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diff --git a/34947-8.txt b/34947-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..76d294c --- /dev/null +++ b/34947-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6537 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The House of Strange Secrets, by A. Eric Bayly + +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 House of Strange Secrets + A Detective Story + +Author: A. Eric Bayly + +Release Date: January 13, 2011 [EBook #34947] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSE OF STRANGE SECRETS *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from +scanned images of public domain material from the Google +Print archive. + + + + + + + + + +The House of Strange Secrets + +A DETECTIVE STORY + + +BY +A. Eric Bayly + + +NEW YORK +E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY +31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET +1899 + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1899 +BY +E. P. DUTTON & CO. + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + I.--THE STRANGE AFFAIR ON THE LONELY MOOR 1 + II.--THE MAN THAT DISAPPEARED 9 + III.--THE MYSTERY OF THE PADDED FOOTPRINTS 17 + IV.--GOOD NEWS AND BAD 28 + V.--SELENE'S STORY 33 + VI.--THE FIRST ENCOUNTER 39 + VII.--THE HAUNTED BARN AND ITS STRANGE INHABITANT 52 + VIII.--THE SILENT HOUSE AND THE FOLKS THAT DWELT THERE 58 + IX.--THE MAJOR'S MESSAGE AND HOW IT WAS DELIVERED 66 + X.--THE AFFAIR OF THE BICYCLE 75 + XI.--IN THE LION'S DEN 80 + XII.--THE MAJOR REVEALS HIS SECRET 86 + XIII.--THE HORRORS OF DURLEY DENE 95 + XIV.--THE FIGURE IN THE MOONLIGHT 99 + XV.--MAJOR JONES' ERRAND 106 + XVI.--THE MAN FROM BURTON'S 116 + XVII.--MR. POTTER'S SOLUTION 125 + XVIII.--AN ASTOUNDING CONFESSION 130 + XIX.--A TRUCE AND A PROMISE 139 + XX.--MR. HORNCASTLE, FROM DARTMOOR 145 + XXI.--MR. POTTER SHOWS HIS HAND 153 + XXII.--WHOSE WAS THE WRITING? 162 + XXIII.--THE MYSTERY OF THE MANSE BARN 170 + XXIV.--THE FATE OF THE EAVESDROPPER 177 + XXV.--IN THE OAK-PANELLED HALL 185 + XXVI.--LIGHT IN DARK PLACES 191 + XXVII.--THE SQUIRE'S STORY 201 + XXVIII.--THE SQUIRE'S STORY (CONTINUED) 205 + XXIX.--THE SQUIRE'S STORY (CONTINUED) 215 + XXX.--THE SQUIRE'S STORY (CONCLUSION) 224 + XXXI.--THE BEGINNING OF THE END 230 + XXXII.--THE WIZARD'S MARSH 236 + XXXIII.--A MAN FROM THE GRAVE 244 + XXXIV.--SOLVING THE MYSTERY 249 + XXXV.--THE LAST TWIST IN THE YARN 257 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE STRANGE AFFAIR ON THE LONELY MOOR + + +"Squire Carrington's carriage, this way, please," proclaimed this +magnificent powdered footman wearing the Marquis of Moorland's livery. +His stentorian tones echoing from the porch, over which were suspended +the nobleman's arms, interrupted an edifying conversation between Squire +Carrington's coachman and the individual who presided over another local +dignitary's stables, both of whom, with their carriages, had taken +refuge from the inclement weather beneath the stately ash trees which +were the pride of their noble owner and his gardener (by the way, a far +more important personage). + +"Well, good e'ning to yer, Mr. Wilkes," remarked the Carrington +coachman, flicking up his horses; "I'll tell yer some more about the +ole man and 'is hexentricities next time I 'ave the pleasure of renooing +our acquaintance." And wrapping his topcoat round him, so as to shield +his valuable carcase from the drizzling rain, the venerable retainer in +charge of Mr. Harold Carrington's spirited greys turned his horses' +heads and drew up the carriage--a coach of out-of-date pattern--at the +front door, which had been held open for two gentlemen in evening dress +who were effecting an early departure from the annual ball given by the +Marquis to all the neighbouring gentry. + +The elder of the two was an extremely tall, cadaverous, and grizzled man +of perhaps sixty years of age. This was Squire Carrington himself, the +owner of the manse, situate in the neighbouring village of Northden; +while his companion was his only son, Laurence, a handsome young fellow +of two-and-twenty, quite as tall as his father, but, unlike Mr. +Carrington, senior, well built and of athletic appearance. + +The elder man paused for a moment in the porch. + +To the casual observer he would have appeared to be buttoning his glove, +but to the keen eye of Laurence it seemed that the cause of the older +gentleman's sudden stop was to give himself an opportunity of peering +nervously into the night before taking the few steps necessary to reach +the carriage waiting outside. This scrutiny being evidently +satisfactory, Mr. Carrington hurried forward, entered the vehicle, and +ensconced himself in the far corner. Laurence followed, after taking a +glance back at the capacious hall, brilliantly lighted with fairy lamps +and thronged with vivacious ladies and laughing men on their way to or +from the supper rooms. + +The front door closed, shutting out the gay scene from the young man's +gaze. The coachman whipped up his horses, and in a moment the carriage +was bowling down the dark avenue, presently emerging into the rain and +the high road beyond. + +"Shame to leave so awfully early," muttered Laurence, leaning back on +the comfortable cushions and lighting a cigarette. + +"You know my reasons," answered Mr. Carrington. "I--well, I don't like +to have the carriage out too late, and, besides, it's twelve o'clock +already." + +"Twelve o'clock, yes; just the best time, dad, you know it is! And why +couldn't I have walked home or got a lift in the Everards' waggonette, +as I suggested? Another of these absurd fears of yours, I suppose. My +dear dad, what on earth would the people say if they learned that you, +a J.P., magistrate, and all the rest of it, were actually frightened +out of your life of burglars?" + +"Laurence, you must not speak like that, nor take advantage of my +little--er--weakness." And the old gentleman relapsed into a silence +broken only by the patter of the rain on the carriage windows and the +clatter of the horses' hoofs on the macadam road. + +"Nice girl, that Miss Scott!" Laurence remarked, after a long pause; +"not extraordinary pretty, but there's something awfully taking about +her. Did you see her hair? Of course you didn't. But it was something +worth seeing--a mass of golden tresses. I never saw anything like it. +And her smile! I danced five times with her--all waltzes; but I suppose +that was not wrong, eh? She's clever, and no mistake, for a girl her +age. I don't suppose she's more than nineteen." + +"Born in 1867, that is twenty-five years old now," mumbled Mr. +Carrington half aloud. + +"Twenty-five, Dad! How on earth do you know her age?" exclaimed the +young man in tones of surprise. + +"What--what? Did I speak? Oh, nothing. I was just then rather deep in my +thoughts." + +"'Pon my word," said Laurence, "I believe you're getting into your +second dotage, Daddy." + +The old gentleman did not reply. He seemed too occupied with his own +meditations to take any notice of his son's further remarks either upon +the festivities at the Marquis's house or the young lady who had +attracted him to no small degree, and whose praises he continued to sing +throughout the first part of the eight miles' drive to Northden. + +Those who are acquainted with that part of the North Riding of Yorkshire +in which the village mentioned lies will recollect that the road between +Northden and the Marquis of Moorland's seat runs for some little +distance along the east edge of the extensive moor, from which, at a +prehistoric period, some ancestor of the august owner of the +neighbouring country took his title. The Carrington carriage was halfway +across this stretch of heath--the most deserted part of the route--when +the coachman suddenly became aware of the fact that some other vehicle +or person was closely following in his rear. Turning round in his seat, +he glared into the darkness behind, and fancied that he discerned the +figure of a man on horseback riding immediately behind the carriage. + +He thought nothing of this, deciding that the fellow-traveller was +either a mounted postman riding home, or some country doctor who had +been called out at a late hour to visit a patient in some distant part +of his large district of practice. + +For some reason or other, however, the coachman happened to glance back +again a minute or two later, when he was astounded beyond measure to see +that the supposed man on horseback was a cyclist, and that, with what +the coachman set down as "confounded impidence," he was riding alongside +the coach, and cautiously peering in through the steam-coated window at +the occupants of the carriage! + +Now, James Moggin was a servant who had no little respect for the person +of his lord and master (though he did occasionally allude to him in +conversing with particularly intimate acquaintances as the "ole man"), +and this cyclist's action he considered a dastardly outrage upon the +privacy of Mr. Carrington and his son. He therefore drew up suddenly, +and seizing his whip, intended, in his own words, to give the +misdemeanant "a 'elp on 'is way." But though he did not know it, by so +doing he gave the inquisitive cyclist the opportunity he needed. + +The dark figure on the machine, pedalling suddenly forward, made his way +in front of the carriage, dismounted lightly, and threw down the cycle +upon the ground in such a way that the horses could not proceed without +stepping upon it. Moggin, perforce, drew up hurriedly, and bent forward +in an endeavour to scrutinise the features of the strange bicyclist. In +the darkness he was unable to perceive more than the mere outline of his +form, but even that was sufficient to cause his feelings of surprise to +give way to a sensation of horror. There was something strange, what he +did not know, about the man who had so suddenly and silently compelled +him to draw up in the dreariest part of the great bare moor. He +shuddered, and noticed that the horses were both trembling. + +Meanwhile let us return to the inmates of the carriage. + +Laurence had vainly endeavoured to draw his father into conversation, +but the old man seemed so engrossed in his meditations that his son +eventually ceased from lamenting Mr. Carrington's peculiar behaviour, +and gave himself up to the enjoyment of his cigarette and pleasant +thoughts, in which the central figure was none other than Miss Selene +Scott, his newly made acquaintance. + +Of a sudden the old man sprang up in his seat, and clutched wildly at +Laurence's arm. + +"Good heavens!" he cried in accents demonstrative of mortal dread, "did +you see that face at the window?" + +"Don't be absurd, Dad," exclaimed Laurence somewhat angrily, "if you +scream like that, old Moggin will be getting down to see if I'm +murdering you. Gracious me," he added after a pause, "what's the fellow +stopping for?" + +The young man did not have to wait long for an answer to his last +question. With startling suddenness the right-hand window of the vehicle +was struck by something outside that could not be seen owing to the +steam. A loud clatter of falling glass ensued, and for a moment a large +jagged hole in the pane yawned at them. Then in this space there +appeared first a hideous-looking dark face, and then, when that portion +of the intruder's anatomy was withdrawn, a long, bony hand gripping a +cocked revolver which was directed precisely at Squire Carrington's +head. + +The report of a shot rang out, and almost simultaneously the opposite +window glass smashed amid a terrific din. Through the smoke that filled +the carriage Laurence turned and looked at his father. With a low moan, +the Squire had flung up his hands and fallen forward senseless upon the +floor! + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE MAN THAT DISAPPEARED + + +Now, whatever his enemies (if he has any) may say against James Moggin, +no one can deny the fact that, for a man of his age, his behaviour on +the night when his carriage was "held up" on the North Moor was +meritorious. On discovering that the "impident rascal" had deliberately +broken one of the coach windows with the butt of a pistol, the worthy +coachman's rage knew no bounds. Leaving his well trained but trembling +horses, and still clasping the whip in his hand, he scrambled down from +the box and fell upon the cyclist in the rear. + +To speak more accurately, the latter individual fell back into his arms, +an action on his part caused by Mr. Laurence having risen in the +carriage and aimed a powerful blow with his fist at the face that had a +second time appeared at the cracked window. + +Moggin, had he flung down his whip, might easily have held the assailant +until the arrival of Laurence, who was fumbling with the catch that +fastened the carriage door, and which had been in some way jammed by a +piece of broken window glass. As it was, the audacious cyclist managed +in the dark to wriggle himself out of the coachman's clutches and reach +the spot where his bicycle lay. + +Laurence alighted from the carriage with unbecoming haste, only in time +to see the dusky figure of the highwayman throw his leg lightly over the +saddle of his machine, and bound forward past the vehicle again with the +dexterity of an accomplished rider. He noticed that his garments +fluttered out behind him in a peculiar manner. + +In his evening clothes and thin dancing "pumps," with the roads an inch +thick in mud and puddles, young Carrington knew that pursuit was +useless. Even if he requisitioned one of the terrified horses, he +realised that the man would have disappeared from sight before the +operation of unharnessing could be accomplished. One thing he did--that +was to seize the whip from Moggin's hand, and, taking a couple of steps +forward, cut sharply at the retreating form with the long lash. The blow +went home, for the fellow gave utterance to a hoarse cry of pain. Even +in that exclamation, both Carrington and the coachman were conscious of +something unnatural and horrible. + +And thus it was that the mysterious creature on the bicycle disappeared +into the blackness of the night. + +Laurence waited until he had the dissatisfaction of witnessing the hasty +departure of the unwelcome visitor; then he turned to the open-mouthed +and shivering Moggin. + +"Let us now see what has happened to your master," he said abruptly. + +The two men hurried back to the carriage and carefully stepped inside. + +Mr. Carrington was lying in precisely the same position as when Laurence +had left him. + +"Mercy, mercy," moaned the coachman, "surely he isn't dead?" + +"No," responded young Carrington, "he is not shot, for look at the far +window. It was smashed by the bullet." + +"The hexplosion might have done that, sir," old Moggin suggested, as he +assisted Laurence to place the motionless body of Mr. Carrington upon +the seat of the carriage. + +"Good gracious me, I never thought of that. Then the poor dad may be +killed--murdered. Oh, why didn't I heed his suspicions?" + +He bent down to peer into the old gentleman's face, and as he did so +something caught his eye. He almost yelled aloud with joy. For there, +through the top of Mr. Carrington's hat, was a circular hole. The same +hole was to be found on the other side, showing that the bullet from +the assassin's weapon had penetrated through the hat without harming the +unconscious man's head. (The bullet itself was afterwards found imbedded +in a panel of the coach.) + +No; Mr. Carrington had been unharmed by the attempt on his life, but the +shock of seeing the repulsive face at the window had thrown him into a +dead faint, from which he was released after many minutes, thanks to the +chafings and attention of his son. + +When he first opened his eyes Laurence was horrified at the change in +his father's appearance. The terrified look on his face was +indescribable. He moaned faintly, as though in pain, and clutched +nervously at the strong arm of his son, who knelt at his side on the +floor of the carriage. + +"Come, Daddy," Laurence said encouragingly; "you're better now, and the +rascal is miles away. Sit up and let us hurry on home. The horses are +almost perished with cold." + +His son's cheery voice seemed to convince Mr. Carrington that he was +safe, for he sat up and allowed himself to be carefully laid back into +his favourite corner of the large carriage. Laurence gave orders to +Moggin to proceed at once homeward as fast as he could, and so well did +the coachman carry out his instructions, and so ready were the horses +to proceed to their stables, that Mr. Carrington found himself within +his own grounds before twenty minutes had passed. + +With Laurence's assistance he alighted and entered the Manse, where the +aged butler, Kingsford, was dozing in the hall. He was then conducted to +his chamber, and there helped into bed and dosed with a strong +brandy-and-soda specially mixed for him by his son. + +By this time it was nearly half-past one in the morning, and Laurence +Carrington would have been quite justified in retiring to bed. +Nevertheless, after leaving his father's bedroom he crept downstairs, +much to the butler's astonishment, and, donning an overcoat and a strong +pair of boots, made his way out of the house. + +The rain had now stopped--a fact that seemed to please him much; not +because he would have minded a four-mile trudge in the pouring wet, but +because he would now be more likely to discover traces of the mysterious +cyclist's tyre-marks in the muddy road that skirts the North Moor. For +the rain, had it continued in a downpour similar to that at the time of +the strange affair of an hour before, would undoubtedly have blotted out +any tracks that the highwayman must have made in effecting his hasty +departure. + +Whistling to keep up his spirits as he went, Laurence strode on at a +quick pace towards the scene of the attack. The wind was howling across +the heath and the unearthly noises that accompany any storm were such as +might well have unnerved a less determined man than Carrington, +particularly after the weird adventures he had gone through. + +By the light of the moon, which was now shining brightly, he had no +difficulty in discovering the exact spot at which the carriage had +stopped, while his own footprints and those of the coachman, as well as +the hoof-marks of the restive horses, were distinctly visible. With +ease, too, he lighted on the thin track made by the stranger's bicycle +wheel, but at first was much puzzled at finding that this trail lay on +both sides of the road. Then he recollected that the rider must have +left these distinct traces behind him both when on his way to the place +where he had "held up" the coach and when hastening away on being +repulsed by Moggin and himself. Therefore he concluded that, by +following the double tracks, one on either side of the lonely road, he +would not only discover whence the unknown man had come, but also +whither he had disappeared. For a good mile he trudged on, never taking +his eyes off the pattern impressed on the surface of the road. He had +now reached a village, the only one lying between the house at which +the ball had been and that where he lived, and from which he had just +come. + +Half-way along the main street running through this village a branch +road starts off to the left. To his delight, Laurence was able to trace +the cycle tracks round the corner of and into this branch road, and once +again did he start on, strong on the scent of his father's attempted +murderer (for the idea that the cycling highwayman had fired at him +never entered his head). + +On and on did Laurence walk, the mud and water squelching under his +feet, until the road again broke off into two lanes. + +"Hallo!" he cried half aloud, "the stranger must be something of a +neighbour to us," for the tracks in the mud betrayed to him the fact +that his quarry had taken the lane which is one and a long way round to +the Manse and the village of Northden, in which it stands. As he drew +nearer and nearer to his home Laurence's amazement and excitement (if +such a term may be used under the circumstances) increased +correspondingly. Would the midnight stranger prove to be one of his +father's own simple villagers? he asked himself. He had not even caught +a glimpse of the stranger's face, so could not answer. + +He was now actually in the village of Northden, yet the marks, both +coming and going, remained. Was he mistaken in any way? he wondered, but +the idea of such a possibility had barely been dismissed from his mind +as absurd when he suddenly stopped short. And why? + +Because, without the slightest swerve or mark in the slush, both tracks +stopped abruptly, and, however vigilantly he searched, he could not +discover any further sign or clue to the manner of the disappearance of +the mysterious bicyclist. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE MYSTERY OF THE PADDED FOOTPRINTS + + +Now, Laurence knew quite well that no cyclist could dismount from his +machine without alighting with all his weight upon the ground. Why, +then, was there no print of the stranger's foot at the spot where the +cycle marks stopped? The moon shone out so brightly now that he knew he +must detect such an impression in the muddy surface of the road were one +there. + +But there was none. Stay! What was the meaning of that oblong but +rounded patch of ground being drier than the remainder of the road? +Laurence realised that here was another important discovery, for there +could be little doubt that the moisture on the foot-shaped patch had +been sucked by some spongy mass pressed heavily upon it. What more +natural than that the evil-doer, in order to conceal his tracks, should +travel with thick socks or several pairs of stockings in place of shoes, +which, though of the lightest description, would leave a distinct print +behind them? + +Further search led to the discovery of two more of these dry (or more +or less dry) patches in such a position that the young amateur detective +perceived his man had, presumably carrying the bicycle, stepped across +to the strip of common grass that skirted one side of the roadway. Once +on this grass all traces of the mysterious cyclist vanished, and +Laurence knew that, for the moment at any rate, he was baffled. The +would-be assassin, whoever he was, must be a sharp man, Carrington +decided. Had the rain continued, or the pursuit not been taken up until +the following day, when the rising wind would have done its work, the +dry patches in the mud would not have been found, and the man on the +bicycle might well have taken to himself wings and flown, so suddenly +and unaccountably did the tyre-marks break off. As it was, young +Carrington knew that the stranger (if such he really was) had walked +along on the grass. Therefore, he conjectured he might yet find further +clues as to his hiding-place or destination in parts of the common-land +where the grass was short or rubbed away. + +He therefore continued his search, and had his efforts rewarded by the +discovery of more dry patches, and, in places where the ground had been +shadowed by trees, blurred, indistinct marks shaped like a man's foot; +and, still on the track, he was surprised to find himself in close +proximity to the two largest--in fact, the only two gentlemen's +residences in the now sleeping village. The plot of roadside grass ran +along outside the grounds of both of these--the Manse, and another and +older mansion, Durley Dene; but, before reaching either of these +properties, he completely lost sight of the padded footmarks on the +ground, and, strive as he might, failed to make any more discoveries +that night. + +The rain had commenced to fall again, and he made up his mind to return +home. As he sauntered along he pondered over the strange case that he +had, of his own free will, begun to investigate. Had the cyclist whose +identity he was so anxious to discover disappeared into the grounds of +either of the two adjoining mansions? + +A sinister idea occurred to him. Was it possible that the man who had +made so determined an attempt to murder old Mr. Carrington in cold blood +could be one of his father's own retainers? If so, how did he know that +the would-be assassin was not even now carrying out his horrible plan? +The idea was truly a terrible one, but was quickly abandoned as +impossible when Laurence remembered that neither Kingsford nor Head, the +gardener, could ride a cycle, that Moggin was out of the question, and +that the remaining men-servants, Nathaniel (the footman) and Tom (the +stable hand), were as incapable of the audacity and cunning displayed by +the cyclist as the other servants, though their age and affection for +their master were above suspicion. Therefore, if the unknown man had, by +chance or otherwise, taken refuge in the Manse grounds, he must only +have done so for temporary concealment, or have used these grounds as a +short cut to his real lair. + +But then, of course, it was equally possible that the strange highwayman +hailed from the estate adjoining the Manse. And, like a flash of +lightning, Laurence remembered the story he had heard of a retiring +neighbour who lived at the Dene, and on whom not a single person in the +village had yet cast eyes--the supposed invalid gentleman surrounding +whose personality there was such a halo of mystery. + +Was his father's determined and bloodthirsty enemy lurking in this +adjoining house, whence he might steal out to repeat the attack on the +old man at any moment? + +The thought was, indeed, a horrible one. + +In spite of the rain, something impelled the young man, when he reached +the broken-down gate of Durley Dene, to pause for a moment in the shadow +of the trees, and meditate upon the strange business that had brought +him out of doors on so wild a night. He lighted his pipe, drew his coat +tighter around him, and leaned back against the massive fence. + +The first question that he failed to answer satisfactorily was this--how +was it that the Squire had made an enemy?--for he could not doubt but +that the highwayman had some grudge against the old gentleman since he +had so deliberately fired at Mr. Carrington. Had he been a maniac--the +idea that he was possibly such occurred to Laurence--he would have shot +blindly into the carriage, and not taken careful aim, as he had. + +To be sure, the Squire was a magistrate, and as such had frequently been +the means of sending rascals of all kinds to gaol. But Carrington's name +was famous in the county for his light sentences, his remarkable +leniency, his kindness, and his charity. A poacher, indeed, had once +threatened to have his revenge on the Squire, who had been compelled to +inflict a fairly severe punishment upon him, but what judge or +magistrate has not been thus threatened? And, besides, there was a +certain undisguised skill and cunning demonstrated in the behaviour of +the stranger on the moor that marked him as being something more than a +common criminal. His idea of "holding up" the carriage while on a +cycle, his ingenuity in concealing his tracks in the manner already +recorded, and the mystery of his eventual disappearance--all these +proved him to be possessed of fertile brains that one could hardly +expect to find in a poacher; while, as a matter of fact, if Laurence +recollected right, the man who had uttered the threat against Mr. +Carrington was still working out his "time" in prison. + +Another peculiar feature of the case was the behaviour of the Squire +himself. Laurence remembered how, during the last few months, his +father's manner had changed. He had always been a particularly silent, +thoughtful, and retiring man, but of late he had become childish in his +conduct. He had purchased, as his son had accidentally discovered, a +vest, fronted with chain armour, strong, but of such a kind that no one +could know, when its owner wore it, that it was of so remarkable a +nature. He had even gone so far as to have new bolts and catches fixed +to the doors and windows of his house, while he had taken to putting a +revolver in his breast coat pocket before setting out for a walk or +drive. Whenever he left the house it was only in the company of his son +or escorted by a servant, and he had instructed that no one, except +those with whom he was personally acquainted, should be admitted to the +house. + +He had given, in explanation of these extraordinary precautions, the +information that he was nervous of attacks by burglars, and for some +weeks past the young man had wondered whether his father's mind had not +become deranged. Now, it naturally occurred to Laurence that the Squire +must have been expecting this attempt on his life, and the idea much +alarmed him. + +If this were so, he argued, Mr. Carrington must have some secret which +he would not even disclose to his own son. That secret, too, suppose the +suspicion had any foundation, must be one which the Squire was most +anxious to guard, for he had gone out of his way to remark upon the fear +of burglary which had caused the numerous precautions he had adopted; +and Laurence noted, too, that, in at least one way, his father's +explanation was doubtful and apparently untrue. For instance, the chance +of a burglar attempting the old gentleman's life was a very remote one. +The conviction that the Squire really had some secret, and had been +expecting and fearing some such outrage as that on the North Moor, +seemed only too well grounded. + +And then Laurence arrived at the question--Whence had the mysterious +cyclist come, and how was it that he had disappeared into the grounds of +Durley Dene? + +Laurence's suspicions on recollecting all he had heard of the occupant +of the old house were at once directed against its owner. But was the +repulsive face at the carriage window that of their unknown neighbour? + +Here, again, was some mystery. And Laurence recalled all he knew about +the neighbouring house since his father had settled down at Northden. +Its original owners were the descendants of the blue-blooded Elizabethan +dignitary who had built it. Owing to financial embarrassments the house +was sold, and fell into the hands of a crusty, miserly old scoundrel of +the name of Northcott, who had died shortly after. + +After Northcott's decease the Dene was again put up for auction, but +without being knocked down for the sum asked by the late owner's nephew, +who had claimed the property. For years it had stood empty--to some +extent a ruin--but within the last few months intelligence had reached +the villagers that the Dene had been purchased by an invalid army +man--one Major Jones-Farnell--who, in due course of time, arrived late +one night, accompanied, it was reported, by his secretary. To the +surprise and disgust of the neighbourhood, it became apparent that the +owner of Durley Dene would employ no local servants, a man and his wife +(so it was said) doing the outdoor work and cooking respectively. + +Now Laurence could not help wondering, was there not something +peculiarly suspicious about the inhabitants of the residence adjoining +his father's house? Was it possible that the advent of this Major +Jones-Farnell had caused Mr. Carrington to take the remarkable +precautions that he had? Undoubtedly his "fear of burglars" dated from +about the time of the supposed invalid's arrival in Northden. Was it +possible that----? + +But suddenly the brown study into which Laurence had fallen was +interrupted by the faint sound of someone moving among the trees that +formed an avenue leading to the old house outside which he was standing. +The disturbing noise was a faint one,--merely that of the snapping of a +twig,--but it was sufficient to cause the young man to turn and peep +over the fence in the direction whence the sound came. + +For a long time he peered into the shadows without detecting any sign of +a living creature; then he caught sight, all of a moment, of a dark +figure moving swiftly and silently between the trees nearest the +apparently uninhabited house. Laurence strove to shout and inquire what +the person was doing at such an hour; yet, for some reason, he seemed +unable to cry out or move. + +He stood there, his heart beating so loud that it seemed to outdin the +patter of the rain upon the leaves, until the mysterious figure +disappeared from view. So stealthily did it glide away that more than +once Laurence rubbed his eyes, doubting whether he had really seen +anything or only imagined that he had not been alone in the darkness of +the night. + +When the unknown figure was gone he regained his voice, and in loud +tones cried out, "Who is there?" But no reply came save the echoing +repetition of his own words, which died away gently in the swaying +tree-tops. + +He waited, glaring at the darkness. Then by chance his eye lighted upon +one of the windows of the desolate Dene. It was a bow window, thickly +curtained and draped with black. But what the midnight watcher saw--what +filled him with a sudden coldness and an incomprehensible sense of +horror--was that at one corner the curtain had been carefully drawn +aside, and that a face with the nose pressed white against the pane was +framed in the window and lighted by the moon's pale rays--a face as +brutal and awe-inspiring as it was sinister and uncanny. Only for one +moment did it remain before being withdrawn as suddenly as it had come. + +With his nerves disturbed by the events of the night, Laurence vainly +endeavoured to persuade himself that all he had seen had merely figured +in his imagination. But the memory of the silent being among the trees +and the strange face at the window was not to be effaced. And, still +pondering on these irregular nocturnal events, the young man turned on +his heel, and, reaching the Manse, was glad to place the stout oak door +of his home between himself and the weird noises and shadows of the +outside world. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +GOOD NEWS AND BAD + + +The Squire, with his marked punctuality, was down in the dining-room +when Laurence appeared next morning. He was pale and moody, carefully +avoiding any allusion to the event of the previous night. His son could +not help noticing the bulge in his coat, that betrayed the hiding-place +of Mr. Carrington's revolver. He was inclined to smile at the idea of +the old gentleman attempting to defend himself, for he had made no +effort to do so the night before. + +After breakfast, Laurence made his way into the garden for a smoke. The +day had brightened up, and the sun had made a welcome appearance in the +heavens. + +The Manse gardener was working outside one of the greenhouses, and +respectfully saluted young Carrington as he strolled up to him. + +"Well, Head," Laurence remarked, "seen anything of our mysterious +neighbours?" + +He had been careful to impress upon Kingsford and Moggin the necessity +of keeping silent about the attempt on the Squire's life, and merely +asked the question because it was one which interested him and the +gardener also. + +"Yes, sir," responded Head promptly, "we're beginning to learn something +about them. Either Major Jones, or his seckitary, or the hodd man rides +a bicycle." + +Laurence could not help staring at this intelligence. The gardener, +however, did not notice his young master's movement, and proceeded. + +"Well, you see, sir, it was this way. My little girl, she tumbled into +the nettles late last evening, and, lor! wasn't there a shindy! The wife +doctored the stings as best she could, and put the youngster to bed, she +and I following soon after. Well, about half-past ten the poor child, +not being able to sleep because of the blisters caused by the nettles, +my wife said to me, 'Head,' she says, 'just you run out and gather some +dock weed to lay on the blisters.' Up I got to do as she asked me, and +went out. You know my house, sir? Well, I was going along the hedge at +the bottom of the garden, just by the road, when I spied a cluster of +docks at the corner by the fence that cuts our garden off from the Dene. +As I was gathering some large leaves, what should I happen to do but +look over the wall and see a queer man creeping along on the other side +leading a bicycle. He jumps through a gap in the hedge, bicycle and +all, and rides off down the road. Of course in the dark I couldn't +hascertain what his features were like, sir." + +"Indeed," broke in Laurence, in a tone which was meant to signify that +the incident did not interest him so much as it really did, "and this +bicyclist of yours, from which direction did he come?" + +"I suppose he came from the house, sir; where else? Though it did strike +me as funny that he should go out of his way as he did, for he started +off in the direction of the East Cave and the Markiss's." + +"And you saw no more of him?" + +"No, sir." + +Laurence moved away in the direction of the house, whence simultaneously +there emerged old Mr. Carrington and his watch-dog, Kingsford. + +"My dear Laurence," said the former, in evident consternation, "read +this. The Marquis has just sent it over by special messenger." He handed +his son a pencil-scrawled note as he spoke. This Laurence took, and +found that it read as follows: + + "Dear CARRINGTON,-- + + "A terrible event occurred at my place last night. Shortly + after you left an alarm of 'Fire' was raised. You can + imagine the scene of disorder that resulted! I managed to + get everyone out of the way, when we found that the house + was blazing in half a dozen places. How it caught fire I + cannot even dream, but I know that, were it not for the fact + that I am well insured, I should be the most miserable + creature on earth! Nothing but blackened ruins is left of + the scene of yesterday's festivities! I am asking you to put + up Mrs. Knox and her niece, Miss Scott, since I am unable to + accommodate them. They were to be my guests for a fortnight, + and cannot return home, as their own house is in the hands + of the painter. Would you be so kind as to endeavour to + manage at least a shake-down for the two ladies for a few + days, as I do not wish to make them incur the inevitable + annoyance and expense of an hotel existence? I am staying, + and intend to do so, with Crooker, my agent, and have sent + the wife to Southsea to stay with her sister. Let me know if + you can oblige me. I believe you have met Mrs. Knox several + times at my house.