets of every
+capital in Europe. Personally I'm satisfied. I guess you are. It seems,
+however, that our wives aren't. I'm sorry for it, but it can't be helped.
+They want something that dollars in the ordinary way can't buy. This
+scheme is to meet that case. It's my wife's idea--my wife's and Mr. de
+Valentin's between them. I take it that if you go into it you'll go into
+it for the same reason that I do--for your wives' sakes. I want to make
+this clear, for I tell you frankly I think it's the biggest fool's game
+I've ever taken a hand in. I'm proud of my name, if my wife isn't. If any
+one got calling me Monsieur le Duc of anything, I guess my fingers 'd
+itch to knock him down. If our wives, however, won't be happy till they
+hear themselves called Madame la Duchesse, I suppose we've got to take a
+back seat. Mr. de Valentin here says that he's the rightful King of
+France. I know nothing about history, but no doubt he's right. He says,
+too, that in their hearts the French people want him on the throne, and,
+with money, he says he could find his way there. The bargain is, I
+understand, that we find the money, and he establishes our wives well
+amongst the aristocracy of France. He asks for twelve million dollars,
+that is two millions each. If my wife asks me to, I shall put my lot
+down, much as I should buy her the Czar of Russia's crown if it came on
+the market, and she wanted it. It's for you to say whether you want to
+come in. If you want to ask any questions, there's Mr. de Valentin. He's
+come over to fix the thing up, and I guess he's prepared to give you all
+particulars."
+
+There was a little murmur of conversation. Mr. de Valentin rose to his
+feet.
+
+"My friends," he said, "Mr. Van Reinberg in his very plain words has put
+before you the outline of my plans. It is not very much more that I can
+tell you beyond this. The army and the navy are loyalists. I have friends
+everywhere. They wait only for an opportunity. When it comes, all will be
+easily arranged. Those who are indifferent I bribe. There is already a
+great secret society in both services. One whole army corps is pledged to
+me. Look, then, this is what happens. A great Power"--Mr. de Valentin
+looked steadfastly at me--"a great Power one day makes a demonstration
+against France. It is a bolt from a clear blue sky; for my country, alas,
+is always preparing but never ready for war. The Press--I bribe the
+Press, those who are not already my friends--is hysterical. It strikes
+the note of fear, it attacks vehemently the government. The moment of war
+arrives. All is confusion. I appear! I address the people of France; I
+appeal to my fellow-countrymen. 'Put your trust in me,' I cry, 'and I
+will save you.' The Power of whom I have spoken stays its hand. Its Press
+declares for me. The government resigns. I march boldly into Paris at the
+head of the army, and behold--it is finished. The people are at my feet,
+the crown is on my head. Not a drop of blood has been spilt; but war is
+averted, and a great, new alliance is formed. France takes once more her
+place amongst the great nations of the world."
+
+The man was in earnest beyond a doubt. The perspiration stood out in
+little beads upon his forehead, his dark eyes were on fire, his tone and
+manner tremulous with the eloquence of conviction. There was a little
+murmur from the women--a soft whisper of applause.
+
+"Monsieur," I said quietly, "you have spoken well and convincingly.
+Pardon my presumption, if I venture to ask you one question. The Power of
+whom you have spoken--is it England?"
+
+He faced me bravely enough.
+
+"Sir," he said, "you ask a question which you know well it is impossible
+that I should answer. It is not for me to betray a confidence such as
+this. But to those who are curious, I would say this. Which is the Power,
+think you, most likely to play such a magnificent, such a generous part
+in the history of the nations? Answer your own question, Mr. Courage! It
+should not be an impossible task."
+
+Six ladies leaned forward in their places, and looked at me with flashing
+eyes. It was a suitable triumph for Mr. de Valentin. And yet I knew now
+all that I desired. Dimly I began to understand the great plot, and all
+that it meant.
+
+Mr. Van Reinberg looked across the table.
+
+"Well, Stern?" he asked.
+
+"My husband's cheque is ready," the lady at his side answered quickly. "I
+guess the Prince can have it right now, if he chooses."
+
+"And mine!" five other ladies declared almost in a breath.
+
+Mr. Van Reinberg smiled.
+
+"Then I guess the deal is fixed," he remarked.
+
+A dark-haired, little woman, sitting at my right hand, leaned forward
+towards Mr. de Valentin. She wore a magnificent crown of diamonds and
+sapphires, which had once graced a Royal head, and a collar of diamonds
+which was famous throughout the world.
+
+"I'd like to know," she said, "are we to choose our own titles? I've
+fixed on one I want."
+
+Mr. de Valentin rose in his place.
+
+"My dear lady," he said, "that would not be possible. To Mrs. Van
+Reinberg alone I have been able to offer the name she desired. That, I
+think, you will none of you object to, for it is through Mrs. Van
+Reinberg that you are all here to-night. For the rest, I have taken five
+of the great names of France, of whom to-day there are no direct
+descendants. It is for you yourselves to say how these shall be
+allotted."
+
+Five ladies looked at one another a little doubtfully. Mr. Van Reinberg
+glanced at me, and there was a shrewd twinkle in his keen eyes.
+
+"I should think you had better draw for them," he suggested. "Mr. de
+Valentin can write the names down on pieces of paper, and Mr. Courage, as
+a disinterested party, can hold the hat."
+
+Mr. de Valentin shrugged his shoulders. His composure was not in the
+least disturbed. Whatever he may have felt, he treated the suggestion
+with perfect seriousness.
+
+"If the ladies are agreeable," he declared, "I myself am quite
+indifferent how it is arranged. As regards the money, I shall give to
+each an undertaking to repay the amount in treasury notes within a year
+of my ascending the throne of my country."
+
+My neighbor in the diamonds was still a little disturbed.
+
+"Say," she inquired, "what do these titles amount to anyway? What shall
+we be able to call ourselves?"
+
+"Either Madame la Comtesse or Madame la Marquise," Mr. de Valentin
+answered.
+
+"Madame la Marquise!" she repeated, "that's the one I should like."
+
+"So should I!" nearly all the ladies declared in unison.
+
+Mr. Van Reinberg laughed softly to himself. For the first time, he seemed
+to be enjoying the situation.
+
+"There's nothing for it but the hat, Mr. de Valentin," he declared.
+
+Mr. de Valentin bowed.
+
+"If every one is agreeable," he said stiffly, drawing a sheet of note
+paper towards him and beginning to write.
+
+No one seemed quite satisfied; but, on the other hand, no one had any
+other suggestion to make. Mr. Van Reinberg leaned forward in his chair.
+He was beginning, apparently, to take a keen interest in the proceedings.
+
+"Of course," he said softly, "the names could be read out, and if any of
+you took a special fancy to any of the titles, we could have a sort of
+auction, the proceeds to go to the fund."
+
+Mr. de Valentin turned towards him with a stony look. Only his eyes
+expressed his anger.
+
+"I presume that you are not in earnest, Mr. Van Reinberg," he said in a
+low tone. "Such a course is utterly out of the question."
+
+Mr. Van Reinberg scratched his chin thoughtfully. Mr. de Valentin
+completed his task, and handed the slips of paper over to me.
+
+"I shall ask Mr. Courage," he said, rising, "to distribute these through
+the agency of chance. For myself, I will, with your permission, retire. I
+will only say this to you, ladies, and to my friends. I hope and believe
+that it will not be long before I shall have the pleasure of meeting you
+under very different circumstances. You will be very welcome to the Court
+of France. I trust that together we may be able to revive some of her
+former glories, and I do believe that your presence amongst our ancient
+aristocracy will be for her lasting good."
+
+So Mr. de Valentin left the room a little abruptly, and I thought it the
+most graceful thing he had done. I shook up the slips of paper, which he
+had given me in a hat, and handed them round.
+
+There was an intense silence, and then a perfect babel of exclamations.
+
+"Marquise de Lafoudre! My, isn't that fine!"
+
+"Comtesse de St. Estien! Well, I declare!"
+
+"Comtesse de Vinoy. Say, Richard, are you listening? Madame la Comtesse
+de Vinoy. Great, isn't it!"
+
+Mrs. Van Reinberg smiled upon them all the well-satisfied smile of one
+whose guerdon is deservedly greater than these. The little dark woman
+turned towards her abruptly.
+
+"Tell us yours, Edith!" she exclaimed. "Don't say you're a Princess."
+
+Mrs. Van Reinberg shook her head, unconsciously her manner was already a
+little changed. She was, after all, a swan amongst these geese!
+
+"We are to have the Duchy of Annonay," she answered. "I suppose I shall
+be Madame la Duchesse."
+
+Monsieur le Duc touched me on the shoulder.
+
+"Here," he exclaimed in my ear, "let's get out of this!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
+
+
+Mr. Van Reinberg led the way silently into the smoking-room, and ordered
+Scotch whisky. "Mr. Courage," he said from the depths of his easy-chair,
+"I've got to ask you a question. What do you think of us?"
+
+I laughed outright.
+
+"I think," I answered, "that you are a very good husband."
+
+He lit a cigar and pushed the box towards me.
+
+"I'm glad you put it like that," he said earnestly. "And yet I guess
+we're to blame. We've let our wives slip away from us. Only natural, I
+suppose. We have our battlefields and they must have theirs. We rule the
+money markets, and they aspire to rule in society. I don't know how to
+blame my wife, Mr. Courage, but I hope you'll believe me when I tell you
+this: I'd sooner chuck ten or twenty millions into the Atlantic than be
+mixed up with this affair."
+
+"I believe you, Mr. Van Reinberg," I answered.
+
+He drew a sigh of relief. I think that my assurance pleased him.
+
+"Tell me now," he said; "you are a man of common sense. Is that fellow a
+crank, or is he going to pull this thing off?"
+
+I hesitated.
+
+"His scheme is ingenious enough," I said, "and I believe it is quite true
+that there are a great many people in France who would be glad to see the
+Monarchy revived. They are a people, too, whom it is easy to catch on the
+top of a wave of sentiment. But, so far as I can see, there are at least
+two things against him."
+
+"I trust," Mr. Van Reinberg murmured, "that they are big enough."
+
+"In the first place," I continued, "I doubt whether Mr. de Valentin is a
+sufficiently heroic figure to fire the imagination of the people. He does
+not seem to me to have the daring to carry a mob with him, and he will
+need that. And in the second place--"
+
+"Well?"
+
+I glanced around the room. We were absolutely alone, but I dropped my
+voice.
+
+"Is this in confidence, Mr. Van Reinberg?" I asked.
+
+"Sure!"
+
+"I do not believe that the Power whose intervention he relies so much
+upon is England. I do not believe that my country would risk so much to
+gain so little. We are on excellent terms with France as it is. Secret
+negotiations with Mr. de Valentin would be unpardonable chicanery on our
+part, and I do not think that our ministers would lend themselves to it."
+
+Mr. Van Reinberg nodded.
+
+"Whom do you believe he referred to then?" he asked.
+
+"Germany," I told him. "That is where I believe that he has made a fatal
+mistake. He will never make a successful bid for the sympathies of the
+French people, if he presents himself before them backed by their
+historic enemy. Of course, you must understand," I added, "that this is
+pure speculation on my part. I may be altogether wrong. One can only
+surmise."
+
+"On the whole, then," Mr. Van Reinberg asked anxiously, "you would not
+back his chances?"
+
+"I should not," I admitted.
+
+For a man who had just invested two million dollars in those chances, Mr.
+Van Reinberg looked remarkably cheerful.
+
+"I'm right down glad to hear you say that," he admitted. "I know nothing
+about things over in Europe myself, and my wife seemed so confident.
+It'll be a blow to her, I'm afraid, if it doesn't come off; but I fancy
+it'll be a bigger one to me if it does!"
+
+"You do not fancy yourself, then, as Monsieur le Duc," I remarked
+smiling.
+
+He looked at me in speechless scorn.
+
+"Do I look like a duke?" he asked indignantly. "Besides, I'm an American
+citizen, an American born and bred, and I love my country," he added with
+a note of pride in his tone. "Paris, to me, means the Grand Hotel, the
+American bar, the telephone and an interpreter. Mrs. Van Reinberg will
+stay at the Ritz. I guess I sleep there and that's all. No! sir! When I'm
+through with business, I'm meaning to spend what I can of my dollars in
+the country where I made them, and not go capering about amongst a lot of
+people whose language I don't understand, and who wouldn't care ten cents
+about me anyway. Some people have a fancy to end their days up in the
+mountains, where they can hear the winds blow and the birds sing, and
+nothing else. I'm not quite that way myself. I hope I'll die with my
+window wide open, so that I can hear the ferry-boats in the river, and
+the Broadway cars, and the rattle of the elevated trains. That's the
+music that beats in my blood, Mr. Courage! and I guess I'll never be able
+to change the tune. Say, will you pass that bottle, sir? We'll drink once
+more, sir, and I'll give you a toast. May that last investment of mine go
+to smash! I drink to the French Republic!"
+
+I pledged him and we set down our glasses hastily. We heard voices and
+the trailing of dresses in the corridor. In a moment they all came
+trooping in.
+
+Mrs. Stern looked round the room eagerly.
+
+"If he's gone to bed I'll never forgive him," she declared. "I'm just
+crazy to know whether there isn't some sort of old chateau belonging to
+the family, that Richard can buy and fix up. Have you seen Mr. de
+Valentin?" she asked us.
+
+"He's gone upstairs, sure enough," Mr. Van Reinberg answered. "Give the
+poor man a rest till the morning. Where's the Marquis? Come and have a
+drink, Marquis!"
+
+"Quit fooling," Mr. Stern declared testily. "Here's Esther saying I'll
+have to wear black satin knickerbockers and a sword!"
+
+"Wear them in Wall Street," Mr. Van Reinberg declared, "and I'll stand
+you terrapin at the Waldorf. Come on, Count, and the rest of you
+noblemen. Let's toast one another."
+
+Mrs. Van Reinberg motioned me to follow her into the billiard-room.
+
+"Well!" she exclaimed, looking at me searchingly,
+
+I could scarcely keep from smiling, but she was terribly in earnest.
+
+"I want to know exactly," she said, "what you think of it all. I know my
+husband has been making fun of it. He does not understand. He never
+will."
+
+"Mr. de Valentin's scheme is a good one," I said slowly, "but he has not
+told us everything. If you want my opinion--"
+
+"Of course I do," she declared.
+
+"Then I think," I continued, "that his success depends a good deal upon
+something which he did not tell us."
+
+"What is it?" she asked, eagerly.
+
+"It depends, I think," I said, "upon the Power which has agreed to back
+his claims. If that Power is England, as he tried to make us believe, he
+has a great chance. If it is Germany, I think that he will fail."
+
+She frowned impatiently.
+
+"You are prejudiced," she declared.
+
+"Perhaps," I answered. "Still, I may be right, you know."
+
+"Germany is infinitely more powerful," she objected. "If she mobilized an
+army on the frontier, and France found half her soldiers disaffected--"
+
+"You forget," I interposed, "that there would be England to be reckoned
+with. England is bound to help France in the event of a German invasion."
+
+She smiled confidently.
+
+"I don't fancy," she remarked, "that England could help much."
+
+I shrugged my shoulders.
+
+"Perhaps not," I admitted; "yet I do not believe that German intervention
+will ever win for Mr. de Valentin the throne of France."
+
+She changed the subject abruptly.
+
+"Apart from this, let me ask you something else, Mr. Courage. Supposing
+the plot should succeed. How do you think it will be with us at the
+French Court? You know more about these things than we do. Shall we be
+accepted as the original holders of these titles would have been? Do you
+think that we shall have trouble with the French aristocrats?"
+
+"I am afraid, Mrs. Van Reinberg," I answered, "that I am scarcely
+competent to answer such questions. Still, you must remember that your
+country-people have secured a firm footing in France, and it will be the
+King himself who will be your sponsor."
+
+She raised her head. Her self-confidence seemed suddenly to have become
+re-established.
+
+"You are right, Mr. Courage," she said. "It was absurd of me to have any
+doubts at all. And now let me ask you--if I may--a more personal
+question."
+
+"By all means," I answered.
+
+"What have you and Adele been quarrelling about?"
+
+I looked at her in some astonishment.
+
+"I can assure you," I said, "that there has been nothing in the nature of
+a quarrel between Miss Van Hoyt and myself."
+
+She raised her eyebrows.
+
+"Then why," she asked, "has Adele gone away at a moment's notice?"
+
+"Gone away!" I repeated incredulously.
+
+"Is it really possible that you did not know?" Mrs. Van Reinberg asked.
+"She left just as we went in to the meeting. Mr. Stern's automobile is
+taking her to the depot."
+
+"I had not the slightest idea of it," I declared. "Do you mean that she
+is not coming back?"
+
+"Not at present, at any rate," Mrs. Van Reinberg declared. "You mean to
+tell me, Mr. Courage, that you have not quarrelled, and you did not know
+that she was going?"
+
+"I had no idea of it," I said, "and I am quite certain that we have not
+quarrelled."
+
+Mrs. Van Reinberg looked as though she found my statement hard to
+believe.
+
+"You had better go to your room," she suggested, "and see if there is not
+a note for you! She must have a reason for going. She would tell me
+nothing; but I took it for granted that you were connected with it."
+
+"Not to my knowledge," I assured her. "If you will excuse me, I will go
+and see if she has left any message."
+
+I hurried up to my room. There was a note upon my dressing-table. I tore
+it hastily open. A few lines only, hastily scribbled in pencil:--
+
+"DEAR!
+
+"Everything is changed since the news I told you of this evening. We must
+separate at once, and keep apart. Remember you have only five days. If
+you remain in America longer than that, your life is not safe.
+
+"For my sake, go home! For my sake, also, burn this directly you have
+read it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+DOUBLE DEALING
+
+
+"What sort of a place is this, anyhow, Guest?" I asked him, looking round
+me with some curiosity. We were a long way from Fifth Avenue, and what I
+had always understood to be the centre of New York; but the bar in which
+we sat was quite equal to anything I had seen at the Waldorf-Astoria. The
+walls were panelled with dark oak, and hung with oil paintings. The bar
+itself was of polished walnut wood. All the appurtenances of the place,
+from the white linen clothes of the two servitors to the glass and silver
+upon the polished counter, were spotless and immaculate. In addition to
+the inevitable high stools, there were several little compartments
+screened off, after the fashion of the old-fashioned English coffee-room
+of the seventeenth century, and furnished with easy-chairs and lounges of
+the most luxurious description. In one of these we were now sitting.
+
+"Better not ask me that," Guest answered dryly. "There are some places in
+New York of strange reputation, and this is one of them. Now go ahead!"
+
+I told him everything. He was a good listener. He asked no questions, he
+understood everything. When I had finished, he smoked a cigarette through
+before he said a word. Then he stood up and gave me my hat.
+
+"Come," he said, "we have a busy morning before us, and we must catch the
+German steamer for Hamburg this afternoon."
+
+"Back to Europe?" I asked, as we left the place.
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"But won't that rather give us away?" I asked. "I came to go out West,
+you know."
+
+"We must try and arrange that," Guest answered. "I'll explain as we go
+along."
+
+We climbed an iron staircase, which came down to the pavement within a
+few yards of the bar, and took the elevated railway up town. We descended
+at 47th Street and, after a short walk, entered a tall building, from the
+hall of which several lifts were running. We took one of them and stopped
+at the eleventh floor. Exactly opposite to us was a door, on the frosted
+glass of which was painted in black letters:
+
+"PHILIP H. MAGG,
+AGENT"
+
+We opened the door and entered. A middle-aged man, dark and with Jewish
+features, was sitting writing at a desk. There was no one else in the
+room, which was quite a small one. He glanced at us both carelessly
+enough, and leaned back in his chair.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Magg!" Guest said.
+
+"Good morning, gentlemen!" Mr. Magg answered.
+
+"You do not by chance remember me, I suppose?" Guest said.
+
+A faint smile parted the lips of the gentleman in the chair. He rather
+avoided looking at us, but seemed to be glancing through the letter which
+he had just been writing.
+
+"I never forget a face--and I never remember one--unnecessarily," he
+answered. "It is the A B C of my profession. To-day I believe that it is
+Mr. Guest, and his friend Mr. Courage, whom I have the pleasure of
+greeting."
+
+For once Guest's face lost its immovability of expression. Even his tone
+betrayed his admiration.
+
+"Wonderful as ever, my dear sir!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Not in the least," Mr. Magg replied. "I know of your presence here very
+simply. Yesterday I cabled my refusal to accept a commission on the other
+side."
+
+"They sent to you?" Guest exclaimed in a low tone.
+
+Mr. Magg nodded.
+
+"A very unimportant affair," he answered. "Just a record of your
+movements, and to keep you shadowed until the French steamer is in next
+week. Unfortunately they forgot one of my unvarying rules--never to
+accept a commission against a quondam client."
+
+"You are a great man, Magg!" my companion exclaimed.
+
+"I guess not," the other answered simply. "What do you want with me?"
+
+"Look at my friend," Guest said.
+
+Mr. Magg looked at me, and though his inspection was brief enough, I felt
+that, for the rest of my life, I was a person known to Mr. Magg.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"He is going to Europe with me this afternoon--and he is also going West,
+a long way west, to shoot anything he can find on four legs."
+
+Mr. Magg nodded.
+
+"He has to be duplicated then!" he remarked.
+
+"Precisely," Guest assented.
+
+"I understand," Mr. Magg said. "Which Mr. Courage am I to provide?"
+
+"The one who stays," Guest answered.
+
+"It can be done, of course," Mr. Magg said. "Pardon me one instant."
+
+He stooped down and fished up a kodak.
+
+"A little more in the light, if you please, Mr. Courage. Thank you! That
+will do! Now side-face."
+
+I was snap-shotted twice before I knew where I was. Then Mr. Magg drew a
+sheet of paper towards him, and began to make notes.
+
+"You are staying?" he asked.
+
+"Waldorf-Astoria," I answered.
+
+"You will be prepared to leave practically the whole of your effects
+there, and take your chance of ever seeing them again."
+
+"Certainly," I answered.
+
+Mr. Magg nodded and turned towards my companion.
+
+"The other parties," he remarked, "do not stick at trifles. What do they
+want from Mr. Courage?"
+
+Guest was serious.
+
+"Well," he said, "they probably give him credit for knowing more than is
+good for him."
+
+Mr. Magg was thoughtful for a moment.
+
+"It will cost you five thousand dollars," he said, "and another five for
+life insurance."
+
+"Agreed!" Guest declared.
+
+Mr. Magg made another note upon the sheet of paper in front of him. Then
+he turned to me.
+
+"You must bring me," he said, "before you leave, the key of your room,
+the clothes you are now wearing, the keys of your trunks, and any
+information you deem it necessary for your successor to have. The French
+boat is due here on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Mr. Courage shall leave the
+Waldorf for the Rockies. You will excuse me now! I have another
+appointment."
+
+We were out in the street again in a few moments.  I was feeling a little
+bewildered.
+
+"These things," I said, "are arranged pretty quickly over here."
+
+Guest nodded.
+
+"Mr. Magg," he said, "is known as well in Europe as in New York. There is
+no one else like him. He has been offered retainers from the Secret
+Service of every country in Europe, but he prefers to work on his own. He
+has over a hundred assistants, and yet you never meet a soul in his
+office...."
+
+When we returned there in a couple of hours' time, I thought, for a
+moment, that I was looking into a mirror.
+
+A man of my own height, complexion and general appearance was standing by
+the side of Magg's desk. The latter looked backwards and forwards rapidly
+from me to my double.
+
+"Very fair," he remarked. "Eyebrows a little deeper, and you must note
+the walk, George. Now please step into the next room and change clothes
+with this gentleman, Mr. Courage."
+
+I did as I was told. The next room I found was a most delightfully
+furnished sitting-room, with a chair-bedstead in the corner, and a
+dressing-room and bathroom opening out from it.
+
+"You don't wear an eyeglass, Mr. Courage?" my companion asked.
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"No glasses of any sort."
+
+"You have no peculiarity of speech? I have noticed your walk. I suppose
+you are right-handed? Have you any friends over here whom I should be
+likely to come across?"
+
+"I should think it very improbable," I answered. "I have made out a list
+of all the people I have met in America, and the house in Lenox where I
+have been staying."
+
+My companion nodded.
+
+"At the Waldorf," he said, "your room, I understand, is 584? You haven't
+made any friends there?"
+
+"I have scarcely spoken to a soul," I answered.
+
+"And you have made no arrangements out West?"
+
+"None whatever," I answered.
+
+"It seems easy enough," he declared. "Go on talking, if you don't mind.
+Your voice needs a little study."
+
+When we reappeared in the outer room, Mr. Magg eyed us for a moment
+sharply, and then nodded.
+
+"Good-day, gentlemen!" he said. "Pleasant voyage!"
+
+We found ourselves outside with exactly an hour to catch the boat.
+
+"I must buy some things for the steamer," I declared.
+
+"I have everything that you will want," Guest declared. "I have sent my
+luggage down to the boat myself. No need for a man who doesn't exist, you
+see, to take any special precautions. Besides, we are quite four miles
+away from the docks."
+
+We drove down to the steamer.
+
+"Where are our state-rooms?" I asked.
+
+Guest smiled.
+
+"I haven't engaged any yet," he answered. "Don't look so startled. I can
+arrange it directly we're off.  I expect the sailing lists will be looked
+through pretty carefully."
+
+On the stroke of the hour the captain's whistle sounded, and the gangways
+were drawn up. The engines began to throb, in a few minutes we were on
+our way down the harbor. I stayed on deck, watching the wonderful stream
+of shipping and the great statue of Liberty until dusk. Soon the lights
+began to flash out all around us, and our pace increased. America lay
+behind us, and with it all the wonderful tissue of strange happenings and
+emotions, which made my few days there seem like a grotesque dream.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+I CHANGE MY NATIONALITY
+
+
+Guest had never lost his sense of humor. As we left the agent's office
+and walked down Wellington Street into the Strand, he studied for a few
+moments my personal appearance, and began to laugh softly.
+
+"My friend," he said, "you are wonderful! After all, beauty is but skin
+deep! Hardross Courage, if I remember rightly, was rather a good-looking
+fellow. Who would have believed that ready-made clothes from Hamburg,
+glasses and a beard could work such a change?"
+
+I looked down a little disconsolately at my baggy trousers and thick
+clumsy boots.
+
+"It's all very well," I replied; "but you're not exactly a distinguished
+looking object yourself!"
+
+Guest smiled.
+
+"I admit it," he answered; "but you must remember that for ten years,
+since I was kicked out of the diplomatic service in fact, I have studied
+the art of disguising myself. You, on the contrary, when I first had the
+pleasure of meeting you, were a somewhat obvious person. Who would have
+thought that a fortnight on a German steamer and six weeks in Hamburg
+would have turned you out such a finished article?"
+
+"It's these d----d clothes," I answered a little irritably.
+
+"They are helpful, certainly," Guest admitted. "Come, let us go and have
+luncheon _chez nous_."
+
+We turned northwards again towards Soho, and entered presently a small
+restaurant of foreign appearance. The outside, which had once been
+painted white, was now more than a little dingy. Greyish-colored muslin
+blinds were stretched across the front windows. Within, the smell of
+cooking was all-pervading. A short dark man, with black moustache and
+urbane smile, greeted us at the door, and led us to a table.
+
+"Very good luncheon to-day, sirs," he declared in German. "Hans, _hors
+d'oeuvres_ to the gentlemen."
+
+We seated ourselves, arranged our napkins as Teutons, and ordered beer.
+Then Guest assumed a mysterious manner.
+
+"Business good, eh?" he inquired.
+
+"Always good," the head-waiter declared. "We have our regular customers.
+Always they come!"
+
+Guest nodded two or three times.
+
+"Heard anything about your new proprietor?" he asked.
+
+"Not yet," the man answered. "The nephew of Mr. Muller, who died, lives
+in Switzerland. A friend of mine has gone over to see him. He will buy
+the good-will--all the place. It will go on as before."
+
+Guest smiled meaningly at me, a smile which was meant to puzzle the
+waiter.
+
+"But," he said, "supposing some one should step in before your friend?
+Supposing Mr. Muller's nephew should have put this place into the hands
+of an agent in London, and he should have sold it to some one else! Eh?"
+
+For the first time, the man showed signs of genuine uneasiness. His smile
+suddenly disappeared. He looked at us anxiously.
+
+"Mr. Muller's nephew would not do that," he declared. "It was always
+promised to my friend, if anything should happen to Mr. Muller."
+
+Guest smiled cheerfully.
+
+"Ah!" he said, "it is unfortunate for your friend, but he will be too
+late!"
+
+"Too late!" the man exclaimed.
+
+"Too late!" Guest declared. "I will tell you some news. I have taken over
+the lease of this restaurant! I have bought the good-will and effects. I
+have the papers in my pocket."
+
+The man was struggling with a more than ordinary discomposure.
+
+"You make a joke, sir!" he exclaimed. "The place does not pay well. It is
+a poor investment. No one would be in such a hurry to take it."
+
+Guest was much concerned.
+
+"A poor investment!" he exclaimed. "We shall see. I have been in America
+for many years, my nephew and I here, and I have made a little money. I
+have bought the place and it must pay!"
+
+The expression on the man's face was indescribable. He seemed stricken
+dumb, as though by some unforeseen calamity. With a half-muttered
+apology, he left us, and a few moments later we saw him leave the place.
+Guest looked at me meaningly.
+
+"We are right then," he murmured. "I felt sure that I could not be
+mistaken. This is the place they have made their headquarters. That
+fellow has gone out to fetch somebody. Soon we shall have some
+amusement."
+
+In less than five minutes the waiter returned, and there followed him
+through the swing doors a man to whom he turned and pointed us out. This
+newcomer was of almost aggressively foreign appearance. He wore dark
+clothes, a soft slouch hat; his black moustaches were waxed and upturned.
+His complexion was very sallow, and he was in a perspiration, as though
+with hurrying. He came straight up to us, and bowed politely.
+
+"Is it permitted," he asked in German, "that I seat myself at your table?
+There is a little conversation which I should much like to have with
+you!"
+
+Both Guest and myself rose and returned his bow, and Guest pointed to a
+seat.
+
+"With much pleasure, sir," he answered. "My name is Mayer, and this is my
+nephew Schmidt. We have just returned from America."
+
+More bows. The newcomer was exceedingly polite.
+
+"My name," he announced, "is Kauffman. I am resident in London."
+
+"My nephew," Guest continued, "has lived in America since he was a boy,
+and he speaks more readily English!"
+
+Mr. Kauffman nodded.
+
+"To me," he replied in English, "it is of no consequence. I speak English
+most. I presume, from what Karl there has told me, that it is your
+intention to go into the restaurant business in this country."
+
+"Exactly," Guest answered. "I have a little money, and my nephew there
+knows something of the business. The head-waiter told you, perhaps, that
+I have taken this place."
+
+"He did," Mr. Kauffman answered. "It is for that reason that I hurried
+here. I want to give you good advice. I want you not to lose your money."
+
+"Lose my money," Guest repeated anxiously. "No! no! I shall take good
+care of that. If the books spoke the truth, one does not lose money here!
+No! indeed. I want to make a little, and then put in my nephew as
+manager. Myself I should like to go home in a year or two."
+
+Mr. Kauffman leaned across the table. He spread out his hands, with their
+tobacco-stained fingers. He was very much in earnest, and he wished us to
+realize it.
+
+"Mr. Mayer, you will have no money to take back from this place," he
+declared slowly and emphatically. "On the contrary, you will lose what
+you have put in. What you saw in the books is all very well, but it
+proves nothing. Amongst a certain community this place has become a
+meeting-house. It was to see and talk with old Muller that they came. A
+social club used to meet here--there is a room out behind, as you know.
+If a stranger comes here, it will be broken up, his friends will all eat
+and drink elsewhere!"
+
+"But the good-will," Guest declared, "I bought it! I have the receipt
+here! I have paid good money for it."
+
+Mr. Kauffman struck the table with his open hand.
+
+"Not worth the paper it is written on, sir!" he exclaimed. "You cannot
+force the old customers to come. A stranger will lose them all!"
+
+"But what am I to do?" Guest asked uneasily. "If what you say is true, I
+am a ruined man."
+
+"I will swear by the Kaiser that it is true," Mr. Kauffman declared.
+"Now, listen. I will tell you a way not to lose your money. I myself had
+meant to take over this place. It would have been mine before now, but I
+never dreamed that any one else would step in. I know all the customers,
+they are all my friends. I will take it over from you at what you paid
+for it. No! I will be generous. I will give you a small profit to make up
+for the time you have wasted."
+
+Guest's expression changed. He beamed on the other and adopted a knowing
+air.
+
+"Aha!" he said, "I begin to understand. It is a matter of business this.
+So you were thinking of taking this restaurant, eh?"
+
+Kauffman nodded.
+
+"For me it would be a different affair altogether," he said hastily. "I
+have explained that."
+
+Guest still smiled.