--Yours, + + "MOORLAND." + +Laurence perused the letter with a faint smile on his handsome face. + +"Of course you will put them up?" he asked his father. + +"Of course!" responded the Squire; "but what do you think of the fire? +Isn't it terrible?" + +"Terrible? How so? Fires must occur sometimes!" + +"Of course, but this is the work of an incendiary!" + +"Yes, Dad, it certainly looks like it; but why should you be so alarmed +about it? The Marquis is well insured, and, if you are as frightened of +fire as you are of burglars, why, it's hardly likely that two blazes +should occur in the same district within, well, a dozen years." + +Laurence said this to pacify his father, who was almost trembling, with +either fear or horror. But he little expected the Squire's response-- + +"I was thinking how narrowly we escaped, and," the old man muttered, +half aloud, as he moved away, "how desperately this wretch is sealing my +doom!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +SELENE'S STORY + + +Laurence was an expert gardener, and, after despatching a reply to the +Marquis's letter, he had, though deep in thought, settled down to assist +Head in the greenhouses. + +"We've got a thief in this establishment," the gardener remarked, after +a lengthy pause in the conversation. + +"Oh, indeed," replied Laurence absently. He was at the moment revelling +in the prospect of Miss Selene Scott's company that afternoon, and did +not find Head's conversation remarkably entertaining. + +"Yes; my old coat has gone out of the barn since last evening--my old +coat what the missus won't let me wear except I'm haymaking. Strictly, +'tween you and me, sir, I suspects the hodd man next door!" + +Laurence was all attention at once. Anything concerning the unknown +inhabitants of the Dene was of interest to him, and he begged for +further details of the "robbery"(!) + +But Head was ready for his dinner, he said, and promptly moved off +towards the barn, to which his meal was usually brought by one of his +numerous olive-branches. Laurence followed, at the gardener's +suggestion, to be shown whence the coat had disappeared in the night! + +On the threshold of the barn a small boy was playing marbles alone. He +rose and touched his cap on catching sight of young Carrington; then, +addressing his father, informed him that "mother made you a shepherd's +pie, what you likes." + +Head walked into the barn to fetch this delicacy, but emerged a moment +later. + +"Where've you been, Tommy?" he asked. + +"Tommy" disappeared into the great building, but he also returned a +minute after with a blank look on his face. + +"I put it in there a moment ago, Daddy, and now it's gone," was his +lamentation. + +"There now, sir," said Head to Laurence, "what did I tell you about a +thief? He's stolen my dinner!" + +Laurence, feeling almost inclined to laugh, in his turn accompanied the +gardener into the barn. As he did so, he fancied he detected a rustling +in the mountains of fresh-smelling hay that rose all around. Head had +evidently heard the sound also, for he seized a pitchfork and commenced +stabbing it into the portion which appeared to be that whence the +rustling came, but with no result. + +As he poked about in the hay, the man stopped suddenly. + +"What's this?" he said, picking up something upon which his fork had +chanced. He held up to view a small revolver. + +Could it be, Laurence wondered at the sight of it, the weapon with which +the unknown stranger had attempted the life of Squire Carrington? +Disguising his pleasure at the sight of what might possibly be a clue to +the hiding-place of the Squire's would-be murderer, Laurence pocketed +the small weapon, and moved away, leaving Head to grumble over his loss. +But a subsequent scrutiny of the pistol was cut short by the arrival of +Kingsford, who announced luncheon. Almost simultaneously a carriage +bearing the Marquis of Moorland's coat of arms drove up the avenue, and +deposited two ladies and a couple of small portmanteaux on the doorstep. +The butler proceeded to open the door, and, perceiving that the visitors +were Miss Scott and her aunt, ushered them into the drawing-room, where +Laurence quickly joined them. As the young man entered the room he heard +his father's voice call over the banisters to the butler: + +"Don't let any one in; pray don't; bar the door. Say that I have got a +pistol ready. What? Mrs. Knox and Miss Scott? Oh, that's all right. I +thought it was a--a burglar!" + +A sigh of relief followed, and, after a moment or two, the Squire, +looking paler and more miserable than ever, arrived in the drawing-room. + +All through lunch he remained silent except when spoken to, while +Laurence was being charmed by Miss Scott's graphic description of the +fire, and Mrs. Knox paid undivided attention to the sumptuous repast +laid out on the table. + +"But the funniest thing of all, Mr. Carrington," said the young lady to +Laurence during the course of the conversation, "was that when I was +going down to supper, I happened to look out into the garden from a +landing window, when what should I see but a figure creeping along the +side of the house. Well, as auntie will tell you, if there's anything +I'm frightened of it's a tramp. This looked like either a burglar or a +tramp, but I knew that he daren't break in with all the servants and +guests about, so I didn't mention the fact to anyone. To me it looks as +if the person I saw had something to do with the dreadful fire, but why +he should want to murder us all I should very much like to know. Well, +but that isn't all. Soon after you'd gone--you went so awfully early, +you know--I happened to go out on to the covered-in verandah for a +breath of fresh air, and was talking very privately to Maggie +Haroldsworth. I had just mentioned to her that you had gone" (Miss Scott +blushed as she noticed the colour rise to Laurence's cheeks at the +mention of his name in the "very private" conversation) "mentioned that +you and the Squire had gone, when suddenly the same figure I had seen +before sprang up from some bushes, almost underneath where we stood, and +dashed off into the shrubbery. The lawn was quite dark, so that I could +not see very well what the person was like, but Maggie insisted that it +was a woman with coloured skirts, though I doubt if it really was, for +no woman I ever saw ran like that figure did." + +At this point Squire Carrington roused himself from the state of +lethargy into which he had fallen, and looked up, paying some attention +to vivacious Miss Scott's story. + +"Another thing Maggie insisted on, was that she distinctly saw the +mysterious creature's features. She told me all about it afterwards, +when we were bundling out of the house, for the alarm was raised before +we had stopped talking about the woman--if it really was one. Well, she +says that the light from one of the basement rooms fell on this +creature's face as it dashed out of the bushes, and that she could take +her dying oath it was a black woman! Why, Mr. Carrington, what's the +matter? Mr. Laurence, Auntie, the Squire has fainted!" + +For the second time within twenty-four hours Squire Carrington had +fallen forward in a dead faint! + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE FIRST ENCOUNTER + + +Only for a few minutes did the Squire remain unconscious. Before his son +had time to lift him, with the butler's aid, upon a convenient sofa, he +had opened his eyes in a nervous fashion, and asked where he was. It was +with mingled feelings of pity and contempt that Laurence told him he was +safe at home. The old gentleman's extraordinary behaviour displeased his +son, who regretted that such an incident had occurred in the presence of +the ladies (though in his thoughts Mrs. Knox had but a small place), and +was especially annoyed, because it seemed to him that his father's +sudden embarrassment was the result of some remark of Miss Scott's, +though exactly what remark it was that had caused an elderly man, and a +magistrate to boot, to faint like a servant girl or a delicate child was +as much a mystery to him as the events of the previous night, and the +Squire's extraordinary precautions during the last few months. + +No sooner had Mr. Carrington recovered, then, than, at his son's +suggestion, he retired to his own room, expressing a hope that he would +renew his acquaintance with the ladies at dinner. + +Mrs. Knox belonged to the noble army of "after-lunch nappers," and she, +too, presently disappeared at the conclusion of the meal, leaving +Laurence inwardly congratulating himself on the good fortune that +removed the worthy old lady to her bedroom, permitting him to do the +honours of the house to her niece alone. + +At the girl's suggestion, a visit to the conservatories and flower +gardens was the first event of the afternoon. But the day was warm, and +two easy-chairs placed temptingly on the lawn proved a greater +attraction than the walk which had been proposed by good Mrs. Knox. + +"Well, and what is your opinion about this fire, Mr. Carrington?" asked +Selene Scott, after a pause in the conversation. + +"In my opinion it seems very much like a case of incendiarism," replied +Laurence. + +"So I imagine, and--why do you think your father was so upset when I +mentioned the person I saw in the Marquis's garden last night?" + +Laurence did not reply for a moment. He was deliberating with himself as +to whether he should confide in his fair companion all he knew about the +old gentleman's fears, the affair on the moor, and the mysterious +inmates of Durley Dene. It was more than possible that a sharp, +intelligent girl, like Miss Scott seemed to be, might prove of +considerable assistance to him in his efforts to account for the +Squire's precautions and the uncanny attempts on his life. + +On the other hand, he knew women to be credited with the bump of +loquacity, and it was far from his intentions that his father should get +to know of the efforts he was making to unravel the mystery surrounding +old Mr. Carrington's terrible dread. In a conversation he had had that +morning with the Squire, on being pressed by Laurence to confess that +his fear was of something more than burglars, Mr. Carrington had begged +his son not to allude to the subject at all. He could not, he said, and +he would not, explain what the secret of his life was. "Even had I a +secret, it were better," he had proceeded to say, "for your own sake, +Laurence, that you did not know that secret, and it is useless for you +to try and extract an explanation from me of my proceedings. And," he +had added, as though fearing he had said too much, "you are wrong in +imagining that my fear of burglars is a cloak for something else. I am, +indeed, in mortal fear of--a--housebreaker!" + +Consequently Laurence knew that it was useless to obtain a solution of +the puzzle from his father, and, to the best of his knowledge, no one +could supply that solution but--possibly the mysterious bicyclist, and +the equally mysterious Major Jones-Farnell, who, Laurence was convinced, +were one and the same. + +Therefore, it would certainly be easier, he argued, were he to work hand +in hand with another person who might be likely to help him in his +detective efforts. And the collaboration was likely to be more +particularly pleasant when it was with such a companion as the young +girl at his side! + +Thus it came about that, after a promise of the strictest secrecy, +Selene was given a concise "précis" of all the incidents that Laurence +deemed to be in any way connected with Squire Carrington's secret and +the mystery of Durley Dene. + +The girl followed the narrative with the deepest interest. + +"Thank you so much for confiding in me," she said at the conclusion. "I +hope you will never have cause to regret unbosoming yourself. There is +one thing," she went on, "that, it is quite plain, must be done." + +"And that is to beard the lion in his den?" suggested Laurence. + +"Exactly. We must pay an informal call upon Major Jones-Farnell, and +hear what he has to say for himself." + +"That is easier said than done, I am afraid, Miss Scott," said Laurence, +shaking his head; "he's a mysterious person in every respect. Why, there +are four people living in the house, or supposed to be four, and yet but +one of these (an old woman, who won't open her mouth, except to hurl +imprecations at the village children when they cry after her) has ever +been seen abroad in daytime. Then you must include in your list the +creature I saw at the window, and the unknown bicyclist who doesn't wear +boots, or, if he does, wears them under his socks, who, presumably, was +also the person I saw in the garden; and that's all you know about +Durley Dene. I believe the 'hodd man,' as our gardener calls one of the +four residents, has been seen at night-time strolling about the grounds +and smoking, but no one seems to have caught a glimpse of his face." + +"Then," broke in the girl, "how does anybody know that there are four +people at all?" + +"That's smart of you, Miss Scott," replied Carrington, "but the +house-agent's confidential clerk evidently considered it part of his +duties to betray the confidence placed in him by passing the news on to +a friend. That friend told his friend, and now everyone is aware of the +fact." + +"Ah! But, on consideration, don't you think there is one course open to +us which is better, and perhaps safer, than 'bearding' the Major in his +weird den?" + +"No, I can't say that I do." + +"There now, I'm a better detective than you! Why, we'll get the sour old +lady who indulges in profanity to solve the mystery for us." + +"But how? She's as silent as the grave!" + +"Yes; and so probably will the Major be, but surely you have heard that +if a detective knows he has to obtain certain information either from a +man or a woman, he first goes for the woman? You know the saying, 'Woman +is weak'? Well, perhaps this crusty old lady is no exception to the +rule. She may be assailable by bribes, or possibly by threats; but, in +any case, it will be easier to attack her, metaphorically speaking, than +the men in their own castle, to which it would probably be impossible +for us to gain access." + +Laurence agreed. The idea, hardly practicable as it seemed to be, was at +any rate better than his own of going straight to the seat of the +mystery and showing his hand in an interview, which he might or might +not be allowed, with Major Jones-Farnell. + +Further conversation between the young people decided them that no +better means of attempting the solution was possible. + +The first question to be decided was where the "tackling," as Laurence +called it, of the old woman should take place, how the scheme should be +worked, and when it was possible for a start to be made. + +For many reasons, the pair argued, it would be as well to set to work as +soon as possible, since the first attempt on the Squire's life might at +any moment be followed up by a second, and perhaps even more desperate +effort. + +There could be little doubt but that the position of anyone who +attempted to frustrate the hidden enemy's murderous attempts was one of +danger, and for this reason Laurence regretted, when too late, that Miss +Scott should have elected to share that risk with him. In vain did he +suggest that she should not endanger herself in any way, but remain +behind the scenes, pulling the strings of the manoeuvre by means of +her suggestions and ready advice. She would have none of it. She was +equally interested in the case as was her companion, and as to any +question of endangering her life, she said that she had no fears on that +account, since the mere encounter with a harmless old woman was hardly +likely to prove a hazardous adventure. + +At this stage of the important discussion afternoon tea and Mrs. Knox +appeared on the scene, so, for the moment, further conversation on any +but ordinary subjects was impossible. + +After tea, however, the elder lady, explaining that she had letters to +write, again begged to be excused from accompanying the young people. So +once more were they at liberty to resume their conversation. + +Laurence, in the meantime, had been able, by a judiciously worded +question, to learn from the butler that the mysterious woman from the +Dene was in the habit of doing her marketing on Tuesday evenings. Since +this was a Tuesday, an opportunity would probably arrive very shortly +for the proposed encounter with that lady. It was therefore necessary +that they should decide their plan of action without delay. And this +they proceeded to do, while taking a walk round the orchards, that +stretched for half a mile downwards behind the house. + +By the time they returned to the Manse it was within an hour of +dinner-time, so each hurried away to dress for a long and formal meal, +that proved to be somewhat tedious to the young people, very agreeable, +owing to its sumptuousness, to good Mrs. Knox, and evidently a mere +matter of form to the Squire, who sat motionless in his chair almost +from the beginning to the end of dinner, hardly addressing a single word +to his guests, or partaking of so much as a taste of the numerous +delicacies placed, one after another, before him. It will have already +been noticed that Mrs. Knox was not an exemplary chaperon, or perhaps +she considered that Selene, or Lena, as the old lady called her, was +sufficiently sensible to be able to take care of herself; or it is even +possible that she was an expert match-maker. At any rate, she either did +not notice, or did not mind, when, at the conclusion of the stately +repast, and on the departure of the Squire to his own room, her charge, +hurriedly donning a hat and cloak, left the house with Laurence +Carrington. Had she known the intentions of the pair, she might have +raised some objections, though anything that did not conduce to peace +and quiet was hardly to Matilda Knox's liking! + +On leaving the grounds of the Manse, taking as they did so a casual +glance at the tumble-down, ivy-coated walls of the dingy neighbouring +house, the two excited young people turned off towards the lower part of +the village, where the few shops that the place boasted were to be +found. + +It was after nine o'clock, and beginning to grow dark. On the village +green one or two stalls, surmounted by glaring "flames," were to be +seen. + +Country women in picturesque costumes, and accompanied by a varied +number of small children, roamed about the street, gossiping loudly and +unceasingly, and laughing heartily, when, in their opinion, occasion +required. + +Laurence and his interested companion quickly intermingled with this +motley throng, eagerly on the alert, the one to catch a glimpse of the +woman whom he had already seen on such occasions as this, the other +depending upon her keen intuition to pick out from the rest of the crowd +the person of whom they were in search. + +For some time they sought in vain, and Laurence was beginning to fear +that the woman had already returned to the Dene with her purchases of +frugal provisions, when a harsh voice at his elbow caused him to turn +sharply, and confront none other than the cloaked and closely hooded +servant from the mysterious house. + +"Keep close to her," he whispered to Selene. "We must follow her about, +so that she doesn't give us the slip, but it will be impossible to speak +to her until we get out of this crowd and into the quiet road." + +They had not long to wait. After making a few purchases at the grocer's +and butcher's shops (in both of which she was received with rude stares +and uncomplimentary remarks, made aside), she entered the saddler's, +emerging a moment later with a stout dog-whip. + +What was the meaning of this last purchase? Laurence wondered. To the +best of his knowledge they kept no animals about the Dene, certainly no +dogs, which would surely have made their presence known very quickly by +howls, or wanderings into the adjoining estate. Here there seemed to be +yet another mystery. + +The woman had evidently finished her shopping for the day. She turned +and hurried off in the direction of her destination, closely followed by +Laurence and Lena. Already they had left the shops behind them, and +reached a quiet turn of the road, almost within sight of the Manse, when +the woman, who was stout and tall, and carried a market-basket, +deliberately turned round and faced them. + +"What do you want with me?" she asked, in a hoarse voice. + +Her sudden action caused Laurence to forget the carefully worded +denunciation he had decided upon. For a moment the young man could not +reply. + +"When the children come a-following of me I box their ears for them," +the woman went on in a loud, sneering tone; "take care I don't do the +same to you!" + +Her sarcastic words enraged young Carrington beyond measure. He took one +step towards the scowling creature. + +"Be careful," he said, suggestively raising a warning finger, "or I'll +put the police on your track. There's something underhand going on at +Durley Dene, and, if you don't tell me what it is, I will obtain a +search-warrant, and then we will see who is going to be punished." + +The woman started at his opening words, but as he went on, heedlessly +confessing in his anger his ignorance of what actually was the secret of +the Dene, she recovered herself, and sprang forward suddenly at the +young man. + +"Take that for your impertinence," she hissed, striking him a savage +blow on the chest with the clenched fist of her left hand. Then, turning +sharply round, she clutched at her print skirts, and fled precipitately +down the road, disappearing in quick time into the grounds of Durley +Dene. But in her activity, and when she had made the sudden attack upon +him, Laurence noticed that the dark hood which had covered her head and +effectually shrouded her face had been thrust aside. He almost gasped +with astonishment when he perceived that the villainous countenance he +was now at liberty to scrutinise was that which he had seen on the +previous night pressed against one of the windows of the Dene. + +He had hardly recovered from his surprise when Lena, after satisfying +herself that he was in no way hurt, turned to him. + +"Mr. Carrington," she said, "the mystery deepens. It was a man in +disguise, and no woman, that struck you so determined a blow." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE HAUNTED BARN AND ITS STRANGE INHABITANT + + +With the discovery that the servant from the Dene was without doubt a +man in disguise, the mystery surrounding the house adjoining the +Squire's residence was considerably deepened instead of being in any way +solved. + +Laurence Carrington, as, smarting under the burly housewife's blow, he +conducted his companion back to the Manse, hardly fulfilled his duties +as host in silently meditating as to his next step. Suddenly he +recollected himself. + +"Excuse me, Miss Scott," he said apologetically. "This discovery has +rather alarmed me, and for the moment I almost forgot that I was not +alone. Come, it is getting late, and your aunt will be worrying about +you. You must try and forget all about this skeleton in father's +cupboard. It will be giving you bad dreams, and that would never do." + +But if the young man charged Selene to think no more, for the present, +about the uncanny state of affairs, he was unable, or did not intend, +to allow this first reverse to put an end to his attempts at the +solution of the mystery. Having wished Miss Scott and her aunt +"good-night" on their departure to bed, he lighted his pipe and stepped +out through the French windows of the dining-room on to the lawn. +Fumbling unconsciously in one of the pockets of his shooting-jacket, +which he had worn during the day and donned after dinner before starting +off for the village, his hand came in contact with the small pistol +which Head, the gardener, had found amongst the hay in the barn. + +So many and varied had the events of the day been that he had almost +forgotten the incidents of the stolen dinner and the rustling in the +hay. Now it appeared to him that here was the most important clue he had +as to the identity of the attempted murderer of the Squire. It seemed to +him extremely possible that this was the weapon used by the unknown +cyclist, for whose else could it possibly be, when no one in any way +connected with the Manse carried firearms, except the Squire, whose +blunderbus was certainly not to be mistaken for this? Careful +examination of the pistol failed, however, to reveal any sign of the +maker's name, and the hope which had risen in Laurence's breast gave way +to a feeling of disappointment. + +But a question of deepest importance that suggested itself to the +amateur investigator was how it was that, if the strange cyclist came +from the adjoining house, he had ventured into the barn which stood well +within the Manse grounds. Had he been some chance enemy--the poacher, +for instance, whom Laurence had already set down as a possible +suspect--there was nothing more probable than that he should have taken +refuge in the barn, but in the other case it was hardly likely. + +One thing was undeniable, he had been there. Whoever the mysterious +person was, he had stolen the gardener's plate of dinner and likewise +his old coat. It certainly seemed improbable that Major Jones-Farnell, +would-be murderer or no, should stoop to the robbery of old clothes and +food. The poacher idea rose in the young man's mind, but was at once +dismissed as out of the question. The Squire's secret had to do with +something or somebody more mysterious by far than a mere poacher. + +If the intruder had been in the barn at lunch-time, it was possible that +he might be there still, though he had certainly disappeared completely +before the gardener's manoeuvres with the pitchfork. + +At any rate, Laurence decided to have a look round before going to bed, +and consequently strolled down to the barn and crept noiselessly inside. +The moonshine peeped in from a roof window, lighting up the whole of one +side of the fine old rambling building as though it were broad daylight. +Puffing silently at his pipe, Laurence glanced round, peering up into +the rafters, down on the floor, and into the loosely piled hay that +surrounded him. + +Suddenly, by that strange instinctive intuition that comes at times to +us all, he became aware and convinced of the fact that he was not +alone--that some one was looking at him! + +Strive as he might to dispel the eerie idea from him he was unable to do +so. + +Under such circumstances, and bearing in mind the incidents of the last +two days, any ordinary person might have turned tail and fled. But +Laurence was no ordinary person, and he was as keen on the scent of his +father's enemy as the traditional bloodhound. Thus it was that, instead +of taking to flight from what was only an imaginary fear, he struck a +match and held it above his head, gazing round him again for any trace +of the person who he instinctively felt was watching him. + +A second and a third match revealed nothing; but by the light of the +fourth he scanned what was perhaps the darkest and remotest corner of +the Cromwellian building. As he did so he fancied he saw something move +on a ledge on which a roof support was fixed. In order to test his +suspicions, he picked up a "stone," used for sharpening scythes, which +happened to be on the ground in front of him, and flung it with all his +athletic force and precision of aim at the indistinct mass which he +believed to have moved a moment before. + +A sudden shrill scream, about which there was something that (to use a +well-worn phrase) froze the young fellow's blood with horror, broke upon +the stillness of the great building, a scream which Laurence at once +recognised as being exactly similar to that which the unknown cyclist +had uttered when the lash of the carriage whip had caught him as he had +fled away into the darkness. + +And as that weird sound rent the air, the man who had caused it saw +indistinctly in the gloom (for his last match had burnt itself out) a +figure leap from the dark corner, and, with ape-like agility and speed, +clamber up the rafters until it almost hung from the roof. Then, seizing +some loose hay that had lodged in a cranny in the beams, it flung it +down on the upturned face of the astonished spectator of this feat. + +When Laurence had brushed away the hay from his eyes, the figure had +disappeared, and, incredible though it may seem, no trace of it +remained but the memory of that echoing, inarticulate shriek to prove +that the apparition was not a mere phantom of the imagination. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE SILENT HOUSE AND THE FOLKS THAT DWELT THERE + + +A sleepless night was Laurence's portion when, tired out, he flung +himself upon his bed. + +The mystery was deepening in an alarming fashion, and its intricacies +were such as did not conduce to quiet sleep. That he had at last +actually encountered his father's enemy he was quite convinced, but he +was no nearer being able to account for the strange creature's enmity or +even to recognise its identity than before he had met with this last +adventure. + +A few facts about the unknown creature were very apparent. Firstly, it +was strangely agile and cunning; secondly, its voice was as remarkable +as its agility, which was hardly human; thirdly, it was in possession of +a bicycle, and yet was unable to obtain food and clothing without having +recourse to theft; fourthly, it was of peculiarly small stature for a +man; and lastly, it was able to use firearms, but with the loss of the +pistol it had probably been deprived of its only offensive weapon, +since it had not ventured to attack its assailant in the barn. + +Laurence used the word "it" because he was in no way decided in his own +mind as to whether the thing was a man, a woman, or, the idea occurred +to him, neither of these two. Not that he believed it to be something +that was not human, but because the marvellous manner in which it had +scaled the barn walls was so suggestive of the monkey race. The idea +that the creature in the barn was a species of monkey he at once +decided, of course, to be absurd. A monkey might have stolen the missing +coat and dinner, have thrown the hay down in order to cover its retreat, +and have uttered that piercing shriek on being hurt, but it was hardly +likely to be able either to ride a bicycle or use a pistol. + +That it was a woman was more possible, and the young investigator's +foundation for the idea was the remark of Miss Scott that her friend had +declared the person lurking in the Marquis's garden to be a black woman +"with coloured skirts." This remark, it will be remembered, was very +probably the cause of the Squire's sudden illness at luncheon, shortly +after the arrival of Mrs. Knox and her niece. + +A woman might have performed all the feats that the unknown person had. +She might have set light to the Marquis's house, believing the Squire to +be yet in the building; she might have followed the carriage on a +bicycle on discovering that the man she was dogging had left (though how +she came to have a bicycle was a mystery in itself); she might have +"held up" the carriage and attempted to murder the old gentleman; and it +was just as possible (or impossible) for her to clamber up the barn wall +as for a man to do so. To be sure, she must be a very remarkable woman. +Since she was "black," she might be a negress or certainly some +foreigner. Uncivilised and fierce she certainly was. But how came it +that a negress (if such were the case) had so bitter an enmity against +the harmless old Squire that it was the cause of all Mr. Carrington's +careful precautions, and of the spirited attack on the high road? The +mystery seemed hopelessly incapable of solution. + +Morning came at last, and found Laurence no further advanced with his +investigations. At one time he had decided to summon a detective, but +recollecting how the Squire would take such an intrusion he considered +it advisable to work alone. + +What the relations of the woman (suppose it to be a woman) in the barn +and the disguised man who had purchased the dog whip were, he had not +yet ventured to guess, but one thing was quite plain: they were in some +way connected. + +A fruitless effort had been made to attempt the solution of the problem +through the "woman" servant in the Dene. Equally impossible would it be +to obtain any information from the Squire. The idea of conversing in any +way with the woman (?) in the barn (even if she were yet hiding there) +was more than ridiculous. Consequently, the original scheme was the only +one left which seemed in any way possible. + +Laurence felt that the sole remaining course open to him was to +interview "Major Jones-Farnell"! + +During breakfast (at which meal the Squire did not appear) he cast all +meditation and worry aside for the time being, and set himself to the +task of entertaining the two ladies. Mrs. Knox, however, wanted little +entertainment. A good breakfast was quite sufficient for her! + +With Lena it was different. Two of her greatest charms were her vivacity +and the brilliancy of her conversation, and both these characteristics +were brought into play during the breakfast-table talk that ensued--talk +that naturally enough, in Mrs. Knox's presence, contained no allusion to +the subject uppermost in Laurence's mind, if not in that of both. +Consequently, the morning meal was prolonged to a somewhat unusual +length. The young man could not help thinking that (in his own words) +but for the mystery which he had set himself to solve, he would be +"making a fool of himself and falling in love." + +He was certainly given plenty of opportunities to do so, for Mrs. Knox +made a point of retiring, as was her custom, at the conclusion of +breakfast, after charging Lena to write a line to the Marchioness of +Moorlands asking if she could be of any assistance to that lady or her +husband in their present uncomfortable position. + +"I'll get the letter written first of all," said Miss Scott to Laurence, +after her aunt's departure, "and then you must show me some more of your +lovely country. As a letter takes me about three-quarters of an hour to +compose, I should recommend you to devote that short period of +recreation to having a quiet smoke by yourself! Then, after your play, +you can prepare yourself for some good hard work, for I want to be shown +the woods, the church, and everything else there is worth seeing in the +neighbourhood." And with a smile she bustled away upstairs. + +Here was Laurence's opportunity. If he waited until Lena's return she +would probably insist upon accompanying him on his visit to Durley +Dene. This he did not mean to allow. If, as he deemed very possible, +the visit might not be without a dangerous element, Miss Scott must +certainly not share that danger. So, without any hesitation, Carrington +took his cap, and, leaving the house, made his way by a short cut to the +entrance of the Dene. The gate was not locked, so he passed through, +walked with a bold step up the dark avenue of swaying firs, and, +entering the ruined old porch, pulled the rusty handle of the bell with +energy. + +A distant clang disturbed the weird silence of the seemingly deserted +mansion, but the bell was not answered, though Laurence waited for many +minutes, deliberating in his mind the course of action he should take +when admitted. + +Once again he gripped the bell-pull, and dragged it out of its socket as +far as it would go. Once again, too, did the harsh sound re-echo from +within. This time the clang had hardly died away before a noise of +shuffling footsteps was distinctly audible to Laurence's alert ear. The +footsteps approached, the sound betraying the fact that the stone floor +of the lobby was uncarpeted. Then there followed the metallic click of a +bolt being drawn back, and the door swung open until slightly ajar. +Laurence saw that the porter, whoever he was, had carefully fastened it +with a chain that allowed an aperture of a few feet only. +Simultaneously he saw part of a face that was glaring out at him. Though +the interior of the house seemed uncommonly dark, he was able to +recognise the features of the person in the doorway as those of the +disguised man whom he had encountered on the highroad the previous +night! + +"Well, what do you want?" was the gruff greeting that proceeded from +within. + +"I wish to see Major Jones-Farnell," replied Laurence coldly. + +"Oh, then he can't see you," came the reply, and the door was about to +close again. + +"Wait," cried Carrington, placing his foot against it; "I'm your +neighbour, the Squire's son, and I am desirous of making the Major's +acquaintance." + +"I tell you, you can't see him. He's engaged. Take your foot away." + +"All in good time, my friend. Do I understand that you refuse to take my +message to Major Jones-Farnell?" + +"That's about it. And, d'yer hear, take your foot out of the doorway, or +I'll put it out for you." + +"Be very careful, my good man," exclaimed Laurence. "I know who you are. +You're the man who struck me last night when disguised as a woman. I +know you. There's something mysterious going on in this house, and I +shall not stop until I've solved it. Admit me at once to your master, or +whoever the owner of this house is, or I go at once to the police and +obtain an order to search the place on suspicion. My father is a +magistrate----" + +"So you think there's a mystery about this house, do you? Well, you're +finely mistaken this time, my beauty. Even if there was a mystery it +would take more than the likes of you to get to the bottom of it." + +So saying, by sheer force the man thrust Laurence's foot back, banged +the door, and shut down the bolt, leaving young Carrington in the same +atmosphere of mystery as before. + +And after the shuffling footsteps had died away down the corridor, +unbroken silence once more fell upon Durley Dene. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE MAJOR'S MESSAGE AND HOW IT WAS DELIVERED + + +Selene Scott had finished her correspondence when Laurence reappeared on +the lawn of the Manse, and was waiting, ready dressed, to go for the +promised walk. + +"Where have you been?" she asked, evidently guessing from Laurence's +face that something unusual had happened. "Tell me, you surely have not +visited your neighbours without me? You promised, didn't you, that you +would take me to see this mysterious Major of yours?" + +There was only one thing to do, Laurence decided, and that was to +confess that he had taken another step in his investigations. Miss Scott +was much interested in his experience, slight though it was. She plainly +showed her displeasure though, because she had not herself been +permitted to have a share in the adventure. "The old fossil of a porter +might have acted quite differently when a real live lady was standing on +the doorstep," she said, with a smile. "Promise me, now," she added, +"that if you go again you will let me accompany you. I am just as +interested as you are, and quite as good a detective." + +But Laurence politely refused to give the required promise. He foretold +experiences far less pleasant than those that had already passed, before +he would be able to say that he held the key to the mystery of his +father's strange dread. When he recollected that Lena was a guest, and +that her connection with the extraordinary state of affairs was unknown +to her aunt and guardian, Mrs. Knox, he felt that he would be doing +wrong to make a promise such as the girl asked. + +However, as he had already confided in her the history of the whole +series of events that had happened during the last few days (and he +regretted that he had done so when it was too late) there was no harm in +relating the story of his adventure in the barn on the previous night. +But Lena was no more able to account for the queer creature's antics +than he had been, though she agreed that there was a possibility of that +creature and the woman in coloured skirts (the mere mention of whom had +caused the Squire to faint) being one and the same. + +The engrossing subject of what both rightly called "the" mystery filled +their minds, and throughout the long ramble in the Northden Woods that +occupied the best part of the morning, no other topic of conversation +was so much as touched upon. Yet in spite of this fact, Laurence felt +that Lena was becoming more to him than a mere guest--a companion +amateur detective! + +A few minutes yet remained before luncheon, when the two found +themselves back in the Manse grounds again, so Laurence fetched a couple +of basket chairs on to the lawn, which was a small one, lying at the +back of the house, and they sat down in the shadow of a monster holly +bush, that was one of the most striking features of the place. From this +spot they could obtain a mere glimpse of the tiled roof of Durley Dene, +through a break in the line of bushes that, with a palisade of stout +iron stakes, separated the grounds of the neighbouring houses. The holly +bush must have stood at least sixty or eighty yards from the boundary +line. + +The young people had hardly ensconced themselves beneath the welcome +shadow of the tree (for in height and size it was more like a tree than +a bush) when suddenly something fell with a hard "plomp" on the soft +turf, and rolled almost to their feet. + +Laurence started up with an exclamation of surprise, and Lena also rose +to her feet. + +"What is it?" she asked, and her companion hastily picked up the round +white ball that had caused her remark. + +Whence it had come was a mystery. No one was near. Judging from the +direction in which it had rolled on reaching the ground, it must have +been despatched, either from the barn or the laurel bushes that bounded +the grounds. + +It was heavy for its size, and Laurence, on examination, found it to be +something wrapped in a piece of white paper, which was tightly fastened +round it. Lena leaned over him, curious and excited, as he proceeded to +peel off the paper. When he did so, out dropped an ordinary round +pebble. + +"There, it's only a hoax!" cried Lena, looking quite disappointed. + +"No, no," answered Laurence: "there's something on the inside of the +paper." He smoothed the white sheet out on his knee, and then read aloud +what was marked upon it in a small, shaky handwriting. + +"Before calling in the police please pay me another visit, when I will +see you, provided you come alone, and after dark.--J. F." + +"Jones-Farnell," exclaimed Lena, and for a moment or two neither of them +spoke. + +"Of course you won't go," said the girl, after the brief pause. + +"Of course I will, Miss Scott," replied Laurence promptly. + +"But--oh, won't it be too risky for you to go--alone?" + +"I hope I shall be able to take care of myself, Miss Scott." + +"Yes, but----" + +"But?" + +"Suppose it's some trap to--murder you," whispered Lena. "Look at that +letter. It is sent in a most mysterious fashion by a man you've never +seen. It tells you to come alone and after dark. Doesn't that look +frightfully suspicious? Don't you see that if they have got some secret, +or are carrying on, as I shrewdly guess, some illegal occupation, what, +Heaven only knows, don't you see, if this is so, and they know that you +suspect them and are making investigations, that it will be greatly to +their advantage to have you out of the way? You know what I mean." + +"Yes, I understand your argument, and appreciate your good sense, but +I'm sorry that I cannot take your advice. The matter, I feel confident, +is one of life and death to my poor father. Is it not only natural that +I should risk my own life for his, particularly when I am a strong man +and he old and getting infirm? Besides, there may be no risk after all. +We may be mistaken, though I can't see how. At any rate, it is my duty +to go to-night----" + +"To-night! Oh, not so soon, surely----" + +"Procrastination, you know, Miss Scott, is the thief of time. To-morrow +may be too late. Hourly, almost, I am dreading a second attempt on the +poor old Squire's life, and if I keep my appointment to-night I may yet +be in time to save him." + +"But let me go with you. Do, please!" Lena cried, pleadingly. + +"No, no, you must not endanger yourself. What would Mrs. Knox say?" + +"I don't care what auntie says in the least, and----" she stopped short. + +"Tell me," Laurence cried, as he turned to his young companion and, +looking into her clear blue eyes, where he fancied he saw a glistening +tear, forgot everything, his father, himself, and the mystery that was +deepening around them, "tell me, why do you say this, why do you mind my +going? What can it matter to you? Is it, tell me I am right, that you +are urged by the same feelings that I am when I refuse to take you with +me? Say 'yes,' and you will make me the happiest being on this earth, +for the reason why I will not allow you to endanger your dear life is +because I love you." + +The effect of Laurence's confession of love on Lena in fiction would +doubtless have been the dramatic and time-honoured remark on the +"suddenness" of the declaration, but this was not the reception she gave +to the young man's passionate outburst. + +"Laurence," she said, and the pronunciation by her lips of his Christian +name thrilled him with pleasure, "Laurence, when the mystery is solved, +when you return safe from your interview to-day, then, and not till +then, will I give you my answer." + +She paused to catch her breath. With difficulty she had been able to +pronounce the words that in cold print appear more formal and +unsatisfactory than they seemed to Laurence, intoned as they were by the +gentle voice of the woman he loved. + +For the moment she was transformed from a laughing, vivacious girl to a +silent and thoughtful woman. + +How much in her own opinion the coming visit to Durley Dene meant to her +she alone knew. She dared not betray her love for her new companion, +though it was manifest in her eyes as she glanced at him; then, looking +down, interested herself in the progress of a worm on the turf. What +was the secret that might--that probably would--be revealed in a few +brief hours? Since it seemed that a woman was concerned, might not the +grim skeleton in the cupboard prove to be a disgraceful as well as a +gruesome one? And then? How often are not the sins of the fathers +visited upon the innocent children? + +And that was why she paused and refused her answer. Had not the lover +been blind, as is the love-god himself, he would have read that answer +as plainly as though it had been given in words. But Laurence, at any +rate, felt he could not be discouraged. He had not been met with a blank +refusal. + +He caught Lena's little ungloved hand, bent down, and kissed it +tenderly. + +And as he did so the gong sounded for lunch, and they made their way +back to the house, where they met the Squire for the first time that day +in the dining-room. The old man's spirits contained something of their +old joviality. At the meal he was once more, to some slight extent, the +courteous, old-fashioned host and gentleman that he had been a few +months back. Laurence heartily rejoiced at the change in his father's +behaviour. Lena noticed it too. Mrs. Knox might perhaps have done so +also had the viands been less palatable or her appetite less hearty. The +cause of the transformation was unknown to any of them, but Laurence +guessed very rightly that the Squire's dread of his strange enemy had +been lessened by the fact that no second attack had been attempted. As a +matter of fact, Mr. Carrington was beginning to hope that his assailant +of two days ago had departed under the impression that the victim had +been killed by the cowardly shot fired into the coach as it crossed the +moor. + +Had he been able to glance into the mysterious future and learn what the +events of the coming night were to be, it is possible that his behaviour +would have been very different. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE AFFAIR OF THE BICYCLE + + +To the amazement of the venerable butler, Mr. Carrington intimated his +intention of taking a drive in the closed carriage that afternoon. Mrs. +Knox offered to accompany him. Lena, perforce, went too. For reasons +that need not be explained to the reader who has followed this +narrative, the Squire thought it fit to order that the footman should +ride on the box of the carriage, an order which considerably annoyed +that worthy, who, having never received similar instructions before, +being an indoor servant, had planned a quiet perambulation with a +certain young lady of his acquaintance. + +Laurence did not accompany the party. He was not fond of driving in the +closed carriage, and even though he deprived himself of the +companionship of Lena by refusing the Squire's invitation, he did not +greatly regret the fact, for at home there were many matters which +required his attention. + +The first of these was the barn itself, to which he repaired on the +departure of the carriage. He was determined to make every effort +possible to discover the manner of the disappearance of the creature +whom he believed to be his father's intended murderer. In broad daylight +it was difficult to imagine that his grotesque experience of the +previous night was stern reality. + +With the aid of a step-ladder he swung himself on to the ledge where +first he had caught sight of the lurking creature. To further follow in +the stranger's footsteps he found quite impossible, but by other means +he managed to reach the spot whence the hay had been thrown down upon +him in order to conceal the vanishing figure's disappearance. But, +search as he might, he was unable to discover any clue to the manner of +that disappearance. No hiding-place was apparent. Certainly there was no +crack or crevice in the roof in which it was possible for even a child +to conceal itself. So, perforce, Laurence had to set this down also as a +mystery, when he gave up the search and disconsolately returned to the +house. + +His next step was to prepare himself for the interview with the occupant +of Durley Dene. Lena's common sense had assured him that the ordeal of +the coming night might in all probability be attended by a certain +amount of personal danger, and he decided to arm himself to the best of +his ability before setting out to interview Major Jones-Farnell. He had +the small pistol found in the barn on the previous day, but, +unfortunately, was not supplied with the necessary ammunition. There +was, however, still plenty of time before dinner, so Laurence, not +objecting to a little exercise, decided to ride over to East Cave, where +he knew there was a gunsmith. + +Carrington was a fairly accomplished cyclist, and the possessor of a +machine, which he occasionally rode, though more usually his "mount" was +a live one. His bicycle was kept in a shed adjoining the barn, and +situated nearer the Dene boundary than the larger building. + +Strolling down to this shed, he found the door unlocked. As he alone +possessed a key to it he was somewhat astonished on making this +discovery, but his astonishment gave place to a feeling of consternation +when he entered the building to find that the machine was gone! + +And then in an instant an idea flashed across his brain. The unknown man +on the moor who had so desperately attacked his father in the carriage +had ridden his (Laurence's) own bicycle on that memorable occasion! + +Impossible as the idea seemed at first, on second thoughts Laurence +realised how extremely probable it was that the mysterious creature who +haunted Squire Carrington should borrow on the French leave system, or +even steal, the machine which would enable him to follow his terrified +victim. He had been compelled to steal a dish of food and an old ragged +coat; it was hardly conceivable that he should nevertheless possess a +safety bicycle. And certainly there could be no doubt but that the +machine had been stolen, for every one of the servants, whom Laurence +next proceeded to question, professed entire ignorance of even the +whereabouts of a key that would fit the lock on the shed door. +Undoubtedly they had nothing to do with the disappearance of the "iron +horse." + +Since Carrington was anxious to procure the ammunition for his little +pistol in time to be of use, if required, at the coming interview with +Jones-Farnell, he ordered the stable-boy to saddle the Squire's mare, on +which he would ride into East Cave. Until the animal should be ready he +paid another visit to the cycle shed, and examined the lock on the door. +It had been tampered with. The thief had used that harmless little tool +which a professional burglar finds so useful when following his +"profession"--a bent piece of copper wire. Examination of the interior +of the little erection revealed no trace of the unknown man who had +entered the shed. Who was he? That was a question that Laurence could +not answer until the approaching ordeal was a thing of the past. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +IN THE LION'S DEN + + +It was already dusk when Laurence Carrington stepped briskly out of the +gate of the Manse, and turned into the dark drive that led to the +neighbouring house. + +He had been unable to wish Lena "good-bye," for both the Squire and Mrs. +Knox had adjourned with her to the drawing-room at the conclusion of +dinner. He had muttered something about "having a smoke" when he left +them, and looking to his loaded pistol, which was something more than a +mere plaything, he had set out on his important errand, wearing an +ulster which covered his dress suit. + +On this occasion he was not left waiting long in the porch, for his pull +at the rusty bell was almost immediately answered by a repetition of the +incidents of the morning. The same shuffling footsteps sounded along the +passage, the same grating noise of bolts being drawn followed, and the +door was opened ajar in order that the janitor might satisfy himself as +to the identity of his late visitor. + +The scrutiny through the chink of the door was apparently satisfactory, +for the man inside proceeded to release the chain, after which Laurence +was invited in a surly, gruff tone to "come in." + +Pitch darkness reigned supreme within, and the young man found his hand +grasping the small fire-arm in his overcoat pocket as he took one step +into the house, and the door banged upon him. + +What little light there had been from the outside world was now shut +out. With a shudder, Laurence realised how completely he had placed +himself in the power of the unknown inhabitants of Durley Dene. In the +gross darkness, what was to prevent this sour-faced porter, who had, +when disguised, encountered him on the previous evening, from plunging a +knife into his back as he stood there unable even to catch a glimpse of +the man's outline? + +Even as he thought thus a hand clutched his arm. The young man's fingers +closed simultaneously round the pistol in his pocket, but his companion +only requested him to follow upstairs, and guided him by the arm with an +accuracy that denoted familiarity with the ins and outs of the house, up +several short flights of uncarpeted stairs, until, presumably halfway +down a narrow passage, which must have been on the highest floor in the +house, he stopped short suddenly. + +Then he fumbled about for what was evidently a door handle, and a +moment later a flood of pale light burst out from a room on the +threshold of which the two had been standing. The door had been flung +wide open, and with the janitor still holding his arm, Laurence moved +forward into the room, which appeared well furnished, and in the centre +of which sat a man in an arm-chair. + +Half-blinded by the glare, Carrington stood for a moment motionless. +Then the door closed behind him, and, turning, he saw that his late +guide had withdrawn. He was in the presence of Major Jones-Farnell. + +"A very good evening to you, sir!" + +The man in the chair rose as he uttered these words. He was of more than +middle age and height, was clad in a light-coloured shooting suit, and +wore glasses and a grey moustache. + +"Well, and so you have bearded the lion in his den?" + +The words were those that Lena herself had used earlier in the day! +Could it be that the Major had overheard them, or was it a case of mere +coincidence? + +"Come and sit down and let us have a chat," the stranger went on, +beckoning Laurence to a vacant arm-chair. + +"Major Jones-Farnell, I suppose?" was Carrington's first remark. + +"Yes and no," replied the other; "but that is neither here nor there." + +"Indeed! And I believe you wished to see me," said Laurence coldly. + +"I do," said the Major, "but pray make yourself at home, as far as it is +possible, in such 'diggings' as mine. Here are some cigars that I think +you will find palatable. Perhaps you will join me in a smoke. There's +nothing so conducive to pleasant conversation as nicotine." And the +master of Durley Dene pushed forward a small box of long cigars, each +wrapped in embossed silver paper. + +Now, had Laurence been ushered into the presence of some typical +scoundrel who held a revolver in his hand while conversing, and offered +to murder the young visitor if he actually carried out his threat of +consulting the police, he would not have been in the least surprised, +but he had little expected what he now found. + +The room in which he sat was elegantly furnished in decidedly Oriental +style. A magnificent Indian carpet, into which one's feet sank an inch +or so, occupied the best part of the floor, while mats covered the bare +corners of the room. Indian tapestry of fine workmanship hung from the +walls, and many of the small chairs and bric-à-brac ornaments were of +Oriental manufacture. A hookah, with ivory mouthpiece, and brilliantly +worked coiling pipe, stood upon a table at Major Farnell's right hand. +That gentleman's feet were encased in Persian bed slippers. In fact, +little of the furniture but the arm-chairs was of a kind one would +expect to find in England. Even the prevailing odour of the room was +that of incense such as one reads of as pervading Eastern bazaars and +temples. Certainly the Major had a good idea of comfort. + +And as Laurence noted these points in connection with the room he +realised how they agreed with the supposition of his that the Squire's +enemy was a "black" man or woman. But the Major gave him little time for +thought. + +"Oh, you must take a weed," said Farnell, when Laurence had at first +refused the other's hospitality. + +Fearing to displease, Carrington did so, carefully selecting one of the +cigars from the bottom of the box. Why he did this will be quite +evident. He considered it possible that some of them might be drugged. +However, as the owner himself carelessly chose one of the top layer, it +seemed probable that Laurence was over-suspicious. That, however, was no +fault. The circumstances under which he had been brought face to face +with the Major were remarkable enough to raise suspicion. + +"And so," said Jones-Farnell, when the two had lighted up, "and so you +thought of sending the police here! May I ask why?" + +"I hardly think it necessary to explain to you what I am under the +impression you already know," was the answer. + +The Major looked surprised. + +"I fear," he said, "that your impression is a mere misapprehension. +Truthfully, I have no idea why you should object to my retiring habits +in a house which is my own in every respect. I am inclined to think +myself a peculiarly desirable kind of neighbour. I am sure no noise +caused by me or my servant has ever disturbed you. I keep no fowls to +wake you up by their crowing at daybreak. Never has either my servant or +myself trespassed upon your grounds. I don't keep a dog----" + +"Pardon me, but why, then, did your servant purchase a dog-whip only +last night?" + +And when Laurence made this quiet and apparently ordinary remark, he +noticed a sudden flush rise to his host's brow. For a moment the Major +did not reply. Then, affecting an off-hand manner, he said-- + +"Oh, that was for my Persian cat, Teddy." + +But Laurence knew that he lied! + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE MAJOR REVEALS HIS SECRET + + +"My dear sir," Laurence resumed, after a short pause, "you are well +aware that your remarks are idle ones. I have no cause for complaint on +any such grounds as those you mention. As a neighbour you are the most +desirable that man could have, except----" + +"Except what?" + +"Except in one particular--the cause, as you very well know, of my +presence here to-night." + +"I am quite at a loss to understand what you mean, Mr.----." He +hesitated for the other to supply the name. + +"Carrington, as you are also well aware." + +"Carrington! Oh, indeed! No relation, I suppose, to Major Harold +Carrington, who was formerly stationed at Madras?" + +"No; I have not heard of any relative who was an Indian officer. +Curiously enough, though, my father is Harold Carrington. But pray let +us put an end to all this twaddle. I was forgetting that you know as +well as I do all about my unfortunate father." + +"Really, Mr. Carrington, you amaze me. I can't imagine what you mean +when you speak as you do. I was formerly intimately acquainted with a +Major Carrington (who, as I have already stated, was an Indian officer +of repute) when I was living at Madras, but since you say that your +father is not that Harold Carrington, I regret that I have not the +pleasure of his acquaintance, though you so persistently declare that I +have." + +Laurence did not reply for a moment. He was more than astonished at the +convincing manner in which the Major spoke. Was he a marvellous actor, +or was it possible that he had no connection with the Squire's would-be +assassin? The latter idea was impossible. Had not he proved--and Lena, +too--that there could be no doubt of the Major's close connection with +the person whose headquarters seemed to be the Manse barn? + +No, the man must be acting a part, as he might naturally be expected to +do. And he was acting it so cleverly that Laurence was almost inclined +to believe him to be ignorant of the terrible plot that was thickening +round the unhappy Squire. + +The man had already confessed--or had practically done so--that his name +was not Major Jones-Farnell. He had been visibly concerned at the +mention of the dog-whip. What did it mean? The first discovery clearly +proved that the man was playing a part. The second surely pointed to the +fact that he was not speaking sincerely. + +"Well, Major," said Carrington, after a pause, which he had occupied in +deliberating thus, "let us then, for the moment, drop the question of +how much or how little you know about my father, and revert to the cause +of your invitation so strangely delivered to me this morning." + +"Ah, now we are talking sense," replied Laurence's companion; "you mean +you wish to know why I requested you not to go to the police? But first, +pray tell me on what grounds you intend--or shall we say +intended?--applying for a warrant to search this house. A retiring +disposition is no crime--at least, so my knowledge of legal subjects +leads me to believe." + +"Of course not," responded Laurence angrily; "kindly do not prevaricate. +But, by the way, how did you send me that message this morning?" + +"As to that, my servant is the best person for you to apply to for an +answer. I presume, though, that he delivered the note by means of his +catapult, a weapon and instrument in the use of which he is extremely +proficient. You must excuse the mode of delivery. I am short-handed--my +establishment consists of myself and my man." + +"Indeed! and I am under the impression that the 'man' affects clothing +that one does not usually see upon men!" + +"For various reasons, I confess, my servant walks abroad in a harmless +disguise." + +"And attacks pedestrians in the high road!" muttered Laurence. + +"Certainly not, unless they threaten him with pains and penalties that +he does not deserve!" was the reply. + +"Again let me impress upon you that the cause of my visit has not yet so +much as been explained by you," exclaimed Carrington, enraged at the +Major's repeated parrying of the question. + +"I think you promised that you would first explain your reason for +suspecting us, as you seem to, of crimes the nature of which you insist +on refraining from mentioning." + +"You know very well that I have good cause for suspicion. Tell me, what +is the meaning of this darkened house; this secrecy; the necessity for +disguise; and lastly, what is your connection with the person who stole +my bicycle for a terrible purpose?" + +Once again, as he made this last remark, did the visitor perceive +noticeable tokens of concern on the face of his host. There was a look +of dread--dread of exposure--in his eyes. He puffed rapidly at his +cigar--a sure sign of discomfort--and shifted two or three times in his +seat before replying. + +"You are pressing me very hard, Mr. Carrington," he said at length, "and +I see no reason why I should answer your questions, which, you will +pardon me for saying so, incline towards impertinence." + +"I am entirely in the right when I request you to explain these +mysteries to me. My father's position will enable me to obtain a +search-warrant without much difficulty, and----" + +"Very well, very well, I will tell you all," cried the Major, flinging +his cigar stump into the empty fireplace, "though I must ask you to +consider all I tell you as strictly private and confidential. Is that +not so?" + +"It depends entirely upon the nature of your confession," responded +Laurence drily. + +"Confession! You use hard-sounding words, Mr. Carrington. But here goes! +First, my name is not Jones-Farnell. And, need I say, I am not an +invalid." + +"I knew that," Laurence interjected. + +"In reality, I am one Orlando Meadows. Second, I am not of a military +calling, my profession being that of medicine. Third, I am an authority +on diseases of the brain, and particularly lunacy and its treatment; +and, finally, I have in my charge downstairs a very savage lunatic." + +Laurence gasped with amazement. If this were the case--that is, if a +maniac were really imprisoned in the house--was it not more than +possible that he it was who had made the savage attack on the Squire, +and who had been hiding since the night of the attack in the Manse barn? + +"Tell me, what is he like?" he asked eagerly. + +The "Major," or rather, Doctor Meadows, as he really was, looked at him +with a puzzled expression on his well-formed features. + +"He is gigantic," was his answer, after a moment's pause; "terribly +powerful and repulsively ugly, but pray have no fear on that account. I +have him under the strongest lock and key that London can supply." + +But Laurence's hopes had been dashed to the ground. The description of +Meadows' patient was as dissimilar to that of the person in the barn as +it was possible for it to be, and the lunatic was safely locked up +downstairs! + +The confidence with which the visitor had accepted the doctor's +confession was destroyed. Meadows was lying to him, that was quite +certain, and yet his story had a complexion of probability about it that +deserved attention. + +"Doctor!" cried Laurence sternly, "will you take your oath that you are +telling me the truth?" + +"This is an unpardonable insult," exclaimed Meadows in reply, rising to +his feet and clenching his fists in the air. "How dare you insinuate +that I am telling lies?" + +"Keep calm, if you please, Doctor Meadows," said Carrington. "Prove your +assertion by showing me this gigantic patient of yours." + +Instantly there was a change in the doctor's behaviour. He collapsed +into his seat with a groan of despair. + +"That is impossible," he muttered. + +"Why so?" + +"It would be unsafe; in fact, positively dangerous to both you and +myself," he stammered. + +"As a doctor you should be able to tackle your patient," said Laurence. +"As a fairly strong and athletic man I can assist you. If necessary, +there is also your servant. That is, we are three to one. No, Doctor, I +can't take such excuses. You must prove your words by at least giving me +certain evidence that you have a maniac in your charge downstairs." + +"I cannot and I will not," replied the other. + +"Then I shall go down and explore the place myself." + +"For Heaven's sake, don't," shrieked Meadows, starting up again; "it +will be all the worse for you if you do. I forbid you to leave the room +until I give you permission, and then my servant will accompany you to +the door." + +Laurence was puzzled beyond description by the doctor's behaviour. Why +was he so anxious that his guest should not explore the house? Was it +that he really feared his patient might break loose and attack him? For +the matter of that, had he a maniac patient at all? Might not the story +be entirely fictitious? Could it be that the black creature (if he or +she were really black) who was waging such active warfare against the +Squire was in lurking in Durley Dene? + +This would account for Meadows' consternation when the idea of Laurence +visiting the other rooms in the house was suggested to him. At any rate, +the probability of such being the case was worthy of consideration. + +"You have someone hiding downstairs--don't deny it!" cried Laurence +suddenly. + +Meadows' face became deadly pale. + +"Yes," he replied hesitatingly. "I told you I had a lunatic--a fierce +maniac--whom I am taking charge of downstairs, when I know that by +rights he should be in the padded cell of an asylum." + +Again did the young man perceive that his companion was lying. His +manner was that of a man who is telling a falsehood on which much +depends. + +"I tell you----" he began, but at that moment an interruption occurred. + +The door was thrown open roughly, and a man entered. Laurence recognised +him as the person who had played the double part of janitor and +market-woman. He was a man of an unprepossessing, not to say criminal, +type, and spoke in a surly tone. + +"This bit o' paper were 'anded in by an old man a few minutes ago. To be +given to Mr. Laurence at once," the man said. + +"Then give it to this gentleman," the doctor replied, and the servant +did so. + +Laurence seized the roughly twisted note with a trembling hand. What was +the meaning of a letter coming to him at the Dene? No one but Lena knew +where he was. A glance told him that the words hastily scrawled in +pencil on a half-sheet of paper were in Miss Scott's usually distinct +handwriting. + +And this was the terrible message the note contained:-- + +"Come at once. The Squire has been murdered!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE HORRORS OF DURLEY DENE + + +"You must excuse me, Doctor," shouted Laurence, when he learned the +terrible tidings contained on the slip of paper; "my father has been +murdered! I must go this moment." And he rose, so saying, and darted +towards the door. + +"Stop him, for Heaven's sake!" shrieked Meadows to the dark-faced +servant who stood in the doorway. And so it was that young Carrington +found his passage blocked, and himself flung violently back with such +force as one would hardly expect from a medium-sized man like the +mysterious doctor's servant. + +"Escort Mr. Carrington to the door," ordered Meadows, adding to +Laurence, "Forgive me for such treatment. Go at once with +Horn--er--Smith; I heartily sympathise with you--that is," was his +strange remark, "if you are not deceiving me with an idle story." + +But the young man hardly heard the other's muttered words and farewell. +In an agony of dismay and horror at the awful intelligence, he dragged +the man-servant from the room. + +"Guide me to the door," he cried hoarsely, "and quick." + +In the weird darkness outside the well-lighted room in which the +interview had taken place he was more than helpless in his anxious +haste. He charged headlong against the walls and balustrades, the man +swearing angrily at him as he clung to his arm. + +"Steady, you fool," the guide shouted, "or I shall leave you to +yourself, and then----" + +But Laurence knew only too well that without the man's guidance he could +not hope to find his way out of the house of gloom, for he had made the +alarming discovery that he had used his last vesta to light his pipe +after dinner. So he calmed himself as best he could, and permitted the +man to lead him downstairs. + +In the hall Carrington found himself stopped short. + +"Come on, let me out, quick!" he exclaimed, horrified to find that the +janitor had gripped his shoulders with the strength of a vice. + +"All in good time, my pretty," replied the other, and in the darkness, +which corresponded to the biblical description of that which "could be +felt," the young man thought he had never heard words pronounced in such +a diabolical tone. "What would you say if I refused to let you go, my +son? Ha, ha, you're in my power. Struggle as you may, I have got you as +safe as if you were in Dartmoor, and, what's more, I shan't let you go +until you make it worth my while." + +He laughed coarsely and brutally. In the black gloom, and judging by his +voice, he might have been some fiend from the nether world. Was there +ever such a strange house and such strange inhabitants, thought +Laurence, as he struggled to free his hand for one moment, so that he +might seize the pistol with which to silence the man's demands and to +assist his own departure to the home where he was so greatly needed. + +There was no denying that Laurence Carrington was a fairly strong man, +yet in the hands of this strange guide he seemed as helpless as a rat. + +With anything but good grace he offered the servant half a sovereign if +he would instantly open the front door for him and offer no further +molestation. + +"Make it a thick 'un," whispered the man, with something like a leer; +"make it a sov., mister, and you shall go free." + +"You scoundrel!" cried Laurence, "I shall report your conduct to your +master." + +"Ha, ha! D'yer think I care?" replied the rascal; "he's no more to me +than that." He snapped his fingers loudly. + +"All right, let me out of the door, and I'll give you a sovereign." + +"That I won't, unless you give me your word of honour as a gentleman +that you don't produce any firearms," replied the man, with a dig at +Laurence's ribs which caused the latter to lounge out with his knee at +where he imagined the other to be. + +"All right, I promise." + +"There you are, then. Fork out the gold boy." + +Laurence fumbled in his pocket on his arms being released, and produced +a coin from his pocket--the first he laid hands on--and passed it to +Smith. As he did so, a sound broke upon the grave-like stillness of this +house of mystery--a sound that seemed to rise from the basement or +cellars, a long-drawn, terrible cry--the unnatural, nay, fiendish shriek +of a person in the agonies of death. + +And simultaneously the door opened, and Laurence found himself thrust +hurriedly out into the night. + +Before he could turn, or could realise the meaning of that awful sound, +the door clanged upon him. + +Then once more there was silence, unbroken save by the sudden hoot of an +owl in a distant tree. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE FIGURE IN THE MOONLIGHT + + +At last he was free from the horrors of that strange house--Durley +Dene--and Laurence Carrington felt that for the moment he could breathe +again. Then he remembered the cause of his hasty departure from Doctor +Meadows' handsome sitting-room. + +Running like mad down the dark drive and up the avenue that led to his +home, he at length reached the front door of the Manse, opened it with +his latch-key, and passed through at the height of his speed. + +No one was about. The passages were deserted. But from upstairs came the +sound of loud weeping. He leaped up the staircase, never stopping until +he reached the Squire's bedroom, the door of which was open. + +On the floor just inside the room sat Mrs. Knox crying loudly. A female +servant stood by her in an equally hysterical state. + +Laurence brushed past them, entered the room, and approached the +old-fashioned bed, round which stood the butler, the housekeeper, and +Lena. + +On the bed, fully dressed, lay the body of his father, the Squire, +stretched out in death. The face was a ghastly colour--a slaty shade of +blue. The veins in it stood out like strips of whalebone. The chest +protruded in an unnatural manner. The eyes were yet half opened. The +fingers clutched tightly at the bedclothes. There was no sign that any +breath remained in the old gentleman's body. + +"Have you sent for Bathurst?" Laurence asked hoarsely, addressing the +butler. + +"Yes, sir, I sent Head for the doctor and expect him every moment, but +I'm afeard it's all up with the master. He was dead when I found him." + +"Silence! He is not dead--he cannot be dead." And Laurence threw himself +on his knees beside the bed, and laid his hand gently over his father's +heart. But there was no perceptible movement. + +The doctor, a big, powerful-looking man in a tweed suit, entered the +room a moment later. + +"This is indeed terrible," he said to Laurence as he made his way to the +bedside. Then he leant down and ripped open the Squire's shirt at the +neck, and in his turn felt for any movement of the heart. He shook his +head ominously as he drew his hand away, and searching in his pocket +produced a small mirror, which he held for a moment before the prostrate +man's mouth. + +"No, he's not dead," he said quietly, after a short pause, "but in a +very bad way indeed." Next he commenced giving his orders in an +imperative tone to the servants who were waiting in the doorway. One of +the first was that Mrs. Knox and the hysterical housemaid should be at +once removed. Laurence whispered to Lena to take her aunt away, for the +poor woman was incapable of understanding what was said to her. + +The girl seized his hand and pressed it as she went to do as he had +asked her. "Thank God," she murmured, "that you are safe," and the young +man knew that this was something of an answer to the question he had put +a few brief hours before. + +Dr. Bathurst was an able physician. He had all his wits about him and +did not lose them at the critical moment. Silently the butler and +housekeeper, as well as Laurence, carried out his instructions. In a few +moments the Squire's evening clothes had been removed and he had been +placed between the sheets. Then the struggle between death and medical +skill began, and so bravely did the doctor fight for the life of his +patient that after two long hours of watching and unceasing attendance +he was able to turn to Laurence, who had stood by his side throughout +the vigil, and say, "He will live." + +Then, at Bathurst's request, young Carrington left the sick-room to +inform those who were waiting outside that the crisis was past. + +"What had happened?" Laurence had asked himself time after time as he +stood by the bedside. It must surely be that the second attempt on the +helpless old man's life had been made by his terrible foe--the attempt +that he had been dreading since that night on the moor. + +Lena met him in the passage. She had prevailed upon her aunt to go to +bed, and now was returning for news. + +"Oh, isn't it awful to think of the fiend who has done this!" she cried, +after learning that the Squire might yet live. "To think that your +father is encompassed by a fearful, lurking danger, more horrible than +that of the battle-field. What has he done? What does it all mean?" + +But Laurence could not answer the question any better than she was able +to. Had he not been striving ever since the attack on the carriage to +discover what his father's secret was and why he stood in such mortal +danger? But he had failed. He was no nearer the solution of the mystery +after his visit to Durley Dene than he had been before. + +"How did it happen? Do you know?" he asked. They had moved along the +unlighted corridor until an open landing window, looking upon the lawn +at the rear of the house, was reached. + +"I know practically nothing at all about the sad event. The Squire went +up to bed about an hour after you left, complaining of a headache. He +had not been gone long when Kingsford appeared in a great state of +alarm, excitedly exclaiming that he had entered Mr. Carrington's bedroom +to assist him in undressing and had found what he believed to be your +father's murdered corpse lying on the floor." + +"On the floor! Then we might have known he was not dead, for he was +clutching the sheets of the bed." + +"Yes, he was laid on the bed directly I could get the butler to help me. +Then I scribbled that note to you and sent Kingsford with it, much to +his surprise on learning where you were. The rest you know. But you--you +escaped, then?" + +"Yes, indeed, but I know no more than I did before I started." + +"And Major Farnell?" + +"Is a gentleman--a man of mystery. His real name is Meadows, or at least +he says it is. He has a villain of a servant, who tried to frighten me, +and, lastly, he has a secret. But whether he is the real enemy of my +poor father I do not know. His certainly was not the hand that was +raised against the Squire to-day, for I was with him when this second +attack must have been made." + +"And the servant, was he in the room the whole time?" asked Lena, +breathlessly. + +"Great goodness, no! Why, who knows but that he is the man who wages +such warfare against my father? And Meadows' secret is his knowledge of +his man's mysterious connection with poor old dad! You're right; it must +be so, Miss Scott. But," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "I have +returned from Durley Dene, and once again I ask you the question to +which you postponed your answer this morning." + +"Hush!" replied the girl. "I cannot answer now, when death has come so +near to the house, and this dreadful mystery is yet unsolved. But----" + +His hand stole softly to hers, which lay upon the window-sill. + +"But the fact that you have not said 'no' shows me that my chance is not +quite hopeless, is that it?" he asked tenderly. + +"Yes," she replied in so low a whisper that had he been any farther from +her he would not have caught the welcome sound. + +For a few moments neither spoke, then the girl withdrew her hand gently +and whispered, "You must go back now and see how the dear old man is." + +Suddenly she stopped short as she gazed out of the window upon the +shadowy little panorama below. Laurence felt her fingers clutch his arm +as she exclaimed, under her breath-- + +"Look! there's a man creeping along the side of the yard. There, beyond +the lawn, just a few feet from the wall." + +Laurence stared out into the semi-darkness in the direction towards +which his companion was pointing. + +She was right. There was somebody moving along towards the palisade on +the boundary between the Manse and Durley Dene. It was a man, groping +and crouching in the shadows, evidently fearing lest he should be seen +from the house. At first it was too dark for the young man to recognise +who the midnight prowler was. But after a time, either when his eyes +became accustomed to the dark or because the moon peeped out for a +moment from behind her curtain of black clouds, he was able to see more +plainly, and as the doubled-up figure paused before disappearing through +the bushes into the grounds of Durley Dene, Laurence had been able to +catch a glimpse of the features of the nocturnal visitor. + +To his amazement he saw that the trespasser was none other than Doctor +Meadows, alias Major Jones-Farnell! + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MAJOR JONES' ERRAND + + +When Laurence visited his father's room at daybreak next morning he +found that the doctor had not left the bedside since he had first been +called in. The Squire was progressing as favourably as could be +expected, Bathurst said, but it had been such a near squeak that the +utmost care was necessary. To explain the nature of the attack on the +old gentleman was, strange to say, more than the doctor could do with +much accuracy. All he knew was that the patient's neck had almost been +broken, the peculiar attitude of the body when found being the result of +a powerful attempt by some person unknown to actually kill the victim by +breaking his neck! + +The doctor went on to recommend that a nurse should be sent down from +town, suggesting that one of Burton's "private assistants" would be of +peculiar value. It may be as well to mention that these "assistants" +were men who were able to act very skilfully in their capacity of nurse, +and were also reputable unofficial detectives. + +The idea of working with a detective had suggested itself to Laurence +before now, but, as has been said, he had feared to call in professional +aid lest his father, who was so anxious to retain the secret which he +undoubtedly shared with his desperate enemy, might object to the man's +presence. + +Now, however, things were in a different state. The Squire was +unconscious, and, according to Bathurst, might possibly be so for days. +At the best he would have to keep his bed for several weeks. During that +time, with the assistance of a trained investigator, it seemed probable +that the deep mystery which enshadowed Mr. Carrington might be cleared +up. + +Laurence accordingly despatched a telegram to Burton, the founder of the +Private Assistance Bureau, requesting him to "kindly send down an able +assistant at once," and then, after remaining a short time with Mrs. +Featherston (the housekeeper), who had taken charge of the patient on +the doctor's departure, he went downstairs to find the two ladies +waiting for breakfast. Mrs. Knox was quite well again and inclined to +abuse herself for the loss of her head on the previous night. Her +indisposition had not, moreover, seriously affected her appetite. Lena +looked pale and tired. She had hardly slept during the night, and no +wonder. She alone, with the exception, of course, of Laurence, knew all +the details of the mystery, and with the knowledge of the weird attacks +on her host and of the unfathomable secrets of the Dene and the Manse +barn, sleep was quite impossible. How numerous had the events of +yesterday been! First, the message from the Major, then Laurence's +proposal, afterwards her anxiety for the safety of the man with whom in +the short time she had known him she had fallen desperately in love. +Next, the attempted murder of Mr. Carrington, and, finally, the +discovery that the master of Durley Dene had visited the grounds of the +Manse at midnight for some mysterious purpose as yet unknown. Mrs. Knox, +though she plainly demonstrated the unwelcomeness of the idea, was +compelled to suggest that she and her niece should no longer trespass +upon the kindness of their young host, when so much extra work would +necessarily be the result of the Squire's serious illness. However, +Laurence would not hear of their going, and Mrs. Knox did not take the +trouble to make any further suggestions on the subject. + +As soon as they could leave the dining-room without raising Mrs. Knox's +suspicion that her niece knew more than she seemed to do, Laurence and +Lena went out together into the garden, when the former told Miss Scott +that a nurse-detective was coming from London to assist in the solution +of the mystery. The fact that he was anything but an ordinary male nurse +was to be kept a secret--even from Mrs. Knox herself, for such Laurence +knew to be one of the particular requests made to all employing Burton's +assistants. + +"Well, Laurence," said the girl after a pause in the conversation (she +had taken to calling him by his Christian name since his departure to +Durley Dene), "well, and have you thought of any more clues?" + +"Alas, no. I spent the night thinking, but am no nearer the solution +than before. This secret seems inviolable, but perhaps Burton's man will +be able to help us. One or two things, though, have impressed me as +worthy of consideration. + +"First, as I have already told you, it seemed to me at the commencement +of my interview that Meadows (we will call him by that name, though I +doubt his right to it) was a wonderful actor. If he was playing a part +he played it well. Not only did he pretend not to know me, but seemed +both surprised at and interested in my carefully guarded assertions of +his connection with my father. Yet, later on, when I mentioned the +dog-whip (on which alone hangs a secret, I am sure), and afterwards +signified my intention of exploring the house, he did not in the least +degree disguise his concern. This leads one to think him a very poor +actor, for had he some secret to keep he need not fear, since, as to the +latter remark of mine, I could not have explored far in the darkness, +particularly when I was one man against at least two others; while, as +to the other matter, if he could bravado my assertion that he and the +Squire had some secret, why did he turn pale and grow nervous when I +reminded him of the purchase of the dog-whip? It was in no way a +remarkable article to buy, nor one I would be likely to connect with a +deep, unsolvable problem. + +"A second matter worth noticing is this, that the servant, whom his +master had addressed as Smith (though that is probably not his name), +and the doctor himself apparently are not on the best of terms with one +another. The servant certainly does not respect his master. Why? +Because, if your idea is a correct one, Meadows knows that Smith is +slowly sealing my father's doom (as the Squire himself said). He may +really be a harmless man, though I doubt it, and Smith may know +something about his past, for instance, which prohibits him from +discharging the servant, though he knows exactly what is going on. But +then, if this were the case, what was Meadows doing in the yard at +midnight, after his interview with me last evening? No, clearly he is +one of the gang who are at such enmity with father. + +"When the detective comes he will start from the assault last night, +interview all the servants, and start his inquiry, so that it is of no +use for us to do that now, but I am thinking that examination of the +room may reveal some traces or clues. At any rate, now that we have +called in the man, we must play second fiddle to him. It will be as +well, too, to tell him all we know, and then do our best to run the poor +old man's enemies to earth. + +"Let us now, if there is nothing better to do, stroll down to the place +where we saw the man Meadows last night, and see if he has left any clue +behind him." + +Together they crossed the lawn, and entered the courtyard in which stood +the barn. + +"That's where he was, that's where he went through the bushes and +climbed over the palisade," said Lena, pointing in the direction of the +Dene. + +"Where did he start, though?" asked Laurence. + +"Probably in the barn, or----" She ran forward, as though spurred by a +sudden impulse. Carrington followed her in amazement to the little cycle +shed, which she had entered. + +"Look," cried the girl, and she pointed towards a corner in which stood +the missing bicycle, caked with mud, and having the saddle lowered as +though for some short rider. + +"Gracious me! What made you think that the bicycle would be returned?" +asked Laurence, when he had recovered from his surprise, caused by the +return of the machine. + +"Common sense," replied the girl, with a light laugh. "It suddenly +occurred to me that it was just as likely the Major would go out at +midnight to the cycle shed as to the barn, for we know that he could +have no reason for visiting the latter----" + +"Wait," Laurence interrupted. "You are wrong there. He might wish to see +the mysterious creature who displayed gymnastic tricks for my sole +benefit the night before last." + +"My dear Mr. Carrington," replied Lena (and she used that title only +because she wished to see his look of regret), "your memory is failing +you. Why, you told me yourself that the monkey-like creature--or +presumably it--was now within the walls of Durley Dene." + +"You astound me, Miss Scott," replied Laurence; "really, I have no +recollection of making such a statement." + +"You silly boy," answered Lena, with ill-disguised mirth, "what about +the strange cry that disturbed your interview with Smith as you were +leaving the house last night?" + +"Ah! Then you think that cry proceeded from the mouth of the person whom +I encountered on the moor and again in the barn?" + +"Well, it certainly appears to me that there is something similar in +your description of the two sounds. But you yourself can judge better of +that than I can." + +"Yes; but why should this horrible creature scream as I was leaving the +Dene, and if Smith is my father's would-be murderer, who is the person +that used the barn as its headquarters?" + +"If you knew that, Laurence, there would probably be no mystery at all. +It is as to these points we have yet to decide." + +"Then, do you mean that, in your opinion, the creature in the barn was +not the attempted assassin?" + +"We practically decided that last night when we noted the possibility of +Smith having crept through the palisade and attacked your father in his +room. From what you tell me about the man, I think it more than probable +that we are at last on the right track. In brief, we have now come to +the following conclusion--or, rather, supposition, for there is just the +chance that we are wrong. + +"Smith has some long-standing and, undoubtedly, fierce grudge against +your father, which can only be paid off by death. He also has some +control--powerful control--over this man Meadows. He compels the latter +to take Durley Dene, and lets out through the house agent some +ridiculous story about an invalid military gentleman of retiring +disposition having taken the house. Learning the Squire's movements, he +follows him to the Marquis's on your bicycle, which he kindly takes +without asking your leave. Being shorter than you, he has to lower the +saddle. After the attempt to murder the Squire by setting light to the +house, he learns somehow or other that you have left, overtakes and +shadows the carriage, and eventually attacks it. On being repulsed, he +makes for home, concealing his tracks, as you are aware, by taking off +his boots and carrying the bicycle into the Dene. He afterwards compels +Meadows to return the cycle to the shed. Knowing who you are, he +naturally objects to your having an interview with the sham Major, and +is hardly polite when you apply for one. + +"However, wishing to make a second attempt on the Squire's life, and to +carry out his vile design, he conceives the plan of getting you out of +the way." + +"Good heavens! I believe you are right." + +"He knows you to be energetic and suspicious, and arranges an interview +for you with the 'Major,' during the course of which he manages to get +into the house and attack the Squire, whom he presumably thinks he has +killed. He gets back in time to take up my message, delivered by the +butler, to you. Why he induced you to give him money I do not know. +Possibly he would have done more--would have enticed you into some +room--yes, and murdered you--had it not been for that shrill cry that +suddenly disturbed him." + +"Lena!" (the pet name slipped out unnoticed by both in Laurence's +astonishment)--"Lena, you are a genius. You have solved the mystery." + +"On the contrary, I am more in the dark than ever, for in addition to +the secret of the man's enmity against your father, we have now to +discover who is the strange creature of the shrill voice and ape-like +agility, what his connection is with the people of the Dene, and, +lastly, why, as I am firmly convinced, he is imprisoned in the basement +of the house you visited last night." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE MAN FROM BURTON'S + + +Doctor Bathurst visited the house a second time on the day following +that when the Squire met with his injury. He reported that all was going +on as well as could be expected, though the patient still remained in an +unconscious state. + +A telegram had reached Laurence early in the afternoon, informing him +that "Nurse arrives nine to-night," and at precisely the hour specified +in the message a cab drew up at the outside gate of the Manse, and +presently a tall cadaverous individual in sombre garments, that somehow +suggested the undertaker, was ushered into the dining-room, where supper +and Laurence awaited him. + +"The--ahem--gentleman from Burton's!" said the young man as the +nurse-detective stepped briskly into the room. + +"Between yourself and me, yes; to others simply Potter, a qualified +nurse," was the new-comer's reply. + +"Ah, then your name is Potter?" + +"Yes, Oliver Potter, formerly of New Scotland Yard. And the matter +requiring my help?" + +Laurence proceeded to explain, first motioning to the man to seat +himself and try his hand at the viands. Not only did he describe the +attempts on his father's life, but detailed his visit to the Dene, his +adventure in the barn, and the incidents of the bicycle, which had been +taken and eventually returned, and of the appearance of Meadows in the +yard on the previous night. + +"Ha! quite a nice little mystery," the detective remarked, with his +mouth full, when Laurence had finished his narration of the events that +seemed to have any bearing on the case in point; "a nice little mystery, +apparently somewhat tangled, but no doubt quite superficial." + +"I warrant that you will find it anything but superficial," responded +Carrington, somewhat nettled at the remark, which seemed a reflection +upon the efforts of Lena and himself to obtain some clue that might lead +to the detection of the would-be murderer of the Squire. He went on to +sketch briefly Miss Scott's undoubtedly ingenious manner of accounting +for the various mysterious circumstances. + +The detective smiled sarcastically. + +"Ingenious, as you say, but most improbable. There must certainly be a +simpler solution," he said. "But what of the patient--is he progressing +as could be expected? Yes. That is good. It will leave me more time to +work in my investigating capacity. By the way, Mr. Carrington, I suppose +you don't know if your father belongs to any societies--of an unusual +kind, I mean? Nihilistic, for instance, or of a secret nature?" + +"No, I am not aware of his connection with any illegal institutions," +replied Laurence coldly. "I may as well mention that my father is a +gentleman and a magistrate." + +"Quite so. I ascertained that such was the case before I left +London--reference books, you know. I should have discovered by this +time, though, that he was a gentleman by your boots." + +"My boots!" + +"Exactly. I can always tell a gentleman by his boots and a lady by her +fingers--rings, you know. If you are a gentleman presumably your father +is also." + +It was Laurence's turn to smile. He perceived that Mr. Potter was trying +to impress him, but he was not impressed in the least. + +"You're going to treat this case too lightly," he said; "it's something +out of the common. There are none of your cheap-fictional secret +societies in this mystery. There's something much deeper in it than +that. A plot it is, and a well-laid one, too, that will take even you a +fair amount of skill to bring to light." + +There was a marked emphasis on the word "you" that did not escape Mr. +Oliver Potter's notice. + +"Then you think we can, in your father's case, exclude any idea of a +secret connection with some society, such as that I refer to? Take that +useful word 'jar,' then, and remove the centre letter." + +"Really, Mr. Potter, I fail to understand you. Is this professional +jargon necessary? Personally, I am a plain-spoken person." Laurence had +taken an almost immediate dislike to the man from Burton's, whom he +perceived to be as full of the sense of his own importance as the +proverbial egg is full of meat. + +The imperturbable detective, however, seemed accustomed to what he no +doubt considered the amateur jealousy of his employers, and merely +explained that he was forgetting Laurence's presence. + +"You see," he said, "I always classify my notes in a simple +form--invented by myself--my own idea, sir. In such a case as this I +start from the commencement. There must be some cause of these repeated +attacks on Mr. Carrington's life. What is it? The possible ones are +jealousy, anarchy, robbery--J. A. R., see? Rather novel, isn't it? You +can't forget things when you select a word to remember them by. Well, +then, you say anarchy is out of the question. This leaves us with +jealousy and robbery. Are you aware of anything having been stolen on +the occasion of last night's attempt at murder? No. Well, perhaps you +haven't had time to find out whether any valuable has disappeared. Are +you aware, then, of anyone who is jealous of your father? Any woman with +whom there was some engagement or arrangement in byegone days? Any +fellow-magistrate with a grudge? Anyone of that kind? No. Then the +problem is harder than I anticipated. J. A. R., it must be one of those. +My selection of the words is almost infallible. Stay! There's still the +robbery possibility undecided. Perhaps your father possessed something, +of the existence of which you were not aware. Yes, it must be a case of +robbery. At any rate, we will start with that idea. Squire attacked +twice. On first occasion out-of-doors. Presumably, the article the +attacking party wants is something the Squire carries about on his +person, incriminating letter, or what not. On the second attempt he +evidently captures the 'something,' and decamps, leaving the Squire half +dead--or, let me see, it was three-quarters dead, wasn't it?" (This +without the ghost of a smile.) "Problem, find the desperate party, and +restore Squire to health. Yes, a nice little job. Thanks for sending for +me. I don't often fail; never, I might say, except, of course, in very +knotty cases. Well, good-night, Mr. Carrington, or perhaps you won't +mind taking me to the sick-room? I've my bag here containing +everything--nothing like a bag, you know, for holding things--and I'll +take night duty to-day. Your good housekeeper'll want a little rest, no +doubt. Upstairs, then." + +Laurence opened the door and led the way to the Squire's bedroom. +Horrified is the only word that will adequately express his impression +of the man from Burton's. He had heard so much of the adroitness and +ability of the nurse-detectives that he was at a loss to understand +Potter's behaviour, which was almost that of a lunatic. The thin, +garrulous specimen of humanity, with his absurd "ingenious words" and +his nonsensical hypotheses, seemed more like a mummer than an +investigator of crime. But no sooner had he entered the sick-room than +the young man saw that whatever his very evident shortcomings as a +detective might be, he was an experienced nurse. Every action pointed to +that fact, and when Laurence, accompanied by Mrs. Featherston, left the +sick-room with the intention of retiring to bed, he was quite satisfied +that his unconscious parent was in safe hands. But he felt instinctively +that, as an assistant in solving the mystery, Lena was worth a dozen +such as Oliver Potter. + +Possibly young Mr. Carrington would have been surprised had he seen the +change that came over the features of the man from Burton's when left +alone with his insensible patient. + +The stupid, grinning expression on his face gave place to one of cunning +and delight. + +"Aha, young man," he muttered to himself, "you've put me down as a fool, +as I intended that you should. We'll see who is the fool before long. It +was very necessary," he went on, "that he should think me a fool, too, +for otherwise he would be eternally suspicious. As it is, he will +consider me a mere child in the investigating line, which will give me +the opportunities I want. + +"As if I couldn't see through the whole thing! Green's 'Landed Gentry' +told me how much Laurence would gain by his father's death. No doubt the +youth has got into hot water. Creditors pressing. Bills much overdue. I +know the sort of thing. I only wonder he wasn't more artful in making +his plans. He looked a smart fellow, but then, appearances are +deceitful. At any rate, he seems a duffer to have failed to murder the +old chap both times. + +"I wonder nobody has seen through his game before. I must find the +accomplice who played the part of the cycling highwayman on the heath. +The idea of his being on a cycle is novel. + +"I presume, when he found that the accomplice hadn't polished the old +chap off, he decided to do the job himself. In order to avoid the +possible suspicion of the women staying in the house he invents the +story of the interview with the imaginary Major Jones-Farnell, and goes +off to this Durley Dene, or pretends to. No sooner does he find that the +old man has retired to bed than he goes in and makes a desperate attempt +to kill him. He knows that he must kill the Squire outright, or he will +be exposed immediately, should the old man live and be able to tell the +tale. Unfortunately for him he is interrupted in some way, and leaves +his father only half dead. The doctor compels him to send for me, +otherwise he would not probably have done so. So long as the Squire +remains unconscious Laurence is safe. If he recovers, then his assailant +is done for. Therefore, the chances are that a final attempt to do for +the poor old man will be made, if there is any probability of his +recovering consciousness. I must be on the alert." + +But he was not as good as his word, and evidently made but a feeble +defence against the onslaught of Morpheus, for within a very few minutes +of settling down in the cosy arm-chair by the bedside he was fast +asleep. + +And while he slept that which he anticipated came to pass. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +MR. POTTER'S SOLUTION + + +The man from Burton's was a light sleeper--at least, so he believed +himself to be. He woke from his arm-chair doze very suddenly--noticing +by the clock on the mantelpiece that he had slept for nearly two hours. +He was conscious of having been awakened by some sound. Yet there was no +one in the room. He started up from the chair. Was it fancy that, as he +did so, he heard the closing of a door, as though someone had quietly +left the room? + +He glanced at the bed. Yes, someone had entered the sick-room, and for +the hideous purpose that he had conceived to be possible. Only one thing +assured him of this fact, but it was quite enough. It told him all. + +A pillow which had reposed at the foot of the great bed when he had +first entered the room was no longer in that place. It had been shifted +to the other end, and now lay firmly pressed down upon the unconscious +patient's face. Here was yet another attempt to murder the unhappy +Squire. It had been placed there to suffocate him. + +Hastily, yet gently, the detective raised it from its position, and +flung it into a corner. So recently had it been placed upon the +patient's upturned face that no harm had been done. But Mr. Potter +shuddered to think what would have happened had he not awakened in time +to avert the catastrophe. + +His first duty had been that of "nurse," now his detective instincts +asserted themselves. While he had waited to learn whether the Squire yet +lived, he had allowed the would-be murderer time to make good his +escape. But he hurriedly opened the door of the sick-room and peered out +into the dark passage. Not a sound disturbed the silence of night. Mr. +Potter muttered something of the nature of an oath as he realised how he +had been caught napping in both senses of the word. The heartless son, +Laurence, of whose guilt he was so confident, had nearly got the better +of him. He made up for his shortcoming by keeping awake and alert during +the remaining hours of his watch. But nothing happened--no one came, and +when Mrs. Featherston arrived at half-past seven to relieve him for a +short period he threw up for the time the rôle of nurse, and walked out +of the sick-room in his investigator's capacity to learn what he could +about the true facts of the attack on the moor. + +His night had not been wasted. He had carefully examined the Squire's +body, and convinced himself that a very remarkable, but unsuccessful, +attempt to kill the old gentleman had been made. Yet a tiny, ragged cut +on the front of the neck, almost upon the throat, was the only visible +clue to the manner of that attempt. + +He had further made a careful examination of the room and of the clothes +that the Squire had worn. Yet he obtained but a slight clue that seemed +likely to lead to anything. This was a yellow hair--or rather, yellow +wisp of silk--that he found upon the patient's cravat. It was of a +peculiar colour, but hardly likely, Potter thought, to prove of any +assistance. Yet he carefully gummed it by means of a strip of court +plaster to a page of his note-book, and proceeded to investigate the +furniture in the room. Nothing in the way of a possible clue came to +light. One thing alone caused him surprise. + +This was the discovery of the body of an ordinary bat found lying in a +dark corner of the room. The creature was dead--it had apparently been +crushed when some furniture had been moved, possibly by the doctor's +direction. + +Mr. Potter carefully picked up his curious find, and placed it in a +cardboard box on which his eye chanced. The box he placed on a high +shelf in a convenient cupboard. It might, he thought, prove useful in +the future. + +Confident though he was of Laurence's guilt, he determined not to be +rash. To start from the beginning was his intention. And so his first +move was to interview Moggin, the coachman, to whom he introduced +himself as the "nurse." Cautiously guiding the conversation on to the +subject of highwaymen of the present time, he was rewarded by a +confidential description of the attack on the carriage, that had +happened a few days before. Moggin had, of course, learned of the injury +that had befallen his master, and confessed that he connected the two +attacks with one another, as having been made by the same man. + +Mr. Potter was annoyed. The coachman was certainly telling the truth. He +had deemed it possible that Moggin might have been an accomplice in the +so-called attack, and that no "highwayman"--not even another accomplice +in disguise--had existed. This was evidently not the case. Ergo, there +must be some other man in league with Laurence. This other accomplice +was a very important person. He had, according to the detective, not +only played the highwayman, but also the market-woman whom Miss Scott +had decided was a man disguised. + +Oliver Potter was at a loss to know what step to take next. Strange to +say, it never entered his head to visit Durley Dene. In his confidence +that he was on the right track, he evidently had little doubt but that +the neighbouring mansion was uninhabited. For who knew anything about +the persons that lived there? Only Laurence! Of course, the message that +had been sent by means of a catapult from the grounds of the Dene had +been despatched by the accomplice on whom Potter was so anxious to lay +his hand. + +Then a brilliant idea struck the man from Burton's. Was Selene Scott +that accomplice? Might not she have attacked the carriage on the moor? +Might not the story of the market-woman in disguise, and the letter from +Durley Dene, be false? When he came to think of it, Mr. Potter marvelled +that he had not discovered this probability before. Why were Laurence +Carrington and Miss Scott so apparently intimate? Was it not possible +that they might be engaged--or even married? In which case it would be +to their mutual advantage were the Squire dead, since then his money +would naturally come to them. + +"Eureka," cried the man from Burton's, who was proud of his knowledge of +half a dozen Greek and Latin words, "I hold in my hand the key to the +mystery!