+
+"I think, Mr. Kauffman," he said, "that I have made a good bargain. I am
+very much obliged to you, but I think that I shall stick to it!"
+
+Mr. Kauffman was silent for several moments. The expression upon his face
+was not amiable.
+
+"I understand," he said at last. "You do not believe me. Yet every word
+that I have spoken to you is truth. If a stranger becomes proprietor of
+this restaurant, its business will be ruined."
+
+"No! no!" Guest protested. "They will come once to see, and they will
+remain. The chef, the waiters, I keep them all. There will be no
+alterations. The social club of which you spoke--they can have their
+room! I am not inquisitive. I shall never interfere."
+
+"Mr. Mayer," Kauffman said, "I will give you fifty pounds for your
+bargain!"
+
+Guest shook his head.
+
+"I shall not sell" he answered. "I want my nephew to learn the business,
+and I want to go home myself soon. I have no time to look out for
+another."
+
+"One hundred!"
+
+"I shall not sell," Guest repeated obstinately. "I am sorry if you are
+disappointed."
+
+Mr. Kauffman rose slowly to his feet.
+
+"You will be sorry before very long that you refused my offer," he
+remarked.
+
+Guest shook his head.
+
+"No!" he said, "I think not. The people will come where they can eat well
+and eat cheaply. They shall do both here."
+
+Kauffman remained for a few more minutes at our table, but he did not
+return to the subject. After he had left us with a somewhat stiff bow, he
+went and talked earnestly with Karl, the little head-waiter. Then he
+slowly returned.
+
+"Mr. Mayer," he said, "I'm going to make you a very rash offer. I will
+give you L200 profit on your bargain."
+
+"I am not inclined to sell," Guest said. "One hundred, or two hundred, or
+five hundred won't tempt me now that my mind is made up."
+
+Kauffman left the restaurant without a word. Guest called the waiter to
+him.
+
+"Karl," he said, "do you wish to stay here as head-waiter?"
+
+"Certainly, sir," the man answered, a little nervously. "I know most of
+the customers. But I fear they will not stay."
+
+"We shall see," Guest answered. "I am not in a great hurry to make money.
+I want them to be satisfied, and I want my nephew to be learning the
+business. You shall do what you can to keep them, Karl, and it will mean
+money to you. Now about this club! They spend money these members, eh?"
+
+"Not much," Karl answered dubiously.
+
+"That is bad," Guest declared; "but they must spend more. We will give
+them good things cheap. What nights do they meet?"
+
+"No one knows," Karl answered. "The room is always ready. They pay a
+small sum for it, and they come when they choose."
+
+"H'm!" Guest remarked. "Doesn't sound very profitable. What do they
+do--sing, talk, or is it business?"
+
+"I think," Karl answered slowly, "that it is business."
+
+"Well, well!" Guest said, "we are not inquisitive--my nephew and I. Can
+one see the room?"
+
+Karl shook his head.
+
+"Not at present," he answered. "Mr. Kauffman has a key, but he is gone."
+
+"Ah, well!" Guest remarked, "another time. The bill, Karl! For this
+morning I shall call myself a guest. This afternoon we will take
+possession--my nephew and I!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+THE "WAITERS' UNION"
+
+
+Guest and I had taken small rooms not a hundred yards from the Cafe
+Suisse, as the restaurant was called. We made our way there immediately
+after we had settled with our friend Karl, and Guest locked the door of
+our tiny sitting-room behind us. He first of all walked round the room
+and felt the wall carefully. Then he seated himself in front of the table
+and motioned me to draw my chair up almost to his side.
+
+"My young friend," he said, "we have now reached the most difficult part
+of our enterprise. For several days we have not spoken together
+confidentially. I have not even told you the little I was able to
+discover in Hamburg. Shall I go on?"
+
+"Of course," I answered.
+
+"Take off your gloves," Guest said. "You cannot wear them in the
+restaurant. Good! Now, first of all, have you seen the morning papers?"
+
+"No!" I answered.
+
+He produced one from his pocket, and, placing it before me, pointed to a
+paragraph.
+
+"Read," he said, "your obituary notice."
+
+This is what I read:
+
+"TRAGIC DEATH OF AN ENGLISH GENTLEMAN IN THE ROCKIES
+
+"Yesterday, whilst Mr. Charles Urnans and a party of friends from New
+York were returning to their camp near Mount Phoenix, they came across
+the body of a man in a deserted gorge half-way down the mountain. He had
+apparently been shot through the heart by a rifle bullet, and must have
+been dead for some weeks. From papers and other belongings found in his
+possesion, the deceased gentleman appears to have been a Mr. Hardross
+Courage of England."
+
+_LATER_
+
+"The body found this morning by Mr. Charles Urnans of New York has been
+identified as that of Mr. Hardross Courage, the famous English cricketer
+and well-known sportsman. Mr. Courage is known to have left New York some
+months ago, for a hunting trip in the Rockies, and nothing has been heard
+of him for some time. No trace has been discovered of his guides,
+although his camp and outfit were found close at hand. As no money or
+valuables were discovered on the body of the deceased, it is feared that
+he has met with foul play."
+
+I think that no man can read his own obituary notice without a shiver.
+For a moment I lost my nerve. I cursed the moment when I had met Guest, I
+felt an intense, sick hatred of my present occupation and everything
+connected with it. I felt myself guilty of this man's death. Guest
+listened to my incoherent words gravely. When I had finished he laid his
+hand upon nine.
+
+"Gently, Courage," he said. "I knew that this must be a shock to you, but
+you must not lose your sense of proportion. Think of the men who have
+sacrificed their lives for just causes, remember that you and I to-day,
+and from to-day onward, can never be sure that each moment is not our
+last. Remember that we are working to save our country from ruin, to save
+Europe from a war in which not one life, but a hundred thousand might
+perish. Remember that you and I alone are struggling to frustrate the
+greatest, the most subtle, the most far-reaching plot which the mind of
+man ever conceived. That poor fellow who lies out on the Rockies with a
+bullet in his heart, is only a tiny link in the great chain: you or I may
+share his fate at any moment. Be a man, Courage. We have no time for
+sentiment."
+
+"You are right," I answered. "Go on."
+
+"We are now," Guest declared, "in this position. In Hamburg I discovered
+the meeting-place of the No. 1 Branch of the Waiters' Union, and the
+place itself is now under our control. In that room at the Cafe Suisse
+will be woven the final threads of the great scheme. How are we to get
+there? How are we to penetrate its secrets?"
+
+"We must see the room first," I remarked.
+
+"And then there is the question of ourselves," Guest continued. "We are
+both nominally dead men. But none the less, our friends leave little to
+chance. You may not have noticed it, but I knew very well that we were
+followed home to-day from the cafe. Every moment of ours will be spied
+upon. Is the change in our appearance sufficient?"
+
+I looked at myself in the little gilt mirror over the mantel-piece.
+Perhaps because I looked, thinking of myself as I had been in the days
+before these strange happenings had come into my life, I answered his
+question promptly.
+
+"I cannot believe," I said, "that any one would know me for Hardross
+Courage. I am perfectly certain, too, that I should not recognize in you
+to-day the Leslie Guest who--died at Saxby."
+
+"I believe that you are right," Guest admitted. "At any rate, it is one
+of those matters which we must leave no chance. Only keep your identity
+always before you. At the Cafe Suisse we shall be watched every moment of
+the day. Remember that you are a German-American of humble birth.
+Remember that always."
+
+I nodded.
+
+"I am not an impulsive person," I answered. "I am used to think before I
+speak. I shall remember. But there is one thing I am afraid of, Guest. It
+must also have occurred to you. Now that the Cafe Suisse is in the hands
+of strangers, will not your friends change their meeting-place?"
+
+"I think not," Guest answered slowly. "I know a little already about that
+room. It has a hidden exit, by way of the cellar, into a court, every
+house of which is occupied by foreigners. A surprise on either side would
+be exceedingly difficult. I do not think that our friends will be anxious
+to give up the place, unless their suspicions are aroused concerning us.
+You see their time is very close at hand now. This, at any rate, is
+another of the risks which we must run."
+
+"Very well," I answered, "You see the time?"
+
+Guest nodded.
+
+"I am going to explain to you exactly," he said, "what you have to do."
+
+"Right," I answered.
+
+"The parcel on the sofa there," he said, "contains a second-hand suit of
+dress clothes. You will put them on, over them your old black overcoat
+which we bought at Hamburg, and your bowler hat. At four o'clock
+precisely you will call at the offices of the German Waiters' Union, at
+No. 13, Old Compton Street, and ask for Mr. Hirsch. Your name is Paul
+Schmidt. You were born in Offenbach, but went to America at the age of
+four. You were back in Germany for two years at the age of nineteen,
+and you have served your time at Mayence. You have come to England
+with an uncle, who has taken a small restaurant in Soho, and who
+proposes to engage you as head-waiter. You will be enrolled as a member
+of the Waiters' Union, as a matter of course; but when that has been
+arranged you write on a slip of paper these words, and pass them to Mr.
+Hirsch--'I, too, have a rifle'!"
+
+I was beginning to get interested.
+
+"'I, too, have a rifle,'" I repeated. "Yes! I can remember that; but I
+shall be talking like a poll-parrot for I shan't have the least idea what
+it means."
+
+"You need not know much," Guest answered. "Those words are your passport
+into the No. 1 Branch of the Waiters' Union, whose committee, by the bye
+meet at the Cafe Suisse. If you are asked why you wish to join, you need
+only say because you are a German!"
+
+"Right," I answered. "I'll get into the clothes."
+
+Guest gave me a few more instructions while I was changing, and by four
+o'clock punctually I opened the swing door of No. 13, Old Compton Street.
+The place consisted of a waiting-room, very bare and very dirty; a
+counter, behind which two or three clerks were very busy writing in
+ponderous, well-worn ledgers, and an inner door. I made my way towards
+one of the clerks, and inquired in my best German if I could see Mr.
+Hirsch.
+
+The clerk--he was as weedy a looking youth as ever I had seen--pointed
+with ink-stained finger to the benches which lined the room.
+
+"You wait your turn," he said, and waved me away.
+
+I took my place behind at least a dozen boys and young men, whose
+avocation was unmistakable. Most of them were smoking either cigarettes
+or a pipe, and most of them were untidy and unhealthy looking. They took
+no notice of me, but sat watching the door to the inner room, which
+opened and shut with wonderful rapidity. Every time one of their number
+came out, another took his place. It came to my turn sooner than I could
+have believed possible.
+
+I found myself in a small office, untidy, barely furnished, and thick
+with tobacco smoke. Its only occupant was a stout man, with flaxen hair
+and beard, and mild blue eyes. He was sitting in his shirt-sleeves, and
+smoking a very black cigar.
+
+"Well?" he exclaimed, almost before I had crossed the threshold.
+
+"My name is Paul Schmidt," I said, "and I should like to join the
+Waiters' Union."
+
+"Born?"
+
+"Offenbach!"
+
+"Age?"
+
+"Thirty!"
+
+"Working?"
+
+"Cafe Suisse!"
+
+"Come from?"
+
+"America!"
+
+He tossed me a small handbook.
+
+"Half-a-crown," he said; holding out his hand.
+
+I gave it him. I was beginning to understand why I had not been kept very
+long waiting.
+
+"Clear out!" he said. "No questions, please. The book tells you
+everything!"
+
+I looked him in the face.
+
+"I, too, have a rifle," I said boldly.
+
+I found, then, that those blue eyes were not so mild as they seemed. His
+glance seemed to cut me through and through.
+
+"You understand what you are saying?" he asked.
+
+"Yes!" I answered. "I want to join the No. 1 Branch."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I am a German," I answered.
+
+"Who told you about it?"
+
+"A waiter named Hans in the Manhattan Hotel, New York."
+
+I lied with commendable promptitude.
+
+"Have you served?" he asked.
+
+"At Mayence, eleven years ago," I answered.
+
+"Where did you say that you were working?" he asked.
+
+"Cafe Suisse!" I said.
+
+It seemed to me that he had been on the point of entering my name in a
+small ledger, which he had produced from one of the drawers by his side,
+but my answer apparently electrified him. His eyes literally held mine.
+He stared at me steadily for several moments.
+
+"How long have you been there?" he asked. "I do not recognize you."
+
+"I commence to-day," I said. "My uncle has just taken the cafe. He will
+make me his head-waiter."
+
+"Has your uncle been in the business before?" he asked.
+
+"He kept a saloon in Brooklyn," I answered.
+
+"Made money at it?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"Were you with him?"
+
+"No! I was at the Manhattan Hotel."
+
+"Your uncle will not make a fortune at the Cafe Suisse," he remarked.
+
+"I do not think," I answered, "that he will lose one."
+
+"Does he know what you propose?"
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"The fatherland means little to him," I answered. "He has lived in
+America too long."
+
+"You are willing to buy your own rifle?" he asked.
+
+"I would rather not," I answered.
+
+"We sell them for a trifle," he continued. "You would not mind ten
+shillings."
+
+"I would rather pay nothing," I answered, "but I will pay ten shillings
+if I must."
+
+He nodded.
+
+"I cannot accept you myself," he said. "We know too little about you. You
+must attend before the committee to-night."
+
+"Where?" I asked.
+
+"At the Cafe Suisse," he answered. "We shall send for you! Till then!"
+
+"Till then," I echoed, backing out of the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+IN THE ENEMY'S CAMP
+
+
+That night I gravely perambulated the little cafe in my waiter's clothes,
+and endeavored to learn from Karl my new duties. There were a good many
+people dining there, but towards ten o'clock the place was almost empty.
+Just as the hour was striking, Mr. Kauffman, who had been dining with Mr.
+Hirsch, rose from his place, and with a key in his hand made his way
+towards the closed door.
+
+He was followed by Mr. Hirsch and seven other men, all of whom had been
+dining at the long central table, which easily accommodated a dozen or
+more visitors. There was nothing at all remarkable about the nine men who
+shambled their way through the room. They did not in the least resemble
+conspirators. Hirsch, who was already smoking a huge pipe, touched me on
+the shoulder as he passed.
+
+"We shall send for you presently," he declared. "Your case is coming
+before the committee."
+
+I rushed towards the front door, and stood there for a few moments to get
+some fresh air, for the atmosphere of the room was heavy with the odors
+of countless dinners, and thick with tobacco smoke. I smoked half a
+cigarette hurriedly, and then returned. There were scarcely half a dozen
+guests now in the place. One of them, a stout middle-aged woman, who had
+been sitting at the long table, beckoned me to her. She had very dark
+eyes and a not unpleasant face; but she wore a hideous black sailor hat,
+and her clothes were clumsily designed, and flamboyant.
+
+"Is it true," she asked, "that this restaurant has changed hands?"
+
+"Quite true, madam," I answered.
+
+"Are you the new proprietor?" she asked.
+
+"I am his nephew," I told her. "He is not here this evening."
+
+"Are you going to keep on the eighteen-penny dinner?" she asked.
+
+"We are going to alter nothing," I assured her, "so long as our customers
+are satisfied."
+
+She nodded, and eyed me more critically.
+
+"You don't seem cut out for this sort of thing," she remarked.
+
+"I hope I shall learn," I answered.
+
+"Where is the proprietor?" she asked.
+
+"He is not very well this evening," I told her. "He may be round later
+on."
+
+"You do not talk like a German," she said, dropping into her own
+language.
+
+"I have been in America nearly all my life," I answered in German. "I
+speak English more readily, perhaps, but the other soon returns."
+
+"Get me the German papers, please," she said. "I expect my man will keep
+me waiting to-night."
+
+I bowed and took the opportunity to escape. I sent the papers by one of
+the waiters. Madame was a little too anxious to cross-examine me. I began
+checking some counterfoils at the desk, but before I had been there five
+minutes the door of the inner room was opened, and Mr. Hirsch appeared
+upon the threshold. He caught my eye and beckoned to me solemnly. I
+crossed the room, ascended the steps, and found myself in what the
+waiters called the club-room. Mr. Hirsch carefully closed the door behind
+me.
+
+The first thing that surprised me was, that although I had seen nine men
+ascend the three stairs and enter the room, there was now, besides myself
+and Hirsch, only one other person present. That other person was sitting
+at the head of the table, and he was of distinctly a different class from
+Hirsch and his friends. He was a young man, fair and well built, and as
+obviously a soldier as though he were wearing his uniform. His clothes
+were well cut, his hands shapely and white. Some instinct told me what to
+do. I stood to the salute, and I saw a glance of satisfaction pass
+between the two men.
+
+"Your name is Paul Schmidt?" the man at the table asked me.
+
+"Yes, sir!" I answered.
+
+"You served at Mayence?"
+
+"Yes, sir!"
+
+"Under?"
+
+"Colonel Hausman, sir, thirteenth regiment."
+
+"You have your papers?"
+
+I passed over the little packet which Guest had given me. My questioner
+studied them carefully, glancing up every now and then at me. Then he
+folded them up and laid them upon the table.
+
+"You speak German with an English accent," he remarked, looking at me
+keenly.
+
+"I have lived nearly all my life in America," I reminded him.
+
+"You are sure," he said, "that you understand the significance of your
+request to join the No. 1 Branch of the Waiters' Union?"
+
+"Quite sure, sir," I told him.
+
+"Stand over there for a few minutes," he directed, pointing to the
+farthest corner of the room.
+
+I obeyed, and he talked with Hirsch for several moments in an undertone.
+Then he turned once more to me.
+
+"We shall accept you, Paul Schmidt," he said gravely. "You will come
+before the committee with us now."
+
+I saluted, but said nothing. Hirsch pushed away the table, and, stooping
+down, touched what seemed to be a spring in the floor. A slight crack was
+instantly disclosed, which gradually widened until it disclosed a ladder.
+We descended, and found ourselves in a dry cellar, lit with electric
+lights. Seven men were sitting round a small table, in the farthest
+corner of the place. Their conversation was suspended as we appeared, and
+my interlocutor, leaving Hirsch and myself in the background, at once
+plunged into a discussion with them. I, too, should have followed him,
+but Hirsch laid his hand upon my arm.
+
+"Wait a little," he whispered. "They will call us up."
+
+"Who is he?" I asked, pointing to the tall military figure bending
+stiffly down at the table.
+
+"Call him Captain X," Hirsch answered softly. "He does not care to be
+known here!"
+
+"But how did he get into the room upstairs?" I asked. "I never saw him in
+the restaurant."
+
+Hirsch smiled placidly.
+
+"It is well," he said, "my young friend, that you do not ask too many
+questions!"
+
+The man whom I was to call Captain X turned now and beckoned to me. I
+approached and stood at attention.
+
+"I have accepted this man, Paul Schmidt, as a member of the No. 1 Branch
+of the Waiters' Union," he announced. "Paul Schmidt, listen attentively,
+and you will understand in outline what the responsibilities are that you
+have undertaken."
+
+There was a short silence. The men at the table looked at me, and I
+looked at them. I was not in any way ill at ease, but I felt a
+terrible inclination to laugh. The whole affair seemed to me a little
+ludicrous. There was nothing in the appearance of these men or the
+surroundings in the least impressive. They had the air of being
+unintelligent middle-class tradesmen of peaceable disposition, who had
+just dined to their fullest capacity, and were enjoying a comfortable
+smoke together. They eyed me amicably, and several of them nodded in a
+friendly way. I was forced to say something, or I must have laughed
+outright.
+
+"I should like to know," I said, "what is expected of me."
+
+An exceedingly fat man, whom I had noticed as the companion of the lady
+upstairs in the sailor hat, beckoned me to stand before him.
+
+"Paul Schmidt," he said, "listen to me! You are a German born?"
+
+"Without doubt," I answered.
+
+"The love of your fatherland is still in your heart?"
+
+"Always!" I answered fervently.
+
+"Also with all of us," he answered. "You have lived in America so long,
+that a few words of explanation may be necessary. So!"
+
+Now this man's voice, unimpressive though his appearance was, seemed
+somehow to create a new atmosphere in the place. He spoke very slowly,
+and he spoke as a man speaks of the things which are sacred to him.
+
+"It is within the last few years," he said, "that all true patriots have
+been forced to realize one great and very ugly truth. Our country is
+menaced by an unceasing and untiring enmity. Wherever we have turned, we
+have met with its influence; whatever schemes for legitimate expansion
+our Kaiser and his great counsellors may have framed have been checked,
+if not thwarted, by our sleepless and relentless foe. No longer can we,
+the great peace-loving nation of the world, conceal from ourselves the
+coming peril. England has declared herself our sworn enemy!"
+
+A little murmur of assent came from the other men. I neither spoke nor
+moved.
+
+"There is but one end possible," he continued slowly. "It is war! It must
+come soon! Its shadow is all the time darkening the land. So we, who have
+understood the signs, remind one another that the Power who strikes the
+first blow is the one who assures for herself the final success!"
+
+Again he was forced to pause, for his breath was coming quickly. He
+lifted his long glass, and solemnly drained its contents. All the time,
+over its rim, his eyes held mine.
+
+"So!" he exclaimed, setting it down with a little grunt of satisfaction.
+"It must be, then, Germany who strikes, Germany who strikes in
+self-defence. My young friend, there are in this country to-day 290,000
+young countrymen of yours and mine who have served their time, and who
+can shoot. Shall these remain idle at such a time? No! We then have been
+at work. Clerks, tradesmen, waiters, and hairdressers each have their
+society, each have their work assigned to them. The forts which guard
+this great city may be impregnable from without, but from within--well,
+that is another matter. Listen! The exact spot where we shall attack is
+arranged, and plans of every fort which guard the Thames are in our
+hands. The signal will be--the visit of the British fleet to Kiel! Three
+days before, you will have your company assigned to you, and every
+possible particular. Yours it will be, and those of your comrades, to
+take a glorious part in the coming struggle! I drink with you, Paul
+Schmidt, and you, my friends, to that day!"
+
+He took a drink, which he seemed sorely to need. If any enthusiasm was
+aroused by his speech to me, if that was really what it had been, it was
+manifested solely by the unanimity and thoroughness with which all
+glasses were drained. A tumbler of hock was passed to me, and I also
+emptied it. Captain X then addressed me.
+
+"Paul Schmidt," he said, "you know now to what you are committed. You are
+content?"
+
+"Absolutely," I answered. "Is it permitted, though, to ask a question?"
+
+"Certainly, as long as it does not concern the details of our plans.
+These do not concern you. You have only to obey."
+
+"I was wondering," I remarked, "about France!"
+
+Captain X twirled his fair moustache.
+
+"It is not for you," he said, "to concern yourself with politics. But
+since you have asked the question, I will answer it. The far-reaching
+wisdom of our minters has been exerted to secure the neutrality of
+England's new ally."
+
+My ponderous friend handed a paper to me across the table.
+
+"See," he said, "it is the order for your rifle, and your ticket of
+membership. Hirsch!"
+
+Hirsch nodded and took me by the arm. A moment later I descended the
+three steps into the restaurant, which was now almost deserted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+SIR GILBERT HAS A SURPRISE
+
+
+At half-past ten the next morning, I rang the bell at the door of my
+cousin's flat and inquired for Sir Gilbert Hardross. It was an excellent
+testimonial to my altered appearance, that the man who answered the door,
+and whom I had known all my life, declined promptly to admit me.
+
+"Sir Gilbert is just going out," he said. "He is too busy this morning to
+see any one."
+
+I kept my foot in the door.
+
+"He told me to come," I declared. "I cannot go away without seeing him."
+
+"Then you can stay where you are," he declared, trying to close the door.
+"You can see him as he comes out."
+
+I stepped by him quickly. He was a small man, but he seized me pluckily
+by the collar. Just then we heard a door open, and my cousin stepped out
+dressed for the street.
+
+"What is the matter, Groves?" he asked sharply.
+
+"This fellow has forced his way in, sir," the man answered. "He says that
+you told him to come."
+
+My cousin stood drawing on his gloves, and eyed me superciliously.
+
+"I think," he remarked, "that that is a mistake, isn't it? I am quite
+sure that I have never seen you before in my life!"
+
+I felt inclined to smile, but the man was watching us.
+
+"I have some business with you, sir," I said deferenially. "I am not
+begging, and I will not keep you longer than two minutes."
+
+My cousin stepped back into the sitting-room. I followed him and took the
+liberty of closing the door after me. Then I took off my hat, drew myself
+up to my full height, and dropped the foreign accent which I had been at
+so much pains to acquire.
+
+"Don't you know me, Gilbert?" I asked.
+
+He started at the sound of my voice, and took a quick step towards me. I
+held out my hand.
+
+"God in Heaven, it's Hardross!" he exclaimed.
+
+I laughed as our hands met.
+
+"I shall not bother about my disguise any longer," I remarked. "It is
+evidently better even than I had hoped."
+
+He wrung my hand. I was delighted to see that there was nothing in his
+face but joy.
+
+"Old chap!" he exclaimed, "I'm delighted. I can't say more. You've
+knocked me all of a heap. For Heaven's sake talk! I should like to be
+quite sure that I'm awake."
+
+"You're awake all right," I answered, "as sure as I'm alive! How well you
+look in black, old man! I suppose it's for me?"
+
+He nodded.
+
+"How on earth," he exclaimed, "could the papers have made such a
+mistake?"
+
+"They weren't so much to blame. A man was murdered in the Rockies who
+called himself Hardross Courage, and who was travelling with my traps.
+Only you see it wasn't I!"
+
+"A man who called himself Hardross Courage," Gilbert repeated,
+bewildered. "It's an uncommon name."
+
+"The men who killed him," I answered, "thought that they had killed me.
+It's a long story, Gilbert. I've come here to tell you a little of it, if
+you can spare the time."
+
+"Time! Of course I can," he declared. "Wait one moment while I go to the
+telephone."
+
+I checked him on the way to the door.
+
+"Not a word of this to any one, Gilbert," I said. "Not even to Groves
+there!"
+
+He nodded and hurried out of the room. When he returned, he had taken off
+his hat and overcoat. He drew up two easy-chairs and produced a box of
+cigars.
+
+"Now then!" he exclaimed, "for the mysteries! By Jove, I'm glad to see
+you, Hardross! Light one of those--they're the old sort---and go ahead."
+
+"You're not a nervous person, are you, Gilbert?" I asked quietly.
+
+"I don't think so," he answered. "You've given my nerves a pretty good
+test just now, I think! Why do you ask?"
+
+"Because I am going to tell you secrets," I answered, "and because there
+are men in the world, men in London close to us, who, if they knew, would
+kill us both on sight."
+
+"I am not a coward, if that is what you mean," Gilbert answered. "You
+ought to know that. Go ahead."
+
+I told him everything. When I had finished he sat staring at me like a
+man stupefied.
+
+"I suppose," he said at last, looking from his extinct cigar into my
+face, "that I am not by any chance dreaming? It is you, my cousin
+Hardross, who has told me this amazing story."
+
+"Every word of which is true," I answered firmly, and I knew at once that
+he believed me.
+
+"Well," he said, after a short silence, "where do I come in?"
+
+"You fill a most important place," I answered. "I want you to see Polloch
+for us."
+
+He nodded.
+
+"Am. I to tell him everything?"
+
+"Everything," I answered. "We have our Secret Service, I suppose, the
+same as other countries. It ought to be easy enough for them to act on
+our information."
+
+"Have you seen the papers this morning?" he asked suddenly.
+
+"No!" I answered. "Is there any news?"
+
+"Our Channel Squadron," he said, "has received a very courteous
+invitation to visit Kiel during its forthcoming cruise."
+
+"They will go?" I exclaimed.
+
+"They leave in three weeks' time."
+
+"If they enter German waters," I said, "not one of them will ever return.
+The bay will be sown with mines. It is part of the Great Plot."
+
+"Yesterday's paper," Gilbert continued, "remarked upon the warm reception
+of the Prince of Normandy at the Berlin Court!"
+
+"Ah!" I ejaculated.
+
+"And the _Daily Oracle_," Gilbert went on, "had a leading article upon
+the huge scale of the impending German manoeuvres. Three days ago, the
+Kaiser made a speech declaring that the white dove of peace was, after
+all, more glorious than the eagle of war!"
+
+"That settles it," I declared. "Gilbert, can you see the Prime Minister
+this morning?"
+
+"I can and I will," he answered.
+
+"You must convince him," I declared. "All the proofs I can give you are
+here. There is an account of the meeting at the summer house of Mrs. Van
+Reinberg at Lenox, with the names of all who were present and particulars
+of what transpired. There is a copy of my admission into the Waiters'
+Union, with some significant notes."
+
+"This is all?" he asked.
+
+"All!" I repeated. "Isn't it sufficient?"
+
+"Polloch is an Englishman," my cousin said slowly, "and you know what
+that means. He will need some convincing!"
+
+"Then you must convince him," I declared. "I am risking my life over this
+business, Gilbert, and we can none of us tell which way the pendulum will
+swing. I know that Polloch is one of the old school of statesmen, and
+hates Secret Service work. If it were not for that, such a plot as this
+could never have been developed under his very nose. It is absolutely
+necessary, Gilbert, that, under some pretext or another, the home fleet
+is mobilized within the next fortnight."
+
+"It's a large order, Jim!"
+
+"It's got to be," I answered. "You don't know what a relief it is,
+Gilbert, to sit here and talk to you about these things. Guest and I
+scarcely ever speak of them. And all the time the minutes slip by,
+and we get nearer the time. Guest and I are playing a desperate game
+after all--a single slip and we should be wiped out. And no one else
+knows."
+
+Gilbert looked up at me quickly, as though a new thing had come into his
+mind.
+
+"Jim," he said, "have you seen Miss Van Hoyt?"
+
+"Not since I was at Lenox," I answered. "She must still believe that I
+was the man who was murdered in the Rocky Mountains--and I dare not let
+her know!"
+
+"She certainly does believe it, Jim," my cousin answered gravely. "She
+was here last week--she is coming to see me again to-day."
+
+"In England!" I exclaimed. "Adele in England!"
+
+"Not only that," my cousin continued, "but I believe that her coming was
+on your account."
+
+"Tell me exactly what you mean," I demanded.
+
+Gilbert leaned a little towards me.
+
+"Jim," he said, "has there been anything between you and Miss Van Hoyt?"
+
+"This much," I answered, "that but for these confounded happenings, she
+would have been my wife. If ever I do marry anybody, it will be she."
+
+Gilbert nodded gravely.
+
+"I thought so," he answered. "Well, I can tell you something that will
+perhaps surprise you. Miss Van Hoyt is also--"
+
+He broke off in his sentence. We both sprang to our feet. A woman's clear
+musical voice was distinctly audible in the hall outside.
+
+"It is she," he declared. "Do you want her to find you here, to know that
+you are alive?"
+
+"Good God! No!" I answered.
+
+He pointed to the curtains which separated the apartment from the
+dining-room. I stepped through them quickly, just as Groves knocked at
+the door.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+A REUNION OF HEARTS
+
+
+I heard the man's announcement, I was almost conscious of his surprise as
+he realized the fact that his master was alone. Then I heard Gilbert
+direct him to show the lady in; and a moment later my heart seemed to
+stand still. Adele had entered the room. She was within a few feet of me.
+I heard the rustle of her gown, a faint perfume of violets reached me,
+and then the sharp yap of Nagaski, as Gilbert tried to include him in his
+welcome. Softly I stole a little closer to the curtain, and peered into
+the room.
+
+Now I was never an emotional person, but there was a mist gathering
+before my eyes when at last I saw her. She was dressed in black, and her
+cheeks had lost all their color. There was a difference even in her tone.
+She spoke like a woman who has left the world of lighter things behind,
+and who has vowed her life to a single purpose. The impulse to rush out
+and take her into my arms was almost irresistible!
+
+"I have come to see you, Sir Gilbert," she said, because I thought you
+would like to know something--of what I am going to do! you and--your
+cousin were great friends, were you not?"
+
+"We were indeed," Gilbert answered.
+
+"Then," she continued, "it may be some satisfaction for you to know that
+his death will not be altogether unavenged. I know more about it and the
+reason of it than you can know! I know that he was murdered, brutally
+murdered, because he had stumbled into the knowledge of some very
+extraordinary political secrets; and because, as an Englishman, he was
+striving to do what he believed to be his duty. His enemies were too many
+and too powerful! But what he began"--she leaned a little forward in her
+chair--"I mean to finish."
+
+My cousin looked at her gravely.
+
+"But will you not be running the same risk?" he asked.
+
+Her lips parted in quiet scorn.
+
+"A woman does not count the risks, when she has lost, through treachery,
+the man she cares for," she said quietly. "But for this, I should have
+been neutral. I am not an Englishwoman myself--in fact, I think my
+sympathies were with those who are working for her downfall. But
+everything is changed now! I am going to Paris to-night, and to-morrow I
+shall see the Minister of War and General Bertillet. One part of this
+great plot, at any rate, shall go awry."
+
+"Tell me," my cousin asked, "what is--the Great Plot?"
+
+The old habit was powerful with her. She looked nervously about the room.