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +AN ASTOUNDING CONFESSION + + +"Very well," said Lena, when she had learned the young man's impressions +of Mr. Oliver Potter's capabilities, "we must do without him. We must +work by ourselves. I have a suggestion to make. Let me visit Major +Jones-Farnell, alias Meadows. It is somewhat irregular, I have no doubt, +but in such a case as this we must not be too particular." + +"Excuse me, but you must do nothing of the kind," was the reply. + +"Then let me go with you, and see what the two of us can do towards +discovering the secret of Durley Dene. I am sure that if once we can +discover who this Meadows is, what his relations are with the man Smith, +and who the creature that is held in restraint in the basement or cellar +of the house is--then, and not before, shall we be able to solve the +mystery." + +"I don't at all like the idea of you coming with me. The ordeal was +quite bad enough for me; what would it be to you?" + +"Sir!" Lena cried, with pretended severity, "I am able to stand any +ordeal that you can. You see, I am not afraid, or why should I have +suggested going alone?" + +"Then shall we go together?" + +"Yes, and as soon as possible. It is now eleven o'clock. Auntie will not +reappear until lunch. The detective is surely capable of looking after +your father's safety. What is to prevent us from going at once? You +agree? Then wait one moment while I put on my hat." + +She hurried off, returning a minute later, prepared for the morning +visit. + +Laurence, during her short absence, had filled his vesta case, and once +again placed the little pistol in his pocket. + +"Now we can come," said Lena. And without delay they started off, +presently reaching the dark porch of the house of secrets. + +Smith, as before, appeared in answer to their ring, but he was far from +ready to admit the pair. Finally he said he would consult the Major, and +banging the door in their faces, disappeared, to return in a few minutes +with a sour grin and a summons to follow upstairs. + +This time Laurence struck a match on entering the house. The servant did +not object, but he kept very close to the visitors, eyeing the lady as +though coveting the bracelets she wore. The faint light of the match +revealed little, for the passages were unfurnished, and green mildew +clung to the stone walls. It was, however, a considerable aid to their +progress towards Mr. Meadows' sanctum. Anything was better, thought +Laurence, than the grim, impenetrable darkness of the previous visit. + +As on the former occasion, the porter ushered them into the Oriental +chamber in which sat the owner of the house, withdrawing immediately +when they were once inside. + +The doctor sprang to his feet immediately and held out his hand--which +Laurence appeared not to notice. + +"Good-morning to you," he said politely. "Madam, I am more than honoured +by your visit. My only regret is the inefficiency of my establishment. I +think, though, you will find this chair comfortable, and trust the smell +of tobacco smoke does not inconvenience you. Unfortunately I have no +drawing-room, as your brother--I believe he is your brother--no?--then +your friend--will have told you." + +He spoke fast, as though fearing that Laurence would commence by asking +unpleasant questions. + +"Doctor Meadows," said Carrington, "this lady and I have come to you +to-day to endeavour to learn the reason of your remarkable behaviour of +late. I am aware that you would do anything rather than receive a visit +from the police, but that is one of the two alternatives I offer you +now. The other is that you explain fully your relations with my father, +Squire Carrington, of Northden Manse." + +"Mr. Carrington," replied the doctor, "I told you the night before last +you are making some great mistake in connecting me in any way with your +father. Must I tell you so again now?" + +"Then, answer me this. What were you doing in the grounds of our house +at midnight, shortly after my visit here and the attempt to murder my +father in his room? What were you doing, I ask, on that occasion; and +how comes it that on the following morning the stolen bicycle, by the +rider of which a former attack on the Squire was made, is found in the +shed from which it was taken?" + +As Laurence spoke in a sharp, determined tone, both Lena and he noticed +that the colour died away from Doctor Meadows' cheeks. For a moment he +could not reply. His concern was very apparent. At last he answered. + +"Mr. Carrington," he said, "I see that it is no use for me to withhold +anything from you. You have been too sharp for me. What if I were to +tell you that my secret has nothing whatever to do with your father or +the strange attempts to murder him in cold blood, and that it is only by +unfortunate circumstances I come to be suspected by you of connection +with the plot against the Squire?" + +"I shouldn't believe it," replied Laurence, frankly and deliberately; +"however, I pray you to tell me your story. Do not forget, by the way, +that you have confessed to telling a pack of lies on different occasions +before now--about the Persian cat and the whip, the lunatic in the +cellar, your invalid Major, and so on. By the way, let me advise you, if +you wish to keep your secret from me, not to allow the creature +imprisoned downstairs to shriek while I am in the house." + +So great was the effect of these words on Doctor Meadows that at first +Lena feared he was going to faint. He sank down into his chair, sweat +standing out on his forehead; then he sprang up and darted towards +Laurence as though about to attack him with his fists. + +"Good God!" he cried. "How much do you know? Are you bent on ruining me? +Tell me, quickly, exactly, how much you know?" + +Laurence was more than astounded at this outburst. Acting on a +suggestion of Lena, he had sprung upon the other a remark about the +creature whom he had seen in the barn, and who, according to Miss +Scott's mode of accounting for the various mysterious circumstances of +the case, was being held in restraint by the inhabitants of Durley Dene. +That the chance shot had gone home was surely proved by the excited +behaviour of Doctor Meadows. + +For a moment Laurence hesitated. Should he play a game of "bluff" and +pretend that he knew all? He felt inclined to do this, but reflected +that he might be placing Lena in a position of danger were he to do so. +For, once Meadows believed his closely guarded secret was known, what +steps might not he take to compel those who had learned that secret to +keep silence? Consequently, he replied, "That is surely my own +business?" + +But Doctor Meadows was not satisfied. + +"That's no answer," he cried. "I must have an answer. How much do you +know? Tell me!" + +"All I know is," responded Laurence, "that one of the members of your +household is moving heaven and earth to do away with my unhappy father, +and I shrewdly suspect which of you it is. I know better than to believe +that you and your servant alone occupy this house of dark deeds." + +"There you are, bringing up that absurd notion that I (or, in your own +words, one of my household) am the author of the attempts on your +father's life. If you won't take my word for it that no one living in +this house is in any way responsible for the Squire's terrible position, +will it satisfy you if I swear upon the Book that such is the case?" + +"You dare not," said Laurence positively. + +"Not only do I dare to, but I will do so," answered Meadows; "but first, +tell me what you know about the person whom you allege is imprisoned in +this house." + +"In the first place," Laurence replied, "I know that, for some reason or +other, he has been hiding in the Manse barn. Secondly, that he possesses +the activity of an ape; and, thirdly, that he is black, and that his +voice is the strangest I have ever heard." + +"Thank Heaven!" muttered Meadows, not too low for the two visitors to +hear it. He sat down once again, and the colour returned to his cheeks. + +"Are you satisfied that I know something about him?" asked Laurence, +none too pleased with the way in which the doctor had taken his +information. + +"I am quite satisfied that you know nothing whatever about that which +you are pleased to call the mystery of this house. I confess that I have +a secret. Who has not? Mine is one that I am very anxious to keep. +Again, I say, who is not desirous of keeping secrets as such? Further, I +confess that you have had good grounds for mistrust. That bicycle +business was enough to lay me open to suspicion. What I am now going to +say I will repeat afterwards upon oath, if you so please, but, as a +gentleman, I hope my word will not be doubted. That bicycle was found by +my servant standing in the rear of this house the morning after what was +evidently the first attempt on your father's life. Whose it was, and +whence it came, was for the time a mystery. Then you honoured me with a +visit, and I learned in what an uncomfortable position circumstances had +placed me. As I say, I have no desire to emerge from the darkness of my +retirement. I did not wish you to know that I had found the bicycle, for +fear that you, doubting my word, would carry out your threat of +communicating with the police, and having the house searched. Therefore, +I secretly returned you the bicycle which evil destiny had given into my +hands. + +"This I can safely say--and swear, if it please you--that there neither +has been, nor is, anything illegal or wrong going on in this house. Does +that satisfy you?" + +No one answered. Laurence was inclined to doubt the man's word. He had +heard some equally astounding falsehoods from him before. Lena, also, +knew not whether to believe the statement or not. + +"Then," said the doctor, "I will fetch a volume of the Testament. But +before going any further, tell me if you know any man who would answer +to this description--Medium height, iron-grey moustache, possibly a grey +beard, but I doubt it; age about sixty; peculiarly courteous and +old-fashioned as to speech; an abhorrer of tobacco in any form." + +"That is the Squire--do you know him?" asked Lena and Laurence +excitedly, and almost in one breath. + +"Ah!" responded Doctor Meadows. But his pronunciation of the +monosyllable was pregnant with meaning. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A TRUCE AND A PROMISE + + +"Then you know my father?" asked Laurence, after the pause that followed +the doctor's laconic remark. + +"That I cannot say," responded Meadows, "but it seems like it, does it +not?" + +"You astonish me by confessing to a former acquaintance with Squire +Carrington. Were you not on the point of taking your oath that you knew +nothing about my father?" + +"No, I was not going so far as that, I am only prepared to swear that I +have had no hand in these attempts on your father's life, for I will +tell frankly that I was almost confident I had met your father long +before you told me that I was right in my description of his appearance. +Life is indeed strange. A moment ago you were doubting my word--you may +feel inclined to do so now, little thinking that probably I alone could +throw any light on the mystery. You know this, for I think you have +already told me as much, that Ma--Squire Carrington is keeping some deep +secret from the world--even from you, his son. What if I, and I alone, +am able to reveal that secret?" + +"You speak in riddles," replied Laurence. "You appear to know my father, +yet last time we referred to the subject you told me deliberately that +you had not 'the pleasure of his acquaintance.' What am I to believe? +Now you deny all connection with these murderous attacks on his life, +and yet you profess to be in a position to reveal the cause of them, and +to throw light upon the Squire's well-guarded secret." + +"As I have said," explained Doctor Meadows, "fate plays strange tricks +with us mortals. I am speaking the truth when I say that I think I know +more about your father's secret than any living creature, except the +Squire himself, and his assailant. Tell me, though, what do you know of +Mr. Carrington's past?" + +"Very little," replied Laurence; "if I knew more I might be able myself +to shed some light on the darkness. This alone I have been told by my +father, who is one of those men who keep their private affairs a sealed +book to the rest of the world--that my mother, who was of high birth, +died when I was born, twenty-two years ago; that my father never +followed any profession or trade, and that I am an only child." + +"Ah," murmured Meadows, "that is all you know, is it?" He sat gazing +steadily at the fireplace, his brow knit up as though he was wrapped in +thought. For a short space of time there was silence in the Oriental +room. + +"Well, do you agree," the doctor said at last, "to my proposal that I +should play the detective and solve the mystery encircling your father's +life?" + +"I have already obtained the assistance of an investigator," replied +Laurence, somewhat coldly. + +"Ah, and is he quite satisfactory?" + +Lena smiled at the question. + +"No," she responded, "he is hardly all that one can desire. He comes +from Burton's Private Assistance Bureau." She turned to Laurence. "You +must not be ungracious," she said gently. "Doctor Meadows--I call him by +that name for want of a better, though I am certain it is a disguised +one--Doctor Meadows is most kind in making this suggestion. We have +really no call upon his generosity at all. If he thinks he is in a +position to assist us in our investigation, why not permit him to do so? +Since he gives us his word as a gentleman that neither he nor his +servant has any connection with the plot to murder the Squire, why, he +is at liberty to have as many secrets of his own as he likes without +being annoyed by suspicious young people like us. Under the +circumstances I am sure Doctor Meadows will not expect you to ask him to +the house to pursue his inquiry, but please do let him help us as best +he can from here. I am sure his forehead shows him to be an adept at +detective work. It's quite as good a one as Sherlock Holmes had!" + +Laurence meditated. He naturally could not refuse Lena such a small +thing, and because she asked it he changed his behaviour towards the +doctor, and became more polite to the old gentleman, who received the +alteration with undisguised pleasure. + +"If I could only tell you why this house is the house of strange secrets +that you believe it to be, I would do so with all my heart. Alas! that +is impossible. As you have discovered, I have a secret--one which I must +keep at all costs. I beg you not to refer to it again. As you have +cleverly discovered, madam, my name, too--the one you know--is a +pseudonym. One day, perhaps, you will know why I have had to take such +precautions. Then you will find that it is by no fault of mine that I am +compelled to play the part I do. I thank you, both of you, for your +kindness. I am in your hands. If you do not believe my word of honour, +you can point out this house to the police and have it searched. By so +doing you will ruin me. You will cause such a sensation in the +world--yes, I am not exaggerating--as has not been for years. And it +will not do you the slightest good. Believe me, were you to do as you +once suggested, Mr. Carrington, you would, rather than win any praise or +honour, as you might if you exposed a gang of coiners or a murder-house, +place yourself in a most unenviable position. But not for this reason do +I ask you to refrain from taking active measures against me, but on the +ground of humanity, and because I alone can explain the terrible secret +that has blasted your poor father's life." + +"Doctor Meadows, the more I get to know you, the greater enigma you +become to me," said Laurence. "You must yourself agree with me when I +say that such words as you have spoken are most remarkable. I cannot +wonder at this, for you are the most remarkable man I have ever had the +pleasure of meeting. As you say, perhaps one day I shall know your +history and the cause of all that has raised my suspicions. Then, no +doubt, I shall see you in your true light, but, until then, understand +this: I shall take no steps whatever to unravel the mystery that +surrounds you, and shall respect all that you have told me, never +alluding to what is evidently a painful subject for discussion to you, +without your permission. And here is my hand on it. When I speak as I +do, I think I speak both for myself and for this lady, who has done me +the honour of promising to become my wife." + +"Oh, you story-teller!" broke in Lena, in tones of mock displeasure; "I +have not yet given my answer. If you aren't careful it shall be 'no.' At +present I am the person to answer for myself, and I second all that Mr. +Carrington has said," she added, turning to Meadows. + +"Thank you," replied the old gentleman, "thank you, both of you. You +will not regret the course you have adopted. But this detective whom you +have engaged--can you prevent him from making things unpleasant for me?" + +"I will do my best," replied Laurence briskly. "But," he proceeded, "you +should really be more careful in your selection of a servant, doctor. +One of my causes of suspicion was his very peculiar conduct in refusing +to show me out of the front door, after our last interview, without my +bribing him. That is hardly what one expects from a gentleman's servant, +is it?" + +"No, indeed," answered Meadows, with a sickly smile. "I must apologise +for his misconduct. He is not the most desirable servant one could have, +but he is very necessary to me. This time I will show you out myself, +and I shall not trouble you for a 'pour-boire.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +MR. HORNCASTLE, FROM DARTMOOR + + +"And now," said Meadows, as he lay back in his arm-chair, "now, as you +have been good enough to promise to take me into your confidence, may I +ask if you will give me a brief outline of the manner in which this plot +against Mr. Carrington has been carried out?" + +"Certainly," said Laurence; and he proceeded to sketch briefly the +events of the last few days. + +"Well," said the doctor, when his young visitor had concluded the +narrative, "one thing is quite certain. Since you are now sure that the +enemy is not lurking in this house, he must be even nearer home. I mean +that the chances are he is still hiding in the old barn. By the way, do +you happen to know of any secret place of concealment in that building?" + +"No; that I do not. But I feel sure, from the manner in which the +creature escaped from me on the night when I encountered him in the +dark, that there must be such a hiding-place. Strange that a new arrival +should discover a secret room, when I, who have explored the barn +scores of times, have not even learned of its existence." + +"Now," pursued Meadows, "I have already told you that I am probably the +one person who can throw any light upon the secrets and mysteries in +which this weird creature plays so important a part, yet I must confess +that I am unable to divulge one word of what I know--or, rather, +suspect--about the Squire's secret. As you are already aware, I do know +your father, Mr. Carrington; that is, I did know him many years ago, +before you were born, and before his marriage. Were I to tell you any +suspicions I should be breaking a promise I made, and have kept for all +these years; and I would rather die than do so. I know that by telling +you this I am probably laying myself open to further suspicion, but I +have found, to my cost, that to tell the truth is the best policy, +whatever the consequences may be. One thing, though, I can do, and that +is to help you to run this fiendish creature to earth. This I may as +well tell you: the person who is haunting your father--the fear of whose +coming has, indeed, haunted him for years--is not a woman, as you have +at one time imagined. It is a man. And with all respect for your +detective-nurse, his motive is neither jealousy, anarchy, nor robbery. +It is revenge!" + +"I must say that I always considered that such must be the case," said +Laurence; "hence my inclination to believe it was the poacher who swore +to be even with my father one day." + +"Ah!" remarked Doctor Meadows, "if it were only a poacher--a prince of +poachers, even--then our task would be very much easier. As it is, we +must prepare ourselves for a hard battle if we hope to capture the +rascal. Though I know nothing about him personally, I can tell you that +he is certain to be diabolically cunning and clever. You have already +found that out yourself. But, tell me, have you discovered anything in +the nature of a clue? Anything such as the feather the detective in +fiction finds on the murdered man's bed, which may lead to the detection +of the criminal?" + +Laurence shook his head. He had left the work of searching the room in +which the final attempt had been made on the Squire's life to the +detective from Burton's. Whether Mr. Oliver Potter had taken the +opportunity thus presented he did not know. + +"Then, tell me, please, about your father's room. Is there a +looking-glass over the mantelboard?" + +"No; my father dislikes mirrors of any kind. He shaves even without the +aid of a glass. But why?" + +"One minute. I think you said your butler found the bedroom door +slightly ajar when he entered, and discovered that your father was +apparently murdered? Yes? Well, then, do you recollect hearing whether +any of the maids happened to be about in the corridor at the time when +the assault must have taken place? A housemaid, for instance, with a +slop pail?" + +"No; I was not told that such was the case. Besides, the servants were +at supper when Kingsford went upstairs to attend to the Squire's wants, +so we may be quite sure that none of the women were on the bedroom +floor. But why on earth do you ask? This has surely nothing to do with +the case?" + +"I am merely trying to obtain some proof that my theory is the right +one, though, to be sure, proof is hardly necessary. What I wish to +discover is why the assassin did not carry out his vile deed." + +"He, no doubt, believed that he had killed the Squire," suggested Lena, +who had been following the conversation with undisguised interest. + +Meadows shook his head. + +"Or he was interrupted by hearing the butler's footsteps in the +passage," hazarded Laurence. + +"In the latter case," said the doctor, "I should say 'no,' because, from +what I can gather, there is no suitable hiding-place in the room in +which he could have concealed himself when the butler came in. There is +always the bed, of course, but I am inclined to think that he was +interrupted in some other way. The question is, how? It might be +answered if we learned that anything had been found in the +room--anything unusual, that is to say. However, we will not trouble +about that now. What should be done is to have the barn thoroughly +overhauled. Once we discover the hiding-place of this creature, we shall +be well on in our investigation." + +Laurence was about to reply when an interruption occurred. As on the +occasion of the last visit to Durley Dene, the doctor's strange servant +appeared in the doorway. This time his dusky face was pale, and he +appeared to be in a great state of alarm. + +"Here, quick, I want you! Come down at once, will you?" he whispered in +the doctor's ear, but not so low that the visitors could not catch the +words. + +The man looked significantly at his master, who rose in haste. + +"I regret that I shall have to close this very pleasant interview," he +said, in a quivering voice. "Unexpected business causes my retirement. +But, come, we must meet again before long. I will show you to the door. +Lead the way, if you please, Horncastle." + +As Meadows uttered this last word the servant turned to him and frowned +angrily, not aware that both the visitors were watching him. + +"Lead the way, Smith, I mean. I always confound your name with that of +my last valet," Dr. Meadows added, as though prompted by the servant's +expression of annoyance. + +The shutter of a landing window had been drawn back, so that the light +from outside feebly pierced the darkness within. Thus was the journey +downstairs made easier. The doctor walked in front with the servant. +Laurence made way at the top of the staircase for Lena to go before him. +This she would not do, however, but, fumbling in the semi-darkness, she +found her lover's hand, caught it, and did not release her hold until +the two were safely outside in the dazzling heat of the day. + +The door closed behind them. + +"How glad I am to get into the outside world once again!" cried Lena, +joyfully, when they had reached the gate of Durley Dene. "Doctor Meadows +is very kind and nice, and a perfect gentleman, yet there is such a +distinct air of mystery about the house, one is given such an impression +that the place is peopled by ghosts, that I must confess I should have +been frightened had I been alone there to-day. But, Laurence, the +mystery is no more solved than ever. It seems to get deeper every time +we make a fresh discovery. We know now that the doctor has nothing to do +with the Squire--I mean that he is not connected with the assaults--and +yet he informs us that he not only knew your father and his secret, but +could explain the whole mystery, if allowed to do so." + +"That's what he says," answered Laurence. "Is it the truth? And what is +the urgent business on which he was called away?" + +By this time the porch of the Manse was reached, but the door being +closed, and Laurence having mislaid his key, it was necessary to wait +for a servant to answer the bell. + +"Did you hear," asked Lena, "that he called the servant Horncastle, and +then corrected himself?" + +"Indeed I did; and in spite of all he said about truth being the best +policy, I feel sure he was lying again when he explained that a former +servant was called Horncastle. By the way, Horncastle is no common name, +is it? Somehow I believe I've heard it before. Do you know anyone called +Horncastle? I certainly have some reason for recollecting the name." + +At that moment Kingsford appeared at the door. + +"Do you happen to know the name 'Horncastle'?" casually asked Laurence +of the butler, as he followed Lena into the house. + +"Horncastle, sir?" repeated Kingsford, who, as an old retainer, was +never treated quite as one of the domestic servants. "No, I can't say I +know anyone o' that name, Mister Laurence, leastways excepting 'the' +Horncastle." + +"And who is 'the' Horncastle?" asked Laurence, pausing to hear the old +man's answer. + +"I mean the famous burgiler, sir, what escaped from Dartmoor six months +back." + +"Good gracious!" muttered Laurence to himself, and Lena thought +something that could only be described by an equally forcible +interjection. + +"Ah, of course," remarked the young man, fearing to raise the butler's +suspicion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +MR. POTTER SHOWS HIS HAND + + +"Glad to say, sir," was the butler's news after his remarks about +Horncastle, "that the master's recovered consciousness, sir, and would +be glad to see you. Dr. Bathurst has been and wished me to inform you +that he is quite satisfied with the progress his patient is making. Only +he must be kept very quiet, sir; and you'll pardon me mentioning the +matter, sir, but, do you know, I don't quite like the looks of that man +Potter, the nurse. Seems to me, with all respect, sir, that he's +neglecting his duty, to ask questions about master's movements of late, +and such like. Between you and me, sir, I suspect him of being more than +he makes out. When I was in the service of Sir Hartfoot Greig, sir, +there was a robbery, and just such a man as Mr. Potter came down from +London to investigate. He did more harm than good, and Sir Hartfoot, he +afterwards told me that----" + +But Laurence, well aware that when the old servant once got started on +one of his long-winded yarns there was no stopping him, cut the story +short by saying he would hear the rest another time, as he was very +anxious to see his father without delay. + +Lena had already retired to her room to remove her outdoor garments, so +Laurence at once proceeded to the Squire's bedroom, on the threshold of +which he encountered the man from Burton's, who, with a mysterious air, +drew him aside into a spare bedroom, explaining that he particularly +wished to have a word with him. + +"Well, what is it?" asked Laurence, impatiently. + +"It's this, sir," replied Mr. Potter. "I think, all things considered, +it would be best for you not to visit your father just now." + +"What on earth do you mean?" + +"Only this, Mr. Laurence Carrington, that I have seen through your game, +and shall feel obliged if you will consider yourself under arrest, and +remain in this room until I have arranged for your removal." + +The young man's remarks on hearing the nurse-detective's words were +forcible and to the point. For this reason there is no necessity to +chronicle them here. Sufficient it is to mention that an immediate +explanation was required, and this Mr. Potter did not hesitate to give. +His suspicions and their cause have already been dealt with in a +previous chapter. The detective, in tones that betrayed his triumph, +briefly sketched the reasoning by which he had reached the conclusion +that the Squire's assailant was none other than his own son, whose +accomplice was the lady who answered to the name of Selene Scott. + +At the mention of Lena's name, and when the absurdity of the situation +appealed to Laurence, the young man burst into a fit of hearty laughter. + +"You old meddling blunderer," he cried, "what a fine mess you've got +yourself into with your rapid deductions, your startling and original +theories! Suppose I call the men-servants and have you kicked out of the +house? It would be less than you deserved. My father's murderer! I've +never heard anything so funny in my life. So Miss Scott was my +accomplice?" + +"Exactly," replied the detective, somewhat taken aback by the way in +which "the criminal" had received the intelligence that his guilt had +been discovered; "and if I may be allowed to give you a word of advice, +you should control your mirth a trifle. Perhaps you are not aware that I +am in a position to obtain your arrest on suspicion?" + +"I certainly am not," answered Laurence. "The best thing you can do, I +think, is to come with me to the Squire's bedroom. My father has +regained consciousness, I believe. Let us see, then, if he is not able +to prove the absurdity of your charge." + +"I will not degrade you with the 'cuffs,' but kindly permit me to take +your arm. Don't try to commit suicide, now that I've proved your guilt. +You can't try games like that on Oliver Potter, late of Scotland Yard, +sir!" + +With difficulty controlling his amusement, Laurence allowed the +detective to hold his coat sleeve, while he led him into the Squire's +room, and the presence of the sick man himself. + +"Well, Daddy," said the young man, in a low voice, as he approached the +bed, "so you are a little better, eh? That's good. You'll soon be +yourself again, and let's hope you'll be no more troubled by the attacks +of this ruffianly enemy of yours. I'm on his track, Father, and ere long +I hope to have him safely between four walls." + +"Ah, Laurence, my boy," replied the old gentleman, in a feeble voice, +"it's a pleasure to hear your voice. How long have I been ill? What do +you mean by my 'enemy'? It was a--a burglar, Laurence, that tried to +murder me--the burglar whose coming I've been dreading for so long. The +one who attacked us in the carriage, you know. Do you say you're on his +track? That--that's all right, only you--you won't catch him, I'm +afraid. But who is this person?" The Squire pointed towards Mr. Oliver +Potter, who stood at Laurence's side in a great state of trepidation on +hearing the patient's cordial greeting to his son. + +The detective felt almost inclined to indulge in profanity. He had been +led off on a wrong scent. So much was very plain. "For once in your +life, Oliver Potter," he muttered to himself, "you've made a bad +blunder." + +"Who is this person?" again asked Mr. Carrington. "Surely you have not +engaged a fresh servant? It isn't the doctor, is it? Laurence, I don't +like new faces. Ask that gentleman what he is doing here." + +"This," said Laurence, seeing fit to disguise the real truth, "is a +friend of mine who happened to be staying in the village. As he has had +some experience of nursing, he was good enough to offer his services on +hearing of your illness. While you were unconscious he rendered Mrs. +Featherston valuable assistance. Now you are better, he will, of course, +leave you. I will accompany him to the door, Father, and then will come +back and see you again. Is your neck very bad?" + +"It's very sore and weak, my boy. That's a good lad, go and show your +friend out, and thank him for his kindness. Then return to me for a +little talk. Mrs. Featherston, please stay until Mr. Laurence returns." + +"Now, sir," said young Carrington, when, with the detective, he had left +the sick-room, "are you quite convinced of your absurd blunder?" + +"I am, and I sincerely regret it, Mr. Laurence," replied the man from +Burton's. "It's not often that I err. When I do I feel it--feel it, sir, +deeply. I am obliged to you for your kindness in withholding the truth +from your father. I shouldn't like Squire Carrington to think me +incompetent, though for that matter----" + +"We won't refer to the subject any further, Mr. Potter. I will now draw +you a cheque and wish you a very good day, regretting that your valuable +services are no longer required." + +A few minutes later the detective was ready to depart. + +"Glad to have made your acquaintance, sir," he said, as he stood on the +doorstep. "I suppose I may use your name as a reference? Perhaps you may +require my assistance another time. Here is my card. If you should ever +want me again that address will always find me. By the way, I'm of a +forgiving nature, and always like to help young amateur +investigators--give them encouragement, you know. Well, I've left a clue +to the mystery behind in a cardboard box in the cupboard of the +Squire's room. Don't thank me--anything to help a young friend. Fine +day, isn't it?" And Mr. Oliver Potter, late of Scotland Yard, walked +briskly out of the house, upsetting the umbrella stand as he went, and +chuckling beneath his breath. + +"Thank Heaven, he's gone!" muttered Laurence. "If ever there existed a +greater bore than our friend from Burton's I shouldn't care to meet +him." + +He returned to the bedroom, and relieved Mrs. Featherston, taking a seat +by his father's side. + +"Daddy," he said, when the door closed upon the genial housekeeper, "I'm +playing the part of an amateur detective. My one aim just now is to get +to the bottom of the mystery of the two determined attacks on your life. +It's no use for you to try to deceive me. You have some deep +secret--something is haunting you every moment of your existence; and I +shall not rest until I have discovered what it is." + +"Laurence, don't, don't try! It's for your own sake that I ask it of +you. When I am dead you will know all. Until then, do not try to +discover what is not meant for you to learn. I want you to love and +respect your father while he lives. Therefore do as I beg of you." + +"Don't talk like that, Daddy," said Laurence, gently, "as if anything +could alter my feelings towards you. Is this secret anything that +concerns my--mother?" + +"No, my boy, thank God, it is not!" + +"Then answer me this; have you ever heard of a Doctor Meadows?" + +"Meadows! No. But why, Laurence?" + +"Or a Major Jones-Farnell?" + +"No, no! But----" + +"Or of a fellow named Horncastle?" pursued the younger man. + +"Never!" + +"Then, have you ever mentioned anything about the matter which you wish +to keep a secret from me to a living soul?" + +"Why all these questions, Laurence? You know now that I have a secret, +so there is no need for me to deny it. I have never before now breathed +a word of this to a single soul, with the exception of one person." + +"And he?" + +"He is dead. My secret lies within my own heart. No cross-questioning +shall drag it from me." + +"One thing more, then I will not speak to you again for a little while, +because you must be kept quite quiet. Were you ever in India? If so, +did you happen to meet there a Major Carrington, of Madras?" + +With startling suddenness the sick man darted up in his bed. He stared +silently at his son for a moment, terror plainly imprinted upon his +features. Then, still speechless, he collapsed again upon the pillows. +Presently he turned his face away, so that he could no longer see his +son, whose words had so visibly concerned him. + +"I am very tired, Laurence," he said, peevishly. "You have talked too +long already. I must ask you to leave the room. Please do not annoy me +any further with this absurd cross-questioning." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +WHOSE WAS THE WRITING? + + +After being practically dismissed from his father's sick-room Laurence +went in search of Lena, whom he found in the garden with Mrs. Knox. The +good lady had fallen off into a convenient doze in a comfortable +deck-chair, so her niece welcomed the new-comer's arrival with pleasure. + +"Let us come for a little stroll," suggested the girl. Needless to say, +Laurence gladly concurred. + +"Well," Lena began, "I am dying to hear if the Squire said anything to +you--anything of importance, I mean, of course." + +"Yes, he did. He satisfied me upon one point, concerning which I was +much troubled. His inviolate secret has nothing to do with my mother, as +I feared--though I did not mention it to you--that it might. One +discovery of importance I have made. That is, though he didn't say it in +so many words, he made it very evident to me that he had at some period +or other been in India." + +"Ah, then you still think that Mr. Meadows is responsible for these +attacks on his life?" + +"Oh, no, I don't go so far as that," was Laurence's reply; "but I argue +thus. According to your friend, the person who presumably set fire to +the Marquis's house was of black complexion; but whereas we believed +that it must be a woman, because it wore garments like skirts, we now +learn on Meadows' authority that it was a man--a man in coloured skirts. +We therefore naturally concluded it must be some foreigner. Now I come +to think of it, the face of the highwayman on the moor gave me the +impression of being remarkably dark. The agility he displayed in the +barn was further proof of his being semi-civilised, for you know that +many of the coloured races can boast of agility that with us would seem +nothing short of marvellous. Then we learn from Doctor Meadows that many +years ago he knew my father--apparently intimately. One of the most +noticeable features of Durley Dene is, you will agree, the Oriental +fittings of the only room into which we have been shown. The conclusion +one naturally draws is that Meadows has travelled, or more likely lived, +in Oriental countries. Putting two and two together, I deemed it +possible that Meadows might have made my father's acquaintance when +abroad. Now, you will recollect my telling you that, on the occasion of +my first visit to the Dene, Meadows mentioned that he once knew a Major +Carrington at Madras. Nevertheless, when he learned that my father was +not a soldier, he distinctly said he could not have ever met the Squire. +On the other occasion he equally distinctly stated that he had known my +father before. He was, as you will remember, even able to describe his +appearance. What does all this lead you to presume--to deduct, as our +friend Potter would say?" + +"I must confess that I am stupid enough not to see what you are driving +at, in spite of your lucid reasoning," replied Lena. + +"Why, this, that Major Carrington, of Madras, and Squire Carrington, of +the Manse, Northden, are not merely namesakes, but one and the same +person!" + +"Good gracious me!" exclaimed Lena. "You clever boy! And you mean to say +that the Squire is an army man, and yet not even his son knows it?" + +"That is so, according to reasoning in which I can see no flaw, at +present. I asked him just now whether he had ever been in India, and, if +so, whether he had met a certain Major Carrington at Madras." + +"Yes, and what did he say?" + +"He could not answer. He was plainly terrified by the question, and +without further parley dismissed me on the ground that I was tiring him +by conversation. No; of this I am confident, there's something very deep +and mysterious about the whole business. One thing has been bothering me +a good deal. Were we right in making that promise to Doctor Meadows? Is +he really unconnected with our mystery, as he would try to make out? +Does it not seem most improbable that there should be two men with +closely guarded secrets occupying houses adjoining one another in a +peaceful little country village? Yet there was something so sincere +about the way in which he spoke that one could not help believing him. +Now, in the recent conversation I had with my father, he told me that +the only person who ever knew anything about his secret (except, of +course, the creature who is responsible for the attempt on his life) is +dead. Yet Meadows claims a knowledge of that secret. One of the two is +not adhering to the truth. Naturally, I am inclined to think that +Meadows is this one, though I confess it appears possible that my father +might not be too careful about speaking the whole truth if he feared by +so doing to place in my hand a clue to the revelation of his secret. +But, supposing that Meadows' knowledge of my father is not of such a +kind as he would lead us to believe it to be, have we not, perhaps, +acted unwisely in confiding in him to so great an extent? And the +discovery that the servant's real name is Horncastle; what do you make +of that?" + +"I feel very much inclined," replied Lena, "to think that he is what +Kingsford calls 'the' Horncastle, the man who was sent to prison for +daring robbery about a year ago, and who escaped from Dartmoor six or +eight months since. Oh, to think that you were in the clutches of such a +creature, Laurence, and that you were practically alone with him in that +dark house! Why, didn't they say that he was suspected of some murder +out at Swiss Cottage? Yes, I'm sure they did. But what can he be doing +in Durley Dene? Is he in hiding there? If so, perhaps that is the secret +of the house. But it cannot be. There is something far deeper than that +in the mystery of Durley Dene." + +"I can easily prove that that is but a part of the mystery," said +Laurence. "You remember how Horncastle said to me when I threatened to +report him, 'Do you think I care whether you tell the doctor? He's +nothing to me.' Well, to my mind, that remark implies that, instead of +fearing his master (if he is actually such), he has the whip hand of +Meadows. Why? Because he alone knows the doctor's mysterious secret. He +realises, of course, that the master of Durley Dene dares not expose him +or hand him over to justice as an escaped convict for fear that +Horncastle, in his turn, will reveal to the world his secret, which, +according to Meadows himself, would electrify the world and prove one of +the greatest sensations of the day. Thus we now know why Horncastle +wears a woman's disguise when walking abroad, because, were he not to do +so, he might be identified by anyone who had seen his portrait, copies +of which were posted outside every police-station in the kingdom, with a +notice to the effect that anyone apprehending Thomas Horncastle or +giving such evidence as shall lead to his apprehension will be amply +rewarded!" + +"Really, Laurence," said his companion gaily, "you're quite smart. We +are, I am certain, at any rate well started in our investigation of this +maze of mysteries. But what have we here?" + +The last remark was caused by the fluttering of a scrap of white paper, +on which Lena's eye chanced as the young pair strolled down a path +bounded on one side by the palisade dividing the garden from that of +Durley Dene. + +It has already been mentioned that, in addition to this palisade, +numerous bushes of stunted growth formed a substantial barrier between +the grounds of the adjoining estates. It was on a prickly evergreen that +the scrap of paper, to which the girl's attention had been drawn by its +fluttering in the soft breeze, was impaled. + +"Surely not another message from our neighbour?" queried Laurence, with +a smile. + +"Not exactly," replied Lena, "but something belonging to Mr. Meadows, +under his military alias, for all that." + +"Indeed!" Laurence bent over the scrap of paper, which the girl now held +out for him. + +It was the left-hand portion of a torn envelope. In fact it was entire, +save that the part bearing the stamp and the last few letters of each +line of the address were missing. Such of it as there was bore the +following address, written in a firm lady-like handwriting--undoubtedly +the work of an educated woman-- + + "Major Farnell-Jo.... + "Durley Den.... + "Northd.... + "Yorksh.... + "England." + +"So the worthy Major has lady correspondents who address him by his +pseudonym and write from abroad," remarked Lena. + +"It's undoubtedly in a lady's handwriting," replied Laurence, "but how +do you know it comes from abroad? The envelope is a thick one." + +"That's simple enough. If the person who addressed that envelope had +done so from England she would have been hardly likely to write +'England' at the foot of the address. Of course, in using the word +'abroad,' I include in this case Scotland and Ireland." + +"I see. But surely that handwriting is familiar to me. Don't you know +it? No? Well, I'm certain that I do. The peculiar formation of the 'J's' +and 'Y's,' and the flourishing stroke to the 'N' of Northden, I know +perfectly. Where have I seen that writing before?" + +But, strive as he might, he could not recall whose it was. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE MYSTERY OF THE MANSE BARN + + +"By all that's wonderful," cried Laurence to Lena after the solemn +mid-day meal was at an end, "if I haven't forgotten about the clue Mr. +Oliver Potter so generously gave me! Let me think--he said if I went to +the cupboard in the Squire's bedroom I should find a cardboard box +containing something which would prove of use in our investigation. If +you will wait here for half a minute (I know you will excuse me) I will +fetch the box, and we will pry into its mysterious contents." + +He left the dining-room, returning, however, a few moments later with a +yellow collar-box. From this he permitted Lena to remove the lid. The +girl gave a cry of dismay when she caught sight of the unpleasant +contents of the box. The odour that arose from the carcase of the bat +which the detective had so carefully preserved was none too pleasant, +while to a woman the sight of anything so closely resembling a mouse as +does a bat is usually enough to cause an exclamation of horror. + +Laurence was much annoyed when he perceived the clue which Potter had +left behind him. + +"It's his pretty revenge for his dismissal," he said. "An extremely poor +practical joke, which I am surprised that a man of Potter's age should +descend to. Here, let me throw it away." + +And he suited the action to the word by flinging the little carcase out +of the open window and into the middle of a cluster of bushes. + +"Now for the barn," Laurence proceeded. "Shall we make our examination +of it at once, as Meadows suggested?" + +"I am quite ready, if you are," replied Lena. + +"Then let us go at once, before something else arises to cause us to +forget what we were about to do, as something has done so many times +before during this investigation." + +A few minutes later they were both in the barn, tapping the panels of +the wall and the floor and searching among the hay for some sign of the +secret hiding-place, in which, according to Doctor Meadows' reasoning, +the Squire's enemy was lurking. + +Search as they might, though, no success rewarded their praiseworthy +efforts. An hour passed, yet they still persevered, though Lena was hot +and tired with stooping. Laurence had made the most minute examination +of the roof, yet he had to confess himself beaten. + +"I cannot understand it," he said. "It didn't take me half a minute, or +anything like so long, to knock the hay which the rascal threw at me out +of my eyes, yet in that short space of time our man managed, aided by +the darkness, of course, to effect his escape. The question is, how?" + +"Come, we mustn't be beaten. The secret trap-door, or whatever it is, +must be somewhere in the roof. Try again, and instead of only tapping +the wood, press it hard occasionally." + +Laurence did as he was told. He reached the cross-beam on which the +creature with the shrill voice had been discovered, and from there, by +means of the ladder, reached the beam at the top of the building (which +formed, with the point made by the meeting of the ascending sides of the +thatched roof, a large letter A). + +Here, as will be easily understood, the young man had to sit (on the +cross-bar of the A) with head bent down owing to the proximity of the +actual roof. + +Once, however, while talking to Lena, who was standing immediately below +him, he raised his head, forgetting that he was unable to do so without +striking it against the top. Then a strange thing happened. + +The force of his pressure on the side of the roof caused it to roll back +suddenly like a trap-door. It fell back, until a roomy space was +revealed immediately above Laurence's head. And yet, looking through, +young Carrington was astounded beyond measure to find that he couldn't +(as might have been expected) gaze straight up at the blue sky, but what +he saw several feet above him was a second thatched roof shaped exactly +like that under which he had been sitting! + +Then, in an instant, he knew the secret of the Manse barn. The roof was +a double one, its mechanism being exactly similar to that of the +double-bottomed boxes that for so long were the means of cheating our +Custom-House officials of the duties payable upon articles which were by +this means smuggled into the country free of tax. + +Laurence informed Lena in low tones of his discovery, and, promising to +return in a minute or two, raised himself by his arms to a ledge which +presented itself immediately above him. No sooner had he done so than +the sham roof closed down noiselessly, and young Carrington found +himself in a long, low room or attic, unfurnished, and with apparently +the dust of ages upon its panelled walls, its thatched roof (the real +roof of the barn), and its uneven flooring. + +In the excitement of the moment Laurence paid no attention to the +closing of the trap-door. + +Thanks to a ray of light that stole through a rent in the straw thatch, +he was able to look around him. + +The room he was in was the exact size of the barn itself, only, owing to +the low ceiling, its size seemed greater than it actually was. + +Taking his match-box from his pocket, the young man struck a light, held +it above his head, being careful not to ignite the dry straw of the +roof, and gazed around. + +He was able to assure himself that no one was hiding in the attic--in +fact, there was no room for anything larger than a rat to hide. This, at +any rate, was satisfactory. The feeble light also satisfied the +investigator on another point. + +Though the mysterious creature whom he had encountered by night below +where he now stood was not at that moment concealed in this carefully +hidden lair, there were unmistakable signs of him in a number of +foot-shaped patches in the dust accumulated on the floor. Laurence noted +with a feeling of delight that these patches were, in size and shape, +identical with those he had discovered to be the footprints of the +"cyclist highwayman." + +Very quickly, after he had extinguished the match, did Laurence's eyes +become accustomed to the semi-darkness, and he was able to prosecute +his search without the assistance of any light. + +Another startling discovery was in wait for him. In a far corner of the +attic there was a trap-door in the floor, in the manufacture of which no +attempt had been made to conceal it from view, as in the case of the +false roof. An iron ring was conveniently placed at one side of this, +and, in a state of excited expectancy, Laurence without difficulty +raised the trap-door, which revealed (as does the inevitable trap-door +in children's fairy tales) a narrow staircase, dark and dismal. + +Without hesitation, and carefully groping his way, he started down the +staircase, which was so narrow and small that in places he was compelled +to move down sideways and stooping almost double. In such a place, he +thought to himself, height is a distinct disadvantage; yet, in spite of +all, and though he considered it extremely possible that he might at any +moment run against his father's lurking enemy, he pushed on downstairs +until the bottom was reached. + +He dared not strike a match, for fear that, if anyone was hiding near, +he might lie in wait for the new-comer, and, knowing the place better +than Laurence, overcome him without difficulty. + +Where was he, and what did all these secret places mean? Only one +solution was possible. The barn, in addition to having a false roof, had +also a sham side to it, and there was sufficient space between the outer +side and the panelled inner one for the staircase down which he had +come, and which led to--where? + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE FATE OF THE EAVESDROPPER + + +Once on level ground--which, he was surprised to find, was paved with +stone--Laurence was able once again to stand upright and stretch out his +hands, without touching anything in the pitch darkness. + +He found the wall at length, and moved along it. Presently it came to an +end, but, like the corner of a room, met another wall running at right +angles to it. Some distance farther there was a break in the cold +surface of the wall. Laurence concluded that it was the mouth of a +passage leading off somewhere. He did not turn down this, though, but +groped on until he reached another angle in the wall that seemed like a +second corner of a room. A third time he made a similar discovery; then +he came upon another passage, unbarred, leading away he knew not where. +At last he found himself once again at the foot of the staircase down +which he had come. + +Plainly this pointed to the natural conclusion that he was in a large +square room, in which there was apparently no living creature except +himself, but out of which led two passages, in addition to the staircase +that descended from the secret attic. + +As Laurence stood consulting as to what he should do next, he became +aware of a muffled sound coming from above his head. The ceiling of the +place in which he stood was high. He could not reach it without standing +on tiptoe, when he found it to be of wood. + +The sound he heard was a regular tap-tap, as though someone was moving +about in a room directly above that in which he stood. What did it mean? +Why, Laurence decided without hesitation, the sounds of footsteps were +those made by Lena as she strolled about in the barn. The room in which +he found himself must accordingly be exactly under the barn itself. And +yet, throughout the years he and his father had spent at the Manse, not +a suspicion had entered the head of either that the old barn--dating +back, it was said, to the time of Cromwell--was the centre of a +labyrinth of secret passages and chambers such as it now seemed to be. + +There were two courses open to him, Laurence thought to himself--to +return by the narrow staircase, find his way out into the light of day, +and return later with a lantern and some weapon of defence; or to take +one of the two passages which he had found, and discover whither it led. + +Wisdom and common sense urged the former course; daring and, perhaps, +foolhardiness clamoured for the adventure that might be the result of +further exploring. And, as might have, perhaps, been expected, the +verdict of common sense was dismissed, the girl waiting upstairs +forgotten, and Laurence, finding one of the dark passages close at hand, +plunged into it, and, feeling his way with a hand on either wall, +quickly left the square room under the barn behind him. + +The passage seemed of interminable length, nor was there any break in +the wall on either side. Not a ray of light pierced the grim darkness. +Not a sound was audible save that of his own footsteps. The air was +heavy with an odour of decay. Altogether the experience was one which an +ordinary person would not relish. But then, as has been said, Laurence +was no ordinary person. He hardly knew what fear was; the only time he +had been really unnerved being after his experiences in tracking the +cyclist on the moor. Every moment he considered it possible that he +might encounter the man he believed to be lurking in the many possible +hiding-places that there seemed to be. Yet he did not hesitate for one +instant, though unarmed with so much as a walking-cane. + +'Tis a long lane that has no turning, and at length the prowler in the +dark was brought to a sudden standstill by his outstretched hand coming +in contact with something--either a wall or a door--that completely +barred his way. + +Laurence fumbled about, in the hope of finding some catch or handle +which would assure him that he had reached a door. He naturally presumed +that it would be a door, for otherwise what would be the meaning of the +long passage were it to lead nowhere? For some little time he searched +in vain, then, deciding that there was no fear of the creature into +whose haunts he had penetrated being in his immediate neighbourhood, the +young man struck a match and held it high above his head. + +The sight that met his gaze when the light of the vesta flared up and +then burned quickly before going out was a strange one, yet he was +prepared for what he saw. The passage down which he had come closely +resembled a railway subway, such as that at King's Cross Station, +London. Though on the whole fairly straight, it swerved once or twice in +such a way that he was unable, when looking back, to see for any +distance the path by which he had reached the oak door before which he +was standing. + +He was able to make a cursory examination of this door while the light +lasted. It looked very old, and the damp stood upon it like beads of +perspiration. It was heavily studded with iron knobs, and there was a +massive-looking lock at the foot of it, and another near the top. +Undoubtedly the man who had built the passage and this door had taken +good care to have the best work put into them. What was the builder's +scheme--the cause of all the secrecy? Nothing more likely than that it +was an illegal one. + +But Laurence's meditations on this subject were cut short by a sound +that fell upon his ear. + +Someone was talking--someone on the other side of the oak door. + +The sounds became louder. Two persons were speaking, one in loud and +rough tones. They were approaching the door behind which he stood. + +As they drew nearer Laurence became aware of a gleam of light that shot +through the keyhole of the lock at the top of the door. In an instant he +was standing on the bottom lock, clinging by his hands to the iron +knobs. With his eye to the keyhole he was able to see through into what +looked like a spacious lobby or hall. The figures of two men were +standing facing one another half a dozen yards away, their faces lit up +by the yellow glare from a candle that the shorter one of them was +carrying. But for this artificial light the hall would have been as dark +as the passage in which Laurence stood. As it was, the watcher was +enabled to get a good view of the men's features. To his amazement he +discovered that the speakers were none other than Doctor Meadows and his +convict servant Horncastle. + +The discovery so startled young Carrington that in his astonishment he +slipped from the protruding ledge on which he was standing and dropped +with a clatter upon the stone pavement. + +Both men turned suddenly and glanced in the direction whence the sound +appeared to come. + +As quietly as possible Laurence clambered up again and peered through, +to find the two faces staring straight at him. How was it that they did +not guess there was someone behind the door? They certainly did not, for +Horncastle exclaimed-- + +"Drat them rats! The place is haunted by 'em." + +"Are you sure that was a rat?" asked Meadows. "The noise was much +greater than any I ever heard a rat make. There must be a colony of +them--or is it possible that there is something else behind the panels +of that wall? The house agent mentioned to me a secret room." He lowered +his voice. Laurence did not catch what his words were. Then he went +on-- + +"If that were the case there might be someone--someone suspicious; you +know what I mean--overlooking us. Of course, the idea is absurdly +improbable. Suppose we look behind that oak panelling, though? We can +put it all back; we will, at any rate, drive the rats away." + +"Well, you're a queer one, you are. Suspicious as I don't know what. I'm +game, then, only I 'aves my pint o' gin afterwards, or else--or else +I'll blab to that messing Carrington chap about----" + +And to the eavesdropper's extreme annoyance, Horncastle broke off short +when Laurence was thinking himself to be on the verge of a discovery +acquired--though, in his excitement, he forgot all that--by means that +could hardly be considered of exemplary fairness. + +As the two men moved towards where he stood, Laurence's interest gave +way to dismay. What might not these unscrupulous folks do when they +discovered eavesdropping a man who had betrayed grave suspicions of the +nature of their "secret"? At any rate, Laurence realised that he had a +good start, and, as Doctor Meadows, throwing down a dog-whip which he +had held in his hand, moved towards the panelling and ordered his +convict servant to fetch the necessary tools, Carrington moved +noiselessly down from his perch. He was about to turn back and effect +his escape, when something--something like the lash of a whip--brushed +past his face and suddenly caught his neck. At the same time two hands +from out of the darkness behind seemed to strike against the sides of +his head, a knee was planted in the small of his back, a leg seemed to +entwine itself round his, and, like a flash of lightning, his senses +left him, as Laurence Carrington fell like a dead man upon the stone +pavement of the secret passage. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +IN THE OAK-PANELLED HALL + + +It seemed to him like an age, but was really only a few minutes, before +Laurence Carrington recovered consciousness. When he did so it was with +a violent pain in his head and neck. + +Old "Doctor Meadows" was bending over him as he lay on a bench in the +hall at which he had peeped through the keyhole of the great oak door. +The servant, Horncastle, was not to be seen. + +Laurence struggled to rise, but the burning pain in his neck, and a +feeling of dizziness and extreme weakness, prevented him. The "doctor" +motioned to him to keep still. + +"You will be better soon," he said encouragingly; "thank Heaven we were +in time, or the brute would have done for you. Strange, stranger than +strange," he went on, half aloud, "that we should have returned from the +distant East, have allowed a couple of dozen years to pass without being +so much as aware whether each other still lived, and that--that we +should come together like this." + +Laurence saw that he was thinking aloud. He waited silently to hear what +the old gentleman would say further. But though the young man could see +his companion's lips moving, he was disappointed, in that the "doctor" +concluded his thoughts on the subject beneath his breath. + +"What happened?" Laurence asked at length. "It was 'it' that attacked +me, was it not?" + +"Yes, 'it,'" replied the "doctor," with a shake of his head. "I trust," +he went on, "that Horncastle will catch him." + +"I should think," replied Laurence, "that the terrible enemy of my +father and your convict servant would make a good match." + +The old man leaped back as though shot. + +"You know that?" he cried, evidently referring to Carrington's allusion +to Horncastle--"you know that? What else do you know?" + +Laurence shook his head. + +"Not very much," he answered with a smile, as he raised himself to a +sitting posture. "And you?" + +"Me! Well, I know everything." + +"What!" the young man shouted, "you know who my father's enemy is?" + +"I do." + +"And you know my father. What else do YOU know?" + +"I know," responded Meadows slowly, "that the 'long arm of coincidence' +is, well, longer than the 'long arm of the law.'" + +"What do you mean?" + +"I have already told you. I mean that I, the suspected, spied-upon man +of mystery (that's so, is it not?), I am the man who alone can throw +light upon--can, moreover, effectually solve--the secrets of your +father, Major Carrington's life." + +"Then he is 'the' Major Carrington, of Madras?" + +"He is." + +"But," muttered Laurence, half aloud, "he told me that only one man +(besides his enemy) ever learned his strange, inviolate secret." + +"And I am that one man," responded the "doctor." + +"Now," exclaimed Laurence angrily, "now I know you are lying. The man +who held the Squire's secret died years ago." + +"And," was the "doctor's" quiet reply, "so did I!" + +And, before Laurence could find words to express his feelings at such a +mad, mysterious remark, there came the sound of flying feet thundering +along the stone passage and drawing towards the door, through which he +had himself been dragged after the attack in the dark. + +The oak door now stood open. From within no one would have believed it +to be a door, the oak panelling of the walls being so skilfully imitated +on it. + +Through it, like a madman, rushed the convict servant, Horncastle. His +face was white as a sheet, his breath came in jerks. Terror was manifest +on his repulsive features. + +"Thank God, I'm free from it," he almost shrieked, as he rushed up to +the other two men. + +Lighted only by a single tallow candle, the scene was a strange one--one +that an artist would have given much to have an opportunity of +picturing. The shadows on the men's faces, the cunningly wrought +panelling of the great lonesome hall, the air of mystery that seemed to +hang about the place--all these made the picture one that Laurence never +forgot. + +"Well," asked Meadows, "why have you not caught him?" + +"The darkness," explained the convict servant, "the darkness, the awful +darkness! I'd stand up to any man in the kingdoms, but that cursed +silence and gloom and its 'orrors are a bit too much. And that creature, +'arf man, 'arf beast, seemed like the 'old man' 'isself, the way he +slipped out of my grasp, which ain't a light one, as this 'ere gent +knows." And the fellow had the audacity to pat Laurence on the shoulder. +He was no longer the terrified creature of a moment before, when in the +company of two of his fellow-creatures. + +Meadows looked at him with ill-disguised expressions of disgust. But he +did not speak. Instead, he motioned to the servant to depart. + +By this time Laurence was able to rise and move about without being +overcome by the pains in his neck and head. He turned to Meadows, who +had astounded him a moment before by his casual remark that he was a man +who had been dead many years. + +"Please explain the strange observation you made when +Mr.--er--Horncastle interrupted us by his return." The convict scowled, +and looked daggers at Meadows, who, however, did not notice, for he was +deep in thought. + +"Mr. Carrington," he said at length, "I can tell you a little now, but +not all. First tell me in what way you think you were attacked." + +"I cannot. I only know that I felt as though someone was cutting my +throat." + +"Someone," replied "Doctor Meadows," "was doing more. He was trying to +break your neck." + +"Ah!" Laurence exclaimed, "like he did my poor father's. And how did he +do it? It was all so quickly, so cleverly done." + +"It was done by a man who has made a careful study of murder." + +"Good gracious, for what purpose?" + +"For the purpose of murdering your father!" + +"No, no, it cannot be!" exclaimed Laurence. "Why this enmity? What has +the Squire done?" + +"Nothing," responded Meadows; "and can't you see, now, who and what the +creature is that is hiding in yonder darkness?" + +"No. Who? What?" + +"Don't you know what harmless weapon it is that when skilfully wielded +deals death more cruelly than knife or gun? Why, a cord, a piece of silk +cord!" + +"Then," Laurence shouted, for the words shed light upon the dark subject +that he had tried so hard to penetrate--"then the man is a--a----" + +"A Thug," was the grim reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +LIGHT IN DARK PLACES + + +"No, I can tell you nothing further," said "Doctor Orlando Meadows," in +reply to Laurence's eager requests for information; "but even what +little I have told you throws light upon much that was formerly dark to +you. For instance, now you know the solution of the mystery of the +padded footprints. The Thug, like many native Indians of his class--a +low one--swathes his feet in strips of linen stuff. So you see he did +not have to perform the distinctly difficult operation of removing his +boots while on the machine! + +"Next, you can now understand the meaning of the marvellous agility of +the creature. I wonder you did not put two and two together before and +guess that the wonderfully athletic foe who almost broke your father's +neck in some mysterious manner was--a Thug. Those fanatics are the +finest gymnasts in the world, besides being the most bloodthirsty +creatures under heaven. + +"One thing I cannot understand is why so desperate a scoundrel should +pause in the middle of his deadly work, and leave your poor father +living, though unconscious. It is deemed the greatest possible disgrace +for a Thug to attack his victim with the 'noose' and fail to kill him. +Of course, as a rule, the Stranglers--as they are called--work together, +but against one old man a single Thug should be able to carry out his +grim work thoroughly. I speak as one who knows something about India. +You are convinced that nothing unusual was found in the room in which +your father was attacked?" + +"Nothing, as far as I am aware," replied Laurence. "Of course, I left +the detective to look for any clue in the bedroom, but whether he found +anything I do not know. Had he done so I think on his departure he would +have handed it over to me." + +"And he didn't?" + +"No--that is, he merely played a practical joke on me by leaving a +cardboard box in a cupboard in which he said I should find a clue. On +opening it I was disgusted to find nothing but a dead bat----" + +"A dead bat!" shrieked "Doctor Meadows"; "had he found it in the +Squire's bedroom?" + +"As to that I cannot tell you. But why?" + +"Because," replied the old gentleman, "if he did I know why the assassin +did not murder your father outright!" + +"Good gracious, what has that got to do with it?" + +"Everything. The Thugs are the most superstitious people on earth. When +they believe their patron goddess Kalee does not approve of their +sacrifice--they call all murders sacrifices to her--they stop short in +their deadly operations. In India if they are carrying out one of their +gruesome murders, and a girl with a pitcher happens to pass near, they +stop instantly. It is a sign that the goddess is displeased with their +selection of a victim. That was why I asked you if it was possible that +a housemaid with a pail passed the half-open bedroom door when the +attack was made. Again, should a murdering Thug see his victim's face +reflected in water or a mirror, he will, for the same reason, stop in +the very middle of his work. But one of the worst omens--a sign that +Kalee is greatly displeased--is the passing of a small chattering bird, +or a bat, while the murder is being carried out. The bat which by chance +had got into your father's room must have fluttered about when the +assassin was carrying out his foul deed. That bat saved your father's +life!" + +"But how did the Thug get into the room, and how did he escape?" + +"That question, I think, you have yourself solved. I do not know how +you came to reach that door"--pointing in the direction of the stone +passage--"but presumably you came from your own house. I told you I +believed there must be some secret hiding-place. Well, if you came +through this passage, I suppose the Thug could do likewise. Only instead +of coming in this direction he went in the other, and got into your +house the same way you have got into this. The passage, I have heard, +was built in the troublous time of the Civil War, when Charles I. and +Oliver Cromwell struggled for the mastery. No doubt it was arranged for +the inhabitants of one house to escape into the other when besieged or +attacked." + +"But," said Laurence, "I entered that secret passage from the barn. If +the Thug got out that way--he has evidently been hiding in the secret +loft over the barn--how did he get into the Manse when he tried to +murder my father?" + +"I do not know; but do you mean to tell me that the passage leads only +to the barn? I cannot believe it." + +"Then don't, but--stay! There was another passage leading from a room +under the barn which as yet I have not explored. In this the Thug was +probably hiding when I passed the entrance, and, attracted by the light +I struck, followed and sprang upon me from behind. That passage may, +for all I know, end in the Manse itself." + +"Rest assured that such is the case," replied Meadows; and he added, "I +should not be surprised if you were to find that that other passage led +into the Squire's bedroom!" + +Laurence gasped. If so, the affair was well-nigh solved. The thought of +the mystery reminded the young man that here he was conversing amicably +with the "doctor" in the very basement which he believed to contain the +old gentleman's secret. + +"Now," said Laurence, laying his hand on Meadows' arm, "tell me your +secret and there will no longer be any mystery." + +"No, no," cried the old man; "go away. You take advantage of my +kindness. I have cleared up the mystery of your father's enemy as far as +I am permitted to do so, and you treat me so. But," he said slowly, "in +a day or two I may be able to tell you all. Then I will renew my +acquaintance with your father, Major Harold Lester Carrington, late of +Madras. Until then I can do nothing." + +So saying, and in spite of his protests, Laurence was conducted by the +"doctor" to the front door of the old house. As the door closed upon +him, after he had bidden Meadows a more or less cordial farewell, he +fancied he heard another cry from the lower part of the house of +strange secrets. This time he thought the weird sound seemed less +awe-inspiring, more pathetic, than before. And it was so low that the +listener could not be sure whether his imagination had played a trick +upon him, or if what he fancied he had heard was reality. + +With his head throbbing with the sickly pains caused by his injury, he +turned and hurried away to the Manse. + +Lena met him in the hall. She was deadly pale. At the sight of her lover +she sprang forward, and, unconscious of the fact that Mrs. Knox was +peering inquisitively over the banisters, flung her arms round his neck. + +"Oh, thank God," she cried almost hysterically, "that you are safe! I +thought you were killed. I had a presentiment that 'it' had attacked and +murdered you in the dark loft. Where have you been; why were you away so +long?" + +And then, suddenly realising how forward she had been, she darted back +as quickly as she had come. It was not because her aunt made her +presence known by clearing her throat with unnecessary vehemence, but +because she remembered that she had not yet confessed her love for +Laurence, and because it seemed to her that her anxiety for his safety +had triumphed over her natural modesty. + +Then, without another word, without waiting to hear what Laurence had to +tell her, she hastened away to her own room, and, locking the door, +flung herself upon her bed, where she calmed herself in the orthodox +feminine manner--she had a good cry, but the tears were tears of joy! + +She already knew that he loved her--now he knew that she loved him. And +he was safe! + +Meanwhile Laurence, wondering at Lena's--to him--strange behaviour, +proceeded to his father's bedroom, where he dismissed the housekeeper +and sat down by the Squire's bedside. + +"Father," he said, after he had inquired how the sick man felt, "I have +learned all." + +Mr. Carrington lay motionless. He could not reply. The announcement had +overcome him. His face grew very pale. + +"What do you mean?" he muttered, raising himself, at length, upon his +elbow, and peering into his son's face. + +"I mean that I know who and WHAT your enemy is--your enemy who is trying +to avenge that which happened over twenty years ago!" + +"Who has told you?" asked the Squire excitedly--"not--not 'it'?" + +"No, someone who says he died years ago!" + +"What do you mean?" + +"I hardly know myself. Next door--I mean at the Dene--lives an old man +who says he knew you more than twenty years ago." + +"Don't believe it, Laurence. But-t-t how does he know my secret? You are +sure that he--he is not the--the----" + +"No, he is not the Thug." + +At the mention of the last word the Squire fell back upon his pillows +with a shudder. + +"And you've not caught him?" + +"No, but I know where he is hiding, and," he added, "if you won't tell +me what I don't know, he will!" + +"I cannot tell you. Yet, if I don't he will. Here, go to the desk in my +sanctum, press the knob of the dummy drawer on the right-hand side, and +bring me down the book that will fall out of the slit underneath." + +With rising hopes the young man did as he was told. He returned to the +sick-room shortly after, carrying a small red pocket-book, fastened with +a piece of parchment sealed on the back and front of the Volume. + +"Take it," said the Squire, "and read it, only not here. I cannot bear +to think of it all. Go, now; you mean well, my boy, but you don't know +the pain it causes me to hear you speak of my secret. When you know all +you will see that your poor old dad is not such a sinner as you think he +is." And the Squire lay back on the pillows again, and closed his eyes, +and, making a suitable reply, Laurence left the room. + +He met a very shamefaced Lena in the drawing-room, and told her of all +his afternoon adventures, not forgetting to offer a very sincere apology +for leaving her in the barn. Then he produced from his pocket the little +red note-book and pointed to the notice endorsed on it: "For my son, +Laurence. Not to be opened until after my death." Then, assuring her +that he had permission to read it, he broke the seals and opened the +book, which was full of thin, straggling writing. + +"Shall I read it aloud?" asked Laurence temptingly. + +"Oh, please do." + +"Sure you wouldn't like to read it aloud yourself?" + +"Oh, no. I'm a terribly bad reader." + +"Well, so am I." + +"I'm sure you're better than I am," responded Lena. + +"I'll tell you how we can settle it." + +"How?" + +"By each reading it separately." + +"But I want to hear the story now. And don't you, too?" + +"Yes, we both can. That is--if you don't mind sitting on this sofa and +looking over at the same time?" + +Lena rose with a blush on her cheeks, that, in Laurence's opinion, made +her look prettier than ever. + +Then she settled herself by his side. He turned to the front page, and +satisfied himself that his companion could see the writing and read it, +then they commenced the perusal of the contents of the little red +note-book. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE SQUIRE'S STORY + +(_Being the commencement of the narrative in the little red note-book_) + + +"To commence at the very beginning, my dear boy, and in orthodox +fashion, I will state that my name is that by which you have always +known me--Harold Lester Carrington, only son of a worthy naval officer +and his wife, who was a younger daughter of the late Sir John Collyer. I +was born nine-and-fifty years ago at Manchester, received but a moderate +education, and entered the army at an early age. + +"I was unfortunate enough to lose both my parents while I was quite a +child, and, getting into bad company, led what my few relatives--they +are all dead now--considered a wild life. I can safely say, though, that +I never forgot I was the son of gentlefolk, for to both my parents I had +been greatly attached. + +"I must have been either twenty-one or twenty-two years of age when I +first met Edith Rawson, the charming daughter of my old Colonel. It was +at a garden party, and was a case of love at first sight on both sides. +Of course it was foolish in the extreme for me, a penniless lieutenant, +to aspire to the hand of wealthy Colonel Rawson's eldest daughter, but +the folly was inevitable. Miss Rawson was the most lovely girl I ever +cast eyes upon. Mutual love in such cases as ours is hard to +conceal--particularly from a woman--and Mrs. Rawson quickly perceived +things after I had visited the house a few times. She communicated her +suspicions to her husband, and a tremendous row was the result--the +upshot of which was that I changed my regiment for one embarking for +India, bade my loved one a pitiful farewell, re-echoed my vows of +constancy, promising to return when, judging by Rawson's standard, I was +in a position to claim Edith as my bride, and left England for the great +Eastern Empire. + +"I had been forbidden to write, even once a year, to my loved one, and +it was with a faint heart that I started life again in Madras. But I +knew that if I wished to succeed I must throw all my energy into the +work, and strive my hardest to render myself fit to become Edith's +husband in what seemed a very distant future. + +"Years rolled by, and by degrees, thanks to sundry small skirmishes with +discontented tribes, I gained the promotion which meant so much. But it +was a sad time for me. Folks may say that 'out of sight' is equivalent +to 'out of mind,' but I speak truly when I say that never for a single +day did anyone--any woman--figure in my thoughts except the loved one in +the far-off old country. + +"Periodically I got hold of old society newspapers, sent to us from +London, and in these I occasionally came across the name of Colonel +Rawson's fair daughter. Each time I was thrilled with pleasure to find +that her maiden name still remained to her. Was she true to the devoted +young officer in India? Of course she was! + +"I was Major Carrington by this time, and young for that, still I knew a +beautiful girl like Edith would never want for offers of marriage. Three +or four years had passed since I had discovered the dear name in print. +Two or three were likely to drag before there was any chance of my +further promotion, after which Colonel Rawson had given me permission to +return home, and, if the mutual affection still existed, marry his +daughter. + +"Then one day a copy of the _Times_ chanced to reach me, and I casually +commenced reading by a perusal of the births, marriages, and deaths +column in that paper. Suddenly I caught sight of an announcement that +caused me to cry aloud with dismay, with horror, with disappointment. +It was painfully brief, but, oh! so plain. + + "'SANDLYNG-RAWSON.--On the 28th ult., at St. Jude's, + Aynswell-street, W., George Arthur Sandlyng, of the Priory, + Parkham, Bucks, to Edith, daughter of Colonel Rawson, V.C.' + +"Had I considered this paragraph in the light of common sense I would +not have acted as I did. + +"In the first place, I should have recollected that Rawson was no rare +name, and that the combination of names, Edith Rawson, might occur in +any other branch of the Rawson family than the one in which were centred +all my hopes. + +"I might, too, have made the following deduction: When I left England, +ten years before, the Colonel had not the letters V.C. after his name. +As far as I was aware he had not been engaged in active warfare since. +Suppose, though, he had, and had won the Victoria Cross, would it not +have been reasonable to suppose that ten years would have seen his +promotion to a generalship, particularly if his conduct had been so +conspicuous as to merit the award of the coveted V.C.? + +"But I did not stop to take a rational view of the matter. To me, then, +there was no doubt but that Edith--my Edith--had broken her vows to me, +and had married. I was filled with murderous thoughts. For the time I +was mad." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE SQUIRE'S STORY (CONTINUED) + + +"I left the barracks and made my way into the lowest and commonest +quarter of the city. My own idea was to drown my thoughts, to forget +myself, Edith, and the world, even if only for an hour or so. The sight +of the familiar sign of the opium den over a low door stopped me in my +mad ramble. Here was the chance of banishing my thoughts and misery. I +entered. A hideous old Chinaman barred my way, but satisfying himself +that I was not an objectionable person, he turned and led me down into +the dark den itself. An unoccupied ottoman in a corner took my fancy. I +flung myself down. Simultaneously a soft voice asked me in English what +I required. At first I fancied I was a prey to my imagination. The voice +was so soft, so gentle, that I thought it was hers--Edith's. + +"Then I looked round full into the face of a maiden who leaned over me, +so close that I felt her warm breath on my cheek as she repeated the +words that had roused me from my drowsiness. She was in all respects +the loveliest native girl I ever saw--so slim, so bright-eyed, and so +charmingly clad, that for the moment I forgot my misery in contemplation +of her exceptional beauty. + +"'You speak English?' I remarked. + +"'Yes, indeed,' she murmured, seating herself gracefully on the arm of +the couch; 'it is so much prettier than my own language.' + +"'And what are you doing in this--er--hell?' I could not refrain from +asking. She formed such a striking contrast to her surroundings. + +"'Hush!' she responded quietly, and raised her finger in warning, +placing it almost upon my lips. 'Hush, they may not all be asleep.' And +she waved her arm, bare to the elbow, in the direction of the motionless +forms recumbent on the other couches in the cellar. + +"'What is your name?' I whispered, as I perceived that she was not +averse to conversation. + +"'Lilla,' she replied, blushing under her dark skin. I noticed that she +had a little pipe in her hand. 'Half?' she asked. + +"'No,' I said, 'not yet. I want a talk. That is, if you don't mind.' + +"Again she blushed, and settled herself down at the foot of the ottoman. +'You know you're in danger here?' she muttered interrogatively. + +"'Why?' I asked, in no way alarmed, though. + +"'Well,' she replied, gazing into my eyes, 'queer things happen here +occasionally which would cause some talk were they to become known.' She +shrugged her little shoulders suggestively. She was certainly a +bewitching girl. + +"'You are an officer?' she asked. + +"'Yes,' I replied, foolishly betraying the fact, when, dressed as I was +in civilian attire, I might have passed as a merchant or some other +English resident of the city. + +"For the moment I confess I was bewitched--powerless in the hands of the +dark-eyed girl whose life was spent in such strange surroundings. + +"For many an hour we sat there--she at the foot, I at the head of the +couch, and our conversation disturbed a silence only broken occasionally +by the heavy breathing or moans of one or other of the motionless +figures stretched round us. + +"'Lilla' told me much about herself and about those that kept the den. +The latter were a native and his Chinese wife, the parents of 'Lilla,' +which was an abbreviation of some eight-syllabled name by which she was +known in her peculiar family circle. + +"Yes, she had always lived in the den, she told me, and had waited upon +the customers since a mere child. She was now only seventeen, and +confessed she was unmarried. She further told me that she intended doing +what the English call marrying money, even questioning me, to my +embarrassment, on my financial position. + +"As the serpent bewitches, hypnotises, and eventually snares the rabbit, +so I began to feel that this maiden of the opium den was beginning to +bewitch me. Not that I was, or have been, an impressionable man, +unusually susceptible to feminine attack, though I have, as you, my son, +may have discovered, always been of a weak disposition. I do not know, +either, whether, by permitting myself to fall a victim to 'Lilla's' +charms, I was, in the words of a common expression, 'cutting off my nose +to spite my face'--impotently avenging Edith's treatment of me by +falling in love--no other words express my behaviour--with the first +female I met after learning of what I believed to be her fickle +inconstancy. + +"I am more than inclined to think that the native girl was imbued with +those powers that so many of even the humblest Indian folks possess--a +power that, unfortunately, is getting a firm rooting in this +country--that of mesmeric influence over a weaker mind! + +"It will be sufficient for me to say that I found myself quite +powerless in the girl's hands. I told her the story of my life and love +when she requested me to do so. I seemed unable to hide anything from +her. I went so far as to mention that a severe punishment would result +were it discovered that I had visited the den, the cholera then +ravishing the country, and the troops, including the officers, being +under special orders not to visit the particularly afflicted quarters of +the town. + +"And this remark of mine must have been the cause of all my future +trouble and misery--and, probably, of my death! + +"The first day I remained in ignorance of the secrets of the opium den, +and of that of opium smoking. But when I left, long after nightfall, it +was with a promise on my lips that I would return next day, and I did. +Strive as I might I could not battle against the invisible power that +drew me, on the following afternoon, to the low opium den. + +"This time I was horrified on entering the dim cellar to see Lilla +curled up on a sofa with the stem of an opium pipe between her pearly +teeth. Otherwise the room was empty. Not until afterwards did I discover +the reason, which was that one of the visitors of the previous day had +been seized with the terrible disease, and that either he had +communicated the scourge to the other smokers who haunted the den, or +the habitués had been too frightened by what they saw to return! + +"On closer investigation I discovered that a glass of neat spirit stood +on the table at the girl's right hand! That the lovely young girl was an +opium smoker and a drinker of undiluted spirit seemed too horrible. +Instinctively I recoiled from her, and as she seemed half asleep, +commenced to make my way from the room. + +"The sounds I made caused her to awake. + +"'Ah! it is the Sahib,' she murmured; 'come, come, and kiss Lilla.' + +"How I had been deceived! How blind I had been! The girl who had +bewitched and fascinated me on the previous day was now revealed in her +true light. Now she seemed something despicable, hateful, loathsome. The +beauty that I admired seemed to have vanished. The creature now appeared +to be hideous. Whether the revulsion of feeling caused a permanent +blindness of my eyes to her beauty I cannot say. Knowing what I do of +India and its mysteries--mysteries that scientists have failed to +solve--I am more than inclined to think that the girl was never so +beautiful as she first appeared to me. My very eyes had been deceived +before now by the marvellous tricks of the native conjurers and fakirs. +In my own mind, I have no shadow of doubt that the girl Lilla, by the +powers she possessed, led me to imagine the charms I had only a day +before seen in her, and by means of which she had fascinated me. + +"Her words and the sight of her enraged as well as disgusted me. + +"'You she-devil!' I shouted. Then I stopped because words failed me. + +"The girl showed no astonishment at the epithet I had bestowed upon her. +Instead, she softly stepped down from the sofa and glided, snake-like it +seemed to me, towards where I stood. + +"'You shall kiss me,' she hissed, and again I was impressed by her +resemblance to a serpent. + +"Even when I attempted to cast her away as she crept nearer and nearer +to me I felt that I was powerless. My loathing for this creature was +none the less, yet I could not prevent her from pressing those cruel +thin lips, that had seemed so rosy and fascinating on the previous day, +against my cheek. + +"'There,' she whispered; 'I knew you loved me, Harold. You must marry +me!' + +"You fiend!' I shrieked; 'I detest you--I loathe your very existence. +Away! I will not stay for another moment under the same roof with you. +Sorceress, you have ensnared me, but----' + +"'My love,' she replied, beneath her breath, 'as you say, you are +ensnared. You are mine. You shall not leave this house until you are +even more mine--until you are my husband.' + +"Then as she spoke I suddenly became aware of the fact that a face was +peering through the half-closed door of the den--a shrivelled, yellow +face, with oval slits of eyes, which were directed towards me. + +"Then, evidently perceiving I was aware of this fact, the door was +pushed open, and a hideous Chinese woman shuffled in, at once engaging +Lilla in conversation in her native tongue. + +"From what I gathered the woman was the mother of the girl! + +"With startling suddenness the elder female turned on me after a +moment's conversation with Lilla. + +"'Sahib likee mazinloree?' she said with an intonation that implied a +question. + +"I shook my head, not understanding the creature's remark. + +"'She says, "Does the gentleman like his mother-in-law?"' explained +Lilla, with a leering laugh. + +"'I have had enough of this nonsense,' I shouted, bubbling over with +rage; 'let me pass or I shall clear you both out of the way.' + +"'No marry this girlee?' asked the old hag. + +"'No, once again,' I exclaimed, and I thrust the woman to one side, and +found myself in the dark passage. + +"'Ha--ha--ha!' screamed Lilla; 'how will you like it when we tell the +General where you have been?' + +"I stopped short, horrified by her words. At once I saw how I had been +'let in.' The diabolical cunning of the enchantress--the siren--was only +too plain. Unless I married Lilla she would report my visit to the +forbidden quarter to the commanding officer at the barracks. + +"'Tell me,' I said, ill-disguising my rage, 'how much you want!' + +"'Hundred thousand seventee hundred 'pees,' giggled the old woman. + +"'Nothing,' laconically remarked Lilla. + +"'Name your price, you witch,' I said to the girl. + +"'Your love,' she replied, in a tone that caused me to exercise all my +self-control to prevent myself from striking her. + +"There was the soft pat-pat of footsteps in the passage; then I felt a +tap on my shoulder. + +"Turning, I confronted a gigantic Hindoo in gorgeous costume, who had +come upon us from whence I did not know. + +"'This is the man?' he asked Lilla in Hindustani, a language with which +I had a passing acquaintance. + +"The girl replied in the affirmative. 'He refuses,' she added. + +"The other evidently knew who I was, for, learning this intelligence, he +at once sprang upon me, bearing me to the ground. Then I felt a sudden +sharp blow on my throat, and I lost consciousness." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE SQUIRE'S STORY (CONTINUED) + + +"When I recovered I found myself in a pitch-dark room. A terrible pain +in my neck when I first moved was the first reminder of what had gone +before. + +"With difficulty (for I was weak and faint) I rose to my feet, thankful +that, at any rate, I was not bound or fettered in any way. The darkness +was unbearable. I sought the pocket in which I kept my vesta-case. It +was empty, as were all my pockets. My watch was gone, likewise my +cigar-case, match-box, scarf-pin, and, in fact, everything of any value. +Fortunately, I discovered a couple of matches loose in my waistcoat +pocket. One of these I struck on the sole of my boot. The bright light +almost blinded me, but, after a moment, I was able to discover that I +was in a large empty room. Empty? No, for what was that dark object in +the far corner? I crept over towards it. + +"It was the prostrate body of a man! Moreover, it was an Englishman, and +a fellow-officer with whom I was very intimate. And he was dead. + +"What did it mean? How came Lieutenant Aubrey in the cellar (for such it +was) of an opium den? Of what had he died? Not till afterwards did I +learn of the man who had been seized with cholera in the den on the +previous day. Otherwise I might have thought, for the moment, that my +brother officer and the unhappy wretch were one and the same. But +something about the position of the body caused me to give it a further +investigation. + +"Then I perceived that, without a doubt, Aubrey had been the victim of +foul play. He had been murdered! + +"What seemed even more significant to me, bearing in mind the nature of +my own attack by the gigantic Hindoo, was that the head of the corpse +was almost entirely twisted off. The face looked upward, pale, grim, and +terrible; yet the body lay on the stomach. A thin red line was marked +across the throat. The neck was evidently broken. + +"'What did it mean?' I asked myself again and again. + +"My last match had died out, burning my fingers. I was alone in an empty +room--empty save for that terrible thing in the corner. + +"And the door was securely fastened from without. + +"There was some kind of window, though, the bars of which, though stout, +were rusty, as was their setting. + +"Gifted, for the moment, with almost super-human strength, I managed to +remove two or three of these, and then raised myself on to the ledge. I +saw that it was pitch dark, and could not tell whether there was an easy +drop or no. However, there was only one thing to do. I must risk it. And +I did. Fortunately, I only had to fall a few feet. Then I found myself +in a small courtyard. + +"How I made my way out of this, what streets I traversed, and how long +it took me to reach the barracks I do not know. I recollect being +challenged more than once. But I made no reply, and in the darkness I +passed through unobserved until I reached some kind of a shed, in which +I fell down and slept heavily until daybreak. + +"Of course, my absence had been noticed, as had that of Aubrey. +Hurriedly deciding my course of action, I craved an interview with the +commanding officer, Sir Bromley Lestrange, who had always been most kind +and sympathetic to me in the matter of my love affairs, concerning which +I had told him all. + +"My first idea was to invent some satisfactory explanation of my +absence, making no reference to my discovery of Aubrey's dead body, or +to the fact that I had laid myself open so indiscreetly to infection. + +"To a stranger I might have been able to invent a tissue of lies, but to +a friend, no. Accordingly, in the privacy of his own chamber, I told Sir +Bromley the whole story. His horror on learning my news was as great as +mine had been on perceiving how I had been ensnared by the girl Lilla, +and more so when I made the gruesome discovery in the empty room. + +"'We must hush this up--that's quite clear,' said Sir Bromley; 'it would +never do to publish these facts abroad. Young Aubrey was no doubt drawn +to the opium den by the same devilish means as those employed in your +case. It will be a lesson to you, Carrington. But of that more anon. +First we must recover poor Aubrey's body, and have it decently buried. +Then we must do all in our power to have the wretches in the den handed +over to justice. I think I can manage this quietly. Leave me now, and I +will arrange the best I can. I am sorry for you, truly sorry, +Carrington, but you might have expected it.' I knew that in his last +sentence he referred to the paragraph in the _Times_, for I had not +withheld any of the facts from him. + +"I took my departure shortly after, first explaining the exact locality +in which the opium den was to be found. + +"My misconduct was never known to anyone but Sir Bromley. Consequently, +it was with unusual regret I learned a year or so back that the General +had died suddenly of heart disease in India. I left the regiment shortly +after, under circumstances I will proceed to explain, and never saw +Lestrange again, but I cherish the memory of his kindness and leniency +to this day. + +"I subsequently learned that a police raid had been made on the premises +of the opium den, when the body of Lieutenant Aubrey was found, and +secretly returned to the barracks. I forget exactly how his death was +explained, but as we had one or two cases of fever in the hospital about +that time, I presume his relatives were led to believe that the young +man succumbed to that disease. + +"Of course, on discovering that I had escaped, or, perhaps, immediately +after robbing me of all I possessed, the proprietors of the opium den +decamped. + +"But the corpse of my unhappy fellow-officer afforded a distinct clue to +the clever, but lazy, native police. Aubrey had been slain by +Phansigars, or, as they are better known to the world, Thugs! + +"The police were able to inform us, from my description, that Lilla was +a well-known 'sotha,' or entrapper. How many victims she had secured for +her terrible gang the police did not know, but she was considered a +queen among her people--a position she owed to the fact that she had +bewitched and ensnared more victims than any other candidate for the +nominal honour. The old Chinese woman, her mother, was a 'guru,' or +teacher, her occupation being the instructing of children in the art of +Thugee--the so-called religion of Kalee, the goddess of scientific +murder. The giant Hindoo, who was the husband of Lilla, combined the +callings of 'bhuttote,' which means strangler with the noose, and +'lughaee' (grave-digger). There were several other members of the gang, +which subsisted entirely on plunder. + +"Once on the track of these inhuman scoundrels, the police quickly +managed to effect the arrest of the whole gang, with the single +exception of Lilla (or the girl I knew by that name). The latter was +never captured. + +"Exactly what punishment was meted out to the captives I never learned. +I feel sure, though, that the death sentence was passed upon them, for +the treatment of Thugs is very severe in India, as it necessarily should +be. + +"The strangest part of my story still remains to be told. + +"A few months later I was walking down an almost deserted street in +Madras, when my attention was arrested by a roll of thin yellow +parchment lying in the pathway, and on which was written my own name! + +"Very naturally I picked up the sheet, and, unrolling it, was astounded +to read the following message in Hindustani:-- + +"'My baby was born nine days ago. Siva (the husband of Kalee) has +decreed that it should be a male. My vengeance will be slow. The boy +shall be brought up as an expert "Phansigar" (another name for +"Strangler") until he shall have reached manhood in five-and-twenty +years. He shall be taught to avenge his father, and, as his father's and +mother's son, shall give his life for that purpose and the fraternity. I +am dying, but my mother will bring him up, and, after eight years, +sixteen years, and four-and-twenty years, shall inform you of his +progress, lest you forget the day when you despised Lilla, the "sotha." +When five-and-twenty years shall have passed away, your doom shall be +sealed by Lilla's gift to the world. If you are dead, then shall the +doom descend upon your dear ones. The curse of Devi (another name for +Kalee) be upon you, but not until five-and-twenty years have passed. In +those years all that you shall do will prosper, but there shall be no +peace for you, for the doom of Kalee and Siva shall rest upon you and +your seed until that which I have prophesied shall have come to pass.' + +"To say that I was frightened by the words in this strange letter would +be to exaggerate my feelings. In those days I did not know what I do now +about the Thugs and their so-called religion, or I should have given +more heed to the warning. One thing I did, that was to lay the letter +before Sir Bromley, who took a very grave view of it. + +"'Those Thugs,' he said, with an ominous shake of his head, 'are devils. +No other word can be so aptly applied to them. I have made a study of +their art, for such it is, and I can say that there are thousands of +authentic cases in which they have done marvels--really marvels--of +brutality. Beware, my boy! If I were you I would try to change my +regiment, and get out of the country as quickly as possible. Murder is +not as uncommon in this part of the Queen's Empire as you might think; +and the relatives of these captured Thugs would consider that they had +done a good deed if they were able to put an end to your existence.' + +"It was not for this reason, though, that I returned to England shortly +after. The fact was, I learned, about this time, that a man in London, +for whom I had once been able to do a good turn, had recently died, +bequeathing to me a sum of money which would, at any rate, make it +unnecessary for me to work for my daily bread. 'Ah!' I thought, when I +heard the good news, 'if only Edith had waited a few months longer!'" + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE SQUIRE'S STORY (CONCLUSION) + + +"And so it came about that I returned to the old country, and, out of +mere politeness, discovered old Colonel Rawson's address, and called one +afternoon. I was ushered into the drawing-room, where sat a lady, whom I +at once recognised as my beloved Edith. + +"'Harold!' she cried, as she sprang forward. + +"I looked at her left hand. There was no ring on the third finger! + +"It was, as you, my son, may have suspected, all a mistake (how costly a +one you have yet to learn) on my part. The Edith Rawson who had married +was not even any relative of my Edith. + +"Within three months, though, the latter was a bride. + +"In the midst of all my happiness there was one troubling thought that +disturbed me more than anyone knew. + +"The prophecy contained in the parchment was coming true! + +"I mean that prosperity had been promised me for the five-and-twenty +years that would elapse before the child which, according to the message +sent me in so mysterious a fashion, had then just been born should reach +what was evidently considered by his people his majority. Had I not +experienced that prosperity in receiving the unexpected legacy and +winning for my wife the woman whom I had believed to have proved false +to me? But I felt that twenty-five years was a long time. It was no use +worrying about a possible calamity in the distant future. And so I +forgot the weird prophecy and my connection with India, and settled down +to the four years of bliss that were my portion before you, my son, were +born, and my darling, in giving you birth, sacrificed her own dear life. + +"That was not prosperity, you will say; and I agree to a certain extent. +But if she had not died perhaps I might, and then--if there was anything +in the prophecy--the doom of the girl Lilla might have fallen upon her +instead of upon me. But to proceed with my actual narrative. + +"It was nearly four years after my Edith's death when I received a +letter bearing an Indian stamp and a blurred postmark that I was unable +to decipher. It was addressed to me at the War Office, with instructions +to be forwarded, in a shaky handwriting--the work, probably, of an old +man; and the sheet contained in the dirty, thin envelope bore the +single word--'Remember!' + +"My feelings on receiving this epistle from a world that I had come to +hope was dead to me were indescribable. I had learned from Sir Bromley +some years before that the police believed Lilla was dead, since another +queen had been appointed for the district over which my enchantress had +held nominal sway, and thus I had put less belief in the prophecy +contained in the parchment letter; but now, with the knowledge that my +existence had not been forgotten by the Thugs, a great fear for my life +came upon me. + +"It was impossible for me to change my name, as my friends would have +required some explanation of my conduct, and such explanation I should +not feel inclined to give. One thing I could do--I could become a +civilian, and give up all connection with the army. This I accordingly +did. I took the Manse at Northden, in Yorkshire, managed to persuade +people to call me and address me as Squire instead of Major Carrington, +dropped the latter title altogether, and as my friends died or were lost +sight of, I found as years went by that my connection with the Indian +Army or any other army was unknown, or, at any rate, forgotten. The name +Carrington I knew was no rare one, and I accordingly hoped that I +should never be recognised as the Major Carrington who had visited the +Madras opium den, and fallen a victim to the charms of the queen of the +Thugs. + +"Eight years passed after the receipt of the letter from India; then one +day I caught sight of a paragraph in the agony column of the +_Telegraph_, which caused me to shudder and dream of all manner of +horrible things for months. The paragraph consisted only of a couple of +words, and, I found, it had appeared for a week in every London paper. + +"This was it--'Carrington, remember!' + +"For fear of revealing my identity I took no steps to inquire at the +offices of the newspapers whence the instructions for the insertion of +the message had come. I should probably have done myself no good by +making such inquiries. + +"I knew well what those harmless-looking words meant. Sixteen years had +passed since I had found the parchment in the deserted roadway. Only +nine remained. + +"From that day forward I have had no real peace of mind. Perhaps I have +appeared harsh to you, my boy. Have I not had cause enough to make me +irritable? I have made a point of never mentioning your mother to you, +for several reasons. In the first place, it would be most painful for +me to do so. In the second, you might have discovered that Miss Edith +Rawson (had I told you your mother's maiden name) had married a Major +Carrington. An explanation would then have been necessary, and I had no +wish to burden you with the secret which has ruined my life. + +"The third message from across the seas reached me a few months ago, and +was the cause of all the precautions I adopted. It was, as before, a +paragraph in the agony column of the leading London newspapers, and +ran--'Carrington, the bhuttote (strangler) left Madras to-day.' + +"Possibly, those who had heard the queer name were puzzled by the +message. You will understand how plain it was to me. It meant that my +doom was sealed; that from that day forward I was in the position of a +hunted criminal--to be hunted down by a more tireless, more terrible +sleuth-hound than any that Scotland Yard possesses. + +"The rest you know, or most of it. How the son of 'Lilla' found me out I +cannot say. As I have stated, the marvellous powers possessed by these +Thugs are terrible, beyond the realisation of the ordinary European. +That he has done so you know. Now you know, too, why I would tell you +nothing about my secret, why I would not assist you in your +investigations, why I would not allow a detective to enter my house. +What good would a hundred detectives do when this creature is so +determined to slay me at any cost? The attack on the moor is known to +you. It is but a few hours since that happened. I am writing these words +in the full anticipation of their being perused by you, my son, within a +few days, though I have requested that this book shall not be opened +until after my death. Thank God, I have never been coward enough to take +my life, and lay you open to the attack of the avenger. If you have ever +wondered whether my secret in any respect concerned your dear mother or +your birth, set your mind at rest, and do not despise + + "YOUR LOVING FATHER." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE BEGINNING OF THE END + + +There was silence for a few moments when the end of the Squire's story +was reached. Then Laurence said-- + +"The mystery is well-nigh solved. We can now see what blunders we have +made, how we have unjustly suspected 'Doctor Meadows' (or whatever his +name is), and been led a dance by the freaks of coincidence. Our +suspect, Meadows, has proved to be not only innocent of the charges we +brought against him, but the man who, by some means we have yet to +learn, has been able to put into our hands the key to the mystery. But +for him I should not have obtained access to this book, and without it +we might have gone on blundering in the dark for months, or even years. +Take my word for it, Miss Scott, we are neither of us born to be +investigators of mystery." + +"How dare you say so!" replied the girl, with pretended anger, "when I +have this very day made a most startling discovery, which may lead to +the revelation of 'Doctor Meadows'' secret." + +"Oh," cried Laurence, "is that so? Of course, I mean that I am the poor +hand at detective work, and you----" + +"A poorer," Lena ended the sentence. "But for all that I really have +made a strange discovery." + +"Well, and what is it, if it is not criminal to ask?" + +"You remember the envelope addressed to Major Jones-Farnell that we +found in the garden?" + +"Certainly. It was addressed in a lady's hand, from somewhere abroad; +or, rather, from either Scotland, Wales, or Ireland, since it bore a +penny stamp, and was marked 'England' in the address." + +"Well, I have found out the name of the person who addressed that +envelope to 'Doctor Meadows.'" + +"And her name is that of someone I know well. I am convinced of that. +Don't keep me in suspense any longer, please." + +"Her name is that of someone you know very well--someone, though, that +you know no better than I or auntie or--well, Kingsford does." + +"What do you mean? Tell me, or I shall succumb to my anxiety." Laurence +spoke in jest, but he was really more than interested to learn the +identity of the "doctor's" fair correspondent. + +"Well, then, the unknown lady is none other than the Princess H----!" + +"The Princess H----! No; you must be mistaken. It cannot be!" + +"Two people do not write the same 'fist,'" Lena responded, warmly. +"Where have you seen that writing before?" she added, taking up a +magazine from a table. Opening it at a page the corner of which had been +turned down, she pointed to a facsimile autograph letter by Princess +H----, the wife of Prince H----, whose death, under mysterious +circumstances, had caused much gossip some years before, and who, as the +mother of a little prince who, had he lived, would in due course have +ruled over Queen Victoria's dominions, was one of the Royal celebrities +of the day. + +"Well, do you doubt your own eyes?" asked Lena quietly. + +"No; I apologise," Laurence replied. "I agree with you that the +'doctor's' lady correspondent is Princess H----. The writings are +precisely alike. There can be no doubt about it. You have made a most +important discovery." + +"Further, I can prove my theory, if proof is required. The Princess was +residing at Dublin up to a few days ago. That was why she wrote +'England' at the end of 'Major Jones-Farnell's' address. What her +connection is with this gentleman of aliases I cannot guess. The +discovery, however, tells us one thing--that what the 'doctor' said +about the nature of his secret was true." + +"You mean that----" + +"That he said if his secret was revealed to the world it would cause a +general sensation--that it would do great harm to the world. The secret +concerns the mysterious death of Prince H----!" + +"But who, then, is 'Meadows'? What has he to do with secrets of such +great importance?" + +"That I cannot say, but I believe your father may know. Note this, +though: your father denies the fact that he confided his secret to +'Doctor Meadows.' We have discovered that Meadows not only holds his +secret, but has been bound by your father not to reveal it. If your +father denies this, and is, nevertheless, really connected in some way +with the 'doctor,' but will not confess to the fact, is it not possible +that he, in his turn, knows something about Meadows' secret? I grant you +that it does not follow that such is the case, but it is a distinct +probability, to my mind." + +Laurence could not reply. The argument was a fair one, but Lena's former +hypothesis concerning Horncastle's connection with the attacks on the +Squire's life had seemed so ingenious and probable a one and yet had +been proved to be wrong in every particular. + +"At any rate," he remarked, after a pause, "you will agree that we have +reached the beginning of the end of this mystery?" + +"Certainly; but we have yet much to learn. I doubt not but that the +secret of 'Doctor Meadows' will prove less easy to solve than that of +your father. I agree with Meadows that much of the mystery we have +almost solved should have been explained long ago. The discovery that +the Squire had been an Indian officer, coupled with the fact of the +unknown assailant's agility, etcetera, should have suggested to us the +possibility of the creature being a Thug. The Squire's story has +revealed one thing--the reason why he fainted at my mention of the woman +in coloured skirts. He thought the avenger had come in the person of +Lilla herself (whom he believed to be dead), when what I had seen was +this Indian, whose clothing must certainly be somewhat similar to that +we associate with a female. Now we know, too, that the 'robbery' of the +gardener's coat was effected in order that the assassin might be less +recognisable. One thing, though, strikes me as strange. How did this +creature learn to ride a bicycle?" + +"You mustn't forget that India, like all other countries, is advancing +with the times. No doubt the Thugs encourage such a form of athletics +among their children. Why he did not return the bicycle to the shed, +though, seems difficult to understand; and what is another mystery to me +is why he used a pistol on the first occasion, when that weapon is +little known among the Thugs." + +"Perhaps, finding it so difficult to get into the house and murder your +father, he cast caution and his usual weapon to the winds, and essayed +the attack on the moor. By chance he discovered the secret passages and +room when lurking in that splendid hiding-place, the barn. Then, having +lost his pistol, he entered the Squire's room by means of the secret +door in the wall, and would have murdered the old man had it not been +for the bat." + +"But how do you know that the unexplored secret passage does lead to the +Squire's room, as Meadows suggested that it might?" + +"Because," replied Lena triumphantly, "I noticed that the wardrobe in +that room had been shifted since the Squire's return to consciousness, +and for no apparent reason. Mrs. Featherston, moreover, informed me that +it was moved at the Squire's particular request." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE WIZARD'S MARSH + + +It was the following morning. + +Nothing eventful had transpired since Laurence's return from Durley +Dene, save that in the night watches the young man had fancied he heard +occasional sounds from the garden of the adjoining mansion. What these +sounds were he could not say, and as it was too dark for him to perceive +anything outside when he rose and peered out of the window, he was +unable to discover whether or no anything unusual had taken place. + +The Squire's condition continued to improve, but he made no mention to +his son of the little red note-book and the life story it contained; +nor, in fact, did he in any way refer to the matter foremost in point of +interest. + +Laurence was breakfasting with Lena and Mrs. Knox, who, as usual, did +justice to the array of dishes judiciously placed within her reach by +the elderly butler. The three had been conversing upon every-day +subjects, when the door opened, and Kingsford came hurriedly in. + +"Please, sir," he said, "there's a man outside wants to see you very +pertikler, at once, if you please." + +Obtaining the ladies' permission for him to leave the table, Laurence +followed the butler outside into the front hall, where stood a little +man in a loud check suit and tight leggings. The man looked as though +usually his face was rubicund; now it was white as the traditional +sheet. + +"Oh, my God, Mr. Laurence!" he almost shrieked on catching sight of +Carrington; "they're after him! They'll kill him! They'll tear him in +pieces! Quick, quick! What can be done, sir? Oh, they'll hang me for +murder!" + +"Calm yourself, my dear Nichols," replied Laurence, "and tell me +distinctly what's the matter. Anything happened to the Marquis?" + +"No, sir," replied Nichols, trembling with fear; "the Markiss's all +right, but it's your visitor!" + +"What visitor?" + +"Why, the gent with the black face and the dress!" + +"Gent with black face and dress!" echoed Laurence. "Quick, what do you +mean? What has happened to him?" + +"I was taking Tiger and Nap for exercise, sir, when suddenly, as though +they scented something unusual, they both jumped forward, knocking me +down. When I fell down I let loose of the leash, and they simply flew +away across the fields in this direction--me after them. I vaulted the +gate by the common in time to catch sight of a queer little gent with +black face and an old black coat, and some kind of dress on, tearing +down the road with the hounds after him. I tried to follow, but lost +sight of 'em in no time. Then I ran back as hard as I could for a horse, +and a lad at the gate told me he'd seen the black gent come out of your +gate. Let me have the mare, sir, quick." + +"Yes, yes! Fetch her out at once. I will follow you on my bicycle." And +the two men rushed from the house. + +Laurence knew in an instant what had happened. + +The Marquis of Moorland's savage bloodhounds were in pursuit of the +Squire's enemy--the Thug! + +Two minutes later Nichols (one of the Marquis's coachmen) was thundering +down the road on the bare-backed mare, while Laurence, pedalling as hard +as he could, followed close behind. + +Villagers were scattered about along the lane. They shrieked out that +the hounds had passed a few minutes before. + +On and on the riders sped, Nichols freely using the hunting crop he had +caught up on leaving the Manse stables. Still there was no sign of +either the hounds or their quarry. + +There were trees at intervals along the narrow lane. Out of one of +these, as the riders passed, there protruded a head and a white startled +face. Laurence glanced up, though knowing well that it could not be that +of the Thug, since the bloodhounds were not visible. + +To his astonishment he perceived that the man who had taken refuge in +the tree was Horncastle, the convict servant from Durley Dene! + +Now they had left the village--straggling though it was--far behind +them. The road began to get steeper and steeper. They were ascending to +the great moor. The pace began to tell upon the mare, and Laurence, +being out of training, was beginning to feel pains in his calves; but +still they kept on, the cyclist now abreast with the horseman. + +How was it possible that a man on foot could keep up such a pace?--such +was Nichols' thought. Laurence did not wonder. His father's +story--contained in the little red note-book--had opened his eyes to the +weird and wonderful accomplishments of the Thugs, and he had seen the +activity demonstrated by this particular individual in the barn. + +The road now became more and more uneven. In places the grass grew upon +it. It had formerly been used by carriers' and other carts, but the +advent of the railway had thrown it into disuse. Now it was seldom, if +ever, that a cart passed along it. + +Once the mare stumbled and nearly fell, but Nichols managed to retain +his seat. Then, with a din only equalled by the report of a gun, the +tyre of the front wheel of Laurence's bicycle punctured, terrifying the +already alarmed mare, who was cantering abreast of the cyclist. But +neither stopped. The work for both cyclist and horse was becoming +harder, the incline steeper, and the surface of the pathway less even. +But the pace did not suffer. + +At last they were on the plateau. Now they could see for miles over the +flat scrubby moorland, on which hardly a tree appeared to break the +monotony of the scene. Yet, wonder of wonders, there was no sign either +of the hounds or their victim! And yet they could not have turned off in +any other direction. Here and there on the wet road impressions of dogs' +toe-pads had been visible even from the saddle. What had become of the +fleet-footed Thug, tracked to his doom by the fierce bloodhounds of the +Marquis of Moorland? Nichols pulled up his mount, drew a +powerful-looking whistle from his pocket, and blew a long, loud blast on +it. Why he had not done so before was a mystery. + +But there came no response. + +It was impossible that either the man or the hounds could have +disappeared out of sight, since, as has already been said, it was now +possible to see for many miles across the flat country. + +Nichols was wiping his ashy face with a red handkerchief. + +"Good Lord, sir, what shall we do?" he moaned. "Those dogs are worth two +hundred pounds, and--the gent, what's become of him?" + +"Goodness only knows," replied Laurence. "They have all disappeared as +though the earth had swallowed them up!" Then, as he uttered the words, +an idea struck him. + +Had the earth really swallowed them up? + +"Come!" he shouted; "the Wizard's Marsh!" But on the rough, uneven +surface of the ground he could not proceed on his machine. + +"Leave the mare where she is," he called to Nichols, as he jumped from +his bicycle and threw it down; "leave the mare, and let us run over to +the marsh. Perhaps this----" But his words were lost, save to the sharp +north wind, for he had rushed forward in the direction of a stone pillar +that rose some thousands of yards on. + +That stone quaintly announced that to proceed any farther in a certain +direction would be fatal. The traveller would suddenly step from hard, +dry ground into a dark, fathomless depth of marsh, half a mile square--a +grim pitfall for the unwary, of Nature's design, known to the local +yarn-spinners as the "Wizard's Marsh," and to geologists as a queer and +interesting natural freak. + +Fresher than his companion, the young coachman quickly overtook +Laurence, and the two coursed along in the direction of the venerable +moss-grown warning stone. In places there were dots of marsh, in which +the runners' feet sank to the ankle; but, heedless of anything in their +excitement, they did not pause until the stone was reached. + +Then, treading with the utmost caution, they commenced to circle the +treacherous quagmire, seeking for some trace of the vanished man and his +savage canine pursuers. And they did not search in vain. + +Suddenly Nichols stopped. Pointing to a mark on the ground, he +exclaimed-- + +"Someone has stepped here lately. A man in stockinged feet." + +"That's right," cried Laurence; "the Indian does not wear boots." + +"And never will," replied the coachman grimly. "His body and the hounds +have gone down, down into the marsh. See, here is the mark of one of +the hounds. They have all gone down together. Oh, Lord, how awful, and +all my fault!" + +"No, not your fault, Nichols. You couldn't help the hounds escaping. +They scented the Indian, and for some reason or other started in +pursuit. But what's this?" He bent down, picked up something that lay on +the very brink of the bubbling marsh, and examined it. + +It was a long, narrow strip of yellowish hairy cloth--the +harmless-looking weapon by means of which the Thug had attempted the +murder of Squire Carrington! + +No possible shadow of doubt remained but that the terrible avenger from +over the sea had perished in the Wizard's Marsh. + +The Squire's dread and danger were at an end. His merciless foe was no +more. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +A MAN FROM THE GRAVE + + +There was nothing to be done. + +The possibility of recovering the Indian's body from the Wizard's Marsh +was a remote one, and, even were it done, what would the advantage of +such a recovery be? Christian burial would be denied to such a creature, +and with good reason. + +It was with a certain feeling of satisfaction, combined with horror at +the nature of the Thug's end, that Laurence rode slowly home on his +bicycle, accompanied by Nichols, mounted on the mare. + +On their way they passed a woman, who was commencing the long trudge +across the moor in somewhat tattered attire, and with a ponderous bundle +on her shoulders. + +Something in her figure being familiar to Laurence, he scrutinised her +features as she tramped past. + +"She" was the person who had taken refuge in the tree from the +bloodhounds who were pursuing the fugitive Thug--the convict servant, +Horncastle, from Durley Dene! What did it mean? Where was he going? + +Laurence had not to wait long for an answer to these questions. + +He took leave of Nichols, and entered the dining-room on arriving home. + +Lena was not present, but the young man was surprised to find Mrs. Knox +still engaged in breaking her fast. The final events in the unravelling +of the mystery surrounding the Squire's enemy had not covered a very +great space of time. + +"Young man," said the worthy old lady, "I would have a word with you." +And she tried to look extremely severe. + +"Certainly, Mrs. Knox. I hope it is something pleasant." + +"Well, that remains to be seen. What I want to know is this: are you +interested in my niece?" + +"Really, now you come to mention it, I believe I am." + +"More than interested?" the lady pursued, stretching out her hand for +the marmalade jar. + +"Perhaps. Why?" + +"Well, I was wondering whether you knew she was already engaged?" + +"Engaged! Lena engaged! Impossible! She has--er--practically engaged +herself to me, Mrs. Knox." + +"Precisely. That is the engagement to which I refer! I merely desired +to ascertain whether your intentions were entirely honest." + +"I assure you, Mrs. Knox----" + +"Quite so, Mr. Carrington; I understand. I have mentioned the matter to +your papa, who leaves it entirely in my hands." + +"Really! But don't you think Miss Scott and I are the first persons to +be considered?" + +"That, my dear boy, is a matter for you to decide between yourselves. +Lena is in the drawing-room. Perhaps you would like to exchange a few +words. I will not intrude just yet. As a matter of fact, I have only +just begun my breakfast. I have been ailing lately. My appetite is not +what it was, but there are one or two things your dear housekeeper has +provided to-day which have tempted me to eat." + +Laurence withdrew, leaving Mrs. Knox to congratulate herself on being an +excellent match-maker. He entered the drawing-room, but was disappointed +to find the room empty. + +He hurried upstairs to the Squire's bedroom, where he was surprised to +see Lena, who had been reading to the old gentleman. + +"Father," he cried, "you are safe! He is drowned in the Wizard's Marsh!" + +The Squire darted up in bed. + +"Do you mean it? Is this true? How do you know?" he shrieked, clutching +his son's arm, and staring into his face with eyes almost starting from +their sockets. + +"We traced him there. He was chased by the Marquis's bloodhounds. And +this--this was found on the brink of the swamp. In trying to escape the +hounds he plunged into the marsh, and, followed by them, has gone down +into its unfathomable depths." + +And he produced the dead man's "noose." + +"Then I am safe!" yelled Squire Carrington. + +Laurence had barely time to assure him that such was the case when the +door opened and Kingsford appeared. + +"A gentleman to see you," he informed the Squire mysteriously. + +"Show him in; show him in," replied the old gentleman, to Kingsford's +unbounded astonishment. Once he knew that the grim shadow of dread and +death no longer enshrouded him, the Squire was something like he had +been five-and-twenty years before--the dashing Indian officer, striving +his hardest for promotion, so that he might claim for his bride the +woman who had now been dead long years. + +"Show him in," he said, almost hysterically, wriggling about in his bed +until the pains in his neck compelled him to desist. + +Kingsford departed, only to return in a couple of minutes, throw open +the door, and announce in strident tones a name that caused the three +occupants of the room to stare with unbounded astonishment in the +direction of the doorway. + +"Sir Bromley Lestrange," he said. + +And, with light tread, there stepped into the room--"Doctor Orlando +Meadows," alias "Major Jones-Farnell!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +SOLVING THE MYSTERY + + +At the sight of the master of Durley Dene, Squire Carrington seemed +dumfounded. At first he looked as though he fancied the new-comer would +suddenly vanish into air. + +"Good-afternoon, Major Carrington," remarked the visitor, with the +utmost coolness; "you seem surprised to see me." + +"Good heavens, Lestrange, I thought you were dead!" + +"So did the whole world, and does now," responded the owner of the Dene. + +So saying, he walked up to the bedside, and shook hands heartily with +the Squire. + +"Who'd have thought we should have met under these circumstances?" +observed Sir Bromley. + +"Ay, sir, in the hour of my joy. You are very welcome." + +"Then he is dead? I congratulate you, Carrington, from the bottom of my +heart." + +He turned to Lena and bowed, shook hands with Laurence, then took a +seat by his old friend's bedside. + +"Lestrange," said Mr. Carrington, "you look younger than you did +twenty-five years ago." + +"And I feel it now, though I didn't when these young people were trying +to corner me, connecting me for some reason or other with these attempts +on your life. So the--you know--is dead?" + +And, without hesitation, the Squire, prompted where necessary by Lena +and Laurence, commenced to relate the whole story of his career since he +had left India, never stopping until he was able to announce that his +merciless enemy was dead. + +Laurence and the girl had heard the whole story before, except that part +of it concerning the second attempt to murder the old gentleman. It +appeared that the Squire was undressing on the eventful night, when, +turning by chance, he saw the wall suddenly open and a terrible +apparition enter. Then he fainted, and knew no more until he found Mrs. +Featherston bending over him two days later. This announcement proved +that, as Laurence and Lestrange believed, the secret passage under the +barn led from Durley Dene into the Squire's bedroom. + +Afterwards they explored the passage, and further proved that such was +the case. + +The Squire's narrative concluded, Sir Bromley turned to the two young +people, and with a smile informed them that the moment had now come when +he could reveal his secret. + +By this time, though, the Squire was quite tired out by his exertions, +and, as he had but little interest in the secrets of Durley Dene, the +party withdrew, Sir Bromley bidding his old friend a hearty "au revoir," +and expressing a hope that he might see the Squire again ere long. + +Once seated in the drawing-room, he seemed unwilling to relate the +promised story, but, with a little persuasion from Lena, he gave way, +and proceeded with a narrative that entirely cleared up the mysteries of +the little Yorkshire village and its two largest houses. + +"I am by no means sure, even now," he began, "whether I am doing right +in divulging for your benefit the secret which I have been at such pains +to keep unrevealed, and which you have tried so hard to unravel. At any +rate, I have promised to tell you the whole story, and I am going to do +so. But I must ask you to let it go no farther--never to refer to it +even in conversation between yourselves. You promise? That is right. +Then the Princess H---- need have no fear----" + +"The Princess H----!" exclaimed Lena. + +"The Princess H----" repeated the gentleman slowly; "and, if you will +forgive me for saying so, I shall be unable to tell my story if I have +any interruptions, as I have much to do to-day. + +"Well, as I say, my name is Bromley Lestrange, and further, I am, as you +may see for yourselves, very far from being dead. + +"To explain things intelligibly, I must go back five-and-twenty years. +At that remote period, as your father, Laurence, has told you in the +excellent synopsis of his career, I was commanding the 'Red Herrings' +(as the old regiment was then nicknamed) at Madras. I was young for my +post, but then I had good influence with the authorities. In passing, I +may say that my looks are not a good indication of my age, which is--but +what matter? + +"As you know, I was able to assist Major Carrington in the unhappy +affair connected with the Thug opium den. It was I, as you know, who +first caused him to realise that the enmity of the Thugs was not to be +thought lightly of. I had heard strange tales of the hideous vengeances +of these human fiends. When Carrington left India, I did all that was in +my power to learn the whereabouts of the girl Lilla, but failed. +However, her death was reported soon after the Squire's return to +England, and I hastened to acquaint my old friend with the news. Then, +as things do, the matter passed from my mind, and, except very +occasionally, was not brought under my notice, until you," turning to +Laurence, "told me your name on the occasion of your first visit to the +Dene. + +"After leaving the army and Madras, which I did soon after Carrington, I +connected myself with the Court of the Rajah of Punneoda for a short +period, then spent a number of years travelling. After which--it would +be about the time Carrington took this house, sixteen or seventeen years +ago--I returned to England, where I was able to be of some slight +service to the Princess H----, who had then lately married. + +"It is necessary for you to know the circumstances of this august lady's +marriage. She was forced into a union with the late Prince H---- of +R----, though, as the busybodies said, she was pledged to another man--a +man without the necessary amount of blue blood in his veins. + +"She married Prince H----, who, however, died shortly after, leaving her +the mother of an infant prince, who, as you will recollect, would, had +he lived, be now, with the exception of two lives, heir-apparent to the +British throne. You may also recall the fact that the circumstances of +Prince H----'s death, and likewise that of his son, were, to say the +least of it, remarkable. In the first instance, you may take it from me +that the prince did not succumb to the illness specified by the two +Royal physicians. He was afflicted with a far more terrible complaint +than that of apoplexy. When I reach the end of the story you may judge +for yourself what it was. + +"Concerning the young prince there were also sinister rumours about the +time of his birth. Some said he was born blind, others that he was +deformed, a few that he had died and another infant been substituted +without the mother's knowledge; but all these reports were incorrect, +though there was, indeed, something peculiar about the Royal infant. In +fact, the child from its birth was blind, deaf, and dumb! + +"Very wisely, this terrible state of affairs was withheld from the +world, but the difficulties to be overcome to ensure the secret being +kept were very great. As you know, the Princess H----, until the death +of her child, at the age of four, resided in the country, where she kept +up a small establishment, and lived a remarkably quiet life. The papers +stated that the Royal child had died of a severe chill, which had caused +a relapse of bronchitis--an ailment to which the boy was supposed to be +a martyr. The funeral was necessarily a public affair, but it was +noticed that remarkably few Royal personages were present. Why? + +"Because," and when Sir Bromley said the words, it was in a whisper, +"because the funeral was a sham one--because the child was not dead!" He +paused, wiped his forehead with his silk handkerchief, then resumed-- + +"It was at this time that the newspapers were requested by his sorrowing +relatives (all of whom were actually deceived) to announce the death of +Sir Bromley Lestrange from cholera. 'The deceased gentleman,' it was +said, 'had succumbed to the fell disease while spending a short holiday +in Shanghai.' + +"Two or three weeks later, an elderly merchant, named Goode, bought a +small house in the Highlands of Scotland, where he spent a number of +years in the most retiring fashion, the only other inmate of the house +being apparently his sister. As a matter of fact, there was a +comfortably furnished room in the house in which a small child passed +its miserable existence, but not a soul in the neighbourhood, beyond the +worthy merchant and his sister, knew of the existence of the child. Need +I say that Mr. Goode was Sir Bromley Lestrange, Miss Goode a Miss +Lestrange, and the child the 'dead son' and heir of the Princess H----? + +"Years passed, and the child became more and more unmanageable. There +were occasions when he seemed to be possessed of the strength of a +Hercules. It required a second man to look after him. A young doctor was +heavily paid to live in the house, and Miss Goode disappeared--to +reappear in the world of society, after 'travelling on the Continent' +for several years, as Miss Lestrange, 'younger sister of the late Sir +Bromley Lestrange, Kt.,' the _Court Gazettes_ mentioned in their +'chit-chat.' + +"The young doctor made a discovery when he first examined the child in +Mr. Goode's country residence, which, had it been noised abroad, would +have explained the mystery of the father's (Prince H----) death. + +"The boy was a raving maniac of the most dangerous kind." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +THE LAST TWIST IN THE YARN + + +"This alarming discovery," proceeded Sir Bromley, "caused an alteration +in Mr. Goode's plans. + +"The doctor was so horrified at the idea of being compelled to live in +the same house with so dangerous a charge that he threw up his +remunerative appointment, with a promise of secrecy, leaving Goode to +his own devices. This was less than a year ago. The doctor had given his +opinion that the child--he was really a boy of sixteen--could not live +more than a few months, but the merchant felt his position was not safe, +for the young doctor had settled down to practice in the neighbourhood. +It was absolutely necessary to leave Scotland, and one day, after +nightfall, a special train carried an old gentleman, with a number of +large packages, one labelled 'Live dog, with care,' being taken in the +carriage to Derby, where sundry moves were made in order to throw a +possible pursuer or busybody off the track. + +"Shortly after, a Major Jones-Farnell moved into Durley Dene after +carefully arranging matters with a house agent. At Derby, a servant had +been engaged by Mr. Goode, and this servant reappeared at Northden with +Farnell. He had been discovered by mere chance. His name was Horncastle, +and he had escaped from Dartmoor a few months before. + +"To alter my story from the third to the first person, I had obtained +the very creature I required--a strong man, who would be of real +assistance to me in the care of the maniac prince, and one who, instead +of being able to hold the threat of exposing my secret over my head, +would be unable to breathe a word of it, for fear I in my turn should +betray his secret--that he was a convict, wanted by the police. + +"Unfortunately, the man soon perceived that I was more in his power than +he in mine. My secret was one that I would not risk being revealed in +order to punish Horncastle by handing him over to the police for his +frequent misbehaviour. He compelled me to pay him good wages, and supply +him with unlimited quantities of drink. Fortunately, he was never drunk, +in spite of what he took. I say fortunately, for had he ever visited the +room in which our prisoner was shut up while intoxicated, the cunning +maniac would have certainly effected his escape, with dire results--to +me, to the Princess H----, in fact, to Great Britain, for he would have +at once been recognised, since the boy was the very image of his dead +father, whose features were well known to all who had ever opened an +illustrated magazine, or inspected photographs in the book-sellers' +windows. + +"The lunatic was as cunning as he was powerful. I need not refer to the +terrible cries he was wont to utter, for I believe at least one of you +heard a specimen of his heart-breaking screams. At last it became +necessary to drive him into a corner whenever the door of his cell was +opened. Accordingly I sent Horncastle out one day for a whip, with which +we were able to frighten him off when he attacked us. By the way, I +presume I need not explain why the convict disguised himself as a woman. +You will have already guessed as much. + +"You will know, too, why you were not allowed to expose what you have so +fancifully described as the 'House of Strange Secrets.' I think that is +all. + +"My patient was released from his sufferings last night. He was first +taken dangerously ill when you visited me for the second time. He was +buried by me at midnight. I have informed the unhappy Princess H---- of +the fact, and expect to hear soon from her, and know whether all I have +done has been satisfactory. It seems strange to have to bury a Royal +child in unconsecrated ground, but what else could I do? + +"My duty to my country, for I consider it amounts to that, is +accomplished. To-morrow Major Jones-Farnell and likewise Doctor Orlando +Meadows will cease to exist, and the world will shortly learn that, by a +strange series of circumstances, Sir Bromley Lestrange has returned from +the grave. It will appear that he did not die of cholera, but while very +unwell was kidnapped by Chinese pirates, by whom he was kept a prisoner +for over a dozen years. He recently escaped, after hair-raising +adventures, and returns to tell one of the strangest stories it is +possible to imagine! + +"What about Horncastle, do you say? Oh, I settled that gentleman very +easily. Directly after the death of my charge I paid him a month's +salary, and despatched him promptly, in his female disguise. He daren't +betray my secret. If he did, who would believe him--a criminal and a +convict of the worst type? Besides, he could never find the boy's grave. +And I know he would not, even in revenge for his dismissal, sacrifice +his liberty for some five or six years. No; I don't think we shall hear +much more of Mr. Horncastle. + +"Now, Miss Scott, I must bid you farewell for the present. If in my new +capacity I shall be so fortunate as to receive an opportunity of +renewing our slight acquaintance, we must meet as strangers. You must +never have met Sir Bromley Lestrange before. And the same applies to +you, Carrington; is it not so? + +"Well, I see that, now you have got all you want out of me, I am one too +many. No? Ah, you are too polite to say so, but I was young once, +and----To-morrow you will find the Dene uninhabited, the furniture it +contains being left as a present to the next tenant. If you care for any +little memento, you are at liberty to adopt Horncastle's profession for +the nonce--you will find the door unlocked, and the old house is no +longer a hiding-place for secrets and bogies. Well, good-bye. I think I +have earned my rest." + +He rose, and the young couple accompanied him to the door, where they +took a cordial leave of him. + +Returning to the drawing-room, Laurence informed his fair companion of +the remarks made by Mrs. Knox. + +"She said that we were to settle the matter ourselves," he added; "and +now, dear, that the mystery is solved, you have no excuse for +withholding your answer. What is it to be--Lena?" He paused, from +nervousness, then proceeded, when the girl hung her head and made no +reply: "You know your aunt would be very disappointed if you didn't +accept her choice of a husband!" + +"Auntie wouldn't care in the least," replied Lena, laughing lightly. +"You won't be angry, will you, if I confess I told her to say what she +did?" + +"Lena!" + +"I thought it would be such a splendid joke to pretend I was already +engaged, only auntie didn't keep it up long enough. She's a good old +thing, rather dense, but good nature itself. I can twist her round my +little finger." + +"That's not the question," replied Laurence, seizing the +opportunity--and her hand; "what I want to know is if I may twist +something else--not Mrs. Knox--round one of your little fingers. May I?" + +Lena's reply was not a verbal one, but it was quite as expressive as any +words could have been! + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The House of Strange Secrets, by A. Eric Bayly + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSE OF STRANGE SECRETS *** + +***** This file should be named 34947-8.txt or 34947-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/9/4/34947/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire. 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