+
+"I cannot tell you," she answered, "only this! It is a wonderfully
+thought-out scheme, which, if it were carried out successfully, would
+mean the downfall of your country. The part of it which I know anything
+about is the part which secures the neutrality of France, and breaks up
+the alliance. I mean to prevent that."
+
+"Take me into your confidence, Miss Van Hoyt," Gilbert begged.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"You are wiser not to ask that" she said. "It is one of those cases where
+knowledge means death. But I can at least give you a hint. Have you any
+influence at all with any member of your government?"
+
+"A little" Gilbert admitted.
+
+"Then persuade them not to send your fleet to Kiel!"
+
+Gilbert rose to his feet, and stood on the hearth-rug looking down at
+her.
+
+"But, my dear young lady," he protested, "there are certain
+international laws which every nation respects. The game of war has its
+rules--unwritten, perhaps, but none the less binding. The visit of the
+English fleet to German waters is an affair of courtesy--"
+
+She interrupted him ruthlessly.
+
+"Did you ever hear of a warship called the _Maine_?" she asked
+scornfully. "Do you remember what happened to her? Can't you understand
+that these things can be arranged? Your better understanding with Germany
+hangs upon a thread. Germany knows exactly when to snap it. The English
+fleet will be allowed to leave Kiel harbor without a doubt, but every
+channel outside can be sown with mines in twenty-four hours. If I had
+proofs of what I know is being planned, I would give them to you! But I
+haven't. Go and do your best without them. The French ambassador may have
+something to say to your ministers in a few days which should open their
+eyes."
+
+"I shall do my best," Gilbert said slowly, "but ours is an unsuspicious
+nation. I am afraid I shall be told that for Admiral Fisher to abandon
+his visit to Kiel now, without some very definite reason, would be
+impossible."
+
+Adele shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"After all," she said, "it is your affair. England has no claims upon me.
+I have never lived here, I never shall--now! My work lies in France.
+Still, take my advice! Do what you can with your ministers."
+
+She rose to her feet, and, in order to rearrange her scarf, which had
+fallen a little on one side, she set Nagaski on the ground. Very slowly,
+he made his way towards me, sniffing all the time. A few feet from the
+curtain he stopped. His hair stiffened. His little, beady eyes were like
+black diamonds. He barked angrily.
+
+"Nagaski!" his mistress called.
+
+He did not move. Neither dared I, for he was within a few feet of me.
+Adele came across the room.
+
+"Have you any secrets behind that curtain, Sir Gilbert?" she asked.
+
+"A cat most likely," he answered nervously. "Let me pick him up for you."
+
+Adele stooped down, but he eluded her. With a low growl he sprang through
+the opening, and fastened his teeth in my trousers. Adele turned to my
+cousin and her face was as pale as death.
+
+"There was only one person in the world," she said, "to whom Nagaski used
+to behave like that. Sir Gilbert! what is there behind that curtain? I
+insist upon knowing. If there have been listeners to our conversation, it
+will cost me my life."
+
+I stepped out. It seemed to me that concealment was no longer possible.
+She staged at me in bewilderment. I had forgotten my beard, my spectacles
+and shabby clothes. She did not recognize me!
+
+"Has this person been here all the time? Is this a trap?" she demanded,
+turning to my cousin with flashing eyes.
+
+I stepped forward.
+
+"Adele," I said, "don't you know me?"
+
+She started violently. She looked steadily at me for a moment in dumb
+amazement. Her cheeks were ashen, her eyes dilated. And then recognition
+came--recognition in which there was also an element of terror.
+
+"Jim!" she cried. "Jim! Oh! God!"
+
+Her hands went to her throat. Her eyes seemed as though they would devour
+me. Yet she was not wholly sure! I took her into my arms!
+
+"It was another man whom they shot, Adele," I murmured. "It is I indeed,
+dearest."
+
+But I spoke as one might speak to the dead. Adele had fainted in my arms!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+RIFLE PRACTICE
+
+
+Adele was herself in a very few minutes. My cousin considerately slipped
+out of the room. Directly she opened her eyes and found me kneeling by
+her side, her color became more natural.
+
+"Jim," she murmured, "how did you do it? Tell me how it is that you are
+alive."
+
+"A very simple matter," I answered. "I learned at Lenox all that I came
+to America to find out. I wanted to return to England without creating
+suspicion, so I hired a substitute to continue my trip."
+
+"And he was killed?" she exclaimed.
+
+"Yes!" I answered. "I insured his life, and I presume he knew his risks.
+In any case, the life of one man was a small thing compared with--you
+know what."
+
+She looked into my face, and there was wonder in her eyes.
+
+"How you have changed, Jim," she whispered. "It is you, isn't it? I can
+scarcely believe it. Can the months really write their lines so deeply?"
+
+"Months!" I answered. "I have passed into a different generation, Adele.
+It seems to me that my memory stops at a night a few months ago, at the
+Hotel Francais. The things which happened before that seem to have
+happened to a different man."
+
+"Could you play cricket now--or shoot partridges?"
+
+"God knows!" I answered. "This thing has swallowed  me up. The only thing
+that I do know is that I must go on to the end."
+
+She sighed.
+
+"And what is to become of me?" she asked.
+
+I touched her lips with mine--and all the passion and joy of another sort
+of life warmed my blood once more.
+
+"Wait only a few months, dear," I answered confidently, "and I will teach
+you."
+
+Hope and incredulity struggled together in her face.
+
+"You believe," she exclaimed, "that you will succeed?"
+
+"Why not?" I answered. "I am counted dead. Could you yourself recognize
+me?"
+
+She shook her head doubtfully.
+
+"Your face itself is so changed," she answered. "My poor Jim, you are a
+very different person from the good-looking boy whose life seemed to
+depend upon catching that ball at Lord's. I think that you must have
+suffered a great deal."
+
+"I have bought experience and the knowledge of life," I said grimly, "and
+I suppose I have paid a pretty stiff price for it."
+
+I hesitated.
+
+"Are you strong enough, Adele," I asked, "for another shock?"
+
+"I have lost the capacity for surprise," she answered. "Try me!"
+
+"The real name of the man who is passing as my uncle--is Leslie Guest!"
+
+She scarcely justified her last assertion, for her eyes were full of
+wonder, and she drew a little away from me as though in fear.
+
+"Leslie Guest! The man who died at Saxby!"
+
+"He did not die," I answered. "It was a case of suspended animation. When
+I read his letter to me, and when I saw you in the morning, I believed
+him dead. So did all the others. It was in the middle of the next night
+that the nurse discovered that he was alive! We sent for the doctor, and
+by the next morning he was able to speak. It was then that we determined
+to make use of what had happened."
+
+"I see," she murmured. "That is why you changed the place of burial."
+
+I nodded.
+
+"Guest planned the whole thing himself," I said. "It was easily arranged.
+The curious part of it all is that he seems to have got the poison out of
+his system entirely now!"
+
+She looked at me a little breathlessly.
+
+"You are really wonderful people, both of you," she said.
+
+"We have been very fortunate," I answered.
+
+"And why," she asked, "are you dressed like a somewhat seedy-looking
+foreigner?"
+
+"I am the head-waiter at the Cafe Suisse," I answered.
+
+"Where is that?"
+
+"In Soho! Guest--my uncle--is the proprietor."
+
+"Listen, Jim!" she said. "Do not tell me why you are there, or what you
+are doing. I suppose I ought to be working on the other side--but I shall
+not. What I was going to do for the sake of you dead, I shall do now for
+the sake of you living. You and I are allies!"
+
+"Pour la vie!" I answered, kissing her fingers; "you see even Nagaski is
+becoming reconciled to me."
+
+She smiled and patted his head.
+
+"At any rate," she said, "but for him I should not have found you! I
+wonder--"
+
+I answered her unspoken question.
+
+"I should not have come out," I told her. "To tell you the truth, Adele,
+I am a different man now from what I was half an hour ago. I had
+forgotten that I was still a live being, and that the world was, after
+all, a beautiful place. I think I had forgotten that there was such a
+person as Hardross Courage. The absorption of these days, when one has to
+remember, even with every tick of the clock, that the slightest
+carelessness, the slightest slip, means certain death--well, it lays hold
+of you. No wonder the lines are there, dear!"
+
+"Some day," she whispered, "I will smooth them all away for you! ..."
+
+Gilbert came in a few minutes later.
+
+"I am sorry to disturb you," he said, "but it is time I was off."
+
+He glanced at Adele.
+
+"We have no secrets," I declared quickly.
+
+He smiled.
+
+"Well," he said, "I have an appointment with the Foreign Secretary at
+three o'clock this afternoon. Where can I see you afterwards?"
+
+I hesitated. That was rather a difficult question to answer.
+
+"I don't want to come here too often," I answered. "Do you mind sitting
+up a little later than usual tonight?"
+
+"Of course not," he answered gravely.
+
+"Then let me come to your club about a quarter to one," I said. "You can
+see me in the strangers' room."
+
+Adele rose and gave me her hand.
+
+"I too, must go," she said. "I may write to you here--if I do I shall
+address the envelope to Sir Gilbert. Good-bye!"
+
+I kissed her fingers, and she drew away from me a little shyly. My cousin
+saw her to the door, and in less than half an hour I was in my shiny
+dress coat, on duty for luncheon at the Cafe Suisse.
+
+There were the usual crowd of people there, but no one whom I recognized
+particularly, until the stout lady who had talked to me the night before
+came in. I showed her to a table, and she talked to me graciously in
+German. She had discarded her black sailor hat, and had the appearance of
+being dressed in her best clothes.
+
+"You see to-day I am alone," she remarked, drawing off her gloves and
+revealing two large but well-shaped hands, the fingers of which were
+laden with rings.
+
+"You must take good care of me--so! And I am hungry--very hungry!"
+
+It was a table d'hote luncheon for eighteen-pence, and she ate everything
+that was set before her, and frequently demanded second helpings. All the
+time she talked to me, sometimes in German, sometimes in broken English.
+She seemed quite uneasy when I was not all the time by her side.
+
+"My good man," she told me, "has gone away for two--three days. I am
+lonely, so I eat more! Why do you smile, Herr Schmidt?"
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"I know what you think," she continued, her black eyes upraised to mine.
+"You think that after all I am not so very lonely. Perhaps you are right.
+My good man he is much older than I. Sometimes he is very tiresome."
+
+I murmured my sympathy. Just at that moment, Guest entered and passed
+through to the little office, all smiles and bows--the typical
+restaurateur. Madame eyed him keenly.
+
+"It is your uncle, the new proprietor, is it not?" she asked.
+
+I nodded, and left her on the pretext of a summons from another table.
+Something in Guest's look had told me that he wished to speak to me. He
+was taking off his overcoat when I entered the office.
+
+"Be careful of that woman," he whispered in my ear. "She is dangerous."
+
+I nodded.
+
+"She is Hirsch's wife," I remarked.
+
+"She passes as such, I know," he answered. "I have come across her once
+or twice in my time. She is cleverer than she seems, and she is
+dangerous. Any news?"
+
+"We have a fresh ally," I answered. "She goes to Paris this afternoon."
+
+"Miss Van Hoyt?" he exclaimed.
+
+"Yes!"
+
+He glanced at a calendar.
+
+"Good luck to her!" he answered. "We will talk later. Go back into the
+restaurant."
+
+I obeyed him, and almost immediately Madame called me to her side.
+
+"I have a message for you," she whispered in my ear.
+
+"You are to be at Max Sonneberg's rifle gallery at four o'clock this
+afternoon."
+
+"From your husband?" I asked.
+
+"So! You will be there?"
+
+"Certainly! Where is it?" I asked.
+
+"18, Old Compton Street," she answered. "Afterwards--"
+
+She hesitated. I stood before her in an attitude of respectful attention.
+
+"You like to come and drink a glass of beer with me?" she asked. "I live
+close there."
+
+She was smiling at me with placid amicability. I was a little taken aback
+and hesitated.
+
+"You come," she whispered persuasively. "No. 36, over the tailor's shop.
+You will find it easily. Afterwards I come here to dine! So?"
+
+I was on the horns of a dilemma, for while my acceptance of her
+invitation might land me in a somewhat embarrassing position, I was still
+anxious to know exactly what her reasons were for asking me. She leaned
+a little closer towards me. Her black eyes were very bright and
+sparkling.
+
+"I expect you," she declared. "So!"
+
+I bowed.
+
+"Thank you very much," I said, "I will come!"
+
+She paid her bill and departed. I opened the door for her myself, and she
+whispered something in my ear as she went out. Karl, who had been
+watching us curiously, came up to me a few moments later.
+
+"You know who she is?" he asked.
+
+"Hirsch's wife," I answered, nodding.
+
+"You had better be careful," he said slowly. "Hirsch is not a safe man to
+play tricks with."
+
+I told Guest what had passed. He agreed with me that it was an
+embarrassing position, but he was insistent that I should go.
+
+"One cannot tell," he remarked. "Even the cleverest women have their
+interludes. I rather fancy, though, that this time the lady has something
+more in her mind."
+
+At four o'clock I presented myself at the door of an entry at the address
+which had been given me. An untidy-looking girl pointed out to me some
+stairs, over which was a hand pointing downwards, and a notice--
+
+"MAX SONNEBERG'S RIFLE RANGE."
+
+I descended the stairs, and found myself in a sort of cellar with two
+tubelike arrangements, down one of which a young man was shooting. Mr.
+Sonneberg rose slowly from a chair and came towards me.
+
+"Paul Schmidt, is it not?" he asked.
+
+I nodded.
+
+"I was told to come here at four o'clock," I said.
+
+"Quite right. Now tell me, what is this?" he asked, taking from a seat
+near and placing in my hand a weapon, similar to the one with which the
+boy was shooting.
+
+I handled it curiously.
+
+"It is a service rifle, reduced size," I remarked.
+
+He nodded.
+
+"Let me see you load it!" he directed, pointing to a box of cartridges.
+
+I obeyed him without hesitation. He pointed to the unoccupied tube.
+
+"Shoot!" he directed.
+
+The tube was an unusually long one, and the bull's-eye rather small, but
+I fired six shots, and each time the bell rang. Mr. Sonneberg made a note
+in a book which he had taken from his pocket.
+
+"Very good," he declared, "You have passed first class. You shall
+have your rifle to-night, and cartridges. Keep them in a safe place,
+and--remember!"
+
+He pressed a cigar upon me, and patted me on the back.
+
+"There are some who come here," he declared, "and I find it very hard to
+believe that they have ever seen a rifle before. With you it is
+different. You will shoot straight, my young friend. A life for every
+cartridge, eh?"
+
+"I was always fond of shooting!" I told him.
+
+"Come again, my young friend," he said cordially, "and show some of these
+others how a young German should shoot! You do not need practice, but it
+does me good to see a man hold a rifle as you do! So!"
+
+I left the shooting gallery with flying colors. I was not so sure of my
+next appointment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+"HIRSCH'S WIFE"
+
+
+Madame received me with a beaming smile. I found her apartment furnished
+in the typical German fashion. There were two heavy mirrors, a plush
+tablecloth, and chairs covered with stamped velvet. A canary was singing
+in a cage fashioned like a church, a model of a German village stood
+proudly upon the sideboard. One end of the room was hung with thick
+curtains. Madame herself had arranged her hair with a heavy black fringe,
+and pinned an enormous blue bow at the back of her neck.
+
+"We will sit together here," she said, indicating the sofa, "and we will
+talk of England. But first you shall open the beer."
+
+There were several bottles upon the sideboard, and a corkscrew. I poured
+Madame out a glass and then one for myself. Madame was already making
+room for me by her side, when an inspiration came to me.
+
+"You will drink a health with me?" I asked.
+
+She raised her glass. I assumed a profoundly sentimental air.
+
+"It is to a little girl in Frankfort," I said sighing. "To meine liebe
+Elsie! Soon I shall return to marry her!"
+
+Madame raised her glass.
+
+"To Elsie!" she repeated, and drank very nearly the whole of its
+contents. Then she set the glass down and looked at it thoughtfully.
+
+"So," she murmured, "you have in Frankfort a little girl?"
+
+"Yes, Madame!" I answered.
+
+My hostess became thoughtful for a few moments. I could not flatter
+myself that it was disappointment which had furrowed her brow. She had,
+however, the air of one who finds it necessary to readjust her plans.
+It was during those few moments that I noticed the bulge in the curtains,
+concerning which I was wise enough to hold my peace.
+
+"You will marry her some day?" she inquired.
+
+"As soon," I answered, "as I have saved enough money. My uncle offers me
+the chance now. It is for that that I came back from America."
+
+She nodded.
+
+"Money," she remarked, "is not easily made. It takes time."
+
+"It is true," I agreed.
+
+"And you are very anxious to be married! She is pretty, this little one?"
+
+"I wish I had her picture, Madame," I answered with enthusiasm, "that I
+could show you. You would understand, then, that I am very anxious indeed
+to be married."
+
+"But to save money!" she said slowly, "it takes time that, eh?"
+
+I could not see for the life of me what she was driving at, but I
+assented sorrowfully. At any rate, I was holding my own.
+
+"Herr Paul," she said, raising her black eyes to mine, "have you ever
+looked about you for a way to make money more quickly?"
+
+"I have thought of it often," I admitted, "but I have not succeeded. One
+cannot do as these foolish English do--back horses in races they never
+see. Stocks and shares I do not understand. I can only work; and my
+uncle, though he promises much, pays little."
+
+She nodded her head.
+
+"And all this time," she murmured, "the poor little girl waits!"
+
+"What can one do?" I murmured dejectedly. She motioned me to draw a
+little nearer to her. "Herr Paul," she said, "I think that I could show
+you a way to make money, a large sum of money quickly, if you had
+courage!"
+
+"Ah!"
+
+I drew a little closer to her. She nodded again several times.
+
+"You are not a fool, Herr Paul!" she remarked.
+
+"I am not very clever," I answered sorrowfully; "but I do not think that
+I am a fool!"
+
+"You are a member of the No. 1 Branch of the Waiters' Union," she said
+slowly.
+
+"There is no money in that," I answered. "They even want me to pay
+something for my own rifle!"
+
+"And when the time comes," she said thoughtfully, "you will probably be
+shot!"
+
+"At least," I said hopefully, "I will shoot a few English first. But it
+is true what you say, Madame."
+
+She whispered in my ear.
+
+"The English government," she said, "would give a great deal of money to
+the person who told them about that No. 1 Branch. It would be easily
+earned; eh?"
+
+I would have risen to my feet, but she pulled me back.
+
+"Do not be foolish, Herr Paul," she said. "What has your country done for
+you? When you are older and wiser, you will understand that there is only
+one hand worth playing for in the world, and that is your own. I hate all
+this talk about patriotism and the Fatherland. They are all very well for
+holiday times; but the first thing in the world, and the only thing, is
+money. I want it and so do you! Let us earn it together."
+
+I rose slowly to my feet.
+
+"Madame," I said, "permit me to leave. I shall try to forget what you
+have suggested. I love my little girl and I love money. But never that
+way!"
+
+I think that Madame was a little surprised. She tried to pull me down
+again by her side, but I resisted.
+
+"You are a very foolish young man," she said vigorously. "Sit still and
+listen to me! What would your sweetheart say if she knew that you were
+throwing away a chance of marrying her, perhaps next month? Who can
+tell?"
+
+"Madame," I said, "if you say more, you say it at your own risk. So far
+as we have gone I will try to forget. But I would like you to understand
+that I am not an informer."
+
+Her face darkened.
+
+"You are afraid of running a little risk," she muttered--"a very small
+risk! Remember that it would be a fortune. With what I can tell you it
+would be a fortune for both of us, and no one need know that it was us."
+
+I took up my hat.
+
+"Madame," I said, "I am sorry that I came. I wish you good afternoon!"
+
+I think that she had made up her mind, then, to waste no more time upon
+me, for with a shrug of the shoulders she rose to her feet. She smoothed
+her hair in front of the glass and patted her bow.
+
+"I think, Herr Paul," she said, "that if it had not been for the little
+girl in Frankfort, we might have arranged this--eh?"
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"Never!" I answered. "But if it had not been for her--"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Madame knows," I answered, bowing over her bejewelled fingers. "Auf
+wiedersehen!"
+
+She let me go then, and glad enough I was to get away from the atmosphere
+of cheap scent and Madame's stealthy advances. I realized, of course,
+that the whole affair was a trap, bred of this woman's suspicions of me.
+Nevertheless, I scarcely dared to hope that they were finally allayed. I
+told Guest about my afternoon's adventure, and he treated it very
+seriously indeed.
+
+"She is one of the most dangerous women we could possibly have to deal
+with," he told me. "I have known of her all my life. She was in Paris
+twelve years ago, and she has twice brought Germany and France to the
+brink of war. She trusts or mistrusts wholly by instinct, and I have
+heard her boast that she is never mistaken. You have scored this time;
+but she won't let you alone. She is a regular sleuth-hound."
+
+"I am warned," I assured him. "I shall do all that I can to keep out of
+her way."
+
+I left a little before closing time that night, and made my way, by a
+circuitous route, to my cousin's club. I was shown into the strangers'
+room, and Gilbert came to me in a few moments. His face told me at once
+that he had met with no success. He carefully closed the door, and came
+over to my side of the room.
+
+"Jim," he said, "it's horrible, but I've failed completely to
+convince--our friend. I haven't even made the least impression upon him.
+He listened to all that I had to say with a very polite smile, and every
+now and then kept on taking out his watch. When I had finished, he
+thanked me very much, but gave me clearly to understand that he
+considered I had been made a fool of. I tried to persuade him to see you,
+but he declined point-blank. Shall I tell you his message to you?"
+
+I nodded.
+
+"He sent his compliments, and begged you not to neglect your winter
+practice. Said he had set his heart upon the county winning the
+championship next season!"
+
+"In plain words," I remarked bitterly, "he recommends me to mind my own
+business."
+
+Gilbert nodded silently. He was unfolding an evening paper.
+
+"It is like trying to save a drowning man, who persists in clinging to
+one's neck," I remarked. "Gilbert, I have had a German service-rifle
+given me to-day, with a plain hint that I may expect to be using it
+within a month. I even know which of the Tilbury forts I shall be
+expected to share in taking."
+
+My cousin nodded and opened out his paper.
+
+"The Channel Squadron," he announced, "leaves Devonport for Kiel on
+Thursday next. And here, in another part of the paper, is the little rift
+in the lute, Listen!--
+
+"'We understand that a slight difficulty has arisen with Germany as to
+the proposed Morocco Commission. In view of the better understanding,
+however, now existing between the two governments, a speedy agreement
+is believed certain.'"
+
+"We shall have an ultimatum," Gilbert declared grimly, "as soon as our
+ships are safely anchored in Kiel harbor. Polloch may change his tone
+then, but he will be a little too late. What can we do, Jim? Whom can we
+appeal to?"
+
+"Heaven only knows!" I answered. "If Adele succeeds in Paris, a hint may
+come from there."
+
+"It is a slender reed," Gilbert said, "for so mighty an issue to rest
+upon."
+
+I was thoughtful for a few moments.
+
+"I have had proof within the last few hours," I said, "that I am under a
+certain amount of suspicion, and it is very possible that I am watched.
+Yet, after all, that is comparatively unimportant. Do you think that
+Polloch would see me?"
+
+"I am sure that he would not," Gilbert answered promptly. "In fact, I may
+as well tell you at once, that he has set us down for a pair of cranks.
+He dismissed me to-day almost peremptorily. And I have reason to know
+that he has warned other members of the Cabinet against us. He told me
+plainly that it was the policy of his government to conciliate Germany,
+and he considered that a good deal of the ill-feeling in the past had
+been due to the fact that we were always over-suspicious of Germany and
+her actions. When I spoke of organized corps of waiters and clerks here,
+300,000 of them, in commission, all of whom had had military training and
+possessed rifles, he practically called me an ass."
+
+"Gilbert," I said slowly, "we are up against an _impasse_. I shall go
+back and consult with Guest. He is the most resourceful man I know. He
+may be able to suggest something."
+
+Gilbert did not attempt to detain me. We walked together across the hall
+of the club, of which I, too, by the bye, was a member, and I was careful
+to carry my hat in my hand. Just as we were reaching the porter's box, a
+man in brilliant uniform, only partially concealed by a heavy military
+cloak, pushed open the swing doors and entered the club. He passed us by
+without a glance, but my heart was in my mouth.
+
+"Gilbert," I whispered, "who was that?"
+
+"Count Metterheim--he is on the military staff at the German Embassy.
+Why?"
+
+I looked around. Count Metterheim had passed into the smoking-room, and
+there was no one else within ear-shot.
+
+"He is also," I said, "on the committee of the No. 1 Branch of the
+Waiters' Union. I have been up before him at the Cafe Suisse!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+AN URGENT WARNING
+
+
+Madame came alone to luncheon the next morning, and beckoned me to her
+table. "Well," she said, with her black eyes fixed steadily upon mine,
+"you are of the same mind, eh?"
+
+I bowed.
+
+"I prefer to think," I said, "that you were joking yesterday."
+
+"So!" she answered, and began to eat. I gathered that I was dismissed.
+But presently she called me back again.
+
+"You have many friends in London, Herr Paul?" she asked.
+
+"None at all," I answered. "It is very lonely."
+
+"I thought," she said, "that I saw you coming out of some flats in Dover
+Street the other day."
+
+Madame was a little over-anxious. She was showing her hand too openly.
+
+I leaned over the table, after a cautious glance around.
+
+"I will tell you," I said, "since you are so kind as to be interested. I
+am looking for another situation. I think that I shall go into a private
+family."
+
+"Another situation?" she exclaimed. "You are not satisfied here?"
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"My uncle," I said, "is a very mean man. He does not like to pay both
+Karl and myself--and he pays me very little. It is all promises!--and
+meanwhile Elsie waits."
+
+Madame laughed, not altogether pleasantly.
+
+"Elsie is likely to wait," she said. "You are too scrupulous, Herr Paul.
+I have shown you how to make a great deal of money."
+
+"The money with which I marry Elsie," I answered, "shall not be blood
+money."
+
+She let me go then, and I went away well pleased. I fancied that I was
+holding my own with Madame. And I had left the way clear for my next
+visit, which was no small thing.
+
+At half-past three the restaurant was almost empty. Very soon after four
+I rang the bell of Lady Dennisford's town house in Park Lane. The man who
+opened it stared at my request to see her Ladyship. Eventually, however,
+I persuaded him to take in a message. I wrote a single word upon a plain
+card, and in five minutes I was shown into a small boudoir.
+
+Lady Dennisford entered the room almost at the same instant from an
+opposite door. She was dressed in deep mourning; but it seemed to me that
+something of the old weariness was gone from her face. She looked at me
+searchingly, but obviously without recognition.
+
+"I am Lady Dennisford," she said. "What is your business with me?"
+
+I kept my eyes fixed upon her steadily.
+
+"You do not recognize me, Lady Dennisford?" I asked.
+
+She frowned slightly.
+
+"Your voice is familiar," she answered, "and--why, you have a look of
+Hardross Courage! Who are you?"
+
+"I am Hardross Courage," I answered. "Please do not look at me as though
+I were something uncanny. The report of my death was a little premature!"
+
+She held out her hands.
+
+"My dear Hardross!" she exclaimed. "You have taken my breath away!
+I am delighted, of course; but"--she continued, looking at me
+wonderingly--"what has happened to you? Where did you get those clothes?"
+
+"I am going to explain everything to you, Lady Dennisford," I declared;
+"but before I do so, let me ask you something! I have given you one
+shock! Can you stand another?"
+
+"What do you mean?" she asked.
+
+"You see before you," I answered, "one dead man who has come to life. Can
+you bear to hear of another?"
+
+Then every shred of color left her cheeks, and she trembled like one
+stricken with an ague. But all the time her eyes were pleading
+passionately with mine, as though it lay in my power to make the thing
+which she longed for true.
+
+"Not--not Leslie! It is impossible."
+
+"It is the truth," I answered. "He is alive."
+
+I caught her just in time, and led her to the sofa. Her face was
+bloodless, even to the lips.
+
+"Lady Dennisford," I said earnestly, "for his sake, for mine, bear up.
+Don't let me have to call for the servants. We are both in danger. Your
+people will probably be questioned."
+
+"I will be brave," she answered with quivering lips; "but what did it
+mean--at Saxby then? Why, there was a funeral!"
+
+"He was hard-pressed," I told her, "and it was the only way to save him.
+Be brave, Lady Dennisford, for I have come to you for help!"
+
+"I will do everything you ask me to," she answered. "But tell me one
+thing more. He is alive!"
+
+"He is in London," I answered. "He would have come himself, but the risk
+would have been greater. Will you listen to what I have to say?"
+
+"Go on," she answered. "I am ready."
+
+"You know what happened to him in Berlin fifteen years ago," I began. "He
+suffered for another's fault, but he suffered. His career was over, he
+was left with but two objects in life. One was a desire to reinstate
+himself; another, hatred for the country whose spies had brought ruin
+upon him. He changed his identity, but he remained at Berlin. For years
+he met with no success. Then fortune favored him. By chance he picked up
+one of the threads of the most cunning, the most cruel, the most
+skilfully thought-out plots against this country which the secret history
+of the world had ever known. He escaped to London, but spies were already
+on his track. I saved him from death once, and from that moment I, too,
+was drawn into the vortex. Let me tell you exactly what has happened to
+us since we joined forces."
+
+Lady Dennisford was a good listener. I gave her, in as few words as
+possible, a faithful account of our adventures, and she never once
+interrupted me with a single question. When I had finished, she was
+perfectly calm and self-possessed.
+
+"It is the most wonderful story I have ever heard," she declared with
+glowing eyes.
+
+"The most wonderful part of it, from our point of view, is to come," I
+answered grimly. "We have a fair amount of proof, and we have laid all
+the facts before the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"They absolutely refuse to believe us! Notwithstanding everything that we
+have put before them, the Channel Squadron has sailed for Kiel."
+
+Lady Dennisford was a woman born for emergencies. She made no remark. She
+simply asked the one sensible question:
+
+"What can I do?"
+
+"Lord Esherville is your cousin, is he not?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"He is an influential member of the Cabinet. Will you go to him, tell him
+what you know of us, tell him who Guest is and his history? Try and
+convince him that we are not cranks, and that the country is really in
+the deadliest peril. Get him to see Polloch at once. Both Guest and
+myself are watched, because we have taken a cafe which is frequented by
+these people, but we will arrange a meeting, somehow. Try and get us a
+hearing."
+
+She rose to her feet.
+
+"When?"
+
+"It must be within the next thirty-six hours," I answered, "or it will be
+too late."
+
+"Where shall I let you know?"
+
+"Letters are not safe," I answered. "I will call here at eleven o'clock
+to-morrow morning."
+
+"You are not going," she exclaimed. "You will have some tea?"
+
+I laughed outright.
+
+"Please don't forget," I begged her, "that I have come about a situation.
+I am going to bring my references to-morrow."
+
+"Absurd," she murmured softly. "Is--Leslie--also a--what did you say you
+were?--a waiter?"
+
+"He is the proprietor of the Cafe Suisse in Old Compton Street," I
+answered. "I am his nephew learning the business."
+
+"May I come and lunch?" she asked.
+
+"I think not," I answered, smiling. "Our restaurant does not cater for
+such clients."
+
+"Then how shall I let you know?" she asked.
+
+"I will bring my references to-morrow," I answered--"at eleven o'clock."
+
+I bought an evening paper on my way back to the Cafe Suisse. Of news here
+was very little. A leading article commented, with what to me seemed
+fatuous satisfaction, upon our improved foreign relations. Our _entente_
+with France was now in a fair way to be supplemented by a better
+understanding with Germany. Great things were hoped from the friendly
+visit of our fleet to Kiel; such international courtesies made always for
+good. And as I walked through the twilight with the paper clenched in my
+hand, I forgot where I was, I seemed to see over the grey sea to where,
+silently and secretly, the long service trains to Germany crawled to that
+far northward point, disgorging all the while their endless stream of
+soldiers, with mathematical regularity. The great plot moved. I read the
+extracts from the Berlin and Frankfort papers, and I knew that the
+wonderful example of the world's newest Power had been scrupulously
+followed. No word was there of secret manoeuvres amidst the wastes of
+those northern sands. I read the imposing list of battleships and
+cruisers, now ploughing their stately way across the dark waters, and
+I shuddered as I thought of the mine-sown track across which they would
+return. I remembered what a great German statesman had once boldly
+declared--"there is no treachery, if it be only on sufficiently great a
+scale, which success does not justify." And here was I, almost the only
+Englishman who knew the truth--powerless!
+
+It was a busy night at the Cafe Suisse. Guest promenaded the room in his
+tightly fitting frock coat, his grey wig, and newly grown imperial,
+exchanging greetings with his clients in many languages. The long table
+was full! Hartwell was there, and Hirsch, and Kauffman, Madame and the
+others. And always I fancied that when I approached their table their
+voices dropped a little, and covert glances followed me when I turned
+away. Had Madame succeeded in making them suspicious, I wondered.
+
+They went into the club-room as usual, and a quiet time followed in the
+restaurant. I went to talk with Madame, but she had little to say to me.
+Somehow, though, I could not move a yard without feeling that her eyes
+were upon me. Once only she beckoned to me.
+
+"Well," she asked, "have you found the place yet, where you will make so
+much money that you can send for the beloved Elsie?"
+
+I smiled deprecatingly.
+
+"I have answered two advertisements," I said; "one at a club, but they
+were no good. I am going to see a rich English lady to-morrow morning.
+She may engage me as butler."
+
+"You are a very foolish young man, Herr Paul," she said. "You do not know
+how to look after yourself. You will never make any money!"
+
+It was one o'clock the next morning before Guest and I turned homeward to
+our rooms, for we had thought it well to separate, and I could tell him
+what had passed between Lady Dennisford and myself. He heard me without
+interruption, but I saw his face twitch with anxiety.
+
+"It is almost the last chance," he muttered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+THE BLACK BAG
+
+
+Lady Dennisford had failed. I saw it in her face as soon as I entered the
+room, and her first few words confirmed it.
+
+"It's no use, Jim," she declared. "I've done my best, but there isn't a
+soul who will listen to me."
+
+"Good God!" I murmured, and sat down on the sofa.
+
+"There is not a single man in the Cabinet of the slightest influence,"
+she continued, "who will take this affair seriously. Lord Esherville
+assured me solemnly that the whole affair was absurd and impossible.
+Polloch declares that we have been brought to the brink of war with
+Germany twice already, through treating her overtures with too much
+suspicion. He is absolutely determined that the mistake shall not be
+repeated."
+
+"How about the massing of troops on the French frontier?" I asked.
+
+"Ordinary manoeuvres," Lady Dennisford said. "The whole proceeding is
+absolutely open."
+
+"And the reception of the Prince of Normandy by the Emperor?"
+
+"An act of private courtesy. He ridicules the idea of German interference
+in French politics."
+
+"And the rifle union?"
+
+"If he believes in it at all, he looks upon it simply as a social and
+patriotic club, with which we have nothing to do. He ridicules the idea
+of regarding it as a force that could be utilized, even in the event of
+war."
+
+"Then all three things happening together are merely coincidences?" I
+said bitterly. "He is blind enough to believe that?"
+
+"He believes it most sincerely," Lady Dennisford answered.
+
+"He will not stop the fleet going to Kiel?"
+
+"He almost lost his temper at the bare suggestion," Lady Dennisford
+answered. "The slight hitch in the Morocco negotiations, he says, is
+simply owing to a misunderstanding, which will be cleared up in a day or
+two."
+
+"Now I can understand," I said, "why, on the Continent, they always speak
+of British diplomacy with their tongues in their cheeks. To think that
+the destinies of a great country should be in the hands of men like this.
+Why, what can our Secret Service be about?"
+
+"I believe," Lady Dennisford said, "that they have lately been presenting
+some disquieting reports. But it is all of no use. Every member of the
+Cabinet has got his back up. Lord Polloch says that Germany's friendship
+is absolutely necessary to us just now, and his Cabinet are determined to
+secure it."
+
+"They will," I muttered, "at a price. Lady Dennisford, you will excuse
+me, I know. I must hurry back and see Guest."
+
+"What is there left for you to do?"
+
+"Heaven only knows!" I answered. "I am afraid we are at the end of our
+tether. If Guest has yet another card up his sleeve, he has kept it
+secret from me. I must see him at once."
+
+"You will let me hear from you soon?" she begged as I departed.
+
+"The newspapers may have more to tell you than I," I answered. "But I
+will come again--about the situation!"
+
+Guest was waiting for me in the little glass enclosure we called an
+office. He saw my news written in my face.
+
+"She has failed," he murmured.
+
+"Utterly!" I answered.
+
+We were both silent for a moment. The crisis of our fortunes had come,
+and, for the first time, I saw Guest falter. He removed his spectacles
+for a moment, and there was despair in his eyes.
+
+"To think that we should have done so much--in vain," he muttered. "If
+one could think of it, there must be a way out."
+
+His head drooped for a moment, and, glancing up, I saw Hirsch's dark
+inquisitive face watching us through the glass.
+
+"Put on your spectacles and be careful," I whispered. "We are being
+watched."
+
+Guest was himself again in a moment. I stepped out into the restaurant,
+where a few early luncheon guests were already arriving, and attended to
+my duties as well as I could. Hirsch and his wife were at their usual
+corner table, and they were presently joined by Marx, and two others of
+the committee before whom I had appeared. They all carried newspapers,
+and their conversation, though constant and animated, always languished
+at my approach--a fact which somewhat alarmed me. Madame watched me
+ceaselessly. I was perfectly certain once, when their heads were very
+close together, that I was the subject of their conversation. As soon as
+I realized this, I tried, without pointedly avoiding them, to keep out of
+their way.
+
+We were very full that morning, and every one seemed to linger a long
+time over their luncheon. I was sick to death of the place, and my weary
+peregrinations from table to table, of the smile I wore, and the small
+jests and complaints I was forced to receive. The smell of the cooking
+was like some loathsome poison in my nostrils. I felt that morning, with
+the depression of despair upon my heart, that this was a fool's game
+which I had been playing. And then my heart stood still, and my recently
+developed powers of self-control received a severe shock. A familiar
+little yap had given me the first warning, I turned sharply round towards
+the door. Adele, followed by a small elderly gentleman with a red ribbon
+in his buttonhole, had just entered.
+
+I hastened towards them, and I addressed Adele without a flicker of
+recognition in my face. I piloted them to a table a little apart, and
+handed her the carte.
+
+"We shall remain," she said calmly, and with the air of one giving an
+order, "until the place is nearly empty. Come and talk to us as soon as
+you can safely."
+
+I bowed, and handed them over to the waiter whose duty it was to serve at
+their table. As I passed down the room, I glanced towards the Hirsch
+table. They had ceased their conversation. Every one of them was
+staring at the newcomers. Soon they began to whisper together. Madame
+beckoned to me.
+
+"Do you know who they are, Herr Paul, those people who have just come
+in?" she asked. "The little old gentleman, for instance! He is a
+Frenchman, is he not?"
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"They are strangers, Madame," I told her. "The gentleman has not spoken
+yet, but he wears a red ribbon in his coat."
+
+Madame dismissed me with a little nod. I stood for a moment at a
+neighboring table, and I heard Hirsch's low voice.
+
+"If it is he," he muttered, "there is mischief brewing, but he has come
+too late."
+
+"If it is he," Madame murmured, "there is danger, there is always danger!
+You remember--at Brussels--"
+
+I could hear no more, and I dared not show my curiosity. Somewhat
+abruptly, it seemed to me, the little party finished their luncheon and
+departed. The place began to grow emptier, I took careful stock of the
+few people that were left, and decided that the coast was clear. I
+returned to Adele and her friend.
+
+"Tell us both quickly," she said in a low tone, "exactly how things
+stand. This gentleman is the head of the French secret police. He is here
+to help, if it is possible."
+
+"We have collected our material," I answered, "and placed it before the
+government here. We are up against an _impasse_. Through different
+sources we have approached several members of the Cabinet. The result has
+been the same in every case. We are treated as madmen. Polloch will do
+nothing. The fleet has sailed, the rifles remain in the alleys of Soho
+and Heaven knows where. Not a single precautionary measure has been
+taken."
+
+"In a lesser degree," she said, "I, too, have failed. I have succeeded in
+getting the royalist officers removed from the frontier army, but with
+regard to the navy, they would do nothing. The French government declined
+to believe that England might need assistance. We shall get no aid from
+there."
+
+The little old gentleman leaned over and addressed me.
+
+"What is your next step?"
+
+"We have none," I answered bluntly. "I have only spoken for a minute or
+two with Guest since we heard of our last failure. Shall I fetch him?"
+
+Adele nodded. I went for Guest, who was promenading the room with his
+hands behind him, casting every now and then a sharp glance in our
+direction.
+
+"They wish to speak to you," said.
+
+He nodded and walked by my side.
+
+"Our friend," he said, "is admirably disguised, but I recognized him. It
+is Monsieur Bardow, the cleverest man in France."
+
+The two men exchanged bows and smiles. A waiter was standing near.
+
+"I insist, Monsieur," Monsieur Bardow said, "that you and your nephew
+here join me in a bottle of wine. We will drink luck to your new venture.
+No! you must seat yourself, you and your nephew also!"
+
+The farce was well kept up till the wine had been fetched and the waiter
+dismissed. Then Monsieur Bardow, with the mild expression of one who is
+still exchanging compliments, began to talk.
+
+"Mr. Guest," he said, "I know you, and I think that you know me. We are
+both up against a hard thing--officials, who won't believe what does
+sound a little, perhaps, like a fairy story. I have succeeded a little,
+you not at all. I consider that a disaster to England, however, would be
+a disaster also to my country. I am here, therefore, to see if I can be
+of service to you."
+
+Adele leaned over towards us.
+
+"Monsieur Bardow," she said, "has already been to his ambassador here!"
+
+"And Monsieur Lestrange, who is good enough to have complete confidence
+in me, went at once to Downing Street," Monsieur Bardow explained. "When
+he returned he was angry!"
+
+Guest tapped on the table with his forefinger.
+
+"We have submitted our proofs," he said, "and they have been received
+with derision. Your ambassador, Monsieur Bardow, has spoken for us--and
+in vain! In what different manner can we approach this wooden-headed
+government? You have come here with something to propose! What is it?"
+
+Monsieur Bardow nodded assent. He opened his mouth to speak. Suddenly his
+expression changed. He pointed to the door. The words came from his lips
+with the crisp rapidity of a repeating rifle!
+
+"Who is that man?" he demanded. "Look! quick!"
+
+I was just in time to see Hirsch's figure disappearing through the swing
+doors.
+
+"A man named Hirsch," I answered.
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+"One of the committee of the Union," I answered.
+
+"He left something with a waiter. Call the waiter quickly," Monsieur
+Bardow demanded.
+
+I obeyed at once. The waiter, a Swiss-German, hurried to our table.
+
+"What did Mr. Hirsch want?" I asked.
+
+"He said that he was coming back to dinner this evening, and he left a
+bag," the waiter replied.
+
+"Bring the bag here at once!" Bardow ordered.
+
+Already he had risen to his feet. Something of his excitement had become
+communicated to us. In obedience to a peremptory gesture from Guest, the
+waiter hurried off, and returned almost immediately carrying a small
+black bag. Bardow held it for a moment to his ear. We were all conscious
+of a faint purring noise. Nagaski began to whine. Monsieur Bardow laid
+the bag gently down upon the table.
+
+"Out of the place for your lives!" he commanded in a tone of thunder. I
+took Adele's arm, we all rushed for the door. We had barely reached it
+before the floor began to heave, the windows to fall in, and a report
+like thunder deafened us! We emerged into the street, wrapped in a thick
+cloud of curling smoke, with masonry and fragments of furniture falling
+all around us. But we emerged safely, though of the Cafe Suisse there was
+scarcely left one stone upon another.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+A LAST RESOURCE
+
+
+From all sides a great crowd gathered, with almost inconceivable
+rapidity. We pushed our way through, and gained a side street in safety.
+Monsieur Bardow arrested the attention of a four-wheeled cab galloping
+towards the scene of the disaster, and motioned us to enter. We all
+crowded in, and Monsieur Bardow, who entered last, gave an address
+to the driver.
+
+"My friends," he said, as he finally stepped in, "I am afraid that it was
+my presence which has brought this disaster upon your cafe. My disguise
+is good, but not good enough to deceive the cleverest rogues in Europe.
+Let us take up our conversation where it was interrupted."
+
+Guest nodded.
+
+"The cafe has served its turn," he declared. "I am glad it is gone,
+although it was a close shave for us. Monsieur Bardow, I believe that you
+have something to suggest. There is no time to lose!"
+
+The little Frenchman nodded.
+
+"I have," he admitted. "It is, perhaps, a forlorn hope, but it is our
+only chance. You have appealed to the government--you have failed!
+Appeal, then, to their masters."
+
+"The people!" Guest exclaimed. "But how? There is no time!"
+
+"There is only one way," Monsieur Bardow declared, "but it is a royal
+way. The things which we four in this cab know could be driven home to
+every living Englishman in little more than twelve hours' time, if we can
+only find--!"
+
+"The Press!" I cried.
+
+"If we can only find," Monsieur Bardow continued, with a little nod, "an
+editor man enough to throw the great dice!"
+
+"Staunton!" Guest exclaimed.
+
+"We are on our way there," Monsieur Bardow declared. "He is our one
+hope!"
+
+I glanced towards Guest. There was a new fire in his eyes. I saw that the
+idea appealed to him. Nervously he flung down the window and let in the
+fresh air.
+
+"A newspaper agitation," he muttered, "takes time, and if that destroyer
+does not leave by four o'clock to-morrow afternoon--"
+
+Monsieur Bardow held up his hand.
+
+"We go no further," he said. "It shall leave!"
+
+The cab drew up before the palatial offices of the _Daily Oracle_.
+Monsieur Bardow took the lead, and with very little delay we were
+escorted to a lift, and into a waiting-room on the third floor. Here our
+guide left us, but only for a moment. In less than five minutes after we
+had entered the building we were in the presence of John Staunton, Editor
+and Managing Director of the _Daily Oracle_, a paper whose circulation
+was reported to be the largest which any English journal had ever
+attained. He was sitting, a slight, spare man, before a long table in the
+middle of a handsomely furnished room. Before him were telephones of
+various sorts, a mass of documents, and a dummy newspaper. He held out
+his hand to Monsieur Bardow, and half rose to his feet as he noticed
+Adele.
+
+"You have something to say to me, Monsieur Bardow?" he said rapidly. "As
+quickly as possible, if you please! This is the busiest hour of the day
+for me."
+
+"You may reckon it, also," Monsieur Bardow said, "the greatest hour of
+your life, for I am going to give you an opportunity to-day of making
+history for all time."
+
+Staunton raised his eyebrows. Yet it was easy to see that he was
+impressed.
+
+"Your friends?" he asked, glancing towards us.
+
+Monsieur Bardow turned to Guest.
+
+"Forgive me," he said, "but it must be truth now, and nothing else. This
+is Lord Leslie Wendover, third son of the Duke of Mochester. You may
+remember Lord Leslie Wendover's name in connection with the Berlin
+scandals fifteen years ago. This," he added, turning to me, "is Hardross
+Courage. You have heard of him, no doubt. The lady is Miss Van Hoyt of
+America."
+
+Mr. Staunton bowed to all of us.
+
+"Well?" he said.
+
+"Each one of us," Monsieur Bardow said, standing, a slim, calm figure at
+the end of the table, with his fingers resting upon its leather top, "has
+a story to tell you. The stories vary only from their point of view. The
+end of all is the same. It is this: unless the English government sends a
+fast destroyer to Kiel before four o'clock to-morrow afternoon, the
+Germans will command London before seven days have passed. And to the
+best of my belief, Mr. Staunton, you are the only man who can save this
+country."
+
+"I will hear the story in a moment," Staunton said calmly. "First! You
+have been to the government?"
+
+"We have," Guest answered. "They decline to hear us, believe us, or
+receive us. They scoff at our facts and ignore our warnings."
+
+"You have some proofs?"
+
+"We have almost convincing ones," Guest answered. "A further one almost
+cost us our lives a few minutes ago! The restaurant where we were
+deliberating was blown up by a bomb, placed there by some one who
+suspected us."
+
+"The name of the restaurant?" Staunton asked.
+
+"The Cafe Suisse," I told him.
+
+From his look of interest, I knew that he had heard something about the
+place.
+
+"Well," he said, "let me hear the stories."
+
+Guest told his first, I followed, Adele told hers, and Monsieur Bardow
+rapidly filled in certain blanks. All the while Staunton listened in
+silence. He had opened an atlas, and studied it carefully with a
+cigarette in his mouth, whilst Monsieur Bardow was speaking. When he had
+heard everything we had to say, he pushed the atlas back and leaned over
+the table towards us.
+
+"You ask me," he said slowly, "to publish this story to-morrow. With what
+object?"
+
+"That the people of this great country," Monsieur Bardow answered
+quickly, "should at least have a chance to themselves arrest this
+horrible disaster. Let them rise up and insist that before four o'clock
+tomorrow that destroyer leaves Devonport, with orders to stop our fleet
+entering Kiel harbor. Let them insist upon a general mobilization of the
+fleet, and the breaking up of this traitorous Rifle Corps. Your ministers
+have failed you! It is by favor of the people that they rule! Let the
+people speak!"
+
+The man at the table moved his position ever so slightly. His eyes were
+fixed downwards. He seemed to be thinking deeply. Monsieur Bardow
+continued.
+
+"My friends here," he said, "have done all that can be done with members
+of the Cabinet, not only themselves, but in the person of others of great
+influence. The appeal to you is practically an appeal to Caesar.
+Ministers are great, but you are greater. It is your hand to-day which
+grasps the levers which guide the world."
+
+And still the man at the table was silent. Monsieur Bardow had more to
+say.
+
+"I will tell you," he said, "what an American newspaper has done for us.
+To-morrow, at twelve o'clock, ten million of dollars is due to be paid to
+the agents of Prince Victor of Normandy, by the Credit Lyonnais of Paris.
+To-morrow morning, the _New York Herald_, in great type, exposes as a
+gigantic joke the whole affair! It will give the names of the American
+citizens, and the titles which their contribution to the Royalist cause
+in France is to secure. To-morrow, all New York will be convulsed with
+laughter--and I do not think that that ten million dollars will be cabled
+to the Credit Lyonnais."
+
+The man at the table lifted his head. His face was the face of a man who
+had been in pain.
+
+"The two cases," he said slowly, "are not identical. The _New York
+Herald_ perpetrates a huge joke upon its readers. Whichever way that
+affair ends, the newspaper has little to lose! You ask me, on the other
+hand, to risk ruin!"
+
+"I do!" Monsieur Bardow answered. "I came to you, I and my friends
+here, because, from the first, you have shown yourself the uncompromising
+foe of German diplomacy and aspirations. I give you the chance to
+justify yourself. I know what it is that you fear, you do not doubt our
+faith--your only fear is lest we may have been deceived. Is that not so?"
+
+Staunton assented gravely.
+
+"You are asking me a great deal," he said. "The _Daily Oracle_ represents
+a million of capital, it represents the life work of myself and many dear
+comrades. You ask me to stake our prestige, our whole future, upon your
+story. You ask me to publicly flout the government which we have
+supported through thick and thin. You give me no time to consult my
+colleagues--I must decide at once, yes or no! This is no small matter.
+Monsieur Bardow!"
+
+"It is a tragedy," Monsieur Bardow answered. "I tell you that the future
+history of your country, perhaps of Europe, rests upon your decision.
+Don't let any smaller issue weigh with you for a moment. Be thankful that
+you are the man whose name will live in history as the savior of his
+country."
+
+"Do not be too sure even of that," Staunton said. "Polloch is an
+obstinate man, and I know as well as any one, perhaps, how set the
+Cabinet are upon this German _rapprochement_. Still--you have fastened
+the burden on my shoulders, and I will carry it."
+
+"Thank God!" Monsieur Bardow exclaimed, leaning over and shaking hands
+with Staunton. "Have no fear, my friend! It is Heaven's truth which you
+will print."
+
+"I believe it," Staunton answered quietly. "Several mysterious things
+have happened during the last few days, and late this afternoon, consols
+began to fall in a most extraordinary fashion. The side-winds have blown
+some curious information to us, even this last hour or so! Now,
+gentlemen, and Miss Van Hoyt," he continued in a suddenly altered tone,
+"I have to send for all my editors and break up the whole paper. I shall
+be here till daybreak and afterwards. One condition I have to make with
+you."
+
+"Name it," Monsieur Bardow declared.
+
+"You must not leave this building till the paper is out. At any moment we
+may require information from one of you! You shall be made as comfortable
+as possible! Do you agree?"
+
+"Of course," we all answered. "In fact," Guest remarked, "I fancy this is
+the safest place for us for a few hours."
+
+Staunton looked at us all a little curiously.
+
+"I suppose," he remarked, "you know the risk you have been running?"
+
+"Our friends have reminded us," I answered.
+
+An attendant came in, and Staunton handed us over to him.
+
+"Show this lady and these gentlemen into the strangers' room," he
+ordered. "See that they have food and wine, and anything they require."
+
+We left at once. In the passage we passed a little crowd of hurrying
+journalists on their way to answer Staunton's summons. In every room the
+alarm bell had sounded, and the making-up of the paper was stopped!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX
+
+WORKING _THE ORACLE_
+
+
+We had food and wine, plenty of it, and very excellently served. The room
+in which we were imprisoned was more than comfortable--it was luxurious.
+There were couches and easy-chairs, magazines and shaded electric lights.
+Yet we could not rest for one moment. Adele and I talked for an hour or
+so, and we had plenty to say, but in time the fever seized us too. The
+roar of the machinery below thrilled us through and through. It was the
+warning which, in a very few hours, would electrify the whole country,
+which was being whirled into type. I thought of Madame, and once I
+laughed.
+
+Three times Guest was sent for to give some information, mainly with
+regard to earlier happenings in Berlin, before our fateful meeting at the
+Hotel Universal. At last my turn came. It was interesting to visit, if
+only for a moment, the room where Staunton himself was writing this
+story.
+
+He was sitting at his table, his coat off, an unlighted cigarette in his
+mouth, an untasted cup of tea by his side. Two shorthand clerks sat
+opposite to him, a typist was hard at work a few yards away. Staunton
+called me over to him. His voice was hoarse and raspy, and there were
+drops of sweat upon his forehead.
+
+"Is it true, Mr. Courage," he said, "that you are still believed here to
+be dead?"
+
+"Certainly!" I answered. "I have not communicated even with my lawyers.
+My substitute's fate was enough to make me careful!"
+
+"Does any one know on this side?"
+
+"My cousin, Sir Gilbert Hardross. He is with us. He saw Polloch and tried
+all he could himself."
+
+"Good!" Staunton declared. "One more question. You say that on the
+committee of the Rifle Club was a German officer. Do you know who he
+was?"
+
+"I do," I answered. "I saw him at the club when I went to meet my cousin.
+His name is Count Metterheim, and he is on the military staff at the
+Embassy here."
+
+"Better and better," Staunton grunted. "That's all, thank you!"
+
+I went back to the room where the others were waiting. The few people
+whom I passed looked at me curiously. Already there were rumors flying
+about the place. In less than five minutes I was summoned again. Staunton
+looked up from his writing.
+
+"The news has come through of the wrecking of the Cafe Suisse," he said.
+"So far your story is substantiated. A man and a woman are in custody.
+Their names are Hirsch!"
+
+"He's a member of the committee!" I exclaimed. "I saw him bring in the
+bag. It was Madame, his wife, who distrusted me all the time."
+
+"Do you think," he asked, "that you were followed here?"
+
+"Very likely," I answered
+
+Staunton turned to a tall, dark young man who stood by his side.
+
+"Tell Mr. Courage what has happened," he said.
+
+The secretary looked at me curiously.
+
+"A man arrived about a quarter of an hour ago who insisted upon seeing
+Mr. Staunton. He hinted that he had an important revelation to make with
+regard to the Cafe Suisse outrage. He would not see any one else, and
+tried to force his way into the place. In the scuffle, a revolver fell
+out of his pocket, loaded in all six chambers."
+
+"What have you done with him?" I asked.
+
+"Handed him over to the police," the young man answered; "but I am afraid
+they would never get him to the station. Have you looked out of the
+window?"
+
+"No!" I answered.
+
+He shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Do so!" he suggested.
+
+I crossed the room, and, drawing the blind aside carefully, looked out.
+The street was packed with people! Even as I stood there, I heard the
+crash of breaking glass below!
+
+"What does it mean?" I asked, bewildered.
+
+"Your Rifle Corps, I should think," Staunton said, without ceasing
+writing. "We closed the doors just in time. They will try to wreck the
+place."
+
+"We have telephoned to Scotland Yard and the Horse Guards," the man who
+stood by my side said, "and we have forty policemen inside the place now!
+Good God!"
+
+The sudden roar of an explosion split the air. The floor seemed to heave
+under our feet, and the windows fell in with a crash, letting in the cold
+night air. We could hear distinctly now the shrieks and groans from
+below. It seemed to me that the roadway was suddenly strewn with the
+bodies of prostrate men. I sprang back into the room, we all looked at
+one another in horror. I think that for my part I expected to see the
+walls close in upon us.
+
+"A bomb," Staunton remarked calmly. "Listen!"
+
+He leaned a little forward in his chair, his pen still in his hand, his
+attitude one of strained and nervous attention. By degrees the tension in
+his face relaxed.
+
+"It goes!" he muttered. "Good!"
+
+He bent once more over his work. I looked at the man by my side in
+bewilderment.
+
+"What does he mean?" I asked.
+
+"The engine! The machinery is not damaged!" was the prompt reply.
+
+I wiped the sweat from my forehead. The silence in the room seemed almost
+unnatural, and behind it we could hear the dull, monotonous roar of the
+machinery, still doing its work. Once more I turned to the window, and as
+I did so I heard the sullen murmur of voices. A little way down the
+street a solid body of mounted police were forcing back the people.
+
+I made my way back to the other room, almost knocked down in the passage
+by a man, half-dressed, tearing along with a bundle of wet proofs in his
+hand. Adele was standing by the wrecked window-frame--there were
+no more windows anywhere in the building--and she turned to me with a
+little cry.
+
+"Jim!" she exclaimed, "Look! Look!"
+
+I saw the line of fire and the policemen's saddles emptying fast. The
+people were closing round the building. Guest stood frowning by our side.
+
+"This is what comes," he said, "of making London the asylum for all the
+foreign scum of the earth. How goes it, Courage?"
+
+"Staunton is still writing, and the machinery is untouched."
+
+"For how long, I wonder," he muttered. "The police are going over like
+ninepins."
+
+I looked below longingly, for my blood was up. It was no ordinary mob
+this. They were beginning to fire in volleys now, and leaders were
+springing up. As far as we could see there was a panorama of white faces.
+It was easy to understand what had happened. We had been followed, and
+our purpose guessed. Tomorrow's edition of the _Daily Oracle_ was never
+meant to appear!
+
+"The place will be at their mercy in another few minutes," Guest said
+gloomily. "Twenty-four hours ago who would have dared to predict a riot
+like this, in London of all places? Not all the police in Scotland Yard
+would be of any avail against this mob."
+
+"They may stop the paper," I said; "but Staunton's word--and these
+events--should go for something with Polloch."
+
+Guest looked at me and away out of the window. Adele was behind us, and
+out of hearing.
+
+"Do you suppose," he said in a low tone, "that Staunton or any of us are
+meant to leave this place alive? I am afraid our friends below know too
+well what they are doing."
+
+The door opened, and Staunton himself appeared. He looked years older
+than the strong, debonair man to whom I had told my story a few hours
+ago, but in his face was none of the despair which I had feared. He
+was pale, and his eyes were shining with suppressed excitement, but he
+had by no means the air of a beaten man. He came over to where we were
+standing.
+
+"It is finished," he said calmly. "I read your story in print."
+
+"Magnificent," I murmured, "but look! Do you think that a single copy
+will ever leave this place?"
+
+He stood looking downwards with darkening face. For several moments he
+was silent.
+
+"Look at them!" he muttered. "At last! The tocsin has sounded, and the
+rats have come out of their holes! Half a million and more of scum eating
+their way into the entrails of this great city of ours. For years we have
+tried to make the government see the danger of it. It is our cursed
+British arrogance which has shut the ears and closed the eyes of the men
+who govern our destinies. Supposing your invasion should take place, who
+is going to keep them in check? The sack of London would be well on its
+way before ever a German soldier set foot upon our coast."
+
+"The question for the moment," I remarked, "seems to be how long before
+the sack of this place takes place. Look, the police are falling back.
+The mob are closing in the street!"
+
+Staunton was unmoved.
+
+"The soldiers are on their way," he answered. "We received a message just
+now by the private wire. The other has been cut. Look! My God, they've
+brought the guns! There are some men at headquarters who are not fools."
+
+We pressed close to the windows, and indeed it was a wonderful sight.
+From the far end of the street, where the police had retreated, men were
+flying in all directions. We caught a gleam of scarlet and a vision of
+grey horses. There was no parley. The dead bodies of the police in all
+directions, and the crack of the rifles, were sufficient. We saw the
+gleam of fire, and we heard the most terrible of all sounds--the quick
+spit-spit of the maxims. I drew Adele away from the window.
+
+"Don't look, dear," I said, for already the ranks of the mob were riven.
+We saw the upflung hands, we heard their death cries. Leaders leaped up,
+shouting orders, only to go down like ninepins as the line of fire
+reached them. There was no hope for them or any salvation save flight.
+Before our eyes we saw that great concourse melt away, like snow before
+the midday sun. Staunton drew a great breath of relief.
+
+"In half an hour," he said, turning abruptly to Adele, "I will present
+you with a copy of the _Daily Oracle_."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL
+
+_THE ORACLE_ SPEAKS
+
+
+The issue of the _Daily Oracle_ which appeared on the following, or
+rather the same, morning electrified Europe. Nothing like it had been
+known in the memory of man. For one halfpenny, the city clerk, the
+millionaire, and the politician were alike treated to a sensation which,
+since the days of Caxton, has known no parallel. The whole of the front
+page of the paper was devoted to a leading article, printed in large
+type, and these questions were the text of what followed:
+
+"1. Do the Government know that within eighty miles of Kiel are one
+hundred and eighty thousand troops, with guns and all the munitions of
+war, assembled there for the purpose of an immediate invasion of England,
+assembled partly in secrecy, and partly under the ridiculous pretexts
+of manoeuvres?
+
+"2. Do the Government know that it is a skeleton fleet, the weedings of
+the German navy, which awaits our squadron in Kiel waters, and that the
+remainder of the German fleet, at its full strength and ready for action,
+is lying in hiding close at hand?
+
+"3. That there exists in London, under the peaceful guise of a trade
+union, an army of nearly 200,000 Germans, who have passed their training,
+and that a complete scheme exists for arming and officering same at
+practically a moment's notice?
+
+"4. That a German army is even now massed upon the French frontier,
+prepared to support the claims to the throne of France of Prince Victor
+of Normandy, and that a conspiracy has been discovered within the last
+forty-eight hours amongst the French army, to suffer an invasion of their
+country on this pretext?
+
+"5. That an American paper is to-day publishing the names of some of her
+richest citizens, who are finding the money for French Royalist agents,
+to buy over the wavering officers of the army of our ally, the army of
+the French Republic!
+
+"There is ignorance which is folly," the article went on, "and ignorance
+which is sin. The Government have proved themselves guilty of the first;
+if they show themselves guilty also of the second, the people of this
+country have the right to hurl from their places the fools who have
+brought them to the brink of disaster, and to save themselves. In their
+name, we demand two things:
+
+"The dispatch of a gunboat with orders to the Channel Squadron to at once
+return to their waters.
+
+"The mobilization of our Mediterranean Fleet."
+
+With this text Staunton had written his article, and he had written it
+with a pen of fire. Every word burned its way home. With the daring of
+those few hours of inspiration, he had turned inference into fact, he had
+written as a man who sees face to face the things of which he writes.
+There could be but one result. At ten o'clock a Cabinet Council was
+called, and Staunton was telephoned for. Before midday, everything that
+he had suggested was done.
+
+Even then, we knew that the question of peace or war must be trembling in
+the balance.
+
+"Let it come if it will," Guest declared from his easy-chair in Gilbert's
+study, "the great plot is smashed. I pledge you my word that to-morrow
+the German newspapers will hold us up to scorn, will seek to make of
+us the laughing-stock of the world. They will explain everything. There
+will be no war. A German invasion of England is only possible by
+intrigues which will keep France apart, and treachery which will render
+our fleet ineffective. This plot has taken five years to develop, and I
+have been on its track from the first. Thank God, I can call myself
+square now with the past! ..."
+
+There was no war, but the laughter of the German newspapers was a little
+hysterical. The Press of the world took the matter more seriously. But
+there was no war, and there are people even to-day, mostly his
+journalistic enemies, who say that Staunton was hoaxed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Do we receive our deserts in this world?" some one asked one night, when
+our dinner table at Saxby was like a suggestion of old times--and we all
+paused to think.
+
+"Staunton has a peerage," Adele remarked.
+
+"Luckier than I," Guest laughed; only he called himself Guest no longer,
+but Lord Leslie Wendover. "My past disgrace had to be wiped out by an
+invitation to Windsor and a ribbon. Such are the ways of diplomacy, which
+never dare own a mistake."
+
+"The amazing denseness of the man!" his wife murmured. "Do I count for
+nothing?"
+
+He bent and touched her hand with his lips, as Adele leaned forward and
+laughed at me across the table.
+
+"I think," she said; "that you both deserve--what you got--us!"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Great Secret, by E. Phillips Oppenheim
+
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